The Sign Of Emmanuel

Trying to escape the holiday noise can be very challenging. Taking A deep breath to open your Bible and read the Christmas story is an opportunity to reawaken our senses to what really happened that first Christmas

In Isaiah 7:14, The prophet Isaiah rights that the version will be Which child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Emmanuel – God with us. We can picture your Mary wrapping big baby Jesus. Her hands carefully folded each corner of cloth. I like the beautiful bow on the perfect Christmas gift, her mother we instincts kick in as she cradled her newborn boy.

As we picture the scene, some of us will receive a fresh revelation of what we have been missing this Christmas season. In the hustle and bustle of creating the perfect Christmas, we forget to unwrap the perfect gift, the most important gift of all the gift of Emmanuel – God with us.

Hundreds of years before the prophetic words we’re actually fulfilled. But indeed, the pieces were in place for them to become a reality some 2000 years ago.

In Luke verse 2, Each word and Isaiah’s prophecy reminds us of the first Christmas night and God‘s promise that came through in Bethlehem. “She gave birth to her first born, a son, he wrapped him in clothes and place him in a Manger…” – Luke 2:7

Let us come before God and unwrap God presents in our lives today. Invite Jesus to bring home to your anxious heart. To bring his perspective to your expectations and to help you enjoy the gifts and blessings that God has given you. Remembering that Emmanuel, God is with you.

Simply pausing to acknowledge and thank Jesus for being with us will bring peace to our hearts unlike any white light or matching table settings could ever do.

Isaiah 7: 15-17

Why Is Christmas Eve December 24th?

The traditional date of December 25 goes back as far as AD 273. Two pecan festivals honoring the sub were celebrated on the day and it is possible that December 25 was chosen to counteract the inflow paganism.

To this day some people feel uncomfortable with Christmas because they think it is somehow tainted by the pagan festivals held on this day. But Christians have long believe that the gospel not only transcends culture, it also transforms it. In A.D. 320 one theological answered this criticism by noting “We hold this day Holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of Him who made it,”

Having said that, you may ask, “Does it really matter?” In one sense of course, the answer is no. No doctrine of the Christian faith rests upon knowing the exact day and year of Christ’s birth. And no stress is put upon the date on His birth in the New Testament. No one is ever told to celebrate Christmas. The emphasis always rests on the fact of His birth, not the date. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Christianity is a faith based on certain historical facts. Let us on this Christmas Eve rejoice in this great truth.

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

The Word Became Flesh

Though we find ourselves in a season of bright lights Christmas trees, and presents, as followers of Jesus, we live with the reality that we still live in a world where darkness seems ever-present. This is no surprise to many of us. We experience suffering in relationships, through disease and through death.

Remembering John 1:5 the resurrection of Jesus allows us to have faith that, even in chaos we see all around us, there are better days ahead. With a confident foreshadowing of the story’s end, the writer John assured us who will ultimately come out on top. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

Right here John sums up the season of Advent even amidst the great deal of darkness in this world, the light of Jesus shines bright. He who experienced all of the darkness, even death itself, and was not overcome, now dwells in us as God’s Spirit.

In John’s mind, this is why Jesus came. Jesus came into the world to be the light driving out darkness. John has barely begun his gospel narrative before introducing this cosmic conflict as the reason God the Father sent the Son. The conflict is real, and so is our pain. But we can take heart as the light shines within us and through us, in even the darkness of times.

Consider this week how the light of Christ may shine into the darkness around you. In those times when we have accepted the darkness instead of carrying the light of Christ, invite God’s presence to draw near, and light us your life, so that you can bring His light into our dark word this Christmas and always.

John 1:1-5

What Is Sheol?

Exploring The Afterlife

Several Fashion times throughout scripture, the word “Sheol” Appears with the reference to the afterlife. The old testament portrays Sheol as the bunker of humanity enemy, The devil, and the exilic wilderness away from The Promised land. Yet Sheol under God and authority, an old testament saints testified to his power Who raise people up from the depth of Sheol. And Jesus, God did you get that: He entered the realm of death himself, Defeating death in the grave,And filling in the darkness of Sheol With the light and His resurrection.

