LUKE 1:67\u201380<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cBlessed is the Lord, God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
(Luke 1:68 NKJV)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
When the Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth, she prophesied to Mary (Luke 1:41ff.). When the Spirit came upon Mary, she sang a prophetic song (Luke 1:46ff.). Now we find that Zechariah \u201cwas filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied\u201d a song (Luke 1:68\u201379). The opening word of this song in Latin is Benedictus, Blessed<\/i>, and the Song of Zechariah is known as the Benedictus. This song has also been used in the worship of the church since the earliest days of the Christian faith.<\/p>\n
One of the themes of the Song of Zechariah is the visitation of God. We find it mentioned again in verse 78: \u201cBecause of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven.\u201d The theme of God\u2019s visitation is one of the richest in the entire Scripture. The people of Israel looked forward to those moments when God would come to visit His people.<\/p>\n
The Greek word for visit<\/i> is episkopeo<\/i>, from epi<\/i> and skopeo<\/i>. The word skopeo<\/i> we have in English as scope<\/i>, while epi<\/i> simply intensifies the idea of the word. The type of visit that is in view, however, is not that of a causal, drop-in appearance, but means a visit that involves a careful scrutiny of the situation. Bishops are called episcopos<\/i> because they are the overseers of the flock of God. They are called to visit the sick, the imprisoned, the hungry. They are given the care of God\u2019s people.<\/p>\n
The New Testament calls Jesus the \u201cBishop of our souls.\u201d He is the Bishop Incarnate. His visit to this world was cloaked in mystery and has changed the course of history. He came not as a military general, but as a baby in a rock-hewn crib. But He came to care for our souls. He came with divine blessing and redemption. For those who love His coming, His next visit will be an occasion of unspeakable joy and glory. At the visit the consummation of His Bishop\u2019s task will be complete.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Genesis 36, 37<\/p>\n
Matthew 12:1\u201321<\/p>\n
When we become God\u2019s children, we serve as God\u2019s ambassadors. In this way, through us, God continues to visit people in our world. Consider who you can visit this week to bring the joy and peace of Christ\u2014an aged church member, a lonely friend, a prison inmate, a neighbor.<\/p>\n
For further study: 2 Samuel 22:1\u20134; Psalm 111; Revelation 11:17\u201318<\/i><\/p>\n
tuesday<\/p>\n
january<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LUKE 1:67\u201380 \u201cBlessed is the Lord, God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people\u201d (Luke 1:68 NKJV). When the Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth, she prophesied to Mary (Luke 1:41ff.). When the Spirit came upon Mary, she sang a prophetic song (Luke 1:46ff.). Now we find that Zechariah \u201cwas filled with the … Continue reading “THE GOD WHO VISITS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11098\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}