Let's forget about the traditions, the lights, the carols, the presents. Let's forget about Santa, and about the reindeer, and the elves. Let's forget about all of these things for just a moment to consider what really happened that morning when Christ was born...
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
Immanuel, literally "God with us". Have you ever thought about that concept? The God of Moses, and of Abraham, and of David, the God who created the heavens and the earth, the God who lead the Israelites out of bondage, and the One whose glory could not be seen. That very same God, more than 2000 years ago embodied Himself, "making Himself nothing, taking on the form of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Philippians 2:7). He came in the form of an infant, being born of a virgin so that He could escape being born into sin. He came, not to be served, "but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). He came as a infant; He came as a lamb; He came as a sacrifice.
It is so tempting today to separate the birth of Jesus from the cross of Jesus. We get so caught up in the traditions of Christmas that we forget about the purpose of Christmas. Jesus did not come simply so that wisemen would bring gifts to Him; rather He came so that He might bridge the gulf between God and man that was created by man's failure to live up to God's glory (Romans 3:23-26).
See, because of our sin, we were at opposition to God. God was holy and perfect, and man was not. We were therefore unable to plead our case before God. We needed someone to mediate between us, someone who could represent both parties. We needed someone who was fully God, to represent God, but fully man, to represent man. There could be no other solution. Who was to do this?
This is the story of Christmas, that on that blessed day, and in that manger, our Mediator, our Saviour, our Redeemer, came in the form of a child. "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
"But why, we may ask, would He who was eternally blessed in His own self-sufficiency be so deeply concerned with our lost, forlorn condition? What moved Him to show us compassion and pity? Why did He delight to be our Saviour? Did He see something wonderful in us? No. It was merely the infinite love and goodness of His own nature and not anything in us or of us that moved Him to such compassion and pity for us (Titus 3:5)...
So, driven by His eternal love to undertake the office of mediator and the work of our redemption, a body was prepared for Him. In this body, or human nature, which He made His own He was to accomplish our salvation. His human nature was filled with immeasurable grace and fervent love to mankind. And by this His human nature was made fit to work out the purpose of eternal love."
- John Owen, The Glory of Christ
The story of Christmas is not that a baby was born. The story of Christmas is that the Word, who was God, became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). It is a story of God stepping out of His glory and stepping into time, stepping into a world that esteemed Him not, stepping onto an alter to die. It is a story of an incredible act of love and of grace. It is a story that brings about our salvation.
This Christmas, I challenge you to step away from the traditions for a moment and to consider the true meaning of Christmas. Reflect on what it would be like had Jesus not come. Don't get so caught up in the business that you miss the worship. Don't get so caught up in yourself that you miss His coming.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Do What It Says!
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."
-James 1:22
With Christmas break fast approaching, so also comes an increase in the number of Christian conferences. Within just a matter of weeks comes the Passion Conference, the Campus Crusade conference, the Impact conference, the Athletes in Action conference, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference, just to name a few. Conference after conference, meeting after meeting, all filled with Biblical truth and encouragement, designed to draw believers closer to Christ and equip them to go back to their college campuses or work environments and spread the Gospel of Christ.
But does that really happen?
America is blessed with so much Biblical truth. At our fingertips, we have access to a vast array of Bible translations, commentaries, sermons, books, and other things that enhance our understanding of scripture. We have millions of churches, thousands of Christian bookstores, and hundreds of seminaries. No longer does one have to understand Greek or Hebrew in order to get the complete understanding of the Word of God, but now we can just simply go to any number of websites or download any of the various free Bible software programs and find out exactly what the author is saying. What an incredible thing it is to have all of these resources!
But when does it become enough? At what point do we stop simply listening and actually start doing?
The statistic among church-goers is that 67% either never read or they rarely read their Bible. While this is happening here, 353 million people in the world have absolutely zero access to the Bible, meaning no translation in their language. That does not include the more than 2 billion people that only have a small portion of the Bible in their language.
