Mearns Bass - Developing a Secret History With God

Lets Go Straight to Bethlehem

2012 Advent Devotional Guide

A gift to you from Keep Believing Ministries
Written by Ray Pritchard
eBook design by Primedia eLaunch

Advent is first of all a journey.

We start wherever we are in late November, and by December 25 we end up in Bethlehem.

This is an ancient journey, one first taken by the shepherds who upon hearing the angels announce the Good News that Christ had been born, said to each other, Lets go straight to Bethlehem (Luke 2:15 HCSB).

I like the way that sounds.

Lets go. Im going and youre going, so lets go together. During the Advent season, Christians of all backgrounds and denominations, Christians from every tribe and tongue, Christians young and old, male and female, rich and poor, we all join together to make this journey once again.

Straight. No messing around. No detours. No excuses. Were on our way to see the Savior.

To Bethlehem. To the House of Bread where the Living Bread has come down from heaven. Were coming hungry and thirsty because our journey is long and we are tired. Were coming to worship the Babe in the manger.

This year we will start in Eden and end at Bethlehem, watching as Mary and Joseph put their newborn son to bed in a rough-hewn stone feeding trough.

So if youre ready, lets get started. Wherever you are, you can make this journey with us.

Lets go straight to Bethlehem. Jesus is waiting for us.

December 1

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed (Genesis 3:15).

Although you may not see it at first glance, Christ is in this verse. He is the ultimate Seed of the Woman who would one day come to crush the serpents ugly head. In the process his heel would be bruised on the cross. In short, this verse predicts that Jesus would win the victory over Satan but would himself be wounded at the same time.

As the centuries rolled on, Satan kept winning victories and God kept raising up men and women who would continue the godly line on the earth. I like to think of this verse as the top of a wide funnel. When the promise was given, no one could have imagined the coming Jesus Christ. The seed of the woman simply meant that he must be a member of the human race. But after the flood the line was narrowed to Noahs descendants, then later to Shems descendants, and later came to rest on one manAbraham, the father of the nation Israel. Then to his son Isaac, to Isaacs son Jacob, to Jacobs son Joseph, and then to Josephs son Judah. Centuries later the line was narrowed to the house of David. Finally some nine centuries after that, the line came to rest on the firstborn son of a virgin named Mary. What started with the whole human race has narrowed to just one manJesus Christ.

He didnt come in the usual way; he came by means of a virgin birth. No one before or since ever entered the world as he did. Thus he is the ultimate seed of the woman since no man was involved in his conception.

When God wanted to save the world, he didnt send a committee; he sent his Son.

When God wanted to say, I love you, he wrapped his love note in swaddling clothes.

When God wanted to crush Satan, he started in a stable in Bethlehem.

Even in Eden, God was planning for Christmas. He was thinking of you before you were born because he knew that one day you would need a Savior.

As we begin our Advent journey, lets remember that Christ came in fulfillment of a promise made amid the wreckage caused by Adams sin. Our sin may be great, but as the promise is greater than the transgression, through Christs great sacrifice we have been set free.

Lord Jesus, with your own blood you kept the promise God made. Glory to you, our Savior and King. Amen.

CHAPTER TWO

And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony (Exodus 25:22).

Because God acts in history, the flow of the Spirit is ever onwards. As we look at the layout of the Tabernacle (see the layout at the end of chapter) we catch a prophetic glimpse of God's dealing with His Church down through the ages. Even more importantly we see where Gods spirit is moving today and why this will add dimension to our current study.

The blueprint of the Tabernacle was designed by God and given to Moses at the same time he received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. It was the way God ordained for His people to approach His presence, a foreshadow of His plan of redemption, a prophetic tapestry woven in fine linens with accents of gold, silver and brass. The Tabernacle consisted of three sections. The Outer Court, which typifies the world and our ministry to the world. Within this Outer Court, God placed the Brazen Altar and the Brazen Laver. As we part the curtain separating the second section from the Outer Court, we enter the Holy Place, which typifies the church, the place of ministry to each other and fellowship of the saints. In the Holy Place we find the Golden Candlestick, the Golden Table of Shewbread and the Golden Altar of Incense. As we press on through the second veil, we approach the very presence of God, where His Shekinah glory dwelt above the Ark of the Covenant, in the Holy of Holies. I make reference to the Tabernacle so often in the message of this book because this layout was a map to show us the way into His Presence.

During the Middle Ages, also known as the dark ages, because the light of the true gospel was almost extinct, sinners tried to be saved by keeping the law, and paying for indulgences as a means of cleansing sin. But, thank God, even though the light was being snuffed out, God moved in the sixteenth century and raised up men like Martin Luther. who proclaimed Galatians 3:11: but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, [it is] evident: for, The just shall live by faith. These men restored to the Church the Brazen Altar, i.e. sinners can only be saved by faith in the Blood of Jesus. Brass in typology speaks of judgment. The Brazen Altar was a foreshadow of Christ, as the Lamb of God, being judged for the sins of the world. Out of the reformation that followed came the first translation of the Bible, preparing the way for the next move of God.

The Church remained in the Outer Court at the Brazen Altar, until the eighteenth century, when God raised up men like the Wesley brothers who restored to the Church the Brazen Laver. Truly we are saved by the Blood, typified by the Brazen Altar. However, God wants not only a justified people but also a sanctified people who will press on in to serve Him in holiness. As the Brazen Altar spoke of Christ being judged for us, the Brazen Laver speaks of self-judgment. The Brazen Laver is a type of the Word of God, where we come daily to examine ourselves in the light of the Word, so that we may grow and mature.

At the turn of the twentieth century, we saw a mighty visitation of God throughout His Body, by an outpouring of His Holy Spirit, unprecedented in the history of the Church. The ministry of the Golden Candlestick had now been returned to the Church. The Golden Candlestick typifies the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit with the operations of the gifts within the Church. The restoration of the Candlestick has ignited the fire of Pentecost and is bringing unity to the Church, which will result in the oil to flow and power to fall.

Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is] for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psalms 133:1).

It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, [even] Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments (Psalms 133:2).

As the Church moves ahead in one accord, we will see a great harvest of souls in these last days, for as Jesus prayed