Seize the Moment – Day 1374
The Greatest Sign Ever Given!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, December 21.
The Christmas season is the most wonderful time of year! Interestingly, one of the most quoted prophecies of Christmas was given in a time of great despair and impending doom. In fact, the prophecy of “Immanuel” was given as a time marker of destruction – “within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people” (Isaiah 7:7-9). In Isaiah 7:14-16, after King Ahaz had been warned, he was given a sign, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. … For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.”
In a way only God can do, this prophecy had a double fulfillment – Immanuel was a sign of the coming judgment to Ephraim, the northern tribes of Israel, and for the redemption which would ultimately come through the Messiah. Every Christmas season, Christians celebrate Jesus Christ as the long-awaited Messiah of Israel who came as a baby, born of a virgin, as declared by the Gospel of Matthew 1:20-23:
Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’”
Seize the moment and embrace the wonder of Christmas; it is the most wonderful time of year because it declares the greatest sign ever given – Immanuel, God is with you!
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.