Today’s New Covenant nugget is from Isaiah 9:6-7
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. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
The Passion Translation says, “A child has been born for us; a Son has been given to us. The responsibility of complete dominion will rest on His shoulders, and His name will be: The Wonderful One! The Extraordinary Strategist! The Mighty God! The Father of Eternity! The Prince of Peace! Great and vast is His dominion. He will bring immeasurable peace and prosperity. He will rule on David’s throne and over David’s kingdom to establish and uphold it by promoting justice and righteousness from this time forward and forevermore. The marvelous passion that the Lord Yahweh,Commander of Angel Armies, has for His people will ensure that it is finished!”
CHRISTMAS IS A SEASON WHERE THE WHOLE WORLD CELEBRATES THE BIRTH OF CHRIST!
The story of Christmas is not a fable or a fairy tale, it is a true story about God the Father, sending His Son to save humanity. He so loved the World, that He gave His only begotten Son, that, whosoever places their faith in Him, will not perish, but will receive eternal, abundant life, as kings and priests in Christ.
CHRISTMAS IS A COMPOUND WORD THAT COMES FROM THE WORDS… “CHRIST AND MASS”, MEANING, “AN ANOINTED SERVICE TO RECEIVE ANOINTING FROM THE ANOINTED ONE!”
CHRISTMAS IS A TIME OF GREAT ANOINTING TO DO GREAT EXPLOITS IN JESUS’ NAME!
OVER 300 PROPHESIES FROM DIFFERENT PEOPLE LIVING IN DIFFERENT PLACES, OVER A SPAN OF HUNDREDS OF YEARS, WERE GIVEN HUNDREDS OF YEARS BEFORE JESUS. EXACT PROPHESIES ABOUT HIS BIRTH, HIS MINISTRY, HIS MESSAGE, HIS DEATH, AND HIS RESURRECTION. ONLY GOD COULD SUPERNATURALLY BRING EVERY ONE OF THESE PROPHESIES TO PASS.
ALMOST 500 YEARS BEFORE JESUS, DANIEL PROPHESIED THE EXACT DATE THAT JESUS WOULD BE BORN…
Daniel 9:24-26
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy. 25 Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven (49 years) plus sixty-two sets of seven (434 years) will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One [Until Messiah the Prince] comes. (483 years) Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times. 26 “After this period of sixty-two sets of seven (434 years), the Anointed One will be killed, but not for Himself…
JESUS WAS BORN 483 YEARS TO THE DAY, AFTER THE KING’S DECREE GIVING THE ORDER FOR JERUSALEM TO BE REBUILT.
700 YEARS BEFORE JESUS WAS BORN, ISAIAH PROPHESIED…
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.”
Matthew 1:18-25 (NLT) records the fulfillment of this prophecy… “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through His prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!She will give birth to a Son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her Son was born. And Joseph named Him Jesus.
JESUS WAS ‘NAMED’ JOSHUA AND ‘CALLED’ GOD WITH US, OR GOD BECAME ONE OF US.
700 YEARS BEFORE JESUS MICAH PROPHESIED…
Micah 5:2 - “But you, Bethlehem, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. (From the days of eternity)”
Bethlehem was a very unlikely place for Messiah to be born, Jerusalem would have been the likely place, however, in Micah’s prophecy, Bethlehem is specifically pinpointed. Only God could have known that… He is the One that knows the end from the beginning!
Over 1000 YEARS BEFORE JESUS, DAVID PROPHESIED…
Psalm 72:10-11 – “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him.”
Matthew 2:11 records the fulfillment of David’s prophecy… “And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
ALMOST 800 YERS BEFORE JESUS, HOSEA WROTE THIS…
Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Hosea revealed by the Spirit that God’s Son would live in Egypt for a season…
Matthew 2:13-15 (NLT) gives an account of that prophecy… “After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and His mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill Him.” That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, His mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
WHY DID JESUS COME?
Daniel 9:24 gives us at least five reasons… “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy.”
1. TO FINISH TRANSGRESSION
THE WORD TRANSGRESSION IS THE HEBREW WORD ‘PESHA’. PESHA LITERALLY MEANS, “TO PUT AN END TO THE POWER OF, AND PUNISHMENT FOR REBELLION”
“I am no longer under the power of rebellion, I have been set free to discern truth, and walk in it!”
IN CHRIST, WE ARE NO LONGER OVERPOWERED BY REBELLION, WE ARE EMPOWERED TO DISCERN TRUTH, AND WALK IN IT.
2. TO PUT AND END TO SIN (THE POWER, AND THE FRUIT OF SIN)
The fruit of sin, empowered by the power of sin, includes, ‘bondage, slavery, sickness, poverty, torment, deception, fear and depression’. Jesus came to put an end to sin, sin-consciousness, the power of sin, and all of the things that sin gives the devil place to… Jesus paid the penalty for, and bore the punishment for the sins of all humanity… He single-handedly destroyed sin and the power of sin with all of its fruit!
EVERY TIME WE PARTAKE OF COMMUNION, WE CELEBRATE THE UTTER DESTRUCTION OF SIN!
3. TO MAKE RECONCILIATION FOR INIQUITY
The words translated as reconciliation for iniquity come from two Hebrew words… Kâphar âvôn, literally meaning, ‘to cancel and to purge away the guilt and the punishment of sin.’
4. TO BRING EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS
Jesus came to bring EVERLASTING righteous to every person that would receive Him as Savior! As born-again believers we are now the righteousness of God in Christ. Because of Jesus, we are forever righteous in Him.
5. TO ANOINT THE HOLY ONES…
JESUS, THE ANOINTED ONE HAS COME TO ANOINT HIS HOLY ONES WITH POWER TO REIGN IN LIFE WITH HIM AS KINGS AND PRIESTS.
CONFESSION
“In Christ, I am no longer under the power of rebellion, I have been set free to discern truth, and walk in it!
The dispensation of sin has ended in Christ. Sin has no power over me. I am set free from sin and all of its fruit.
I am set free from all guilt and all condemnation!
I am forever righteous in Christ!
I am anointed by Jesus to reign in this life with Him as a king and a priest in Him!
Thank You Jesus for coming!”
In His amazing Love, Nick
