Month: December 2016

PROPHECY

In the marvelous prophecy contained in Isaiah 9, we see some incredible things about the coming Messiah. First we see an incredible process. “Unto us a child is born.” That reflects for us the humanity of Jesus. The birth of Christ did not deviate from any other process of human births that had been experienced.

I am personally not of the persuasion that Mary floated three feet off the ground as she walked while bearing the Christ child within her. I think her feet hurt. Her back ached. Maybe she got morning sickness. The hormones within her human, adolescent body were working overtime. She had a baby… a boy.

But alongside that human experience was a supernatural one. We live in a naturalistic world, meaning, the only things that are considered true or important are those we can experience with our five senses or reproduce in scientific method. To the naturalistic mind, the universe is a closed system and only what is inside that “box” matters.

At Christmas, we celebrate a wonderful reality that God broke in! That is a reality that surpasses all that we know around us and overcomes our fear and doubt and skepticism: “a son was given!” God came down at Christmas. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) God burst in at Christmas.

And today, if you’ll invite Him and open your heart to Him, He’ll invade your world as well!

FOR MEDITATION: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.    Isaiah 9:6

FOR REFLECTION: What areas of your life are still “locked up” to the One Who came at Christmas? Isn’t it time to open those doors….to Him?

PRIDE

A couple of years ago while visiting Havana with some leaders from the Florida Baptist Convention, we were “invited” to the Communist Party Headquarters to be “interviewed” as to the purpose of our visit. Our intention was to help rebuild some local homes near Havana that had been devastated by a recent hurricane. The leaders of the party in Havana wanted to know why.

We sat at a long, marble table looking a couple of characters shy of Michelangelo’s depiction of the Last Supper as we stared at our reflection in the two-way mirror in front of us. A representative of the government sat across from us, while the entire episode was being filmed from behind the glass.

“Why do you wish to help us?” was the refrain from the official. “We do not need America’s help. We do not need anything from America,” and the propaganda of the Castro’s communist agenda kept rolling out. After leaving the room and coming back in a couple of times, the official finally asked, “What can you do for us?”

So representative of human nature. We sometimes turn those questions into spiritual ones. “Why do we need a Savior? We do not need God’s help.” And so the Enemy’s propaganda machine rolls out the party line. “We are rich, increased with goods, and have need of nothing,” said the Laodicean church in the Book of Revelation. And if we’re not careful, we will believe the party line.

We do need. God knows that. We must receive. He knows that too. Only He has what we ultimately need… an answer to our sin, our hopelessness and our despair. He knew we didn’t need knowledge, or He would have sent a teacher. We didn’t need counseling, or He would have sent a psychologist. We didn’t need stuff, or He would have sent a philanthropist.

No, we needed a savior. And in Jesus,

… He sent just what we needed.

FOR MEDITATION: “…you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins.”    Matthew 1:21

FOR REFLECTION: Have you humbly received the gift of salvation that Jesus came to offer?

SEEKERS

Deity in diapers. This was how Max Lucado described the reality of the incarnation. How do we even wrap our minds around that concept? The baby that laid in the manger… made the manger? More than that… He created the mother who bore Him and the carpenter who raised Him!

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.

How do we come away from Christmas with anything but amazement… unless we haven’t been looking. How did an entire village miss the entry of the Son of God onto the earth, into their time zone? For them, I believe, it was business. The crowds had shown up! The cash registers were ringing, and the money was flowing. There’s important work to be done! How often have we missed the solemn, silent reality of Christmas because of our busyness?

For Jerusalem, just a brief walk away, it was different. They were looking. They were just looking for the wrong Messiah! Jerusalem was continually being tripped up by false messiahs who would come, lead a few gullible followers astray, and end up having the whole bunch discredited and executed. They knew when THEIR messiah came he would come with the thunder of hoof-beats and a commanding army following. Their messiah was a deliverer who would break the yoke of Rome. They missed the entrance of Jesus because of distraction… maybe even because of deception.

And Rome? How did all of Rome miss the entry of the second person of the Trinity coming to earth? Rome had it all… power, money, business, art, entertainment, medicine, prestige. It was the center of the world of the day… and she knew it! Rome needed nothing or no one! Rome was the benefactor… not the needy. She was the one the world approached for help, not vice-versa. Rome missed the humble entrance of Christ because of pride… the pride of life which is often the companion of the love of the world. She was self-sufficient and fulfilled.

Why did they need a Messiah… to be saved from what?

