For Unto Us… A Savior is Born….The Light of the World is Born….God Becomes Man!!
I love the Christmas season! So many things about this time of the year bring back many childhood memories! What a magical time! Many of us look forward to the season for the nostalgia! The older I become and the closer I walk with the Lord, Christmas takes on more and more a special time for me and many other Believers!!
Does Christmas signal to us how great things are? No. Far be it. Christmas is a signal to us of how bad the world really is. But God’s plan is good! For ‘unto us’ is born the Christ, the Redeemer, Son of God, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Jehovah of the Old Testament, Messiah of the New Testament, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, awesome! Totally awesome! And this King, the Savior of the world, not only knows my name but He knows the number of hairs on my head! Not only does ‘unto us’ say that Jesus was born to save us; it says that Jesus in ‘born in us’. Praise His name for His goodness!!!
For ‘unto us….” Can you imagine being a shepherd on a hillside tending to your flocks and all of a sudden, the sky comes to life with angelic beings announcing to a chosen few that the long awaited Messiah was to be born? Especially if you were a shepherd! Shepherds during those times were basically considered “scum”; there’s no nice way to say it. They were not looked on favorably! They stunk - literally. They were often considered outcasts of society. They were nomads. When something was discovered missing, the shepherds were often the ones blamed for the theft.
Given the “reputation” that shepherds had during that time, it is extremely important for us to take note that these people were the ones God to whom He chose to announce the birth of the Christ. That is, the meek, the lowly, the very ones that the “in crowd” of that day looked down upon. It is also important that we realize that Jesus is known as “the shepherd”. Very interesting indeed that the very “scum” of the earth during those times has become known to us as the meek, the mild, the strong and the protector. God does work in ways that are absolutely contrary to man’s thinking!
In Old Testament times, there were many periods of “great darkness”. God’s people, time and time again, rebelled against God only to become slaves to themselves and godless nations. However, God’s favor and mercy upon the Hebrews, time and time again, brought them back from the brink of disaster and back underneath God’s ‘wings’. There, God protected them, led them, and loved them and even though their very Adamic fleshiness continued to come between them and their God, He carried out His plan and ‘unto us, a Savior was born’!
Through these times of great darkness, God promised to send a light who would shine on everyone living in the shadow of death. He is both “Wonderful Counselor” and “Mighty God.” This message of hope was fulfilled in the birth of Christ and the establishment of his eternal Kingdom. He came to deliver all people from their slavery to sin. For unto us….He came, He lived, He died, He rose again…..for unto us.
Between the writing of Malachi (the last book of the Old Testament) and the writing of Matthew (the first book in the New Testament) about 400 to 500 years passes. During this period, some of the Jews were waiting for a savior to deliver them from Roman rule. They believed that the Messiah would come in on a great, white steed and conquer the Romans!! What a shock they were subjected to when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey! Others hoped the Christ (Messiah) would deliver them from physical ailments. But Jesus, while healing their illnesses and establishing a spiritual Kingdom, delivered them from sin.
His work was to be more far-reaching than anyone of that day could have imagined. He threw the Jewish people for a loop! Even as Christ was dying, paying the price for sin and opening the way to peace with God, the people that He came to save still did not understand. This Christ, this Jesus, came ‘unto us’ to offer much more than the temporary political or physical changes some believed He would do — He offers us new hearts that will last for eternity. That is a Savior!! For unto us………
Papa Joe Mac's Commentary:
For Unto Us… A Savior is Born….The Light of the World is Born….God Becomes Man!!
I love the Christmas season! So many things about this time of the year bring back many childhood memories! What a magical time! Many of us look forward to the season for the nostalgia! The older I become and the closer I walk with the Lord, Christmas takes on more and more a special time for me and many other Believers!!
Does Christmas signal to us how great things are? No. Far be it. Christmas is a signal to us of how bad the world really is. But God’s plan is good! For ‘unto us’ is born the Christ, the Redeemer, Son of God, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Jehovah of the Old Testament, Messiah of the New Testament, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, awesome! Totally awesome! And this King, the Savior of the world, not only knows my name but He knows the number of hairs on my head! Not only does ‘unto us’ say that Jesus was born to save us; it says that Jesus in ‘born in us’. Praise His name for His goodness!!!
For ‘unto us….” Can you imagine being a shepherd on a hillside tending to your flocks and all of a sudden, the sky comes to life with angelic beings announcing to a chosen few that the long awaited Messiah was to be born? Especially if you were a shepherd! Shepherds during those times were basically considered “scum”; there’s no nice way to say it. They were not looked on favorably! They stunk - literally. They were often considered outcasts of society. They were nomads. When something was discovered missing, the shepherds were often the ones blamed for the theft.
Given the “reputation” that shepherds had during that time, it is extremely important for us to take note that these people were the ones God to whom He chose to announce the birth of the Christ. That is, the meek, the lowly, the very ones that the “in crowd” of that day looked down upon. It is also important that we realize that Jesus is known as “the shepherd”. Very interesting indeed that the very “scum” of the earth during those times has become known to us as the meek, the mild, the strong and the protector. God does work in ways that are absolutely contrary to man’s thinking!
In Old Testament times, there were many periods of “great darkness”. God’s people, time and time again, rebelled against God only to become slaves to themselves and godless nations. However, God’s favor and mercy upon the Hebrews, time and time again, brought them back from the brink of disaster and back underneath God’s ‘wings’. There, God protected them, led them, and loved them and even though their very Adamic fleshiness continued to come between them and their God, He carried out His plan and ‘unto us, a Savior was born’!
Through these times of great darkness, God promised to send a light who would shine on everyone living in the shadow of death. He is both “Wonderful Counselor” and “Mighty God.” This message of hope was fulfilled in the birth of Christ and the establishment of his eternal Kingdom. He came to deliver all people from their slavery to sin. For unto us….He came, He lived, He died, He rose again…..for unto us.
Between the writing of Malachi (the last book of the Old Testament) and the writing of Matthew (the first book in the New Testament) about 400 to 500 years passes. During this period, some of the Jews were waiting for a savior to deliver them from Roman rule. They believed that the Messiah would come in on a great, white steed and conquer the Romans!! What a shock they were subjected to when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey! Others hoped the Christ (Messiah) would deliver them from physical ailments. But Jesus, while healing their illnesses and establishing a spiritual Kingdom, delivered them from sin.
His work was to be more far-reaching than anyone of that day could have imagined. He threw the Jewish people for a loop! Even as Christ was dying, paying the price for sin and opening the way to peace with God, the people that He came to save still did not understand. This Christ, this Jesus, came ‘unto us’ to offer much more than the temporary political or physical changes some believed He would do — He offers us new hearts that will last for eternity. That is a Savior!! For unto us………