Unto Us a Son is Given

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. Isaiah 9:6-7a

I have been struck this Christmas season with the wonder of God coming to us as a helpless baby boy. Being pregnant during this time of year, especially with a baby boy, has been especially sweet. It has made me contemplate the incarnation of Christ in a different way. I am in my third trimester now (!). I can feel this little guy moving around inside of me and the time of his arrival is quickly arriving. 

I can't help but think about Mary, the ordinary, humble, teenage, virgin girl chosen to be the mother of the Lord. She graciously accepted the plan God had for her, even though it interrupted her plans and probably squashed some of her dreams. Her reputation would forever be in question regarding her faithfulness to her fiance Joseph. I pray for her humble acceptance of God's plans. I often cling tightly to my plans for the future and don't trust His ways over mine (even though I know that His ways are higher and better). Before becoming pregnant with our first baby, I struggled with the idea of letting go of my independence to embrace motherhood. I could sense God leading me towards motherhood but wasn't sure if it would make me happy. Shamefully, I sometimes still wonder if this whole motherhood thing is for me. It's hard to die to myself - to die to my plans, my independence, my vision of ministry...

Mary was in her third trimester when it came time for her and Joseph to make their way to Bethlehem to register for Caesar's census. I can't imagine how uncomfortable she was riding on a donkey, on bumpy roads, for many miles. I was uncomfortable driving down to Nashville for Christmas and my ride was way more luxurious than hers. And I will be making an even longer journey in a week from Pittsburgh to Tuscaloosa when we move. It won't be comfortable, but the same God who sustained her on the back of a donkey will sustain me on the road in our Honda.

And even though I can relate to Mary in these different ways, my son will be much different than hers. Her Baby was no ordinary child. He is God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14). He has always existed and He came to dwell with His people and to save them. And even though He is the king of Kings, He came in the humblest of ways, While my son will be born in a nice hospital, with relatives semi-nearby, and with the modern conveniences of life, God's Son was born in a stable, far from relatives, and wrapped in old rags. While my son will have a cozy crib, God's Son had a dirty feeding trough for his bed. Jesus came in way that no one would have ever expected and His life and death were just as mind blowing as His birth.

Jesus came with one purpose: to die for the sins of the world. Isaiah 9 says that He came as light to people who were walking in deep darkness (v.2). Jesus Christ has conquered that darkness by paying the penalty for our sins. The Son given to us at Christmas came to give eternal life to the world - including this little child within me. Because of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we can know God. God gave His Son over to death so that we could become His sons and daughters. I have been praying more consistently for my son's salvation and future, that God would use him in great ways for His kingdom. I pray God opens the eyes and mind of our baby boy to see and understand this Jesus at an early age. And I pray that I continue to grow in my understanding of who He is and what He has done.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5

A Different Kind of Christmas

This year has been full of new experiences and changes (which I plan to expound on in my New Year’s post), and I feel like I am finally settling into it all.

This Christmas was also different. I spent it with different people doing different things in a different place. Daniel and I traveled to Nashville to spend Christmas with his family. To be honest, Christmas has been rather hard for me and my family for several years now. It has lost its luster and hype for us because of this, but it has also, at least for me, caused us to re-evaluate and learn to treasure Christmas for the joy it really is, for its true meaning. Sure, giving and receiving presents is fun, and so are the sights and sounds of the holidays, but none of these things last or fulfill or give us lasting joy. But when we focus in on Jesus - who He is, why He came, what He’s done - and we embrace Him for all He is and all He did for us, then we will find true satisfaction and fulfillment and joy and peace.

And Jesus can be found in the traditions and joys too because all are a gift from Him. He has purposes for the struggles and joys of life and He is in control of them all. For me, this Christmas contained much more happiness than those of recent years. It was a really sweet time of hanging out with Daniel’s family and getting to know them better, participating in their traditions, making Christmas cookies for Santa for the first time, eating lots of yummy food, and viewing the lights and decorations of the city. It was also just a time of rest. Plus, Daniel and are started some of our own traditions, like reading an Advent book together and making a gingerbread house and watching select Christmas movies together. (He bought me “Charlie Brown Christmas” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” as gifts – he had never seen them before, which I can barely compute, but we quickly remedied that).

Of course, there was still some pain of missing my dad and my mom and sister, of wanting them to share in what I was experiencing, but there was much more for which to be thankful. It was a low-key Christmas spent with family, and God helped me to keep my thoughts on Him continually. Because at the end of the day, presents and family and food and traditions do not satisfy. Time off comes to an end. Visiting comes to an end. Food comes to an end. Presents come to an end and the things that they contain do not last. But Jesus, the one that this season was established for, He never fades away. He alone meets our deepest need of fellowship, rest, sustenance, and enjoyment.

