Advent Day 14: Jesus Came to Free Us from Fear of Death

[14] Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, [15] and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 

(Hebrews 2:13-15 ESV)

Fear can makes us slaves.  When we're afraid of something we limit what we do to avoid the thing we fear.  If you're afraid of the water, you never learn to swim and you stay away from the ocean.  If you're afraid of crowds, you stay away from social gatherings.  If you're afraid of spiders and insects, you may never go camping.  All of these fears create virtual walls in our life that keep us from these experiences.

In the same way, the author of Hebrews tells us that we were held in lifelong slavery by fear of death. Fearing death make us slaves because it keeps us from living life to the fullest in obedience to Christ. When all death holds for us is eternal condemnation, then we have every reason to be terrified of breathing our last. Satan, the accuser of the saints, loves to remind us of what we deserve.  He wants us to be terrified of what waits for us in eternity.  

Jesus, however, took on flesh and blood so that through death he could destroy the one who had the power of death, the Devil.  Without flesh and blood, Jesus could never die.  He is eternal. But, by taking on mortal flesh he allowed his body to be killed. Through his substitutionary death on the cross he destroyed the Devil, achieved our redemption, and freed us to fear death no longer.

This kind of freedom allows you to live for the glory of Christ, even if it may cost you your life. Hebrews 13:5-6 says, "5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”

Of course, there's an answer to that question.  Man can kill us.  But, the author of Hebrews knows that we need not fear death.  Man cannot take eternity with Christ away from us.  That's why Paul was able to say, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21)

Jesus came as a baby, sharing in flesh and blood, to free us from fear of death. Therefore, we are no longer slaves of fear, but free to live in obedience to Christ,  

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Advent Day 13: Jesus Came to Reconcile Us to the Father

[18] All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself 

and gave us the ministry of reconciliation

(2 Corinthians 5:18 ESV)

What's the difference between a reunion and a reconciliation?  I think we sometimes use these words in the same way, but the difference between them is really important.  A reunion happens when two or more people who haven't seen each other for a long time come together again.  They have been reunited.  Reconciliation, on the other hand, happens when two or more people who have intentionally distanced themselves because of a conflict come together again.  One requires finding someone and working out your schedules.  The other requires forgiveness and grace.

Many people believe they just need to be reunited with God; like two long lost friends that have just drifted apart over time.  They've done their own thing for a while.  They haven't talked to God for a while, but now they're ready to return to the loving and accepting arms of God.  That's a reunion.

The Bible, however, says we need more than a reunion with God.  We need to be reconciled to God.  Romans 5:10 says we were God's enemies in need of reconciliation, "For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son."  We weren't just strangers or former acquaintances that had not seen one another in a while.  We were God's enemies.  All of us.  Enemies don't need a reunion to come together, they need to be reconciled.

The only way for us to be reconciled to God was for the wrath of God that stood against us to be satisfied.  The full cup of the fury of God's wrath stood against us.  But, Jesus stood in our place and on the cross took the cup of wrath we deserved and drank it to the bottom.  Therefore, because God's wrath was no longer aimed at us, we could be reconciled to God the Father.  Our relationship could be restored.  That reconciliation could have only happened by Jesus taking on flesh and standing in our place. "All this from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:18).

1 Cor. 5:18 says God took the initiative to bring us back to himself in the death of his Son; an astonishing act of grace from God the Father.  There's nothing we could have done to make things right with God.  He had to bring it to pass.  And in the person of Jesus Christ taking on flesh he brought it to pass.

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Advent Day 12: Jesus Came to be Our Righteousness

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, 

righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, 

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 

(1 Corinthians 1:30-31 ESV)

Forgiveness is a common word, even outside of Christianity.  There's a common recognition that healthy relationships must be based on forgiveness.  People, for the most part, quickly realize that holding on to anger and bitterness toward others only serves to tear apart their own souls. Furthermore, everyone has been in a position of needing to be forgiven.  We've all wronged someone and wanted them not to hold it against us.

Therefore, when people talk about God, forgiveness is a familiar concept.  We can understand our need for forgiveness; for God not to hold our sins against us.  Most people who believe in a divine power, however, believe that forgiveness comes easy.  They believe it's accomplished with a wave of a wand.  Of course, that's not possible for the One True God who is also the perfect and righteous judge (See Advent Day 10).  Jesus had to take the wrath of God we deserved for our sins in order for us to be freely forgiven.

But, forgiveness is not enough for us to be with God for all eternity.  Even the blood-bought, atoning work of Christ on the cross and the forgiveness it affords, by itself, is not enough.  That's a shocking statement.  Let me explain.

