The Incarnation: HOPE of Christmas

Beloved brothers and sisters,

If red-nosed reindeer, pumpkin pie, jingling bells, snowmen, hot chocolate, wonderful lives, white Christmases, Santa coming to town, and "hippopotamusases" are what Christmas is about, I submit to you that we as Christians are better off not celebrating it at all. 

Further, if the HOPE, JOY, and PEACE of Christmas is being with "those you love", family and friends, then we have utterly lost Christmas altogether.

I know, I know, call me scrooge, but bear with me.

While we should certainly and rightly enjoy and be thankful for the blessings of family and provisions, if THIS is what Christmas is about, then the "hope, joy, peace and love" of Christmas applies to a very small audience. 


Tell someone to "have a merry Christmas" on this basis. 

Go ahead and say that "Christmas is wonderful because of the memories and time spent with all those you love" to the couple that has tried unsuccessfully for years to have children; to the widowed woman whose husband has been dead for years. Tell it to the parents of the recent school-shooting victims, who will never again see their beloved children. Tell it to the foreign missionary who is miles away from anyone that they know and love, or to our dear brothers and sisters around the world who spend this Christmas in chains, enduring cruel torture and separation.  Tell it to the homeless man who doesn't even have daily food.

All these things people celebrate as "Christmas" offer NO hope to the hurting, dying, HOPELESS world at large. We are, in effect, saying, "Merry Christmas! Well, to all the middle and upper-class Americans in the world, that is!"

The glorious truth is this, that the message and hope of Christmas is more awesome and applicable than any of these things. The TRUE hope of Christmas is not limited by cultural, ethnic, social, economic, or situational differences. The true hope of Christmas is relevant and reaching to ALL people of ALL time!

There is one thing all people have in common, and it is this,  
ALL HAVE SINNED. In Adam came sin - we ALL sinned -  in Adam, we ALL died. 

    as it is written:
    “None is righteous, no, not one;
        no one understands;
        no one seeks for God.
    All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
        no one does good,
        not even one.”
(Romans 3:10-12 ESV)

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
(Romans 5:12 ESV)

All men have this in common, that we all are naturally dead in sin, enemies of God, guilty of lawlessness before a Holy, Just God. Further, we have no ability in ourselves to change this! Essentially, we all share in a common HOPELESSNESS.

We are all GUILTY SINNERS by nature and by act, violators of God's moral law, expressed in the Ten Commandments. God is a JUST JUDGE who by no means will clear the guilty. (Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:18) He is GOOD to punish the evil, and yet, GRACIOUS beyond our comprehension, for in LOVE, He sovereignly devised a plan to REDEEM sinful men to Himself before the ages began.

    For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23 ESV)

 

 ...without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
(Hebrews 9:22 ESV)

The guilty blood of all of guilty man could never right us with God, and here we get to Christmas!

God the Father put forward JESUS CHRIST, the SECOND ADAM (fully God - fully man) as a propitiation (the sacrifice which turns away the wrath of God) for sinners! (Romans 3:23-25)

How can this be? 

God who is immortal and invisible cannot die and cannot bleed! 

How can this be? 

The righteousness of God who is entirely different in being and essence than man cannot represent us who are human!

Here is the glory of Christmas, that the IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE GOD became a PHYSICAL, MORTAL MAN, named JESUS CHRIST. Born of Mary as a humble baby. BORN TO BLEED AND DIE IN OUR PLACE.

He lived a perfect life AS A MAN and then bore the wrath of God and died on the cross for sinners AS A MAN.  
FULLY GOD, FULLY MAN. 
This was proved when he ROSE from the dead 3 days later! 

SALVATION FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE! 

     the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
(Romans 3:22-26 ESV)

     because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
(Romans 10:9-13 ESV)

     Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14:6 ESV)

    Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
(Acts 3:19 ESV)

 
This, dear friends, is the gospel. This, dear friends, is CHRISTMAS. 

     For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
(1 Corinthians 15:21-22 ESV)

Love, celebrate, sing of, and HOPE in  
the INCARNATION - God becoming man -
SALVATION for those who believe! Give THIS hope to all men this Christmas, preach the gospel at all times!

Grace in Christ,

-Cody

HUNGER GAMES: Hungering and Thirsting

Beloved brothers and sisters:

This is something we urgently need to consider. I am applying this to a specific item right now, but I believe that the concept applies to every single part of our life.

