Equipping Eve: God With Us

No Compromise Radio

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:05

Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

00:12

Well, it's true, there's no shortage of candy -coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies.

00:19

But beyond Sunday morning, are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed

00:27

Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women,

00:34

No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

00:44

My name is Mike Abendroth, and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benziger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

00:56

I'm your host, Erin Benziger, and you know the drill.

01:04

This is the show that seeks to equip you with fruits of truth from God's Word. Because we live in an age of deception.

01:10

We live in an age of professed atheism, which is ridiculous because everybody worships something so atheism isn't real.

01:19

And we live in an age where the gospel and the truth of God's Word is constantly being compromised by those who profess

01:27

Christ. So which is the greater deception? Kind of depends on the day, kind of depends on the context, right?

01:35

You know, you'll have people argue both ways. I think probably the greater deception is the one that deceives us into thinking we have the right gospel, right?

01:44

I mean, atheism does not claim to give you a way to salvation, does not claim to offer a way to get you to heaven.

01:55

But these false gospels do. And those come in the forms of false religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism.

02:09

Take your pick of the isms. And it comes in the form of Christianity, doesn't it?

02:17

It comes in the form of Bible teaching. But it's a twisted

02:23

Bible teaching that twists the Bible and turns it around so that the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone is distorted and eliminated.

02:40

You see that in the Roman Catholic Church, and many people would consider

02:45

Roman Catholics to be Christians. And yet their gospel demands works, that our works have to be added to the work of Christ on the cross in order for us to be saved.

02:55

Well, that's just ridiculous. That's not biblical. The Bible is so clear that we are saved not by works, but by the grace of God.

03:03

It is a gift. Repentance and faith are gifts from God to sinners.

03:11

And we've touched on all of that in previous shows. So I won't rehash it here, except as appropriate.

03:18

And we see it also, the same deception, the same false gospels in Christianity that would not call themselves

03:24

Catholics. You know, we see this from the seeker -sensitive churches that ultimately are just teaching a gospel of works.

03:31

You just need to check the boxes on this list, and you're a Christian. You're good to go.

03:36

As long as you prayed that prayer and raised your hand and walked the aisle and threw something into the bonfire at camp, you are golden.

03:45

Don't worry about it. You're on your way to heaven. Do whatever you need to do along the way. Doesn't matter. You got Jesus. You added

03:51

Him to your life. You know, but if there is no transformation of mind and heart that is manifested in outward behavior, then you must question your salvation.

04:02

Then you must question whether you received a true gospel. And I say that with personal experience.

04:12

I say that as someone who believed she was saved for years.

04:18

I wouldn't have used the word saved. I wouldn't have used that terminology, but I believed I was a

04:23

Christian because I believed in Jesus and probably prayed a couple of prayers or something and went to church sometimes, did a

04:30

Bible study. So you know, I was good, good to go. But I did not know the true gospel.

04:38

I did not get it because I hadn't heard it in the mainline denominational churches that I attended as a kid.

04:48

I had not heard it in the secret sensitive churches that I attended in college and beyond. Praise God for His grace and His patience, though.

04:57

And so that is the greatest deception, false gospels coming from the pulpit of churches and Christians who profess to be

05:06

Christians, people who profess to be Christians. That is the greatest deception. They use Bible verses, they're half pulling out of context, they're interpreted incorrectly, but they're using the

05:17

Bible, they're using Christian -y words, they talk about being blessed all the time, everybody who's blessed up one side and down the other, then

05:26

I got to start questioning because it's just not real. It's not genuine.

05:33

It's just empty words. And if it's not manifested in your life, go to God.

05:43

Go to God and not that our behavior and our works get us saved, but they are fruit of our salvation.

05:51

And again, we've talked about this at length, and so now I'm just babbling. Sorry about that. So, here we are.

05:58

I should have said Merry Christmas, ladies, and welcome to Equipping E!

06:09

Because Christmas is upon us. Christmas is upon us as I tape this show.

06:15

Christmas is upon us as I record this episode. Basically, Halloween just ended, but that means that Christmas is upon us, right?

06:23

I mean, it will be probably another week and Hobby Lobby will have Sprint in the stores and Christmas will be pushed off to the side.

06:31

That's just the way things work nowadays, at least here in the good old U .S. of A.

06:37

So, but you know, I love Christmas. I love Christmas. I love the music.