The Law of God demands that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength.  That's what God requires. We can be forgiven for every sin we have committed and every righteous act we have neglected, but that will never get us to obedience.  Therefore, forgiveness doesn't make us righteous.  And, we need to be righteous to spend eternity with God the Father.

That's why Christ not only died for us, but he also lived for us.  1 Corinthians 1:30-31 says that Jesus became to us righteousness.  Or, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake, he made him who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  The righteousness we need is the righteousness God gives to us through the perfect life of his son.  Romans 5:19 puts it this way, "For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."

When Jesus walked this earth in the flesh, he never failed to obey his Father.  He perfectly kept the Law and never faltered in faith. He loved His Father with all his heart, soul, and strength.  And, in the grace of God, when we trust in Christ, God takes that perfect life and places it on us.  He imputes it to us so that, at the judgment seat of God, we are seen with the righteousness of Christ.

Jesus came to die, but he also came to live.  We need the righteousness given to us by his perfect life just as much as we need the forgiveness bought by the cross.  He "was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification" (Romans 4:25).

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Advent Day 11: Jesus Came to be Our Great High Priest

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, 

so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, 

to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 

(Hebrews 2:17 ESV)

When we hear the word priest, many different images come to mind.  If you're from a catholic background, you think of the leader of your local parish.  Many just picture a man with a white block in the middle of his collar in sharp contrast to the black shirt.  Others may think of Old Testament images of the Levitical priesthood offering sacrifices.

When Hebrews uses the language of priest, it's referring to the sacrifice offering, Levitical priesthood.  These men were responsible for administering the many different sacrifices and offerings the people of Israel were required to give.  It was their job to mediate between the people and God.  The priests were allowed to do certain things and be in certain places in the Temple that the common people were not.  Hebrews 5:1 defines their role this way, "For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins."

These priests, being sinful humans themselves, also had to offer sacrifices for their own sins in addition to the sins of the people.  So, their work was never done because they and the people they served were never done sinning.  And, because the law and sacrificial system has "but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near" (Hebrews 10:1).

Therefore, if our sins were to be forgiven, we needed the substance, not the shadow.  And, in Christ we have been given the substance.  He came to be our perfect and last Great High Priest, "Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17).  Because Jesus took on flesh, he was able to become the high priest we needed.  

Jesus, being perfect and without sin, did not need to offer sacrifices for himself; nor, does he need to continually offer sacrifices for the people.  Instead, he "offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins" and "sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12). A priest was never able to sit down because his work was never done.  The temple had all kinds of furniture - tables, bowls, and candles.  But, one thing it didn't have was chairs.  When Jesus offered himself as the propitiation for our sins he sat down. He was finished.  There was no more sacrificial work to be done.

Let's be thankful this Christmas that Jesus was made to be like us by taking on flesh so that he could become our merciful and faithful high priest.

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Advent Day 10: Jesus Came to Demonstrate God's Justice

[25] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. [26] It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 

(Romans 3:25-26 ESV)

In America, we take great pride in the justice of our judicial system.  We want judges to preside over cases, treating both sides with fairness and equity.  We don't want judges to decide the outcome ahead of time, but judge on the facts of the case - or lead a jury to do so. 

 Imagine, however, if there was a judge that continually let guilty people walk out of the courtroom as free men.  I don't mean controversial cases where there's uncertainty about guilt or innocence, but cases where guilt is absolutely clear.  Yet, the judge keeps letting them walk free, declaring their guilt and not giving them the sentence they deserve.  The public outcry would be loud against the lack of justice in the judge's courtroom.

In Romans, Paul is saying we should have similar feelings after reading the Old Testament.  Romans 3:25 says that God, "in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins."  In other words, there were sins committed before the days of Jesus, for which God had not held people accountable.  That's what "passed over" means.  He didn't give them what they deserved for their sins.

For example, in 2 Samuel, King David murders Uriah and takes his wife as his own.  If there's a sin worthy of the death penalty, that's it.  Yet, David lives on as King of Israel.  He faces consequences and punishment for his sin, but he's not stoned like the man who gathers sticks on the Sabbath in Numbers 15:32ff.  David's punishment was not justice.  God passed over his sin.

How can a perfectly just judge, pass over sins, not giving people what they deserve?  According to Romans 3:25-26, we have to look at Jesus for the answer to that question.  God put Jesus forward as a propitiation by his blood.  That means Jesus was given as a sacrifice that appeased the wrath of God.  So, by putting Christ forward as a propitiation it showed God's righteousness.  It showed that he will not leave sin unpunished.  How?  By providing Jesus as a substitute for the punishment that His people deserve.  

