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THE CHURCH ON HIGHER GROUND |
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HOMEPAGE |
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HIS STORY INTRODUCTION |
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HOMEPAGE |
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JESUS THE ANTICIPATED ONE |
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PAGE 1 FORETOLD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT |
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PAGE 2 JESUS ANNOUNCED BY ST. JOHN |
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PAGE 3 EARTHLY PREPARATION |
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PAGE 4 ALL IS MADE READY |
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PAGE 5 |
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PAGE 6 |
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PAGE 7 |
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PAGE 8 |
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PAGE 9 |
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PAGE 8
LESSON #1 His Story #21/Luke 1:67-79/Zacharias Speaks
LESSON #2 His Story #22/Mt.1:1-17/Jesus, Heir to the Throne
LESSON #3 His Story #23/Mt.1:18-21/Holy Relationships
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LESSON #1 His Story #21/Luke 1:67-79/Zacharias Speaks
Mon Jul 30, 2001 10:06 am
Subject: His Story#18/Zacharias Speaks
Zacharias had not spoken (or heard naything) for nine months. When he does speak, he gives the name "John" to his son and then he enters into a prophecy about Jesus and the ministry of John.
Whenever we read about people being filled with the Holy Spirit, we find that they were people who trusted and obeyed God. There is much which mascarades as "being filled with the Holy Spirit" but the evidence of a submissive and trusting spirit in the person is lacking. However, the standard of truth is found in the Scripture record and in it we see that the filling of the Holy Spirit is reserved for those who are walking in the light (knowledge) which they have received. Much of what is called the manifestations of the Holy Spirit can be counterfeited, but the true evidenced of the Holy Spirit is a holy and a wholly dedicated life.
Zacharias honors the true and living God, the Lord God of Israel. He is the Creator of the universe. He is the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. He is the God of the Old Testament. He is the God Who saved Noah and destryed the rest of the world. He is the God of Moses and the propehts. He is the God Who had not spoken to Israel in 400 years. He is the God who had given a son to Zacharias and Elizabeth and had given to Mary a child Who would be the Messiah.
Zacharias praised God because He was visiting them and fulfilling the promises of
redemption which He had promised to Israel (68). A visit from God was not just a social call. It was an act of either mercy or judgment. Zacharias was declaring that
God was visiting Israel with His redemption.
God has raised up a horn of salvation (69). The symbol of the horn is taken from the horn of an animal and it represented the animals power and authority. This was a symbol for ower and authority earthly kingdoms. God's "horn of salvation" portrays to us His power and authority over all of our enemies.
The horn of an animal was also used by humans for a couple of purposes. We call certain kinds of musical instruments "horns" because they were fashioned after the original "horns" used by ancient people for either music, battle or some other form of communications. God was raising up a horn of salvation and declaring the deliverance of His people (69-70).
The horn was also used for the purpose of carrying or holding items. We think of
a "horn-of-plenty" or cornucopia. It is not unusual to see a "horn of plenty" used as a decoration on a table set for a Thanksgiving banquet. All manner of fruit and vegetables overflow the "horn", symbolizing to us the bounty which God has supplied. Though we usually think of the "horn of plenty" being associated with the Greeks and not with our Scriptures, the concept of a never ending and replenishing source for any and all needs finds it's truest fulfillment in the salvation offered by God. As we read in verses 71-79,
1) we should be saved from our enemies and the hand of all that hate us,
2) He would perform the mercy which was promised to the ancients and honor His holy covenant which He made to Abraham.
3) We, being delivered from our enemies would be able to serve God without fear, in holiness and rigteousness all the days of our lives. John the Baptizer would give knowledge of salvation to His people
4) by the remission of their sins and
5) the Dayspring from on high would visit us,
6) giving His light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
7) to guide our feet in the way of peace.
Our salvation truly is a "great salvation" and God is the giver of every good and perfect gift.
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LESSON #2 His Story #19...Mt.1:1-17/Jesus, Heir to the Throne
Sat Aug 4, 2001 2:34 am
We pick up our study of the life of Jesus, in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew had been a tax collector and was therefore a man of records. As a Jew, he was meticulous in his reports and geneologies. Since he was a tax collector he would have access to official records and would know how to search out a family
history.
Matthew introduces his readers to Jesus by giving His lineage. His approach is from the legal rather than the natural point of view. Though he know that Jesus was born of a virgin and did not have a human father, Matthew traces Jesus family through Joseph, the "supposed father of Jesus", because Joseph was the legal head of the household and guardian. The family background was important because it would determine whether the Child could be a legitimate heir to the throne of David.
It is also interesting to note that Matthew does not trace Jesus' lineage back to Adam, but rather to Abraham. The Messiah or Christ or Annointed One had been prophesied since the days of Adam, but God designated a man, a family, a tribe and a nation through which He would send His Son. The man through which God would send His Son would be through Abraham. The family would be Abraham's
son Isaac rather than Ishmael and Isaac's son Jacob (also called Israel) rather than Essau. Ishmael and Essau were both in line with Abraham, but were not the chosen family for the coming of His Son. To Jacob were born several sons, all of which became the father of different tribes in the "nation of Israel." Jesus lineage
goes back through the line of the tribe of Judah of the nation of Israel.
