United in Jesus

If Paul could write a letter that didn’t involve a spiritual warrior tone, a letter with no heresies to denounce, no problems to solve, no sin to confront and no false teachers to expose, if it could be just be a letter from his heart declaring what he believed to be the most important subject in the world, for Paul, Ephesians is that letter. In it he expounds God’s eternal purpose and grace, and shares God’s exalted goals for the church.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called . . .   

Child born - humanity; Son given - deity, divinely sent;  Government on his shoulder - right to rule; His name shall be called: - the type of character that He will possess. God gives five names in Isaiah’s prophecy that teach us Who the Promised Son Is.

It is always a blessing to consider all of the things that the Lord has done for us as a church.  We are not a large congregation, but we are a group of faithful saints whom the Lord has saved to be used for His glory. As we look to this new year of ministry as a congregation, we want to consider the admonition of Psalm 105. In this Psalm we are reminded of three important principles when participating in the Lord’s work:

The Bible teaches that God loved the world. His love is offered to everyone. There is no one that is below his love. God gave the greatest gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. God’s Word, the Bible, gives multiple invitations to receive God’s salvation made available through the Son, Jesus Christ. The shepherds remind us of God’s gracious invitation to all who will come to Him.

Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. To all people . . . Matthew’s account of the Magi in his gospel is proof of this promise. The Savior had come for all people. This truly is good news. But the question comes, if the message of a Savior Who is Christ the Lord is for all people, why is there so few who receive the message, or believe the message? Sadly, because of the hardness of people’s hearts. Matthew’s account of the Magi’s search for Christ, teaches us that God rewards the diligent seeker.

The virgin birth and deity of Jesus Christ is a fundamental truth of the Gospel. Apart from Jesus’ being both human and divine, there is no gospel. Much of what Matthew writes in his gospel is for the purpose of defending the major doctrines of the Christian faith.  In the narrative of Chapter One verses 18-25, Matthew declares and defends the fact of the virgin birth of Jesus from the perspective of his foster father, Joseph. Matthew shows us that the virgin birth of Jesus is not only declared it is indisputably defended.