The Grave Cannot Hold the Messiah Who Gives Us Life

Psalm 16

 

(A Miktam of David)

 

Protect me, God, for I take refuge in You.

I said to the LORD,

“You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides You.”

As for the saints who are on the earth,

They are the majestic ones; all my delight is in them.

The pains of those who have acquired another god will be multiplied;

I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,

Nor will I take their names upon my lips.

The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You support my lot.

The measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

Indeed, my inheritance is beautiful to me.

I will bless the LORD who has advised me;

Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

I have set the LORD continually before me;

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will dwell securely.

For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;

You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. *

You will make known to me the way of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

 

(New American Standard Bible)

* See Acts 13:34-35

 

https://biblehub.com/nasb_/psalms/16.htm

 

 

2022

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved,

that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years,

and a thousand years like one day.

(2Peter 3:8 NASB)

https://biblehub.com/nasb_/2_peter/3.htm 

On television, I saw the New Year's Eve fireworks displays from some of the world’s major cities.  In New York City, crowds of people listened to a girl singer perform John Lennon’s New Age Mantra, Imagine, and then they counted down the seconds as they watched the fabled ball fall marking the beginning of 2022. 

Years ago, the New Year celebration was an excuse for my friends and me to get drunk.  Once in a while, one of us would “get lucky” with a girl.  We thought we were having fun.  Reveling and partying were what people were supposed to do to bring in a new year. 

Time as we measure it is “Earth time.”  It takes about 365 days for our planet to complete an orbit around the sun.  We call it a year.  It takes about 24 hours for the Earth to spin around once on its axis.  We call it a day.  The moon goes through its phases about once a month.  It is all relative to the chunk of matter that we live on.  We can apply our measurements of time to other planets, the speed of light, or the distance to the edge of our galaxy, but it is still based on the physical behavior of the Earth.  Take us out of the picture, and time (as we measure it) ceases to exist. 

In that sense, celebrating on New Year’s is a thing of this world, literally.  It is a chance for people to whoop it up, or to give your loved one a special kiss reaffirming your love for another year.  It does not amount to much, however, in light of eternity, and it is not worth breaking fellowship with God, engaging in rebellious behavior to usher out one difficult year in exchange for a newer model. 

God is eternal.  Before the beginning there was only God from all eternity past.  Our measurement of time is not binding on God, who through Jesus Christ created all things, including those things by which we mark the short years of our temporal existence.  God remains God now, and He will be our great God in Three Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) forever. 

It is not wrong to hope for better times in 2022, or to take note of the passing years as we measure them.  Our focus, however, should be on the inexpressible joy of spending eternity in the presence of the Creator and Ruler of the universe. 

Please make it your New Year’s resolution to give yourself to Jesus Christ, to trust Him for eternal life, and to follow Him by the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” 

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has seen God at any time.

The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father,
He has declared Him.

(John 1:1-18 NKJV)

 

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/john/1.htm

 

 

Whadda ya mean I gotta?

“That government is best which governs least.”

(Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, 1849)

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/sep/21/mike-pence/mike-pence-erroneously-credits-thomas-jefferson-sm/

 Americans have a problem with the word “mandate.”  If you tell an American that they must do something, their knee jerk reaction is, “Wait a minute. Who do you think you are? You can't tell me what to do.”

The fastest way to get Americans to do something, is to tell them not to do it.  Those in government who would have us all get vaccinated and wear masks should tell us not to do so. By saying that vaccinations and masks are “mandatory,” our Democratic friends doing the mandating ensure that we will resist wearing masks and getting vaccinated. 

Americans want to choose for themselves.  If we are told what to do, we feel like our individual liberties are being trampled upon.  Whether this is actually the case, or not, is a matter of point of view, but I agree in principle. 

Big government fundamentally fails to understand the American people.  That is why so many of us are opposed to a gigantic, unelected bureaucracy.  We resist it because its purpose is to regulate us.  Big government does not trust our judgement.  It does not know how to give us the facts and let us make up our own minds.

 

The Wise Men

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;

For out of you shall come a Ruler

Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

(Matthew 2:1-14 NKJV)

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/matthew/2.htm

Christ is Born

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.

So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,  to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.  So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.  Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host

praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”  And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.  Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.  And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 

Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. (Luke2:1-20 NKJV) 

 

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/luke/2.htm

 

 

The Christ, the Son of the Living God

At the time of Jesus' birth, most Jewish people were able to recite their genealogy (family tree) all the way back to Adam.  The scriptures clearly state that the Messiah would be a descendant of King David of Israel. (Jeremiah 23:5-6; Isaiah 11:1-2; Psalm 89 3-4, 18, 26-37; Acts 2:29-30)   Therefore, it was important that Jesus’ genealogy show that he was a descendant of David.

The genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth is provided for us in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 1, and the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 3.  There are, however, significant differences between the two.  In Matthew's Gospel the father of Jesus' stepfather, Joseph, is listed as “Jacob.”  In Luke's Gospel it says that Joseph's father was “Heli.”  This is because the genealogy listed in Luke is actually the genealogy of Mary, Jesus’ mother.  Heli was Joseph's father-in-law, and Heli was regarded as Joseph's father culturally.

The significance cannot be overstated.  If Joseph was Jesus' biological father, then Jesus cannot be the Messiah.  Matthew 1:11 shows that Joseph was a descendent of Jeconiah (a.k.a. Jehoiachin) a King in the linage of David who was so evil that he was cursed (2Kings 24:8; 1Chronicles 3:16; Jeremiah 22:18-30), and no descendant of Jeconiah could inherit the throne of David.  The only way that Jesus can be "the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God," (Matthew 16:16) is through the genealogy of Mary.

Those who would deny the Immaculate Conception, and the virgin birth of Jesus of Nazareth, by doing so also deny Peter's witness that He is the Messiah.  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34 NIV)