“Judgment”

 Scripture:   Zephaniah 1

Today, we consider a fourth aspect of God’s nature – that of His right and plan of judgment.  This prophet lived and served during the time of Josiah, the king of Judah who initiated a great revival in the nation, and while renovating the temple, found the long-lost Book of Law (2 Kings 22:8-13).  The entire Book, with every word, was read to the people from the steps of the Temple.  (2 Kings 23:1-3)  When the king first heard the words that had been written centuries before, he feared, that because of the sinful way that the people had been living, the LORD’s wrath would be poured out upon the nation right then and there.

 And Zephaniah’s ministry reenforced the king’s edicts to return to faithful lives, which may seem strange as we venture into the text for today, as he is reminding the people of what will come if they should ever return to those old, ungodly days.  He describes what those days of judgment will entail for the nation, as well as all nations, of the entire earth.

 These words are a good reminder for us, too, as the judgment of God will be complete and thorough, and no one is going to escape – except, that is, those who have lived Godly and Christ-like lives.  Let’s consider the power of God’s ending of our days on earth.

 Read Zephaniah 1:1-3a

 The phrases “I will sweep away …” are reminiscent of the great flood.  It implies total destruction, an end to everything we know.  Some folks question the need for God to destroy the animals, the birds and the fish – after all, what sin did they commit!  The truth is that many of that day saw their flocks, their horses, their herds as signs of their power, wealth, and authority, and God, as He did in the flood as well as in the destruction of Pharoah’s army at the Red Sea, destroyed all of the indicators of human power and self-esteem – including horses, chariots, servants, and warriors.  Not one aspect of the entire army of Pharoah survived.

 And today is no different than the days of the flood or of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt.  People still see their worldly possessions as signs of their importance on this earth.  And one day, not only will those who oppose the LORD be destroyed, but so will their symbols of strength and comfort and personal greatness.

 But as we know, there will be exceptions to the sentence.  In Micah 2:12-13, we read:

¹² “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.  I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people.¹³ The One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out.  Their King will pass through before them, the Lord at their head.”

 Everyone will be subject to the judgment, and those who follow the LORD will not be constrained, but will be led by the One who frees them and clears their way out of destruction.

 Read Zephaniah 1:3b-6

 In this passage, we read of three conditions that the people are involved in, all of which stand in direct opposition to God’s ordinances. 

1) Those who worship the gods of Canaan instead of Yahweh, which stands in direct violation to the command “You will have no other Gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3)

2) There were those who tried to straddle the fence by showing allegiance to both the god’s of earth as well as the God of Heaven.  “¹⁴ Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:13-14)

3) Those who believe that they can take God or leave Him – these are people who are indifferent to the God who has always cared deeply for them, and they just can’t understand why they should be consistently faithful to the God who has always been faithful to them. (Psalm 12:1-3)

 These are the ones who will be found guilty on the Day of Judgment.

 Read Zephaniah 1:7-13

 The prophet sees the Day of the LORD as a day of holy sacrifice, as well as a day of sacrificial punishment!  We read “He has consecrated those who He has invited.”  This consecration will be for those who have accepted the LORD Jehovah’s invitation to come to Him, just as we see in Christ’s parable of the Wedding Feast. At the conclusion of the parable, Jesus tells us “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:1-14)

But on the other hand, we must also consider the fate of those who are “clad in foreign clothes.”  This refers to those who show allegiance to the ways of other nations, and who take those ways for their own.  They have shunned the one true God, in favor of the ways of earth.  And verse 9 condemns the false worship of those foreign nations, whose ways always seem to creep into true and faithful worship of the LORD.  It appears that somethings never change – we still have this one plaguing the church of today.

 As the passage continues, we see further explanation and proof that everything will be disrupted at the time of judgment.  Commerce will cease, and people will cry out for relief.  Remember Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7:21-23, in which He tells us “²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”  We have had an entire lifetime to put our life right - but have we?

 The LORD will shine His light of truth throughout the world, beginning in Jerusalem, seeking the truth of everyone’s life.  Again, those who are self-righteous in their faith, who think that God won’t really pass judgment on the world, will one day discover that they are sadly mistaken!  They will lose everything that they have ever valued, including their life.

