Third Light of Christmas - Ramifications

  As a child, making your lists for all the things you want, gets you ecstatic for Christmas Day. Then waking on that morning to rush out and find what presents are under the tree, it’s what your last few months has led up to. Then the moment comes and the opening begins. That lasts only a few moments, but the play that comes later, lasts the rest of the day. The aftermath is just as important to the build-up and event. It’s the payoff, the what happens when this great thing finally happens. And God’s payoff, his aftermath of Christmas is greater than any other payoff. 

This brings us back to our final week in our Christmas series, where we’ll be looking at the third light of Christmas, the light of Ramifications. 

In the first two lights we looked at both the build-up to the event of Christmas and the Christmas event itself. In our first week we looked at three groups of prophecies. First we looked at the prophecies surrounding who the child would be and his mother. Then we looked at the prophecies surrounding the kingly visitors who came to see the child. And finally, we looked at the prophecies that concerned the family lineage that the child must come from. All of these were the build-up to the Christmas event, and were are our first light, the light of Prophecy. 

Then last week we took some time and looked at the whole of the Christmas event, which was the candle we called the light of Revealing. As best we could, we looked at the whole story of Christmas by putting it into a rough timeline. In that whole event we saw several people who were called to meet the child at his revealing. These were the Magi, the shepherds, Mary and Joseph, and Simeon and Anna. And as we saw those who were called to the child’s birth, we saw how those that should have been there were not. How the religious people, though they knew of the Messiah’s birthplace, decided not to come to meet him. We saw how they were disturbed by Jesus’ coming and therefore didn’t go and see him. It was here that we talked about how Jesus should disturb us because he is perfect and we are not. Jesus should disturb us in our sin, because he calls us out of the darkness that our sin creates around us. And it’s okay to be disturbed, if we pursue Jesus, if we go to Bethlehem and see. What isn’t good, is if we are disturbed and not seek Jesus on his own terms.

As we’ve looked at the build-up to and the moment of Christmas, we now turn our attention to the aftermath, or as we’ll call it today, our third light, the light of Ramifications.

See a lot of the time, we don’t realize just what Jesus has done for us. From the change of human morality, to how society works, to history itself, Jesus’ arrival radically changed how the world worked. This should be only natural because if God came to earth, the earth should not be the same, and as we’ll see, it isn’t.

In fact, we’re going to take a look at three areas in which Jesus’ coming changed the trajectory of the world.

We’ll start with morality. Something that doesn’t get taken seriously today, is where we get the morality we use in the western world. A lot of people claim that we are a product of the Greco-Roman world in how we do things, yet this isn’t the case. In a previous series we talked about how the Greco-Roman world treated children as throwaway materials. In an article concerning the Spartan treatment of children Evan Andrews writes, “Infanticide was a disturbingly common act in the ancient world, but in Sparta this practice was organized and managed by the state. All Spartan infants were brought before a council of inspectors and examined for physical defects, and those who weren’t up to standards were left to die…If a Spartan baby was judged to be unfit for its future duty as a soldier, it was most likely abandoned on a nearby hillside (https://www.history.com/news/8-reasons-it-wasnt-easy-being-spartan)." 

Yet, as we have talked about before, Jesus completely changes this idea. And as the disciples spread the good news of Jesus coming, death, and resurrection, God’s morality took root in society. Psalm 82:3 calls God’s people to, “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.”

This carries down to day, where children are seen as precious and valuable, not as commodities. And it’s why Andres says, that “Infanticide was a disturbingly common act in the ancient world…” Yet as we move away from biblical morals, we see children again used as throwaway materials.

The second ramification from Jesus’ revealing, deals with social structures. One of the things that has been brought up a lot in the last several years is the ramifications of slavery. But let’s be honest, slavery still exists. Sex slaves are couriered across this world and though nations try to stamp it out, it is still an industry in Asian, Africa and the Middle East. Even in the western world there are underground funnels for this type of slavery. But why would it even be a problem? I mean, in the Greco-Roman world is was a common practice. Mark Cartwright states that 1 in 5 people were in some form of slavery in the ancient world. Cartwright even says that, “upon this foundation of forced labour was built the entire edifice of the Roman state (https://www.worldhistory.org/article/629/slavery-in-the-roman-world/).” 

Yet, though slavery has been around since the dawn of human history and continues today, it is through the teachings of Jesus that in the western world, the abolition of slavery has long been sought. In his letter to Philemon, Paul writes concerning a slave. Onesimus was a slave to Philemon who had run away. Onesimus met up with Paul and became a believer like Philemon was. So, Paul writes a letter to Philemon and returns Onesimus to him. Paul writes this, basing his thoughts on the Word of God and Jesus in particular,, “12 I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. 13 I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. 15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. (Philemon 1:12-16).”

In Paul’s letter there is a heavy emphasis on Philemon releasing Onesimus of being a slave, because of the Philemon’s own relationship with Jesus. The freedom that is found in Jesus became the basis for the social structure of slavery to be looked down upon and eventually eradicated in places that took seriously the Word of God and Jesus’ coming.

The final ramification that comes from Jesus’ revealing, deals with the historical ramifications. In particulate, us here today. If you live in the United States, or long to come here and taste it’s freedom, you have Jesus to thank for it. I’ve heard it said that we got out governmental style from the Greeks and Romans who also had governments similar to ours. People say we have the Greeks to thank for their view on giving the people power through democracy. Others say, we have the Romans to thank for the idea of a republic.

