The Word Became Flesh 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the *Word was *God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the *light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a *witness to *testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 The *Word became *flesh and made his *dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullnesswe have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses;grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[b] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
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Isaiah 9:6 is a prophecy about a future child who would bear the government on his shoulders and be called by titles that could only rightfully be attributed to God: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The historical context of Isaiah 9; Isaiah speaks to people living in three time periods: before the Babylonian exile, during the Babylonian exile, and after the Babylonian exile. In chapter 9, Isaiah is speaking to the southern kingdom of Israel (Judah) before the Babylonian exile. Israel and Syria are pressuring Judah to form a coalition against Assyria. Ahaz, the king of Judah, is afraid to go against Assyria, so he sends a king's ransom to Assyria asking for their help. Isaiah spoke into a situation where Judah felt powerless, and they were afraid of the rulers to their north. As their enemies only seemed to grow in strength and tighten their grasp, they didn’t know if God was for them or against them or if he had simply abandoned them. And among Isaiah’s prophecies about their future defeat, exile, and return, he included two prophetic visions of a child who would represent God’s presence, embody his characteristics, and bear the responsibility of governing his people. Immanuel: God with usTwo chapters before Isaiah says “For unto us a child is born,” he prophesied the birth child whose name would signify the presence of God: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.” —Isaiah 7:14–16 Immanuel means “God with us.” Like Isaiah 9:6, this verse is believed to be a prophecy about Jesus. In fact, the Gospel of Matthew quotes this passage in 1:23 as it recounts the story of Jesus’ birth. This prophecy is an encouragement that God is indeed on Judah’s side, and an assurance that by the time this child is grown, Assyria and Syria will be defeated. “For to us a child is born”Isaiah 9:6 speaks of a child, too. And while it’s somewhat ambiguous whether or not this is the same child mentioned in Isaiah 7, both passages describe Jesus’ birth and character. “The government will be on his shoulders” means he will bear the responsibility of governing the people. Verse 7 clarifies: he will do this forever. “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Two of the titles this child will bear—Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace--could apply to a mortal human. And in a time when Judah desperately needed wisdom and peace, these would have been traits they greatly desired in a leader. But the other two—Mighty God and Everlasting Father—are names that would seem to clearly apply to God. But the Israelites weren’t expecting God to be born and live among them. They had no concept of the incarnation, and names and titles always carried symbolic weight to remind the Israelites about who their God was. So they would have seen this prophecy differently. Was it a prophecy about Hezekiah?It’s easy for modern Christians to read passages like Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 9:6 and to think: “A name like ‘God with us’ is clearly referring to the incarnation in Jesus Christ. And the empires Israel was afraid of were defeated before Jesus’ time. And titles like ‘Mighty God’ and ‘Everlasting Father’ could only apply to a child who was also divine, like Jesus.” But the Judeans believed they were in immediate need of a physical savior. The kings they were afraid of were knocking on their door. They probably thought this prophecy was about Ahaz's son—their future king—Hezekiah. But as we see later on in the book (chapters 38 and 39), Hezekiah died as a grown man, while the Israelites were still in captivity. And he could hardly be nicknamed “God with us” when he only turned to prayer on his deathbed. The Word became fleshIn the Gospel of John, we read about the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. The child who bore these qualities was born centuries later, not a single generation later. And he would not be merely human, but the incarnation of the living God. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” —John 1:14 In the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel directly alludes to this famous prophecy when he tells Mary about Jesus: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” —Luke 1:32–33 The only king who could reign forever is one who would live forever. And the only one who could rightfully hold God’s titles was God himself. Israel was looking for an immediate remedy to their physical and political problems. God’s solution wouldn’t come for centuries, but it would last forever. Jesus reigns to this day. "Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.... Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, 'He is the Son of God'" (Acts 9:1-2, 19-20). Ironically, Saul's desire to visit the synagogues in Damascus came to fruition, but clearly not for the reasons he had originally intended. Rather than delivering threatening letters from the high priest, he delivered powerful sermons that Jesus is the Son of God. Let us be encouraged by the fact that Satan never misses an opportunity to shoot himself in the foot. All his greatest efforts to stop the spread of the gospel have always resulted in more disciples of Jesus, not less. "All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, 'Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?' ... So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase" (Acts 9:21, 31).