06:43

I love the food. Okay, I love the cookies and the pie.

06:50

The rest of it, I can kind of take it or leave it. And any sort of bread, that's good, too.

06:56

Basically starch and sugar. Starch is a sugar. So anyway, as long as it's unhealthy for you,

07:02

I love it. And that's why Christmas is wonderful. And I love getting to chill in the air and I love being all cozy.

07:15

And the cheesy Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel, I admit it, true confessions, I watch those from time to time.

07:22

And that's okay. And so I love Christmas, but these are not ...

07:29

these are things that we experience at Christmas, but this is not Christmas, is it? Christmas is

07:34

God incarnate. Christmas is Jesus Christ coming to earth, putting on flesh, being born as a little baby in a manger, only to grow up and serve as the perfect substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of his people.

07:57

That's Christmas. And that's just phenomenal, isn't it?

08:03

But we lose that. We lose that. And every year, there are so many blog articles, and I probably have spoken about this in Christmas's past.

08:12

I don't actually remember, but I'm sure I have, because it strikes me every single year how easy it is to lose sight of Christmas.

08:20

It's so easy, and I strongly dislike that. And I hope you agree with me on that, because we get so caught up in the gifts and the food that we have to make, and having the house decorated just so, so that it looks like a

08:38

Better Homes and Garden picture, so that we can have our friends over from church for small group or whatever, and our house looks just perfect, and we're all

08:46

Martha Stewart about it. And yet, that's not Christmas. That's just not

08:52

Christmas. And we all do it, and we do it every single year. And if you're like me, you grumble about it and say you don't want to do it that year, and yet you do it again.

09:01

And then on top of everything else, we have other responsibilities that are thrown in there. We might have something going on in our family, or with our friends, or at school, or in our jobs that keeps us busy, and then we're nervous about that, because now we can't enjoy these other elements of Christmas that we like.

09:19

But the bigger problem is that we're distracted from the true meaning of Christmas. We're distracted from Christ.

09:27

Of course, Christmas does not have the corner market on distracting us from Christ.

09:35

That can happen all year long. And perhaps I'm speaking too much from experience, but I'm certain that at least some of you can identify with me on this, that it's so easy for us to have our eyes taken off of Christ.

09:50

But especially at Christmas, it's so interesting, isn't it, how the world has managed to take our focus off of the one thing that matters this time of year, or the one thing that matters any time of year.

10:03

But Christmas is such an opportunity for us to evangelize.

10:10

I mean, think about it. You have all these Christmas carols playing in the stores and in restaurants, on the radio.

10:16

People are hearing the gospel in these songs. Hark the

10:21

Herald Angels Sing, that's my favorite. There's gospel in there.

10:28

And they may not be thinking about it, but who knows how God uses that, and who knows how God might use our encounter with someone this time of year to turn their focus to the

10:38

Lord. And so I thought today that we would turn our focus to Christ, to the one who came from heaven, condescended, came to earth, took on human flesh, so that he could redeem a people for himself.

11:01

That is Christmas. You know, you look at so many Christian websites and ministries and stores, quote -unquote,

11:11

Christian stores, they really lose the point of Christmas, don't they? I, out of curiosity, went to Christianbook .com,

11:21

because you know Family Christian Store has closed. How sad. That's where I always went to buy my gag gifts at Christmas.

11:27

So if you receive a gag gift from me, typically, this time of year, I don't know where it's coming from this year.

11:34

I might have to go to, I don't know, Big Lots or something. So anyway,

11:40

I went to Christianbook .com, and because it is still early in the season, they don't have Christmas splattered all over their homepage, but they do have an option in the menu to select

11:49

Christmas. So I did that, and I hovered over that, and then everything pops up, all these different categories. So where would you go first?

11:55

Well, I love stocking stuffers. They're fun to buy. They're small. You know,

12:00

I can buy a bajillion stocking stuffers and never find a good gift for someone, like an actual gift.

12:08

So if you're my friend, maybe you just get a stocking full of nonsense. But anyway, so I clicked on stocking stuffers, and the top -selling stocking stuffer at Christianbook .com

12:19

is one of them, anyway. Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty. So you know, that...not

12:25

sure why they sell that. Although, full disclosure, I do own a little tiny mini tin of Thinking Putty, and it is quite fun to play with when you're sitting in a meeting and need to distract yourself.