Sheol It’s one of those old testament words that usually confuses modern Bible readers. Oh testament witness of Sheol Is a difficult topic, made more difficult by the relative lack of explicit mention or discussion in Israel scriptures of an intermediate state after death. Further, the current censuses among biblical scholar ship is that ancient Israel did not care much about the afterlife, leading many to conclude that they did not affirm an intermediate state. The critical consensus How do even supposed Bible warrant to some Contemporary Christian philosophers and theologians who do not believe and intermediate state is a tenable position. Given all difficulty, what can we learn about Sheol from the Old Testament? And how should we think about it as believers?

“Sheol is a place of darkness, but it is also a place where God still remembers His people and where He is still King.”

The biblical picture of Sheol imagine the Old Testament is rather shady, both in terms of the lack of specificity and in terms of actual descriptions of the place. The biblical writers don’t usually go into exorbitant detail about Sheol or it inhabitants he and when they describe it is often pictured as dark, dusty, and gloomy. (Psalm 88:6, 12; 143:3)

In What follows, is categorized The old testament’s language about Sheol in three ways, The first two of which indeed primarily negative. Sheol Typically viewed as under the rule of God’s enemy. Satan the enemy bunker, it’s place outside the land.

But contraryToo much modern miracle scholarship, The Old Testament also has positive things to say about the intermediate state, and modern critical scholarships conclusions regarding the lack of affirmation of an afterlife, are overstated. In what follows, we will see yes, Sheol Is a place of darkness, but it is also a place where God still remembers His peopleI am where He is still King.

Sheol Is The Enemy’s Bunker

In the Old Testament, the most common way of describing Sheol is at the house of death. It is the realm of the dead, where are all the dead go. Yes even personified in Proverbs 1:9, Well lady Folly’s house, And the meal she still serves there, it is characterized by death. Humanities or Heuser, Satan, it’s French over to his house of the dead. Death is his name in and his jailer. That dragon, the great serpent, has been attacked down to eat dirt for the rest of his days, and the dirt he eats is that of his realm, the grave. (Genesis 3:14) The Place of the dead is enemy territory, ruled by the first and greatest enemy of humankind, the accuser,

Speaking of meals, the Old Testament speaks of Sheol as the one who is never satisfied,Always attempting to fill his belly but never achieving his goal Always attempting to fill his belly but never achieving its goal. Nothing less than all humanity will satiate it. (Proverbs 30;15; Habakkuk 2:5) Its Mouth is an open pit, swallowing all eventually. This I sat gluttony Is one of the reasons why is it often characterized as the abode and Maddie final enemy, death itself, And why did he even called humanity’s Shepard. (Psalm 49:14)

Sheol it is a place where there is no escape. The gates are locked, the windows are barred, and the prison guard, death is undefeatable through human effort. (Job 19:21; 17:13-16; Isaiah 38:10) The Gates of hell are akin to Morannon, back gate of Mordar, unassuming Guarding Sauron’s territory in the Lord of the Rings.Human beings on their own cannot escape. Only something unexpected, entering into the realm of the dead and breaking down the gates from the inside, could ever hope to defeat both Hells gates and the master storming the gates, for mere human, it is futile.

Sheol Is The Exilic Wilderness

Sheol it’s also Sybolically Characterized in the Old Testament is the opposite of the Promised Land. Can you put it geographically It is an ultimate place of exilic wilderness, a place from which one cannot return to the land flowing with milk and honey. Instead the only meal you can eat in Sheol is dust and ash. Further, instead of God being praised in the sanctuary – And ask wicked necessity is Boldly – there no praise of God in Sheol,And the dad do you not remember Him. Most striking is Psalm 6:5, “ in death there is no remembrance of you, in Sheol Who will give you praise?” Likewise Isaiah 38:28 reads, “Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.”

What are we to make of these kinds of descriptions? Are the dead, and especially the dead who die with faith in the true God, Now experiencing torment, Or utterly separated from God? We should begin by noting that these are covenantal and liturgical statements, first in for most Psalm 6:5, States the obvious, Found in the book of Psalms, a book comprised mature originally written for liturgical Contexts. The acts of praise, lament, thanksgiving, Celebration, and remembrance were, for Israel, primarily acts that took place in the tabernacle and later the temple.

