What Will the Year 2012 Bring?

What will the new year bring? This past year was a tough one for many reasons. You can guarantee that there will be political unrest around the world in the new year. In the United States as the presidential election draws near the mud slinging will grow worse. Some people are expecting the Occupy Wall Street protests or other protests to intensify.

Economically things don’t look that good either. The new manager of the International Monetary Fund warns that the global economy faces the prospect of “economic retraction, rising protectionism, isolation and. . .what happened in the 1930s” (i.e. an economic depression). Some sources see the Europe Union imploding both economically and politically. Sorry for the bad news before the new year even begins.

But there are things that you can do to have a blessed new year no matter the circumstances. First, make a commitment to read Scripture. An ancient psalmist wrote about Scripture, “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path (Psalm 119:105).Allow the light of God’s Word to give you wisdom, insight, comfort and courage for all of life.

Second, trust God. The writer of Proverbs said, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him,  And He shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5, 6).” No matter what the new year brings trusting in God to direct your path is wise counsel.

Third, be generous in your charitable giving and serve others with the love of God. The New Testament proclaims, “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work (2 Corinthians 9:6-8).” And “through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ (Galatians 5:13, 14).”

Finally, share the good news of Jesus Christ and the coming kingdom of God with others. The Bible proclaims “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).” There are people looking for love and hope and answers to life’s questions. “You are an epistle of Christ (2 Cor. 3:3).” In other words, you are Christ’s love letter to someone out in the world.

So read the Bible daily, trust God in all you do, cheerfully give, serve in love and make known the good news. Have a very happy and blessed new year!

The Branch: The Son of God

The last prophecy concerning the one called “The Branch” is found in Isaiah 4:2. “In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious.” The day spoken of is the future day of Christ’s reigning as the King of kings upon the earth. At that time Jesus will be seen in all his glory.

We learned in previous blogs that the Branch is revealed as a king, as a servant and as a man. He is now revealed as “the Branch of the LORD.” And as the phrase “a Branch shall grow out” from Jesse, David’s father, indicates that Jesus would be the son of David, so “the Branch of the LORD” indicates that Jesus is also the Son of God. Matthew’s gospel reveals Jesus as the king, Mark as the servant, and Luke as the man. John’s gospel shows that Jesus Christ is “the Branch of the LORD” the Son of God.

Like Mark’s gospel the gospel of John has no genealogy for Jesus. He simply writes “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made (John 1:1-3).” The Greek pronoun translated “He” and “Him” are impersonal pronouns in the Greek and therefore should be translated as “it” when referring to the “Word.” Every English Bible before the King James Version of 1611 translated the pronouns this way. The following is an example. “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God: and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by it, and without it nothing was made that was made.” [my emphasis]

 The word translated “Word” is logos and it means a plan, purpose, saying, expression of thought, a message, or an intention. And so when we read “the Word was God” the original intent of the Greek is to convey the idea that the “Word” was fully representative of God. The “Word” is not Jesus, it is the thoughts and intents of God’s heart and character. If we understand God’s Word we know what God is like. In other words the logos fully expresses God’s purpose, mind, heart and will. Therefore you could very accurately paraphrase John 1:1-3, like this, “In the beginning God had a creative and redemptive plan. And this plan or purpose revealed His heart and was fully representative of all that God is. All things were made through this plan and without this divine plan nothing was made.”

With all of this in mind John 1:14 reveals a wonderful truth. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The word, the logos, God’s plan, His purpose, became flesh and dwelt among us. With the coming into existence of Jesus Christ at his conception and birth, the full plan and heart of God was expressed in a human being. Jesus Christ was full of divine “grace and truth (John 1:17).”

What became flesh in John 1:14, was not a preexistent or eternally begotten Son of God. What became flesh was God’s final revelation of what He is like revealed in the Man, Jesus Christ. This is why John went on to write “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him (John 1:18).” The Son revealed the Father. And so John wrote his gospel showing the many signs and wonders Jesus performed so “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31).”

The four Old Testament prophecies concerning the Branch as king, servant, man and Son of God find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ as presented in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each gospel writer was inspired by God to set forth a unique and yet complimentary portrait of the Christ.

As we read the Word of God and come to faith in Christ we find our own fulfillment as well. The New Testament says to us, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:8-10).” Merry Christmas!

The Branch: The Man

In my last two blogs about the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Branch we have seen that one prophecy concerns the Branch, Jesus Christ, as a king. And the second concerns the Branch as the servant of the Lord. Correspondingly we have seen that Matthew picks up the theme of the king while Mark presents the servant. Now we come to the third prophecy again in the book of Zechariah.

Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the LORD (Zechariah 6:12).

The first feature of this third prophecy is that the one called “the Branch” is a man. This may startle some readers but Jesus is not a god/man. He is a genuine human being. There was no eternal being called God the Son (a phrase never found in the Bible). Jesus did not pre-exist in heaven as God and then decide to reduce himself and then pass through time and space and enter Mary’s womb as a baby. An entity like this is not “conceived” or “begotten” (Matthew 1: 20; Luke 1:31; John 3:16) he merely passes through one form of life into another—kind of like a sci-fi character.

In the Old Testament Jesus is prophesied to be the seed or offspring of the woman (Genesis 3:15), the seed or offspring of Abraham (Genesis 22:18) and the seed or offspring of David (2 Samuel 7:12-16). Moses declared that the Messiah would be a prophet like himself (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18). Nowhere in the Old Testament is there ever the tiniest hint that Jesus is a god/man; he is presented as a genuine man. 

Luke’s gospel corresponds to the prophecy of “the Man whose name is the BRANCH.” And once again in Luke we have a genealogy for Christ. Matthew’s genealogy shows the royal lineage and it goes forward from Abraham to David to Jesus. But Luke’s genealogy moves backward from Jesus, through some very common people, all the way back to Adam, a real man, who is called “the son of God”!

Adam came into being by a direct act of God. And Jesus is a real man who came into existence by a direct act of God (Luke 1:35). In fact the Bible says that “in all things He [Jesus] had to be made like His brethren (Hebrews 2:17).” The Savior had to be just like the rest of us in every way except that he never gave in to sin.

In tracing Jesus’ genealogy back to Adam, Luke shows us that Jesus is not just a Jewish man, he is related to all mankind. Luke shows Jesus as a friend of publicans and sinners. He shows Jesus ministering to not only Jews but to Gentiles. We see Christ’s emotions more deeply in Luke’s gospel. And we see his dependence upon God through prayer more in Luke than in any other gospel. Jesus depended upon the power of God to do the great things that he did (Acts 2:22; 10:38).

The fact that Jesus is a real human being makes his ministry and obedience to God even to the point of death heroic! He is the only man who has ever loved God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. And he has won the victory that the first man, Adam, lost. Scriptures says, “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous (Romans 5:18, 19).”

The birth of Jesus Christ “the Man whose name is the BRANCH” was to bring about the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 3:15. This is the promise that the seed of the woman will crush Satan’s head. Through the man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the day is rapidly approaching when “the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. (Romans 16:20).” Praise God!

The Branch: The Servant

In the previous blog we saw that Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied about one who would be called “the Branch” who would be king. This is the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus, the descendant of King David. One day Christ will rule from Jerusalem over the entire world. He will rule in righteousness and there will be everlasting peace (Isaiah 9:6, 7).

Jesus has won the right to rule the world because He is the only person who has been completely devoted to God. Jesus Christ is the servant of the Lord God Almighty. This is the prophetic message given through Zechariah. “For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH (Zechariah 3:8).”

Isaiah tells us that this “Branch” will have the “Spirit of the LORD” upon him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.  His delight is in the fear of the LORD (Isaiah 11:1-3a).” Through the Spirit of God, Jesus Christ was able to overcome every temptation to sin. He was able to be humbly obedient to God in all things even to the point of death on the cross (Philippians 2:8).

The gospel of Matthew shows Jesus as the Branch: the King. Mark’s gospel proclaims Jesus as the Branch: the Servant. Matthew’s gospel has a genealogy for Jesus showing him to be the descendant of King David. But Mark’s gospel has no genealogy for Christ because a genealogy is not needed for a servant as it is for a king.

You want to see a servant working and being faithful to his Master. Mark’s gospel is action packed and Jesus is the action hero. Jesus is seen teaching, healing and preaching. When you read Mark’s account of the life of Christ you see words like “immediately,” “arose” and “went.” Mark constantly uses the present tense in his writing. There are also several sections on suffering and discipleship, though Mark’s gospel presents the working Jesus more than the teacheingJesus.

Then in the tenth chapter of Mark we have Jesus speaking these famous words: “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:42-45).” [my emphasis]

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Branch: the Servant of the Lord God Almighty. And he calls to us to follow him in loving service to God and to others. This Christmas season rejoice in the truth that the Servant of the Lord has set you free—free from sin, free from guilt, free from the condemnation of God’s holy law. But do not use your freedom to do as you please. Rather “through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13)” just as your Lord did. For you too are empowered with the Spirit of God (Acts 1:8; Romans 5:5).