{"id":1929,"date":"2024-12-08T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/KP2\/?p=1929"},"modified":"2023-12-30T18:27:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-30T18:27:15","slug":"december-8-this-is-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/december-8-this-is-love\/","title":{"rendered":"December 8, This is love!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u201cShe will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sin.\u201d  <\/strong>Matthew 1:21<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This advent season do not miss the simple meaning of Christmas:  love.  \u201cFor God so loved <\/em><\/strong>the world that He gave His only son.\u201d (John 3:16)  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He first loved<\/em><\/strong> us and gave His Son as a substitute for our sin.\u201d (I John 4:4) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The birth narrative of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew signifies the reason for Christ\u2019s birth and the purpose of the babe in a manger:  He will save His people from their sin<\/em><\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice that the instruction to name Jesus was not accompanied by, \u201cbecause He will organize a religion<\/em>.\u201d  Nor do we read, \u201cbecause He will redefine our politics<\/em>.\u201d We also do not read, and you will call Him Jesus because \u201cHe will elevate the popularity of man<\/em>.\u201d  NO!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We read, \u201cAnd you will call His name Jesus because He will save His people from their sin.\u201d  <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reference to \u201cHis people\u201d does not indicate merely a national-political deliverance, but rather a reference to the Messianic Kingdom (including both Jews and Gentiles).  Therefore, this verse references the whole scope of salvation from the birth of Christ to the fulfillment of God\u2019s plan for salvation – when all who have placed their faith in Jesus will be made complete on that day we stand with Christ in Heaven. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe will save His people from sin.\u201d This is such an incredible reality for the believer.  You can live in this moment secure that your complete salvation rests in Christ alone.  You can be assured that salvation depends on Jesus and not your own merit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So today, thank God for the greatest blessing ever announced.  Salvation in Christ.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is love.  This is Christmas.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blessings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, read the entire birth narrative of Jesus recorded in Matthew\u2019s Gospel (Matthew 1:18-25) and see God\u2019s love displayed.  <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cShe will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sin.\u201d  Matthew 1:21 This advent season do not miss the simple meaning of Christmas:  love.  \u201cFor God so loved the world that He gave His only son.\u201d (John 3:16)  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that …<\/p>\n

December 8, This is love!<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-todays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1929"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3271,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929\/revisions\/3271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}