Jeremiah 23:5-6 (ESV) 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The LORD is our righteousness.’
Romans 10:4 (ESV) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
1 Corinthians 1:30-31 (ESV) And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As we approach Christmas day, we can feel the excitement build. We rightly look forward to time with family and friends. We rightly look forward to receiving good gifts. We rightly look forward to the music that has been written with a joyous intent to be upbeat and happy. We celebrate. And rightly do we celebrate.
What are we celebrating? We are celebrating that what God promised, he has done!
Jeremiah 23:5-6 tells us that on a coming day the Lord will fulfill his word to David to set a king from his covenant line on the throne of the world who will execute righteousness and will save God’s people. His name? Yhwh our righteousness.
Mary is given the name she is to put on her child, and it is Jesus (Yeshua or Joshua), Yhwh is salvation or Yhwh delivers.
This is on purpose because there is no mystery to the identity of the Christ child. He is the promised one who will sit on David’s throne as the Messiah who will be the one named Yhwh is our righteousness.
What’s in a name though? It’s one thing to name Jesus, Jesus. It’s another thing if he lives up to his name.
What is the testimony of the inspired authors of the New Testament? Jesus, in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension is the righteousness of God for all who would place their trust in him.
We celebrate the Advent of Jesus for many reasons, and Jeremiah reminds us that we celebrate Jesus’ coming because he has taken our sin and given to us the very righteousness of God himself so that we can be righteous as he is righteous if we only trust in him by faith.
Advent. Jesus has come and provided the very righteousness of God for us to have as our standing before God.
Theology in the Dirt 