Christmas is a crazy time of year. There are people to buy for, kid’s programs, church events, and all sorts of activities. The streets are busy with determined (and distracted) shoppers…which makes the traffic a bit scary. The lead up to Christmas Eve and day is so very stressful.
When the Old Testament prophets declared the coming of a Messiah, a Savior, the Israelites were in a stressful time of their own. They were not following after God and prophets like Micah and Isaiah were warning of God’s coming judgment on Israel, primarily through Assyrian and Babylonian exile and captivity. The prophets then foretell of a Messiah who would deliver them. This prophecy has an immediate, partial, fulfillment in that God would eventually deliver his people from exile and foreign rule, but the real fulfillment was that he would ultimately deliver them from spiritual exile from Himself through the gift of Jesus Christ. This is called a dual prophecy and is just one of many evidences for the amazing miracle and truth of the Bible.
See, what I love about the Christmas story, beyond the baby in the manger, is that the more we dig into the truths that surround the advent of the Messiah, the more we can realize that this one event just about validates ALL of scripture. Maybe, that’s why so many try to marginalize it, because as it is true, so is their responsibility to respond to the message that God sent along with the Messiah.
I want to challenge you to dig deeper. Study the miracle of the coming of the Messiah, the prophecies, some 700 yrs before, and how they were fulfilled…perfectly! The genealogies of Mary and Joseph as prophecy could only be fulfilled in a virgin birth from Mary and a non-biological fatherhood of Joseph. Study the historical records, the external evidence. In the end, you will be amazed, simply amazed, at the very real story of a Savior for mankind and the many miracles that happened all along the way to redeem us. Christmas is real, it is so very real…don’t forget to celebrate that this year!