First we are told that Jesus is the descendent of Abraham and David
(1). The great promises of the Messiah were made to these two Old Testament saints. Abraham was known as "the friend of God" and David was "a man after God's own heart." Being in line with these two men was essential for the One Who would be the Messiah.
Matthew weaves some very interesting information into this little lineage. First he gives us an outline which includes the three great periods of Israel's history; the
pre-Kingdom period from Abraham to David (2-5), the Kingdom period of David to the deportation (6-11), the Captivity period to Jesus (12-16). Notice that Joseph is referred to as "the husband of Mary, by whom was born Jesus who is called the Christ" (16).
Though this is the list of a special and chosen line, it is not a line without it's glaring blemishes. The Bible record is clear and open concerning the sins of it's greatest heroes. The fact is, "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." But greater than our sin is His grace, for "where sin did abound, grace did much more
abound." Therefore we will see the failure of men in the Divine record, but we will also see the victory of God in those same lives when they are surrendered to Him. Even in this geneology we are reminded of Judah's sin with his daughter-in-law Tamar (3) and the sin of David with Uriah's wife (6). Rahab as a pagan prostitute was rescued by God's redemptive work, while Ruth, another gentile was brought into the line of Christ when she married Boaz (5). The story of Ruth's love and devotion is of such great import that an entire book of the Bible is dedicated to the account and the book of Ruth is one of only two books in the Bible named for a
women. This is not a complete list all those in His anscestry, but it is adequate for the purpose of presenting His right to the throne of David (17).
Matthew's gospel record is to prove that Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of David. His first words prepare us for the other proofs he will offer. Have you
accepted Jesus as the King of the throne of your own heart and life?
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LESSON #3 His Story #23/Mt.1:18-21/Holy Relationships
Wed Sep 26, 2001 2:19 pm
After establishing Jesus' legal right to the throne of David through His human anscestry, Matthew records the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.
Mary was probably a very young teenage girl when she was espoused to Joseph (18). Young women were more mature in their sense of responsibility and grasp of reality than we see today in our modern world. While it is true that young women are exposed to more of life, both the good and the bad, the level of maturity has declined even in the past two generations. Women today seem to think that leaving their God appointed station as wives and mothers is more fulfilling. They think they can be "Superwoman" and do it all. We have a generation of children who have been abandoned and neglected by their mothers, as evidence that you can't improve on God's plan. There is no honor in young women who are inept at caring for a home. There is more to womanhood than washing, cleaning and cooking, but these are at least part of what is necessary for an orderly home and society. As our own western culture has rejected God's model for home and society, our whole nation has suffered. We have traded in God's plan for our lives for some social engineer who has rejected God and His Word, the Bible.
This has been God's plan for successful and happy people and families ever since the garden. There is no room in God's plan for headstrong and rebellious women any more than there is room for insensitive and domineering husbands and fathers.
Mary had been prepared as a child to be a wife and mother. She had been raised in a home with religious, spiritual and moral standards. Mary was found to be with child before she and her betrothed had come together physically (19).
To be espoused or betrothed was as legally binding as a marraige, but it had not been consumated with intimate relations. For Mary to be with child would present real problems for Joseph. It would appear that Mary had been promiscuous and had betrayed Joseph. According to Jewish law, Joseph had the right to have Mary stoned to death for committing adultery (19). However Joseph was about to call off the marraige when an angel told him that Mary was carrying the child of God (20). The angel also told him that Mary would have a Son and he was to name Him Jesus, because he would "...save His people from their sins" (21). Joseph must have believed that Mary was still a virgin, and that she had miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph was also convinced to name her Son Jesus,
rather than after himself, which would be a normal action for a new father.
Joseph was probably an older man and he was obviously sensitive to God's dealings with him. He chose not to take any action against Mary, but rather to take her as his wife and wait with her for the birth of her Child. Though we do not have
much information on Joseph, he must have been a good man and a good husband.
It was a very serious decision for Joseph to make in those days. Today in our
society men are always taking women who have birthed children by other men, either in marraige or while yet single. Of course, these same men often do not provide for the woman or the child and the child often becomes a throw-away, or abused by these temporary lovers. God cares so much for children that He protected them with very strict laws and rules of conduct. The conceiving, aborting or birthing of children as though we were simply farm-yard animals is distressing to God. We need to see the gravity and responsibility which goes hand-in-hand with child bearing. We have yet to see the extent of suffering and disorder which licentious lives produce. Young women ought to take their purity and virginity as seriously as Mary did and young men ought to be as honorable and sensitive in their relationships as Joseph was with Mary. We all ought to have God's point of view concerning male/female relationships and marraige.
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