I'm assuming all of you know what "The Hunger Games" are. (books and movie) When the books started becoming such a huge deal, I became aware of them and a bit concerned. I was concerned because although I didn't know even the plot of the books at that point, I knew that they were wildly popular in SECULAR circles AND Christian circles. As Christians, we have been made dead to sin, ALIVE to Christ and have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and causing us to love God and His Word. Unbelievers on the other hand, according to Scripture, are still entirely in sin, DEPRAVED, and ENEMIES OF GOD who are HOSTILE in mind to Christ and the gospel. In fact, 1 Corinthians says that the message of the cross is FOOLISHNESS to them. That being said, there really isn't a whole lot of things that unbelievers and true, Scripture-filled saints have in common and enjoy... So when I see them all linking hands around something and embracing it side by side, it tips me off to be concerned and look into things. 

I read a review of the plot of the books and it didn't sit well with me. I couldn't exactly put a finger on it but I think this guy (Doug Wilson) kinda nailed it. I encourage you to read his review which is both short and direct.

(Click here to read his review at http://credenda.org/index.php/Reviews/what-did-everdeen-ever-do.html )

Im not trying to be "oh so spiritual" or point fingers. Honest. I just have been PERSONALLY challenged more and more these days to not settle for "it's not really that bad" but to seek and understand "Taste and see that THE LORD is good".

This is really what I want to get at with this post; simply to encourage my brothers and sisters to start humbly thinking BIBLICALLY and to HUNGER and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS.

I think we don't know God, experience His power and love his Word like we WANT TO because we are so filled with things that arent spiritually nourishing.  Weights that hinder and entangle, things that might not be CLEARLY BAD and EVIL, but certainly not BEST.

Loved ones, I am convinced of this and am trying to grab a hold of what it should look like in my life: There can be NOTHING more THRILLING, EXCITING, FULFILLING or DELIGHTING - nothing more SATISFYING, SANCTIFYING or SWEET - there is nothing more PURE, more PEACEFUL, or more POWERFUL than this: TO KNOW GOD through Jesus Christ in a PERSONAL, INTIMATE, TANGIBLE way and to be FILLED with the Holy Spirit. 

"I say to the LORD, 'You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.'”
(Psalm 16:2)

"Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing."
(Psalm 34:8-10)

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ"
(Philippians 3:7-8)

 You might say, "what will I miss out on if I live fully surrendered to God, seeking Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength? Think of the friends I wouldn't get to hang out with, the movies I wouldn't get to watch, music I wouldn't get to listen to, all those 'good times'! I'd have NO LIFE!" 

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
(John 10:10 )

WHAT ARE WE MISSING OUT ON WHILE WE SIT IN OUR HALF-HEARTED, LUKEWARM, COMPLACENT "CHRISTIANITY" of CONSTANT "SETTLING"? Oh, the countless glories and joys that could be OURS from our GOOD GOD WHO LOVES US!!Brothers and sisters, THIS IS WHAT WE WERE CREATED FOR.

I want for myself, and for you my beloved brothers and sisters to hear "WELL DONE, my GOOD and FAITHFUL SERVANT".... and not "I had SO MUCH MORE for you!"

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
(Hebrews 12:1-2)

"Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation"
(1 Peter 2:2)

LET US SEEK GOD IN HIS WORD WITH ALL OUR STRENGTH. With every single second of song, movie, book, conversation, relationship, money-spending and time-spending, let us choose only that which furthers us toward the all-surpassing glory of knowing CHRIST.

Let us repent of our seeking after worthless idols and turn to the Lord who is MERCIFUL. Read this last passage and take hope if you have been convicted of your faithlessness as I have.

"Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
    “When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them."
(Deuteronomy 4:23-31)

-Cody †

Heart and... Eyes: Take Care

 "And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them."
(Deuteronomy 5:1 ESV)

Beloved brothers and sisters,

I was reading in Deuteronomy 4 and 5 this morning in my chronological reading, and found the charge here very similar to my previous post.

"See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?"
(Deuteronomy 4:5-8 ESV)

 What we have is VERY, VERY GREAT!

Our God is a GREAT GOD.

“There is none holy like the LORD:
for there is none besides you;
there is no rock like our God."
(1 Samuel 2:2 ESV)

 And His words are EXCELLENT WORDS.

"I have seen a limit to all perfection,
but your commandment is exceedingly broad."
(Psalm 119:96 ESV)

 But even so, our hearts, reasoning, and affections are still very much under the corrupting influence of sin. We are quick to stray from what is GOOD for what is worthless. This IS true of us as I have said, and we need to recognize this. Moses certainly recognized this, take a look:

“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children"
(heart and eyes again...)(Deuteronomy 4:9 ESV)

As I read through chapters 4 and 5, I saw Moses - a faithful shepherd - urging the people of Israel (and us) over and over with words like, "take care" (4:9, 23) "beware" (4:16, 19) " be careful" (5:1, 32) and "watch yourselves very carefully" (4:15). Actually, the phrase "take care" is used 10 different times in the book of Deuteronomy alone. It is a much needed reminder I'd say.

With this post I have somewhat followed the flow of chapter 5, which starts with a command to "be careful", filled with who God is and with His law, and ending with a command again: "Be careful!" 

"You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess."
(Deuteronomy 5:32-33 ESV)

-Cody  †

Heart and... Eyes: Remember.

Beloved brothers and sisters,

"The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them,

not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God.
(Numbers 15:37-41 ESV)

It is entirely important that we understand the nature of our sinful hearts. I find that I am so quick to forget; so quick to think I am "getting pretty spiritual these days" or something like that. Thankfully, my God mercifully, graciously, faithfully and often painfully shows me, through the mirror of His word, (James 1) that my heart - though it has been regenerated and is being sanctified - is still quite a far cry from the heart of God. My eyes as well are all too swift to lead me not to God's but to so many "desires of the eyes" which are "passing away" according to  1John 2.

"The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?"
(Jeremiah 17:9 ESV)

"Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways."
(Psalm 119:37 ESV)

 LET US REMEMBER our weaknesses, remember our inclinations, and MAKE WAR AGAINST THEM. Let us daily be in desperate prayer for God's grace to CHANGE our hearts and our eyes; for His word to be the thing that leads us!

Brothers and sisters, WE HAVE A MIGHTY, GOOD, POWERFUL, LOVING GOD, and He has given us HIS WORD as a weapon with which we can "put to death the old self"!

"The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
(Psalm 19:8 ESV)

I don't care if it's tassels or a 3x5 card in your pocket, we need to "REMEMBER ALL THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD, TO DO THEM" 

"O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above."

-Cody  †

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

(Psalm 16 ESV)
This Psalm has been a HUGE encouragement and source of strength for me lately. I wrote a song to it and have been singing it SO much. No words I'd rather sing than the words of the Scripture!

Blind Bart

"BARTIMAEUS"

I can hear the crowd
But I'm sitting here with blind men
Now I'm calling out
But they tell me to be silent
But I wanna see!
Son of David, Have mercy on me!

I wanna see the sun!
I wanna see the light of day!
Now to You I run
Though I trip and fall on my face
I come to you in faith

This darkness
Is all I've ever known
And my heart is
Starting to lose hope
That I'll ever see
Oh Jesus, rescue me!

I wanna see the sun!
I wanna see the light of day!
Now to You I run
Though I trip and fall on my face
I come to you in faith

I'm blind and I'm broken
I am poor and ashamed
But I hear the voice of Jesus
Calling my name
This man of whom
I have heard
He called me, I came
Then he spoke the word!
HALLELUJAH! OH GLORY!
My ears have heard
But now MY EYES HAVE SEEN!

Now I see the SON!
Now I see His glorious face!
Now to You I run
And I will follow you all of my days!
My eyes have seen your grace!

 "As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God."
(Luke 18:35-43 ESV)

So often I feel just like Bartimaeus... blind, helpless, hopeless. Praise be to God for sending JESUS CHRIST who has saved me and redeemed me and has healed my blindness! 

Stubborn Sinners Vs. Merciful God

I read this morning in Genesis about Lot and the destruction of the wicked cities Sodom and Gomorrah. A brief synopsis of the story goes like this:

Lot - who, according to 2 Peter 2:6-8, was a righteous man - lived in the city of Sodom. (If you know what the word "sodomy" means then you can understand just how wicked the city of Sodom was.)

God sent two angels disguised as men to the cities to destroy them. As they are entering Sodom, Lot is sitting by the gate and invites them to be his guests. That night the men of the city surround Lot's house and try to break in and commit wicked crimes against these men, not knowing that they are angels. As the men outside are about the bust through the door, the angels strike them all with blindness.

"Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”
(Genesis 19:12-13)

(His sons-in-law-to-be didn't listen to him by the way.) But now check this out:

"As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city."
(Genesis 19:15-16)

And thus, Lot escaped the destruction that came on the city.

Now, I think to myself, "How many times am I like lot?" So often I find myself hearing the word of God calling me flee from sin and things that are spiritually killing me, and I find myself lingering. Full of good intentions but lacking commitment and hatred for sin - just kind of wavering and not willing to stand. Many times in my life I have seen God, in His mercy, painfully rip from my clenched fingers the worthless things that I have refused to leave. I am thankful that He is MERCIFUL to me, despite of me, and "seizes me". Sometimes carrying me, kicking and screaming, away from the very thing that will bring destruction on me.