I’ll be refilling the bird feeders this morning. Those little guys think the seed they see on those feeders is all there is. So sometimes they fight over access to them.

They have no idea that there is a virtually unlimited supply of bird seed in my storage cabinets and at the stores around the corner. And they have no conception that it is my delight to provide food for them . . . that it brings me joy. 

For believers, scarcity is an illusion. Abundance is the reality. In His house . . .

• Provision isn’t scarce.
• Love isn’t scarce.
• Significance isn’t scarce.
• Opportunity isn’t scarce. 

Your neighbor’s blessing, windfall, promotion, or breakthrough doesn’t diminish the pool of what is available to you. Some other person’s large slice of pie doesn’t leave less for others. The pie is infinite.

So, we can rest. Breathe. 
In Him, there are unseen reservoirs of everything we need to flourish. Our Father delights in blessing in His children

This perfectly wise plan was destined from eternal ages and fulfilled completely in our Lord Jesus Christ, so that now we have boldness through him, and free access as kings before the Father because of our complete confidence in Christ’s faithfulness. (Ephesians 3:11-12, TPT)

” . . . free access as kings . . .”

In the world of concerts and sporting events, there are tickets (good). There are front-row tickets (better). There are backstage passes (best). And then there is something called the “All Access Pass.” (epic)

When it comes to relationship with the God of the Universe, many believers seem satisfied with just having a ticket. They know they’re going to heaven when they die. And they know God hears them when they pray—although He often seems distant and disinterested.

Yet as the verse above suggests, Jesus is, in a very real sense, an “All Access Pass” to the Father and to everything Jesus died to purchase for us. One of the most significant, meaningful, and impactful realities of the new birth—a miracle which puts us “in Christ” and Him in us—is that we now have complete, confident, “free,” and “bold” access to our heavenly Father.

Yet most believers don’t think or act as if this is their reality. Too many believers let shame and guilt keep them at a distance from God’s presence. They’re sitting in the nosebleed section. From where they sit, it sure seems as though the crowd gathered in front the stage is having a very good time.

This is because they have forgotten, or have never been taught, that they never come to God in their own flawed righteousness. They can’t! They always and only come in Jesus’ righteousness. The tragedy is that it is only in God’s presence—in intimate fellowship, conversation, and communion with Him—that they can experience the transformation that changes the behaviors that cause their shame and guilt.

When I’ve acted unrighteously, when I’ve sinned, when I’ve made a mess of things, that’s when I must run to my Father. There the light of His presence will illuminate the dark, unrenewed corners of my soul so they can be made new. Only that light can expose the lies I’ve believed that are the root of my patterns of sin and failure.

Hebrews 4:16 says we can and should “come boldly” to God’s throne of grace, and there find both mercy and help in our times of need. But if I don’t understand the reality that I have received a better righteousness because I am “in Christ,” I will let my shame keep me away from the only place that can fix what’s broken.

We never again need to approach God on the basis of our own righteousness. By grace, we have literally “become” the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

All of this means we can view the door to God’s Presence as always wide open. Once we renew our minds to those truths—once we root our identities in them—we begin to feel free to fly to the Father’s arms of love at any moment of need or crisis.

What’s more, we will no longer view spending time with God as a box to be checked in order to qualify for blessing or answered prayer. Fellowshipping with our Creator becomes a privilege not a prerequisite. An opportunity not an ought.

That means our times with the Father become a source of joy in our lives. With Him we receive strength and nourishment and instruction. What’s more, in His Presence we experience transformation. Our desires begin to change. Whereas countless believers spend their entire lives trying (and failing) to change from the outside in through sheer discipline and willpower, we will experience seemingly effortless change from the inside out.

We discover a life without the fear of rejection. Without the fear of judgment. Without the fear of not qualifying for what Jesus died to provide.

That’s the epic power of our “All Access Pass” in Jesus.

I’m not a prophet by spiritual office. Teacher is my heavenly assignment and I’m gifted accordingly. Yet the Bible exhorts every believer to desire to prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:1) and, as it happens, in recent years, around this time, I’ve found the Spirit of Truth speaking to me about the year ahead. After all, Jesus said one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to show us things to come. (John 16:13)

Most of what I usually see/hear/sense relates personally–to me and my household. Some of it relates to the church I pastor, The Cup & Table Co., as a community of believers. And occasionally I get preparatory glimpses for the Body of Christ as a whole, our nation, and the world. 

