Title: Immanuel / Matthew 1:18-25
Content God has continued the work of man's salvation in history. The good news of God was preached through the prophets in every age, and the people of faith firmly believed in God's promises and longed for God's promises to be fulfilled.
In the words given to us today, we are talking about how God's work of redemption was manifested in detail.
Matthew is listing the genealogy of Jesus Christ while writing the Gospels. However, here we can see that we are not simply arranging the times while reading the genealogy, but showing God's hand of salvation.
Today's text can be divided into three main parts. The first is to see the conception of Jesus and Joseph's hesitation. The second is to interpret the prophecies of the Old Testament because the birth of Jesus is not a sudden event but is related to the prophecies of the Old Testament. We are talking about the answers of God who worked.
The birth of Jesus is that God came at a special time, in a special place, in a special way, and into the life of a special person. God's merciful love and grace will be bestowed upon all mankind who believe in him in Jesus Christ. This grace is something that no one in the world can make and no one else can give us.
The birth of the Son of God in a human body is the greatest miracle and the greatest joy for us humans. This is God's work to realize the reality of Immanuel. God came as a human to be with us.
One cold winter day, it was a Christmas day with a lot of snow. As my husband, who was deeply religious, went to Christmas service and went home, the wife continued to pour out her doubts.
The process of the birth of Jesus Christ is the conception of Mary by the Holy Spirit, and the child conceived by a virgin is also the fulfillment of the prophecy that God had already spoken through the prophets.
(Matthew 1:22) All these things were done to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophets, saying,
(Mat 1:23) Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will call his name Immanuel, which is translated, “God with us.”
These words were already prophesied by the prophet Isaiah 700 years ago.
(Isaiah 7:14) Therefore the Lord Himself will give you as a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
The most convincing proof of the prophecy of the birth of Jesus Christ is the virgin birth of a virgin. This is a sign that only God can do by sending Christ.
And the prophet Micah
(Micah 5:2) Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.
The fulfillment of these prophecies was
Luke 2:1 At that time, Caesar Augustus sent down his spirit, saying, “Record all under the heavens.”
(Luke 2:2) This was the first record that Cyrenius did when he was governor of Syria.
(Luke 2:3) And all went back to their hometowns, each to go register.
(Luke 2:5) And when he went up to register with Mary the betrothed, she was already pregnant
The emperor at that time was Octavian, the nephew of Julius Caesar, who was assassinated by Brutus, and succeeded him in establishing the most powerful empire in Roman history. To rule a vast empire, great finances were required. The census was conducted as a preparatory step to securing that financial aid. It can be seen that God's almighty providence used even the political policy of this Gentile king as His instrument to guide the steps of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.
This history of the birth of Jesus already began in Genesis. Punishing snakes for committing humans to crime
(Genesis 3:15) I will make you hostile to the woman, and your descendants to her seed and enemies; and the offspring of a woman shall bruise you in the head, and you shall bruise her in the heel.
If all of this was recorded and prophesied in the Bible, then the truly amazing work of God would be marvelous.
First, it frees us from guilt.
Second, we are freed from the effects of sin.
Third, He saves us from the consequences of sin.
Sin not only causes physical death, but also separates us from God forever. However, by believing in Jesus Christ, God and I become one forever, and on the day the Lord comes again, we have the blessing of being revived in the body with the sound of the archangel's trumpet.
Such spiritual grace, which allows us to live with God in heaven forever, has appeared on this earth. This is the true purpose of Christmas. I hope that the whole family can spend a joyful and joyful Christmas while pondering the meaning of Christmas, which brought us away from guilt, the power of sin, and the consequences of sin.