 Read Zephaniah 1:14-18

 The “Great Day of the LORD” will be evidenced by the pouring out of God’s wrath on every bit of evil that has ever led even one person away from faith in Almighty God.  Everything associated with this world will be destroyed, and there is nothing in this world that can stop it.

Hear these words from Revelation 21:1-5 – “¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

 

Everything that has ever existed has been judged either worthy or unworthy - humanity, animals, birds, fish, wealth, authority, power, dry land and the oceans – it will all be replaced with God’s Newness! 

 

This is what the prophet Zephaniah is warning the people about.  First, that there will be a day of reckoning, in which everyone will be held accountable for how they either accepted or rejected the word of the LORD, and second, that now is the time to make changes in this life, that we might begin showing honor to the way and word of God.  These were words that were given to Israel of old, but they are just as important for our lives today, and those lives of tomorrow, and for all days until all might choose to be in line with God’s heart – Period!

 

May it be so in our lives.  Amen.

"So Who Is This Jesus - Really!"

 Scripture:   Isaiah 7:13-14; Micah 5:2-5; Isaiah 53:1-5; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Zechariah 9:9-10; Isaiah 9:6-7

Christmas Eve

 For many, the truth of Jesus seems to be too good to be believed!  They are used to the ways of earth, in that everything that you gain in life has to be earned.  So how can we receive so much from this Jesus without having all kinds of demands and expectations and regulations placed on us?  He just doesn’t make any sense!

 Did He just show up here without any warning, without any preconceived notions of what He was all about, to start a whole new way of life that we were supposed to accept without any sufficient training or guidance?  Who is this Jesus, really, and what are we supposed to do about Him!

 This is where we are tonight – with some trusting and believing without reservation, while a few are still searching for the complete truth about this Man-God who looked so much like us, but still did and taught things that we continue to try to understand, accept, - and especially appreciate!

 God knows that we have always had difficulty in corelating the life that is so natural for us, with the life that He has shown us through Jesus.  That is why He began preparing us for His arrival hundreds of years before His birth.  And yes, Jesus is certainly human in every physical aspect of His being, but He is also completely God in His nature and Spirit!  Fully God and fully Man is the way of the LORD.

 So tonight, we will consider some of the prophecies that the LORD sent to the people – certainly, at first, to the Hebrew nation, but who were expected to share God’s words with the rest of humanity, many, many centuries ago.

 Read Isaiah 7:13-14

 The book of Isaiah contains more preparation for the coming of the One they know as Messiah than any other book in scripture.  Leading up to this passage, we read of just some of the struggles that Israel was still dealing with in their relationship with their Jehovah God.  This is the situation that leads the prophet to accuse them of “trying the patience” of God!  The truth is, though, that the LORD has never intended for us to remain buried in the quandary that we create for ourselves, and will send us “sign” after sign to show us the better way of Almighty God.

 So a prophecy is given to the nation as proof that God’s presence in our lives will be given to them soon.  Of course, God had been present with them for centuries, but for some reason, they kept missing it, and kept trying to make their own way in the world.

 The word of God tells us, and Israel, that the sign of God’s presence with us, which is what Immanuel means (“God with us”), will be in the means of His coming to earth – that is, through human birth.  It wouldn’t be through the normal means, though.  It would be through a young woman who had yet to experience sexual relations with a man.  The impossible way of earth would become the sign of God’s power and ability and presence with the people of earth.  Immanuel!

 Even though the word of this miracle came 400 to 500 years before it occurred, people, somehow, still question the validity of God’s reality.

 Read Micah 5:2-5

 The prophet Micah, even though he lived prior to Isaiah, offers a great deal of Messianic prophesy.  This passage proclaims that Messiah will 1) be born in Bethlehem, 2) that He will come on behalf of Almighty God Himself, 3) that He will be a ruler over Israel, 4) that He has been in existence since “ancient times”, 5) that Israel will live all on their own, “abandoned” by God’s presence until this special birth occurs, 6) He will shepherd the flock of Israel in the strength, the majesty, and the “name of the LORD His God”, 7) His greatness will not leave them until the day that the ways of earth come to a grinding halt, 8) and through that final day, this Ruler will be the source of a peace that the entire world had never known before.

 Eight prophecies all rolled into One, and people still have no understanding or acceptance of how one Man could do all of this!  But later in chapter 6, the prophet gives us a reminder of all that the LORD has done for Israel and us, and in Micah 6:8, we read “He has shown you, O man, what is good.  And what does the LORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

 And we aren’t quite sure what all of this means either!

