Page 4, Continued on Pages 1, 2, 3, 5

God through Isaiah the prophet tells us that Jesus will be given the task of governing the world, that he will be Mighty-El and that He is the Father-of-Eternity. That simply means He is God from all eternity. Only God can make that claim as He did in Isaiah 43:10-11,

"‘You are My witnesses,’ declares Yehovah, ‘And My servant whom I have chosen, in order that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no El formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am Yehovah; and there is no Savior besides Me.’"

God makes plain that there was no one in existence before Him, yet Isaiah 9:6 tells us that Jesus is the Father of eternity. This truth is reaffirmed in Micah 5:2,

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity."

Jesus’ virgin birth was prophesied also through Isaiah in Isaiah 7:14, it states:

"Therefore Yehovah Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)

When Mary became pregnant, and Joseph knew he had not had sexual intercourse with Mary, being only engaged to her, he was going to have her put away. As a result an angel came to Joseph in a dream and told Joseph not to be afraid to take marry as a wife because her pregnancy was by the Holy Spirit of God. Then the angel told Joseph the following:

"‘And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.’ Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’" (Matthew 1:21-23)

"Immanuel" is a compound word: "Immanu" meaning "with us" and "El" meaning "God". Together they mean "God with us". No where in the New Testament is Jesus ever addressed as Immanuel. This is because this is not a title given to Jesus like the titles in Isaiah 9:6, but an adjective describing who Jesus is: God with us. Jesus is God in the flesh saving us from our sin.

Finally God took on a human nature for the simple reason that He loves us and wants a relationship with us. It is through Jesus’ humanity that we relate to God and come to know God. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Jesus said in Matthew 28:11-30,

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."

This I cannot document in the Bible, but I believe also God took on a human nature to live among us out of Jealousy. When He saw how much His servants suffered for the truth like Leah and those before us, I think He felt He could not relate to us if He Himself did not suffer on our behalf for us, the supreme sacrifice, the sacrifice of Himself on the cross. Now He can fellowship with and relate to all those who suffered for the truth who came before His humanity. As the writer of the book of Hebrews told us:

"Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high-priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:17-18)

When I saw Jesus looking through my eyes at Leah, I saw His pain and suffering on Leah’s behalf and He allowed me to suffer it with Him. Jesus knows and understands what Leah is suffering because of what He suffered as a man. Jesus is a merciful and faithful High Priest who truly understands all our infirmities, for He himself suffered as a man for us. Wow! What an incredible fact. David wrote in the Psalms about God’s attention to man:

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man, that You do take thought of him? And the son of man, that You do care for him?" (Psalm 8:4-5)

Finally John, Why do we even consider Jesus? We do not consider Him because of His teachings. Yes we are impressed with His teaching and knowledge and spirituality, but it is not these things which draw us to Him. It is what He suffered for us that causes us to take notice of him. It is through God’s suffering for us in His humanity through Jesus Christ that cause’s us to repent and turn back to Him. It was Leah’s purity and suffering you now know she suffers, was it not, her purity, that caused you to start thinking more deeply about God, as you put it? It is what Leah has suffered that prompted you to consider her faith, not the teachings of Christianity. It is God’s supreme sacrifice on the cross for us that causes us to stop and take notice.

Why did God do this? Why did He become a man and die on the cross for us? Because God does not want anyone to go to hell. Yes, He created Hell and when men do not repent and return to Him, He sends them there, but not because He wants to. So opposed to this final last resort action is He, that He became man and lived among us. He loved us, fed us and healed us. In response because of our sin, we nailed Him to a cross. In response He did not resist us but only said "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And He tells us that if we will just believe that, that is Him hanging on the cross for our sins, He will forgive us and give us eternal life. You see, John, if God had not suffered what He had suffered for us through Jesus Christ, we would have no incentive to repent and return to Him. He paid sins penalty for us so we would not spend our lives through all kinds of religious activities to try and gain His forgiveness. Why? Because He loves us and has a present and eternal plan for our lives and wants us to enjoy Him, not spend our lives in fear of Him.

"Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

He wants our fellowship, not people who are afraid of Him. Yes, we need the fear of God and I pray for it daily. I never want to become complacent in my relationship with God and go astray, but the Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and a sound-mind." (2 Timothy 1:7). It also tells us that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy & peace (Galatians 5:22). Romans 10:17 in the Bible tells us that heaven is "Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." That is God’s nature: love, joy and peace. So through His humanity He removed the sin barrier so we would return to Him and become one with Him in Spirit so we could enjoy His fellowship and His nature which is love, joy and peace.

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24)

When a person comes to Christ and believes on the Gospel Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:13-14,

"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory."

When a person believes on the Gospel, Gospel meaning Jesus death and shed blood on the cross for their sins and His physical resurrection from the dead as proof; and that person personalizes this by receiving Jesus Christ of Nazareth Himself into their heart as Savior and Lord, God automatically at that moment instantaneously forgives them of all their sins past, present and future and gives them His Holy Spirit who brings their human spirit back to life and back into permanent unhindered communion and relationship with God. When that happens, because God’s nature is love, joy and peace, that person instantly experiences and feels God’s love, joy and peace. That is what happened to me years ago when while riding my bicycle home from high school I prayed and received Jesus into my heart as Savior and Lord. I instantly felt all the burden of my sin lifted and came into relationship with God and began to experience God’s nature which is love, joy and peace. I experienced Heaven. John, I know I am saved and will go to heaven when I die; not because I am better than anyone else or any less a sinner than the average human being, but because now God sees me through the blood of Jesus Christ, and when He does, He sees me as holy and as perfect as His Son.

You see you don’t have to wait to go to heaven to experience heaven. Heaven or hell starts right here on earth. When Jesus was asked about when the kingdom of Heaven was coming, Jesus replied in Luke 17:20-21,

"The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you."  Next Page

Continued on Pages 1, 2, 3, 5