“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” John 15:18-20

Should those who follow Jesus and hold fast to His Word be surprised when they run into opposition and even persecution from those who walk according to the ways and thinking of this world? Jesus clearly warned His disciples that the world would hate them and persecute them just as it hated and persecuted Him — even putting Him to death by crucifixion.

Why is this? Because true Christians believe and teach God’s Word and seek to live in accordance with the Bible’s teaching. They acknowledge as sin all that God, in the Bible, calls sin, and they look to Jesus Christ, God the Son and true man, as the only Savior for sinful mankind. They trust that God pardons and forgives their sins when they look in faith to Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of all. And trusting in Jesus and His sacrifice for sins, they also seek to live according to God’s Word.

This offends those of this world, including many who call themselves Christian, because they do not hear and believe the words of Jesus and accept as truth all that the Bible teaches. They do not accept the truth that they, like all of us, are sinners deserving of God’s eternal wrath and punishment and that they, like all of us, need to turn from their sins to Christ Jesus for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of His blood, shed on the cross for the sins of all. They are unwilling to accept the truth that Jesus is the only way for us sinners to be pardoned and spared in God’s judgment upon this world. Nor do they wish to amend their way of life and seek to live for Him who died for them and rose again (cf. Eph. 2:8-10; 2 Cor. 5:15).

The witness and life of true disciples of Jesus remind them of their own sins and shortcomings and their need to repent and place their faith in Jesus.

As Jesus said: “The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”

Fellow believers will rejoice and give thanks when they see sinners repent and look to Jesus for mercy and pardon. Those of this world will scorn them and even persecute them, as they did to Jesus Himself.

Dear Lord Jesus, grant that I look to You in faith and hold fast to You and Your Word, that I may know Your mercy and forgiveness and walk in Your ways unto life everlasting. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2:1ff. (Read Matt. 2:1-12)

Once again, through the Scriptures, we have heard of the birth of the Christ Child in Bethlehem of Judea. God the Son was made true man, born of a virgin, and laid in a manger. An angel told the shepherds in the field nearby that this Child was none other than the Savior of the world, the Messiah, Jehovah God Himself!

Wise men (the Bible doesn’t tell us how many) from a land or lands east of Judea learned of the Messiah’s birth through the appearance of a star (cf. Numbers 24:17; Isaiah 60:1ff.) and traveled a great distance to come and worship this newborn King and bring Him costly gifts. When they arrived in Jerusalem, King Herod was troubled by their quest and inquired of the chief priests and scribes where the Messiah was to be born. They rightly understood the Scriptures and quoted from Micah 5:2, pointing out that Bethlehem was to be the place of Messiah’s birth.

But what happened after this? The wise men continued their journey and were led by the star to Bethlehem and to the very house where Jesus was. There, they worshipped Jesus and offered Him gifts. Herod, the king, felt threatened by the birth of the Messiah and sought to kill Him and prevent Him from reigning on the throne of David. The chief priests and scribes knew the Scriptures and could tell Herod where the Messiah was to be born, but nowhere do we hear of them traveling to Bethlehem to worship their newborn Savior and King.

The question today is: “What about you?” You have heard of His birth and even know of His sufferings and death for your sins and of His glorious resurrection. Do you reject Jesus and try to silence those who would speak to you of Him because Jesus is a threat to you and your way of life? Do you know all the facts about Jesus but still fail to come and bow before Him and give Him your praise and worship? Or, like the wise men of old, do you follow the star (seeking the guidance of Holy Scripture) to find Messiah Jesus and worship your God and Savior, presenting Him with the costliest of gifts — your very lives?

O dearest Jesus, You are the Almighty God and our Maker. We thank You for taking on flesh and blood and coming into this world to redeem us from sin and death. We praise You and give to you our treasures and our lives. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7 (Read Luke 2:1-20)

Far more than a quaint story, these verses from Luke, chapter two, describe a historical event which occurred at a real time and in a real place. It happened in the days of the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus. Cyrenius was the governor of Syria.

Though Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, the ancient prophet foretold the birthplace of Messiah to be in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2ff.); and God, in His divine providence, moved Caesar Augustus to take a census at just the right time, making it necessary for Joseph and his espoused wife to be in Bethlehem when the days were fulfilled for Mary to bring forth her firstborn son.

When Messiah Jesus was born and laid in a manger, an angel announced His birth to shepherds living a field nearby and keeping watch over their flock by night. The heavenly messenger brought them good tidings of great joy for all people; for that very day in Bethlehem, the city of David, a Savior was born, the Messiah, the LORD (Jehovah) Himself in human flesh.

And, as the angel choir said in its hymn of praise, this child brought about peace between God and man and God’s good will toward sinful man. How would this be? Christ Jesus satisfied the righteous demands of God’s holy law for us, and He suffered and died on the cross and paid in full the just punishment for the sins of the world that God might have mercy upon us and graciously forgive our sins when we look to His Son in faith for pardon and peace!

Having heard these things, the shepherds were not content to go back to their work of guarding the flock; they went to see the things of which the angel had told them. And, they found it just as the angel had said. They found Mary and Joseph and, with them, the Christ Child lying in a manger.

