TheologyNow

Dependence on the Lord

I'm not one who typically has a verse picked out for the year but after reading Psalm 25 the other day and verses 4-7 laying heavily on my heart.  I really do need to focus on what those verses teach and in fact consider them the Bible verse to lead/guide me for the next 12 months

Psalms 25:4-7
4 Make Your ways known to me, Lord;
   teach me Your paths.
5 Guide me in Your truth and teach me, 
   for You are the God of my salvation;
   I wait for You all day long.
6 Remember, Lord, Your compassion
   and Your faithful love,
   for they have existed from antiquity.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
   or my acts of rebellion;
   in keeping with Your faithful love, remember me
   because of Your goodness, Lord.
(HCSB)

All too often I found myself in 2008 giving the Lord a laundry list of needs/wants without truly seeking his will nor did I ask him to guide and direct my life.  Instead I thought I knew better and marched on blindly doing my own thing.  With 2009 just a few hours away and this new year bringing much more uncertainity and fear, its all the more important to rely on "the One who is, who was and who is comin, the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8)

The stock market is in turmoil, the housing market continues to sink, unemployment is getting worse as each day passes.  There's no guarantee that the US economy will turn around in 2009 and in fact the odds are that it will get worse before it gets better.  In these trying and uncertain times, God can and does use these events to redirect our attention from our stuff to him.  That is change our perspective from the horizontal to the vertical.  How often do we find ourselves giving God lip service in times of plenty, sure we go to church, we tithe, but we don't rely on him nor do we ask him to guide us.  When life is good and we're on the mountain tops its too easy for us to say that we know better. Only when we're in the valley and can only look up do we see how foolish we were.

So how do we go about depending on God, well the short and easy answer is to immerse oursevles in his Word and pray, not just for stuff but for wisdom and guidence.  Only after we immerse ourselves in God's word will we be equipped to discern his leading.

Psalms 119:105
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet
and a light on my path.
(HCSB)

So as 2008 comes to a close, and I give thanks the Lord for the blessing he's poured down on me in 2008, I also recognize the fact that too often this year I excluded God from my decision making process.  My goal for 2009 is to immerse myself in his Word and seek his guidance and wisdom in all of my affairs

Christmas Verses

As Christmas is but around the corner, I wanted to meditate on a few old testament verses that predict the birth and reign of the Messiah

 

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel. (HCSB)

Many of these verses like Isaiah are quite popular during this Christmas season, here God through Isaiah details the miraculous birth. Too little is made of this miracle. Many of Jesus' miracles in the gospels were repeated by his disciples and apostles but this miracle stands alone in that it will never occur again and is a testament to God's power. In fact back in Genesis God predicted the virgin birth

Genesis 3:14-15
14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent:
Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.
(HCSB)

God details that there will be hostility between the serpent and her seed, had her seed will strike the serpent's (the devil) head. Man has the seed, not woman so it was quite extraordinary that God would be saying that woman's seed would be destroying evil and thus it's a veiled reference to the virgin birth. Likewise the end of the verse is a veiled reference to the Messiah's death, as the serpent will strike at his head. Meaning he will injur the Chosen one. We know that Jesus died on the cross but it was not a permanent death, he physically and bodily rose.

Micah 5:2
2 Bethlehem Ephrathah,
you are small among the clans of Judah;
One will come from you
to be ruler over Israel for Me.
His origin is from antiquity,
from eternity.
(HCSB)

God tells us that the Messiah will come from the tiny town of Bethlehem, one interesting note that I heard this past Sunday in the sermon is the latter portion of verse 2. His origin is from antiquity and from eternity. Only God is from eternity and antiquity. No man can claim that he is the Christ, only Jesus who's miracles, and signed proved his Deity.

Isaiah 9:6-7
For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 The dominion will be vast,
and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.
(HCSB)

Here's another favorite verse that we hear during Christmas time, but one that for the most part has not been fulfilled and it will not until his second coming. People here this verse, and consider it a Christmas verse regarding his birth but many people seem to gloss over the details.

• "the government will be on His shoulders." - He will be the leader of the world
• "Wonderful Counselor" - He will be smart, wise and helping people
• "Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace" - He is God who ever was and ever will be
• "The dominion will be vast,and its prosperity will never end" His kingship will not end, unlike every human government that ever existed, this one will not end, because it will be lead by perfection itself.
• "He will reign on the throne of David,and over his kingdom" I'm sure this confounded many Jewish theologians in the old testament time. How can he be God, eternal and yet from the lineage of David. We see through the lens of history how God accomplished this, and yet that does not diminish the awesomeness his work.

While the birth of Christ is not the end result God plan but the continued unfolding of his plan of salvation, it is no less breathtaking, amazing, and even humbling. Its humbling from the perspective that the God of the universe who spoke this creation onto being, and formed us out of dust would formulate a plan of salvation. He knew once we sinned we were unable to (and even unwilling) to save ourselves so instead he offered himself on a cross for the punishment we deserved. To that end, it is humbling to see that

Christmas vs. Christians

As of the writing of this is two weeks away. Many families are frazzled and frantic as they hit the malls and the intarweb to search for toys and presents for their loved ones. Yet for both the secular world and those who follow Jesus what is Christmas and why do we put such huge emphasis on it.

