Newborn King: The Promise
He is either King of all or he’s not King at all.
Welcome to our Advent Series The Newborn King
Throughout this advent season we are seeking to understand more deeply what it means that the coming of Jesus was the advent of a King.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
From the moment sin entered the human story, the countdown to Christmas was on.
Luke 1:26-33
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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.”
“The focus of attention is not on the birth itself, but on the significance of the child, and on the role he will play in fulfilling God’s will” -Donald Hagner
It’s not about the manger or the inn or the stable. It’s about that baby. The coming of a King, that would change everything.
That’s the miracle of Christmas. That’s what we celebrate.
Matthew 2:1-12
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
How will you respond to the news of The Newborn King this Christmas season and beyond?
There are a million ways we can miss the profound significance of this season. Friends, after all we have been through the last 20 months, let’s commit together, not to miss Christmas.
To know the story isn’t enough, we must get into the Christmas story.
Let us come and worship the Newborn King!
Other verses for further study/reflection:
Micah 5:2
2 Samuel 7:16
Hebrews 1:3
Jude 1:25