The Power of Christmas Truth - Matthew 1:21-2:4 (Part 1)

How often do we allow ourselves today to miss the awesomeness of the true power of Christmas? Think about it, what is the Christmas season like for most of us? For my family, it's a few chaotic days of shopping, a couple parties, lots of eating, buying gifts, and just general busyness. And don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy getting to see family and friends a lot more than usual. But what is Christmas really supposed to be about it, where does the power that is the aura of the Christmas spirit come from? We all love seeing lights, decorated trees, Santa Claus, and exchanging thoughtful gifts. But what peace, power, or hope do they really offer us? None.

The only true hope that comes from Christmas is the birth of a baby, Jesus Christ. What is about Christ that gives us this peace, power, and hope that we as Christians get excited about this time of year? There are four names, four titles, given to him in this passage that point to who he truly is.

First Name - Jesus

Matthew 1:21 reads, "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Why is the name Jesus chosen? Because he gives salvation, and will save us from our sins. If you read on down, you see in v.25 that Joseph kept this command and named the child Jesus. This is the Hebrew word Yeshua (Joshua) which means "Yahweh" or "God will save."

Luke 2:11 - "For unto you is born this day...a savior."
Mark 10:45 - "For even the Son of Man came...to give his life as a ransom for many."
Luke 10:19 - "For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."

Why do we need saving? Ephesians 1:7 says, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses." To pay that redemption is to pay the ransom to God for our trespasses, releasing us from the bondage of sin. Without that payment, we face sin's worst penalty, eternity in hell. Jesus offers us salvation, which by definition, is the rescuing from the consequences of sin. Jesus was born to provide forgiveness of sin - Acts 13:38-39 - "Through this man (Jesus) forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything."

Jesus doesn't partially forgive us, he fully pardons our sins. The Greek word aphiemi (forgive) literally means 'to send away, to dismiss.' It is total and absolute forgiveness, there is no recourse.

Psalm 103:12 - "As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." This is the Hebrew way of stating that they are placed an infinite distance from us.
Isaiah 44:22 - "I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins are like mist." He's saying that our sins can no longer be seen, like a mountain in a dense fog.

We face no judgment of sin IF we accept Christ as our savior because he paid the price, he was born so that he could save.

This does not mean that we don't commit sin, or that sin doesn't have negative consequences on our life. We do and it does. What it means is that we will never have to pay the ultimate penalty, eternity in hell, because it has been paid. When we die, we won't spend a moment in hell, we will enter into heaven. So no matter how bad your current situation, no matter how big the fear, or how tough the trial you're facing, if you have a personal relationship with Jesus, you can see forgiveness. Regardless of anything you've done wrong, all the mistakes in your past, you will have perfect forgiveness from your sins if you place your faith in Jesus Christ.

2020 is Hindsight...Finally!

Wow, what a year! 2020 could literally be an entire decade, maybe more, of history, change, and lessons rolled up into these twelve months. While many aspects of 2020 were kind of sucky and we would like to forget them, it will certainly be a year to remember. And it will be enlightening when this year is looked back on in 10, 25, or 50 years to be discussed. I wonder if we'll seem like geniuses or idiots? Probably both to some extent! While there is so much that I could consider and analyze about this year, I'll try to break some of it down into four dimensions - Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Social/Emotional. These are events and happenings from my world and perspective and I'm trying to be open in sharing and would love to hear from others on events you found most transforming. Physical When COVID cause gyms to close, that messed me up. Our town and state were late to be hit with severe cases and therefore later than many across the country to close up shop. I'm n...

Worship > Fellowship

I believe that worship, true worship of God, is more important than fellowship with other believers. Now I'm not saying that fellowship and relationships aren't important. But I am saying that if I'm not worshiping God, if I'm not right with him, then my other relationships can't be right. My fellowship and worship with him is more important than my relationship with my wife, my son, family, friends, my church, and my community. Think about it. How can I love my wife like Christ loved the church if I don't love Christ? I wouldn't know how to love without knowing him. Why should she submit to me if I'm not worth submitting to? And yes I do believes wives should submit, but I also believe that won't be an issue as long as she's submitting to a godly husband. (Ephesians 5:22-25) Our love for others must flow from our love and worship of God. 1 John 4:19-21 reads, "We love because he first loved us. If anyone says,...

Do You Need Revival?

"Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in You?" - Psalm 85:6 The thoughts below were in my devotional this morning by Dr. Lee Sheppard: "So how can we know if we need revival in our lives? Well, we need revival when our salvation has lost its joy, when our sin does not break our heart, and when we make little to no effort to witness to the lost. We need revival when worship becomes boring, when we are at odds with believers and see no need for reconciliation, and when we fail to believe God for the impossible. We need revival when we have to be begged to give and serve in church and when we would rather make money than give money. We need revival when we have to be entertained to be drawn to church and when we are indifferent to the fact that there are 2.5 billion people on the planet who have never heard the name of Jesus. We need revival when we don't regularly see the supernatural evidence of God's power and when ...

Growin' Up Gregory

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