 Read Isaiah 53:1-5

 This passage begins with a very interesting and rhetorical question!  “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”  Apparently, the answer to the first part is “very few”, and to the second part “the entire world”!  But the passage itself, while written in a past tense, is relatively typical of other prophecy, even while it refers to a future event.  And what does it tell us?

 They tell about both the physical appearance of the LORD, as well as his divine purpose while among us. 

He would be like a “tender shoot” and a “root out of dry ground” – both images imply that He would be seen, basically, as having little, if any, worth!  He would be unattractive and have no beauty whatsoever. He would be despised and rejected and would know all too well what our suffering feels like. People would hide from Him and would avoid letting their eyes meet His.

 But then, we begin to hear what He would do on our behalf, even though we had given Him no honor or respect at all.  He would take our brokenness and pains upon Himself, and in return we would claim that it was all because God had turned against Him.  He would accept torture and death to relieve us of the burden of our sin, and this great sacrifice would be the source of peace and healing for our lives.

 Is this something that some mortal person could even imagine, let alone accomplish?  Not even close!  It proclaimed the blessings that would given by our LORD and King, Jesus Christ.

 Read Deuteronomy18:15-19

 In the reference to the Day of Horeb, when the people asked to never hear the voice of God again, it didn’t mean that they never wanted God to lead them, but rather this is the time when the LORD handed down the 10 commandments, and we read in Exodus20:18-19, “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear.  They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, speak to us yourself and we will listen.  But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

 This might have been a very natural reaction by the people after actually hearing directly from the Mouth of God!  And now in our passage from Deuteronomy, God obliges the request.  He doesn’t say that He will only speak through Moses, though – He will send another Prophet who will be “like” Moses, and who will be an offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel), and will have God’s words come directly from His mouth, which will be given as instruction for what they must do.  And what if they, and we, do not listen and obey?  They, and we, will be judged as unworthy to be His people.

 God was giving them exactly what they asked for, and quite a bit more.  This Prophet would be exactly who the LORD needed for this world, and not who the people expected!  Jesus would be that Person, and the people, even those of this day, still want this Prophet of God to say what they want His words to mean, and nothing else!

 Read Zechariah 9:9-10

 God proclaims the glory of Christ’s coming to earth – we are to rejoice in that moment, for the King of God’s anointing will gently and humbly bring the salvation of the LORD to all who will accept.  The instruments of war will disappear from our presence, and peace will rest on the entire world.  The reference to this King’s entering the world while riding on a donkey is a symbol of victory, and of a final peace that will overcome the world.

 This proclamation is, obviously, a blend of both His first coming, and the one that will come one day in the future.  Peace is promised, the LORD’s victory will become complete, and Jesus will be the undisputed King and Savior of all who will be His people.

 And our final passage tonight ties these, and all prophecies of Jesus together.

 Read Isaiah 9:6-7

 What more can we say about this night and the celebration of tomorrow!  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the truth of God for us now, and the glory of eternity for all time and beyond!

 The first coming of Jesus was obviously a surprise for everyone, except for Simeon and Anna when they met the infant Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:25-38).  Even though we have countless prophesies to prepare us, the world missed out on the first arrival of Emmanuel in their lives.  Who attended Him at His birth?  Smelly, dirty, and spiritually unclean shepherds, and later some foreigners from the east.

 Will we attend His celebration now?  As sinful and unworthy as we may be, we are still welcome at the LORD’s side, by faith in Him, by His redemption, and by His forgiving gift of the Blood of Calvary, now and forever. 

 This is who our LORD and Savior is, who He has been, and who He will always be.  Praise His Holy Name.

 Amen!

“Salvation”

 Scripture:   Isaiah 12:1-3; Acts 4:9-13; Romans 1:16-17;

 The Nature of God that we consider today is very possibly the one that focuses all of the others, and the one that benefits us the most, and that is God’s Salvation!    In Isaiah 49:5-7, we discover that the LORD’s reason for reclaiming Israel from captivity, and restoring them, both as a nation and as a beloved people, was that they would be the means for all of the people of earth to know His salvation. 

