In the flurry of activity surrounding Christmas, one can lose sight of the wonder and awe of the one true and living God, the one who calls Himself “I AM”, “EMANUEL”. It is also possible to overlook the exactness, the precise plan, the deliberately placed scarlet thread woven through the fabric of God’s revelation, connecting the books, written by various authors, from various walks of life, over many generations.
This Christmas, look for the scarlet thread, consider the Weaver, the love evidenced in the fabric woven before the foundations of time, God’s plan for salvation . . .
God prepared the perfect place for man to live in perfect fellowship with Him . . . the garden, in the east of Eden . . .
God allowed them to choose; they chose death, spiritual and physical.
BUT GOD had a plan to bring life . . .
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel . . .
The plan is slowly revealed . .
God provided a sacrifice for Adam and Eve, a covering for each of them before they left the garden.
God saved Noah and his family . . .
God called Abraham out of a pagan land steeped in idolatry to walk by faith in an unseen God. God tested Abraham’s faith. Abraham’s faith was manifest in the willing sacrifice of a son by a father in obedience to the God he loved. God provided Himself a sacrifice, so Isaac was spared.
From Isaac, came Jacob and the 12 tribes. The Messiah was to be the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
The 12 tribes were held captive in Egypt and suffered under the bondage of Pharaoh. God sent a deliverer, Moses, a picture of the ultimate deliverer, Jesus, who God would one day send to deliver the world, from sin. God gave His people the law through Moses, laying out how sinful man might approach a holy God. But the Law was merely a school master showing the people their inability to measure up, their ultimate need for a Savior, a Redeemer.
In the wilderness, God gave signs of the Coming One, bringing living water from the Rock . . .
Raining down the bread of life from heaven . . .
A pillar of fire by night and a cloud of protection by day.
God drew the plans for a temporary dwelling place for Him in the wilderness, the Tabernacle. It was a picture of Jesus, the Way to fellowship with the Father. At the entrance of the Tabernacle was the altar, where the blood would be spilled, the sin offering, the atoning sacrifice for sin. Next was the Laver, a place for cleansing, for reflection like the water of His Word, which washes us clean and shows us who we are.
Then, the Holy Place, to be entered only by the Priests where there were many pictures of Jesus, the lampstand (the light of the world), the show bread (the bread of life), and the altar of incense (the intercessor).
Finally, the Holy of Holies where only the High Priest could enter and then only once a year. It was a clear picture of our separation from God, our need for a mediator. Jesus Christ, our High Priest, would tear the veil and forever remove the barrier separating us from God, allowing us to run boldly to the throne of grace.
God’s plan was to all-inclusive. Jews and Gentiles were both going to be saved. Consider Rehab, a pagan temple prostitute in the messianic line.
Or consider Ruth, the Moabitess, also in the line of the Messiah. We see the love of Boaz, the Kinsman Redeemer, for the foreigner, Ruth. Boaz is a foreshadowing of our Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus. Boaz lived in Bethlehem, growing barley in fields near where one day our Kinsman Redeemer would lay in a manger.
Consider David, the King God chose, a lowly shepherd boy, watching his sheep in those same fields outside of Bethlehem.
Over time, the people fell away; they left God to seek after idols. They played the harlot, and God forsook them. They were again taken into captivity, this time in Babylon. God, in His great mercy, preserved a remnant.
Consider Esther, a Queen in a place of influence to save her people from total destruction.
Through the remnant, God restores Jerusalem and rebuilds the temple. However, the people again find themselves in captivity. This time, they are under the domination of the Roman Empire, and God has been silent for some 400 years.
But God has not forgotten His promise to Abraham. He has not abandoned His plan for salvation.
In Bethlehem, as foretold by the Prophets of Old, God sent His only begotten son to be the Savior of the world. All the Old Testament signs and foreshadows come into focus in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
It was God’s plan to save man. It was God’s mercy to provide Himself a sacrifice for the sins of man. He sent Jesus to be the mediator between a Holy God and sinful man. It was God’s intention that
the Word would become flesh and dwell among us that we might know God’s love.
No one is righteous; all fall short of God’s law.
The just punishment for violation of God’s law is death.
We’re all dead men walking.
We can’t save ourselves.
We are at the mercy of God.
Jesus, the son of God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of Jesse, the Promised One, the Messiah . . . He provides the covering for our sins. On the cross at Calvary, He laid down His life, an atoning sacrifice for the sin of mankind. He died and was placed in tomb. On the 3rd day, as He promised, He rose again, conquering death once and for all. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
He is the Way . . . the only Way.
May your Christmas be spent worshiping the true and living God who died that you might live . . . forever. Merry Christmas
Rooted and Grounded 