12:45

But it struck me as hilarious that Christianbook .com is offering this as a stocking stuffer.

12:51

There are also colored pencils, because you need colored pencils to color in your spiritual adult coloring book, right?

12:58

So there's that. And let's see. Let's scroll down here. Some of the favorites. Here's a little plaque that says,

13:04

You are more special than words can say. Please travel safely each and every day. I guess that goes in your car.

13:12

So there's that. And a slinky. Also very spiritual.

13:20

Here's measuring spoons with little hearts on them, because that seems practical. A bow tie with crosses on it.

13:28

So there's that. And oh, it just goes on and on.

13:34

Scarf slides. You know, Bible markers, veggie tails.

13:40

Manicure sets. Oh, is that a whole category? It is! They have six different manicure sets here at Christianbook .com.

13:48

So, they have men's and women's. Women's and men's.

13:54

So let's see. One says, Grace, it is the gift from God. Grace, it is the gift from God manicure set.

13:59

God is my strength and power men's manicure set. Live, laugh, love manicure set.

14:05

I count you twice manicure set. What does that mean? Sorry, I have to click on this.

14:10

When I count my blessings, I count you twice. All right. Create your sunshine manicure set.

14:16

That says, some days you just have to create your own sunshine by clipping your nails, apparently.

14:23

But you know, when I click on this, people also purchase the Be Blessed tote bag. So hashtag blessed with my tote bag and matching compact mirror.

14:35

Be blessed bookmark. Be blessed compact mirror. Be blessed ceramic mug. Be blessed pencil bag.

14:40

Be blessed plaque. Hashtag blessed. So don't send me that, please.

14:52

So there's a lot of blessed paraphernalia at christianbook .com.

14:58

Let's see. If we hover over Christmas again, we can, there's Advent, there's

15:03

Christmas flags, ornaments, musicals and dramas, Christmas themes,

15:09

Christmas apparel, Christmas themes, cardinals. You know, I love cardinals.

15:16

They might be my favorite bird because they're beautiful, especially in the winter because they eat berries and they get really bright red.

15:24

But why are cardinals on everything Christmas? It strikes me as odd, but I do love cardinals.

15:30

So I won't say too much about that. So Christmas attire, here's a sweatshirt.

15:37

It's also a t -shirt. Christmas begins with Christ. So you should wear that.

15:43

It would be great. Jesus is the light scarf. So there's that. So lots to choose from.

15:52

You know, make sure you have a coupon, though. Never shop without a coupon.

15:58

So anyway, that's, you know, that's what I'm talking about. We lose sight, even on a Christian, allegedly, store or website, you know, it may have

16:08

Jesus' name on it, but it's not, it's, it's losing, it's missing the point. And I'm not saying, just to be clear,

16:15

I'm not saying we shouldn't buy gifts and we shouldn't do all of these Christmassy things. I just said how much I love all that stuff.

16:21

We just shouldn't do it at the expense of Christ. Right? And I'm probably preaching to myself, so there you go.

16:31

So anyway, so with all of that in mind, what, where do we want to go with this?

16:41

Well, last year in December on the Do Not Be Surprised blog, I ran a series of articles entitled

16:49

What's in a Name? And that series might continue someday, someday.

16:56

But right now it's, it's just these few articles from last Christmas.

17:01

And I did that on purpose. I wanted to focus on the names that we associate with Christ, particularly this time of year, because they, everybody loves those, right?

17:10

You know, we're so familiar with those, those names, particularly

17:16

Emmanuel. And then the, the names given to Christ in Isaiah, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace.

17:31

And so I kind of focused these articles on those particular names, and I will link to those at the

17:39

Equipping Eve website. You'll be able to find these articles. Maybe I'll reprint them over at Equipping Eve.

17:47

Hey, here is a tangent. The Equipping Eve website has been updated.

17:55

So if you go to equippingeve .com, you will find a whole new website. The logo and everything is still the same, but it looks better than it did.

18:04

It was in desperate need of an update, and it just took me a while to figure out if I wanted to have someone else do it or try to do it myself.

18:14

And I got a great recommendation for Squarespace from the ladies over at Women's Hope Project.

18:21

So shout out to the Kims. Thank you for that recommendation because Squarespace was fantastic, and it was super easy for me to pull content over and revamp that website.

18:31

So if you go explore, I know there wasn't a lot on the previous website. I think there's a little bit more now.

