December 3, 2017

Yesterday I talked about Christmas as proof that God loves you because He is serious about sin. He hates sin because He loves people and sin hurts people.

This Sunday I will talk about how God proves His love because He is serious about seeking. That got me wondering if the Bible talks more about God seeking us or about us seeking God. I haven't found a definite answer yet but I suspect He is the greater Seeker.

A lot of the basis for God seeking us is from stories in the Bible about specific people, or groups of people (mainly Israel).

Most prophets in the Bible, God has to pursue to do his work and to give a message to his people. Think about Moses. Moses denied his ability to speak and be a leader of God's people, but he pursued Moses until he was convinced of God's plan for him. In the story of Jonah God wants Jonah to be a prophet to the people but he runs away. He keeps running while God pursues him to the point where he finds himself on a boat in the middle of a storm and Jonah comes to terms with God's plan. Through God's seeking of Jonah (as a prophet to the people, and thereby seeking his people), he sends a fish that swallows him and puts him back on shore.

In the New Testament Jesus sought out most of those who became His disciples. He sought the woman at the well. He sought Zaccheus.

Jesus told several stories about a lost coin, a lost sheep, and a lost son that were desperately sought.

As far as verses go this is what I found just quickly when I came across this question.

Luke 19:10 - "And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those who are lost."

Romans 5:8 - "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."

John 6:44 - "For people can't come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them from the dead."

Proverbs 8:17 - "I love all who love me. Those who search for me will surely find me."

Luke 11:9-10 - "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks."

While some of the verses talk about us seeking God, it also shows that God is right there when we seek him. He is seeking us by providing the answers and knowledge we're looking for right in front of our noses.

And it is true because of Christmas!

December 2, 2017

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the  one man, Jesus Christ!" Romans 5:12-17

Jesus was born to be the second Adam!

Why would He want to do that?

Because the first Adam blew it big time!

The second Adam had to undo what the first Adam did.

The first Adam was hand-crafted by God. Therefore, he was created with a sinless nature so He could walk with God.

The second Adam was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin, therefore, He was born sinless. Not only could He walk with God, He came from God and was in fact, God in the flesh!

The first Adam was placed in Paradise and enjoyed a personal intimate friendship with God every day - until he rebelled and was expelled.

The second Adam was in Paradise but left it to come to earth. He gave up His paradise to suffer and die in our world in order to regain access to Paradise for you and me!

The first Adam was perfect but sinned because he wanted to be God.

The second Adam WAS God but became man - albeit a perfect man - for one reason, so He could die to atone for our sins! He had to be sinless so He could take our sins upon Himself!

Christmas is about the arrival of the second Adam! The second Adam means a second chance!

The good news of Christmas is that God is the God of second chances! Jesus proved it!

The Motive and Necessity of Christmas

^"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8

Following up on the story I shared in yesterday's post, here are some applications:

In reference to the convicted and condemned criminal - a thief and a murderer - he is you! 

And me.

Our sins are as grievous to God as his crimes are to us. As Romans 3:23 declares, "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God".

Like him, we are guilty and condemned and worthy of judgment.

The daughter in the story, the innocent victim of the wicked criminal, represents the holiness of God which we have violated by our sinful thoughts and deeds.

A holy God cannot have fellowship with sinful people which is one of the BIG problems with sin - it separates us from God. That is sad for Him and tragic for us!

The judge and jury represent the justice of God that defends His holiness.

It is impossible for us to violate His holiness and escape the justice of God. In the short term it may seem as though evil is winning the day, but justice and judgment is coming.

In the story, the warden represents the devil who had to begrudgingly submit to the Father's authority and demands.

The father in this parable is God Who suffered from multiple attacks on His holiness and kindness.

Despite all the rebellion directed toward God, His nature does not change nor do His purposes. He remains merciful and yet mindful of those who continue in rebellion against Him. Judgment will eventually come to those who reject the Father's mercy.

And, the Son in the story is Jesus! The execution is the Cross.

I contend that in order to fully appreciate the love of God you must understand how awful and destructive sin is.

While love was the motive for Christmas, sin made it necessary. That is Paul's point when he penned these words, "God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."

Christmas proves that God is serious about sin - dead serious.......

November 30, 2017

"Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die. But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:1-8

I want you to imagine this scenario. You are the proud parent of a teen-aged son and a daughter who is also in her teens. They are both good students and active in church and school events.

One day you and your spouse are at work while your son is at ball practice. Your lovely teen daughter is at home alone. Someone breaks into the house to rob it and discovers her there alone, surprises her, assaults her and then brutally murders her. Following that heinous act he returns to emptying your house of every valuable item he can find.