What follows is what I’m getting for for myself and like-hearted believers:

We need a revelation of “authority.”

I’m not just talking about our authority in Jesus Christ, although that is a part of it. My sense is that we don’t understand authority at all. That we’re living in an age in which the spirit of the age is chaos and rebellion and individualism and autonomous willfulness. (I’m increasingly convinced that we can’t walk in spiritual authority while rejecting the truth about authority in general.)

Yes, we need to understand the authority “in heaven and on earth” that Jesus achieved through His victory (Matt. 28:18). But before we can understand that, we need to understand how God views authority in general. 

Authority is related to order. And order is the antidote to chaos. God loves order. The opening lines of the book of Genesis reveal an earth that is utterly chaotic, and the spirit of God hovering, brooding, fluttering over the chaos in preparation for God speaking and bringing order. 

I’ve always sensed there was great significance in the words uttered by the messenger of of the Roman centurion in the 7th chapter of Luke:

. . . but just say the word, and my servant shall be healed.For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under myself; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him . . . 

Luke 7:9b-11a)

(The Greek word translated “authority” there is exousia. It appears 93 times in the New Testament, usually rendered “authority” but sometimes as “power.”) 

A life in the Roman army had given that centurion a deeply ingrained understanding of rank, chain-of-command, and of territorial rule. That’s something a lot of believers today know very little about. 

Zoom out to 50,000 feet over the scriptures and you’ll see a picture emerge that reveals God’s ways involving hierarchy and delegated authority. 

Any people (like the Church in America) whose banner is, “No one is going to tell me what I can and can’t do,” will not . . . indeed cannot . . . effectivelly wield the authority that is ours in the resurrected, glorified, exalted Christ. We need what that centurion had.

I personally need to know more about how authority works in the invisible realm. I suspect we all do. Here’s good news. “If any one of you lacks wisdom, let them ask confidently . . . and God will freely give.” The Holy Spirit’s assignment is to lead us into all truth. That, as we’ve been seeing recently, inescapably involves exposing lies we’re believing. 

We have not because we ask not. Let’s ask for a revelation of spiritual authority and how it impacts systems of natural authority.

The centurion was utterly confident that all Jesus needed to do was “say the word.” That is, “give the command.” “Give voice to the decree.” 

As we get a clearer, fuller picture of how authority is structured and works, we’ll better know how and when to partner with God by giving voice to the commands that cause His will to be done here on earth, just as it is routinely done in the unseen realm. What, how, and when are a big deal. We generally just reflexively fire off prayers without thought or insight or perception. (See the teaching on Seeing and Decreeing) 

Our World

The Spirit of Jesus doesn’t give us insight into what’s coming just so we can say, “I knew that would happen.” We get glimpses for two reasons, so we can (1) Prepare, and so we can (2) Pray. With that in mind . . .

The believers in China and Russia need our intercession. The dictatorial leaders of both nations (Putin and Xi) are approaching the end of the line. There are ancient demonic spirits that have animated dictators through the millennia. The same unseen actors that animated the kings of Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, Rome, the Seleucid Greeks of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Abbasid Caliphate, Genghis Khan’s Mongols, Stalin’s Soviets, and Hitler’s Nazis . . . stand behind our current crop of despots. 

The arc of those who yield themselves to those powers is always the same. Initial empowerment and success featuring brutality and cruelty; leading to madness and fatal mistakes. We’re entering the madness and mistakes phase for both leaders. 

As the Spirit leads us, let’s be ready and willing to intercede for our brothers sisters in difficult circumstances around the planet. One side benefit . . .

Glimpsing what other believers are enduring will put our situations as American believers into perspective. Perspective is valuable. Perspective is vital. 

Grace and Truth

The election turmoil and pandemic disruptions resulted in a thin veil of deception falling over the eyes of large sections of the evangelical world, including many spiritual leaders. It is a veil that doesn’t blind but does distort the way they “see.”

The fruit of this “veil” . . . the evidence of its presence . . . was and is anger, bitterness, resentment, and despair. (It should go without saying that these fruits are never appropriate for sons and daughters of a reigning King who is in the middle of riding to victory over His enemies.)

I see that “veil” beginning to dissolve now. We need to contend for that dissolving to continue and accelerate. The truth is our friend. The biblical definition of truth is not “knowledge” or “information” but “reality” in other words, “what’s really real” in contrast to that which merely appears to be real.