18:36

We have a few more blog articles. Most of them are copied over from the

18:42

Do Not Be Surprised blog, just because I've been blogging there for so very, very long now. But maybe they're new to you.

18:49

So check them out, and there will be new content added. There's also access to a Bible study on Zechariah that you can find there, and you can listen to the podcasts right there on the website.

19:01

You won't have to go over to the outside No Compromise website to listen.

19:07

So we're still all housed at NoCo, but Squarespace just allows me to bring a player over onto my website to make it a little easier for you.

19:17

So take a look around. If you have any suggestions, things you'd like to see, let me know.

19:22

Recommended resources. There's resources on there, links to some other good ministries, podcasts and whatnot that would be good resources for you.

19:31

So check it out. Let me know what you think. Let me know if you have ideas. And that was a complete tangent, but I want you to check it out, because I'm really excited that that website finally got updated.

19:43

It's about two years in the making, because I've been looking for someone to redo it for that long.

19:50

So okay, back to what we're talking about. So these articles, what's in the name?

19:56

And this year, I've just been struck by the name Emanuel. And where do we find that?

20:03

Where do we find that? Where do we find Jesus as Emanuel? Well, most of us are probably familiar with it from Matthew.

20:13

So if you turn with me, ladies, to Matthew chapter one, and actually

20:21

I'm giving you time to turn there while I'm turning to a totally different passage. So there's that. Okay.

20:28

Matthew chapter one, are you there? Okay. You can't answer me. So I'm going to assume you are.

20:34

So in Matthew chapter one, verse 18, So if your

21:24

Bible is like mine, then verse 23 there is in all caps, most of it anyway. And that takes us back to where it's quoted from in the

21:33

Old Testament, and that's in Isaiah chapter seven, verse 10.

21:40

Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God. Make it deep as shale or high as heaven.

21:47

But Ahaz said, I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. Then he said, Listen now, O house of David, is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men that you will try the patience of my

21:55

God as well? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name

22:03

Emmanuel. He will eat curds and honey at the time he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

22:13

Now there's a lot in those verses that we can talk about.

22:20

And now, of course, Isaiah's prophecy has kind of a dual meaning there in Isaiah's time, but there is a broader meaning.

22:30

There is a longer term meaning, and you can see it if your translation capitalizes the he's there, that it is referencing the

22:38

Messiah as Emmanuel, even there in Isaiah's day. And here in Matthew, he tells us straight up, that prophecy ultimately was about Jesus Christ.

22:49

It's right here, Matthew chapter 1, verse 23. And Matthew is even good to translate Emmanuel for us and says it means

22:55

God with us. And that's just an amazing thought, isn't it?

23:03

That God is with us. And we've already mentioned several times, God in human flesh, the incarnation, that is

23:11

Christmas. That is Jesus Christ coming to earth, putting on human flesh, living among sinful men.

23:22

John MacArthur has a fantastic book that I strongly recommend to you.

23:28

And actually, this time of year, well, it might be over by the time this show airs, but Grace to You, usually,

23:35

I assume they'll do it again this year, has a great Christmas sale where I think almost everything is like 20 % off and they always have free shipping.

23:43

So if you need gifts for people, go to gty .org. But there's this little, it's actually a little gift book.

23:50

And I gave this to different people one year for Christmas. It's called God's Gift of Christmas. And it's a really cute little book.

23:57

And it just walks through the Christmas story. And he says in here of the incarnation, writes

24:04

John MacArthur, Christmas is not about the Savior's infancy. It is about his deity. The humble birth of Jesus Christ was never intended to be a facade to conceal the reality that God was being born into the world.

24:16

No one can really fathom what it means for God to be born in a manger. How does one explain the Almighty stooping to become a tiny infant?

24:24

It was the greatest condescension the world has ever known or ever will know. Our minds cannot begin to understand what was in God's becoming a man.

24:31

We will never comprehend why he, who was infinitely rich, would become poor, assume a human nature and enter into a world he knew would reject him and kill him.

24:41

Nor can anyone explain how God could become a baby. Yet he did without forsaking his divine nature or diminishing his deity in any sense.

24:48

He was born into our world as a tiny infant. People often ask me if I think he cried or if he needed the normal care and feeding one would give to any other baby.

24:57

Of course he did. He was fully human with all the needs and emotions that are common to every human.

25:04

That's the incarnation, the human part of Christ, 100 percent human.

