THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRIST’S BIRTH
LAST WEEK we learned from our text in Matthew 1:18-25 that the humanity of Jesus was derived from His mother Mary. The Scripture teaches that “Christ partook of the flesh and blood of the children; that He is a fruit of the loins of David after the flesh; born of the seed of David according to the flesh; a fruit of the womb of Mary; born of a woman; a branch of David; a shoot of the root of Jesse; sprung from the tribe of Judah; descended from the Jews according to the flesh; of the seed of Abraham, since he took on him the seed of Abraham, and was made like unto his brethren in all things, sin excepted; so that in truth He is our IMMANUEL, that is to say, God with us.”
BUT JOSEPH struggled with Mary’s pregnancy. We read in vs. 19 that he was going to put her away. He must have thought, “Here I am betrothed to this woman and she is carrying another man’s child.” But we are also told in verse 19 that Joseph was a righteous and kind man, and because of this he was determined to put Mary away privately. Joseph cares about marriage. He loved the law of God, and he knew that the marriage bed is to be kept undefiled and holy. And though he loved Mary, he determined because of his love of God, and His law, that he will not unite in an estate of adultery with this woman. And so, he was determined to divorce her.
BUT AT THE same time, Joseph has great love for Mary. This is demonstrated by the fact that he doesn’t take the full recourses of the law that he could have. You see, in the Old Testament, a woman who was betrothed to a man that was found in adultery could have been stoned to death or publicly disgraced and expelled from the community. But Joseph is determined to do this quietly and not to shame her publicly or call for the death penalty.
HOWEVER, IN VERSES 20 & 21, the angel of the Lord comes to Joseph in a dream, and he says, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." Notice that the angel addresses him as the Son of David. Joseph was a humble carpenter. He was not some great merchant. And yet the angel says, Joseph, remember who you are –you are the son of David, which means he was in David’s lineage. Joseph may not have been impressive in the eyes of the world, yet to God he was a son of David, a son of the man after God’s own heart.
AND SO, God’s message to Joseph was, “you take Mary as your wife. And you name that boy, Jesus." We are told in verse 24 that Joseph awoke, and he did as the Lord commanded. Joseph believed the Word of the Lord and therefore he was obedient. What a great example of the ability to trust God despite all the outward evidence to the contrary. Joseph’s heart is broken but by faith he obeys the messenger of the Lord and takes Mary as his wife. Do we do the same thing? When your world seems to be falling all around you do you believe the promises of God in Scripture? A mark of a true Christian is faith in God’s Word, trusting what He says, following and living according to His counsel no matter what your circumstances may be! Joseph gives us an excellent example of true faith in action even when all outward circumstances would tell him otherwise. You see, we can only believe what God says when we have true faith. People without saving faith in Jesus Christ do not believe God’s Word. Do you believe? Do you trust God when everything around you seems to be coming apart? Joseph did and so must you and I.
Tuesday Encouragement: December 24, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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A PRAYER OF THANKS FOR CHRIST'S REDEMPTION
My Father and My God,
You are awesome in majesty, glorious in power, amazing in Grace, ineffable in mercy, and beautiful in love! You, O God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, are the awesome God of Heaven and earth. Thank You for saving a wretch like me! When I was spiritually dead, You made me alive. When I was filled with hatred and enmity towards You and my fellow man, You filled my soul with Your love! When I was lost, You found me. When I was homeless, You brought me to Your heavenly home. When I was naked, You clothed me in Christ's righteous robes! When I was an orphan, You adopted me. When I was blind, You made me see.
I praise You for Your mercy towards a wretch like me. You didn't give me what my sins deserve – everlasting damnation. You punished my sins in Christ. And I have broken all Your commandments in thought, word, and deed. And even as a believer, "The seed of every sin known to man — is in my heart!" Yet You gave me what I didn't deserve – grace! You gave me Jesus, You gave me redemption in Him!
I praise You that when I am faithless, You remain faithful since You cannot deny Yourself. I praise You, O Father, that even though I sin every day in thought, word, and deed, You have not nor will You ever cast me out of Your Kingdom. I know this because of Your Word, which teaches me that Christ was condemned and cast out in my place, on my behalf, as my substitute! By imputation, He was reckoned as the covenant breaker and was treated as if He had sinned all my personal sins, and those of all His people. Therefore, all the blessings in the heavenly places are mine (and all His sheep) in Christ. By the imputation of His righteousness I am treated as the covenant keeper.
