Is the Old Testament Boring? The Seed and the Reason for the Season
In a recent, humorous article called "Whose Home for the Holidays?", Stephen Fried writes about the battles that often rage over which family, the husband's or the wife's, will get the most time with their married kids during the holiday season. I laughed as I read it because it is realistic. This can really be a tough issue. In fact it can become one of many consuming and distracting issues during this time of year that serves to innocently (as it seems) take our eyes off of Jesus Christ.
This is why I want to quickly remind readers that the Old Testament is the furthest thing in the world from boring or dry. It is the story of God preserving His Seed, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is for His glory and because of His actual birth / incarnation that we celebrate the Christmas holiday.
Genesis 3:15 and the Initial Introduction to the Seed
{God to the serpent}
"And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel."
This is no minor prophecy, but the initial statement that a man would be born of a virgin (the Seed of the woman, not of a man) and that He would utterly ruin the Devil and His Work.
Genesis 4:25 It did not work out for Abel, so Seth becomes the Seed-Line
"And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.”
Genesis 22:18 Abraham, the descendant of Seth, was also blessed with the promise of a coming Seed
"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
II Samuel 7:12 King David, a direct descendant of Abraham, was given the following seed promise from God
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom."
John 7:41-43 People argued over whether Jesus was truly the Seed of David
41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people because of Him.
Galatians 3:16 The Apostle Paul Clearly Identifies Jesus as the Seed
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.
Here is the point folks, Jesus did not just pop in on the scene one day - a lunatic with Messianic dreams. Jesus came through a specific and chosen family line, as the Seed who would bless the nations. Don't believe news reports (CNN, Time, Newsweek, and so on) who rely upon atheistic or agnostic historians to manipulate the truth. They erroneously imply that the birth of Jesus did not really happen (certainly not as the biblical account details) or that Jesus was merely a good man and moral teacher. However, a careful tracing of the Seed throughout the Old Testament shows that the birth of Jesus was set up (if you will) by Almighty God to occur exactly as it did, and indeed it could not have occurred otherwise.
Here is what the Seed came to do.
Hebrews 2:14-15
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Just as Genesis 3:15 clearly states, Jesus came to crush the head of the Devil, ruin his evil works, and set His chosen people free.
This Christmas, it will be tempting to be distracted by the feasts, the gifts, the decorations, the family gatherings, the carols, and all the rest. Keep your focus on the Seed. His was not a random, accidental birth, but a special, protected entrance of God into the realm of humanity. This is reality not simply a holiday. Merry Christmas.
This is why I want to quickly remind readers that the Old Testament is the furthest thing in the world from boring or dry. It is the story of God preserving His Seed, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is for His glory and because of His actual birth / incarnation that we celebrate the Christmas holiday.
Genesis 3:15 and the Initial Introduction to the Seed
{God to the serpent}
"And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel."
This is no minor prophecy, but the initial statement that a man would be born of a virgin (the Seed of the woman, not of a man) and that He would utterly ruin the Devil and His Work.
Genesis 4:25 It did not work out for Abel, so Seth becomes the Seed-Line
"And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.”
Genesis 22:18 Abraham, the descendant of Seth, was also blessed with the promise of a coming Seed
"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
II Samuel 7:12 King David, a direct descendant of Abraham, was given the following seed promise from God
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom."
John 7:41-43 People argued over whether Jesus was truly the Seed of David
41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people because of Him.
Galatians 3:16 The Apostle Paul Clearly Identifies Jesus as the Seed
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.
Here is the point folks, Jesus did not just pop in on the scene one day - a lunatic with Messianic dreams. Jesus came through a specific and chosen family line, as the Seed who would bless the nations. Don't believe news reports (CNN, Time, Newsweek, and so on) who rely upon atheistic or agnostic historians to manipulate the truth. They erroneously imply that the birth of Jesus did not really happen (certainly not as the biblical account details) or that Jesus was merely a good man and moral teacher. However, a careful tracing of the Seed throughout the Old Testament shows that the birth of Jesus was set up (if you will) by Almighty God to occur exactly as it did, and indeed it could not have occurred otherwise.
Here is what the Seed came to do.
Hebrews 2:14-15
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Just as Genesis 3:15 clearly states, Jesus came to crush the head of the Devil, ruin his evil works, and set His chosen people free.
This Christmas, it will be tempting to be distracted by the feasts, the gifts, the decorations, the family gatherings, the carols, and all the rest. Keep your focus on the Seed. His was not a random, accidental birth, but a special, protected entrance of God into the realm of humanity. This is reality not simply a holiday. Merry Christmas.
5 Comments:
"However, a careful tracing of the Seed throughout the Old Testament shows that the birth of Jesus was set up (if you will) by Almighty God to occur exactly as it did, and indeed it could not have occurred otherwise."
Tsk tsk. Using the Bible to confirm the Bible. I myself therefore pay allegience to the 'god' Darth Vader - you can buy the documentary on his life and existence at any good DVD store; It's called Star Wars, Episodes 1-6. Don't worry, he's actually ON FILM, so he's real. You can even hear him talk...
Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus are all fictional characters unknown to history outside of the fictional bestseller known as the Bible. FACT. And 'Christmas', as it's now known, is nothing more than the Pagan festival of Sol Invicta, which celebrated the 'resurrection' of the sun after three days at its lowest position in the sky during the winter equinox. December 25th, is when this occurs...
None the less, it's a happy occasion full of festive good cheer to blow away the gloom of winter. Enjoy.
DC
In one blog comment you denied the entire written history of a whole nation - Israel. Congratulations.
It is akin to me saying Henry VIII never existed.
You live in a dream world where you are not reading normal historical literature.
Nobody, not even Christians, deny the pagan-oriented mixing of themes that developed into Christmas - but that has little to do with the reality of the birth of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection. Our later celebration techniques do nothing to confirm or deny the reality of what historically took place.
Truly you should stop blogging here, where people who are searching for truth, with common sense - who actually read - will never take you seriously.
Pot, meet kettle.
LOL!
Yep, that's right - Israel never existed in history! I said so, because it didn't. It occurs nowhere in the vast corpus of Egyptian or Roman or Abyssinian records. There was never a Jewish empire with a capital in Jerusalem. Only in the north did a Jewish city finally emerge, and it was soon absorbed by the Abyssinians. Monuments biblically attributed to 'Solomon' have been shown since to have been built during archaeological periods spanning centuries.
In contrast, Henry VIII has many contemporary sources who lived at his time and recorded his life - we even know what he looked like! Much better...My 'dreamworld', as you describe it, doesn't require anything super-natural to support it, Mr Dollar. Full stop. Yours does.
You wish me to stop blogging here. Why? I understood from the ARC Homepage that it was the apologetic's task to defend the Bible. So defend it. I'm enjoying the challenge, personally.
As an aside, if I am offending anyone who reads here, please accept my apologies. In fact I have the greatest respect for the lucidity and intelligence of the posts here, whether they support or deny my own.
DC
Jesus and His birth and resurrection are actually the most documented events in history ever recorded to date,DC.There is book that is entitled "More Than A Carpenter".I do not remember the author.Well,my point being,is that DC,you spend a lot of valuable time reading and responding to articles in this web site,and it leaves me wondering,do you believe what you write in here,or are you looking for the real Truth?You can find the truth in a real book called the bible,and through God,and also by being more open minded to what this web site is conveying.This is not a joke,it's not fictional,and we who believe do not find your sense of humor about darth vadar funny.Darth Vadar is not real,George Lucas created his character.The ending credits on the movie will tell you who played the part.Jesus name is actually Jesus,period.
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