Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. ~2 Timothy 2:15

About Me

I am a young man who is following God's call into pastoral ministry. I have been so blessed with the privileges which the Lord has granted me. I am blessed to serve the Mt. Joy congregation in Mt. Pleasant, PA. I am constantly humbled and amazed at what the Lord is doing in my life.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

The Real Celebration at CHRISTmas



CHRISTmas should be a great celebration for believers. After all, we are not celebrating the birthday of just anyone but of the greatest Someone who ever walked upon this earth, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. To help us have the proper perspective about how special Jesus is, consider this sampling of what Scripture says about Him:

He is the eternal Divine Word of Creation (Genesis 1:3; John 1:1-3), the seed of the woman who will defeat the serpent (Genesis 3:15), the One slain to provide a covering for man's sins and guilt (Genesis 3:21), the ark of safety from God's wrath (Genesis 7-8), the descendant of Abraham in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3; 22:18), the Angel/Messenger of Yahweh (Genesis 16:7-14; 18:1-33; 21:17-18; 22:11-18; 31:11-13; 32:24-32; Exodus 3:1-4:22; 23:20-33; Numbers 22:22-35; Joshua 5:13-15; Judges 6:11-26; 13:2-23; 2 Samuel 24:16; 2 Kings 19:35; 1 Chronicles 21:1-27; Isaiah 37:36; Zechariah 1:7-21), the Promised Child of a miraculous conception who brings laughter and rejoicing (Genesis 21:1-7), the only beloved Son sacrificed on the altar in place of the sinner who deserves it (Genesis 22), the One whose betrayal brings about salvation for His family (Genesis 37-50), the king from the tribe of Judah who brings peace (Genesis 49:10), the One who delivers His people from the bondage of sin (Exodus), the Lamb whose shed blood causes God's wrath to "pass over" His people (Exodus 12:1-13), the tabernacle of God's presence among us (Exodus 25-40; John 1:18), the sacrifice that atones for the sin of God's people (Leviticus), the High Priest who serves as the mediator between God and His people, the One lifted up who brings healing to those who look to Him (Numbers 21:6-20), the star of Jacob (Numbers 24:17), the Prophet like Moses from among the people (Deuteronomy 18:15), the One whose holy character is revealed in the law (Exodus 20; Leviticus, Deuteronomy), the ultimate anointed priest, the Leader of His people into the promised land (Joshua), the Captain of the LORD’s army (Joshua 6:15), the Judge who will deliver His people from their oppression (Judges), the Living Kinsman Redeemer (Ruth; Job 19), the ultimate anointed king after God's own heart (1 Samuel), the descendant of David who will forever rule on his throne (2 Samuel 7:12-16), the ultimate king of peace (1 King 1-11), the builder of the church (Nehemiah), the righteous sufferer who intercedes for his friends (Job), the Eternal Son of the Father (Psalm 2:5), the Deliverer (Psalm 14:7), the One forsaken by God (Psalm 22:1; 69:7-8), the One despised by men and mocked (Psalm 22:6-8), the One pierced for man's sins (Psalm 22:16; Isaiah 53:5; Zechariah 12:10), the One whose garments would be gambled over (Psalm 22:18), the Good Shepherd of God's people (Psalm 23; 100; John 10:11), the One who would overcome death (Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 53), the One who would be betrayed by a close friend (Psalm 41:9), the One whose zeal for God's house would consume Him (Psalm 69:9), the One who would be given vinegar for His thirst (Psalm 69:21), the rejected cornerstone of the Church (Psalm 118:22), the personification of wisdom (Proverbs), the One without Whom everything else in life would be meaningless (Ecclesiastes), the Lover of the Church (Song of Songs), the Child born of a virgin being "Immanuel, God with us" (Isaiah 7:14), the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), the King of the everlasting kingdom (Isaiah 9:7; Daniel), the shoot from Jesse who will bring peace (Isaiah 11:1-10), the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53), the First and the Last (Isaiah 41:4), the I Am (Isaiah 43:10), the Redeemer (Isaiah 59:20), the Branch of Righteousness (Jeremiah 33:15), the fourth man in the fire who delivered those thrown in (Daniel 3:24-25), the Son of Man with an everlasting rule (Daniel 7:13-14), the price paid to buy back God's adulterous bride (Hosea 3:1-5), the Son called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1), the salvation accomplished through a three day stay in the belly of the earth (Jonah), the Desire of All Nations (Haggai 2:7), the eternal One born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), the humble king who brings salvation (Zechariah 9:9), the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2), the ultimate anointed prophet, the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1), a Savior, Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11), the Servant who gives His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), the obedient Son (John), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the Light of the World (John 8:12), the Door of the Sheep (John 10:7), the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), the True Vine (John 15:1), the sender of the Spirit (John 15:26), the Holy One (Acts 3:14), the Second Adam whose obedience brings justification and life (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 45), the means of man’s reconciliation with God the Father (2 Corinthians 5:18), the One who “knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21), the Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23), the One who “made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men . . . becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” who now has been exalted to receive the name above all names (Philippians 2:7-11), the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15), the agent of creation (Colossians 1:16), the head of the body, the Church, the beginning, the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18), the reconciler (Colossians 1:20), the One mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), the ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time (1 Timothy 2:6), the great God and Savior (Titus 2:13), the greater revelation (Hebrews 1:1-2), the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Hebrews 1:3), the One greater than angels (Hebrews 1:4-14), the One greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:1-6), the Apostle and High Priest of our confession (Hebrews 3:1), the guarantee of a better covenant (Hebrews 8:22), the final, true, and complete sacrifice (Hebrews 10:1-18), the Pioneer and Perfecter of our Faith (Hebrews 12:2), the One foreknown before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20), the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (1 Peter 2:25), the Advocate for God’s children, the Righteous One (1 John 2:1), our only Master and Lord (Jude 4), the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness (Revelation 3:14), the Lion of Judah, the Root of David (Revelation 5:5), the slain Lamb (Revelation 5:6), the Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11), the Almighty (Revelation 19:15), the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), the Bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16), the One who is coming again soon (Revelation 22:20) and so much more!
 
With all of this being the case, our CHRISTmas can’t be just any ordinary celebration but must be extraordinary. Who else deserves center stage other than this One revealed to us from Genesis through Revelation? May you reflect on and worship this Wonderful One this CHRISTmas season whom all the Bible points.

            Love in Christ,
            Pastor Lee