Bible Study - Rhythm (4) - GOD'S Living Word Saves - Osalm 119:41 and Luke 1:30-35 - December 25, 2016

Bible Study – Rhythm (4) – GOD’S Living Word Saves – December 25, 2016

This is lesson four (4) in our series entitled “Spoken: The Rhythm of GOD’S Word.”

Our focus scriptures are Psalm 119:41 and Luke 1:30-35.

JESUS is the ultimate Word from GOD Who brings salvation.

What we are about to explore is likely one of the most profound Spiritual journeys a person can take to seek truth.

Where did JESUS come from? John 17:1-5:

Jesus Prays for Himself (JESUS knew that HIS physical life upon earth was close to accomplishing the intended purpose of GOD.)

1 Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You,

2 for You gave Him authority over all flesh; so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him.

3 This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent-Jesus Christ.

4 I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.

5 Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with that glory I had with You before the world existed.

JESUS willingly left HIS home in Glory to become vulnerable to sin and physical death and live as a human with a purpose. JESUS IS GOD IN THE FLESH. The Apostle John stated in John 1:1-18:

1 In the beginning was the Word (JESUS), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.

4 Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. , 2016

5 That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man named John (John the Baptist) who was sent from God.

7 He (John the Baptist) came as a witness to testify about the light (JESUS), so that all might believe through him.

8 He (John the Baptist) was not the light, but he came to testify about the light (JESUS).

9 The true light (JESUS), who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him.

11 He came to His own (Jews), and His own people did not receive Him.

12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,

13 who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

14 The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 (John (the Baptist) testified concerning Him and exclaimed, "This was the One of whom I said, 'The One coming after me has surpassed me, because He existed before me.' ")

16 Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness,

17 for although the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

18 No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son- the One who is at the Father's side- He has revealed Him.

Link this with John 3:16-18:

16 "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

18 Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

JESUS’ disciples, Thomas and Philip, asked JESUS pointed questions as recorded in John 14:5-11:

5 "Lord," Thomas said, "we don't know where You're going. How can we know the way?"

6 Jesus told him (Thomas), "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus Reveals the Father

7 "If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him."

8 "Lord," said Philip, "show us the Father, and that's enough for us."

9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own. The Father who lives in Me does His works.

11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.

GOD presented HIS plan to redeem mankind from the consequence of sin, which is eternal death, in Genesis 3:15:

15 I will put hostility between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed (JESUS). He (JESUS) will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

Satan’s desire is for all humans not to have a personal relationship with GOD and to be eternally separated from HIM. Notice “her seed” and then consider the virgin birth. JESUS is 100% human and yet 100% divine. JESUS left HIS Glory in Heaven to come to earth to live as a human and be subject to sin and physical death. In order to accomplish GOD’S plan and purpose JESUS had to live a sinless life and give HIS physical life by the shedding of HIS blood to pay, in full, the penalty for sin.

We must keep in mind that JESUS although 100% human had the capability to call in help as recorded in Matthew 26:53:

53 Or do you think that I cannot call on My Father, and He will provide Me at once with more than 12 legions of angels?

Having the capability is one thing and not using it is another. JESUS had a purpose. HIS Love for us as sinful humans compelled HIM to stay the course, suffer insults and ultimately give HIS life in exchange for all who will place their faith in HIM.

Striking the head is a death blow whereas striking the heel is a wound but one that is not fatal. JESUS died upon the cross by willingly shedding HIS blood for the redemption of all who will place their faith in HIM. The resurrection of JESUS from the dead is proof that the power of sin was broken by the birth, sinless life, death, resurrection and ascension of JESUS into Heaven. This fact is the Holy Spirit, Who indwells every Christian, confirms he or she is the child of GOD through the miracle of rebirth.

JESUS willingly came from HIS Home in Heaven to be the perfect sacrifice to pay in full the penalty for sin, which is eternal death. The shed blood of JESUS paid, in full, the eternal death penalty imposed by GOD upon our earth parents, Adam and Eve. The shed blood of JESUS redeems all who place their faith in JESUS from eternal death. It is the love of GOD and the love of JESUS that compelled them to give mankind a second opportunity to regain eternal life and become GOD’S child through the miracle of rebirth. JESUS told the Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus, this in John 3:1-14:

Jesus and Nicodemus

1 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

2 This man came to Him at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one could perform these signs You do unless God were with him."

3 Jesus replied, "I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

4 "But how can anyone be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked Him. "Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?"

5 Jesus answered, "I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

All humans will die physically and enter eternity. Those who have experienced the miracle of rebirth in their spirit are reborn Spiritually. Spiritual rebirth is necessary for a person to become a child of GOD and dwell with GOD in Heaven for eternity. Those who reject JESUS as their Savior will spend eternity separated from GOD.

