It Came to Pass
Making
the Most Out of Your Season of Preparation
Mac
Hammond nov dec 2001 (1-11-02)
One of
the most powerful accounts of Scripture is the revealing of he redemptive plan
of God for mankind. This biblical account is what’s known today as the
Christmas story. Like you, I've read about the birth of Christ many times and
have heard many sermons preached from these passages during the holiday season.
It's a familiar story. But recently I was reading through the gospel of Luke
and saw something in the Christmas story that got my attention.
I
noticed a phrase being consistently repeated. Its the phrase, it came to
pass.
Now, I’ve read this phrase many times in the past. But this time, my spiritual
mind was enlightened to a new understanding. As we study the it came
to pass
sequence in the gospel account of Luke, you will notice stages through
which
you must progress in order to arrive at the promise of God being born
in your
life.
Topic:
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
When we
think of the Christmas story, we usually think about the principle characters
being Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child, Jesus. But actually story began long
before Mary ever received her angelic visitation. As we see in the account of
Luke, God was working behind the scenes in the live of others that were to play
an important part in the unfolding of God s redemptive plan.
Let s
look at the first chapter of Luke. It s there that we find the first it came to
pass.
And it
came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the
order of his course... (v.8)
Zacharias
was fulfilling his call as priest and going about his day being faithful when
the Word says, it came to pass. What
came to pass? Verse 2 explains:
And
there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right
side of
the altar of incense. (KJV)
In this dispensation. God uses the
Holy Spirit to speak to the hearts of
His children rather than sending
an anaelic messenaer.
The
first thing that came to pass was a supernatural visitation.
Likewise,
if you are faithful to seek the Lord and obey God s Word, then He will reveal
His plan for your life. Does that mean you can expect to see angelicbeings and hear thunderous voices
from heaven? No. In this dispensation, God uses the Holy Spirit to speak to the
hearts of His children rather than sending an angelic messenger.
If the
Holy Spirit begins to deal with u about Gods divine plan for yer life, do not
write it off to the pizza you ate last night. Embrace it as a supernatural
visitation & take heed to what the Holy Spirit is speaking to yer heart. As
u do, God will begin taking u on a wonderful journey right into the divine
destiny Hes laid out for u.
But the angel said unto
him. Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard;
and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call
his name John.
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to
turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the
wisdom of the just; to make readv a neonle oreoared for the Lord. And Zacharias
said unto the angel. Whereby i shall I
know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the angel answering said
unto him,I am I Gabriel, that
stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee
these glad tidings. And,
behold, i thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak,
i until the day that
these things shall be performed, because thou belieuest not my i words, which
shall be fulfilled in their I season.
Luke 1:13
Luke 1:17-20
But the
angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard;
and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
He will also go before Him in the spirit
and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and
the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for
the Lord." And Zacharias said to the angel,
"How shall I know this? For I am an old
man, and my wife is well advanced in years." And the angel answered and
said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was
sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to
speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my
words which will be fulfilled in their own time."
(Luke
1:13,17-20 NKJV)
Here we
learn God s divine purpose for Zacharias
son, known throughout
history
as John the Baptist. Johns purpose was to prepare the way for the
coming
of Jesus, the Messiah. He was to set the stage for the ministry of Jesus to be
launched. John had a vital role to play in God s redemptive plan.
This
same principle holds true for you as well. In preparation for Gods purpose to come to pass in your life, God will have someone else first prepare the
way as a result of his or her own divine purpose being realized.
Another important lesson we learn from
Zacharias experience is that words have
the ability to abort the plan of God. Zacharias had trouble believing the
angels message to him and began to
voice words of doubt.
Jesus
birth was so important that the Lord could not allow Zacharias lack of faith to
impede His redemptive plan from coming to pass at its appointed time. As a
result, Zacharias was struck dumb to prevent him from speaking doubt and
unbelief.
Some of
God s plans are set for an appointed time and cannot be put off for another
time. The birth of the Savior was one of these events. Some things pertaining
to the overall plan for the world are going to happen in the fullness of time
regardless of opposing circumstances.
If the
birth of John had not been crucial to the overall plan of God coming to pass,
Zacharias lack of faith would only have resulted in his due season being drawn
out until he could get in faith about God s promises.
Topic:
YOUR DUE SEASON
This is
the case for most of us as well. I We would like to see the promise of God
manifest immediately. But we must wait for it to come to pass in due season.
Galatians
6:9 says, And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall
reap, if we faint not. The only question is, how long is your due season?
The
answer is different for each person.
However,
if you are believing the promise, speaking in line with the Word of God instead
of speaking unbelief, and not getting
weary in well doing, it shall come to
pass. In other words, the more you
align your life with the principles of God s Word, the shorter your due
season becomes. That is good news.
For
Elisabeth and Zacharias, their due season was approximately nine months after
they received the promise of a son. For you, it may be longer or it may be
shorter. The point is, you don t have to wait indefinitely for God s promise to
become manifest.
It must
first grow and develop within you much like a pregnancy. And in due season, you
too will deliver the plan and purpose of God into the earth.
Topic?
THE REDEMPTION PLAN UNFOLDS
Six
months after Elisabeth had conceived, another dimension of Gods redemptive plan was triggered.
Elisabeths
cousin, Mary, was visited by Gabriel the angel who gave her a message from God
that she would conceive and give birth to a son after the power of the Holy
Spirit came upon her. Mary conceived of the seed of Gods Word and her pregnancy
of the Savior began.