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

Taste and see that the Lord is good and that He is all you need.

Joy Has Come!

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.

One of my all-time favorite Christmas carols is  “O Come, Come Emmanuel.” I think no song captures the spirit of anticipation and longing that the Advent season is supposed to be about than this one. As I listened to or sung the song this year, these few words stood out to me: cheer our spirits. And isn’t that exactly what Jesus did? He entered our gloomy, sin-wracked world as a fragile baby in order to die a death that we deserved so that we could have the thing for which we were created and for which we desperately long (whether we realize it or not): a relationship with God. Or to put it another way: so that we can have JOY in God. Because before Jesus came to rescue us (from our sin and from God’s anger), we did not and could not enjoy God, and He could not enjoy us because of our sins (Isaiah 59:2; John 3:36). But when Jesus came, He brought life and peace and joy and freedom. Apart from Him, none of these things are ours in their fullest sense.

I think these lyrics stood out to me this year because God has been drawing my attention to the word JOY in the Bible (or some variation of the word), which appears quite frequently (177 times in the ESV). I mean, I have been listening to and reading John Piper for years and one of his main themes is joy in God. He says that “God's glory [is] exalted in our everlasting joy” and that “God is plotting for our joy.” But, as much as I have read/heard these words and believed them, I feel like I am just now starting to grasp this concept.

Jesus Christ is JOY.  He came to not only reveal true peace and true life to us, but to show us what true joy is and to make a way for us to have it. He came to bring true and lasting joy; not the temporary joy we are so used to. Apart from Christ, we can have glimpses of happiness and joy, but they are just shadows of the true. We only think we have joy until we experience the ultimate joy that is found only in God. That is where Jesus’ joy came from. He was in perfect fellowship with the Father, so even though He was called a “Man of Sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3), he could say, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). He had a perfect, intimate relationship with His Father (John 10:30, 17:11, 21) and He greatly delighted to do His Father’s will (John 5:30, 8:28, 15:10). Jesus could be joyful despite the sorrows and the suffering because He looked to the unseen (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). He knew that the Father was working out a plan that was far greater than His momentary suffering (Romans 8:28). That is why He could leave His rightful place in heaven and humble Himself to the point of death on a cross, because He was focused on the JOY that awaited Him (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 2:5-11).

And that is how we as believers can have joy to in the midst of whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. Whether you find yourself this Christmas delighting in the sights and sounds of the seasons, or wishing this time of year would pass you by (or somewhere in between), true joy is available to you if you are in Christ.

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

In the presence of God there is fullness, or completeness, of JOY. And God promises that His presence is always with His people (Matthew 28:20), which means that JOY is always available to us as believers. That is why James can exhort us to “count it all joy” no matter what circumstances we may face (James 1:2) and why Paul can say that all of our present suffering is not worth comparing to what awaits us (Romans 8:18). No matter what, we have God. No matter what, we can still rejoice in Him. Because no matter what, He is at work for His glory and our everlasting JOY. Because no matter what, nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:37-39). This is “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). Jesus has come and through His life, death, and resurrection, we can know life and peace and joy. We can know God.  

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 24-25

This is the God who came to us so long ago. To Him be the glory forever. Rejoice, rejoice with me for Emmanuel (which means "God with us") has come!

 Merry Christmas!

It’s Christmastime

I have to admit that I am a little excited about Christmas this year. The past two Christmases have been rather difficult and unpleasant (2011 and 2012), so Christmas had kind of lost its spark for me. It no longer symbolized the fun and relaxing times it used too. But this year is different. I think because the last two have been so different and because this year has been so hard, I see Christmas this year as a chance for kind of a fresh start. I know it will still be painful and bittersweet, but it also gives me, my sister, and my mom an opportunity to celebrate Christmas in a new and better way as compared to the two previous years.

But while Christmas has lost a lot of its holiday flavor for me, it has gained much theological meaning for me. In a way, it is almost fitting that some of my hardest times have come at Christmas because the first Christmas was hard. Yes, there was much rejoicing. Heaven rejoiced greatly as they saw God’s plan of redemption beginning to unfold at the birth of the long-awaited Messiah, God’s very Son (Luke 2:14). And, yes, there is always much joy surrounding the birth of a new baby. But this no-name couple of little means and little reputation had just traveled hundreds of miles to a small town, by themselves, with the help of a donkey. Oh, and the young woman was very, very pregnant. They knew God was up to something great – given the miracle of this virgin’s pregnancy – but they didn’t know exactly what and they didn’t know how it would all pan out. I am sure they were afraid, anxious, apprehensive, and confused at times, but they still obeyed in the midst of the unknowns. The first Christmas was not all roses – far from it – but there was still much to rejoice about even in the midst of such adversity. Maybe this is what the true Christmas spirit is really supposed to be.

