The Birth of a Serpent Slayer
“She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn. There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.” (Luke 2:7-8 WEB)
This was the backdrop of Jesus’ birth. The King of glory, God’s precious gift to us, was born on a dark, silent night, and there was no room for Him.
He did not come with great fanfare or a welcoming procession like the kings of the world would have received.
Instead, He came humbly like one of no repute.
But Heaven was not willing to let the Son of God be treated like a nobody.
“Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.” Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”” (Luke 2:9-14 WEB)
An angel and the heavenly hosts appeared to shepherds, shining with awesome glory, to announce the good news of the King who was born.
At that point in time, Israel was under Roman rule, and had been ruled by the Gentile kingdoms for many years. The devil had subjugated God’s chosen nation and pressed them hard under his thumb.
However, God’s answer was not loud or dramatic. He sent a baby to be born.
Just as He delivered the children of Israel from Pharaoh using a baby (Moses), He would deliver Israel once more from Satan using another baby (Jesus).
This time, the baby would not be a Lawgiver, but a Law-fulfiller. Jesus fulfilled the demands of the Law through His suffering and death at the cross, and established the New Covenant of Grace for us.
“I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”” (Genesis 3:15 WEB)
No matter what its true origins are, today we celebrate Christmas because God made a promise in the Garden of Eden thousands of years ago, that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. He kept that promise, becoming the prophesied serpent slayer Himself. Christmas is about a promise kept!
Notice that in the prophecy, the one whose head is bruised is the serpent (Satan), but there is another person who is the “offspring” of the serpent. In the original Hebrew, the word “zaraka” is a noun in the singular, masculine tense, meaning one male child.
This wicked male child was destined to have hostility against the offspring (also singular and masculine tense) of the woman, who is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who is the offspring of the serpent? If you are curious to find out his name as revealed in the Bible, and also the details about his eventual destruction and Jesus’ victory, you can read all the exciting details in “Sandcastles Don’t Last Forever”: https://www.ko-fi.com/s/7b9e3783ae
同時也有1部Youtube影片,追蹤數超過86萬的網紅Joseph Prince,也在其Youtube影片中提到,Discover Bible secrets to health, wholeness and a long, abundant life! In this invaluable resource, Joseph Prince connects the dots between righteousn...
joy meaning in bible 在 李怡 Facebook 的最佳貼文
Malignant unrestrained power | Lee Yee
The Hong Kong police issued a statement the night before yesterday quoting the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department’s response to the arrest of the 12 Hongkongers. The short communication was full of loopholes. If these 12 people are still under investigation, how can the authorities be sure that they will be approved by the procuratorate for arrest later? One of the 12 people was the skipper, is he a member of the smuggling organization? If he is indeed part of a smuggling group, why was he escaping to Taiwan? Why was there no mention of the arrest of the skipper? What happened to the speedboat? Did the 12 people buy the boat hence it was confiscated?
It has been more than a month and they still could not spin a better story. The power has become so domineering to the point where they say what they want without regard for whether it is believable or not anymore.
Chinese state media reported that, at the recent Third Central Symposium on Xinjiang Work held in Beijing, Xi Jinping emphasized the need to “uphold efforts to sinicize religion, sinicize Islam and forge the collective consciousness of a common Chinese identity.” Following Xi’s “sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism,” this is another one of his latest sinicization campaigns with requirements explicitly put forward.
Both Tibetan Buddhism and Xinjiang Islam are religions based on beliefs in God or divine inspirations, while in other parts of China, most religious believers just pray to gods and buddhas for blessings. Very few people truly believe in gods, reincarnation, or life after death. If “One China” means China under the dictatorship of the atheist Communist Party, then the “sinicization of religion” denotes a false and bogus religion. A leader who can come up with the idea of sinicization of religion under atheism is enough to show that there is nothing believable about this regime, including the woven tale for the 12 arrested Hongkongers.
In the era of ancient China’s absolute monarchy, although there was no real religious belief, ancient Chinese emperors at least paid respect to ancestors and held ceremonies to worship heaven. Dictatorship began from as early as the Qin dynasty to the Han Dynasty during which Dong Zhongshu proposed the rule to respect the emperor. However, he also proposed to restrict the emperor and respect heaven; the emperor would be called the son of heaven, meaning the heavenly father was watching over. The occurrence of a catastrophic natural disaster would be the wrath of heaven; the emperor would often issue a rescript for penitence, and reflect and review to improve governance.