Yet, though we do have these civilizations to thank for the ideas, it’s the execution of the US experiment that has its foundation on Jesus. In his 1801 inaugural address, Thomas Jefferson hints that a true democracy would take away the rights of the minority when he states, “though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression (https://www.ushistory.org/us/20b.asp).”

It was this understanding of how Greco democracy worked that the founders came up with a constitutional republic. A form of government that sought to recognize and protect the rights of all people. It was because of this understanding of rights that do not come from people, that we have the famous words of the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness (https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-sources/declaration-of-independence?gclid=CjwKCAiAh_GNBhAHEiwAjOh3ZFojmErsdmLP2nIxwIXczxNxj_dj8qFw941jQW2BBDK9_0ss6oabJRoCtakQAvD_BwE).” Following these rights, the Bill of Rights outlines in deeper detail the rights of the people.

These freedoms are based on such passages as Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” and James 1:25, “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

John Adams recognized the role in which God’s Word and the reveling of Jesus has on the forming of the nation of the United States and wrote, “Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition, Revenge or Galantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

These are just some examples of the ramifications of Jesus’ revealing to the world. Our morality has been changed, our social structures have been changed, and our history has been changed. Without Jesus, the world would not have been changed in this and other areas. We can see in other parts of the world, how children are still scene as commodities, how slavery is still practiced, and how no other countries in the world codifies the rights of people as being beyond the gifting of a government. 

But it isn’t just in the these things of the world that Jesus has changed. Countless people’s lives have been changed because of the cross and resurrection. This is the biggest change. Moving humanity out of sin and into God’s life. Jesus’ apostles experienced persecution and death for following him because they trusted in him as their Savior. Today, the Bible is banned in a lot of countries because it points to freedom in Christ. And those who would dare read the Bible, could find themselves in prison, or worse. In the US we experience the fruits of a society based on God’s Word, but all around the world, people cry out for freedom, and believers are on the forefront of persecution for their beliefs. Because to follow Christ, is to follow in a different flow than the rest of the world. To follow Christ is to reject sin, where as the path of the world is to embrace sin.

This is how we continue to feel the ramifications of Christmas, even though we might not realize it. Every moment of our day, we press against the ramifications of Christmas, and God desires that we realize what has happened through Jesus’ revealing that Christmas morning. 

My challenge this week is to finish up reading John chapters 1-14, and to light the third candle on our paper Advent wreath, the Light of Ramifications. The build-up to, the event itself, and the results of that event all weigh heavily. If we are serious about our own life, we must wrestle with the life of Jesus. Because he is unique among all others when he claims to be the only way. If he is, then Christmas is a pivotal point in every person’s life, because it calls us to encounter the only Savior of the world, and to bow down at his feet.

So when you light that third candle, the light of Ramifications, take some time and praise God for the world that changed that Christmas night. And if you would be even bolder, do some research on the Greco-Roman world and how our world today is vastly different than what would have been if there was no Jesus.

Let us be people who bow willingly at Jesus feet, because willingly or forcibly, all will bow to Jesus. So let us bow willingly and excitedly, because he is good and gracious to all. Christmas is the first coming of Jesus, and on the horizon is his second. Let us rejoice in the past works of God and look forward to his future work. Amen.

Second Light of Christmas - Revealing

  It’s always important to get the whole story right? When investigating anything, from two siblings arguing to a crime that has been committed, when talking to witnesses a large part are their stories. The who, what, when, where, and how are all important. And when compiling a timeline of events of the situation, the overlap and dissimilarities are what help figure out what exactly happen. No two people see the same situation from the same vantage point, so there is going to be differences in the retelling, but it’s in the retelling with the differences that we can put the pieces together to see how events unfolded. That’s what we must do with the Christmas story, because when we do, something interesting pops out. So let’s do that today, look at the whole Christmas story to see something key in its two accounts.

But before we do, let’s bring ourselves up to speed on where we are in our Christmas series. Last week we began our series by looking at the build-up to the Christmas event. In this build-up, we took some time to look at some of the prophecies that were written hundreds of years before Jesus’ brith and how they were fulfilled in the events that surrounded that monumental occasion. We looked at the Who and the to Whom prophecies of Isaiah. Seeing the baby boy Jesus and his virgin mother, Mary. We then looked at the Kingly visitor prophecies that surrounded the arrival of the Magi. Finally we looked at the lineage prophecies that pointed to Jesus’ specific people and family. All this was to recognize that God had worked through the centuries preparing for the arrival of himself to earth. That Jesus’ birth wasn’t something that just happened, but it was seeded and awaited for, for centuries leading up to the moment it happened. This was the first light of Christmas, the light of Prophecy, where God told of the events to come and he was true to his word.

It’s here that we turn to the second light of Christmas, the light of Revealing. Whereas our first light looked to the build-up that led to Christmas, this second light looks to the moment in time that it happened. Now, when we talk about the Christmas story, what we’re actually talking about is roughly two years of events. Taking all the events in order, our timeline would be something along the lines of this.

Roughly two years before Jesus is born, a group of Magi in eastern lands see a star rising in the sky in the west. They interpret this star through the Hebrew Scriptures as being a star of a king that would be born to the Jewish people. They then prepare and leave for their journey. 

Within this two years, Mary, a young girl who is already betrothed to be married, is visited by the angel Gabriel and told that she has been chosen to carry the Messiah, this king that would be born. Mary agrees to being the mother of the Savior even though she is a virgin and would be ostracized by her soon to be husband and community. 

