Advent-ure Day 7: Son of God

There has been a lot of emphasis this week in the news about the city of Jerusalem, and we find in
Luke 19 that Jesus wept over that city. We read:
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,
42 saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,
44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."

Here, we see the compassion of Jesus for a city full of people whom He wished to redeem; in fact, just days after this passage occurred, He would actually be put to death by leaders in that city, with the approval of many of its residents.  But, Jesus did not give up on them, even extending forgiveness on the cross; and He doesn't give up on us, either - even when we are hard-headed or hard-hearted, He reaches out in compassion and desires to draw us to Himself.

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At Christmas and during our celebration of Advent, we can recognize that God has a plan. The fall in the Garden did not take Him by surprise, no, He had His plan to restore and redeem His people - it involved His Son, who was there in creation and who was foretold in subsequent years.  In our Advent guide, 25: A Christmas Advent-ure, we see there is much for which to worship Jesus, including His personality - who He is.  And today, we reflect on Jesus, the Son of God.  John 3:16 reminds us:
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

There has been much discussion over the past few days about President Trump's announcement that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and would ultimately move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  The BBC website states:

Mr Trump described the move as "a long overdue step" to advance the Middle East peace process.

It continues:

Speaking at the White House, the US president said he had "judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America, and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians".

He said he was directing the US state department to begin preparations to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

This is a political move, certainly, but there are spiritual implications - we can see in God's Word that Jerusalem was the seat of government, where David and subsequent kings over the kingdom of Judah reigned.  And, a reestablished Jerusalem, a new Jerusalem, will be the place in which Jesus will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Psalm 122 states:
3 Jerusalem is built As a city that is compact together,
4 Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the Lord, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For thrones are set there for judgment, The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces."

When one considers the city of Jerusalem and the re-establishment of the nation of Israel, these are reminders of the plan of God, who appeared to Abraham and revealed that He would choose a people unto Himself.  God has always had His hand on Israel, and we can emphasize that He is talking about that lineage of the Jewish people, whom He wants to bring to Himself.  Of course, all people must come to God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, there are younger Christians that don't see the relationship between the Church and Israel as important as I believe the Bible teaches.  A new LifeWay Research survey says that:

Three-quarters (77 percent) of evangelicals 65 and older say they support the existence, security and prosperity of Israel. That drops to 58 percent among younger evangelicals, those 18 to 34.

Four in 10 younger evangelicals (41 percent) have no strong views about Israel.

Scott McConnell, Executive Director of LifeWay Research says that, “For the most part, younger evangelicals are indifferent about Israel..."

This concerns author Joel Rosenberg, who is one of the underwriters of the survey, who is quoted in the survey summary:

“Unless the church gives younger believers a healthy, balanced, solidly biblical understanding of God’s love and plan for Israel, overall evangelical support for the Jewish state could very well plummet over the next decade as millennials represent an ever-larger percentage of the overall church body,” Rosenberg said.

Chosen People Ministries was also an underwriter, and its President, Mitch Glaser, said: “I am concerned for the obvious decline in support for Israel among millennial followers of Jesus, who either do not know what they believe or do not seem to care."

Here are some more of the findings:

• Forty-five percent say the Bible has had the biggest influence on their views of Israel.
• Sixty-three percent say they support Israel primarily because “God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people.”
• Twenty-two percent are not sure if biblical promises about the land of Israel are still in force.
• Eighty percent say God promised the land of Israel to Abraham and his descendants for all time.
• Eighty percent say the rebirth of Israel in 1948 was a fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

I do believe that the establishment of the nation of Israel was a political event with spiritual implications, including the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.  And, we read in the Old Testament extensively about God's relationship with His chosen people.  He continued to reach out to them and love them, calling on them to return to Him when they had departed.  

And, then, just outside Jerusalem, on that special night, God's Son came into the world to provide that way of salvation - for not only the Jewish people, but for all who were "grafted," as the Bible says in Romans 11, into that plan.  Now, salvation is provided for all who will accept Christ, but all must come through Him.  God's dealings with Israel point to the compassion and tenacity with which He deals with His people, and I believe Israel still plays a key role in God's plan for the earth.

The story of Christmas shows us how God appeared to two Jewish people and how He sent His Son into the world on a winter's night outside Jerusalem.  God has a grand plan for the world, and we each have a role in it - and we recognize that He has a plan for each of us; we enter in through salvation in Jesus Christ, and as we have been made part of His Kingdom, adopted into His family, we can depend on Him to guide our lives so that we might be glorified in us.