25:10

Yet, says MacArthur, he was also fully God, all wise and all powerful. How can both be true?

25:16

A lot of people get tripped up here, don't they? You know, I can't reconcile it in my head, so it must not be true.

25:22

There's a lot I can't reconcile in my head. There's a lot of things I don't understand that actually can be understood.

25:28

So it's okay if there's something that can't be understood because it's

25:34

God. If the Bible and all of those truths made complete and utter sense, then we'd have to assume that a man wrote it because men would not leave these kinds of mysteries, these kinds of divine mysteries, would they?

25:50

But God says, this is true and this is true. I'm God. I can do it.

25:56

Jesus Christ was fully human and fully God. I'm God. I can do that. And you know what?

26:04

That's okay. That's good with me. Because if God can do that, then I can fully rest on his sovereignty over all things.

26:13

Right? MacArthur goes on. So he says he was also fully God. How can both be true? I don't know.

26:19

John MacArthur says, I don't know. So there you go. But the Bible clearly teaches it is so. In some sense,

26:26

Jesus voluntarily suspended the full application of his divine attributes. He didn't give up being God, but he willingly set aside the independent use of the privileges and powers that were his as God.

26:36

And he references Philippians 2, 5 through 8. He chose to subjugate his will to his father's will.

26:42

And through all that, he remained fully God. So that is the incarnation, Emmanuel, God with us.

26:51

And just in doing some reading in recent days and weeks over this passage where, you know,

26:59

Marius or Joseph, sorry, where Joseph is told that, you know, you go ahead, you marry, marry, it's okay.

27:09

The child in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son. You will call his name Jesus. And then, and then the angel quotes

27:16

Isaiah and says, the child, his name shall be

27:21

Emmanuel, God with us. So in this passage in Matthew, we see both natures of Christ. We see in Jesus, we see his human nature.

27:30

And in Emmanuel, we see his divine nature. The name Jesus is, the

27:37

Hebrew rendition of it is Joshua. What we would know as Joshua. And what

27:44

I thought was interesting is S. Lewis Johnson says of the name Jesus, he said, quote, every time someone pronounced the name of the

27:51

Lord Jesus, he preached the gospel, Jehovah saves, God saves, isn't that a thought that we might not think of very often?

28:02

I had never considered that. Every time you say the name Jesus, you preach the gospel, God saves, that's the gospel, isn't it?

28:10

I mean, in the tiniest of nutshells, God saves, because you can't save yourself.

28:17

I can't save you. Your parents can't save you. Your pastor can't save you. All your good works cannot save you.

28:23

God saves, Jesus, Jehovah saves.

28:35

And so in this brief passage that we read in Matthew, we see that we see both natures of Christ.

28:42

So Jesus, God saves, he will save his people from his sins.

28:51

So this is describing him as Savior, you know, his office as Savior.

29:05

And then Emmanuel, God with us, that's his divine nature.

29:12

That's describing his divine nature. Because doesn't

29:17

Jesus say over and over again, before Abraham was,

29:24

I am. I and the father are one. Jesus was

29:29

God. And so John MacArthur has said elsewhere that the name of Emmanuel is the heart of the

29:43

Christmas story because it is the promise of incarnate deity, incarnate deity,

29:52

God with us. It's not just a warm, fuzzy feeling that, oh, hey, Jesus and I are having tea and crumpets together.

30:00

No, no, no. It's God with us. This little baby is the creator of the universe and the

30:06

Savior of his people. And Jesus, he is the

30:14

Savior. God saves Emmanuel, Jesus. Charles Spurgeon has said, quote, the name

30:24

Jesus is the name that perfectly expresses what our Lord really does. He saves people from their sins.

30:32

Jehovah saves. Every time someone says the name of Jesus, he preaches the gospel.

30:42

And so think about that as you read the Christmas story with your family.

30:48

Consider that, you know, consider how important names are.

30:54

You know, you don't take naming your child lightly. Most of us don't even take naming our pet lightly.

31:01

You know, I'm getting a cat. What should I name it? You're not going to name your cat Judas probably.

31:07

I'm sure somebody has, but, and you probably won't name your child that either. And so we take it very seriously.

31:15

But in the times of Jesus, names in the times of the

31:21

Bible, names were even more important, you know, names were not just a label.

31:32

The name was the person. And so that's why it's so significant that the angel comes and says, you will bear a son, you will name his name

31:49

Jesus. You will name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. Indeed, Jehovah saves.