In Closing

These words of Jesus to His disciples hold a key piece of God’s word to us for 2023:

“There is so much more I would like to say to you, but it’s more than you can grasp at this moment.  But when the truth-giving Spirit comes, he will unveil the reality of every truth. He won’t speak on his own, but only what he hears from the Father, and he will reveal prophetically  to you what is to come. He will glorify me on the earth, for he will receive from me what is mine and reveal it to you. Everything that belongs to the Father belongs to me—that’s why I say that the Divine Encourager will receive what is mine and reveal it to you. 

John 16:12-15 TPT

Mary and Joseph stood there, awestruck over what was being said about their baby. Simeon then blessed them and prophesied over Mary, saying: “A painful sword will one day pierce your inner being, for your child will be rejected by many in Israel. And the destiny of your child is this: he will be laid down as a miracle sign for the downfall and resurrection of many in Israel. Many will oppose this sign, but it will expose to all the innermost thoughts of their hearts before God.” 

(Luke 2:34–35)

After a long lifetime of waiting and watching, Simeon has finally laid his dimming eyes upon the promised Seed through Whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. He can now depart in peace. 

But wait. As he holds the 40-day-old infant, the spirit of prophecy moves him. After speaking a blessing over the parents, he brings words of stark warning—for both the mother and the nation he loves. He sees heartache in Mary’s future. The source of her pain will be the rejection of her Son by many of his countrymen. Jesus’ presence and preaching will expose the true nature of hearts. Some will respond in a way that will lead to a resurrection—a new birth. Others will reject Him, to their everlasting “downfall.”

Indeed, the gospels reveal that Jesus will go through all the villages and synagogues of both Judea and Galilee. (Matthew 9:35) His preaching will be filled with classic Old Testament prophetic vocabulary, frequently warning of a fiery judgment coming to that generation of Israelites. (Scan Luke’s gospel and count how many times Jesus uses the phrase “this generation.”)

And, consistent with Simeon’s prophecy, His illustrations will frequently describe a sorting and dividing of the people who hear his message. Jesus will speak of wheat being separated from chaff. And wheat from tares. He will speak of the sorting of sheep and goats. And of fish after a catch. He will describe His Words of Life as seeds falling on four different kinds of soil. 

By the Spirit, Simeon saw what so many other Scripture experts of his day completely missed. The Messiah hadn’t come to unify the Jewish people against Rome. On the contrary, He was destined to divide them. For some He would be “the way” to new life. For many others, He would become a stone over which they would stumble and fall. (John 6:60-65)

Everything Simeon prophesies on this day will came to pass. The reactions to Jesus’ words will reveal the true nature of hearts. Many among the pious Pharisees and other religious elites will not only reject Him but despise Him. Yet many of those who had long ago abandoned both the ethics and observances of the Mosaic Law will return to God with joyful tears.

Finally, Simeon sees past the Jesus’ ministry as a prophet to His service as a priest—as both High Priest and sacrifice Lamb. He will be “laid down” (on a cross) and then lifted up as a “miracle sign” to the nation. 

Prayer of Declaration:

Jesus—Prophet, Priest and King—you willingly laid your life down so that I, and countless others around the world, and throughout history might receive eternal life. My heart is soft toward you. My ears are attuned to your voice. I’m good soil for your Words of Life!

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the temple grounds, serving night and day with fasts and prayers.”

(Luke 2:36–37 NASB)

Simeon was not the only aging Israelite with the gift of prophecy to receive Messianic revelation on the day Joseph and Mary went to the temple to “redeem” their firstborn son.

The old man was there at that precise moment only because the Spirit of God had directed him there. But Anna, an elderly widow, lived there in the temple complex. Although not a Levite, she was nevertheless allowed to reside and serve on the Temple Mount. She must have been very special.

Perhaps Luke mentions her father’s name because he was an important man. Luke also informs us that Anna is eighty-four and had been widowed after only seven years of marriage. A little math, along with the assumption that, per the customs of that culture, Anna had been wed as a teenager, suggests that Anna had likely been a widow for roughly six decades. Had she been serving and prophesying at the Temple complex that entire time? If so, she was certainly an iconic figure among all the devout of Israel.

