“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith”

 

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 2:1-20:

The focus of this lesson will be Luke's version of the birth of Jesus. The Lord Himself was very specific in indicating that it was not His coming that should be observed or considered as vital, but the reason that He came, note:

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve , and to give His life a ransom for many."

Matthew 20:28 “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve , and to give His life a ransom for many."

The Christ of God came in the flesh to be the Lamb of sacrifice on our behalf. This sacrifice would be one that God would accept on behalf of the sins of all men of all times who have had faith in Him (see: Romans 3:21-26 ; Hebrews 10:5-10 ; 11:6 ). Although the Lord's sacrifice was the focus of the Gospel's message of salvation, consider the effect on the world that His coming has had. Consider the cultures, governments, literature, law, social attitudes His coming has effected. Consider the implications as the Son of God lived and symbolized a life purely devoted to His Father and His great will. In the face of such devotion to the will of God (even to His death), how can we fail to find the strength to conform to God's will through Christ Jesus our Lord? Especially since it was so simply given!

In addition to these thoughts, since Luke is very specific in the order in which He makes known the details of the birth of Christ, pay close attention to the differences between this story and the idea that the world has concerning the birth of Christ.

Text #1:

Luke 2:1-7 “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria . 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Augustus and Quirinius: Caesar Augustus was “Caius Caesar Octavious Augustus” who became Caesar in approx. 29 B.C. Quirinius (Cyrenius) was twice governor of Syria .

The censuses that caused Joseph to go to the city of his family's inheritance, happened every fourteen years. This census was for the purpose of Roman taxation and all were subject to it.

City of David : David was the son of Jesse “the Bethlehemite”, this making Bethlehem his home city, or city of birth (see: I Samuel 16:1 ). Most countries are divided into smaller units, each with a center of jurisdiction at which the birth records of citizens are kept. The Jews had a similar system for keeping their records of individual family units.

Timing: The return of all the natives of Bethlehem at the same time for the registration brought many more people than the city was able to house. In addition, this brought Joseph with his very pregnant wife. So what are the chances that it was coincidence that Mary came to be in Bethlehem when it was her time to deliver the child within her?

Micah 5:2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting."

The Lord foresaw this edict of Caesar and planned the conditions with Joseph and Mary to coincide with it for the birth of the Lord.

Text #2:

Luke 2:8-20

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”

Matthew and Luke: Today's manger scenes have wise men and a star over them, however, what we learn about the birth of Jesus is that Matthew's and Luke's accounts and the facts they reveal, are two distinctly different accounts and different times. Luke's account of the birth of Jesus takes place literally at his birth, while Matthew's account may have been as late as two years after (this based on the ages of the children Herod had murdered, founded on the time frame given him by the magi – Matthew 2:16 ). As we can see in Luke's text, there were no magi and no star involved at the birth of the Savior. Instead there were shepherds, who were informed of the birth by an angel (by the time the magi, led by the star, came from the east, we find Mary and Joseph in a house – Matthew 2:11 ).

Shepherds: The shepherds were guarding their flocks as was their customary work. They were extremely afraid by the unexpected appearance of the angel of the Lord (the standard response in scripture to these heavenly messengers). The angel set out immediately to put their minds at ease with the statement that the message was good news and great joy.

Born to you: The good and joyful news was that to them , a Savior was born. Note the similarity in language to that of Isaiah:

Isaiah 9:6-7 “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Towards the end of his book of prophecy, Isaiah would go on to describe this Child of God as His great Servant. In this great Servant's wake would come the healing of the house of Jacob and every nation would come to know the righteousness of God.

Isaiah 62:1-2 “For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns. 2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, Which the mouth of the Lord will name.”

As I mentioned in the opening, the child was born to all mankind as a Savior. That salvation would manifest itself in the un-imaginable price that was paid in the form of sacrifice for our sins. In this we, like the angels, should proclaim, “Glory to God in the highest” .

They Found the Child: Following the angels instructions, the shepherds were moved to leave their flocks and go and find the child (keep in mind the difficulty these shepherds would have had trying to find a single child in this over populated city without the instruction of the angel). Having found the child, just as the angel had said, the natural response to this miraculous discovery took place; they went around proclaiming that which they had been told by the angel concerning this child. This in turn led to the reaction of those who heard the testimony of these shepherds and the sign that caused them to enter the city to announce the message.

Mary Pondered: This statement concerning the mindset of Mary is given only for us to know that she took all of these things in and pondered their meaning (ponder means to meditate). At this point, let it suffice for us to say that she had much for which to meditate.

At the end of this story of the birth of Jesus, we find the shepherds returning to their un-attended flocks, yet their minds were not on their helpless charge, but on glorifying God for all that had been presented them this night.

In our next lesson, we will begin to move on to the fulfillment of the righteous requirements of the law concerning the child and the first inspired proclamation concerning the salvation that the Lord would bring to all men by the birth of the Son of God.

But before we leave this lesson, we want to look at the great salvation that would be made manifest to all men through the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord, note:

Galatians 3:26-29 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”