Pastor Foley takes one of the all-time favorite Christmas Scriptures, Isaiah 9:6-7, and challenges a common understanding of why God actually became flesh. Many people think that Christ came solely for the forgiveness of sins, missing the whole point of Christ’s rule and reign as expressed by Isaiah. Pastor Foley says, “The forgiveness of sins, that God gives to us, is a means to an end not an end in itself.”
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The Reverend Dr. Eric Foley is CEO and Co-Founder, with his wife Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, of Voice of the Martyrs Korea, supporting the work of persecuted Christians in North Korea and around the world and spreading their discipleship practices worldwide. He is the former International Ambassador for the International Christian Association, the global fellowship of Voice of the Martyrs sister ministries. Pastor Foley is a much sought after speaker, analyst, and project consultant on the North Korean underground church, North Korean defectors, and underground church discipleship. He and Dr. Foley oversee a far-flung staff across Asia that is working to help North Koreans and Christians everywhere grow to fullness in Christ. He earned the Doctor of Management at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland, Ohio.
The part of this passage that strikes me the most is that it is “the zeal of the Lord Almighty” which accomplishes Christ’s reign. It was not Christ’s careful planning IT was not Christ’s great leadership skills. IT was not Christ’s own personal will. It was not Christ’s exercising of authority. It was the zeal of the Lord who accomplished it in a way that was foolish and a stumbling block to the world: the cross. Yet Christ always rejoices to do the Father’s will, even when it means the complete submission of His own will, even to the point of death. May we also rejoice and submit our will to Christ, not seeking anything more than a cross and what it pleases the Lord to give us, namely, His own glory.
Do the Word 
The part of this passage that strikes me the most is that it is “the zeal of the Lord Almighty” which accomplishes Christ’s reign. It was not Christ’s careful planning IT was not Christ’s great leadership skills. IT was not Christ’s own personal will. It was not Christ’s exercising of authority. It was the zeal of the Lord who accomplished it in a way that was foolish and a stumbling block to the world: the cross. Yet Christ always rejoices to do the Father’s will, even when it means the complete submission of His own will, even to the point of death. May we also rejoice and submit our will to Christ, not seeking anything more than a cross and what it pleases the Lord to give us, namely, His own glory.