Oh, I can hear some say, “Well, I am separated from GOD now so what is the big difference?” That is Satan’s lie. In eternity you will know that you had the opportunity to become GOD’S child and rejected it. GOD places in every human the desire to return to HIS original intent for us as humans. HE gives us a choice to either accept or reject HIS offer of redemption from the consequence of sin, which is eternal death. How do you choose? Spiritual rebirth is a mystery as JESUS continued to explain to Nicodemus.

7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.

8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

9 "How can these things be?" asked Nicodemus.

10 "Are you a teacher of Israel and don't know these things?" Jesus replied.

11 "I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony.

12 If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven?

13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven-the Son of Man.

14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

This was the foreshadow hundreds of years earlier when the Israelite’s were fleeing Egypt that JESUS would be lifted up on a cross to bring healing from the consequences of sin for all who will place their faith in HIM.

JESUS is the embodiment of GOD. HE left HIS home in Heaven to come to earth and dwell among us as 100% human, yet GOD. The love of GOD, The Father and The love of the Son, CHRIST, compelled them to redeem all who will place their faith in JESUS to be redeemed from eternal death and receive eternal life by placing their faith in JESUS.

Let’s continue to explore!

Let’s read Psalm 119:41:

Vav – The sixth letter in the Hebrew alphabet.

41 Let Your faithful love come to me, Lord, Your salvation, as You promised.

The psalmist longed to be fully redeemed from the ravages of sin. He looked for the day of GOD’S promised salvation. Since the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of JESUS we know that salvation has come or will come to all who place their faith in JESUS. We rejoice and know that JESUS’ shed blood has redeemed us from the consequence of sin which is eternal death. Faith in JESUS is GOD’S plan to restore all who will place their faith in JESUS to HIS original intent for mankind and that is eternal life in full relationship with GOD. All who place their faith in JESUS receive eternal life the instant they ask JESUS to forgive them for their sins and for JESUS to come into their lives.

Isaiah 7:14:

14 Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

This prophesy was given to the Prophet Isaiah by GOD about 700 years before JESUS was born. Immanuel means “GOD with us.”

Luke 1:26-29: Lead-in

Gabriel Predicts Jesus' Birth

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

Keep in mind Genesis 3:15 – the seed of woman. The seed of woman must be activated by a sperm to produce a human. The seed of the Virgin Mary (her egg) carried the ancestral lineage of King David.

In the conception of JESUS, the divine sperm of GOD, The Holy Spirit, activated the seed (egg) of the Virgin Mary.

In the Garden of Eden, when sin entered, the death penalty was activated. Both Adam and Eve lost their eternal life because both ate the forbidden fruit. Adam was rendered imperfect because of sin. In order for mankind to be redeemed from sin and its consequence death and for eternal life to be restored, GOD required a perfect, sinless sacrifice. Thus the second Adam was necessary, JESUS.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 15:45:

45 So it is written: The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

The physical death of JESUS by the shedding of HIS blood was necessary to pay in full the debt for original sin. The perfect for the imperfect. JESUS to redeem Adam, Eve and all who will place their faith in HIM. It took a decision to disobey GOD and it takes a decision to be forgiven and restored to full relationship and fellowship with GOD.

That is why no human can live such that he or she will be acceptable to GOD through his or her own effort. GOD requires perfection. JESUS was perfect and all those who place their faith in HIM are restored to perfection to become the righteousness of GOD. 

28 And [the angel] came to her and said, "Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you."

29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.

Mary had the right to be troubled because she was a virgin and intended to remain a virgin until she married to Joseph. But there was a big problem and that was with Joseph.

GOD’S plan and purpose is always complete. We read in Matthew 1:18-25:

18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 

19 So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. 

20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. 

21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins." 

22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 

23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel , which is translated "God is with us." 

24 When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord's angel had commanded him. He married her 

25 but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus.

Let’s read Luke 1:30-33:

30 Then the angel told her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

First, Gabriel put Mary at ease by telling her not to be afraid and then revealed to her that GOD’S grace was upon her. GOD’S grace is unmerited love that we as Christians have. Gabriel revealed to Mary in an unmistakable way that what he was about to reveal to her was straight from GOD. Gabriel tells her to pay special attention to what he is about to tell her as we read the next verse.

31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name JESUS.

32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.

Let’s read Luke 1:34-35:

34 Mary asked the angel, "How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?"

Very logical and practical question. It was not a question of refusal but a question for understanding. We, as GOD’S children can ask questions for clarification and understanding.

35 The angel replied to her: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.

I can only imagine that Mary might have thought, “Oh, with GOD all things are possible.” We don’t have to fully understand. We may simply think or say, GOD said it and I believe it and that settles it. That is faith in action.

We do not know the exact birthday of JESUS. As I understand it December 25 was a pagan holiday and it was chosen so that Christians could celebrate the birth of JESUS. HIS Birth was likely in the spring of the year. The important point is that HE was born as a human and gave HIS life to break the sin barrier that all who place their faith in HIM will have eternal life. If you have not already done so, ask JESUS to forgive you and for HIM to come into your life and experience HIM.

Blessings!!!