Kristi and I have continued our fairly-recent tradition of preparing our hearts for Christmas. What began as just reading the accounts of Jesus' birth found in Matthew and Luke a few days before Christmas has now extended to participate in the season known as "Advent" (starting the first Sunday in December and continuing to Christmas Day). This year we are using a devotional based on Christmas songs so it’s added the interesting dynamic of singing into our devotionals. It isn’t as meaty theologically as the one last year (John Piper’s Good News of Great Joy), but it is serving its purpose of pointing us to Christ and His coming. The Lord usually shows me something new about His coming each year and this year is no exception, but I’ll save that for a future post.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

 So even though I have been gearing up for Christmas in different ways – hosting two parties, decorating our apartment (beyond mine and Kristi’s usual hang-a-stocking-on-our-bedroom-doors tradition), listening to Christmas music constantly (also a new thing for me; I even bought a CD this year) – it's hard to believe that Christmas is only ten days away. I am not sure what Christmas will look like this year, but I am trusting God for good things and looking forward to Him making it "new" (Revelation 21:5) for me and my family.

Tears for Christmas

The timing of the way the Lord sends His word is always perfect. I always hear what I need to hear at just the right time. This Christmas is shaping up to be a rather painful one. My sister and I arrived home to Missouri last evening. There was already a cloud hanging over us due to my dad’s cancer, but the Lord has been gracious to keep our heart and hope in Him. My personal hope was that this Christmas would be more pleasant than the last. So far this is not the case. I knew my mom had not been doing very well. My dad took her to the ER last week and they said she had something viral and refused to admit her into the hospital (they made this diagnosis without running any tests). The extent of her condition was not communicated to me, so I was not prepared for what I came home to. When I walked in the door, she was sitting in her rocking chair – pale and rigid with wide eyes full of fear. She can barely move and barely speak. She has suffered more than anyone I know and sometimes it’s hard to see God’s good purposes in that. Even now she is writhing in agony as she tries to sleep, and my heart is breaking…

There have been a few other things that have happened– disappointments and hard conversations – that have added to the sorrow. As I was journaling last night, I told the Lord how much I needed Him to meet me in the pain. I have not the strength for these things, but He says that His grace is sufficient. I needed a fresh wave of His mercy and grace. God heard my prayer. In my inbox this morning were two emails that met me where I was. One was a blog post from Dr. Mohler about those who mourn during Christmas time. He says:

Christmas is especially for those who mourn and suffer grief, for the message of Christmas is nothing less than the death of death in the death and resurrection of Christ.

Yes. Christmas gives us hope for the Man of Sorrows entered our suffering and sorrow to secure for our everlasting joy and healing. The other was a blog post from my pastor about believing in Jesus’ ability and willingness to heal.

Do you go through your day as if the miracle you need is just too much to hope for let alone ask for?  Do you find yourself continuing to ask for the supernatural, but not believing in your heart that God can actually do it? 

I can all too well relate to this. The circumstances have been bitter as of late and under of the weight of them I am struggling to cling to the truth that God is working in these things for good (Romans 8:28), that He intends to answer and heal and restore. But this is what Scripture teaches us about His character. He longs to show grace and mercy (Isaiah 30:18) and He is good and does good (Psalm 119:68). Christmas is the ultimate expression of God’s disposition toward us to do us good. In the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God meets our deepest need and gives us our greatest hope. So even though circumstances may be hard and painful, I can still have joy because it was secured forever by Jesus Christ when He chose to take on flesh forever in order to save us in every possible way. The night may be dark, but morning is coming and there is joy in the dawn.

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. John 16:22

Pondering Christmas

I can’t believe Christmas is upon us and this year is almost over. This year, and these past few months in particular, have flown by. December is passing just as quickly, but not without some reflections on the reason for Christmas. Each year the Lord teaches me something new or takes me deeper into the depths of the incarnation of Christ (for that is what this time of year is supposed to be celebrating).

For the past several years, Christmas has been different in my family. In actuality, it’s not as pleasant and fun as it used to be and many of our traditions (what little we had) have slowly died away. My sister and I, however, have started our own traditions. We try to be intentional each year about fixing our minds and hearts on Jesus Christ, and the Lord, in His wisdom and abundant grace, is more than willing to give us resources and creative ideas in pondering the birth of the Son of God. This year my sister and I have been going through John Piper’s free advent book called Good News of Great Joy. It contains 25 short little devotionals meant to prepare your heart to purposely (it doesn’t happen by accident) see Christ during the Christmas season, and I believe it is helping us just do that.