And so the first Christmas came in the midst of an ordinary day and Deity was laid in the arms of a rural teen aged couple… the hope of the world came quietly and without recognition. We can let Christmas slip by just like those who missed that first Christmas… with our self-sufficiency, our distraction and our business. Jesus never cries for your attention.

But you are wise if you seek…. and give it.

FOR MEDITATION: Where is He who is born King of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.   Matthew 2:2

FOR REFLECTION: Where are you most likely to lose Christmas this year? What can you do to change that?

NAMES

What’s in a name? One of the most stressful aspects of having a baby is choosing a name. Once the gender has been determined, the race is on to find a name that is

1. Trendy
2. Memorable
3. Matching initials with your last name
4. Easy for the child to spell
5. Unique

And of course, if you’re a celebrity any fruit or vegetable name should do nicely. I’ve always been kind of fond of Cucumber Melon. (Or is that the name of a hand soap? I can’t remember). The list of baby names for 2017 predicted to be most popular was released a while ago. Kailen, Timael, and Finn made the top list of boy’s names. Zoe, Helene, and Celline made the top list for girls names.

Choosing a name was not a problem for Mary and Joseph. The name for their baby was already assigned by an angel before the child was born. While the name “Jesus” was not uncommon, it was significant. It simply meant “God saves.”

And there is no other name given among men by which we must be saved!

FOR MEDITATION: She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.   Matthew 1:21

FOR REFLECTION: Has the name of Jesus come to mean more to you than just another name? “There is no other name given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12b)

GLORY

“The heavens reveal the glory of God….” the Psalmist sang in Psalm 19. Everywhere we look in nature, the glory of God, though veiled, is revealed. Everything God has touched reflects His glory.

The night Jesus was born, the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest….” They were creatures who “behold the face of God” constantly. They were, in a sense, “glory experts.” They are themselves glorious creatures, a glory that comes from living in the presence of our glorious Father in Heaven.

And as such, they knew the glory of God though “veiled in flesh” had arrived in Bethlehem’s manger. They proclaimed it. It’s what they do day in and day out. So when they saw the glory manifested in Jesus, they just unleashed what is always happening in heavenly settings.

The miracle of Christmas is that we, hardly angelic creatures, are privileged now to see what they saw… as John puts it, “and we beheld His glory… full of grace and truth.”

How can we not speak… how can we not sing of what we have seen in Jesus?

FOR MEDITATION: The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.    John 1:14

FOR REFLECTION: Be aware today of the many ways God is continually revealing His glory around you and in you. Thank Him that He has revealed “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

ANGELS
Part 3

So what do we do with angels? Certainly the Bible is clear that they are not to be worshiped. Though these angels always stand in the presence of God, they are not God and to offer to an angel prayers or any form of worship or adoration to them is idolatry.

We are to be discerning about angels. There are numerous, new age and spiritualist movements that have centralized angelic worship as a part of their practice. There are fallen angels (the demons) who have left their heavenly assignments to follow Lucifer, and they will seek to deceive even as “an angel of light” coming to draw your focus away from God. We need to be discerning. Paul warned that whether “we or an angel from heaven” come to preach another Gospel, they are to be condemned. (Galatians 1:8)

We will one day be assigned to rule over them. While there are those who believe that death somehow “promotes” us to angelic status, the reality is the angels are a different creature than human beings. This would be like saying a dog died and became a human being after death. This, of course, we know is impossible. Dogs are not people (I know, I know… your dog is different….) We will one day “rule over them” in eternity though now they occupy a more powerful office than we do.

We are to be open to the idea that angels will minister to us. There is certainly teaching in Scripture that allows us to believe that the angels of God are assigned to watch over those who will inherit salvation. There really are guardian angels according to the Bible. Even babies and children have angels that “always behold the face of God.” Angels ministered to Jesus after His fast in the wilderness.

The angelic rank of beings are as active, if not more active, today than they were in Biblical times. As a reminder, the Book of Hebrews tells us that we are to be quick to offer hospitality to strangers, because in doing so we may have entertained an angel unknowingly. They are with us… they are for us….

… and they are all around us!

FOR MEDITATION: Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?    Hebrews 1:14

FOR REFLECTION: As you think about these powerful and eternally-existing, spiritual beings, remember that one day as an heir of salvation, you will be allowed to rule over them!

ANGELS
Part 2

So if angels aren’t fluffy-winged, cherubic, baby-faced and cuddly what are they like? What does the Bible say angels look and act like?

