Have You Unwarpped His Gift?

‘Have Your Unwrapped His Gift?”

John 1:1,14

From the time God created heaven and earth He had a plan. His plan included a “Gift.” After the creation of humankind 4,250 years passed before the “Gift” was given.

The promise of the gift was stated in Genesis 3:15 after Adam and Eve yielded to the temptation of Satan. God declared judgment on Satan for his deception of Adam and Eve. God said: “From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your off spring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

This scripture was fulfilled when Jesus smashed the head of Satan when He died on the Cross of Calvary. In Genesis 3 Satan brought a cloud of darkness and gloom over the earth. Jesus came as the Light of Life and revealed God’s love to light the way in a world of darkness and the darkness was not able to overcome the Light or put it out.

Let’s look at a brief summary of Biblical history prior to the coming of Christ, the First Advent.

From Adam to Noah about 1,500 years transpired. The first human family, Adam and Eve started out having close fellowship with their Creator. They walked and talked with God and had intimate fellowship with the Lord.

During those 1,500 years turned from their Creator and turned to idols and became vile and wicked. Genesis 6:5-8

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God told Noah to build an Ark because a flood was coming to cover the land. When Noah was 500 years old he started building the Ark and when he was 600 the Ark was finished the flood came and only Noah and his family and animals selected by God were saved.

Noah lived to be 950 years old. When he was 948 years old Abram was born. When Abram was 75 God called him to leave Ur of Chaldees and travel to the land of Canaan. God promised Abraham that if He honored God and would not worship idols or foreign gods, God would bless him and make him a great nation.

Abraham and Sarah had a son Isaac, and Isaac and Rebekah had a son Jacob. Jacob worshiped and honored God and God gave him a new name, Israel. Jacob and his 12 sons settled in the land of Canaan.

Jacob’s son, Joseph was his favorite son. Joseph’s brothers were jealous so they sold him to a caravan going to Egypt. The leaders of the caravan sold Joseph to Potiphar, the captain to of Pharaoh’s army. In time Joseph became second in command to Pharaoh over Egypt. Under Joseph’s leadership Egypt prospered for 7 years with abundant crops. Joseph gave oversite to storing the grain for the coming 7 years of famine. During the 7 years of famine Joseph sold grain to Egyptian families and surrounding nations.

Jacob and his sons ended up in Egypt due to the famine and Joseph with Pharaoh’s approval had his family settle in Goshen to care for their livestock and the livestock of Pharaoh. Following the death of Pharaoh and Joseph the people of Israel were made slaves to serve and for 400 years served the people of Egypt.

God chose Moses, a Hebrew, who had became an adopted son of Pharaoh to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and back to their homeland in Canaan. Due to the people’s lack of faith and disobedience it took them 40 years of wandering in the desert before they were ready to enter the land of Canaan.

Joshua the assistant to Moses was used of the Lord to take the nearly 3 million Israelites into the land of Canaan.

During the time of the Judges the children of Israel went from spiritual highs to sinful lows. The major and minor prophets kept reminding the people to stay true to God. The prophets also declared that God’s greatest gift was on the way. The prophets spoke of a coming Messiah, “The Anointed One.” The “Anointed One” would be born of a virgin.

Isaiah 7:14, 9:6 – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The place of birth was prophesied to be the town of Bethlehem. Micah 5:2-3, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, through you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”