This is the time of year when the mystery of the Old Testament prophets is understood in the fulfillment of that pinnacle of prophecies—the incarnation of Christ. The birth of Jesus is the axiom of Christianity.
Today is Christmas day, and it is the day when the dignity of Deity was clothed in human flesh and was born in an insignificant manger. Today we celebrate the birth of the Magnificent Messiah and the Savior of the world, and we can truly sing, Joy To The World.
Merry Christmas!
I’ve always had a strong affection for books. Even when I was a child, I would ride my bicycle the dozen or so blocks to the library several times a week. It is this affinity for books that lured me into Barnes and Noble yesterday.
As I elbowed my way through the throng of seasonal shoppers, I wondered:
Celebrating Christmas without Jesus is like going to the goat’s house for wool—you might have the semblance, but you’ll never have the warmth.
One characteristic of the Christmas season that I really enjoy is the music, and one of the classics is O Come O Come Emmanuel. Whenever I sing the chorus of this song, it has the sound of a long-awaited hope that is realized and claimed: Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
As I think of this song, I think of three other sections of Scripture that contains the word “come.”
Isaiah’s use of the word speaks of repentance of sin and regeneration (salvation); Jesus uses it in the sense of a relationship; and, in the Revelation it speaks of our final redemption.
The story of Christmas is the gift of Jesus. He came to earth, so you could come to God. Listen to the words of O Come O Come Emmanuel, and focus on the hope, the invitation and the sound of victory in the word come.
His name meant “victory of the people,” but Nicodemus was living a life of spiritual defeat that left him thirsting for something more. His religious zeal had left him parched and perched. The dryness of the religion he had practiced from the time of his birth had withered his soul, and the conundrum of messianic proportions left him sitting in a precarious position.
It was within the framework of this nodus that Nicodemus went under the cloak of darkness to find Jesus and said: “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Even though Nicodemus could see the signs he was blind to his sins, so Jesus went straight to the heart of the matter: “I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Like many people today, Nicodemus thought he had lived a good live. After all, he was a Pharisee and even a member of the ruling council—the Sanhedrin. He was no religious malcontent, but he questioned the content of Jesus’ discourse.
If he followed Jesus what course would his life take? Would it would lead him away from Judaism and the prestige and prominence of his position? Was he ready to sacrifice everything that he had worked so hard to achieve?
Nicodemus decided to wander away to ponder and pray. I believe Nicodemus re-examined the Messianic prophecies and they validated the claims of Jesus.
When the third chapter of John comes to a close, Nicodemus is never head of again until Jesus is crucified. Then he came out of the darkness to identify with Jesus and to prepare the body of His Lord for burial.
Which stage of Nicodemus’ life best describes you? Is it the under-the-cloak-of-darkness Nicodemus, the closet-Christian Nicodemus, or is it the stand-up-and-stand-out for-Jesus Nicodemus?
When people are confronted with the existence of evil, some will question the existence of God. When this happens, I encourage people to consider the nature of evil. Evil and Good are value judgments, and as such, they must be measured against a morally perfect standard. If some act deviates from this standard, it is deemed to be evil.
Early in his life, C.S. Lewis rejected the idea of God. After a thorough investigation, he made an interesting statement: “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call something crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.” Lewis also made the point that a portrait is a good or a bad likeness depending on how it compares with the “perfect” original.
Any time you feel intense physical or emotional pain, you may find yourself asking the question: “Why?” Randy Alcorn offers an excellent discussion of suffering and the sovereignty of God in his book If Good Is Good: Why Do We Hurt?
God is both loving and sovereign . . . Knowing this should give us great confidence that even when we don’t see any redemptive meaning in our suffering, God can see it—and one day we will too. We can trust that God has a purpose for whatever he permits. We are limited to time; God is not. From the perspective of a timeless God, the distant future—when justice is fully granted, and evil and suffering are gone—is as real as the present. What he knows he will ultimately accomplish through suffering, for his glory and our good, is not merely a possibility but a reality he can already see, in all its fullness ~Randy Alcorn
Immorality, pain, suffering, evil, and ethical failures are, according to some people reasons to question the presence of a loving God. I strongly disagree with this assessment, and I believe they help to prove the existence of God. I have written about this in the past, and encourage you to read my post: Why God?
My words are neither nonsensical nor vacuous, they are the thoughts of one who has walked the path of suffering and loss on more than one occasion, and I still believe in the goodness of God.
It may be a “man thing,” but shopping is usually at the bottom of my I-just-gotta-do-it list, and it will never find a place on my bucket list. According to the PNC Wealth Management Christmas Index, if you were to go on a shopping spree based on the classic song, The 12 Days of Christmas, the gifts would cost you $27,673.