 This was certainly more than Israel could accomplish on their own, but the LORD had plans to care for all that was needed to help Israel to carry out this marvelous and blessed assignment.  And when Jesus came into this world - the birth that we celebrate as Christmas - every aspect of God’s plan was set in motion.  The birth of Jesus and all that would come from it had been proclaimed by the prophets of old, and the words that they had prophesied had begun to be shown as God’s truth.

 Remember the hymn “Love Came Down at Christmas”?  One phrase in the first verse brings out a clarification of what this means – it says “Love was born at Christmas”.  The thought here is that our salvation was assured because of God’s love – the love that was “born” when Jesus arrived in this broken and miserable world.  The human love that the world knew before that time is the same love that many confuse with divine love today, while the truth is that they aren’t even close to being like each other!

 So today, we will consider the love that abides in the salvation that the LORD offers to all.

 Read Isaiah 12:1-3

 These early chapters in the prophet Isaiah contain many references to the coming of Messiah, which we won’t go into until Christmas Eve.  But for now, we see that these verses are a praise and thanksgiving for God’s deliverance from a time of trial.  The prophet even sees God as the comfort that renews the nation after a time when the LORD Jehovah was angry over the way the people were living.

 This passage is reminiscent of Exodus 15:1-2, a passage that is known as the Song of Moses.  In it we read “The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.  He is my God, and I will praise Him, my Father’s God, and I will exalt Him.” (v.2)  Moses was rejoicing that his Jehovah God had rescued the people from the army of Egypt by leading them to safety through the Red Sea.  In Isaiah, he prophesizes the exile of both the Northern and Southern kingdoms, as well as their eventual freedom from the many nations that had, and will continue to, oppress and dominate them. 

 And in that regard, the prophet praises and gives thanks to the great Jehovah for all that He is doing on their behalf.  But more than that, in verses 2 & 3 he says that trust and peace will be shown to their God by the nation, and confesses that God and God alone is the source of their salvation. 

 Even in Isaiah’s time, some 500 years before Christ’s birth, the prophets knew that salvation rested only in the hands of God, and not even a little bit in their own.

 Read Acts 4:9-13

 This passage is the conclusion to an event in which Peter and John were arrested for healing a crippled beggar in the name of Jesus, and then preaching Jesus to the crowd that gathered to see the miracle.  As this passage opens, they were being questioned by the Sanhedrin, as well as by Annas the high priest and members of his family.  The disciples had been asked “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:7)  And Peter offered the reply that we just read.

 Peter had always struggled with who Jesus actually was for him.  At Caesarea Philippi, when Jesus asked His followers who they thought He was, Peter replied in confidence “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God”. (Matthew16:13-20)  But then, after Jesus’ arrest, we remember Peter’s words at the home of Caiaphas where the LORD was being questioned, when he told others that he didn’t even know the captive Jesus.  Peter spent a lot of time being unsure of what his relationship with God was all about.  But now there has no uncertainty whatsoever!

 This is the Peter of Pentecost.  This is the Peter who now knows  for certain that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah.  This is the Peter who loves his God more than ever before, and loves the salvation that He has brought to earth for the likes of him and the world.  This Peter boldly proclaims” ¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”  What was there that had such a great impact on Peter’s life?  It was the teaching, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of his precious LORD.  He had come to understand why God had come into his life – that it all is based on a love that he could only claim but never fully understand, and the salvation that it brought to all who would  simply believe.

 To truly appreciate and accept God’s salvation, and the power that it brings to all who believe in Jesus, we also need to recognize the love and compassion that God has for each and every sinner on the face of the earth.  Did it change Peter?  It certainly did.  Will it change all who come to Jesus in faith?  It absolutely will, and that is the LORD’s promise to you and me.

 Read Romans 1:16-17

 Paul was another whose life was dramatically changed when he met Jesus on that road to Damascus.  He was blinded on that road, but was healed through the love of God, revealed to him by the man Ananias. (Acts 9:1-19) Paul was changed from the chief persecutor of the church to a great evangelist for the gospel.

 There had been a day when Saul not only didn’t believe in the gospel of Christ, but he hated all that it stood for and all who believed in it.  But now he loved and lived the gospel, and he shared the salvation of God with everyone he met - this had become his life.

