God punished Adam and Eve,
but He cursed the ground from which Adam was made. 
Every single man, woman, and child since that day
has been infected by sin as our legacy
and experienced fully as inherited, both a sin nature and the curse upon the ground. 
Except Jesus never inherited sin.  The ground was cursed, not man.

Hold that thought.

Jesus experienced the painful toil of hard work and hunger and sufferings, the curse upon the ground.  The issue of mortality too.  But it was all external to Him because He was without sin.

How was this possible? Let me speculate a bit.

Mary’s genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1) goes back to Abraham, not to Adam.  Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I think it’s interesting that Jesus’ other genealogy, that of his legal father Joseph, goes further back to Adam. 

Mary’s in Matthew shows the covenant promise of God
to His chosen people through Isaac.
Jesus is the Son of God.  
Joseph’s goes back to the Garden. 
Jesus is also the Son of Man.

Jesus alone was born without sin because He is the Son of God and birthed by the virgin Mary who is the progeny of Eve, the “mother of all living” in the protoevangelion of Genesis 3. 

Jesus’ actual birth father is not Adam’s progeny at all because God is His Father.

Questions for further study:

How important is the Virgin Birth to the Christmas story and God’s redemptive plan?

How does removing the Virgin Birth make Jesus no different than any other man under the curse of sin?

Read these verses and reflect on the importance of the work of a sinless Christ.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”(2 Corinthians 5:21)

1 Peter 2:21 “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. (1 John 3:5)

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8)

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

It’s important for the whole of theology (and the Christmas story particularly) that Adam and Eve rebelled.  They had done what they’d been commanded not to do. But God did not curse them!  They sinned.  He showed grace.  He punished them and cast them from the Garden of Eden, out of His Sanctuary.  His ongoing, uninterrupted, unimpeded presence was over…until the birth of Christ, that is. 

Genesis 3:17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Dust to dust.  Mortality is real which is why we need a deliverer. 
The Interlude of mortality has been a long one…even for creation.

Creation must have thought (if creation could think, feel, and speak), “This stinks.  We didn’t do anything wrong.  It was that guy and that girl.  Mr. and Mrs. Pinnacle are the problem. You know, the pinnacles of God’s creation!  So why are we cursed?”

No use complaining.  God cursed the ground and we’re told creation groans under the weight.  “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8:22)

Questions for further study:

In what way is creation’s liberation tied to man’s?

Read Romans 8:22 “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?”

If we didn’t need a deliverer, why would Jesus need to be born?

What about our mortal bodies needs to be redeemed?

What does a relationship with Jesus offer that baptism symbolizes? 

Read Colossians 2:9-15.  “9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self, ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Read Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Romans 6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

The third stanza of “Joy to the World” is often omitted in online lists of the lyrics. 

“No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.” 

What curse?  Why do people not want to talk about the curse?

The garden sanctuary, where God met with Adam and Eve in uninterrupted fellowship, was in a place called Eden.  All of creation was at peace, blessed in the ongoing presence of God.  It was worshiping as creation did in the sanctuary of the Garden.

But the whole of creation fell under the same mortality as the human race on account of human sin.  Everything living dies and has a life span.  In the Interlude, Creation groans, the Scriptures tell us.

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” Romans 8:20-22

Questions for further study:

Who subjected creation to the same mortality as humans?

Has man’s role as steward of the earth changed?  Did God withdraw the blessing?  (See Genesis 1:28-30)

Why do you think online lyrics omit this verse? What is the theological importance of this third verse and its mention of the curse?  How does omitting it change the meaning of the hymn?

In Romans 8:20-22 above, when does the liberation of creation occur?  When does human mortality end? See Revelation 22:3 “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him.”

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

The birth of Christ, His life and ministry fulfilled every prophecy spoken about who Messiah would be and what He would do. 

Matthew 2:13 When [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”  14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

The phrase “out of Egypt” occurs 142 times in the Bible and is a picture of an exodus out of a world of sin and into a promised land where God blesses and rules with righteousness.  Coming “out of Egypt” is integral to why Jesus came and it’s a beautiful testament to the role of Joseph (again not a bystander) in God’s ensuring prophecy is fulfilled.

Ezekiel 20:5’This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, “I am the LORD your God.”  6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.

 7 And I said to them, “Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”  8 “‘But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt.

 9 But for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites.

 10 Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.  11 I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live.  12 Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy.

Questions for further study:

Interludes of wilderness and punishment exist because of human sin.  Why is coming “out of Egypt” important?  Why is it difficult to avoid sin when you’re surrounded by it?  How does it relate to holiness, meaning “set apart”?

The Israelites ended up in Egypt because of Jacob’s son Joseph being sold into slavery, thrown in prison, but rising to power because of God’s favor.  He was a “type of Christ” when he said, “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (Genesis 45:7). 