When her husband Jospeh finds out about the pregnancy several months down the road, he decides to end the marriage before it begins. But he is a righteous man and doesn’t want to throw her to the community to possibly be killed with stones, so he decides to quietly end the marriage. That’s when he too is visited by an angel. The angel tells him to take Mary as his wife, because she is carrying the Savior of the world. Joseph does just that. He takes her as his wife, but does not consummate the marriage while she is with child. 

That’s when Rome calls for a census of the land to be taken and though Joseph and Mary live in Nazareth in the northern area of Israel, they have to go south to a town called Bethlehem because that is Joseph’s ancestral home. They make the trip while Mary is very close to giving brith. They arrive in Bethlehem, but there is no room in any home and so they make their way to a stable with the animals. 

In that stable Mary gives birth. As she does, an angel appears in the night to shepherds who were attending their flocks in the fields. The shepherds were frighten, but the angel speaks comforting words of the Messiah, the Savior of the world, being born that night in Bethlehem. More angels arrive to sing the praise of God and the Savior, and they speak blessings and peace to the world that night. The shepherds are terrified but are excited to see the Messiah themselves and they rush to find the stable. They find it and see Jesus, then they leave to tell others, and later return to praise and glorify God for the brith of the Savior.

Eight days later Joseph and Mary take their new born son to the temple to have the purification rituals performed and have Jesus dedicated to God as every first born Jewish son should be. It’s at the temple that the family meet a man named Simeon. Simeon was a man to whom God told that he would see the coming of the Messiah. As Jesus is brought into the temple, Simeon takes the boy in his hands and starts to praise God for the deliverance of the world. Simeon saw in Jesus the salvation that humanity needed and he praised God and blessed the family. Then a woman name Anna, who was a prophetess at eight-four years old, saw Jesus and began praising God and telling others about this boy who is the Messiah.

After this day, Jospeh, Mary, and Jesus returned to Bethlehem. They moved out of the stable and into a home, unknown to them what was to arrive in Jerusalem. Sometime after, the Magi, with their caravan arrive in Jerusalem and make their way to Herod, the ruler of the Judean province. The Magi had followed the star to Israel, coming to worship the king of the Jews, but they did not not where to find him. Herod did not know either, so he called the scribes, those that knew the Hebrew Scriptures inside and out, for the location in which it was prophesied that the Messiah would be born. The scribes told Herod that Bethlehem was the town, the home of the Davidic dynasty. Herod sent the Magi off to the town, and urged them to return so that he may follow after them to worship the Messiah. This was a ploy to kill the child, because this new born king was a threat to Herod and his dynasty. 

The Magi then left and the star guided them to Bethlehem and to the home in which the family stayed. There they found Jesus, presented him with expensive gifts fitting for a King, but alluding to greater work that would be accomplished through this little child. They worshiped at the feet of Jesus and then eventually took their leave and left the Messiah’s town. But instead of returning as Herod requested, an angel directed them to a different path. When Herod heard that the Magi were not returning, he decided to kill not just the one child, but every male child two years and younger based on the timeframe that the Magi had given him as to when the star was first seen. 

Jesus would have been killed if not for an angel speaking to his adoptive father Joseph. The family took the gifts of the Magi and fled to Egypt and to the large community of Jewish people in that area. Years later when Herod died, the angel spoke to Joseph again and the family returned to Nazareth, and Jesus grew to the point where he left his home to meet John the Baptist at the Jordan and begin his public ministry that would eventually lead to his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.

This is the Christmas story as told by putting both Matthew and Luke’s account together. The people, the places, the events as close to being in order as we can see them in the Scripture. This is the Revealing light of Christmas, from the star that shone brightly in the Western sky, calling men from the east to follow it to Bethlehem, to angels lighting up the night in front of shepherds in a field watching their flocks by night. This is the Revealing light of Christmas.

From the angel speaking to Joseph and Mary, to the Holy Spirit speaking to Simeon, and to Jesus himself being seen by Anna, this is the Revealing light of Christmas. Everything surrounding the birth of Jesus reveals to us who this baby was. He wasn’t just a kid born to a family. No, he is the God come down, wrapped in humanity’s flesh, born to the virgin, born in the town of Bethlehem, worshiped by both shepherds and Magi, praised and blessed by the righteous and prophets of God. 

Yet we see something missing in all of it. Something briefly stated in the story, yet profoundly important. We see that the Magi were there from the east; a two year excursion for them to endure to arrive in Bethlehem. We see the family, through personal trial and out of requirement, arrive in Bethlehem. We see shepherds, minding their own business but called to the Messiah’s side in the middle of the night, to arrive in Bethlehem. We see, though they did not go to Bethlehem, Simeon and Anna waiting where God told them to wait for the revealing of the Messiah, and they waited until they saw Jesus in the temple that day.

All these did not know the time or place that the Messiah would be, but when called they answered, and followed where God brought them. So what’s missing? What is absent from the Christmas story? It’s the ones who knew where the Messiah would be born that are missing. They’re in the story, but their missing from it as well. They’re the ones that Herod called to ask the question about the birth place of the Messiah. They were the ones that new definitively that Bethlehem was his brith place. If anyone should have been at the brith of the Messiah is should have been the religious people who knew where to find him. 