I Met Messiah,
One For Israel Testimony https://www.oneforisrael.org/top-testimonies/dr-seth-postell/ The covenant concept is central of Scripture, establishing and defining God’s relationship with mankind in every *age of *history. The OT was established between God and the people of Israel after Freeing them from Egyptian slavery. Moses, leading them from captivity- served as mediator of this contract at Mount Sinai: (“Moses took the blood from the basins- splattered it over the people, declaring, “this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.(Exodus 24:8, NLT)” God promised Israel would be his chosen people, and he would be their God: (“I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt(Exodus 6:7,)” God issued the Ten Commandments and laws in Leviticus to be obeyed- If they complied, he pledged prosperity and protection in the Promised Land). To address sins, God set up a system of “animal blood sacrifices.” That system lasted hundreds of years, but it was only temporary. Out of love, God sent his only Son, Jesus, into the world; This new covenant would resolve -the #fall- once and *for *all (Isaiah). For 3 years, Jesus taught throughout Israel about the kingdom of God and his -upcoming role- as #Messiah. To support his claim as Son of God, he performed many miracles, even raising people from the dead. By dying on the cross, Christ became #Lamb of God, the #ultimate #perfect #sacrifice, whose blood has the -power- to #redeem us #forever. Jesus freely #intercedes for us before God- We now -encounter God- ourselves; no longer needing a human to speak for us. Israel struggles to find closeness with God, but the gospel illustrates the covenant now through the power of Christ’s divine blood- sacrificial love- in -manifested- spirit through his *word. While God's grace frequently broke through in the OT, its #presence manifests in #spirit through the resurrected #living christ- The free gift of redemption in Christ is available to all who choose to #receive it. Israels restoration is in the-unity with christ #messiah- in the promise land- eternal #dwelling place.
The resurrection of Jesus is important for several reasons. First, the resurrection witnesses to the immense power of God Himself. To believe in the resurrection is to believe in God. If God exists, and if He created the universe and has power over it, then He has power to raise the dead. If He does not have such power, He is not worthy of our faith and worship. Only He who created life can resurrect it after death, only He can reverse the hideousness that is death itself, and only He can remove the sting and gain the victory over the grave (1 Corinthians 15:54–55). In resurrecting Jesus from the grave, God reminds us of His absolute sovereignty over life and death.
Jesus was “the Son of God” referred to prophetically in Psalm 2:7, and during His trial (Sanhedrin). The title He used most throughout His ministry was “Son of Man.” (More than 40 times by yeshua yet The disciples called him “Lord,” “Master” or “Teacher.”)… the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head”). “The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”). “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath”). “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (Mark 13:26). Jesus derived this from Ezekiel and Daniel. “Son of Man” is the distinctive title applied to the Ezekiel. The Hebrew translation is “ben Adam,” literally, “Son of Adam” or “son of mankind.” Originally, when used to refer to Ezekiel, it meant only “man,” as opposed to God, and reminded Ezekiel of his humble status. By the time of Jesus, it had become an honorific title of the Messiah, passages in Ezekiel were idealized/interpreted messianically. Jesus noted the similarities to His calling: “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against Me” (Ezekiel 2:3). “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, you shall give them warning from Me” (3:17). significant were a remnant to be spared; the new heart and spirit, the new everlasting covenant, and the promise that the Gentile nations would come to know the Lord, God of Israel. All to be fulfilled by Jesus as Son of Man. Daniel 7:13-14 used the title “Son of Man.” Here- an Aramaic term, “bar enash,” instead of “ben Adam.” The meaning similar, “enash” the word for mankind in general, not an individual. In rabbinical and popular thought, the term had been highly spiritualized, indicating the ideal man, divine in nature. The Book of Enoch, that circulated during the first century, exalted the figure even beyond Daniel’s vision. It is not necessary to assume that Jesus was influenced by Enoch. Jesus knew these things prophesied in Daniel 7 would take place after His suffering on the cross, His resurrection and His return to heaven. He identified himself not only with the Hebrew nation but whole human race.
One way in which the Bible is unique from other religious books is that it is the most popular book in the world despite a considerable amount of opposition waged against it. It has long been named the bestselling and most distributed book of all time. The Gideons International has distributed over 2 billion copies of the Bible and New Testaments since 1899 (www.gideons.org/about, accessed 8/11/21). In addition, the United Bible Societies distributed 160 million complete Bibles from 2010 to 2014 and 428 million Scripture portions in 2014 alone (https://ministry.americanbible.org/bible-distribution, accessed 8/11/21). The Guinness Book of World Records estimates that the Bible has been printed over 5 billion times (www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction, accessed 8/11/21).
