Thursday, December 22, 2016

UNTO US


Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)
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 Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

There are very few Christmas Bible passages, especially from the Old Testament, more well known than this one.

We know it speaks about Jesus:
·   It tells us something about His authority[1]
·   It tells us something about His Personality[2]
·   It tells us something about His ability[3] and then
·   It tells us about His deity[4]

The Bible says, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, Unto us…

All that happened concerning Christ was direction toward us

I. HIS THOUGHTS WERE TOWARD US
Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

What’s amazing is that the Bible says He knows our thoughts and yet He still has good thoughts toward us.

He isn’t thinking ill of you.

He isn’t thinking of how He may harm you.

He isn’t thinking how he can make you:
·   Miserable
·   Afraid or
·   Anxious

God’s thoughts toward us are thoughts of peace and not evil.

He says He is thinking about how He can bring us to “an expected end.

That is an end that is with Him in glory forever.

II. HIS FAVOR WAS TOWARD US
Isaiah 60:10c (KJV)
…in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

The Bible says Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”[5]
Some scholars believe there could have been six to seven billion people on the earth in the days of Noah’s Flood.[6]

Out of all of those billions of people, God picked one family to show favor to, and gave them the ark in which to hide from judgment.

Thousands of years later, the population of the earth has once again exploded into the billions and God once again chooses to show favor.

This time the His favor was in the form of the Saviour.

And this time, the grace was directed toward us.

You and me
Any and every one of us who will believe Him.

III. HIS GIFT WAS TOWARD US
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,

2 Corinthians 9:15 (KJV) says,
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

Christmas is the best time in the world to teach a person, especially children, about the gift of salvation.

The gift is:
1. Purchased by someone else – sometimes it is very costly
2. Given out of love – we don’t have to give the gifts, we want to
3. Impossible to earn – we don’t have to do anything to get it or to keep it
4. Only enjoyed when received – the gift is ours when under the tree, but not a benefit to us until we take it and open it

Salvation is
1. Purchased at the cost of the cross of Jesus Christ
2. Given out of God’s love For God so loved the world[7]
3. Cannot be earned – “not by works of righteousness which we have done…”[8]
4. Must be received But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.[9]

Which leads me to this final thought,
IV. HIS SALVATION WAS TOWARD US
The Bible says, Romans 10:13 (KJV)
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Underneath your Christmas tree there will be gifts with all sorts of different names on them.

Under mine will be gifts marked for:
·   Anita

·   Bohannan
·   Kimberly
·   Caleb
·   Lisa
·   Jared
·   James
·   Joshua
·   Kaylee
·   Zacharias
·   Mom
·   Dad and maybe even
·   Marvin

God has placed there a gift marked for “whosoever.”
·   It’s packaged in the Bible and
· It’s wrapped up in messages like this one

All you have to do is:
·   Accept it as your own.
·   Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you sin
·   Call upon His name and
You will be saved.





[1] and the government shall be upon his shoulder
[2] his name shall be called Wonderful
[3] Counsellor
[4] The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace
[5] Genesis 6:8
[6] Since Jesus said that the days of the coming of the Son of man will be like the days when the Flood came, that the population may have been similar to today. It is certainly possible, given the life expectancy of pre-Flood man, that the populations were much greater than evolutionists believe.
[7] John 3:16
[8] Titus 3:5 (KJV)
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
[9] John 1:12

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