Besides that, the Lord has gripped me this year with the purpose of His coming. He came to die. It is no secret that we are all going to die some time (Hebrews 9:27), but His purpose for being born was to die (Matthew 20:28; Hebrews 2:14). And that’s why there is Christmas.

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life...Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour...Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. John 12:23-25, 27-28a, 31-33

At Rolling Fields, our pastors are preaching on the necessity of Christmas. This past Sunday, Pastor Aaron preached from the familiar passage of Philippians chapter two, but in doing so he focused not only on verses 5-11, but he included verses 1-16 in order for us to grasp and feel the weight of Paul’s main point. While verses 5-11 teach us much about the humility and reason for the coming of Christ, the Apostle Paul did not write them in isolation. It’s easy (for me anyway) to break up the paragraphs and forget they are one continuous thought. In the original Greek, there were no paragraph breaks and no paragraph headings. The text was meant to be read as a whole. Pastor Aaron was talking about church unity and how we are commanded to consider others as more important than ourselves (which is counter-intuitive). This is the point Paul is driving towards; it is the reason he includes the example of Christ’s humility. Christ, being in the very nature God and in the very presence of God (John 1:1), did not consider His own rights, but humbled Himself by taking on human flesh, by becoming one of us, by becoming like us so that He could identify with us in every way (Hebrews 4:15-16) and thus save us. Jesus Christ considered our needs (He considered us!) as more important that Himself so that He might save each of us. He emptied Himself of the glory His deserved in order to enter our mess of a world and save us wandering and hostile/indifferent sinners.

"There is nothing about us that makes us deserve to be in the presence of God, and if the One who did deserve to be in the presence of God would empty Himself, be found in the form of a man, come as a servant - why did Christ do it? For our greatest need! Life. We are dead in our sin and our trespasses apart form Christ's work." Pastor Aaron

Another thing that I have been pondering is this: we all too often question the goodness of God, but never think twice of questioning the goodness of humanity. I know a friend that is having trouble getting a job in the healthcare profession because when asked on a psychiatric test required for employment if she believes that human beings are innately good and she responds no, she is rejected for employment and told “her values don’t line up with theirs.” When you look at society, the assumption seems to be that humans are innately good and that God’s goodness is questionable. But that is not what Scripture or experience teaches. Scripture says that our hearts are deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:6), that we are tempted by our own evil desires (James 1:13-15), and that there is no one that is good (Psalm 14:1-3; Romans 3:10-18). The truth is that we are all innately evil, but because of God’s grace the expression of that evil is restrained. The same sin that is so readily apparent in heinous crimes (like that of last Friday), is in each of us. It is only by God’s grace that we aren’t as bad as we could be. But that’s why there is Christmas. We need new hearts. We need new desires. We need a remedy. And the bad news is that that remedy is not something we can conjure up. As Pastor Andy says, “God is not concerned with making bad people good, but with making dead people alive.” So we are dead and cannot help ourselves.

This is where Christmas comes in. Christmas is the remedy. God the Father saw our helpless state and decided to send His Son. Jesus Christ left His rightful place in heaven where He was worshiped by countless angels. He left the place He deserved and belonged in order to come to us – to enter a womb, to take on human flesh, to be born in human likeness, to obey God’s law perfectly, to fulfill all that God requires of us, to be perfect for us, so that He could die for us and take our punishment, so that we would be united with Him and God the Father forever. This is the message and hope of Christmas. Jesus Christ was born for the purpose of dying so that you and I could become the righteousness, the children, the inheritance of God. He came to make us, who were dead, alive to God. And this is very good news. This is the hope of Christmas. Oh, taste and see that He is good!

A Different Kind of Christmas

I woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow on the ground. Just a few days too late for Christmas. :)

Christmas this year was much different than originally planned or expected. Very little about it actually “felt” like Christmas and there were many surprises. The most obvious being that my sister and I didn’t make it to Missouri. We returned to Louisville after my car bit the dust, scrambling to make alternate plans. When it was decided that I could borrow my grandma’s car, my parents agreed to come to Louisville to get us.

