Unwrap this Christmas
Christmas should be a time of joy when we appreciate what God has done by becoming human as Jesus Christ, and look forward to His return as Saviour, King and Righteous Judge. When Christ first came to Bethlehem, some welcomed Him and worshipped Him, while others rejected Him. Will we welcome Him with joy or reject Him when He returns? Let’s unwrap this Christmas to find out.
Scripture
Psalms 98:7-9 ESV Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! 8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together 9 before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
Bible Study Questions
The joy of the Righteous Judge
What will accompany Jesus return to earth to judge the world according to Psalm 98?
Psalms 98:7-9 ESV Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! 8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together 9 before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
Jesus is the perfect Righteous Judge
Why has God given Jesus Christ the authority to execute judgement on the world?
John 5:25-27 ESV “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
Ordained to be the Judge
According to Acts 10, what did the prophets predict about Jesus Christ, what did He fulfil in His first coming and what will He still fulfil?
Acts 10:39-43 ESV And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Authenticated as the perfect Judge
How do we know for certain that God has given Jesus Christ the authority to judge the world in righteousness?
Acts 17:30-31 ESV The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Welcomed and worshipped or troubled?
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, some came from far to worship Him and honour Him as King, others were troubled at His arrival. Why do you think Herod and Jerusalem were troubled at the news of the birth of the King of Kings?
Matthew 2:1-3 ESV Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
Rejecting the Judge
Just after Jesus received a King’s welcome as He rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, the people of Jerusalem joined in condemning Him to death on the cross. What changed, why did they suddenly reject Him?
Mark 11:15-17 ESV And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
The return of the Judge
The prophecies are clear Jesus will return to earth to judge the world and rule it in perfect righteousness. How can we unwrap ourselves this Christmas an be sure that we will be with those who welcome His return in glorious praise and worship?
Revelation 19:11 ESV Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
1 John 1:5-9 ESV This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.