One gift that didn’t make the list is so uniquely spectacular that Paul said, “Thanks be unto God for his indescribable gift (II Corinthians 9:15).” This is the gift that the prophet Isaiah spoke of over 700 years before Jesus was born:
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace ~Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah’s prophecy would be fulfilled in the words of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
So you see, the real price of Christmas is not the sum total of $27,673, it is the Son total of one life that paid the price of salvation—”You get what is coming to you when you sin. It is death! But God’s free gift is life that lasts forever. It is given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23 ~NLV).”
Peter encouraged a group of severely persecuted Christians to recognize and give thanks for the presence of Jesus:
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ~1 Peter 1:3-5
If you see Christmas as a series of sales Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, you denigrate it to the status of meaningless merchandise. The onus is on us, you and me, to keep Christ foremost in this season of giving.
As you prepare for your celebration of God’s miraculous gift, I encourage you to remember that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights (James 1:17).”
Today is the day after Thanksgiving, and one of the discussions you will have today will be what you did yesterday—Thanksgiving as an event will be on your talk-turkey-agenda.
As you rehearse and digest the events of yesterday, notice the tenor of the discussion: Is it geared more towards the quality of the day or the quantity of the food? Was there any “thanks” in your Thanksgiving Day?
When he wrote to the church at Corinth, Paul made sure quality and quantity were center stage when he served his soliloquy on a life well-lived:
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each builder’s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done. If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire. ~I Corinthians 3:9-10 (JB Phillips)
Corinth was a hedonistic city of commerce and many of the Christians were living the epicurean life. Their lives were lived in the quest for fleshly quantity and not spiritual quality.
As Peter Marshal once said; “The measure of life is not its duration, but its donation.” Do you focus more on the “who” you are living for or on the “what” you are pursuing?
Here’s a final thought for you to chew on: “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor (Vince Lombardi).”
Since today is Thanksgiving Day here in the USA, I’ll not be writing a typical post to this blog. I do, however, want to encourage you to remember to express your gratitude to God, family, and friends, and to give thanks.
If you have time to read over this extended holiday weekend, I’m providing a couple of links that emphasize the benefits of gratitude:
Use the admonition of Paul to guide your thoughts today: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (I Thessalonians 5:18).”
Turn on your TV any Sunday afternoon during football season and you’ll see fervent and ardent fans who are afflicted with a severe case of monomania. They have willingly abdicated their Monday through Friday reputation; morphed into Sunday fanatics; and clothed themselves in the colors of their favorite team.
Paul recognized the importance of team loyalty and spoke of being identified with Christ. Just as a loyal fan shows his allegiance by wearing the team colors, you can do the same when you, “Clothe yourself with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Colossians 3:12).”
To be fashionably attired, I suggest you clothe yourself in the virtues Paul mentioned:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer must have been thinking of kindness when he wrote: “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.”
You may want to check your closet to see if your clothes reflect your allegiance to Team Jesus.
While watching the evening news last night, the main focus was Ferguson, Missouri and the impending news of the grand jury. By now you know the panel declined to indict police officer Darren Wilson
When I think of the volatile and vehement expression of emotions that has become characteristic of this city, I’m distraught. My heart goes out to the Brown family in the loss of their son, but to the protesters, I say: A destructive mob mentality is not the answer, and perhaps you should ask: WWMLKD ? –What Would Martin Luther King Do?
I think there were many times that Dr. King asked himself: WWJD? The answer to this problem isn’t more violence, it’s the application of biblical principles: “The kingdom of God is peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit . . . we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another (Romans 14:12).”
A spokesman for the Brown family has summarized their feelings for this situation in one word—Disgust! The family is disgusted by the decision of the grand jury; the mob mentality of the protesters; and, the dehumanizing language of a “white” officer and a “black” victim.
One thing that does not promote peace and harmony is the mentality that is present in Ferguson—the rehearsing of resentment. The old cliché is that “hurting people hurt people,” and at the heart of resentment is the feeling: “You resent-me.”
Resentment is an emotion that is toxic, and it makes you the emotional slave of the person you resent. It will rob you of your sleep; occupy your dreams; ruin your digestion; and, it will steal your peace of mind.
It’s also intoxicating: The more you resent the greater your resentment becomes. There is a false sense of power that leads you to mistakenly believe you are hurting the person who has wronged you.
The book of Hebrews issues a warning: “Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and by it, defiling many Hebrews 12:15).” Look at Ferguson, and you see the root of bitterness has given birth to the flower of resentment, and it’s in full blossom.
James said that, “if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast . . . for where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice (James 3:14-16).” When you look at Ferguson you see the power of bitterness. It has extinguished the light of joy, and it has left the soul of the city in darkness.
If bitterness has a death grip on you, the words of William Arthur Ward may be helpful: “Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.”
insightbyseymour 