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A Closer Walk

Advent season is upon us. This time of year we remember and celebrate that our Savior voluntarily laid aside His Godly privileges and left His rightful home in Heaven. He did this to come to earth and be born to a woman. He lived a perfect sinless life which culminated in Him being falsely accused and tried, falsely convicted, and then falsely punished for sins He did not commit. He took our place and paid the price for our sins. Then, on the third day, He arose from the grave and after a while ascended back into Heaven where He lives for eternity.

Jesus relates one of the reasons for His coming in His conversation with Zaccheus found in the Gospel of Luke. Speaking to Zaccheus, "And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost,'" Luke 19:9-10 NASB. The Son of Man, Jesus, came to seek and to save that which was lost. Why would He give up His Godly privileges in order to come to earth so He could do this? "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life," John 3:16 NASB.
On Christmas Day we celebrate Jesus' birth. During the Sundays in December and in the days leading up to Christmas Day pastors often talk about the events that happened as the days revealed in the story of Christmas unfolded. One of these events was the appearance of the angel Gabriel to a priest of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. "In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias...And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear gripped him. But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John...And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of righteousness; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord,'" Luke 1:5,11-13, and 17 NASB.
The angel announced the birth of John the Baptist. He was to prepare his people for the coming of the long anticipated Messiah; the Lord Jesus. Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth had no children and were advanced in years. To them this proclamation must have been puzzling, wonder inspiring, and curious. Why now? Why after having been childless for so many years would God choose to bless them now? Because it was all in God's timing.
When Jesus was grown up, and just before beginning His earthly ministry, He went to John to be baptized. Upon His arrival what did John exclaim? "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!,'" John 1:29 NASB. Behold the Lamb of God! Who takes away the sin of the world!
“...the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

 

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