You are the one who comes home to find your house ransacked and then make the horrible discovery of your daughter's lifeless savaged body.

This is a parent's worst nightmare! How could anything be much worse than this?

Fortunately, the thief and murderer is arrested and brought to trial. During the trial you find out more about this criminal and begin to understand some of the factors in his life that shaped him into such a cruel person. You begin to feel a bit of compassion for him yet you are thankful that he is found guilty beyond reasonable doubt and convicted of murder and grand larceny.

A month later when he is sentenced to die by legal injection you feel that justice has been served but there is also a sense of sadness over it.

During the several years that he is on death row you make repeated efforts to reach out to him but every request is denied by him. In fact, he shows no remorse but taunts you by saying he is glad he did it, he enjoyed it and he would do it again if he had the chance.

The years drag by until the day of his execution arrives. At the stroke of midnight he is to be administered a lethal dose of drugs through an injection that will end his life and carry out the justice demanded of him by the court and the legal system.

You, your wife and your son are ushered in to the small cramped room where the execution is to happen. It is a few minutes before midnight and he had been strapped to the gurney and the tubes are being inserted that will transport the lethal toxins into his body.

He refuses when asked if he wants to make a final statement. The warden turns to you and asks if there is anything you would want to say to the condemned man. You reply, "Yes, there is. My family wants him to know we have forgiven him for this terrible thing he did. In fact, my son and I have discussed this at length and decided we want him to be free from his guilt and condemnation. For that to happen, my son offers himself to be strapped to the gurney and receive the lethal dose instead of this convicted criminal. That will satisfy the demands of justice and carry out the remedy prescribed by the court."

The shocked warden responds, "This is highly unusual. This is very unusual. Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

You and your son both affirm this as your will.

"Okay, then," concedes the warden, "Release the prisoner and take this young man into custody to prepare him for execution."

Broken-hearted, you watch as the lethal dosage is pumped into your son causing him excruciating suffering until the life drains out of him.

"A ridiculous story," you protest! "Who would even consider doing such a thing?"

I wouldn't!

You wouldn't!

But that is precisely what God did! At just the right moment He sent His Son, Who willing left heaven to suffer the penalty for your sins and mine! We were guilty. He was innocent. He suffered a cruel and shameful death sentence in our place to satisfy the just demands of a Holy God.

That is how good He is! That is how much He loves you! That is how much He wants to live in a loving relationship with you!

And that is how bad sin is! That is how ugly and disgusting it is to cause an innocent man to die a painful death so you and I could be set free from the death penalty imposed by sin.

It was in a stable in Bethlehem where a teen-aged by and his teen-aged wife gave birth to the Son of God Who came to take away the sins of the world! Jesus, the Savior, born to die for you and for me!

Glory in the highest!

But this is a gift that must be received! 

Have you received it?

Dead Spot

"You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:31-33

Mary was the first to hear of the new thing God was about to do! Everything was about about to change! God was about to move upon His people with a new work in a new way and the world would never be the same! There was "good news of great joy" about to be revealed in the Person of Jesus - God in the flesh!

Ritual and rules and religion and, especially, religious  leaders had relegated God to the fringes of their existence. They had strangled the life and joy out of seeking and serving God. There was no love, no freedom, no fellowship, and no life in their religious observances. For centuries they had been going through the motions mouthing the words and clinging to spiritual pride born from the false hope that they were "the chosen ones". Although their priests, scribes and religious leaders knew all about God, few of them actually knew Him.

Dead things need to be buried or revived. What they were trying to bury, God was about to revive. An amazing spiritual revival was just one obedience away! God needed a person, a vessel, through whom He could channel His power and accomplish His will.

Enter, Mary. She was the one God had chosen through which to bring a transforming visitation to His people. If you will - a revival. If Christmas is about anything it is about revival. There certainly would be no hope for revival if Christ had not come and Christ came at Christmas!  I hear a whole lot of talk about revival. I hear people saying how badly our nation needs revival or our church needs revival or our people need revival or our preachers need revival and they are right! We certainly could benefit from all of the above. But please define revival! I am not sure I am clear on what they are wanting. Perhaps they are not either. My guess is they are thinking of a scheduled series of meetings with a fiery evangelist preaching and some inspiring musicians who will come and whip them up into a spiritual and emotional frenzy.

Here is what two of the greatest evangelists and revivalists of the last century and a half had to save about revival:

Charles Finney, perhaps the most anointed evangelist since John the Baptist, noted this about the role obedience and sacrifice play in revival, “Revival is nothing more or less than a new obedience to God!”

