Christmas Special 2013. God Loves To Give

Grace Bible Church
Tree of Life
A Weekly Review
Week ending 122213
God loves to give.
Christmas 2013

God loves to give, in fact, He loves to give us gifts!

ACT 20:35, “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

He delights as we excitedly unwrap His many surprises:  an answered prayer, a healing of body or spirit, a new friendship. James tells us that JAM 1:17, Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.

We may vary or change like the shadows of wind-tossed trees, but His generosity remains constant; even when we turn away from Him, down from heaven comes an endless stream of acceptance and grace. Overwhelmed at God’s flood of blessings, Paul once said, Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2CO 9:15).

Certainly, the epitome of God’s greatest gift is the Messiah. Who cannot even begin to describe God’s tiny present, lovingly wrapped in swaddling clothes on that first Christmas morning? Within Him, undiminished deity and true humanity existed together as God’s supreme gift of grace to us, a gift too wonderful for words!

HEB 1:3, And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;

He was the baby that held the world together.

He 10:5, Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, But a body Thou hast prepared for Me;”

Also remember COL 1:15-18, And He is the image of the invisible God, the first‑born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities‑‑ all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first‑born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.

JOH 1:10, He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

And yet we can know Him. For the Word of God states in JER 29:13, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

MAT 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.”

And so God’s Christmas gift to mankind is two-fold: the Living Word, and the Written Word.

Take the Bible, God’s Christmas gift to mankind, it is a supernatural book. If individuals would only take some time to examine the evidence, they would discover that the Bible is the Word of God, the Creator, it is His gift to mankind.

Consider the odds of the prophecy concerning the cross in the Jewish Bible being fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is also the prophecy of the brazen serpent being lifted up. NUM 21:9 “And Moses made a bronze serpent and set in on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.”This was fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ in JOH 3:14; JOH 12:32, HEB 12:2. JOH 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up.”

JOH 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

We have the prophecy of certain events which took place around the Cross in PSA 22:6-8.

PSA 22:6-8, “But I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All who see Me sneer at Me; they separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, Commit Yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, because He delights in Him.”

This was totally fulfilled in LUK 23:35.

LUK 23:35, “And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, slaying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen one.”

We have the prophecy of His hands and feet being pierced in PSA 22:16.

PSA 22:16, “For dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers has encompassed Me; they pierced My hands and My feet.”

This was fulfilled throughout the gospels when they nailed His hands and feet to the cross. MAT 27:31, MAR 15:24. Then there was the prophecy of casting lots for His garments.

PSA 22:18, “They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.

This was totally fulfilled in MAT 27:35.

MAT 27:35, “And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots;”

There is the prophecy that not one of His bones would be broken.

PSA 34:20, “He keeps all His bones; not one of them is broken.”

Fulfilled in JOH 19:34-36.

JOH 19:34, “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.”

JOH 19:36, “For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled, "not a bone of Him shall be broken.”

Then there is the prophecy of the false witnesses.

PSA 35:11, “Malicious witnesses rose up; they ask Me of things that I do not know.”

Fulfilled in MAR 14:57-58.

MAR 14:57-58, “And some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’”

There is the Old Testament prophecy of the betrayal of Judas Iscariot.

PSA 41:9, “Even My close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate My bread, has lifted up his heel against Me.”

Fulfilled in LUK 22:47-48.

LUK 22:47-48, “While He was still speaking, behold, a multitude came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him.” But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of man with a kiss?”

There is the prophecy that they would offer The Lord Jesus Christ gall and vinegar.

PSA 69:21 "They also gave Me gall for My food, and for My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink."\

Fulfilled in MAT 27:34.

MAT 27:34, “They gave Him wine to drink mingled with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.”

There is the prophecy of the physical abuse and humiliation of Jesus.

ISA 50:6, “I gave My back to those who strike Me, and My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spiting.”

Fulfilled in MAT 26:67.

MAT 26:67, “Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him.”

There was the prophecy that He would come to die for our sins in order to save us, in ISA 53:5.

ISA 53:5, “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for out well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”

This was fulfilled throughout the entire New Testament, as in ROM 5:6-8.

ROM 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Then there was the prophecy that He would be silent as He approached the Cross.

ISA 53:7, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.”

This was fulfilled in MAR 15:4-5.

MAR 15:4, And Pilate was questioning Him again, saying, “do You make no answer? See how many charges they bring against You!”

There is the prophecy of His crucifixion.

ISA 53:12, “And He was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.”

This was fulfilled in LUK 23:33-34.

LUK 23:33-34, And when they came to the place called the skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.

There is the prophecy of the piercing of the side of Jesus.

ZEC 12:10, “They will look on Me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.”

This was fulfilled in JOH 19:34.

JOH 19:34, “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.”

A part of it will also be fulfilled in REV 1:7.

REV 1:7, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.”

There is the prophecy of the nailing of Jesus' hands and feet.

ZEC 13:6, “And one will say to Him, ‘what are these wounds between Your arms?’ Then He will say, ‘those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.’

This was fulfilled in JOH 20:27.

JOH 20:27, Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.”