We can safely assume that Simeon’s ecstatic reaction at encountering the baby Messiah caught Anna’s attention. Or perhaps the Spirit had nudged her just as it had Simeon. In either case, she walks up just as Simeon finishes prophesying. Luke tells us:

And at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak about Him to all those who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:38 NASB)

Anna’s testimony will serve as a significant source of fuel to the fires of Messianic expectation that will engulf the land in the days to come. Fires so hot, that when, in thirty years, John the Baptist begins preaching way out at the Jordan River, “all of Jerusalem will come out to hear him.” (see: Mark 1:5) 

Throughout six decades of service at the Jerusalem temple, this large open plaza outside the gates of the inner complex, sometimes called the Court of the Women, is as close to the heart of the temple Anna, or any other woman, has ever been permitted to stand.

One level deeper lies the Court of Israel, (or the Court of Men). Deeper still lies the Court of Priests. Finally, in very heart of the complex, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The latter chamber is where the very presence of God is said to dwell. Only the High Priest is allowed into that sacred space, and only once each year. 

Here’s the irony. On this day, this devout widow gets closer to the presence of God than the corrupt High Priest ever has or will. Anna has seen the face of God. 

Prayer of Declaration:

Jesus, the curtain or veil that blocked access to the Temple’s Holy of Holies was torn in two as you laid your life down for me. Through your blood, I now have direct and free access to the very Presence and Person of God, my Heavenly Father.

Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived. Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child . . . 

(Luke 2:21-22a NLT)

After the fall festival pilgrims and Roman census travelers returned to their homes, it seems Joseph and Mary were able to find better quarters in Bethlehem. Luke doesn’t say so explicitly, but the new parents appear to have been intent on staying there permanently. 

This move makes sense given that both received revelation from an angel that this child was the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. Human reason surely suggested that it would be better to raise this most special of all Jewish boys in close proximity to Jerusalem and the Temple, rather than in far-away Nazareth. And what better place to groom the successor to David’s throne than in David’s hometown? (Of course, this is not God’s plan, but the couple doesn’t know it yet.)

So, they take great pains to do all their ancient faith requires. That includes having the baby boy circumcised on his eighth day. As with his relative, John, who is now six or seven months old, the name is announced at this ceremony. Both angels had been quite specific—Jesus, or Y’shua in Hebrew, was to be the name. And so it was. 

This meticulous attention to both Old Testament observance and fulfillment will continue throughout Jesus’ life and ministry. He will one day tell His disciples that He did not come to set aside the law and the prophets but rather to be their fulfillment. (Matthew 5:17) Time and again He will explain His actions and intentions in terms of fulfilling everything the (Old Testament) Scriptures had spoken.

Following His resurrection, in some of His final instruction just prior to His ascension to the throne, He will emphatically point them back to this aspect of His mission:

“Don’t you remember the words that I spoke to you when I was still with you? I told you that I would fulfill everything written about me, including all the prophecies from the law of Moses through the Psalms and the writings of the prophets.” (Luke 24:44 TPT)

There are two vital takeaways for us here. The first is that the entire Old Testament was pointing to Jesus—even though few if any recognized it before He came. As we’ve previously seen, the Bible is story about a Seed and that Seed is Jesus.

Secondly, one of the very best parts of the “good news” of the gospel is that Jesus is our fulfillment of all the Law requires. He did what is impossible for you or any other fallen human: He flawlessly kept the legal requirements of righteousness and acceptance by a Holy God. And simple, childlike faith in Him results in a miraculous transaction/transformation that simultaneously puts you “in Him” and Him in you. (Romans 6:3-4; Ephesians 1:3-14) From Heaven’s perspective you literally are “clothed” in Him and His righteousness. (Galatians 3:27) 

Prayer of Declaration:

Jesus, my Savior, thank you for perfectly and completely satisfying, for all time, everything that the Law and justice requires on my behalf. I am clothed with You—Your righteousness, Your acceptance, Your authority.

A child has been born for us . . . And His name will be called . . .  The Mighty God! The Father of Eternity! 

(Isaiah 9:6 TPT)

More than 700 years before it happened, Isaiah sees the most important event of human history: the promised Messiah’s arrival. In various visions, the prophet foresees not only Jesus’ birth but His rejection by Judah’s religious elite. In hindsight, we now know what caused that surprising rejection.

It was not a claim to Messiahship that turned the religious establishment against Jesus. In fact, Jesus diligently avoided making any such claim in public. On the contrary, He frequently pleaded with those who discovered His true identity to keep it a secret. 

