The New Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG13

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T H E N E W T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

Actually, the idea of Messiah coming to earth, and the Christian confession that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of God is reason for unbroken praise and unending joy. The actual claim being made in the New Testament is that the person of Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s intent to send to us a Lord and Savior who would make things right, defeat the devil, overcome our sin, eventually overcome all the effects of the curse and restore the universe to God’s perfect reign. The story of the coming of Jesus into the world fits in with the theology of the great hymn writer Isaac Watts who wrote so eloquently in the first lines of his well-known Christmas carol, “Joy to the world; the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.” This song resonates with the ancient word of prophecy that Isaiah bellowed in Israel seven centuries before our Lord was born: A King would come from David’s line who would reign and establish righteousness and justice forever through the zeal of the LORD of hosts. Amazingly, we now know that Jesus of Nazareth, the supposed son of Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth, is the Messiah, the one of whom Isaiah and the prophets all spoke. The promise of God has been fulfilled, and the Kingdom has come in his person. What is the right response to this amazing proclamation? Joy. Unbroken, unashamed, unbounded. Christians must joyfully proclaim and express the remarkable truth that the promise of God, that ancient word of hope believed on by his people for generations, has now been fulfilled in the humble birth of a lowly child in a stable. While Jesus for some may only mean a religious symbol or a chance to receive a gift, for those of us who believe he himself is the Lord of all, the future King of the earth, the Son of the Living God. He has come, and we belong to him by faith. Christmas as a spirit need never die as long as we understand who this Jesus truly is: the very Lord of all, come to earth, to deliver his own from sin and death. “Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.” After reciting and/or singing the Nicene Creed (located in the Appendix), pray the following prayer: Almighty God, heavenly King who sent your Son into the world when he took our nature upon him and was born in the stable at Bethlehem: Accept our praise, and grant that as we have been born again in him so he may evermore live in us and reign on earth as he reigns in heaven with you and the Holy Spirit now and for ever. ~The Church of the Province of South Africa. Minister’s Book for Use With the Holy Eucharist and Morning and Evening Prayer . Braamfontein: Publishing Department of the Church of the Province of South Africa. p. 23

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Nicene Creed and Prayer