The Spirit of Christmas

At Christmastime we celebrate God sending His Son into the world to save the world. In doing so God met our greatest need, saving us from our sin, by giving His Son to die on the cross. This was the ultimate demonstration of God’s amazing love. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Thus, the spirit of Christmas is God giving of Himself to meet the needs of humanity.

The Christmas season has so much sentiment because most of us enjoy the celebration and tradition that accompanies Christmas.  However, we also acknowledge that there is a struggle between celebrating the true meaning of Christmas and trying to avoid the commercialization of Christmas. How should we handle that tension?  Should we have nothing to do with Christmas Trees or Santa Claus in protest to secularization and commercialization of Christmas?

As Christians who have accepted God’s gracious gift, we should live out this spirit in our relationships with others because we have the hope of salvation. Around two thousand years ago the Church of Jerusalem was going through severe financial hardships. The Apostle Paul instructed another church, the Church of Corinth, to take up a collection for the struggling Church of Jerusalem.  In instructing Corinth to give, Paul used our Lord’s great act of love for us as his basis for the Corinthians to give. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor. 8:9)  Jesus Christ, on that first Christmas morning, left the glory of heaven and humbly subjected Himself to humanity. He did all this just to save us. Knowing this to be true, we should be willing to give and to help others even if it means self-sacrifice.

However you feel about Santa, Rudolph and Frosty, if you believe that God sent His Son into the world to save the world, the most profound way you can celebrate Christmas is by acting on the spirit of Christmas. As Christians there is no better way to celebrate Christmas than by giving of ourselves to meet the needs of others. Personally, the more I live out the spirit of Christmas and give of myself to meet the needs of others, the more I feel the liberty to enjoy some of the traditional sentiment that comes with this time of year.  

The Importance of Thanksgiving

Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful,

Romans 1:21

This week is Thanksgiving week. What a great Holiday! We don’t think of Thanksgiving as a religious holiday, like Christmas and Easter, but it is right in line with Scripture. 

According to Scripture it is the normal and right response to give thanks to God. In Romans 1, we see by contrast the importance of being thankful to God for who He is and what He has done for us. The unrighteous in Romans 1were not thankful to God, and their hearts were darkened.

Our culture almost forces us to be ungrateful. Modern advertising is built on making people covet. We always think of what we don’t have or how much more others have than we do. In reality, if you live in America, you have it much better than the rest of the world.

The Bible tells us that we should be thankful to God. Acts 14 states that God“¹⁷ … did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” God is good and He has been good to all. He gives us life and sustains our life. He gives us loved ones with whom we can enjoy that life with.  At the very least we should be thankful to Him for giving and sustaining our lives.

If you have trouble being thankful, do what my wife and I do. Every Thanksgiving we take time during our drive to Tennessee where we each list everything we can think of that we are thankful for. It becomes kind of a competition as we go back and forth trying to outlast one another. People are even doing this on social media. If you take time to thank God for everything you have to be thankful for, you will begin to see just how blessed you are and you will genuinely be thankful on Thanksgiving.    

Is God Finished with Israel?

²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, Romans 11  

For some Christians Israel isn’t on the map. Even worse, some Christians believe that Israel has been replaced. They claim that God is done with Israel. This is not what the Bible teaches.

For the past two thousand years “blindness in part has happened to Israel.” They don’t recognize Jesus as their Messiah nor do they turn to Him to wash away their sins.  Conversely, during this time many non-Jewish people have had their eyes opened, and are calling on Jesus as Savior and being saved.

However, as the text states we are not to be “ignorant of this mystery.” One day after all the “Gentiles” that are to be saved get saved, God will move on the Jewish people and “Israel will be saved.”  This was prophesied in Zechariah 12 “¹⁰ And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”  That is, one day their eyes will be opened and they will recognize the Lord “whom they pierced” and they will “mourn.”  They will see Jesus, “the Lamb who was slain” and “mourn” but their mourning will lead to repentance. Their eyes will be opened, and hearts contrite, they’ll turn to Jesus and “so all Israel will be saved.”

So, for the record, God is not finished with Israel. Be not “wise in your own opinion” and think that God has forgotten the people He formed as a nation. We as gentile believers should have a place in our heart for Israel and a desire for the Jewish people to embrace Jesus as their Messiah. 

Observations on Sharing the Gospel from “The Parable of The Sower”

³ Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁸ But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matt 13

This parable is a about how the world responds to the Gospel. Later on in Matthew 13:18-23, Jesus explains what the parable means. The seed is the Word of God and the four different types of soils are the conditions of the hearts that the Word falls on once sowed.

The four types of hearts have four different responses, and they are all interesting. The first type of heart is a heart that is as hard as pavement; the Word just kind of bounces off it.  These seem to be the people who just out right reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether they be atheist, agnostics or believe in false gods, they want nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus and make no bones about it.  

The second type of soil/heart, rocky soil with no depth,  may be the most interesting. When they hear the Gospel they receive it with joy! Sounds promising, doesn’t it?  However, Jesus says that there is no depth in them, and when hardships or persecution comes they stumble. This certainly seems like a very promising beginning, but in the end as Jesus says they “withered away.”

The third type of soil/heart is similar to the second. There is no outright rejection of the Word, but ultimately the “cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful” (vs. 22)  

Finally the forth soil/heart is the good soil. The Word of God falls on it and, finally, there is fruit! Producing fruit is the main reason seed is planted in the first place. In this parable fruit is changed character and good deeds that is the evidence of salvation.