But they weren’t there. The Magi and shepherds were there, Joseph and Mary were there, Simeon and Anna were where they were supposed to be, but the religious leaders were absent.

Why weren’t they there? We get our answer in the Scriptures. Matthew 2:3 states that after the Magi arrived in Jerusalem seeking the baby King, this was response,  “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” Why didn’t they go, because it disturbed them to think that the Messiah was there. They didn’t want to go because what would it mean if they had? What would have to change? What would they have to lose? What comforts, what personal victories, what ideologies, and luxuries would be lost with the Messiah’s arrival? They were disturbed, because Jesus’ arrival meant they would need to change from what they desired to what God desired. 

This is the plight of humanity at the revealing of Jesus. Just Jesus’ presence requires humanity to step back, look at themselves, and make a choice to follow or not. To be engage with Jesus is to be confronted with who he says he is. Not to be told of who he is, not by a star, not by an angel, not even by the Holy Spirit’s leading, but to be engaging with the person of Jesus demands we make a choice. 

And for most people the choice is, not to engage at all. Don’t even go to Bethlehem, because in Bethlehem you might have to meet the Savior and your life will have to change, and that probably will be disturbing. Disturbing in the sense that your life will be different. Because no one who met Jesus left unchanged by him. 

Some accepted him and followed, having their whole world changed; others rejected him, left and their world grew ever darker. 

Because Jesus says he is the light of the world (John 8:12). That means if you follow him you’ll be in the light, but if you don’t you’ll remain in darkness. Jesus says he is that he is the bread of life (John 6:35) and a true vine (John 15:1). That means that what sustains us comes from him, but if we don’t come to him for sustenance we will go hungry. Jesus says that he is the good shepherd (John 10:11). That means in a world where corrupt people want you to follow them, he is good and guides you to good things. Jesus says that he is the door for his sheep (John 10:7). That means that he is protector against the things that want to come in and devour us. Jesus says that he is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). That means that there are no other ways, other truths, or other lives, there is only his. And Jesus says that he is the resurrection and life (John 11:25). That means that though this body dies, those who trust in Jesus will have life eternal in his love, joy, peace, and comfort. 

To engage with Jesus is to go in one of two directions either you embrace the child at Bethlehem, or you reject him, knowing that you’ve made that choice. The easiest thing to do then, is not even engage, is to not even go to Bethlehem, just like the religious people of Jerusalem did, and what most people do today. But Christmas is a yearly reminder to meet the child in Bethlehem. To encounter Jesus at his revealing. To meet the Savior, to be confronted with sin, and to accept the forgiveness of God, that this child brings to humanity through the cross. 

And so my challenge for you this week is two fold. If you haven’t engage Jesus, if you haven’t taken time to see who he says he is by reading his own words in the Bible, I want to challenge you to read the Gospel of John chapters 1-14. These chapters give you a lot of what Jesus says he is. Those chapters are a snap shot of who Jesus is. If you read one chapter a day starting today, you’ll finish on Christmas Day. See who Jesus is through his interactions with people. Engage Jesus as he would have you engage, and take seriously the child in Bethlehem.

The second part of the challenge is directed at those who have accepted Jesus as Savior. Pick up a second light for your paper advent wreath and light the candle of Revealing. Jesus was revealed to the Magi, shepherds, Joseph, Mary, Simeon, and Anna. Praise God for Jesus’ revealing this week, and be in prayer for those who have not experience that revealing in their own lives.

This Christmas season, let us rejoice that Jesus has been revealed to the world, and comes to restore humanity to a right relationship with its Creator. Amen. 

First Light Of Christmas - Prophecy

Like most holidays that we celebrate, Christmas encompasses only a brief time on our calendar. One day a year we celebrate this holiday in various forms. For some, December 25th is celebrated as a time of gift giving, or of family time, or even as a day of pagan worship. Yet, the term Christmas has at its center the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It was a Christ-mass, a day of worship, in which to celebrate Jesus’ birth. The day in which God was wrapped, not just in swaddling cloths, but with the flesh of humanity. December 25th isn’t the actual day of Jesus’ birth, that exact day has been lost to time, but it represents a monumental moment of history. Even the calendar that we go by today, hinges on trying to divide two eras of history on this one birth.

Yet, even though our cultural tends to lengthen Christmas’ buying season ever earlier, we tend to view Christmas as another passing day. There’s a big push up to the day, then a celebration of it, and finally the aftermath of returning to regular life, looking forward to the next holiday.

In one sense, this lead up and experience is a part of the Christmas story itself, yet the aftermath is very different than what we tend to experience. This Christmas season, we are going to look at the Christmas story’s lead up, celebration, and aftermath as it was intended by God. Three lights of the story as it were. In a lot of churches, especially what is called the high church, there is the use of what is called an Advent wreath. This year, we too are going to light our own candles. Three lights of the Christmas story that we must recognize, accept, and implement into our lives. 

The first of these lights is the light of Prophecy. Just like the ramp up to Christmas begins months in advance of the day, prophecy is the ramp up to the life of Jesus. The whole of the Bible contains about 31,102 verses; out of those, approximately 8,352 verses contain future prophetic words (J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy). That means that about 27% of the Bible concerns itself with prophecy. In other words, about 1/4 of God’s Word, speaks to future events, both already fulfilled and still yet to be fulfilled. 

Out of these roughly 1,800 future prophetic words, there are approximately 300 specific prophecies of the Jewish Messiah (All the Messianic Prophecies of the Bible by Herbert Lockyer). 

