As we have arrived again at the season in which we celebrate the first coming of Jesus, the Christ (Messiah) let us rejoice as we discover another facet of the beauty of the gracious provision of God through the giving of His only begotten Son to the world for the purpose of “Given To Be Given Away”
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Psalms 110:1 -7 (KJV)
Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Psa 110:2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Psa 110:3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
Psa 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Psa 110:5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
Psa 110:6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
Psa 110:7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3:1 – 11 (NASB)
Eph 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles–
Eph 3:2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;
Eph 3:3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.
Eph 3:4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
Eph 3:5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
Eph 3:6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
Eph 3:7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.
Eph 3:8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
Eph 3:9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;
Eph 3:10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
Eph 3:11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Transforming Power Statements:
1) The Psalmist David reveals many aspects of the purposes of the first advent of Jesus The Christ, Who is more than a Son, but also a Priest of a “higher order” and also an instrument of God’s divine judgment against the fallen power-mad rulers of the world, who have become drunk with their positions rather than being under submission to God’s Son, the only true provider of righteousness from God for all who believe in Him.
2) The OT provides an account of the plan of God to provide a gift of His gracious love and the redemption of all people who would come to trust and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ , as King, Savior and LORD, and are gifted with God’s grace to share this information to the world to allow them also to receive God’s gracious gift freely as well.
3) The Apostle Paul after his conversion on the Damascus road, writes to us via the epistle to the Ephesians how we can rejoice in the reality of the revealed revelation of the lavish gift of Jesus Christ to all men and the great privilege we as the Church (one body consisting of believing Jews and Gentiles) to be a catalyst for giving away the same gift to all people in the world, which is the message of the Gospel!