According to Romans 3:26, this allows God to be both just (punish sins as they deserve) and the justifier (one who makes someone righteous) of those who have faith in Christ.  In other words, for God to declare guilty people righteous and not punish them would be unjust.  But, because Christ's death on the cross satisfied the wrath of God, he can remain just and justify his people at the same time.

The only way any of this grace and forgiveness is possible is by Jesus taking on flesh and dying on the cross for sinners.  Because of Jesus, God remains just and we are able to be forgiven.  This is at the very core of what we should meditate on this Christmas.

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Advent Day 9: Jesus Came to Shine Light Into the Darkness

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. 

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

(John 8:12 ESV)

What makes darkness so scary?  I ask that question every time my children stop at the threshold of my dark bedroom.  They just can't make themselves walk through the darkness to get to the bathroom. So, at night, they head toward the room to do what we've asked, but then we hear them call for us.  They refuse to go in the dark room.

Why is that so scary for them?  The same reason walking into a unknown dark house would be scary for you. It's not that darkness itself is scary.  No one ever looked at a picture of a dark room and found it terrifying.  Darkness is scary because it keeps us from knowing what's in the room.  It blinds us to what is there.

According to the Bible, this world is walking around in darkness.  It doesn't feel like darkness, at least not the kind we're used to.  Nor do people realize they're walking around in darkness.  It's a darkness of a different sort.  It still blinds us to what is there, but it doesn't blind our physical eyes.  It blinds our spiritual eyes.  This world exists in spiritual darkness, blind to the reality of the glories of God - the very reality that could bring eternal joy and satisfaction to our souls.

Into that world, Jesus comes in the flesh.  Isaiah 9:2-6, hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, told us that a son would be born and the people who walked in darkness would see a great light.  John 1:4-5 says about Jesus, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."  And, of course, Jesus himself says in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Jesus came to shine light into the darkness.  He came so that we could finally see the glories of His Father and the majesty of Jesus himself.  But, this light can't just be cast onto the world and all of the sudden everyone will see.  Our sin has pushed us into an even deeper darkness.  Not only are we living in darkness but our spiritual eyes are actually blind.  John 1:9-10 says that even though the light was shining, the world still couldn't see, "[9] The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him."

Therefore, in God's grace toward sinners he shines this light into our souls to give us sight, "[6] For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6)

So, this Christmas we can praise God that Jesus came into this world to shine light into the darkness, so that we can finally see the glory of God that will satisfy our souls for all eternity.  

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Advent Day 8: Jesus Came to Become a Curse

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - 

for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” 

14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, 

so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 

(Galatians 3:13-14 ESV)

We like measurable goals.  We're wired to want to know how we're doing by comparing ourselves to some standard.  Students are tested and given scores.  Employees are given performance reviews.  And, every statistic imaginable is used to evaluate college and professional athletes.  There are RBI's, slugging percentage, value over replacement, wins over replacement, efficiency ratings, and more acronyms than you can imagine.

All of these are tools used to evaluate performance.  We want tangible results, not gut feelings.  

And, if we're being honest, many of us would love to have statistics to apply to the Christian life; some way of measuring how we're doing.  We could come up with all kinds of ratings: APA (answered prayer average), or BCRD (Bible Chapters Read Per Day), or the Giving Index, or perhaps the Conversion percentage would measure how many people become Christians when we talk to them.

Of course, we view such nonsense as silly, but in reality we all slide into some form of this.  We cherry pick from the Bible things we tend not to struggle with and make it the gold standard for faithfulness.  All the while, we conveniently forget commands like, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" Matthew 22:37.  We know that's not achievable, so we focus on other things instead.  Read my Bible, check.  Prayed for a few minutes, check.  Memorized a verse, check.  Encourage someone today, check.

But, Galatians 3:10 does away with any hope we have of obeying any of God's Law, "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”  In other words, if we don't obey every word of the Law then we're cursed.  It doesn't matter how well we do at just one part, Galatians says we have to obey all of it.  And, if we don't, we're cursed.

Therefore, you're cursed.  I'm confident, for example, that none of us can honestly say that we have loved God with all our being.  But, the good news of Christmas is that Jesus came to become a curse for you and for me.  He took our curse on himself on the cross so that we could receive the blessing of Abraham, the promise of the Spirit, and eternal life.  