The uniqueness of the Bible extends beyond its wide distribution, however. In many ways, the Bible is more than just another book. The Bible is unique in authorship. Although the Holy Spirit is ultimately the author of Scripture (2 Peter 1:21), He used many human authors to compile the 66 books of the Bible. Around forty different human writers in the span of about 1,500 years were involved in the collection of Scripture. These writers came from different time periods, backgrounds, occupations, and geographical locations. The writers include kings, prophets, fishermen, shepherds, servants, priests, and a physician. This broad authorship explains the variety of writing styles. There is also a plethora of genres in the Bible, including poetry, prose, narrative, prophecy, and letter-style writing. The different authors and writing styles make the Bible unique from other religious books, and it’s stunning to realize that the entire canon of Scripture shares a common theme—God’s salvation of mankind—and points to a central character—Jesus Christ. The Bible is unique in content. Numerous religious texts teach good morals and righteous ways of life. Unlike other religious texts advocating good works to please an unreachable god, the Bible uniquely teaches that salvation is a gift from God that does not require human works (Ephesians 2:8–9). Whereas other religious books present a set of rules and regulations to follow, the Bible presents freedom in Christ (John 8:36). The Bible reveals that Jesus is God (John 1:1) and that He saves us through His death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1–4). No other sacred book claims that a religious leader rose from the dead (Matthew 28:5–7; Luke 24:5–6; John 20:20; 1 Corinthians 15:4–8). The God of Scripture is not a far-off, uncaring god but the Creator of all things who is intimately involved in the lives of His creation (Psalm 139:7–12; Acts 17:25–27). No other religious text gives the assurance of eternal life (John 3:16). No other religion’s book is without error or flaw, but the Bible is inerrant and infallible (see 2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13). The Bible is also unique from other religious books in that it contains prophecy. In fact, by one count, about 27 percent of the Bible is predictive (Payne, J. B., The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy, Baker Pub. Group, 1980, p. 675). This means that, when written, over one fourth of the Bible—more than one in four verses—was prophetic. Hundreds of the Bible’s detailed prophecies have come true in literal fashion. No other religious book contains prophecy to this extent. The Bible is unique in its language of writing. Most books are written in one language. For instance, the Quran of Islam was written completely in Arabic, Hinduism’s Vedas were composed entirely in Sanskrit, and the Book of Mormon was written entirely in English. In contrast, the Bible’s authors used three different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The Bible is unique in its compilation. The Old Testament Scriptures were written as the prophets of God received God’s word, with little to no reliance on oral history. The New Testament Scriptures were written by eyewitnesses to the events soon after the events took place, within the first century. The manuscript evidence for the New Testament is overwhelming. There are at least 5,300 Greek, 10,000 Latin, and 9,000 miscellaneous copies of the New Testament extant today. This is in stark contrast to other ancient works, such as Aristotle’s Poetics, which only has five manuscripts preserved dating over a thousand years after the original was written. The Quran has very few early manuscripts, as the process of recording the Quran was controlled by Islamic leaders who burned any copies that contained variant readings. The Hindu Vedas were passed down orally over thousands of years before being written down. The Bible is unique in its results. God uses His Word, the Bible, to bring about the results of His choosing (Isaiah 55:11). One of those results is changed lives. Countless people give testimony around the world of freedom from substance abuse, destructive lifestyles, lying, stealing, habitual anger, etc., due to their following biblical principles and their faith in Jesus Christ. Unique among all religious texts, the Bible stands alone in presenting Jesus Christ, God’s one-and-only Son, as the only way to salvation: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6). Truly, there is no other book like the Bible. Jesus Christ was more than a man or a great teacher. The Bible says He is the Son of God. Although Jesus was fully man, He never once committed a sin during His life on earth. He is the only sinless man to ever live. His enemies studied Him day and night in an effort to discount Him, but they never found any sin. Jesus lived a humble life. He didn’t seek fame and received no special honors from people. He was born in a stable. He was raised in the small and unassuming village of Nazareth where he was eventually trained to be a simple carpenter. When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He selected an ordinary group of fishermen and others to be His followers. He walked this earth just like the rest of us. He was one of us. Jesus lived among us so we could see God with our eyes, touch God with our hands, talk to God with our lips, hear God speak with our ears, and live with God in our world. He did all of this so we could learn how to be like Him, the Son of God. We can become children of God, too. Jesus has shown us how to live, love, laugh and be accepted in the eyes of God, who was His Father and is our Father. But that’s not all Jesus did for us. Jesus came to earth more than 2,000 years ago to save us from our sins, which separate us from God. He alone had the power and ability to bring us back to God. By dying on the cross, Jesus paid the price for our sins and made a way for us to live with God forever. He was the substitute and voluntarily died in our place because we’re sinful people. We believe in His promise of eternal life because He rose from the dead and still lives today. He wants to be your Savior and friend.
Bible Cross References 🕊❤️🙏❤️🕊
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