The Coming of the Saviour
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,” (Galatians 4:4)
The Christmas story actually starts in the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and God confronted them, He also told the serpent, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) This is the first promise of the Redeemer in Scripture. The “seed of the woman” is Jesus.
Jesus would suffer a temporary, non-fatal injury. This happened when He was crucified for our sins and was buried, but then rose again victorious over sin and death. The devil, however, will ultimately have a permanent injury. One day it will happen that “…every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,” (Philippians 2:11) The devil himself will one day have to confess to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Adam and Eve learned to worship God by sacrifice. Abel offered “…the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.” (Genesis 4:4) Adam must have taught his children, and God taught Adam. Offering sacrifice was an act of obedience. It was also a preview of Jesus’ death for our sins. Cain rejected this worship and offered fruit. He wanted to worship God his way, not God’s, so God did not respect Cain or his offering.
In Genesis 12:3, God told Abram, aka Abraham, “…in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” God doesn’t just care about Israel, but “all families of the earth.” Later, in Genesis 49:10, Jacob blessed his twelve sons before his death. He said of Judah, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Shiloh in this verse is a representation of the Redeemer who would come from the tribe of Judah.
Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This point about Jesus’ virgin birth is important. If Jesus were not virgin-born, He was just a human being, like everyone else, guilty of sin, and His death on the cross would have meant nothing. Mary verified her virginity when the angel Gabriel told her she would be Jesus’ mother, and she asked, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (Luke 1:34)
Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “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. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.” This Scripture says the Redeemer would come from David’s family line.
Micah 5:2 says, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” According to this verse, the Redeemer would be born in Bethlehem.
Finally the time came, as our passage says, when God “…so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Jesus’ birth, death, burial, and resurrection were foretold in Scripture. Jesus came to give us the best Christmas present a person can have: eternal life. Do you want to know how to have forgiveness of your sins and eternal life by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour? To know more, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 12/13/2023
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822