The Bible first shows us angels in the Book of Genesis as we see an angel stationed at the Garden of Eden preventing Adam and Eve from entering after they had sinned. We see them again as they visited Abraham and Sarah and later as they rescued Lot. They visited the earth in Joshua, the history books of the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah and certainly in the Christmas accounts. Angels are present in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts and we see them mentioned in Hebrews and finally around the throne of the Lamb in Revelation.

So literally, all throughout the Bible angels are present. However, they do not always look or act like we think they would. Several places in the Bible they are presented as terrifying in appearance; glorious to the point that people were tempted to worship them as though they were God. Sometimes they appeared as men; their terrifying visage somehow hidden.

But nowhere do we see where they look like the depictions of angels we often see in our art and fiction and media. We have borrowed those images from another era and other cultures.

In the Bible, the angels have one mission… one purpose… one focus. The word “angel” means “messenger.” They deliver God’s messages to people. The angel Gabriel plays a role individually in the Christmas story, particularly as Luke’s account tells it. Gabriel announced the plan of God to Mary concerning the birth of Jesus.

And together, on Christmas night, the angels announced to terrified shepherds on a Galilean hillside that “unto you is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord!” Together they rejoiced to tell God’s salvation plan to the unlikeliest of recipients.

We can’t tell the story of the birth of Christ without meeting angels in the telling. And one day, an angel will announce the Second Coming of Christ as “the voice of the archangel” shouts His coming again!

FOR MEDITATION: But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.   Luke 2:10

FOR REFLECTION: Quick! How many Christmas carols can you name that have angels mentioned in them?

ANGELS

Do angels really exist? Well, I think if we take the Bible at all seriously, we will believe they do. But… not necessarily in the sense you may think. When we think of angels in our culture today, we usually come away with an odd or distorted picture of a being that may or may not:

• Look like a cuddly, flying baby with wings.
• Look like a cute, cuddly, flying baby with wings… and a bow and arrow.
• Look like a female.
• Have wings… or be a being who has lost or is trying to earn its wings.
• Be creatures that were at one time human.

That is not of all the misconceptions we have about angelic beings, but there’s enough in that list to mess up some of our Christmas decorations if we try to represent a biblical view of them!

First, angels are never presented in the Bible as babies. Angelic beings are messengers of God who at times appear as human, but never as infants. Those are Renaissance depictions inspired more by art than by Scripture.

Second, angels are never presented… let me repeat that… NEVER presented as feminine. They are actually asexual beings according to Jesus, and when an angel is encountered or introduced only male names are associated with them.

Third, angels do not necessarily have wings though some do. Some (those depicted in Isaiah 6 for instance) have six wings. But angels are not necessarily issued wings or winged creatures.

Fourth, angels are created beings… not beings which were transformed from a formerly human state. In other words, people do not die and become guardian angels, though the angels do watch out for those who are heirs of salvation.

OK. So by now, some of you are weeping because I have stolen from you those Christmas decorations that do not “square” with what the Bible teaches. We are not going to have a large bonfire to burn our incorrect, angelic ornaments and decorations, but sometimes our mistaken images remove from the angelic beings the glory that God has placed in them.

So in the next few days, let’s explore what the Bible does say about angels as we continue to move toward Christmas.

FOR MEDITATION: Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.   Hebrews 13:2

FOR REFLECTION: Ask God to give you clarity and insight to see His glory in the angelic host this Advent.

Lindsay Norris is a young, oncology nurse with a three-year-old son and seven-month-old daughter. By all accounts, she is a caring person and loves her husband, her children and her job. But recently, according to her blog post dated November 14, something jarred her life in a way she never thought would happen.

She was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

Immediately, Lindsay was thrust into a world she had walked in… but by her own account, “I didn’t get it.” And so with her post Lindsay bared her soul… and offered every patient she had ever treated an apology. “I didn’t understand,” she wrote. “Now I do. And I’m sorry.”

If Christmas means what we believe it does, according to the Scriptures, it was God’s way of saying to us, “I understand.” “I get it.” No one can say that God is somehow disconnected… somehow “out there” and separated from our pain. “Surely He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows,” the prophet Isaiah said.

In other words, He gets it. He understands the experiences of humanity, from the discomfort of a wet diaper as an infant in Bethlehem to the extremity of an unjust death as a crucified and tortured man. And everything in between.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin,” we read in Hebrews 4:15.

What does Christmas mean? It means that God gets it… all of it. He walked and He walks where you are today.

And He will never, ever have to say… “I’m sorry.”

FOR MEDITATION: For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.    Hebrews 2:17

FOR REFLECTION: As you stand quietly looking at your nativity scene, imagine and thank God for the love it took for God to come as a baby… and “be made like them fully human.”