Nor did the shepherds keep the good news to themselves; they told everyone — they made known abroad — what the angel had told them concerning this Child born in Bethlehem. Mary herself treasured up the words of the shepherds concerning her Son and pondered them in her heart.

When the shepherds returned to their flock, they were glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, which was just as the angel had told them. They were rejoicing in God’s gift of a Savior who would redeem them and give them a place in God’s eternal kingdom.

Of course, these events in history have great significance for each and every one of us today. God’s own Son was born in Bethlehem on that historic day. His birth is good tidings of great joy to us as well, for He is the long-promised Messiah, the LORD God Himself; and He went to the cross for the sins of the world — for the sins of each of us — and He rose again in victory that each and every one of us might have forgiveness for all our sins and life eternal through faith in Him!

O dearest Jesus, we thank you for coming into this world a true man — that babe born in Bethlehem — and going to the cross to redeem us and make us Your own. Move us to take the time to see, to worship and to spread abroad the good news of Your salvation. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5

In Luke 2, we read of the birth of the Christ Child, how it was that He was born in Bethlehem, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy in Micah 5:2. We are told how He was born, not in the best hotel in Bethlehem, but outdoors, possibly in a stable, and He was laid in a manger “because there was no room for them in the inn.”

But what does it all mean?

It is far more than a quaint story of a humble birth. It is the fulfillment of God’s promises, made since the world began. For, in the fullness of time, God kept His promise to send the Seed of the woman who would undo the work of Satan in the Garden (Gen. 3:15; Heb. 2:14-17). He fulfilled His word to send the Seed of Abraham, who would bring blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:3; 22:18). He fulfilled His word to “redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Ps. 130:8) — to send the One who would suffer and die to bear our iniquities and rise again (Isa. 53, Ps. 22).

“God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law …” God sent His only-begotten Son into the world as a man, born of a woman, to fulfill His promises and redeem mankind from the law’s curse and condemnation. The LORD God Himself took on human flesh and blood and became one of us so that He might take our place under the law and die in our stead, for our sins, and redeem us (cf. John 1:1-5,14; Gal. 3:10-14; Heb. 2:14-17). Jesus Christ did this and rose again in victory on the third day (cf. 1 Cor. 15:3-4).

And why did God do all this? “That we might receive the adoption as sons.” So that we, who were condemned by the law and unacceptable to God, might be made acceptable in His sight and be received into His everlasting kingdom as His sons through faith in Jesus’ name (cf. Eph. 1:6-7; Gal. 3:26-29).

Therefore, we rejoice and give thanks this day and always that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, born of the Virgin Mary and laid in a manger, that He might go to the cross and redeem us and that we might trust in Him and be adopted as God’s children through faith in Christ Jesus!

We thank and praise You, O God, for the gift of Your dear Son, sent into this world a true man, born of the Virgin Mary and laid in a manger, that He might redeem us from our sins and adopt us as Your own dear children through faith in Jesus’ name. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: 68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, 70 as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, 72 to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, 73 the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: 74 to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. 76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, 78 through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:67-79

In prophetic words, Zacharias, the priest, being filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke of the salvation God was providing in His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and making known through the ministry of his son, John the Baptist.

Jesus, Son of God and descended from David through the Virgin Mary, came into the world as promised from the very beginning. In Jesus, God Himself visited and redeemed His people.

Jesus bore upon the cross the punishment for the sins of the whole world and made atonement for God’s people and all of mankind. He suffered, died, and rose again so that He might set us free from the curse and condemnation of our sins to live for Him and serve Him evermore!

John the Baptist, the son born to Zecharias in his old age, would be the prophet of the Highest, going before the Lord Jesus Christ — Jehovah (Yahweh) God Himself in human flesh — to prepare His ways.

And how was John to prepare the people for the coming of their Lord? He was to give them knowledge of salvation through the remission of their sins. He was to teach them of God’s mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the innocent sufferings and death of God’s Son, the Dayspring (or sunrise) from on high who would visit them. He was to call upon all to repent of their evil ways and look in faith to Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world to obtain mercy and forgiveness. In this way, he would give light to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death and guide their feet into the way of peace with the Lord their God.

People today are still sitting in spiritual darkness and the shadow of death. They do not know the LORD God and His mercy in Christ Jesus and are headed for an eternity of suffering and punishment apart from Him and His lovingkindness. Thus, the ministry of God’s church today, as it prepares for the second coming of the Lord Jesus from heaven, is to give to people in this world knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins. The church is to call people to repentance and faith in the Messiah and Savior, for Jesus, God’s own dear Son, came into this world, redeemed all of mankind by suffering and dying on the cross for sin, and rose again on the third day.

Servants of Christ proclaim the law of God so that people might see their sinfulness and the error of their ways, and they make known the good news of God’s mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus so that people might trust in Him alone for eternal salvation. In this way, followers of Jesus continue to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide their feet into the way of peace.

O gracious and merciful God, bring us all to repent of our sinful and erring ways and grant us mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the Son, Jesus Christ, that Dayspring from on High who has come to visit and redeem us. And, dear Lord Jesus, move us to share with others sitting in darkness and the shadow of death the knowledge of salvation by means of the forgiveness of their sins through faith in You and Your innocent sufferings and death on the cross in their stead. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]