In America the day after Thanksgiving, “Black Friday,” is when retailers have some of the best deals of the year. It kicks off the holiday shopping season. However, because of the incarnation of Christ, the greatest “Black Friday Deal” is available 24/365.

Only one Black Friday offers eternal savings. (© Pacific Press collection at GoodSalt.com)

Galatians 4:4 says that in the “fullness of time God sent forth His Son to be born of a virgin.” The fullness of time, refers to the time prophecy of Daniel 9:24 – 27, which is a Messianic timeline prophecy recorded by the prophet Daniel over 500 years prior. God had set a specific time for Jesus to come to earth. God had also set a manner that the Messiah would come to earth. He would come into our world in the usual way but with a couple significant twists. The mother would be a virgin because she would not be impregnated by man but by the Holy Spirit. Think of the huge risk God took by choosing to do things this way. What if something happened to Mary during her pregnancy? What if she bailed and decided to be “pro-choice”? God puts it all on the line by entrusting the Savior of the world to a teenage girl.

DNA, (Deoxyribonucleic acid) is the “stuff of life,” the building block of all life. It’s been called the creation of God, because of its otherworldly complexity. It is both the blueprint for and the operating software of life. It carries not only one’s physical characteristics, but also their mental, emotional, and even spiritual propensities.
 
The “Son of God” was prophesied to be “the son of David,” of his lineage and DNA.  Both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David, and many scholars believe that Luke gives us Mary’s genealogy, while Matthew gives us Joseph’s.

One would think that the Messiah should have come from a perfect “pure bred pedigree” family tree, but He didn’t, because none were available. Besides, fallen humanity is what needed saving. Instead, his family tree, lineage, and gene pool is a potpourri of characters – some good, some not so good. There was a liar and deceiver, a murderer and adulterer, idol worshippers, child sacrificers, polygamists, and even a prostitute.  There were also faithful followers, reformers, and a kinsmen redeemer.

It should comfort and encourage us to know that Jesus’ family tree had a few knots and nuts in it just as ours do. Yet, in spite of that handicap, the “Son of God” remained unstained by the shame, guilt, and dysfunction of his ancestors, in spite of the DNA He assumed. Consider that the Creator of DNA took on DNA that was detrimentally mutated by the fall of Adam, and He was victorious over it. Think of the sheer genius of God that, though Jesus didn’t have any paternal DNA deficiencies directly, ¹ He inherited both maternal and paternal DNA weaknesses through the combined lineage of Mary and Joseph because of their shared genealogies.

The Scripture calls the incarnation a “great mystery.” In other words, it’s hard to wrap our minds around it. It’s definitely a mind bender.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.  1 Timothy 3:16.

Ellen White further expands on the mysterious nature that Christ assumed when He came to earth.

“The incarnation of Christ is the mystery of all mysteries. 

Christ was one with the Father, yet …He was willing to step down from the exaltation of one who was equal with God…

How wide is the contrast between the divinity of Christ and the helpless infant in Bethlehem’s manger! How can we span the distance between the mighty God and a helpless child? And yet the Creator of worlds, He in whom was the fullness of the Godhead bodily, was manifest in the helpless babe in the manger. Far higher than any of the angels, equal with the Father in dignity and glory, and yet wearing the garb of humanity! Divinity and humanity were mysteriously combined, and man and God became one.

It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man’s nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity (DNA). What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.

Those who claim that it was not possible for Christ to sin, cannot believe that He really took upon Himself human nature. But was not Christ actually tempted, not only by Satan in the wilderness, but all through His life, from childhood to manhood?

Our Saviour took humanity, with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man, with the possibility of yielding to temptation. We have nothing to bear which He has not endured….God has adopted human nature in the person of His Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven…. Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is enfolded in the bosom of Infinite Love. Christ bowed down in unparalleled humility, that in His exaltation to the throne of God, He might also exalt those who believe in Him, to a seat with Him upon His throne. ”              

Our Father Cares Devotional – Page 75

We have been visited by God in human flesh. He is “Emmanuel,” God With Us.  He has entered into our DNA, and He invites us to come to His house, and sit with Him on His throne. Today many feel depressed and discouraged during the holidays because they don’t have the means, or the family to meet the societal and cultural expectations that come with them. Away with such melancholy, for the Advent season  isn’t about giving gifts. It is about receiving the greatest and costliest Gift ever given. 

Christ’s Advent connects us to the cross, and the cross connects us to His Advent, and they both connect us to the heart of a loving heavenly Father that so loved you that He gave you the greatest gift. He was born into this world in the shadow of the Cross. He was born to die, so that we might live.

This year, let us not stress and obsess over giving gifts. Instead rest, destress, and be blessed, as you receive and share the gift of God. Don’t leave it unopened or unshared.

As we celebrate the Advent season, let us remember that the greatest Gift wasn’t placed under a tree but was hung on a tree.

In appreciation, give Him a gift in return. All He wants is you! He wants your heart.

Many babies became kings, but only one king became a baby. Why did He do it?

He did it for love. He did it for you and me. Let Him be what He came to be, our Savior and Lord.