Out of these 300, today we’re only going to concern ourselves with the lead up to Christmas. Those prophecies that were specifically about the birth of the Messiah. Some of these are going to be well known to you, some are going to interconnect, and some will build on top of each other

Let’s start with some of the most well known ones. These are the Christmas prophecies that get mentioned overtly in the Christmas story. We can call them the Who and to Whom Prophecies. 

These two prophecies are found in Isaiah. Isaiah 7:14 states, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” The second is found two chapters later in Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

These verses speak to who the Messiah will be. He will be a boy, but not just a boy, God in the flesh. He will be given many names, some of which we just read, but all will point to him being God come down to humanity. This is the Who part of the prophecies.

The to Whom part, is the person he will be born to. It will be unique, because she’ll be a young women who is a virgin. A miraculous birth for a miraculous event.
Both Matthew and Luke record these prophecies being fulfilled. Matthew 1:18-23 reads, “18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means “God with us”).”

The fulfillment in Luke 1:29-33 reads, “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.’”

Now these two prophecies may seem impossible to a person who doesn’t believe in Jesus. They can be easily dismissed as being fanciful reinterpretations of verses to fit into the Christian narrative. 

Yet there are prophecies that are given that surround historical events that are separate from the moment of Jesus’ birth. These we can call the Kingly visitors prophecies. One of these prophecies comes, not from the Jewish people themselves, but from an outside source. This outside source are men from the east, to which the Bible refers to as Magi. These kingly men are recorded in Matthew 2:2 as saying, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

This is a prophecy, which is here interpreted by non-Jewish people, and is recorded in the book of Numbers 24:17, where it reads, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth."

The visit of the Magi also fulfills another prophecy, this one from Psalm 72:10-11, “May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts. 11 May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.”

We find this fulfillment in Matthew 2:11, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

Another prophecy connected with the Magi, comes from Jeremiah 31:15, which states, “This is what the Lord says: 'A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’” Ramah is connected to the biblical figure of Rachel through her son Benjamin. Rachel died giving brith to Benjamin in the area that would later be called Bethlehem. This prophecy speaks to an event where children would be killed in and near this same place. This event is fulfilled in Matthew 2:16 and 17 where we find out, “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”

These prophecies show that the build up to the Messiah’s brith would not be a closed off event, but rather it would encompass many people from all walks of life, and from distant areas. Things uncontrollable by Jesus or his family.

The final set of prophecies we’ll look at today is a prophecy that builds upon itself and spans the whole of the Old Testament. We can call these the Lineage prophecies. It starts in Genesis 12:1 with God calling Abraham “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Abraham is being called by God to become a great nation. A nation God will work with to bring about the Messiah. We then see how this great calling of a mighty nation is reduced to a specific family in 2 Samuel 7:11b, “‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”

This forever kingdom was spoke to David. So the Messiah must come from the line of David, but we run into a problem. In Jeremiah 22:28-30 we read, “Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot, an object no one wants? Why will he and his children be hurled out, cast into a land they do not know? 29 O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord! 30 This is what the Lord says: ‘Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.’”

Why is this a problem? Because Jehoiachin is the last king to sit on the throne of Judah as an heir to David. Yet, just one chapter later, Jeremiah in chapter 23 verse 5-6 states, “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’”

So how can there both be a son of David as the Messiah, and yet, through his linage they cannot be on the throne? We find out how this is done in Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-31. In Matthew we find out that Jesus is adopted by Jospeh as his son. Jospeh is indeed in the linage of both David and Jehoiachin, yet Jesus is not the blood of Jehoiachin and therefore fulfills the prophecy of rejection of Jehoiachin’s line. Whereas in Luke we find out that, Joseph’s father-in-law, Mary’s father, is also in the line of David through David’s son Nathan. So, both by birth and by adoption Jesus fulfills two prophecies of the required linage of the Messiah. 

These are just a few of the prophecies made about the coming Messiah centuries before his birth. They are just some of the lead up that God granted humanity to know before Christmas came. From what his gender would be, to who his mother was, to the kingly people that would come to his brith, and his family’s linage, the build up to Jesus’ birth had been anticipated for over 1,500 years. 

As we ourselves, in our society and across the world, ramp up for Christmas this year, God wants us to realize that we are a microcosm of the waiting that others had to experience for centuries. Let us see this time as a time not just when we’ll get one more holiday out of the way and then on to the next, but rather see this time as moving us closer to the greatest event of history, Immanuel, God descending from his glorious throne to take on human flesh and walk this life with us. 

We must see and understand the work God did to prepare for Christmas. When we do, we can experience the immense impact it should have on our lives. By missing the build up that God prepared through the centuries, we miss the overwhelming call to the manger. We miss the call of the God who left his throne to be with his creation. We miss the perfect life he lived, and the underserving death he endured. That death was a self-sacrifice for us, but we will miss the salvation it has for us, and in the end, we will miss the eternity that God has for us.

I pray that we do not miss what Christmas truly means. The day when heaven met earth, so that God could bring humanity back from the precipice of sin and death, to himself. 

This week I want to challenge you to participate in a three part craft. Each week we’ll light a candle representing one light of the Christmas story, this week it’s the light of Prophecy. Take a three light paper found in your bulletin, and then on your way out, grab a flame to light one of those candles this week. The challenge that accompanies this is to spend this week in praise of the build up to Christmas that God did through his prophetic words. That the coming of Jesus didn’t just happen in a vacuum, but God had been carefully planning it through out the course of human history. And as an added challenge, seek out additional prophecies that were fulfilled in the Christmas story. Simply read through the first three chapters of both Matthew and Luke to see some of these additional prophecies. Then in response, continue to praise God for his prophetic words. 