 He never had much good to say about the gentiles, but now he shared the truth of Jesus Christ with them.  He had learned that faith in the way of the LORD was the truth and power behind the salvation that he now knew.  It was the good news of Jesus Christ that led him to a new way of life, to the desire to proclaim his LORD throughout the known world, and to do it with joy, and confidence, and without any apprehension whatsoever. 

 The point is that God’s salvation isn’t just a reward for believing in His Son.  Faith in the Savior is salvation, it brings the freedom to receive all of the goodness of God without any condition attached. 

 Jesus is known as Savior for a reason – salvation is only in Him!  Praise the LORD!

 

“Atonement”

 Scripture: Hebrews 2:14-17; Romans 3:21-25

 Last week, in our examination of the nature of God, we considered His redemptive spirit.  Today, we consider one of the issues that is critical to our redemption - that of God’s atonement!  Christ’s blood payment for our sin, His sacrificial deliverance for you and me, is unlike anything that humanity would, or could, ever imagine, and because it is so God-like, and so unlike us, it has become a stumbling block for many.

 Personally, I don’t understand the reluctance to accept the fact that God allowed His life to be taken by sinful man, and to shed His blood for the forgiveness of all who will believe.  I’ll admit that it takes faith, and a desire to understand Godly ways as well as we can, but to deny His gift outright, without even trying to understand, goes beyond all comprehension. 

Israel should have understood that Christ’s sacrifice is the fulfillment of Passover (Exodus 12), but even they missed the LORD’s point.  An innocent lamb was to be sacrificed, its blood was to be spread upon the door frame of their home, and they were to remain inside the home, never leaving the protection of the lamb’s blood, until the next morning, after the Angel of Death had finished his work (Exodus 12:21-23, 29-30).  That is the context of atonement – then, as well as now.

 So today, we will “try” to discover just what Christ’s “blood atonement” means for each of us.

 Read Hebrews 2:14-17

 The writer of Hebrews is reminding us that we are the ones to blame for sin, that we are the ones who turned away from the LORD’s way, to began following the way of darkness.  It was “flesh and blood” that violated God’s commands, and flesh and blood would have to pay for the transgression.

 But by God’s plan, it would be the “flesh and blood” of a human sacrifice that would be humanity’s redemption from the wickedness of earth.  In Numbers35:33-34, we read that the land had been polluted by “blood”, and can only be atoned for by the blood of those who polluted.  In other words, humanity’s sin – the “pollution” of earth – can only be made right again through the sacrifice of a human  And the atonement for all people – a task far too great for any one person – could only be accomplished by God Himself.  Only Jesus can be this One.

 But God has never forced release from sin on anybody – He offers it to all, and each and every person must accept it for themselves.  So the question that is before the entire world is “will you accept Christ’s Blood of atonement for the sparing of your own life?”  There is no other way, you know!

 The writer goes on to say that this offer isn’t for “the angels”, but for the “descendants of Abraham”!  But does that limit the offer to the children of Israel?  Romans 4:16-17 reminds us of God’s promise to Abraham, that he would be the father of “many nations”.  The promise of God’s atonement was extended beyond the earthly descendants of Abraham – it was given, that all of humanity might be blessed.

 Another one of God’s related attributes, and another one that is totally misunderstood by the world, is that of His great generosity.  Israel had always assumed that by their status as the “chosen people”, that no one else was worthy of Jehovah’s grace.  And the rest of earth’s people are just as confused over this issue as Israel is.  In their confusion, they have come to believe that God is able to change His mind, and that sometimes He can be persuaded to see that His original decision needs to change, that it was a mistake.  Is God immutable, that is unchanging, or not?

 How do we miss the point that God’s ways are eternal, that the plan that is at work for us has existed since before the beginning of time!  Israel’s selection as “the chosen” was never meant to be seen as exclusive – it was for a purpose that Israel has never quite accepted for their lives.  In Genesis 12:1-3, Jehovah tells Abram that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

 And all peoples will be blessed, when they accept the blessing of the atoning gift of Christ’s blood – the blood that was shed at Calvary – whether Israel is willing to take an active part in it or not!