The most important part of the story isn’t when He came, it’s that He came. Isn’t it amazing the way He came?

Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/he-entered-into-our-dna/

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 7th of December 2024

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: John 14:10,24; Genesis 3:7-9; John 16:27-28; John 16:7-11; John 17:1-26.

Memory Text:

“ ‘The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you’ ” (John 14:26, NKJV).

The Gospel of John is a mosaic of themes. John calls upon signs (miracles) to show that Jesus is the Messiah promised by the prophets. John uses an array of witnesses to proclaim Jesus as the Christ. He also uses the “I AM” statements to point to His divinity.

All three members of the Godhead are mentioned in John 1:1-51 (John 1:1-4,14,18,32-34). For centuries humans have tried fully to understand the nature of the Godhead, but because we can’t, many reject the idea. How foolish, though, to reject something just because we can’t fully understand it or because it doesn’t fit within the narrow limits of human reasoning.

John says that if you want to understand God, you must look at Jesus and what has been revealed in the Word. This approach opens to us a whole new world of relationships—among the Three Members of the Godhead, between the Members of the Godhead and humans, and among humans themselves. This week’s lesson looks at how the Gospel of John presents the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but now within the context of the farewell discourse (John 13:1-38; John 14:1-31; John 15:1-27; John 16:1-33; John 17:1-26).

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 14.

Sunday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-11-the-father-the-son-and-the-spirit/

Our Sabbath School program has always been linked to the support of the Seventh-day Adventist Mission program. This video provides a little insight into this important work.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-december-7/

Inside Story for Friday 6th of December 2024

By Andrew McChesney

A well-dressed woman drove her car into the parking garage of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Upper Magdalena Conference in Bogota, Colombia. “Are you Christians?” she asked the parking attendant.

“Yes,” replied 52-year-old Ruben Campos.

“Which religion are you?” she asked.

“We are Seventh-day Adventists,” he said. “Can we help you?”

“Someone told me that Adventists don’t like to help others,” she said.

Image © Pacific Press

Ruben was surprised. “Let us help you,” he said. “We’re ready to serve.”

The woman asked if she could park her car in the church parking garage. Her apartment was nearby, but it didn’t have any parking, and she didn’t feel safe leaving her car in the street at night.

“Yes, you can park here,” Ruben said.

“How much would it cost?” she asked.

“It won’t cost you anything,” Ruben said. “It will be our gift to you.”

“Thank you!” the woman exclaimed. “Can I give you a hug?”

That night, the woman left her car in the parking garage. She returned the next night. On the third night, she asked Ruben for a Bible.

Then the two started studying the Bible. Ruben brought her a chair, and he sat in his booth as they studied. After a month, the woman said she wanted to introduce Ruben to her husband. She called from her cell phone. “It’s with him that I’m studying the Bible, and I want to be baptized,” she said.

The woman’s husband was a senior Colombian military officer, and he was on a temporary assignment abroad. He told Ruben that he also wanted Bible studies. “We can start when I return to Colombia,” he said.

Ruben may have been the happiest parking attendant in Colombia when the woman was baptized in a Seventh-day Adventist church in Bogota. He is now waiting for her husband to return to the country for Bible studies.

Jesus engaged in mission outreach by serving others. He said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28, NKJV).Ruben is seeking to follow His example.

“We can have an impact on many lives if we only serve,” said Ruben, who has worked as a parking attendant for eight years. “Somebody could come to you soon. You have to be ready to serve no matter who or where that person is.”

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering that helped two mission outreach projects in Colombia last quarter.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-10-inside-story-gift-to-a-well-dressed-woman/

Daily Lesson for Friday 6th of December 2024

Read Ellen G. White, “ ‘The Light of Life,’ ” Pages 463–475, in The Desire of Ages;

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

E. Edward Zinke, “The Authority of the Bible and the Certainty of the Second Coming,” The Certainty of the Second Coming (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2000), Pages 23–36.

When Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” He “was in the court of the temple specially connected with the services of the Feast of Tabernacles. In the center of this court rose two lofty standards, supporting lampstands of great size. After the evening sacrifice, all the lamps were kindled, shedding their light over Jerusalem. This ceremony was in commemoration of the pillar of light that guided Israel in the desert, and was also regarded as pointing to the coming of the Messiah. At evening when the lamps were lighted, the court was a scene of great rejoicing. . . .

“In the illumination of Jerusalem, the people expressed their hope of the Messiah’s coming to shed His light upon Israel. But to Jesus the scene had a wider meaning. As the radiant lamps of the temple lighted up all about them, so Christ, the source of spiritual light, illumines the darkness of the world. Yet the symbol was imperfect. That great light which His own hand had set in the heavens was a truer representation of the glory of His mission.

“It was morning; the sun had just risen above the Mount of Olives, and its rays fell with dazzling brightness on the marble palaces, and lighted up the gold of the temple walls, when Jesus, pointing to it, said, ‘I am the light of the world.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, Pages 463, 464.

Discussion Questions

<–Thursday

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-10-further-thought-the-way-the-truth-and-the-life/