Similar characterization about Sheol, like the fact that is the place of darkness and dust, could also be contracted to statements about the promised land and specifically the Tabernacle/Temple, Both of which are characterized by the light of God’s presence to the assembly of Israel and the flowing water and the spirit, who is especially and particularly present in the most Holy Place and, by extension, the land.

“ in order to be raised from the dead, someone would have to break down the gates of hell.“

Alternatively, rather than dusty graves sometimes, Sheol is equated with the abyss, a place at the bottom of the sea. Jonah 2:2-9, Job 26:5 In The Old Testament , and she is often described as a place of chaos and disorder, a place to stand in opposition to the firm ground of the Promised Land. To go to the sea, and especially to its depths, Is to go away from God’s presence As Israel knew it through the tabernacle/ temple In the Promised Land.

Whether Sheol is described as the wilderness where the wild beasts live or the abyss where the chaos monster swim, Israel conceive of it symbolically as opposite of Canaan. This is because, for Israel, to live meant to live embodied within the assembly of God and especially through worshiping Him at the tabernacle/temple at liturgical intervals.

These two pictures, of Sheol as the enemies bunker and Sheol as the exilic wilderness are indeed beekeeper. Death takes everyone, righteous and unrighteous alike, and no one comes back from the realm of the dead. After responding to Bildad’s call to repent, Job expresses this common fate of humanity and his prayer to God:

  • Why did you bring me out of the womb?
  • Would that I had died before my eyes had seen me As were as though I had not been carried from the room to the grave.
  • Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer before I go – and I found that return – To the land of darkness and deep shadow, the land of gloom like darkness, deep shadow without any order, we’re like it’s a thick as darkness. – Job 10:18-22.

Does the enemy, therefore, always win, even if during this life God made give Israelites Victory over their human enemies? Does death always have and Incurable sting and that’s always gain the final victory? The short answer is no.. Because the Lord is king over all things.

Sheol In Under The Kings Authority

In the old testament, God has no rival. There is no place in heaven, on earth, or underneath the earth over which the Lord Almighty does not reign. Of course, His chosen people, Israel dwell in a specific place, the place that he prepared and won for them, The promised land. But God’s rule does not shop at Israel’s border And is not limited to His throne room in heaven. It extends even over the territory of Israel’s enemies on earth and to the depths of Sheol in the underworld.

This means that, despite Shell’s gluttony, despite its characterization as the enemy‘s bunker and all of humanity’s exilic wilderness, God still has authority in the darkest of places, and natural habitat for those who have received in the sin’s wages (Isaiah 25:8). As Richard Bauckham puts it.

How Accurate Is The Bible?

That is a question many have asked after hearing a college professor tell his class, that the Bible was filled with inaccuracies so, it was not trustworthy. It is understandable that some individuals (or groups) are motivated to discredit the Bible, and it is understandable that an unbelieving professor stepped outside out of his expertise. But how should we respond to the 400,000 variants in the Bible? Can we really trust the Bible? To answer this question, we need to start by understanding the One who wrote the Bible. We need to understand the character of God.

What is God Like?

The character of God is the only real reason we can trust the Bible to speak the truth. Most critics are not aware they have a faulty assumption that colors their view of the Bible. Here’s how most people view God.

Psalm 50:21 states. “ You thought that I was just like you.

God speaks boldly in this verse. He Is not like us. He does not make mistakes. He does not need Encyclopedia Britannica, the Library of Congress, or a news reporter to help him understand something or to collect information. He already knows everything and the book of Numbers tells us why we can trust Him when He speaks or writes.

Numbers 23:19. “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or had He spoken, and will He not make it good?

And,

Hebrews 6:18 says “ in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie.

The Mystery Of God

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways. And my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

God Wrote The Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that God wrote the Bible.

All Scripture is inspired by God.

The word inspired comes from a Greek word that means “God Breathed.” That is God “breathed” the words that were to be written. He wrote all 66 books, all 1189 chapters and all 31,173 verses in the Bible. This is an easy task for an omnipotent God. He is not like us – He does not grow tired ( Isaiah 40:28), and He does not sleep ( Psalm 121:14), He does not lie (Numbers 23:19). That is why we can trust what He wrote.

