We are starting our celebration of Advent, the Christmas season, by talking about how Jesus is our faith.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Watch the video of this teaching at https://www.celllifechurch.tv/advent-2021-jesus-is-our-faith/ or on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/43s_NcKtu9c
We have officially entered the Christmas season! Maybe you have seen decorations going up in homes and Christmas bazaars and programs being planned. Here in America, the retailers started with their decorations a while ago.
As we prepare to celebrate the coming of God’s son to earth to redeem mankind, let’s be purposeful to keep Christ in Christmas. Preparing for the coming of Jesus is called Advent.
Jesus is the light of the world. He brings light into darkness. We use candles to signify the different aspects of Christ’s birth. Each week leading up to Christmas we light another candle.
In the coming weeks, we are going to see that Jesus was more than just a baby. We will discover that in Him we have faith, He is our peace, He is love, and He is our hope.
Today we have one candle lighted. Each week we will light another leading up to Christmas Day when we will celebrate the coming Messiah, the Christ-child, the Light of the world. Today we are celebrating that Jesus is our faith.
No baby born is unimportant or ordinary. We are all created in the image of God. The Christ Child, however, was God himself, in the flesh who walked on the earth to save mankind. Let’s take a moment today and see how our faith is found in Christ.
If you are familiar with the events surrounding the birth of Jesus then you would know that there were a lot of people who had their faith tested. One of these individuals was Joseph. He was betrothed to Mary. They were not married yet, not living together, and had no physical relations.
An angel had appeared to Mary and told her that she was favored by God. She was told that she would conceive and give birth to a son although she was a virgin. She was told his name would be Jesus and he would be the Son of God. Once Mary accepted this fact she had to convince Joseph of what was said to her by God.
We read about Josephs’ encounter with an angel in Matthew 1:18-24.
(18) This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. (19) Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. (20) But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. (21) She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (22) All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: (23) “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (24) When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
Joseph had plans to quietly divorce Mary until the angel confirmed to him what Mary was saying was true. Joseph responded to the angel by doing what he had been commanded to do, taking Mary as his wife.
Joseph exercised faith. He believed the angel of the Lord. Jesus brings faith. Jesus is our faith.
Joseph was exercising his faith by being sure of what he hoped for and certain of what he could not see. When we believe in the power of God although we cannot see it, we have faith. Hebrews 11:1 says:
(1) Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Jesus brings faith. We cannot see him but we have hope, knowing for certain that he lives. Jesus said this very thing when encountering Thomas who had doubted Jesus’ resurrection.
(29) Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The birth of the coming Messiah was prophesied throughout the Old Testament. It took great faith for people to believe that one day, maybe not in their lifetime, but one day, the long-awaited Savior of the World would come to Earth.
One of the best passages of scripture in the Old Testament regarding the coming Messiah is found in Isaiah 11:1-5.
(1) A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. (2) The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD— (3) and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; (4) but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. (5) Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The people of the Old Testament put their faith in the coming Messiah. We too can experience faith like that in Christ. You and I can put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who did come, lived among mankind, and is coming again to take his people home.
Today faith is reliance, loyalty, or having complete trust in Jesus. People will let us down and make mistakes but Jesus never will. We can put our trust in him. We can have complete faith in him. He is for you, not against you. Jesus brings faith. Jesus is our faith.
This Christmas season as you prepare your heart to celebrate the coming of God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, we encourage you to put your faith in him.
If you have never taken the step of acknowledging him as your Lord and Savior. The One who came to Earth to die for your sins so that you can have eternal life, then we invite you to ask him to be your personal Lord and Savior.
All you need to do is acknowledge to him you know you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive you of your sin and come into your life.
If you struggle to put your faith in Jesus, then ask him to help you with your unbelief. He will be faithful to answer your prayer.
We would like to encourage you to focus more this Christmas season on Jesus being more than a baby. Jesus is our faith. He is our Lord and Savior. He sits at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us every moment of every day until we are called up to be with him forever.
We encourage you to take time this week to read and meditate on the first coming of Christ to the world. This little baby, who was born in a manger, would come to save mankind. Then, be thankful and look forward to his return, soon.
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