No, it was His habit of calling God “Father” with affectionate familiarity that set religious teeth on edge. After all, the pious leaders of Judah dared not even pronounce or write God’s name. His references to He and Father being “one” sent them looking for stones with which to crush His skull. (John 10:30-31) And ultimately, it was His matter-of-fact declaration that “before Abraham was, I AM” that drove them mad with murderous rage. (John 8:58-59)

In other words, Jesus plainly claimed to be the Son of God. And to be God. 

It was a puzzle. They were actually looking for the Messiah. Centuries of rabbinic study and careful parsing of the scriptures led the learned Jewish scholars of the first century to correctly anticipate the arrival of God’s “Messiah” in their lifetimes. But somehow those studies did not lead them to expect the arrival of God Himself, clothed in human flesh. 

Yet even a schoolchild reading Isaiah could see it. The prophet clearly wrote that the “child” would be called “Mighty God.” If Isaiah’s prophecy had been taken at face value, the scholars and scriptural experts would have known that the promised Messiah must somehow be both human and divine. Human because He would be “born.” Divine because He would be called “The Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father.” 

The paradox of Jesus’ simultaneous humanity and divinity became the stone over which first century intellectuals and elites stumbled and fell into skeptical disbelief. It is in our day, too. Yet it is the very heart of the good news. It is no wonder John opened his gospel with these words:

In the beginning the Living Expression was already there. And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God . . . And so the Living Expression became a man and lived among us! We gazed upon his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father overflowing with grace and truth! (John 1:1,14 TPT)

Don’t stumble over it. Don’t try to understand it. Just believe and rejoice in the astonishing thought that Mighty God, the Father of Eternity, loved you enough to die for you.

Prayer of Declaration

What a mystery! What a miracle! The one called The Mighty God is my Champion. Because of You, Jesus, I too can refer to God as “Father” with the affectionate familiarity You did. Oh, Father of Eternity, You have given me everlasting life.

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.

(Genesis 49:10 NLT)

Jacob, advanced in years, eyesight dimming, strength failing, feels a strange stirring in his weary soul. It has been a very long time since he last felt this power, but He recognizes it. It is the spirit of prophecy. It’s clear now. Before he dies, Jacob must speak over each of his 12 sons, so he summons them to his bedside.

These are not necessarily words of blessing but words of destiny. For better or for worse, Jacob’s prophetic pronouncement over each son will outline a future for their descendants—one that is rooted both in the character and calling of the man. 

He begins with the eldest, Reuben, and then moves on to Simeon and Levi. His forecasts for their posterities are not encouraging. Quite the opposite. So Judah, the fourth-born, is bracing himself for bad news as his turn approaches. 

Instead, this prophetic pronouncement over Judah—the longest one Jacob will deliver, except for the one for his beloved Joseph—holds nothing but good news. At the heart of it lies a prediction filled with kingly symbolism. A “scepter” is mentioned, as is a “ruler’s staff.” Jacob’s decree suggests that when the future God-ordained kings of Israel arise, they will come from one tribe only: the descendants of the one whose name means “praise.” 

And so it would be. From David to Zedekiah, only men of Judah ruled from Jerusalem.

But wait! There is an expiration date on Jacob’s prophetic prediction. The Tribe of Judah’s monopoly on the throne of Judah was only “until . . .” Until what?

“. . . until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.”

Roughly 1,800 years after Jacob’s prophecy, two direct descendants of Judah will meet. One of those descendants, a young maiden, will become the “promised One’s” biological mother. The other, a man, will serve as His legal father. There, lying in Mary’s arms as Joseph looks on, is that One to whom the scepter truly belongs. No other kings will come from Judah. Nor should they. 

After all, the King of Kings has come. And soon, people of “all nations”—hearts from every tribe and tongue in every corner of the planet—will hear of it and honor Him.

Prayer of Declaration

Jesus, my King, all authority in heaven and on earth is Yours. Truly heaven’s royal scepter and the ruler’s staff of earth belong to You, and You alone. What a blessing it is to be the subject of a King who is kind, good, and compassionate, yet mighty and wise. May You receive the honor You are due among the nations. May Your enemies be made a footstool for Your feet.

Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed [plural] as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore . . . And in your seed [singular] all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 

Genesis 22:15-19 NASB

The entire Old Testament narrative points to the coming of Jesus. Yet that pointing takes a variety of forms. As we’ll soon see, some passages record the visions of prophets who glimpsed Him. In other places, rituals, feasts, and ceremonies serve as “types and shadows” of who Jesus would be and what He would accomplish through His death and resurrection. 