Eventually, Joseph the ruler (never a Messiah) was forgotten and slavery for all of Israel ensued. Aside from fulfilling Scripture, how is coming “out of Egypt” a picture of redemption with a new Moses (an actual Messiah, Jesus Christ) to lead them out?

In our modern days, people would bristle at Egypt being used as a picture of sin since every nation is sinful. But it misunderstands the meaning to ancient readers. Egypt was the cultural, intellectual, and elite powerhouse of its day.  Why would such an epicenter become a bondage-maker?  What does that tell you about our current world’s lust for power and control?  What is our “Egypt” out of which we must come?

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

When you combine pious people and the long-awaited redemption of Israel, add in that the baby is the Messiah and the Son of God, it’s a given that everything must be done completely and without fail, “by the Book.”

Luke 2:21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived. 22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took Him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Mary and Joseph were poor, but that was not a reason to cut corners, not with so much at stake.  The Law made allowances for the poor.

Luke2:36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Being old and widowed wasn’t a reason to cut corners either.  Devoted.  Pious.  Faithful.  And she wasn’t the only one.

 39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.  40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

 Questions for further study:

There are three events mentioned: circumcision (8-th day), purification (40-th day), and presentation (like Hannah did with Samuel).  Why would it have been important to Joseph and Mary to have presented Jesus, to have named Him in accordance with angelic command, and to have Him circumcised… all according to the Law?

Why would Joseph have participated in the purification rites, normally only required for the mother who by law was to remain “at home” until the 40 days were complete? (See Leviticus 12:1-6) Remember the circumstances of Jesus’ birth.

Circumcision was on the 8-th day then 33 more days at home.  Why would Joseph and Mary have done purification rites at the temple in Jerusalem which was about 5 miles away instead back in Bethlehem when purification wasn’t required to be done at the temple?  Think back to Anna’s speaking of the “redemption of Jerusalem” and what it would have meant to the faithful to know Jesus was presented as the firstborn in the very center of Jewish worship. 

Read Psalm 130: Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD; 2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. 3 If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. 5 I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. 7 Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. 8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

What full, complete, and “by the Book things” are going on in the passage above as it relates to the redemption of Israel?

Finally, for today, we are told they returned to “their own town” of Nazareth in Galilee which was 60 miles from Jerusalem.  Geography was no obstacle, advanced age or youth, married, widowed, a man or a woman, poverty…none of these are truly obstacles when one desires to do things “by the Book” in total devotion to God. In what areas of your Christian life are you tempted to cut corners?

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

In the Interlude, righteous living and piety bring about a desire to see God’s activity and His redemption of our lives from sin, fear, and shame.  Even today, the most devout are those focusing on the return of Christ and the “evangelical” task of making sure no one misses out on hearing about their Savior.

Simeon and Anna were people like that, drawn into piety by the Interlude, and actively waiting for the “consolation of Israel.” This is an allusion to Isaiah 40:1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.  2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins…. 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:1-2,5)

Luke 2: 26 It had been revealed to [Simeon] by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

 33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.

Questions for further study:

How does Simeon’s praise reinforce that Jesus is the “Lord’s Messiah” and not sent exclusively to comfort the Jews? 

Given that all mankind is subject to sin and its resultant fear, shame, and punishment, how did Christ provide the solution for everyone who looks to Him for salvation? 

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Fear and shame both come from sin.  From that moment in the Garden until Christ, sin has reigned. “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20-21)

The power sin has to create fear and shame in its reign was only temporary though. “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36) What did Jesus do?  Have you been set free?

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

Joseph was told “Don’t be afraid to take Mary home” (Matthew 1:20).  Why would he be afraid? 

Fear is as old as the Garden. 
So is shame. 
They’re joined at the hip because of sin.

After Adam and Eve both ate of the fruit of the tree God commanded against eating from, “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (Genesis 3:7). 

Shame, embarrassment, having been found out, no hiding that one has violated God’s commands?  Yeah, right there with shame is its sibling called fear.  Adam and Eve learned–in a flash–the consequences of having been commanded one thing, rebelled, and done another. They no longer had open fellowship with God.  They were afraid of Him.

Genesis 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”  10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Flash forward.  Joseph was a righteous man, Scripture tells us. 

Matthew 1:18 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.”

Questions for further study:

In the Interlude between fellowship with God in the Garden as King and the birth of the One who is King of the Jews, there was a dead-end series of human judges and kings and importantly, the Law, to help govern human behavior and to give one a right standing with God.  Joseph was a righteous man.  Why might he have been afraid? How does earning it depend on us?

Why does God see fear and shame the way He does?  For insight, read 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. 

Why is it notable that from God’s perspective, neither Mary nor Joseph should be afraid or ashamed, even if the world wouldn’t see it that way?

In our culture, have you ever noticed how people who do wrong are always trying to cover it up? In what ways do fear and punishment transcend whether one believes in God or not? In what way does it testify that God is real and His commands are eternal?

