December 5, 2020
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give
birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
This prophecy takes place during the reign of Ahaz, king of Judah. Jerusalem is
under attack by Syria and Ephraim. God sends Isaiah to tell Ahaz “fear not” and
give the sign of the coming Savior. The meeting place where God instructs
Isaiah is very symbolic. The upper pool is where life-giving waters pour from the
conduit and the fuller’s field is the place where the people would wash away the
dirt from their clothes. The coming Savior offers those who believe “living water”
to wash away their sin. And this Savior is no ordinary man. He came to earth
through the miracle of the virgin birth and He is called Immanuel, meaning God
with us. The miracle of Christmas is that God would come to earth as a baby, be
born of a virgin, and would reconcile those who believe through his death and
resurrection.
Our God and our Savior, we thank you for Immanuel. We thank you for the living
water of Jesus Christ. We thank you for making us clean and righteous through
your blood. You are worthy of our praise and adoration. Amen.
-Dan and Cynthia Swanson
Dan and Cynthia moved to Newberg in 1998 and have attended Grace Baptist for over 20 years now. Cynthia works at the Newberg library and Dan serves as an elder.