How many more conferences do we need to go to before our lives change? How many more sermons do we need to listen to before we finally respond? While I understand the necessity of these things, I just wonder what the majority of people are coming away with. Do you ever find it sad that pastors have to preach on themes over a period of time? For instance, "this month the theme is tithing". A whole month is spent looking at different aspects of tithing and at the end of the month, there is very little to show for it. Why can't we just hear the Word of God and respond?
The Bible makes it clear that we will be judged according to what has been given to us. 'To whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48). And in this nation, so much has been given to us. What are we doing with it?
We don't need any more conferences. We don't need any more Bible studies. We don't need any more sermons. We need people to start doing what God tells us. I am not advocating abandoning these things, as I am going to 2 conferences in the next couple of months and will be a part of many Bible studies and sermons. But these things are completely useless and are a huge waste of money and time for you if you are simply just looking for emotions, or to fill up a notebook. You might as well just stay at home. If the words never leave your notebook and your life never applies these truths, then what is the point?
James instructs us, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Let's go church. Let's wake up and start living in the way that God has called us to live!
Here is one of my favorite illustrations concerning this topic: Imagine that you inherited a large sum of money and you decided to spend all of it on Super Bowl tickets right on the 50 yard line to see Jay Cutler and the Bears (I usually use Peyton Manning in my example, but with the way this season is going so far, the Bears would be a better investment). On the first drive of the game, Cutler leads the offense out onto the field and they huddle up. After deciding a play they break…and then they run straight to the sideline.
“Okay,” you think, “maybe they called a timeout.” So a few seconds later, Cutler and the Bears run back out onto the field and they once again huddle up. They choose another play and then they break…and they go right back to the sideline.
Well after a while, you are probably going to get pretty frustrated. You drove all this way and paid all of your money to see these guys play football, not simply just huddle up.
But church, is this not the same thing that the majority of us do every conference, or every Sunday? We gather together, we huddle up, and we get all of this Biblical truth that is guaranteed to succeed…and then we go straight back to the sideline. The conference had no long term effect on us and our lives look exactly the same. But I’m here to tell you first hand that the world is tired of seeing us have all these conferences and come home looking no different. They’re tired of seeing us simply huddle up. They want to see us run the play. So let’s go church! Let’s play ball!
As we enter into this season of many conferences, or extra church services with the holidays, make a declaration in your mind that you will no longer simply just read the Word of God and close the book, but that you would actually do what it says. Don't treat it like legalism, checking things off as you do them. Let the Word enter into your heart in such a way that it changes who you are, and make a conscious effort to glorify God in everything that you have, say, and do.
-James 1:22
With Christmas break fast approaching, so also comes an increase in the number of Christian conferences. Within just a matter of weeks comes the Passion Conference, the Campus Crusade conference, the Impact conference, the Athletes in Action conference, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference, just to name a few. Conference after conference, meeting after meeting, all filled with Biblical truth and encouragement, designed to draw believers closer to Christ and equip them to go back to their college campuses or work environments and spread the Gospel of Christ.
But does that really happen?
America is blessed with so much Biblical truth. At our fingertips, we have access to a vast array of Bible translations, commentaries, sermons, books, and other things that enhance our understanding of scripture. We have millions of churches, thousands of Christian bookstores, and hundreds of seminaries. No longer does one have to understand Greek or Hebrew in order to get the complete understanding of the Word of God, but now we can just simply go to any number of websites or download any of the various free Bible software programs and find out exactly what the author is saying. What an incredible thing it is to have all of these resources!
But when does it become enough? At what point do we stop simply listening and actually start doing?
The statistic among church-goers is that 67% either never read or they rarely read their Bible. While this is happening here, 353 million people in the world have absolutely zero access to the Bible, meaning no translation in their language. That does not include the more than 2 billion people that only have a small portion of the Bible in their language.