Because of Your person and work, Lord Jesus, I have passed from spiritual death to spiritual life, and will never more come under condemnation since there is no condemnation for those in Christ. All this is NOT because of who I am or what I have done, but all the blessings are mine because of who You are, Lord Jesus, and what You have done! You have fulfilled the Laws demands! You have absorbed all the punishment of my sins on the cross. You arose from the dead; You ascended into Heaven; And now I am righteous in Christ!
O Father, Jesus the Christ has pleased You, as a sweet smelling aroma, by His law-abiding life and sin-atoning death, and since sin could not hold Him down, You raised Him from the dead, which declares, once for all time, that Your justice has been satisfied by Christ for His people! As John Newton once wrote, "He has hushed the law's loud thunder, He has quenched Mt. Sinai's flame … When through grace in Christ our trust is, Justice smiles and asks no more!" O my Father, keep me from sinning against You, for I feel the pull of sin in my soul. Keep me from wandering from You, from drifting from Christ, from resisting the work of the Holy Spirit in me. Keep me in Your Word and in prayer, and faithful to worship You corporately on the Lord's Day! Do not leave me to myself else I would, without a doubt, fall away from the God I love. I would return to wallow in the mud like a pig previously washed, or a dog to lick up its vomit. Lord Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd, please shepherd my wandering heart. I need You as my Shepherd; I need you every moment of every day! I depend upon You to keep me from wandering into sin.
As the hymn writer, Robert Robinson, once wrote, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above." Lead me, guide me, direct me, uphold me, strengthen me, fill me, keep me, protect me, teach me, chasten me, feed me, rebuke me, encourage me, instruct me, O Holy Spirit. Make me more and more like Jesus, and use me for His glory. "Bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee." O Lord, I love You! Stoke the fire of my love. Keep me on the straight and narrow path: serving, loving, living for Your glory!
In the name of Jesus!
Amen!
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2024 CHRISTMAS GATHERING
Photos from the 7th Annual Hope Reformed Church Christmas gathering at The Ivy, Aurora, NE, on Friday evening, December 20, 2024. A special thanks to all who helped make this a blessed time of celebrating the wondrous birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRIST’S COMING
IN MATTHEW 1:18-25, we learn that Jesus was NOT born of an earthly father. But notice Matthew is also clear to say that Mary is the mother of Jesus. This means that the humanity of Christ is derived from His mother Mary. Many false teachers down through the ages have tried to deny this fact. Some have even tried to say that Mary was just a surrogate mother, that Jesus Christ was conceived in Mary, but He was not of Mary. The idea is that the Holy Spirit produced a totally separate nature for Jesus that had nothing to do with Mary or the rest of humanity.
BUT THE SCRIPTURE says, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…” (Hebrews 2:14). And again, “He had to be made like His brethren in all things that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). We also read in the Belgic Confession, Article 18, the following words, “Therefore we confess (in opposition to the heresy of the Anabaptists, who deny that Christ assumed human flesh of His mother) that Christ partook of the flesh and blood of the children; that He is a fruit of the loins of David after the flesh; born of the seed of David according to the flesh; a fruit of the womb of Mary; born of a woman; a branch of David; a shoot of the root of Jesse; sprung from the tribe of Judah; descended from the Jews according to the flesh; of the seed of Abraham, since he took on him the seed of Abraham, and was made like unto his brethren in all things, sin excepted; so that in truth He is our IMMANUEL, that is to say, God with us.”
MARY WAS NO surrogate mother. She was not an incubator that waited for the removal of the “foreign body” that had invaded the darkness of her womb. “She will bear a Son,” the angel declared, one who is of the same genetic material and substance as Mary with respect to His humanity, yet without sin. Truly Christ is a fruit of the womb of Mary (Luke 1:42), who descended from the Jews according to the flesh, as it is written in Romans 9:5, “…of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” And according to the historic Reformed Creed, the Belgic Confession, anyone who says that Christ did not assume human flesh and blood of His mother is teaching heresy. And as a word of caution to true believers, these heretics are still with us today. They claim to speak the truth, but they are really trying to lead the people of God astray. And they are easy to spot because they always attack the true church with their doctrines of demons. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:8-9, “Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.” As Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them.” Heretics always cause schism in the church, and they always try to scatter the sheep of Christ to devour them with their false doctrine. True believers must resist them steadfast in the faith. As James says, “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.” The Apostle Paul also tells us in Romans 16:17-18, “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.”
Friday Devotional: December 20, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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