No one can deny that in the last 30 years, the meaning of Christmas transformed from a predominately religious holiday to a cultural secular holiday, in fact many people don't even say "Merry Christmas" but "Happy Holidays." Just more evidence that this holiday has moved farther away from its Christian roots.

What does the Bible say about the first Christmas and how did the first century church celebrate Christmas. I always like to refer to the first century church because that church was comprised of the Apostles and eye witnesses to Jesus. Sin had not had the time to allow heresy and man's sinfulness to start infiltrating the church.

The first Christmas can be found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke with Luke being the most detailed.

Luke 2:1-20
2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. 2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.

4 And Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough--because there was no room for them at the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. 12 This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough."

13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

14 Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth to people He favors!

15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."

16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the feeding trough. 17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, just as they had been told.
(HCSB)

The very familiar story of Jesus being born in the manger and the angles visiting the Shepard's who then go to scope out the scene themselves. What is interesting is that unlike most Christmas carols that detail the Messiah's birth the heralds peace and goodwill to mankind. The Angels state that "and peace on earth to people He favors" As surprising as this is, Jesus didn't come to bring "peace and good will" as some sing during this holiday. Some 30 years later Jesus states that his arrival will bring strife. We see that now as a son who accepts Jesus' gift of salvation causes him to be ostracized or thrown out of the house. The world, loves the darkness and abhors light, so anyone who embraces the light will be rejected by the world.

Matthew 10:34-39
34 Don't assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to turn

a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36 and a man's enemies will be
the members of his household.

37 The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And whoever doesn't take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. 39 Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it.
(HCSB)

1 John 1:5-8
5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. 6 If we say, "We have fellowship with Him," and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
(HCSB)

Did the early church celebrate Christmas? The main focus and most sacred holiday for the early church was Easter, the Messiah's death and resurrection as penalty for our sins was the culmination of God's plan to save mankind, not the virgin birth (while miraculous as that was). There seems to be very little if any evidence that the early church celebrated Christmas. It wasn't until the 4th century did the church consider the birth of Jesus a "holiday" and that was not done by the church leaders but emperor Constantine. Also, no one truly knew the exact date of Jesus' birth, another sign that it was not considered an important holiday, at least not as imporant as we now consider it.  Constantine picked December 25th because that was the date of a pagan festival - Saturnalia

While important and it did fulfill scripture Jesus' birth was not the event that was to bring peace and good will to mankind but rather the unveiling of God's plan of salvation. The birth pointed to his eventual death and resurrection 33 years later. The apostles and early church understood this fact, we unfortunately have seemed to lose that. What makes matters worse is we're more wrapped up [pun intended] in buying presents and getting ready to even consider the miracle of the virgin birth and how awesome that was that the creator of the universe chose to interject himself into his creation to save that creation from eternal damnation.

Virgin Birth

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, we can look foreword to another Christmas season but one thing that seems evident in both evangelical and secular circles Glossing over the details of God's entrance into the world. Yes people read the account in Luke but its done almost robotically. They've grown so accustomed to hearing the "Christmas story" that the awesome display of God's power fails to move them.

 

Just think about it. Here we have a miracle that has never occurred before and never will again. A baby was born without a [human] father. Can you imagine Mary trying to explain that to Joseph? I mean in all honesty who would have believed her when she claimed her pregnancy was the result of God. It too a vision of an angel to convince Joseph that Mary's explanation was true. Another shocking factor is that too many people embrace evolution and accept that millions of years ago a couple of molecules combined and life sparked but yet they refuse to believe that either God exists and/or he would enter into his creation by way of a virgin birth.

Genesis 3:14-15
14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent:
Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock
and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly
and eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.
(HCSB)

In the very first book of the Bible we see God laying out the foundation of Jesus coming to earth to pay for our sins. God states that seed of woman, not man's will result in the devils defeat and the defeat of evil. A further amplification of that prophesy is found in Isaiah

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.
(HCSB)

Jumping to the New Testament we see the now familiar passage of the virgin birth and the fulfillment of Genesis 3 and Isaiah 7.

Luke 1:26-35
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, "Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you." 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her:

Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
31 Now listen:
You will conceive and give birth to a son,
and you will call His name JESUS.
32 He will be great
and will be called the Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give Him
the throne of His father David.
33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and His kingdom will have no end.

34 Mary asked the angel, "How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?"

35 The angel replied to her:

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the holy One to be born
will be called the Son of God.
(HCSB)

All too often we only read these verses during Christmas time and even then we gloss over the details and what actually happened. Think about it, the one true God who spoke this world into existence, who formed us out of the dust of the earth, entered into his creation but he did not do it in way that people would have expected, that is not with power, glory, pomp and circumstance but rather he entered into creation through a virgin birth, a perfect man, not inheriting Adam's sin nature and was the son of a poor peasant girl and carpenter.

It seems that miracles of Jesus healing people or casting our demons seem to garner more attention then the very act that made it possible for Jesus to be on earth as a man in the first place - the virgin birth. Given our knowledge of biology and genetics its amazing that a baby would be born from a virgin. Its also helpful to note that this miracle will never occur again, but the many of miracles that Jesus performed were repeated by the apostles. God came into creation and his entrance was no less miraculous then his resurrection, both were done by God the Father's power and might.

The next time we setup a nativity scene perhaps we can ponder the depths of the virgin birth instead of mindlessly arranging the sheep, the wise men and the manger