Let us be a people who see the workings of God throughout history and realize that we are truly blessed to know the story of Christmas in its entirety. Amen.

2021 Thanksgiving Message

 What Happened to Thanksgiving?

The family gathered at Grandma's house.
It was the tradition year after year.
When Thanksgiving Day rolled around,
They all were expected to be here.

They sat down to a Thanksgiving meal,
And Uncle John gave thanks for the food.
Some wanted the meal to be over,
But they really didn't want to be rude.

They enjoyed the turkey and fixings
As they chattered about family news.
Then the ladies brought out desserts,
So many from which they could choose.

Then Cousin Jane arose to excuse herself.
"Grandma, your pies look really swell,
But Black Friday has already started,
And I am now late for a special sale."

Soon Cousin Tim slipped from his chair.
He said "Goodbye" to one and all.
"I am meeting my friends at the movies.
There's a new one showing at the mall."

Then Uncle Jim heard a honking horn.
"That must be my co-worker, Nate.
We're hunting for the rest of the day.
Grandma, the meal was just great!"

At the day's end, Grandma was alone,
And she got down on her knees to pray.
"I love You, Lord, and I give You thanks,
But what happened to Thanksgiving Day?”

By Margaret Cagle 

(https://www.christart.com/poetry/poem/7153)

What happened to Thanksgiving? Our society has long since moved away from giving thanks for all that we have. We jump from Halloween to Christmas, without barely a thought to Turkey Day. 

It is treated less like a day to give thanks, and more as a Black Friday Eve meal to get the calories necessary to storm box stores for the best deals. 

And the move away from Thanksgiving can be seen and felt in the fear and violence our country is facing today. When we don’t take the time to give thanks, we end up in sea of emptiness. Nothing satisfies. I never have a good enough job. I never have a good enough marriage. I never have a good enough car or house. “I never have” becomes our mantra and indeed we never have. 

Yet, those first pilgrims on that first Thanksgiving were in dire straights. 78% of the woman had died in the preceding winter. All that were left were 22 men, 4 women, and 25 children (https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/first-thanksgiving-meal). And yet, it was thanks that they gave. Thanks to the Wampanoag (wamp-a-no-ag) Indians that taught them about this new land. But greater thanks was given to God, who brought them this far. Who blessed them with their harvest after such an excruciating year. 

Giving thanks in the midst of the perils of life. Looking beyond ourselves and the situations that we are in, to give thanks to God is how this nation began its life. In 1789, President Washington wrote this decree. 

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789. (https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-sources-2/article/thanksgiving-proclamation-of-1789/)

Washington new that it was from the hand of God that our nation must turn and give thanks in order that our nation may endure. It is this very thing that we have lost. Thanksgiving has been lost, and so too, is our nation slipping away. 

So what shall we do? We must give thanks. As individuals we must raise a shout of Thanksgiving. As individuals we must stave off the selfishness that envelops our society. And the only way we can do this is by giving thanks back to God from whom all good gifts come. No matter the wars that are waged. No matter the diseases that plague us. No matter the unrest we see, or the bad news we hear, we must give thanks back to God in all situations.

So I want to challenge you, as you partake in Thanksgiving tomorrow, to give thanks for the things that you have. To stay away from going out to the box stores that feed the self-centeredness that is consuming our nation. Stay with friends and family and give thanks to God who’s give our nation so much, but no greater gift has he given than Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to bring us out of the death and darkness of our sin and into a right relationship with him. It is from this greater gift of salvation that brings us into a greater understanding of the gifts God continues to give today.

Let us close with this:

With hearth and home and pleasant rest
As Father, you your children bless
There’s one thing left to do
Thank-you

For falling leaves from Autumn trees
And all the beauty my eye sees
There’s one thing left to do
Thank-you

For dearest friends and family
For laughing, singing, joyfully
There’s one thing left to do
Thank-you

For peace and rest within our lands
protection from oppressive hands
there’s one thing left to do
Thank-you

For generosity expressed
In fruitful harvest we are blessed
There’s one thing left to do
Thank-you

In work and bounty all around
Your providence is clearly found
There’s one thing left to do
Thank-you

For things created great and small
Your gracious hands provide them all
There’s one thing left to do
Thank-you

For joyous births and newborn cries
The final rest of old and wise
There’s one thing left to do
Thank-you

For those whose service grant us peace
The military and police
There’s one thing left to do
Thank-you 

(Thank-You” by John Janzen (https://www.christart.com/poetry/poem/5476)

Amen,

Prepared - 3 Questions Series: Morality Without God

  Growing up my parents gave me a solid foundation of right and wrong through both their examples and corrections. Yet, though my parents gave me a clear sense of what was right, I still developed my own approach. And that approach was to reject it. A lot of the things that my parents tried to instill in me, I pushed away for my own desire. And looking back, I can see how desire trumped doing right. 

Yet, when I came to know Jesus as my Savior, my desire was no longer an option. My life was his, my thoughts were his, my actions, and motives were his. These things that moved me to do as I pleased were now his to control. And so, over the course of many years, which is still happening today, Jesus has moved me away from what I used to believe was right and wrong and into what he says is right and wrong. Which, funny enough, was established for me through my parents. 