32:09

Jehovah saves and he is Emmanuel, God with us.

32:15

He is not just a man. God saves and he is God with us.

32:23

I mean, that is just incredible. And if we look at another aspect of this

32:33

Christmas story, if you'll turn with me, to Luke 1, and we'll read the account of when

32:42

Mary was told about this little baby. Luke 1 verse 26.

32:49

Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was

32:56

Joseph of the descendants of David and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her greetings favored one, the

33:02

Lord is with you. But she was very perplexed at the statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

33:10

The angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name him

33:18

Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the most high.

33:24

And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end.

33:33

Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I am a virgin? The angel answered and said to her, the

33:39

Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. And for that reason, the holy child shall be called the son of God.

33:48

And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age and she was called barren is now in her six months for nothing will be impossible with God.

33:56

And Mary said, behold, the bond slave of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.

34:02

So what I want to focus on very briefly here, ladies, because I know we're over time is verse 35.

34:10

The angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. No. So what I want to focus on here, ladies, is verse 32.

34:18

He will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father,

34:24

David, the son of the most high. Again, this is

34:30

God incarnate. This is Emmanuel. God with us. John MacArthur writes, Gabriel's announcement affirms the deity of Christ.

34:38

He will be called the son of the most high. Most high was simply a title for God, clearly indicating that nobody is higher than he is.

34:46

Mary and other righteous Jews were familiar with that title because it is used throughout the old Testament. The Hebrew equivalent of the

34:52

Greek term used by Lucas, El Elyon, God most high. This title refers to God's sovereignty and the fact that no one is higher, more exalted or more powerful than he is.

35:01

To identify Jesus as the son of the most high is to declare that he has the same essence as the most high

35:07

God, God incarnate, Emmanuel, God with us. Hebrews 1, 3, he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power.

35:21

When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Jesus told his disciples in John 14, 9, he who has seen me has seen the father and boldly asserted to his opponents.

35:31

I and the father are one, which we just mentioned. Gabriel announced in the new

35:37

Testament confirms that Jesus unquestionably was and is worthy of his divine title because he truly is the son of God.

35:48

So the son of the most high, that's another title that's given to Jesus in this Christmas story.

35:55

How many names are given to Jesus in this Christmas story? Maybe that would be a good challenge for you and your family this

36:05

Christmas. We often read through the Christmas story and we're so familiar with it. We're so familiar with it.

36:11

We know it, whether it's from Matthew or Luke, we know it. Do we?

36:20

Do we really know it? Are we really paying attention? Let's dig into it this year, ladies.

36:29

Let's find those titles and names that are ascribed to Christ just here in these verses and think about their significance and their meaning.

36:40

Oh yeah. God came to earth, was born in a manger. Magi, shepherds, angels.

36:50

This is the son of the most high. This is Emmanuel, God with us.

36:55

This is Jesus, Jehovah saves. This is

37:00

God incarnate. This is the savior. This is the way of salvation. The way the truth and life finally come to earth to execute the plan that had been ordained and predetermined before the foundation of the world.

37:19

This is the Messiah. This is the one who, in spite of our sinfulness, died and took the wrath of God that we deserve so that we could have eternal life.

37:38

This is Christmas. It's not stocking stuffers as fun as they are.

37:43

And we can buy them and have fun and enjoy giving gifts to the ones we love. But that's not

37:50

Christmas. That's just something we do on Christmas. Jehovah saves.

37:57

That's Christmas. God with us. That's Christmas. Son of the most high.

38:03

That's Christmas. Son of God. That's Christmas. Wonderful counselor, mighty God, eternal father, prince of peace.

38:10

That's Christmas. A son born, a child given.

38:17

That's Christmas. That's Christmas.

38:28

So ladies, I hope we will pursue that Christmas this year.

38:35

It's so easy to lose sight of it. And yet I know not one of us wants to.

38:42

So ladies, Merry Christmas to you. And until the next episode, get in your

38:52

Bibles, get on your knees and get equipped. Thanks for listening.

39:02

Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

39:09

Well, it's true. There's no shortage of candy coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies, but beyond Sunday morning.

39:19

Are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed

39:24

Eve in the garden in an attempt to address the need for trustworthy biblical resources for women?

39:31

No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

39:41

My name is Mike Abendroth. And I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's word.