One name repeatedly emerges from the heart and mind of Paul: Jesus. Jesus is Messiah, Jesus is Savior, Jesus is the world’s rightful and reigning King.
This text explicates the Christian life in light of the reality of Christ’s lordship and the gift of the Holy Spirit amidst a world and a Church which has not experienced the fullness of redemption and recreation itself.
Themes of Biblical, prophetic fulfillment, historical factuality, and personal experiential revelation coalesce in the texts and message of Epiphany and should, therefore, take pride of place in preaching.
Every verse rings with the Gospel, declaring the giving of God the Father consisting of the Son and the Spirit and we, contrary to what we deserve for our sins, the recipients of His “lavish” love and grace.
Preach the full council of God even as it focuses on the Virgin Mary who was the virginal handmaid of the Lord and through whom Immanuel, “God with us,” happens.
The reality of the Incarnation and the accomplishments of the Incarnate God-man, Jesus the Son, are even more astonishing because His story brings to a climax the long-storied history of Israel, with all her divinely-inspired and prophetic Scriptures.
Paul argues that now as the Messiah has come and has achieved what the entire Hebrew Bible (i.e., the Old Testament) has been moving toward, the Scriptures can be read as an open book.