 Read Romans 3:21-25

 In Isaiah 42:6-7, the LORD tells Israel that “they will be a covenant to the people and a light to the Gentiles”.  This is the heart of a righteous God speaking, that there is no way that He would exclude the majority of earth from His hope for eternity.  All that He does comes from His joyful heart, and is meant to be a blessed joy for all who accept it.  In Galatians 3:26-29, Paul writes that “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  By faith in Christ, we become recipients of the same promises that were made to Abraham!  The fulfilling of the covenant, the realized promise of Passover, forgiveness and acceptance at the Judgment, the love of God, and life in Him throughout eternity.  It can all be ours, simply by faith in the blood of Jesus, and trusting in why it was given.

 Paul continues with the truth of God’s righteousness, that it comes to all people through their faith in Christ Jesus.  He also promises equality in Christ – that we all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory – that’s equality in our sin!  Equality also extends to the judgment – no special favors, no deals, no exceptions – just the truth that only God knows.  And it is all made possible by the equality that comes through Christ’s blood atonement, enabled in us by faith in Jesus.

 This is what our faithful God is all about.  He isn’t doctrine - He is creedal. He isn’t law - He is example and teaching.  He isn’t demand - He is invitation.  He isn’t “do as I say” - He is “do as I am”.  He isn’t “you do it all or else”, He is “do just what I ask, and I’ll do the rest”.

 The LORD knew that we could never meet the challenges that the Law presented, so His precious gift to us was Jesus and the holy blood that He was to shed at Calvary.  He knew that we could never become perfect through the Law that we created, so He made a new and perfect way that we all could trust in.  He knew that we would never fully understand Him, so He became like us, and taught us, and did for us those things that we never could.

 And this brings us back to His atoning grace.  There’s a contemporary song by Chris Tomlin titled “AmazingGrace (My Chains are Gone)”.  The words of the chorus are this:

My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace

 The ransom that the song speaks of is Christ’s “ransoming” blood.  That’s what Christ’s “atonement” actually means – it is His ransom payment to free us from the penalty for our sin – and that is death.  He took our death, shed His blood, and freed us for eternal life with Him.

 Praise the LORD Jesus, this day, and always.  Praise the LORD, for the day of His birth, Praise Him for the life He lived among us, Praise Him for the death He accepted on our behalf, and Praise Him for the ransom He paid to free us for life eternal. 

Praise Him for His atoning nature.

“Redemption”

 Scripture:   Exodus 6:6-8; Galatians 3:13-14; Titus2:13-14; 1 Peter 1:17-20

As we continue in our Advent study of the nature of God, we have considered first how our Creator God accepted the physical nature of humanity through His Son Jesus Christ and what His Incarnation means for each of us.  Today, in our second Advent message, we consider another aspect of God’s divine nature – that of Redemption.

 We, as a broken portion of creation, have lost out on the LORD’s offer of a personal relationship with Him, and without Jesus in our lives, the relationship can never be healed.   In 1786, John Wesley wrote "I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America.  But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power.  And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out."

 What Wesley was saying is that without scripture – all of scripture - to remind us of what Christian “doctrine, spirit and discipline” consist of, we, as people of the world, will only “exist as a dead sect”, with only the outward, and false appearance of religion.  God and His power of redemption that has been completed through Christ’s great act of sacrifice at Calvary, is our only hope for a glorious eternity.

 Today, we consider God’s redemptive nature that exists in all who surrender their lives to Jesus Christ.

 Read Exodus 6:6-8

 The interesting thing about this passage is that it outlines all that “redemption” means for our lives.

Point number 1 – we are enslaved to the ways of earth, we are committed to them, and that is sin; we are burdened with the yoke of the world, compared to the yoke of Jesus which is easy and lifts our burdens (Matthew 11:28-30).

Point number 2 – the LORD redeems us with the outstretched arm of welcome, and through His mighty acts of judgment that separate the faithful from the wicked.  The act of redemption can only be from God – His way, His choice, His creating, and all within His love.

Point number 3 – through the freedom that God grants us; through his purchasing us with His blood; through His life that serves as our example of hope; we become one with, and part of, His family.

Point number 4 – through His redemption, and through His intimate knowledge of all who live and all who believe, we come to know God in a personal and truly fulfilling way.  

And point number 5 – the faithful will live with and through Him for eternity.  And nothing can ever take that away.

 Read Galatians 3:13-14

 While our reading from Exodus proclaimed that we were enslaved by the world, we now read that the religious legalism that we think can save us will also bring with it the consequence of a deadly curse!  It would seem that, on our own, we’re slaves to sin if we follow the ways of the world and can never gain the LORD’s love and promise.  And even if we follow the Law of Conformity as well as we can, it will never be enough, and we will again be cursed throughout eternity!

