Christian A.C.T.S.: Digging Deeper~1st Sunday of Advent

Jer. 23:1-6:God warns the leaders of Judah for not taking care of His people. He promises a day when they will have a good leader.

Luke 1:68-79:Zechariah Prophecies of the coming of the promised leader who will be Jesus. He tells everyone that his son, John will be the prophet that comes before Jesus.

Col. 1:11-20:Jesus made us free for he paid for our sins on the cross.

Luke 23:33-43: Here we see that Jesus was crucified and on top of the cross it had a sign that said, "King of the Jews".

Why did Jesus come to earth on Christmas? Jesus came to earth on Christmas to fulfill many prophecies that promised many things to his people including freedom. One prophet who spoke of that promise was Jeremiah. When God's people were being oppressed by their evil leaders. God has Jeremiah tell them that some day he would send them a good leader (Jer. 23:1-6).

Then when John the Baptist was born, his Father, Zechariah prophesied that the time of the promised leader was near. He also said that his son, John would be the one who would come before Jesus and prepare the people for him (Luke 1:68-79). Jon indeed did grow up and prepared the people for Jesus' preaching. After Jesus preached for 3 years, he fulfilled the prophecies when he went to the cross and paid for our sins so that we could be free from our sins (Col. 1:11-10). To further show that Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies a sign was hung over Jesus' head on the cross that said, "King of the Jews" (Luke 23:33-43).

That is why Jesus came down to earth and was born on Christmas. He was born to die for our sins and set us free from the bonds of it.

Challenge of the week:

This week, take the time to really ponder the loving reason Jesus lowered himself and became a human and was born on Christmas day. Thank him for doing so and then go tell others..

Accomplishment of the week:

Did you ponder on Jesus' love for you this week? How did that change how you look at Christmas? Did you take the time to thank him for doing so. Did you tell anyone else of this Great News?