I would like to leave you with a couple of quick observations from this parable in regards to sharing the Gospel: 

1. The seed/Word of God does not change. It is the one constant in all four cases. Many people and ministries try to change their approach to sharing the Gospel because they perceive that the Word will not be accepted. However, it is not the Gospel that is the variable in this parable. The variable is the condition of the heart. Stick to the Biblical Gospel. 
2. The seed/Word is thrown on all types of soils. We cannot see the condition of someone’s heart. You don’t know beforehand whether the soil is rock hard or good for sowing. Our job is just to spread the seed/Word.  You never know when that unfriendly looking person next to you might turn out to be good soil.  

Jesus Wants You to be Rich!

⁴⁴ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13

Jesus often spoke to the masses in parables. He would use illustrations from everyday life to explain what “the kingdom of heaven is like”.

The parable of the “Hidden Treasure” is one of my favorites because it unlocks so much truth about coming to Christ.  So what does it mean?

As we have said, Jesus used illustrations from everyday life to explain what “the kingdom of heaven is like.”  However, things change and what was common to everyday life 2000 years ago may not be understood easily today.  Regarding this parable, one thing to keep in mind is that when Jesus walked the earth there were no banks to hold your money and valuables.  If foreign armies or raiders came, they would steal your treasure. People buried their money and valuables underground to avoid them being stolen. The Jewish historian Josephus put it this way: “The gold and the silver and the rest of that most precious furniture which the Jews had and which the owners treasured underground was done to withstand the fortunes of war.”^[1] Sometimes the owner of the treasure would be killed by the armies, raiders, or even die by natural causes and the treasure would be lost. No one else knew of it nor where it was.

The man in Jesus’ parable comes upon treasure hidden in a field. To obtain it he joyfully sells all he has to buy the field. Once he owns the field he owns the treasure which is worth much more than all he has now. Today it would be like selling a $200,000 house and $10,000 car to buy a field containing millions of dollars in gold. If you were certain of the gold’s worth and believed  you would own it once you bought the field, you’d gladly and joyfully sell your house and car in order to acquire the treasure.

What does this teach us about the Kingdom of Heaven?  Jesus said “whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” (Luke14:33) Jesus demands that we surrender all we have to Him and give up autonomy of our lives and follow Him (i.e. selling all we have).  The natural reaction to Jesus’ call is that the price is too great.  Most will say, “No thank you.” However the people who see Jesus for His infinite great worth and who believe that they will be with Him in His eternal kingdom gladly give all they have for the treasure (Jesus)! In giving up all they have, they will be rich beyond measure!

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^[1] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1985). Matthew. MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press.

Want Proof of God?

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.  Romans 1

Many people claim they don’t believe in God. You hear them say things like “If only God would reveal Himself to me, then I would believe” or “There is no way to prove that God exists and I need proof.”  The idea being they would believe or even want to believe, if only God would do more to prove His existence to them.

You want proof of God?  Look around. The Bible says that creation is proof enough of God’s existence. For example, we know intuitively when we see an automobile that it had a creator--so too with the world. I understand that scientists have come up with a theory that says in essence “once there was nothing, then there was a bang, then something crawled out of water, and then after millions upon millions of years, there was us.”  However, this isn’t what we see when we observe the world around us.  What we see is created things have a creator.  You wouldn’t believe me if I told you that the computer I’m writing on evolved from nothing. Why would you believe the world came from nothing?

The majesty and glory of creation also points to God. When we see the majesty of the mountains, the beauty of the leaves in fall or the glory of a brilliant starlit night, it points to the Glory of their creator. “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1)

Creation’s witness to us is yes, there is a God. He sent His One and Only Son to save us from our own sin. Just as creation testifies to the existence of God, our lives testify to the law of sin and death. We all sin. No one can say that they have not lied. Sin causes death. However, God sent His Son to deliver us from the law of sin and death. His death on the cross paid for our sin and through His resurrection He overcame the grave. God now commands everyone everywhere to repent (Acts 17:31) and turn to Him in belief. 

I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,  for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”  Romans 1

The gospel of Christ is nothing to be ashamed of, nor is there anything more glorious. No One is more beautiful than Jesus. The gospel of Christ is the greatest story ever told and our one hope in this world.   However, many people who believe the gospel shrink back from talking about it.  We may not think we’re ashamed of the gospel, but our actions might tell a different story.

It’s time to reassess our priorities. It’s time to turn back to our First Love. It’s time to not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ!

Here are just a few reasons to remind us why:

We should not be ashamed of the gospel because it is Christ’s. If we love Jesus how can we not love or be faithful to His message?  Our Lord gave everything to save His people from their sins.

We should not be ashamed of the gospel because of its power to lead the lost to salvation. The gospel is the sole hope for a lost and dying world.  God has entrusted us with the cure for what ails humanity. We must not conceal it.

We should not be ashamed of the gospel because those who have faith in it are righteous. When we believe in the gospel, God imputes Christ’s righteousness on us. Our one path to righteousness is through the gospel of Christ.

The truth is that most everything we are passionate about in this world will pass away. Sports teams, political parties, entertainment and so on, will one day cease to exist.  However, the Kingdom of Heaven lasts forever!  Stand for the One who will not pass away.