The Voice Of God

How do we know the Bible was written by God? Several years ago I asked a friend and also a believer. Why he believed the Bible was true. He told me that he knew God was real by the experienced he had and by how God had helped him. I told Him about the different so-called religions that thought their god is the true one think about that. If experience is the test of truth, then they were all correct? If so, we have a problem. How do we then know that God is speaking to us in the Bible?

The answer is already given to us in the Bible. Read Deuteronomy 18:20-22.

But the prophet who shall speak a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak or which he shall speak in the name of others gods, that prophets shall die. “ And you may say in your heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord has spoken?” “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which does not come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him.
Fulfilled prophecy is a sign that God has spoken in the Bible. The Bible is the only secured book that contains future predictions that have come true. It is a very unique book with 747 prophecies recorded in about 8,500 verses. That is about 25% of the Bible. The prophecies occur in both the Old Testament and New Testament Apostles, and Jesus all made those about the future. They have come true except for those which are future. The Bible is also a book of history whose facts are being proven to be true with almost every archaeological finding. The Bible is accurate when it speaks to history, and when it makes predictions, they come true. It is Truth.

The Signature of God

The Bible contains a number of fascinating proofs that absolutely authenticate the Scriptures as the authoritative Word of God. The evidence from hundreds of fulfilled prophecies from one of the strongest and most obvious proofs of divine inspiration. – Grant R Jeffrey.

What Is The Role Of The Holy Spirit?

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is one of three persons in the trinity. ( Acts 5:3-4) He is fully God, just as God the Father and Jesus are. The Bible also teaches that He convicts people of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He helps Christians to understand the Bible. ( 1 Corinthians 2:12-14) pray (Romans 8:26-27), and to have victory over sin. (Galatians 5:16+23; Ephesians 5:18,, He also give believers spiritual gifts and ministers to believers here on earth in so many different ways. This is the Holy Spirit’s ministry today.

But the question is “What is the role of the Holy Spirit?” What does He do in heaven?

Holy Spirit Within The Trinity

There are four important statements about the Holy Spirit that are found in the gospel of John 14:16. It reveals that within the trinity God the Father has the authority to send a Helper.

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever...” - John 14:16.

The Scriptures teach that God the Father is the master planner. For example, in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-14) Jesus taught the disciples to pray that God the Father cause His Kingdom to occur soon. He urged the disciples to ask that His will wound be done on earth as in heaven. Jesus also taught that the Father is the one who provides for our needs and forgives our sins. Ephesians 1:3-5 reveals that God the Father planned who would be saved. In summary, God the Father is the master planner within the trinity. So, Jesus said that He would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit.

While it says God planned who would be saved. I believe we can change God’s heart by praying and asking for mercy. Read Matthew 15:27. Even if God chooses who will be saved. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed it will grow into something so much larger.

John 14:16 echos the truth that God the Father would send the Helper, who is the Holy Spirit.

“But the Helper,the Holy Spirit, whom the Fsther will send in My name, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” - John 14:26.

In John 16:7, Jesus repeats the point that theHoly Spirit is subject to Christ.

“But I tell you the truth,it is to your advantage that I go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I wupil send Him to you.” - John 16:7

These verses teach that the Holy Spirit’s ministry today is to believers here on earth. This is the ministry that God the Father and Christ have given Him to perform today,

Role of the Holy Spirit In Heaven

So, what is the role of the Holy Spirit in heaven? The explicit answer is not given to us, we could say that His role In heaven is to obey the Father and Christ within the trinity. God the Father has the authority, Christ and the Holy Spirit are subject to Him. The Holy Spirit also submits to Jesus. Jesus is or Savior and the Lord, and the Holy Spirit is our Helper. He helps believers here on earth.

The Summary

The Holy Spirit has a ministry here on earth and it is to believers. However, Scripture does not give us any informational to His role I. heaven. Whatever the Holy Spirit’s role in heaven, it is in cooperation with submission to God the Father and Christ.