 We just can’t win!  Without Jesus, that is!  We have to understand that when He gave Himself over to the Law of the Pharisees, He placed Himself in the way of the curse – our curse, if you will.  We have heard may times that at Calvary, Jesus took our sin upon Himself, and buried it in hell.  But the truth is that he also took our curse of legality upon Himself, and, as the perfection of both heaven and earth, Jesus destroyed the burden that the Law had placed upon all who trust in Christ Jesus as well as in all that He has done for our benefit!

 But the interesting thing is that the redemption of Christ wasn’t meant to only bless Israel, it was given to bless all, gentiles included, who believe in Jesus as the true Gift of God.  When we believe in the Son of God, our faith enables the Holy Spirit to begin working on our behalf – within us and through us – and life will become glorious!

 Read Titus 2:13-14

 As Paul writes this letter of encouragement and instruction to his friend Titus, he makes the connection between the Christ who will be returning for the judgment, and the Jesus who gave Himself for our redemption, as well as for our preparation to experience the judgment as a glorious time and not as condemnation.  Paul also writes that we are purified for God’s purpose, so that we will be “eager to do good”!

 Now here is the question – regarding those things that we eagerly do in “goodness”, who’s definition is it that determines the sufficiency of our goodness?  There are lots of definitions, you know!  Primarily, we have to decern between those things of earth that are claimed to be good, and the things that scripture tells us are truly good in the sight of God.  And the two will seldom, if ever, coincide.  But if we are to do good in God’s way, we have to leave the ways of earth behind, which is what comes when Christ has “purified” us in faith, and saved us from the wickedness of earth.

 And we need to pay close attention to the differences if we intend to bring glory upon the God of our Salvation!

 Read 1 Peter 1:17-20

 Its interesting that Peter is so direct in condemning the things that earth values – such as gold and silver – because today there are so many other things that people cherish, like jobs, movie stars, sports figures, personal possessions, and the list can go on and on.  None of these things will ever gain us a place in God’s realm – they only “enslave” us deeper in the world.

 But the apostle tells us that true redemption only come from the blood of Christ - perfect, divine, and the ultimate goodness.  God’s redeeming grace, and Christ’s salvation, is given only to those who have been redeemed through faith in the Gift of God at Calvary.

 Faith in Christ, and trust in all that He has done for us, allows His redemptive Spirit to begin working within us.  And as His purity and goodness become the focus for our lives, salvation for eternity will also become ours.

 May His great works become your hope, this day, and always.

“Incarnation”

Scripture:   John1:1-5, 14; 1 John 4:1-3; Isaiah 9:5-7; Isaiah 11:1-5; Hebrews 2:14-17

 Today begins our season of Advent – the 4 weeks in which we begin preparations to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  However, the preparations that we will be focusing on are not like the glitter and decorations for the secular version of Christmas, but rather on the spiritual significance and heavenly focus within our hearts and minds – those attitudes and beliefs that bring glory to the Father. 

 And while we always do have some decorations in the church for this time of year, they should always be seen as a reflection of the light and glory of Jesus Christ.  And in that regard, our messages during these weeks will also be considering a few of the aspects of God that will be shown to the world through the coming of the Babe of Bethlehem.

 Today, we consider what the human side of our LORD Jesus should mean in our celebration.  After all, He is God, who, as the Nicene Creed reminds us, is the “maker … of all that is, seen and unseen.”  So why would He ever desire to leave His glory to become part of the created order that He set in place?  He didn’t just come to visit us – He came to be one with us!

 Our story of Jesus today begins in John’s gospel, with a proclamation of both His Godliness and His humanity.

 Read John 1:1-5, 14

 The opening to John’s gospel is unique in that it begins with Jesus’ divinity that has been since the beginning.  The other three gospels all begin with humanity – Matthew begins with Jesus’ human genealogy (Matthew 1), and only briefly mentions the birth; Mark and Luke begin with events surrounding John the Baptist’s birth and ministry, and Luke doesn’t get to the birthnarrative until his second chapter!

 Of course, even John gives the Baptist a brief mention, but he quickly gets back to Jesus, where beginning in verse 9, he describes the overall reason for Jesus’s coming –which is to bring the “light” of God into the world, and to enable all who believe in Him the privilege of being a child of God.

