Epiphany
Sunday, January 08, 2017
Woodstream Church
John 1:14 & Matthew 2:10-11
In the early Church, there were three great feast or holy days: the Feast of Easter, the Feast of Epiphany, and the Feast of Pentecost. These holy days have been celebrated for over 1900 years. The Christian Liturgical Calendar shows that the 12 days of Christmas reference the 12 days after Christmas, not before. The Epiphany was the 12th day following the birth of Christ, celebrating the day the Wise Men/Magi visited Christ. The Magi searched for Christ with all their hearts and found him. But King Herod and the priests in Jerusalem, being informed of Christ’s birth announcement by the Gentile Wise Men, did not. The birth announcement was not only an announcement of the birth of the Christ child but also a wedding announcement of the marriage of the divine and human natures within Christ as prophesied. The invisible God manifested Himself in Christ, not just to the holy family, the shepherds and the Jews, but also to Gentile Wise Men, which speaks of the world. Through the Wise Men, the world beheld an epiphany of Christ.
The Need For An Epiphany Of Grace. John wrote that we beheld His glory, full of grace and truth. The Bible tells us Jesus, Mary, and Stephen, the first martyr, were full of grace, full of God’s divine favor and pleasure. This New Year, we are to be manifestations of God’s extraordinary grace, forgiveness, kindness, longsuffering, peace, love, and joy.
The Need For An Epiphany Of Truth. You cannot be full of truth until you are true to God. In being true to God, we are also to be true our spouse, our church and tithing, living in truth, honesty, and integrity.