Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Monday, December 19, 2022

Serve Him in Righteousness

Luke 1:68-75 ESV

 

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

    for he has visited and redeemed his people

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

    in the house of his servant David,

as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

that we should be saved from our enemies

    and from the hand of all who hate us;

to show the mercy promised to our fathers

    and to remember his holy covenant,

the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

    that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him without fear,

    in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”

 

Prophecy Concerning Jesus Christ

 

This was a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ, our Lord, who had not yet been born, but who was soon to be born into the world as a human baby. But he was no ordinary baby. He was the only begotten Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born to a human mother. So when he walked the earth he was fully God and fully man. But he was not born in the image of Adam, like we are, for he did not have a human father. So he was sinless.

 

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is the promised seed of Abraham. He is the Messiah, the Christ, who was to come to redeem his people and to save them from their sins. Through him all nations are being blessed by his sacrificial offering of himself for the sins of the entire world and by the opportunity that provides for us to be delivered from our slavery to sin and to obey our Lord.

 

For Jesus Christ came to the earth with the purpose to save us from our sins, but not just from the punishment of sin, but from our slavery to sin. For he died on that cross (at around the age of 33) that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. And he died that we might now live for him and no longer for ourselves. And he shed his blood for us on that cross in order that he might buy us back for God (redeem us) so that we would now honor God with our lives.

 

[Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20]

 

The Reason Jesus Came

 

As stated, the purpose of Jesus’ death and resurrection is that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. And it is that we might serve him without fear of our enemies, and without fear of opposition and persecution, yet not because Jesus promised us that he will protect us from all opposition and persecution. And that is because he promised us that we would be hated and persecuted as he was. But he does deliver us from their power and influence over our lives if we are willing and obedient.

 

And our primary enemy is Satan, and sin is our enemy, too. And we are delivered from the power of Satan and sin by genuine faith in Jesus Christ. For when we believe in Jesus with God-given faith in him we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. For our old self is crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin.

 

Our enemy is also self and pride and the flesh. For the flesh is at war with the Spirit, and the Spirit is at war with the flesh. So daily we must deny self and take up our cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) Jesus. And we must say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. And we must no longer walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the flesh, but now as followers of Jesus we are to walk in conduct according to the Spirit.

 

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-17; Jn 15:18-21; Eph 6:10-20; Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Gal 5:16-21; Luke 9:23-26; Titus 2:11-14; Rom 8:1-14]

 

Serve Him in Holiness and Righteousness

 

Again, Jesus Christ came to this earth and was born as a baby to a human mother with God as his Father in order that, when he was a grown man he might be our pure sacrifice on a cross for our sins. For on that cross he took upon himself the sins of the entire world so that when he died our sins died with him, and when he was raised from the dead he rose victorious over sin, hell, Satan, and death, on our behalf. And he did that in order that by faith in him we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness.

 

But Jesus did not die on that cross just to forgive us our sins and so that we could escape hell and go to heaven when we die. He came to this earth and was born in order to die for us on that cross so that we might now serve him with our lives without fear of Satan, hell, death, and all our physical enemies who hate us because of our walks of obedience to our Lord. And it was so we might serve him without fear in walks of holiness and righteousness before him all our days, all in his power and wisdom and strength.

 

So, what we all need to understand here, if we do not yet get this, is that if we choose not to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness, and if we choose to serve ourselves, instead, and so we choose to continue in deliberate and habitual sin and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, then we don’t have forgiveness of sins, and we don’t have the hope of eternal life with God. For we are not saved from our sins on a mere profession of faith in Jesus. We must live for him in walks of obedience to his commands.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

All is Well

 

Songwriters: Michael W. Smith / Wayne Kirkpatrick

 

All is well all is well

Let there be peace on earth

Christ is come, go and tell

That He is in the manger

Sing Ale

Sing Alleluia

 

All is well all is well

Lift up your voices and sing

Born is now Emmanuel

Born is our Lord and Savior

Sing Alleluia

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YzhM-u1phA

Caution: This link may contain ads

No comments: