A New Year's Resolution Worth Keeping

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Pt 3:18)

I think New Year's resolutions get a bad rap. There is something intrinsically healthy about about setting new goals and actually taking steps to accomplish them. So, what is a better point in our collective lives to do this, than at the start of the New Year?

The bad rap, of course, comes either from the triviality of the resolutions "I will stop yelling at my dog when he barks" or from our inability or unwillingness to carry them out "I will go to the gym every day and only eat food that's healthy for me". The problem isn't with the resolution. The problem is with the resolver.

Last year, I set out to track through Jonathan Edwards resolutions, 1 per week. That lasted twenty some weeks and blessed me while I made the effort.  Now, Desiring God has taken these resolutions and put them into seven categories. One of my goals this year is to review one category per week, thus cycling through all 70 in seven weeks (or maybe eight, since the Spiritual Life category maybe too big to digest in one week).  As things stand now, this will probably be a Sunday afternoon reflection.

However, the real point of this post is to say, apart from devices such as reflecting on Edwards' resolutions or reading our devotional books or following our favorite Bible reading plan, we really need a spiritual objective to make our resolutions meaningful. None of these means will achieve their end if there is no end to achieve. Why read through the Bible in a year? Why pray more or give more or serve more? Why limit our TV or Facebook or Netflix time? Why seek to do something that only the Holy Spirit could empower you to do? (all great resolutions, by the way)

I do not pretend to have the answer to the why questions for you. That's your business with God. But here is something I read this summer by J.C. Ryle that I bookmarked for today.

Believers, if you would have an increase of happiness in Christ’s service, labor every year to grow in grace. Beware of standing still. The holiest men are always the happiest. Let your aim be every year to be more holy–to know more, to feel more, to see more of the fullness of Christ. Do not rest on old grace: do not be content with the degree of Christianity which you have attained. Search the Scriptures more earnestly; pray more fervently; hate sin more; mortify self-will more; become more humble the nearer you draw to your end; seek more direct personal communion with the Lord Jesus; strive to be more like Enoch– daily walking with God; keep your conscience clear of little sins; grieve not the Spirit; avoid arguments and disputes about the lesser matters of religion: lay more firm hold upon those great truths, without which no man can be saved. Remember and practice these things, and you will be more happy.

Have a grace-filled, gospel-centered New Year!

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

The Faith of the Wisemen

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (Jn 20:29)

I recently read a blog post (read it here) that challenged by thinking about the wisemen, the magi from the east. Before a few days ago, I hadn't really considered their role in Matthew's gospel. Sure, they were a key part of the Christmas story. Sure they were integral to Matthew's overarching message to proclaim Jesus as King. But what about the wisemen themselves? Isn't there anything we can learn from them and how they approached the King of kings?

Enter J.C. Ryle. When I read some of his thoughts about the wisemen from his commentary on Matthew, I was stunned. Why hadn't I seen this before? Here's an excerpt:

The conduct of the wise men is a striking example of faith. They believed in Christ when they had never seen Him – but that was not all. They believed in Him when the Scribes and Pharisees were unbelieving – but that again was not all. They believed in Him when they saw Him a little infant on Mary’s knee, and worshiped Him as a king. This was the crowning point of their faith. They saw no miracles to convince them. They heard no teaching to persuade them. They saw no signs of divinity and greatness to overawe them. They saw nothing but a new-born infant, helpless and weak, and needing a mother’s care like any one of ourselves. And yet when they saw that infant, they believed that they saw the divine Savior of the world. ‘They fell down and worshiped Him.’

Faith without evidence? Believing in one you've never seen? As Ryle says, this is an incredible display of faith. Yet, as I reflected on this a little, what struck me is not so much their example of faith, as great as it is, but rather the object of their faith. How great is the King, if he is worshiped while he is still an infant? How great is the One who has all authority who is submitted to before he exercises any of it? How great is the Savior who is trusted before he has shed one drop of blood?

So, the question before us today is this: What is your estimation of Jesus? Is your vision limited to what you can see? If so, you may be stuck with a baby in a manger or teacher who needs to convince you of the truth or a savior who must demonstrate his authority and ability to save. Yet, if our vision can go beyond what's in front of us we will see that the baby is the king, and the truth and the one with all authority and the one who has saved all who will believe in Him.

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

The role of religion

In his Dec 20 devotional entry in For the Love of God vol 2, D.A. Carson asks the following three questions regarding our religion:

1) Is our religion for us or for God?

2) Does our religion elevate ritual above morality?

3) Does our religion prompt us to passionately follow God's words or pursue our own religious agendas?

You can read the full entry here.

I share these questions for two reasons.  First is that they resonate in me as questions we each should be asking about whatever our religious activity. Preaching, singing, leading, giving, encouraging, serving or anything else done in the name of Christ should periodically be run through some version of these three questions.

In addition to this, I see embedded in these questions the religious heritage of my youth. Religion may have ultimately been about God, but it was more about how to make myself right before him or how to keep myself "synced up". Morality have have been the stated goal, but it was lost in the method of getting there. Truly the forest was lost for the trees. The result was that there was no passion, there was no relationship, there was no devotion. Religion was a machine, not unlike the IRS. Do it right, you get your refund. Do it wrong and you get an audit and you may even have to pay back taxes or go to jail.

My prayer and my hope is that our personal and corporate religion does revert back to that. Unfortunately, I think that is the direction of the human heart apart from the intervening grace of God. So examine your approach to religion. Apply the three tests that come out of Zec 7 and ask God to do a reformation in own personal religious world. And while your at it, pray for our churches as well. Atrophy is only one generation away.

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

The Day After Christmas

I toyed with the idea of crafting a poem imitating Twas the Night Before Christmas, but quickly realized God did not give me a creativity gene. So instead I will simply share some of the thoughts that are rattling around in my mind following Christmas 2011.

After 40+ years of Christmas', its pretty clear that the best measure of how commercial your Christmas was is how big your let down is on the day after. The unfortunate reality is that we all are immersed in the commercialized Christmas to some degree. Praise God if it is only slightly. In a weird (or maybe prophetic) way, it is similar to the nation of Judah in the Old Testament. There were moments of complete failure and moments of tremendous revival (2 Chr29-30) but in the end, they were never completely freed from effects of the world around them. Until Christ came.

Another after Christmas observation is that "point in time celebrations" are good but insufficient. Once again the Old Testament gives us a great illustration. Israel had the Passover, the Day of Atonement and several other feasts. All of them were glorious. All of them had a God-ordained purpose. All of them were woven into the fabric of their culture. And yet these awesome mountain-top events only had limited impact in the days and months that followed. This again a profound reminder that as important as any single event may be in our lives, it is the Spirit's day to day walk with us that enables us to live out the salvation we have graciously received from Jesus.

A final post Christmas thought, which I'm sure is well worn, is that the joy and hope and peace and expectancy of Christmas should really mark every day of our lives. Why do we need a special day to give to the poor? Why do we need a special day to be nice to people we tend to not even notice (waitstaff, checkout clerks, custodians, etc)? Why do we need a special day to get excited  about the incredible, awesome, indescribable miracle of the incarnation? Why do we need a special day to recognize that the King has come and he has begun his mission of establishing his kingdom and that we are called to be part of that eternal plan?

The gospel of Jesus to all,
And to all - God's grace.


I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

Mary, Did you know?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am.

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

Grace driven effort

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Phil 2:12-13)

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Heb 2:1)

It is fairly clear in Scripture that there are two concepts that run from beginning to end and would, at least at the surface, appear to contradict each other. The two concepts are grace and effort. Now, it almost goes without saying that grace is what underpins the whole biblical storyline. From the creation account, through the flood, the selection of Abraham and his line, the deliverance of Moses and the people, the provision of the land, the provision of a king, the faithful discipline of the exile and the gracious restoration to the land. Of course then there's Jesus, his incarnation beginning with conception, followed by birth, childhood, youth and finally adulthood, his preaching and teaching and miracles and simple relationship building, This is followed by his betrayal, his torture, his mocking rejection, his physical death and his spiritual sin bearing, his resurrection and his ascension. Then there is the giving of the Spirit and the birth of the Church. The message of grace proclaimed faithfully for thousands of years continues to redeem, continues to save, continues to bring glory to God.

But weaved within this theme of grace, is the thread of effort. How are we saved? By grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. How are we perfected? By that same grace utilizing that same faith in the same Christ, but we must step into that grace, we must lean on that faith, we must pursue that Christ. If it were not so, too much of the Bible would be nonsense "Rend your hearts, not your garments", "I strain toward what is ahead", "Seek first His kingdom" "Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands" This concept of pressing into Christ, of leaning into faith, of stepping into grace has been described by DA Carson as "grace driven effort" (See For the Love of God vol 2, Jan 23)

"ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING EVIDENCES of sinful human nature lies in the universal propensity for downward drift. In other words, it takes thought, resolve, energy, and effort to bring about reform. In the grace of God, sometimes human beings display such virtues. But where such virtues are absent, the drift is invariably toward compromise, comfort, indiscipline, sliding disobedience, and decay that advances, sometimes at a crawl and sometimes at a gallop, across generations.

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated."

My prayer for myself, and any who may read this post is that God will give us the strength to make the effort. I know that in me I do not have the strength or the determination to carry out what God expects of me. This reminds me of a prayer from Augustine: "God, command what you will. but grant what you command" May that be our prayer and our hope as well.

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

The Incomparable Sufferings of Christ

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, 
and by night, but I find no rest  (Ps 22:1-2)

A few weeks ago, I ran across the following prayer by John Piper in his book Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ. (pg 72) As I re-read it last night, I was struck by two things (at least). One was being in awe of the shear magnitude of Jesus' suffering and dying on my behalf. I don't think any of us really comprehend the depth of our sin what it cost Jesus to pay for that sin. The second was an internal question as to how I can even read God's Word or pray or even write this blog post and not weep with joy over the immensity of the gift and grace and forgiveness I have been given in Christ?

Father, what can we say? We feel utterly unworthy in
the face of Christ’s unspeakable sufferings. We are
sorry. It was our sin that brought this to pass. It was
we who struck him and spit on him and mocked him.
O Father, we are so sorry. We bow ourselves to the dirt
and shut the mouths of our small, dark, petty, sinful
souls. O Father, touch us with fresh faith that we might
believe the incredible. The very pain of Christ that
makes us despair is our salvation. Open our fearful
hearts to receive the Gospel. Waken dead parts of our
hearts that cannot feel what must be felt—that we are
loved with the deepest, strongest, purest love in the
universe. Oh, grant us to have the power to comprehend
with all the saints the height and depth and length
and breadth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
and may we be filled with all the fullness of God.
Fight for us, O God, that we not drift numb and blind
and foolish into vain and empty excitements. Life is
too short, too precious, too painful to waste on
worldly bubbles that burst. Heaven is too great, hell is
too horrible, eternity is too long that we should putter
around on the porch of eternity. O God, open our eyes
to the vastness of the sufferings of Christ and what they
mean for sin and holiness and hope and heaven. We
fear our bent to trifling. Make us awake to the weight
of glory—the glory of Christ’s incomparable sufferings.
In his great and wonderful name, amen.

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (Ryle, J. C. (2011-06-16). Old Paths (Kindle Location 116). Heritage Bible Fellowship. Kindle Edition. Note: I have added to my tag-line at the end. I read this at the end of an intro to a book by JC Ryle and felt it captures exactly what I think each time I submit a post.)


To God Alone be the Glory

What Child is this?

(Note: I've been captured for some time by the profound truth contained within the music of the church. Old or new, I think we sometimes miss the God-honoring, Christ-exalting nature of some of these songs as we sing them or listen to them, but don't really hear what they have to say. So, it is my hope on Sunday mornings to simply share a song that has either encouraged or strengthened or provoked me in my fight of faith. SDG)

What Child is this?

1. What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and Angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

2. Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.

Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

3. So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

What are these for so many?

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” (Jn 6:9)

Have you ever been captivated by a single verse? Admittedly, there are verses that seem worthy of captivating us. Verses like Rom 6:23 or Rom 8:1 or Phil 1:21 or Mk 10:45 or Jn 6:35 and several others. But what about the thousands of other verses that play important, but supportive roles to these "keynote" verses? Have you ever been captivated by a verse that would never make it on a coffee cup or as the caption on a Thomas Kinkade calendar?

The other day as I was reading Jn 6, the disciple Andrew's question in verse 9 shot like an arrow into my stomach. It was not so much his concern about the feeding of the 5,000 or his lack of perception of the problem in front of him that grabbed me. Instead it was the very sinking realization that his short-sighted assessment of his situation is often my short-sighted assessment of my own situation. How often do I ask, in my own words and in my own way. "What are these for so many?"

Clearly my gifts and abilities are limited. Clearly my circle of influence is small. Clearly my shortcomings and blind spots provide excellent opportunities for the enemy. Clearly the needs of Christ's kingdom are as great as ever. Clearly the gospel is still desperately needed both here and around the world. Clearly Satan, while ultimately defeated, still prowls around like an angry lion. So, how can I not ask "What are these for so many?"

Can I pause here and say that today is one of those days when I am so grateful that God has given us the entire Bible and not just a book on systematic theology or an instruction manual on how to live a good Christian life. We have all of that and so much more. And all of it is integrated, empowered and exposed by the Holy Spirit. As a case in point you can have someone read Jn 6 one day and be provoked by the question in verse 9. He sees Jesus' then and there answer the question by providing both the physical but also the spiritual solutions to the dilemma, yet not having that truth sink in. Then, on the following day while reading in 2 Chr 20 about Jehoshaphat's approach to the invading hoard of Moabites by praying "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." God responds by saying "the battle is not yours but God's." and providing the deliverance. All of this while using a Bible reading plan established over 200 years ago.

My point in all of this is to say I can easily adopt the attitude of the disciple Andrew and become fixed either on the smallness and limitations that I see in myself and the situation in which I find myself or in the bigness of the task in front of me (or both!) Instead, the call of the gospel is to adopt the faith of Jehoshaphat and say "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." And isn't that really the point of Jn 6. When we need something physically, we look everywhere but to the only one who can provide it. And, when He does provide it, we fixate on the provision and seek more of it rather than seeking the One who can give us what we really need: eternal life.

Father forgive me. Help me to remain dependent on and committed to your Son, the One who is the Bread of Life.

To God Alone be the Glory

Too much to say...about Jesus

(Note: This is from one morning of reading)

"Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” (Zec 3:3-4)

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (Jn 6:63)

"Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Rev 7:10)

"They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Rev 7:14)

Where does one start with a buffet like this? Perhaps the sequence laid out here is as good as any other ordering.

In Zechariah, as the people are returning from their exile in Babylon, God is giving them assurance that He is still in the midst of all that is happening. Yet in chapter 3, and throughout the book, Zechariah's prophecies transcend the current context and point to something yet to come. So here is God's promise to us made well before Christ died, made well before Jesus was even born (or conceived) that He would take away our iniquity. The thing that would keep Joshua the high priest from entering God's presence is the same thing that would keep us from ever entering God's presence. That is our sin, our iniquity, our broken, rebellious, idolatrous heart. And God doesn't limit himself to sin removal. He also clothes us in the righteousness of Christ. So, the promise stands "I have taken away your iniquity and I will clothe you with pure vestments"

What can I say about John 6 that hasn't already been said by better men than me?  I really have two different tracks, one of which I may pick up tomorrow. Today, however, I simply want to bask in the God-centeredness and Christ-centeredness of the gospel. Of course, to be the true gospel, it has to be God-centered and Christ-centered, but it so easily slides into something less. Just read from verse 25 to verse 45 and observe the references to Christ's activity or God's activity. On my quick count there are 24 references in those 21 verses to either Christ's activity or God's activity (plus one reference to the Spirit). Even the dreaded vs 37 is both God-centered and Christ-centered, with God giving and Jesus not casting out. The point? Worship, of course. And a call to simple, yet profound faith. And confidence that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are in control of this thing called salvation and we are graciously swept up in it, nourished by it, restored through it and preserved because of it.

I have come to love the book of Revelation as a poetic, picturesque way of painting the truths of the other 65 books of the Bible. That doesn't make it less true, just like Psalms is not less true than Romans. One just needs to read them differently. The image in the second half the Rev 7 is always encouraging. There will be a multitude in heaven that no one can count. God's saving work is ultimately successful. Even in our driest fruit bearing seasons, we can look here and say the gospel still saves, Christ still saves, God still saves. And this salvation always leads back to worship of the One who sits on the throne and of the Lamb. Interestingly, the image in chapter 7 ends by stating that those of us who are in the great multitude will receive pure white robes (i.e. vestments) that have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. Now there is a Bible connection worthy of an Amen!

To God Alone be the Glory

Am I Really Praying?

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. (1 Pt 4:7)

As some who read this may know, God has had me on a 20+ year quest to "peel the onion" on prayer. Sometimes I will realize something profound. At other times God will remind me of something I learned years ago and have forgotten. Yet my understanding of prayer rarely stays static. In part I think this is because prayer is not static and the whole thing, while simple in its basic premise, is amazingly intricate and gloriously mysterious.

Today, I write as one who has realized (again) that my praying falls woefully short. I'm not referring to the "pray at all times" measure that Paul lays out for us, although I miss that mark too. I am not thinking about balance between praising God for who He is and petitioning Him for his blessings, although my balance is quite often tilted towards the blessings. While my praying is indeed lacking both of these categories, the aspect that the Spirit is challenging me on today comes from 1 Pt 4:7. I am too busy, too distracted and too short-sighed to really pray as I ought.

Unfortunately, I have no real antidote to my diagnosis other than to simply take God's word seriously. How does Peter phrase it? Be sober minded in your prayers. That means prayer is serious, prayer is significant and prayer is absolutely necessary. As I write this, God has brought to my mind passages like Ezk 22:30 "And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none." and Zec 2:14 & 17 "Cry out for I..." And of course there's Jesus' words in Mt 9:38 "therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest"

So today, by God's grace, I want to start taking prayer seriously. I want to be sober minded as I approach the throne of grace. I want the incense of my prayers to be a sweet smelling aroma to God. And while I want to always have a childlike faith, I can't escape the sense that I need to "man up" in my prayers. Even as I write these words, I see the challenges and pitfalls that are ahead, not least among them is this blog. (You have no idea how much easier it is to type than it is to pray) But, in the attitude of grace-driven effort, I want to start today. I may need to start this journey a thousand times, but I am compelled to do so despite the challenges.

I pray that you may do the same.

To God Alone be the Glory

Christian forgetfulness

"I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it" (Jude 5)

"But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God" (Rom 15:15)

"Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have." (2 Pt 1:12)

In reading Jude this morning, it became clear to me that we are a forgetful lot. Whether you want to call it spiritual alzheimers or whether its better described as inattention and distraction, the result is the same. We too easily lose track of the core of our faith and we forget the primary call God places on our lives when He redeems us.

I have two brief thoughts that the Spirit has welled up in me as I have considered this reality in me and in the believers around me. The first is that since we are easily distracted and really do need the reminders that Paul and Peter and Jude call for, what is it the we reminding of and where can we find these reminders? The second item is a little more personal, because even as I write this I'm asking "How can I help  in this apparently ongoing problem that all Christians have?" So, I would like to share where God may use me to provide the reminder by the grace He has given me.

As I read the New Testament, the authors clearly thought we needed reminders of everything related to our relationship with Christ. Paul reminds us of the reality and the significance of Christ's death and resurrection. He also reminds  us that everything we have comes from God and the all of it, including our lives, belong to him. Peter reminds us the what Christ purchased by his glorious sacrifice was something beautiful and powerful and that whatever happens to us in this life, Christ has secured for us an eternal redemption. And, of course, Jude reminds us that being owned by Christ makes a difference in how we live and even in how we view the world.

Sadly, these eternal truths easily slip through our fingers. Its like playing with dry sand on the beach. But God has graciously given us his Word, his Spirit and brothers and sisters to bring these truths back to us as reminders. It is the only way we can stay on the course God has laid out for us.

At this point, the question in my mind becomes: so what will you do about this? The first step seems obvious. I need to keep availing myself of God's Word, the Spirit and brothers and sisters in Christ in order to be continually reminded of the greatness and the glory of what Christ has accomplished. Because it is only when I can see Christ and his work clearly that I can clearly see its implications for me.

And what are those implications? Here is the list as it stands today:

1. Continue to plumb the depths of God's Word.
2. Always ask, what are the implications of the Word for me and for the church?
3. Continue to seek ways to take the truth and the implications of God's Word to God's people for God's glory.
4. Imitate Christ (1 Cor 11:1), including teaching, serving, exhorting and sacrificing.
5. Don't waste time or opportunities. Today may be my last chance to do any of this.

To God Alone be the Glory

The Reason for the Season

I know its a cliche, but even cliches are born in truth. And, I think we often need the reminder that Jesus is "the reason for the season". Of course, the danger with cliches is that they quickly touch our lips and then are gone. No connection with what they originally meant. No thought of what they might actually be trying to communicate. I think that is especially true of those who would most heartily agree with the cliche. It very easily becomes meaningless shorthand.

But Jesus is "the reason for the season". In fact I would say He is more than that. He is the reason for every season. Christmas is special because it celebrates a one time event where God became man, when he humbled himself to dwell (literally tabernacle) among us. But as the one who creates and sustains all things and as the one who owns all things, every yearly season, every season of life, every era of history belongs to Him, points to Him and gives glory to Him. Pick anything you want and you will see God's hand in it driving people to His beloved Son.

Yet, there is one moment, one season in history that outshines all of the others. As Christmas is known for the manger and the angels and the shepherds and joy and peace, this event is known for suffering and isolation and ridicule and humiliation. Blood and torture, rejection and death are not usually joyously celebrated. Yet at the cross, the real beauty and purpose of Christmas shines forth. In all reality Christmas without Good Friday and Easter is like a novel with only half the chapters.

Here is a new cliche to add to our repertoire: "Jesus was born to die". Or how about "Christmas without the Cross is only half the story" Or maybe this one (although it is a bit long) "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." (Gal 4:4-5)

To God Alone be the Glory

The Reality of Hell

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit - 1 Pt 3:18

In a recent conversation with a dear friend and brother in Christ, we touched on various interpretations of 1 Pt 3:18-22. My point here isn't to debate those interpretations. Instead, I want share some of the thoughts that have sprung up and solidified in my mind since that discussion.

The first thing that the Spirit has anchored even more firmly in my mind is that there is a literal hell and apart from Christ I belong there. This may seem like an orthodox statement yet I find that the truth of it and the reality of it often get separated. Think of the forgiven woman in Luke 7. Do we weep (really weep) over the depth of God's grace and forgiveness in our lives? Read the parable and seriously ask which side of the coin you fall.

Another thing that God has established more strongly in my heart and mind is that there will be real people spending eternity in hell. This isn't a game. This isn't an accounting spreadsheet. In a small way, its like layoffs you hear about in the news, until you're the one doing the laying off (or the one being laid off!) Real people suffering real wrath from a real God. Where are my tears for this? Why am I not ready to go to war over this?

A final reality that Christ has cemented in my thinking about him and my conception of him is that he really did go to hell. Maybe not in the sense some interpretations of 1 Pt 3:18-22 would describe it. But I would ask you to consider this: How offensive is your sin to God? Apart from Christ, how offensive are you to God? Do you and your sin deserve hell? Isn't hell the just and equitable "wages of sin"? If all this is true, how can I possibly receive heaven if my sin and I are not completely paid for? Christ had to experience and endure the full and complete reality of the punishment for sin that I justly deserved in order for God to be able to declare me not guilty and allow me to enter into His presence. Oh where are the tears of joy and amazement and abject poverty of spirit?

As I finish this, a fleeting thought has entered my mind. I really know very little about the depth of the grace and mercy of God. I have absorbed a very small aspect of Christ's love and devotion. I have experienced a very small portion of the Spirit's wisdom and power. Along with Job I cry "Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?"

To God Alone be the Glory