A. W. Tozer, one of the spiritual giants of the 20th century added this thought, "Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late - and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience."

Revival is a direct result of obedience. Obedience moves God from the edges of our live to the center. Obedience allows God to cleanse us from the dead works of religion and sweep in with the refreshing, life-giving wind of relationship!

On this historic day when the angel appeared to Mary, He was indicating that a great move of God upon her and through her was just one obedience away!

Could it be that revival, a fresh move of God upon you, is just one obedience away? Is it possible that you need to stop wishing for revival or praying from revival and simple "obey" for revival?

Is there a "dead spot" in your spirit? Is there a point of disobedience that is preventing God from moving upon your heart and spirit?

Look what happened to our world when Mary chose to obey! Look how she did it, “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Her obedient response to God brought a revival that continues to this day!

Is there a point in your life where you have pushed God to the edges by your disobedience? Will you allow God to move to your center by praying with Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant, May your word to me be fulfilled.”

November 28, 2017

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" II Corinthians 9:15.

If taken literally, giving the gifts of the famed holiday song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, would cost you a fortune--and much more this year than last!

The cost of buying all 364 items repeated throughout the timeless holiday carol has gone up 6.1 percent since last year, according to the annual Christmas Price Index compiled by PNC Wealth Management. And the new retail cost of $107,300 really hurts in the biggest U.S. cities [Chicago, Los Angeles, New York], where state and local sales tax adds on as much as 9.5 percent. …

Thrifty shoppers may find some reasons for cheer. Six items mentioned in the song haven't gone up in price: maids-a-milking, ladies dancing, lords-a-leaping, calling birds, turtle doves and the partridge. The eight maids-a-milking still cost just $58.

Twelve drummers drumming ($2,775.50) and eleven pipers piping ($2,562) might also be considered relative bargains compared to seven swans, which will set you back $7,000. Nine ladies dancing will cost you $6,294.03.

Dunigan said the 2011 drought caused the prices of some birds to soar, partly because of corn and other feed costs.

"The geese were up 29.6 percent, and swans were up 11 percent," said Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investments for PNC, adding that none of the gifts in the song went down in price this year.

The price of a pear tree is $189.99, an 11.8 percent jump from last year's $169.99. Five gold rings jumped 16.3 percent this year, to $750, and three French hens are now $165, instead of $150.

The $15 partridge is the cheapest item, and swans the most expensive, at $1,000 each.

Last-minute shoppers who turn to the Internet, possibly in a bid to dodge sales tax, will pay a bit more for the gifts. Buying one set of the core items in each verse costs $24,431 in traditional stores this year, but $40,440 online. Part of that difference is the extra expense of shipping live birds, Dunigan said, adding that Internet costs rose 1.5 percent compared to last year.

Application:

Wise gift givers this year (and every year!) might do well to forgo the partridges, gold rings, and swans in favor of sharing the one gift of greatest value ... the message of salvation by grace alone through faith in the Child of Christmas ... the Lord Jesus Christ. Cost to you ... nothing. Cost to Christ ... everything. Value ... priceless!

November 27, 2017

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8

I'm sure you have noticed that God's timing is different from yours. I certainly have!

Have you ever questioned His timing? I have.

In verse six the Apostle Paul mentions God's timing, "You see, at just the right time...."

So, the Great Apostle is reminding us that God's timing is perfect.

I have to wonder if Joseph and Mary had a few doubts about God's timing when the events of Christmas began to unfold?

Could there have been a much worse time to become pregnant? Mary's pregnancy spoiled their wedding plans, scandalized both of their reputations, and potentially placed Mary's life at risk.

What a terrible time for a taxation to be imposed!

What a terrible time to ride a donkey for a few days over rugged rutted roads!

And what an awful out of the way place to go!

What a terrible time for the King to become paranoid and cause Joseph, Mary and Jesus to flee to Egypt for several year! How hard do you suppose that was on his carpentry business back in Nazareth!

I think I understand why the might have questioned God's timing around that first Christmas! Who would blame them?

But they were obedient and faithful despite the hardships imposed by God's timing. Soon they came to understand that God was RIGHT on time!

History records that it REALLY was just the right time! The Romans had built roads and aqueducts, and shipping routes and established the "Pax Romana" so it was possible to travel safely. Plus, the religions of the day had grown stale and empty and people were ready for something real.

God's timing really IS perfect and Christmas proves it! I am sure that if you could interview Joseph or Mary today they would echo Paul's affirmation that it happened at "just the right time".

So, if you are doubting God's timing are questioning "why" things are happening as they are, remember He is working at "just the right time!"