John 1:16-17 (Amplified) tells us, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and favor upon favor and even Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
To those who don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christmas holiday is over and they're preparing for the New Year. The believer knows that just because we celebrated December 25th as Jesus' birth, the end of the Promise of a Savior has just begun. The Promise of Jesus' birth is what the world celebrated, while the Promise of His fulfilling is still unfolding.
Jesus walked among men on this earth for thirty years, but He couldn't fulfill the Law and begin His Priestly ministry until He was thirty. Luke 3:22-23,50 (Amplified) says, "And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from Heaven saying, You are My Son, My Beloved! In You I am well pleased and find delight. Jesus Himself, when He began His ministry was about thirty years of age."
Until the appointed time of His earthly ministry, there is no evidence found in God's Word that shows Jesus was looked upon as being anything other than just an ordinary man among men. We do find proof in Luke 2:49 (Amplified) that Jesus was in the Temple, both hearing and answering things about God's Word. Thus, it says, "And He said to [Joseph and Mary who were looking for Him], How is it that you had to look for Me? Did you not see and know that it would be necessary as a duty for Me to be in My Father's house and occupied at My Father's business." I always marvel at Verse 50 which says, "But they did not comprehend what He was saying to them."
Even after the Angel appeared and spoke to Mary, and even after the Angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt, they didn't comprehend Jesus' True Identity. Jesus was "just another boy," to most of the people who grew up around Him. Isn't it strange how soon we can get preoccupied and consumed with everyday life, and forget what God has done?
Many believe that Christmas was the fulfillment of God's Promise about a Savior, but believers know that it is just the beginning of the Promise. We know that, "In Jesus, all the Promises of God are Yes and Amen, in Him to the Glory of God. In 2Corinthians 1:19-20 (Amplified) Paul writes, "For the Son of God, Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who has been preached among you by us, by myself, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not yes and no, but in Him it is always the Divine Yes. For as many as are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes answer in Him (Christ). For this reason we also utter the Amen (So be it), to God through Him, in His Person and by His Agency, to the Glory of God."
When Jesus was born, the Promises were activated for all who would believe in Him. These include healing, salvation, the righteousness, the justification, and the new creation birth, as well as the restoration of being God's Own children. Those who had been looking forward by faith, at His coming, had no idea of His fullness. We can look back today and see the fulfillment of Jesus' birth, but we also have the hope and look forward to His complete work. This Blessed Hope, is the faith we now walk in. Hebrews 11:1-2 (Amplified) says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for."
We're looking forward to another Promise that the angels brought, just like they did. Acts 1:9-11 (Amplified) says, "And when He had said this, even as they were looking at Him, He was caught up and a cloud received and carried Him away out of their sight. And while they were gazing intently into Heaven as He went, behold, two men dressed in white robes suddenly stood beside them, Who said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into Heaven? This Same Jesus, Who was caught away and lifted up from among you into Heaven, will return in just the same way in which you saw Him go into Heaven."
Just like those in Bethlehem before Jesus' birth, we're looking into the future Promise of His coming. It's true that we can know many things surround His soon coming, by looking through the Word, but Paul said that we're "looking through a glass dimly," 1Corithians 13:12 (Amplified) says, "For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection of reality as in a riddle or enigma, but then, when perfection comes, we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood by God."
We have so much to learn and understand about the Blessed event of Jesus' birth. His birth wasn't the end of our seeking the Messiah, but it was the beginning. Jesus walked in His earthly ministry, He was crucified, He was resurrected from the dead and taken into His Father's Presence at the Ascension, there was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the revelation of the new birth with son-ship rights and we've yet to see the fullness of Jesus' return, with the finality of the Age and the completion of the Promise to us, through Jesus.
We continue arguing over what Jesus did, can do and whether or not it's for us today, like those of old. Even in the Light of the Holy Spirit as our Teacher and the down payment of the Promises, we're like them and are waiting in faith in the Promise and what it means in our lives. The people clung to their own works of the Law and their traditions, even while Jesus began revealing Himself as Messiah. They dismissed the very thing they looked for, for centuries.
What part of the Promise of Messiah was true? To them, only certain things. What part of the Promise is true for us today? Still only certain parts or like Paul said, "The Promises of God are Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus, to the Glory of God?" Do you realize that it brings Glory to God, when we receive by faith, the Promises He gave through Jesus? God's not upset when we accept the Blessing of Abraham, given to Jesus, the See. It brings Glory to God, when we accept our healing by faith in what He Promises us about Jesus in Isaiah 53,54,55. This isn't super faith, but it's simply faith in God's Promise, which is Jesus Himself.
These were still Promises in the Old Testament, but they're no longer just Promise in the new covenant. They are fact and Truth.
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