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The Truly August

Words of Faith Final

The Truly August
Words of Faith 12-24-21
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2010
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Luke 2:1-7
    In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. [2] (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) [3] And everyone went to his own town to register.
    [4] So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. [5] He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. [6] While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, [7] and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

     There are only a few phrases of scripture that are so identifiable as to be recognized in the secular world. This is one of them. Read these five verses over an open microphone at a mall or public place, and people will probably stop and listen at least for a moment.
     Some will recognize the words as those of the Gospel of Luke. Others will at least identify it as Bible. Still, others will recall the script that Linus read in the "Charlie Brown Christmas Special." But of course, these words were not penned by Charles M. Schultz.
      "Augustus" was a title given to the son of Julius Caesar. The name means "majestic, venerable or reverend." Today, we might speak of an "august man" as a person of great stature. Augustus was worshiped as a god, but of course, he was not divine.
      If Caesar Augustus is remembered for nothing else, he is remembered for his clumsy census of the entire Roman world that forced Mary and Joseph to move to from Nazareth to Bethlehem when she was only days away from delivering a baby. He is remembered for forcing families to travel like refugees to their hometowns so that they might be counted and taxed. He is remembered for setting up the scene where there was "no room in the Inn," a vaguely recognized phrase even by people totally unfamiliar with the Bible.
       But all this was not indeed the hand of Augustus at work. This was the hand of Almighty God. Augustus was the tool God chose to fulfill the prophecy in Micah 5:2 that the Messiah of God would be born in Bethlehem, the city of David. And these are the phrases that the historian Luke chose to root the Gospel of Jesus into the historical setting in which they occurred.
       The great truth here? The events of the coming of Jesus did not happen in just any time or place. They happened in a very specific time and place. This is not a fairy tale or moral parable. God chose to act clearly and decisively by entering exactly the way He wanted into human history.
       The Son of God was born in the most humble of places to a poor family displaced by politics and power. Like the vast majority of people on planet earth, this little family appeared to be wholly subject to the whims and winds of economics and power, but something bigger was going on here.
       What we do not want to miss is that God was in charge. Caesar Augustus issued the decree, but God set the stage, moving things in place for His great plan. There is an embarrassing contrast between the "Augustus" of the world and the truly august, majestic, supreme, and Sovereign Lord God.
        This same God Almighty is active today. He is not doing the same work because this work is accomplished. But He is doing other work. The political powers of this world may move people and families about. The winds of weather and economics may relocate people and dreams. But God is still in charge. We may not see the purpose of various events for many years, but God is at work. Luke did not pen these famous phrases until about 60 years after these events occurred. God was in charge. He still is.

       Father, help me trust in Your mighty hand even when I cannot see it. Help me hold to Your majestic plan even when things seem to be off course. May all things be arranged for Your glory. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2021 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.