All of this has made me so thankful for the body of Christ. The Scripture proves true that God gives us many brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers when we follow Him (Mark 10:29-30). Both mine and Kristi's church families were ready and willing to put themselves out to help us at the drop of a hat. My church-friend Katie left her 3 children and sick husband and drove 85 miles (one way) in order to pick up Kristi and me from the side of the road. The next day, Kristi's church-friend Ruth took us out to eat for lunch and then to the grocery store. Kristi and I have mastered the art of making sure there is no (perishable) food in our apartment when we leave for long trips, so we were in need of food. Plus, I wanted to cook dinner for my parents when they got in. It was my first (and very impromptu) Christmas dinner - baked chicken, green beans, real mashed potatoes and peanut butter pie.

Christmas Eve lunch with Ruth at Saigon Cafe

Originally, my parents had agreed to go to the Christmas Eve service at Kristi's church in St. Louis, but since  that got scratched, we talked them into going to the Christmas Eve program at the Korean church she attends in Louisville.

Then they went with us to Rolling Fields on Sunday morning. It was the first time we have ever went to church together for Christmas. :) The Lord is very kind. We had been wanting our parents to come visit us and I really want to go to Rolling Fields for Christmas and, in ways I would have never imagined, the Lord granted those desires. So, even though the holidays were much different that I expected, it was still good. The Lord clearly ordained and worked through the events that took place. He had His own plans and gifts for Christmas 2011 and I praise the One who came and died in order that I might live for Him.

And He shall be Great

The older I get and the deeper I go in my walk with Christ, the more I appreciate Christmas. It’s not the lights, the presents, the food or any of that other stuff that goes along with this holiday in America. In fact, I care less and less for this stuff every year. But, with each year, I am learning the weight of this day we keep as a remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ. If you take the time to think about what this day truly means, it is very powerful.

Each Christmas season, the Lord focuses my attention on a certain aspect of Christ’s birth. This year I have been reflecting on two things: His appearing and His greatness. There are two passages that coincide with these themes. The first is Titus 2:11-14:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself up for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14

First, and most obviously, Jesus appeared. This is the whole reason why we celebrate Christmas – Jesus came. God came to earth. He left His glorious throne in heaven to become one of us so that He might save us. He became nothing so that we might gain everything through Him (Philippians 2:5-11). His appearing means our salvation, our life, our hope and our escape from the wrath of God. Jesus came not to judge but to save and serve, but when He appears for the second time, it will be for judgment. The first appearing was to display His great mercy and grace by accomplishing our salvation and His second appearing will be to display His wrath and justice. Only those who love His appearing will be saved from the wrath to come (2 Timothy 4:8).

The second passage is from the book of Luke:

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Luke 1:30-33

This proclamation from the angel tells us a lot about the Lord Jesus. His name will be Jesus, which means God saves (Matthew 1:23). He will be the Son of God. He will also be the Son of David. He will be the fulfillment of every Old Testament promise (2 Corinthians 1:20). He will be an eternal King – unlike all the other kings that have gone before. His Kingdom will last forever. These are some of the reasons why He will be great, but there are more. He is great because He alone can and did accomplish our salvation (Isaiah 63:5). He is great because He is the beginning and end, the first and the last (Revelation 22:13). He is great because in Him all the fullness of the deity dwells (Colossians 2:9). He is great because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:6). He is great because He is the very God of the universe (Hebrews 1:3 & 11:3). He is Immanuel – God with us - and He has come. So this is why we (should) celebrate Christmas: this great God has appeared so that we may be saved from our sins and so that we might know Him. I pray that you will truly know and believe this truth this year.

A Shepherd and a King

For the past couple of years, Kristi and I have read the birth account of Christ together in honor of Christmas (found in the first two chapters of Matthew & Luke). Sometimes we also read some of the Old Testament prophecies that point to His coming. This year we read Isaiah 9 and Ezekiel 34. Isaiah 9 speaks of a King whom God promises to send to rule His people and Ezekiel 34 speaks of a Shepherd whom God promises to feed His people. I was struck during our reading that both kings and shepherds came to see Jesus after He was born.

Shepherds came to visit the Great Shepherd (John 10:11; Hebrews 13:20) and kings journeyed from afar to worship the King of Kings (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16).

When the kings/wisemen from the East came to Jerusalem seeking to find the promised King, King Herod was alarmed and gathered Jewish scholars together to determine where this King was to be born:

They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”(Matthew 2:5-6)

Jesus Christ is this promised King. As King, He rules His people with perfect justice, wisdom, righteousness and peace. He is a mighty warrior who victoriously leads into battle. He fearlessly conquers all His enemies. "And of His kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:33).

Jesus Christ is this promised Shepherd. As our Shepherd, He guides His people into all truth. He cares for, tends and protects His flock. If any of His sheep stray, He will go after them and bring them back. He gives them rest in a good and safe pasture. "And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God” (Ezekiel 34:31).

Merry Christmas!!!