Advent Gem #14

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Isaiah 9: 6: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The Child, the Son, is also the Everlasting Father. God is truth, God is infinite. God is also a paradox. A paradox is a statement or action that seems to contradict itself, yet is true. How can the Son be the Father?

Jesus Himself declared the He and the Father are one. In the context , John 10: 30-33,37-38, was presenting a defense of His authority to Jewish leadership.

“ I and my Father are one. “Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

“The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

Jesus responded, “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.''

Hebrews 1: 1-8: God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets. has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, today I have begotten You''? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son''? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him.'' And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.'' But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom.”

Jesus is God in the beginning; He is God in the present; He is God in eternity. “I am” is always in present tense. Hebrews 13:8. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” 

 Advent Gems #13

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Isaiah :9: 6: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

He is Mighty God. He is omnipotent. No strength, power or valor is greater than His. Sometimes we misunderstand the power of good over evil. We often define evil as the opposite of good. If they are opposites, then they are equal in strength. However, evil is not the opposite of good. Evil is the absence of good.

Jesus not only is strong and powerful; He is the source of our strength and power.

Isaiah 40: 28-40: “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

In this weary world (The world has always been weary.), we must learn to be still and know that He is God, we must wait upon Him and we must live and move and have our being in Him.

 

Advent Gems #12

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Isaiah :9: 6: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

He is our Counselor. The Hebrew word translated as counselor means one who advises, one with whom we can consult and find purpose. In Him, we find our purpose.

The first question asked in the Westminster Shorter Catechism is “What is the chief end (purpose) of man?”

The answer is “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

We often speak of obeying God and loving God. How often do we consider how or if our lives glorify God? Also, too few of us realize that we are to enjoy God.

Nehemiah 8:10: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Joy to the world, the Lord is come

Let Earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room

And Heaven and nature sing

And Heaven and nature sing

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns

Let all their songs employ

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy

He rules the world with truth and grace

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of His love

And wonders of His love

And wonders, wonders, of His love

Joy to the world, the Lord is come

Let Earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room

And Heaven and nature sing

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

 Advent Gems #11

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Isaiah :9: 6: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

His name shall be called wonderful. Even the mention of His name, Jesus, fills us with wonder and awe. Jesus, our Savior. Jesus our Redeemer. In Him, we find salvation. Salvation encompasses, not only, the removal of the eternal punishment for sin, but also, through the power of the Holy Spirit residing within believers, the strength and courage forego sin in our daily lives.

Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

His Name Is Wonderful
Song by Carman

His name is wonderful
His name is wonderful
His name is wonderful
Jesus my Lord.
He is the mighty King
Master of everything
His name is wonderful
Jesus my Lord.
He's the Great Shepherd
The Rock of all ages
Almighty God is He
Bow down before Him
Love and adore Him
His name is wonderful
Jesus my Lord.

 Advent Gems #10

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Luke 1: 30-31: Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.”

You shall call His name Jesus which means savior, deliverer. In Him, we are delivered from sin and the wages of sin. In Him, our salvation is secured. In Him, in Him alone, we have salvation
.
Ephesians 2:8-9: 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Take a few moments and meditate on the lyrics to Bill and Gloria Gaither’s “There’s Something about That Name.”

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; there's just something about that name.
Master, Savior, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain;
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all Heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away,
But there's something about that name.
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away,
But there's something about that name.

 Advent Gems #9

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

He shall be called Immanuel meaning God with us.
John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Bob Mcgee’s lyrics put it so beautifully.
Emmanuel Emmanuel
His name is called
Emmanuel
God with us
Revealed in us
His name is called
Emmanuel

Do our lives reveal Emmanuel, God who lives in us?

 

Advent Gems #8

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Isaiah 7:14 : “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

The best commentary and confirmation of scripture can be found in the scriptures themselves. Isaiah 7:14 is a confirmation of Genesis 3:15: To the serpent, the Lord said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed.”

Notice that it is not the seed of the man and the woman. It is the seed of the woman only.

The Seed of the woman is confirmed in Matthew 1: 18. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.”

The virgin birth is more fully explained in Luke 1: 26-35: “ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!''

“But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.''

“Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?''

“ And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”