How many more conferences do we need to go to before our lives change? How many more sermons do we need to listen to before we finally respond? While I understand the necessity of these things, I just wonder what the majority of people are coming away with. Do you ever find it sad that pastors have to preach on themes over a period of time? For instance, "this month the theme is tithing". A whole month is spent looking at different aspects of tithing and at the end of the month, there is very little to show for it. Why can't we just hear the Word of God and respond?
The Bible makes it clear that we will be judged according to what has been given to us. 'To whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48). And in this nation, so much has been given to us. What are we doing with it?
We don't need any more conferences. We don't need any more Bible studies. We don't need any more sermons. We need people to start doing what God tells us. I am not advocating abandoning these things, as I am going to 2 conferences in the next couple of months and will be a part of many Bible studies and sermons. But these things are completely useless and are a huge waste of money and time for you if you are simply just looking for emotions, or to fill up a notebook. You might as well just stay at home. If the words never leave your notebook and your life never applies these truths, then what is the point?
James instructs us, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Let's go church. Let's wake up and start living in the way that God has called us to live!
Here is one of my favorite illustrations concerning this topic: Imagine that you inherited a large sum of money and you decided to spend all of it on Super Bowl tickets right on the 50 yard line to see Jay Cutler and the Bears (I usually use Peyton Manning in my example, but with the way this season is going so far, the Bears would be a better investment). On the first drive of the game, Cutler leads the offense out onto the field and they huddle up. After deciding a play they break…and then they run straight to the sideline.
“Okay,” you think, “maybe they called a timeout.” So a few seconds later, Cutler and the Bears run back out onto the field and they once again huddle up. They choose another play and then they break…and they go right back to the sideline.
Well after a while, you are probably going to get pretty frustrated. You drove all this way and paid all of your money to see these guys play football, not simply just huddle up.
But church, is this not the same thing that the majority of us do every conference, or every Sunday? We gather together, we huddle up, and we get all of this Biblical truth that is guaranteed to succeed…and then we go straight back to the sideline. The conference had no long term effect on us and our lives look exactly the same. But I’m here to tell you first hand that the world is tired of seeing us have all these conferences and come home looking no different. They’re tired of seeing us simply huddle up. They want to see us run the play. So let’s go church! Let’s play ball!
As we enter into this season of many conferences, or extra church services with the holidays, make a declaration in your mind that you will no longer simply just read the Word of God and close the book, but that you would actually do what it says. Don't treat it like legalism, checking things off as you do them. Let the Word enter into your heart in such a way that it changes who you are, and make a conscious effort to glorify God in everything that you have, say, and do.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Have You Left Your First Love?
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent.'"
-Revelation 2:1-5
What pain it must bring to hear the words of your spouse say, "Honey, I have found someone else." I can't even begin to imagine the hurt and the sorrow that comes in that moment. The one whom you loved and the one whom you sacrificed so much of your life for has now left you in pursuit of someone else. This is usually caused by an act of sin, usually lust or just following the standards of the world. The world says that you should keep upgrading, and that is why you trade in your car for a newer one, and you sell your computer for a newer one, and consequently you leave your spouse to pursue a younger, more attractive one. But you have left your first love.
While I, and a lot of others, cannot relate to this physical idea of divorce, we can understand it on a spiritual level. In the passage quoted above, God was pleading with the church of Ephesus to return to Him. The city that once walked in His statutes, and was the center for missions to the continent of Asia, had now turned her back on God. She was no longer worshiping Him and she was going her own way. She had left her first love.
This same theme was carried throughout the Old Testament. In 1 Kings 5-9, you find the narrative of Solomon building the Temple for God. Within this Temple, the presence of God would exist and all of His glory would shine forth. But within just a few generations, you come across Psalm 74 (which I encourage you to read) and God no longer dwells in the Temple. The psalmist asks the question, "God, why have you rejected us forever?" In the Message translation it says, "You walked off and left us, and never looked back. God, how could you do that?" But where was God going to dwell? Even Jesus tells us that the Temple was turned into a 'den of robbers' (Matthew 21:13). Where was God to live? Where was He to reside and show His glory? The Temple had become corrupt and had turned from the worship of God. They left their first love and pursued wealth, and entertainment, and worldly pleasures.