There is a third form of pointing that could be called “forerunner-ing.” Some individuals in the Old Testament literally blazed a trail for the future Messiah. They opened legal windows between heaven and earth to make it possible for God to deliver His redemptive masterplan.

As noted in the previous meditation, once God made mankind the legal stewards of planet earth, vesting them with dominion authority, God was constrained by His own righteousness and character to work in partnership with fallen men and women in order to accomplish His redemptive plans. That’s why the opening section of this devotional is labeled, “Prophecies & Prerequisites.” For reasons cloaked in mystery, some things were simply necessary if Jesus was ultimately going to be born.

Abraham and his son Isaac represent two such forerunners. Before God could offer up His only Son as a sacrifice for the sin of all mankind, it seems it was necessary to begin that process with a mortal man who was willing to offer up his beloved son as a sacrifice. Only such a man could serve as the natural ancestor to the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. 

This future sacrificial Son would be a miracle baby. Therefore, the forerunner child would have to have a miraculous aspect to his birth, too. Isaac, the forerunner, carried the wood to the top of the hill where his own sacrifice was to take place. The ultimate Seed would one day carry a wooden crossbeam to the hilltop where He would willing lay down His life.

In a sense, Isaac was a forerunner of the resurrection too. Hebrews 11:19 declares: “Abraham’s faith made it logical to him that God could raise Isaac from the dead, and symbolically, that’s exactly what happened.” (TPT)

Mary’s miracle baby was Abraham’s promised “Seed” through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. That Seed was possible because God found a willing partner in Abraham. God is still looking for partners today—people of faith and trust who will be His instruments in blessing others.

Prayer of Declaration

Father, I’m willing and ready to partner with You and carrying out Your redemptive purposes in the world. I hear You clearly through Your Spirit and Your Word. I’ll say what You want me to say and manifest Your compassion to those You want to touch in love.

But when the time of fulfillment had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.

Galatians 4:4 TPT

Christmas is a seed story. Eve was promised a Seed. God spoke to Abram of a Seed, too–one through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. The pitiful cry of a newborn infant from a stable on a star-spangled Bethlehem night announced the long-awaited arrival of that Seed. Oh, what battles preceded that arrival! 

The entirety of the Old Testament can rightly be viewed as the account of God working in History to put in place all that was legally necessary for the arrival of that Seed, alongside His enemy’s futile efforts to stop God’s Garden prophecy from coming to pass. (One day the Seed of the woman will crush the head of the Serpent.)

Note the phrase “legally necessary” in the paragraph above. Too few Christians understand that God built the universe upon a legal and judicial framework. Once God legally granted dominion stewardship of Earth to mankind (Gen. 1:26-28), He was constrained by His own righteousness and holiness to operate within the judicial rules He had established. 

In other words, although a sovereign God theoretically could have cheated at the game He invented, His character would never allow Him to do so. 

This meant that if God was going to fulfill His promise to get another “Adam” into the earth, He would have to do so legally. In the Old Testament, everything that came after that seed promise depicts a cosmic chess match between God and His crafty but inferior enemy.

If the Old Testament narrative sometimes seems harsh and hard, it is only because the stakes of that battle were so profoundly high. The fate of humanity and control of planet earth literally hung in the balance. 

Yet, move by move, God brilliantly advanced His plan. First, he called a man (Abram)—one willing to sacrifice his own son in faith. That man would produce a people (Israel) whose intricately prescribed sacrificial system of worship would, by judicial necessity, model and forerun the ultimate solution to the crisis Adam caused. The blood-soaked Old Testament is the war chronicle of the battle to get Jesus, the “Last Adam,” into the earth. 

Every detail of every incident speaks of Him. Points to Him. Prepares for Him. And most importantly, judicially sanctions Him.

Paul has all of this in view when he writes, “But when the time of fulfillment had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”

It means that infant’s cry from the Bethlehem stable was merely a prelude to his cry of “It is finished!” from a Jerusalem cross 33 years later. 

Prayer of Declaration

Brilliant heavenly Father, what a plan. What a victory! It’s easy to trust in You because You are utterly good, ever faithful, and always redemptive in your actions. That’s just Your character and nature. Because Jesus was born “under the law” and fulfilled its every requirement, I have been born-again under Your new and better covenant of grace. I’m filled with gratitude for Your kindness. I’m in awe of Your brilliance. I’m humbled by Your gracious generosity.