Celebrate Christ Every Day

Luke 2:25-35 ESV

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

“’Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,

    according to your word;

for my eyes have seen your salvation

    that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

    and for glory to your people Israel.’

“And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.’”

Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the only begotten Son of God who is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He always existed with God, and he was with God from the beginning, and he is our creator God. So Jesus Christ, in the spirit, was always with his people Israel. They spiritually drank from him who was their spiritual Rock who accompanied them in their journey from Egypt into the wilderness and beyond. But it wasn’t until he was born as a human baby that he came to them in the flesh (John 1:1-36; 1 Corinthians 10:1-5; Philippians 2:5-11).

Jesus Christ came into this world to be our Savior, to save us from our sins, but not just from the punishment of sin, but from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin. For when he was crucified on that cross, he who knew no sin became sin for us so that when he died our sins died with him so that by faith in him we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. For he was crucified and resurrected from the dead so we will be crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him no longer as slaves of sin but as slaves of righteousness.

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

Now, God’s chosen people prior to Jesus’ death and resurrection were the Jews, although not all Jews believed in God, which was evident by their practices. So just because a person was a Jew did not mean that he had salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God. And this goes back to 1 Corinthians 10:1-22, including Hebrews 3:1-19 and Hebrews 4:1-13. For there we learn that many of them, because they were idolaters and revelers and the sexually immoral and those who put CHRIST to the test and who grumbled against God, died and did not enter into God’s eternal rest.

But when Jesus Christ died on that cross and he rose from the dead, he put to death the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile and he made both of them ONE PEOPLE by faith in Jesus Christ. And now all who believe in Jesus Christ are God’s chosen people, and all who rejected Jesus Christ are not now God’s chosen people but they can be by genuine faith in Jesus Christ. We who believe in Jesus Christ are the chosen of God, his holy nation, his possession, those belonging to God as his people. But that faith must be evidenced in true repentance and in obedience to our Lord.

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; Matthew 12:15-21; John 8:18-19,38-47; Acts 8:34-35; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:4-8,25-26; Romans 11:17-25; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 3:7-9,16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Galatians 6:16; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; Philippians 3:2-3; Colossians 3:12-15; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13; 1 Peter 2:9-10; 1 John 2:22; Jude 1:5; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]  

For just as the Jews of the Old Covenant had to obey the Lord and not walk in sin, we as well are required that we die to sin and now live to righteousness, that we now walk in obedience to our Lord in holy living and that we no longer walk in sin, for that is faith. Faith is obedience, and disobedience is unbelief. So even if you profess faith in Jesus Christ with your lips, if you continue in deliberate and habitual sin and not in holy living and not in obedience to the Lord, then you do not have salvation from sin, and you do not have the hope of eternal life with God in heaven.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

And the same rules apply to the Jews as to the Gentiles. We are all God’s people by genuine faith in Jesus Christ which is evidenced by our walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living and in the forsaking of our sins. For this is why Jesus died on that cross to set us free from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives and so that we will honor him with our bodies and so that we will now walk free from the control of sin and of Satan in obedience to our Lord. And this is what Simeon prophesied about when he held the only begotten Son of God, Jesus the Christ, in his arms. And this is what we are to celebrate every day!

I Will Call Upon the Lord

Words and music by Michael O'Shields

I will call upon the Lord

Who is worthy to be praised

So shall I be saved from my enemies

The Lord liveth and blessed be the Rock

And let the God of my salvation be exalted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZIigMiXfuE 

Caution: This link may contain ads