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Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

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• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

During Interludes in which we feel like nothing’s happening, it’s not inaction.  Don’t fool yourself thinking that God doesn’t care about sin or gives it a pass.  Far from it! 

If you’re tempted to despair, only recall He kicked Adam and Eve out of Eden. 
Time went by and He scattered and confused people trying to institute
a “one world government” apart from God at Babel. 
He flooded the entire earth once and promised not to do that again.
He sent plagues, He sent people into bondage in Egypt
and captivity in Assyria and Babylon
so they could learn what independence from God looks like. 
It looks like oppression, slavery, and hell. 
He gave them judges, priests, and kings
to enforce and encourage compliance and He gave them the Law–
all as custodians until the first Interlude ended
with the birth of Christ
and the next Interlude would be ushered in after His ascension.

The birth of our Savior was never plan B because God suddenly remembered that flooding was off the table.  It was plan A all along. Jesus is the only cure for what truly ails humanity.

Questions for further study:

How do we know it was plan A?  Read John 17:3-4, Ephesians 1:3-10, 1 Peter 1:14-25, especially verse 20: “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”

And it’s not that after Jesus died, we all get a pass to do what we want independent from Him and say, “Who cares?  Jesus covered it.  I’ll live as I please.”  That’s not how it works.  Don’t believe me?  See Romans 6:1-15.

Did sin get a pass in the Crucifixion of Christ?  See Colossians 2:13-14, Acts 2:23-24.

What might be among the functions of the first Interlude?  Between the Son of God (Jesus, the second “person” of the Trinity) being chosen before time and His entire earthly ministry (birth, death, and resurrection)?

What might be the function of the second Interlude before the return of Christ?   For insight, read Romans 11 and

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.10  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Take a moment to thank God that He doesn’t give sin a pass and yet He forgives us when we stumble and acknowledge our sin.

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Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

How did we get to the point of needing a promised Savior? 

Better question is when have we NOT needed a Savior?

Truth is, mankind has needed a Savior since we decided we’d prefer independence over the gift of “God with us.”  Way back in the Garden of Eden, even at banishment, there was a promise of the Savior, often called the “protoevangelion”.

Genesis 3:14-15 “So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 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.”

There has been an interlude of waiting for our Savior since then with God’s promise that the Savior will crush the head of the devil and his evil minions.  The Savior has already put this gift on layaway with His down-payment, and soon He will crush the curse of sin forever.

Questions for further study:

We are living in the time of “already-not-yet”…having already received this gift of salvation, but not yet with Him in heaven.

How did Jesus Christ our Lord crush the curse of sin?  When and where did that happen?  What was the proof that God did it?

Romans 6:3 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Why are we still waiting for part 2? Why does it take more time for this promise to be fulfilled:  “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” (Romans 16:20) 

“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians. 15:54-57)

Final victory and resting in Him forever is a gift of God for which we must wait. Jesus reassured us in John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 

What is the evidence this is true while we wait in the second Interlude?  (See John 14:16, 26)

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Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

“Joy to the world, the Savior reigns

Let men their songs employ

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains

Repeat the sounding joy…”

The Savior reigns, all joy indeed because it’s a Savior we needed due to our estrangement from our Lord and God.  It was all our fault. Human sin created an obstacle to God being with us and a world without God is hell.

Joseph knew mankind’s estrangement in the long, silent Interlude.   
Perhaps his yearning for Messiah prepared him for this encounter. 

“After he had considered [divorcing Mary quietly], 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. 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.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).” (Matthew 1:20-23)

In the birth narrative of Jesus as recorded by Matthew, Joseph has a significant role. The fulfilling of prophecy is clearly outlined.  First, he is identified as “Joseph son of David.”  He is the second (and therefore legal) witness to the fact of the virgin conception, first by the angelic pronouncement in a dream, but also directly identified as fulfilling the prophecy from Isaiah 7: 14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

Matthew 1:24-25 “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” 

It will be the first of several integral, Scripture fulfilling events which Joseph’s role made possible.  He is often considered an ancillary figure, but that would be to diminish the truth of what Joseph brings to the narrative.  He was God’s chosen man for the moment to be the earthly father of our Savior, Jesus, named as Scripture says “because He will save his people from their sins.”

Questions for further study:

Identify the things that Joseph did, contributing both to the birth narrative and prophecy fulfillment.  (Matthew 1:20-25)

Read Luke 2:1-16.  Joseph is there, too.  Identify ways in which his role contributed to the birth narrative.

After Jesus was born, there was more fulfillment of Scripture directly related to Joseph’s faithfulness.  Read Matthew 2:13-23.

Many women bristle at male leadership. I do not. I marvel at what Joseph did as faithfulness and how vastly different the Scriptures would be if Mary had been the one receiving all the revelations/dreams and had been dragging their family around. Take a moment and thank God for the gift of Joseph in the Christmas narrative. This world needs more godly men who will lead with righteousness.

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.