Let me ask you this question: Does God dwell in your church today? When people come and congregate in worship, do they sense the presence of the living God? Is there room for Him? So many churches today have cluttered their sanctuaries with entertainment, and with graven images, and with false doctrines. Is your church one of them? Has your church left her first love?
On a more personal level, does God dwell in you? I am not asking if you have received Him or accepted His free gift of salvation. But rather, I am asking if you allow Him to dwell in your heart; to take reign over it. Or have you cluttered it up with matters of the world and things that won't last into eternity? Have you, personally, left your first love?
I am scared to see where this generation is heading. By just observing the worldly conflicts, the increased amount of injustice, and the incline of social immorality, it is quite clear that the end is coming. But what state are we going to be in when Jesus returns? What is He going to discover about His bride, the church? Is she going to be adorned with beauty, unstained by the world, still pure, and waiting for her Groom? Or is she going to be lost in deception, covered in filth, and have left her first love?
"Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause" (Psalm 74:22). Wake us up to Your glory, wake us up to Your love. Draw us near to You and protect us from the world. Be our God and may we be Your bride. We wait eagerly for You, LORD, please come soon. Please come soon!
-Revelation 2:1-5
What pain it must bring to hear the words of your spouse say, "Honey, I have found someone else." I can't even begin to imagine the hurt and the sorrow that comes in that moment. The one whom you loved and the one whom you sacrificed so much of your life for has now left you in pursuit of someone else. This is usually caused by an act of sin, usually lust or just following the standards of the world. The world says that you should keep upgrading, and that is why you trade in your car for a newer one, and you sell your computer for a newer one, and consequently you leave your spouse to pursue a younger, more attractive one. But you have left your first love.
While I, and a lot of others, cannot relate to this physical idea of divorce, we can understand it on a spiritual level. In the passage quoted above, God was pleading with the church of Ephesus to return to Him. The city that once walked in His statutes, and was the center for missions to the continent of Asia, had now turned her back on God. She was no longer worshiping Him and she was going her own way. She had left her first love.
This same theme was carried throughout the Old Testament. In 1 Kings 5-9, you find the narrative of Solomon building the Temple for God. Within this Temple, the presence of God would exist and all of His glory would shine forth. But within just a few generations, you come across Psalm 74 (which I encourage you to read) and God no longer dwells in the Temple. The psalmist asks the question, "God, why have you rejected us forever?" In the Message translation it says, "You walked off and left us, and never looked back. God, how could you do that?" But where was God going to dwell? Even Jesus tells us that the Temple was turned into a 'den of robbers' (Matthew 21:13). Where was God to live? Where was He to reside and show His glory? The Temple had become corrupt and had turned from the worship of God. They left their first love and pursued wealth, and entertainment, and worldly pleasures.
Let me ask you this question: Does God dwell in your church today? When people come and congregate in worship, do they sense the presence of the living God? Is there room for Him? So many churches today have cluttered their sanctuaries with entertainment, and with graven images, and with false doctrines. Is your church one of them? Has your church left her first love?
On a more personal level, does God dwell in you? I am not asking if you have received Him or accepted His free gift of salvation. But rather, I am asking if you allow Him to dwell in your heart; to take reign over it. Or have you cluttered it up with matters of the world and things that won't last into eternity? Have you, personally, left your first love?
I am scared to see where this generation is heading. By just observing the worldly conflicts, the increased amount of injustice, and the incline of social immorality, it is quite clear that the end is coming. But what state are we going to be in when Jesus returns? What is He going to discover about His bride, the church? Is she going to be adorned with beauty, unstained by the world, still pure, and waiting for her Groom? Or is she going to be lost in deception, covered in filth, and have left her first love?
"Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause" (Psalm 74:22). Wake us up to Your glory, wake us up to Your love. Draw us near to You and protect us from the world. Be our God and may we be Your bride. We wait eagerly for You, LORD, please come soon. Please come soon!
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