Then
Gabriel informed Mary that her cousin, Elisabeth, had conceived a son in her
old age and was in her sixth month of pregnancy. After hearing the news from
the angel, Mary went to visit Elisabeth, and in Luke 1:41,45 we discover what
came to pass.
And it
happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in
her womb for joy. Blessed [is] she who believed, for there will be a
fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Elisabeth
was being used by God to prophesy to Mary, confirm what the angel
had
said, and to encourage and exhort her to walk out the plan of God. In the
following ten verses of scripture, Marys response is beautifully expressed in a
worshipful
outpouring of her heart, which is commonly known as the Magnificat.
Topic:
THE IMPORTANCE OF RELATIONSHIPS
There
is an important lesson to be learned through the example of Mary and Elisabeth
s relationship that we often overlook. If you are going to receive the promise
of God in your life, it is very much dependent upon the promise of
God
coming to pass in the lives of those with which you have a relationship. They
are interrelated. In the passages we’ve just studied, for the promise of God to
be manifest in Marys life, it first had to come to pass in the life of
Elisabeth because her son, John, was to prepare the way tap the Lord.
In
this respect, all your relationships
the are potentially crucial to the plan of God being realized in your life. God
uses people as a vehicle through which to bring His blessings and provision.
In time
of financial need, most of us would like God to drop a sack of coins on our
heads out of heaven. Bud God doesn’t
work that way. He works through the
people with whom you associate. To meet
a financial need, for instance, He’ll deal with your boss to give you a
promotion or a raise. He will send someone
to invest in your new business venture.
Or He may direct someone to give you f financial gift.
No
matter who is it, God will most likely use those with whom you already have a
relationship with.
With
that in mind, can you imagine what it would have been like if Marys
relationship with Elisabeth had been strained?
What if Elisabeth was jealous that her cousin, Mary, had been chosen to
carry the Son of God instead of her?
Its not fair that Mary gets to deliver the
Son of God. I am more mature in the
Lord. I deserve to be chosen over her. That sounds silly, doesn’t it? Yet, we so often entertain such petty
thoughts.
If
Elisabeth had been jealous of Mary, do you think she would have encouraged and
exhorted her the way she did? I think not. If the two were in strife, do you
think Mary would have made the effort to make such a long and grueling trip to
see her cousin? I don’t believe so.
For
that reason, we must protect our relationships by resisting the temptation of
pride, jealousy, and offense that would keep us from being in right
relationship with the people God has
placed in our lives.
Remember,
anything that cuts you off from a
relationship with another person may delay the promise of God from becoming
manifest.
Topic:
WHO IS YOUR "ELISABETH"?
Unlike
the birth of Jesus that came about in the fullness of time, the plan of God for
you depends upon your free, moral agency. God does not impose His will on you
just because you are His You must
choose to receive His promises and obey His direction. Only then can God bring His plan to pass in
your life.
As I
have already illustrated, God uses your relationships as an instrument to bring
about His divine will for your life. However, you don’t necessarily know whom
God is going to use to bring direction and blessing to your life.
It may
be your spouse. It maybe a child or a
sibling. It may be a relative or a
friend. Or even a coworker or a boss. You may not know who your Elisabeth will
be.
I can
guarantee you, as soon as you decide who you think your Elisabeth is, God will
use someone entirely different. He may even choose someone you have difficulty
with.
So if you have a little strife and unforgiveness
working here, and a little jealousy and envy evident there, you may have just
extended your due season indefinitely. Because until the promise of God is born
in the lives of those we are in relationship with, it cannot be born in our
own,
Last
topic: THE KEY TO BRING IT TO PASS
What is
the key that will ensure that your relationships are healthy and in
right
standing? How can you be sure that all your relationships are available for God
to use? The answer is love. Part of the Lord s greatest commandment is that we
love our neighbor as ourselves.
How do
I do that? you may Well, the word love that is used here not mean affection.
This kind of the love, the God kind of love is a love that The Bible says that
God so loved (agape) the world that He gave.
As we
learn to love other people with the God kind love a love that gives then we
secure our relationships and make them available to God.
The
plan of God for each one of so intricate, so complex, there are probably
thousands of people He uses to fulfill His divine plan for each one of His
children.
So as
you contribute to progress of others, you may indirectly contribute to Gods
plan being fulfilled in your life without you even realizing it.
Remember,
love is the key. And nowhere is love
more beautifully described than in 1 Corinthians 13: Love never gives
up. Love cares for others than for self. Love doesn't what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut. Love doesn't have a swelled head. Love doesn't force itself
on others. Love isn’t always, 'me first.' Love doesn't fly off the handle.
Doesn't keep score of the sins of
others.
Love doesn't revel when others grovel. Love takes pleasure in the flowering of
truth. Love puts up with anything. Love
always looks for the best. Love never looks back. Love keeps going to the
end. Love never quits. (The Message
Bible Version).
Throughout
history, God has people to bring blessing and direction. As u bless other people, God will see that
you are blessed. As you help others accomplish their vision and calling, God
will bring others across your path to you fulfill your divine destiny. That is
the way God works.
Last
comment:
But you
must make sure that your relationships are in right standing so they can be
used of the Lord. And the best way to keep your relations healthy is to nurture
them with the God kind of love the love that gives.
When
you learn to love others in the fashion that is defined in the Word of God,
your relationships will prosper and you will prepare the way for Gods promises
for your life to come to pass.