 Light, or Godly Truth, and salvation – the coming of Jesus, divine and human, was all about you and me.  No longer would we have any reason to feel that God had abandoned us, or that God didn’t care about our lives, or that He was a God of vengeance.  In Christ Jesus, God becomes life, love, hope, and presence once again.

 Read 1 John 4:1-3

 Just as the gospel implies, not everyone would come to believe and trust in Jesus – not in His divinity, and certainly not in His humanity.  John writes that this world, while it is the LORD’s creation and His to do with as He pleases, there are other powers at work throughout the created order.  False prophets are being guided by other spirits, and while they both may be proclaiming that they have the new truth, their words and ways have nothing to do with God’s light and truth that is given for us.

 And in this, the concept of the antichrist is introduced.  Satan has always wanted to be seen as the equivalent of God, and now we see that he is a copycat!  God has a Son at work in the world, so Satan wants to have the same.  The difference is that the Son of God is at work on our behalf, and for our benefit, while antichrist is at work for his father, as well as himself, and for the benefit of no one else!

 Even though Satan, his son antichrist, their demons, and all of their false prophets know who Jesus is, they can never acknowledge that the One and True God has come to earth, in human form, to be the Savior of all who will acknowledge Him!

 Read Isaiah 9:5-7

 And just in case someone thinks that Christ Jesus, the Incarnate God, was an afterthought in the LORD’s plans, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed His coming some 7 centuries before the LORD’s birth.  This passage (9:1-7) is a hymn of thanksgiving, and is proclaiming the hope and promise of Jesus.  The chapter begins by saying that the darkness of the world will be destroyed by “a great light” that will flood the earth, that believers will greatly increase in number, and joy will abound in all. 

 The passage then picks up in the reading that we just shared, with the source of that light, the growth in faith, and the flood of joy – that it all will be through the birth of a child.  And this child will have the wisdom, the insight, and the compassion to explain all that the promised light will reveal.  And the best of all, there will be no limit, there will be no end to all that He will bring to our lives, and His presence and leadership will be for us, for all time.

 And it will be the passion and the love of the LORD God Almighty Himself that will accomplish it.

 Read Isaiah 11:1-5

 This is a proclamation of the ascendency of a new king, one who will be in the line of King David, the son of Jesse.  Israel saw this prophecy as one regarding the coming of Messiah.  He would be anointed by the Spirit of God, and would be filled with wisdom, and understanding, and love of the LORD.  He will have the authority to judge, but it won’t be in the standard, human way – it will be perfect and right in all matters.  The poor will be vindicated, and the wicked will be held accountable for all they do in opposition to the Truth.

 This ruler will not govern in the normal way – as a descendent of David, He will be human, but He will not use His human senses to know what is right and what is evil.  His divine Person will guide Him, and will never make a mistake.

 Israel may have thought that this proclaimed Messiah, the Anointed One of God, was coming as a great and powerful warrior, but we know that it was to be a far greater Person, not only as an anointed one of God, not as a warrior king, but as God Himself – born as a human, and divine in nature.

 Read Hebrews 2:14-17

 This second chapter of Hebrews (Hebrews 2) is, essentially, about the salvation that Jesus brings, and how many have come to know His salvation by faith in both His life, as well as the death He suffered for all.  And in our reading, we discover that the humanity of Jesus was necessary for one reason – that we sin in our flesh and blood, so the LORD also had to be of perfect flesh and blood so that He could experience death – a human death, a penalty and sacrifice acceptable to God, that we might be freed from our sin and forgiven from the penalty of death that the judgment over our sin requires.

 This is what atonement is all about, but more on that next week.  But suffice it to say that everything that Jesus was willing to give up for us comes because of His choice to live a flesh and blood existence, that we might come to  know God in a truthful and loving way.  He surrendered honor and glory to receive the world’s hatred and condemnation.  He surrendered majesty to become humble and lowly.  He surrendered Godly power and authority to become subject to human power and ways.  He temporarily surrendered eternal life to allow human death to hold Him in its grasp for 3 days.

 But the life of flesh and blood in Christ proves the love of God for all who will trust and follow in the life and way that the Babe of Bethlehem offers to all who will believe.  Do you believe?  If not, will you today?