And it’s this idea of right and wrong that brings us to our final week in our 3 Questions that Every Christian should be able to answer series. In our first week we answered the question, “Is Jesus a historical person?” We answered this by answering three of the four arguments that those who believe Jesus was a myth put forward. We answered how Jesus is not a collection of ancient religious stories by comparing one of those stories and Jesus’ resurrection account. We then answered that Jesus was mentioned several times by influential Roman people, even though he was an out of the way Jewish person. And finally we answered how Jesus’ Jewishness fits the archeological timeframe he lived in, even though we do not have a stone that says, “Jesus was here.”

Then last week we covered the last of the four arguments, which we combined with the greater question of, “Is the Bible reliable.” Focusing on the New Testament, we saw how the overwhelming amount of manuscripts we have, in comparison with other ancient documents, gives us an assurance that the Bible has not only been persevered throughout the centuries, but that it is an accurate recorded account by the eyewitnesses of Jesus.

This brings us to our final week where we will be looking at, what I would say, is the most pivotal question of our day that a Christians needs to be able to answer. That question is, “Can we have morality without God?"

What I mean by this isn’t, can people do “good” things? We can see that no matter your background, you can be lawful and even caring to other people. Jesus, in Matthew 5 states, “46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that (46-47)?” So we’re not talking about the end actions of a person, rather, what we’re seeking to answer is, without God does humanity have a basis on which to derive a moral standing? In other words, where does our sense of right and wrong come from?

No matter what a person’s worldview or view on spiritual matters is, I am not suggesting that a person cannot do good towards others in a human sense of goodness. Rather, is there a basis, apart from the eternal standard of God that humanity can stand on for its reason for doing good.

See the Bible is very clear that the standard of goodness comes from God. In Genesis 1, it is through God’s Word that all things are created and when they are brought into existence, God repeatedly calls them good. Why? Because they come from the desire of God, a good being. 

In Exodus 34:6-7, as God himself passes by Moses, this prophet of God has to shout out,“The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Moses’ encounter with a glimpse of who God is, points to God’s purity in morality and how there is a standard by which all people are judged.  

In Psalm 25:8, the Psalmist proclaims the, “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.” This shows the difference between God’s eternal standard of goodness and a deficiency in humanity called sin, which are those things we do that outside of God’s moral standard. Here we also see that God doesn’t just expect us to meet that standard without notice. No, he gives it to us that we might know and obey.

This should not surprise the Christian. It should not surprise us that it is from God that humanity derives our morality. Because if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you, at some point in your life, have come to realize that you stood in opposition to God. That you were in need of a Savior because you sinned and were separated from God because of that sin. And that your sin entitled you to eternal separation from God first in hell, then in the lake of fire. Yet, Jesus took the punishment of that sin, that breaking of the moral standard of God. He took it upon himself on the cross, and now you live in the freedom of Jesus. Separated, not from God, but form your sin, and now your on your way to be with him and his people for eternity. I am right with you. I was a sinner who broke the standard of God, and I was saved by the grace of God for his good pleasure.

Yet, for those who are not believers, God isn’t seen as a moral God. For some, he is even the antecedent of morality. In a debate held in 2011 at the University of Notre Dame, a popular atheist name Sam Harris said this, “Given all this that your God does not accomplish, in the lives of others. Given the misery that is being imposed on some helpless child at this instant. This kind of faith is obscene. To think in this way is to fail to reason honestly, or to care sufficiently about the suffering of other human beings.”

Harris stated earlier that God, “visits suffering on innocent people on a scope and scale that would embarrass the most ambitious psychopath.”

And in his closing statement says, “The true horror of religion is it allows perfectly decent and sane people to believe by the billions what only lunatics can believe on their own (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqaHXKLRKzg).”

Harris points to tsunamis and the death tolls that result from them, for a grand scale of God’s lack of goodness. On the minor scale, Harris points to individual people who suffer for seemingly no reason. And his conclusion is “If there is a less moral framework than the one Dr. Craig is proposing, I haven’t heard of it.”

So, let’s look at this from two perspectives. First, how the world implements a moral standard, and then how then what is God’s moral standard in response. Now, I am not arguing that all Christian endeavors are without blemish and there will be, by God’s justice, a reckoning for all that the Church has done that opposes the standard of God. Yet, what is God’s standard even when his people fail to meet it?

First, let’s cover children. Harris brings them up a lot in his speech, so I think that’s a good place to start. 

In the Roman world that Christianity was birthed into, the Greek historian Polybius (approx. 200-118 B.C.) wrote, “In our times the whole of Greece has suffered a shortage of children and hence a general decrease of the population…This evil grew upon us rapidly and overtook us before we were aware of it, the simple reason being that men had fallen prey to inflated ambitions, love of money and indolence, with the result that they were unwilling to marry, or if they did marry, to bring up the children that were born to them; or else they would only rear one or two out of a large number (“The Rise of the Roman Empire”, Book 36, 17)…”

It was a common practice for the ancient world to abandon children when they were unwanted. This has a parallel in our society in both the foster care system and the abortion industry. 

So what is God’s standard? We find this out in places like James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world…” In response to the society’s lack of care for all children, Christians began creating orphanages so that these unwanted children could be taken care of. God’s standard is that all children are important to him. Yet, apart from God, children are usually treated as second class citizens in most societies.