The atheistic CCP not only does not believe in gods but also disbelieves in heaven. Mao Zedong claimed to be a “monk holding an umbrella,” meaning that he was above the law and above heaven. He also said, “Battling with heaven is endless joy.” Therefore, under the guidance of the idea of “Humans will triumph over the sky,” the Great Leap Forward brought about a situation of “endless suffering” for the Chinese people.
However, the CCP regime before Mao the second at least would not, on the one hand, claim to believe in Marxism-Leninism, and on the other hand, bludgeon itself with such absurd theories as the “sinicization of religion.” Perhaps Mao 2.0 now possesses absolute power such that no one dares to tell the truth, resulting in comments of all illogical nonsense.
Recently, the Chinese education department was so preposterous that it blatantly falsified the Bible. The story of Jesus and the Adulteress from the New Testament was cited in textbooks but the ending of the story was distorted. In the original passage of the Bible, Jesus said to the adulteress, “I, too, do not condemn you; Go and sin no more!” The Chinese textbook, however, presents the story as: “When the crowd disappeared, Jesus stoned the sinner to death saying, ‘I too am a sinner. But if the law could only be executed by men without blemish, the law would be dead.’” Forcing words to justify the Chinese leaders into the mouth of Jesus.
Of course, anyone who enforces the law in any society will not be a flawless person, but in a normal society, at least the law enforcers know that they are either guilty, or that regardless of religion or even non-religion, they believe that “there is a deity watching over them.” In addition to believing that “a deity is watching,” law enforcers are also restrictive in their power by the separation of powers with mutual checks and balances, as well as the supervision of the Fourth Estate. Nearly 300 years ago, the French Enlightenment thinker Montesquieu said, “Every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go. Power is naturally expansive and has a tendency to turn malignant. As long as there are insufficient restraint and supervision, any power will give rise to corruption. To prevent this abuse, it is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power.”
The power we face and its extension in Hong Kong may be the most extreme power in human history. It has no restraints nor any checks and balances, and without the constraints of “heaven” from the dark ages of ancient China and the Western Middle Ages. Its “expansion and malignancy” can exceed all human imagination. Therefore, normal people can only completely and absolutely distrust this absolute power.
joy meaning in bible 在 Milton Goh Blog and Sermon Notes Facebook 的精選貼文
The Meaning of Life
“This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13 WEB)
Does the word “commandments” throw you off?
The commandments for us today are not the Ten Commandments. It’s only two: to believe in Christ Jesus whom the Father has sent, and to love one another just as Jesus loved us (1 John 3:23).
To fear God simply means to worship Him with reverential awe. When you ‘fear’ God this way, you won’t have the fear of man.
If you want to know the meaning of life, it’s found in the main verse above.
Worship God, have faith in Jesus and let His love be known to the world through your words and actions.
This is great wisdom and also the whole duty of man, so let all you do be centered around this!
Even if we live 120 years, our lifespan is just a vapor of breath in contrast to eternity.
Let it have eternal impact by being a yielded vessel for God.
Don’t stumble through life blindly and in vain, chasing after things that don’t matter.
Being drunk with wine is pointless and harmful, but being drunk with the Holy Spirit is great gain.
I pray for you to enjoy the overwhelming lightness and joy of being under God’s power—there is so much joy and life in His presence!
One of the best things you can do is to study God’s word to understand His heart of love towards you.
On this page, I endeavor to send forth fresh revelation every day, at least twice a day.
As the Holy Spirit reveals truths to me, I simply share them after receiving from Him.
At this link you can read more Christ-centered Bible Studies, devotionals, sermon notes and find ways to partner with our ministry to help us reach even more people with the Gospel ===> https://smart.bio/miltongohblog
#Jesus #Faith
joy meaning in bible 在 Joseph Prince Youtube 的最讚貼文
Discover Bible secrets to health, wholeness and a long, abundant life! In this invaluable resource, Joseph Prince connects the dots between righteousness and health, and shows you scripturally how receiving Jesus' gift of righteousness not only leads to health, but also fruitfulness in all areas of life. See also from the meaning of Hebrew words the health-giving power that comes from having a relaxed heart free of worries and cares, and from feeding on God's Word. Soak in the powerful and revelatory truths shared and begin to experience greater health, peace and joy!
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