of what verbally expressed in publicly.
The month of December,
Is enveloped in a special atmosphere
Due to the Christmas Eve festivities, Christmas,
New Year's and the beginning of a whole new year.
Apart from the fact that we know that Jesus was not born in December and the controversy of whether we should be celebrating Christmas that month or not, no one can avoid thinking about Him in a unique manner during the holidays.
Generally speaking, our society views Jesus as a child who was born in almost inhuman conditions, in the midst of poverty and dire circumstances. As a result, this image awakens the emotions of tenderness, pity and, of course, compassion among the populace. Jesus is portrayed as helpless and “in need of aid.” Sadly to see, there are a lot of Christians today who still view him this way.
The apostolic and prophetic Church that God is raising up at this time is now redefining and putting in right perspective the correct spirit and idea of the personhood and works of Jesus among both believers and the rest of the world.
He was sent. And since an apostle is “one who is sent,” He is an apostle. An apostle“after the manner of God” is an ambassador who has all of the attributes, authority and power to fulfill his commission as a representative (in this case, representing God the Father).
That's why the author of the book of Hebrews states: “holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess" (Hebrews 3:1).
THE CHILD KING
In Mathew's version of the birth of Jesus (chapter 2), the way in which the Magi “saw” Jesus is worth discussing. These wise men—well-versed in philosophy, medicine and natural sciences and who dedicated themselves to astronomy—asked about “The King of the Jews,” whose sign (the star, an inexplicable phenomenon) they'd seen in the heavens, saying that they'd“come to worship him”. They were not looking “for just a child,” but rather were looking for “The Child”, a “King”.
That's the reason that when they found Jesus with his mother Mary, they bowed down and worshipped him. In addition, they offered him prophetic gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
* GOLD: The gift of kings
* FRANINCENSE: The gift of priests
* MYRRH: The gift for someone
who's going to die.
These were, in effect, prophetic gifts. In the manger, there was a child, but he was also a king.
He was prophetically the King of Kings and Lord of Lords before whom one day “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).
The wise men recognized him as king and were offering him gold.
The frankincense was offered as a gift to priests. A priest of pontiff is a “bridge-builder”.
Jesus was the one who “died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18).
The myrrh was a gift for someone about to die, prophesying the atoning sacrifice of Jesus and the redemption that only he could provide.
The revelation that the Magi had of Jesus is in direct contrast to the image that the Church of today has of Him, which is derived from their message and what they preach. For many of them, Jesus still “remains a child,” but He is really “the King” and we must both recognize that fact and obey Him.
THE JUST KING
In order to see the process of the fulfillment of Jesus' mission, it's extremely important that we look at the passage of Luke 4. After his temptation by Satan from which he emerged victorious, Jesus “returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside”.
Afterwards, he entered the synagogue and stood up to read what Isaiah had prophesied about him:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery
of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor”.
(Luke 4:18-19)
Jesus affirmed that the Holy Spirit had equipped him to minister, so the anointing had to be manifested.
In summary, Jesus' mission was to announce and establish justice. It's unjust that there are poor people who receive bad news; unjust that there are sick, broken or captive people; unjust that there are blind people.
Jesus said: I have come to announce the year of the Lord's favor. The good will, favor and grace of God is what he came to establish in humanity. This “year” signified “the year of jubilee” that occurred every 50 years in accordance with Leviticus 25. It was a year of grace and joy, during which labor ceased, slaves were set free, debts were pardoned and prisoners were released.
Jesus used the Old Covenant as a basis with which to open the door to the New one. This “new” covenant would no longer require “a year of jubilee” every 50 years, but rather would consist of days, months, years—in other words, a permanent state of whole health, liberty and prosperity of the body, mind and the spirit.
THE CHURCH THAT DECLARES ITS KING
Jesus is Savior, King and Lord. He is the Christ, the anointed one of God, the Desire of the Nations.
It was he who said: “The Kingdom of God is upon you”.
We need to live in the “acceptable year of the Lord's favor”. The Church of these last days
that God is raising up does not have in its vocabulary the expressions “Merry Christmas” and
“Happy New Year”. It's not just a “special day of happiness,” nor is it “a desire for a prosperous new
year that's just beginning,” but rather the installation of a state of being, “the year of the Lord's favor”.
Within this perspective and dimension, we should pray: “Father, your kingdom call,
your win be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.
In the apostolic dimension, we declare and prophesy to the world:
The King is here,
and as a kingdom of his priests,
we establish His kingdom!
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Messages & teaching of Daniel Dardano I Daniel & Estela Dardano