Let’s turn our attention to another issue in a different strain. Our personal view of self. In his debate with William Lane Craig, Sam Harris says that Christianity in particular is narcissistic, because Christians say that Jesus died for them. Now if you don’t know, narcissism is an inordinate fascination with oneself and excessive self-love (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/narcissism).

We can see how in the last thirty years or so, the emphasis on self importance has skyrocketed. This is why people say that millennials are so self absorbed. Our society says, “Everyone gets a participation trophy…you can bee anything you want to be.” Self-esteem books are everywhere and what does that lead to? In an article written in Psychology today back in 2014, Peter Gray wrote, “Over the years…questionnaires have been administered to many samples of college students, and analyses that bring all of the data together reveal that the average narcissism score has been steadily increasing and the average empathy score has been steadily decreasing ever since the questionnaires were developed. The changes are highly significant statistically and sufficiently large that approximately 70 percent of students today score higher on narcissism and lower on empathy than did the average student 30 years ago (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201401/why-is-narcissism-increasing-among-young-americans).”

And with the advent of Social Media, this narcissism has only increased.

Yet, God’s standard in this case is found in places such as James 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” Christians are to seek humility not narcissism. We are to be those who don’t think of ourselves as anything greater than what God says we are. Why, because we are saved by grace, and not for anything that we have done (Ephesians 2:8-10). 

Yet as our society moves away from biblical teaching, we are seeing narcissism increasing. 

Finally, people say that Christianity has been used to destroy the lives of millions through the centuries. In fact, Harris says that the God of the Bible is psychopathic because of the hurt that groups like the Spanish Inquisition have enacted on people. Yet, what is God’s standard?

Just reading through Jesus’ words in in Matthew 5 anyone can see how high the standard of God is when in comes to being faithful and caring in our relationships. Starting in verse 21 Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment….27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart…You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you…43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”

Anyone can take the Bible and use it to hurt people, but that is not the standard that God has set. Yet, when we look at the alternative from the last century, we can see what happened when humanity, apart from God, is given free rein as applied to government. 

Josef Stalin stated, “Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs.”

Vladimir Lenin is said to have stated, “Russians are too kind, they lack the ability to apply determined methods of revolutionary terror (attributed, Lenin: Life and Legacy).”

William Provine wrote, “Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear … There are no gods, no purposes, no goal-directed forces of any kind. There is no life after death. When I die, I am absolutely certain that I am going to be dead. That’s the end for me. There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning to life, and no free will for humans, either (Origins Research. 1994, p. 9)…”

Provine writes elsewhere, “No inherent moral or ethical laws exist, nor are there any absolute guiding principles for human society. The universe cares nothing for us and we have no ultimate meaning in life (Scientists, Face it! Science and Religion are Incompatible, 1998)…”

So what happens when you have no moral standard by which to point to for all humanity? You get the bloodiest century of all human history.

61,911,000 Murdered in the Soviet Gulag State.

35,236,000 Murdered in the Communist Chinese Ant Hill. 

20,946,000 Murdered in the Nazi Genocide State.

10,214,000 Murdered by the Chinese Nationalist Regime.

1,670,000 Murdered in the Vietnamese War State.

About 1,663,000 Murdered in North Korea.

A total of 131,501,000 murdered in the name of Humanistic Morality. A morality that rejects God, and instead makes the human the source of mortality.

On taking in all of this type of information, John Steinrucken wrote a book called Secularisms Ongoing Debt to Christianity. In it he stated, “Those who doubt the effect of religion on morality should seriously ask the question: Just what are the immutable moral laws of secularism? Be prepared to answer, if you are honest, that such laws simply do not exist (2010)!”

When people do good outside of following God, when people say I can be moral without God, they are really stealing God’s moral standard and using it as their own. Because apart from God, we have no moral standard. When humanity is the basis for morality, there is no moral standard to be found. 

So the answer to the question is there morality without God is, no, there is no basis for morality without God.

Yet there is a moral standard that comes from the person of God and God is the only person who meets that standard. I have fallen short of God’s perfect standard, and so has everyone else in the world. And we know it. We know we have, because when confronted with God’s standard we see in ourselves the deficiently that’s there.

Yet, we should rejoice in God’s perfect standard as Paul does in Romans 7, “12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

When we are faced with God’s standard we are confronted with our deficiency in meeting it. Yet here lies the goodness of Jesus, he was not deficient in keeping the standard of God. And by keeping it, he made a way for us to be reconciled with God; having our sin of falling short of God’s standard dealt with at the cross. 

It is from God we derive our morals, because when God is taken out of the picture our morals become not based on anything. Yet, though the world might reject God’s standard, we still will be judged. And that judgement will come three-fold: By the standard of God, by our own standard, and by the choice of accepting Jesus or not. And if we haven’t accepted Jesus as our Savior, then the other two standards will condemn us. 

So my challenge for you this week is to understand that morality without God is a tornado of destruction. And when a person does good, it’s based on the God whom they may reject. So pray for the people around you. Ask God that you may have this conversation of where does a person’s good acts come from? We need to be praying for people, because at the end, it does’t matter if they accept God’s moral standard or not, they will be judged based on it. We need to pray that people will see their need for Jesus, because they fall short of the moral standard, just like we did. So pray this week for God’s revealing of himself to people who think that they are good enough.

Let us be a praying people, who know that any good in us or in our lives, is from God himself, because without him we are nothing. But praise God that he makes us right. Amen.