Without the birth of baby Jesus, you would still be under the curse of the Law.  But, because he came down from heaven to become a curse, you can become a saint.

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Advent Day 7: Jesus Came to Accomplish the Will of His Father

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 

(John 6:38-40 ESV)

Jesus is radically committed to accomplishing the will of his Father.  We see it over and over again in the Scriptures.  In Matthew 6:10 the disciples ask Jesus how to pray.  In response, he tells them to pray to the Father, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  When Jesus teaches people to pray, he tells them to ask for His Father's will to be done. 

On the night when Jesus would later be arrested, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him to Gethsemane to spend time in prayer with his Father, "then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me'" (Matthew 26:38).  He then walks away from them for a time of solitude and prays, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39)

On that night, Jesus knows what he is going to face over the next day, pressing his soul into deep sorrow.  But, even so, what Jesus cares most deeply about is not his own will, but that of his Father. He is willing to do whatever it takes to bring about his Father's will. 

It is with this radical commitment to his Father's will that Jesus says, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me" (John 6:38).  We're given a mission statement for Jesus' birth from his own lips.  Jesus took on flesh and came as a human baby because of his passion for the will of His Father.

And, when we learn what the will of the Father is our hearts should overflow with joy; "this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day" (John 6:39).  Jesus' commitment to his Father's will is a commitment to the endurance of our faith.  Verse 40 tells us that those who believe in the Son will be kept by the Son, and will be raised up on the last day.  Those who the Father gives to the Son, will believe, and those who believe will be kept by him.

Our hope and confidence is found in the steadfast and unwavering desire Jesus has to accomplish the will of his Father. The Father's will is that Jesus not lose even one soul of those who have been given to him.  Not one.  Have no doubt, he will get it done. 

When we reflect on the birth of Jesus this Christmas, we can see in the manger the assurance of our salvation. The reason he came to earth was to be sure those who the Father gave him trust him to the very last day.

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Advent Day 6: Jesus Came to Show us the Way to the Father

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through me. 

(John 14:6 ESV)

Often in our Western, Christian influenced, American culture we don't fully appreciate the radical nature of Jesus' words.  We want to respect him as a good teacher, but we do it by dulling the sharp edge his words are intended to have.  In fact, CS Lewis made a well-known argument that we basically have three options when we encounter Jesus: We can take him for a liar, we can ignore him as a lunatic, or we can worship him as Lord.  He's a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

This is how Lewis concludes his argument in Mere Christianity, "You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

John 14:6 is the kind of teaching to which Lewis was referring.  No sane, well-meaning, human teacher can say, "I am the way . . . no one comes to the Father except through me."  Can you imagine a well-respected teacher making that claim today? "You must follow me if you intend to have a relationship with God the Father." We wouldn't respect that man as a wise teacher.  We would shove him into disillusioned cult leader status.

Jesus didn't leave us any wiggle room with this statement.  If all he had said was, "I am the way," maybe we could have found some creative ways to wiggle out of the seemingly narrow statement.  Maybe he meant I am the way for the Jewish people.  Or maybe he meant I am the way for those who follow me.  Creative minds, wanting to pursue their own way, find other explanations.

But, Jesus didn't stop there.  He added a line that locks us in, "no one comes to the Father except through me."  No one means no one.  Jesus said that no one is able to have a restored relationship with God the Father unless they go through him.  With those two sentences Jesus called every other religion in the history of mankind false.

Jesus came to earth as a baby, in the flesh, to make clear that the only way to a restored relationship with our creator is through him.

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Advent Day 5: Jesus Came to Be Our Example of Humility

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."

Philippians 2:5-7

Christmas always brings images of Jesus to mind.  When we sing "Away in a Manger" the image is Jesus gently laying his head on the hay, noisy cattle waking him from his sleep, but no crying he makes.  The no crying part rhymes well with "wakes," but there's no reason to think baby Jesus didn't cry.  He was a baby that needed to be fed just like any other baby; and, babies cry to let their mothers know it's time to eat.  

But, the astonishing, mind-blowing, almost unbelievable reality is found in who this helpless baby, crying for his mother's milk, really is.  To grasp the full measure of the miracle of the incarnation, Jesus taking on flesh, we have to meditate on the eternal glory of Jesus.

There are many passages at which we could look, but Colossians 1:15-17 beautifully captures the glories of Christ in just a few verses:

[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. [17] And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Jesus is the image of God himself.  All things were created by him - whether you can see them or not. Whether those things exist on earth or in heaven; the smallest atomic particle to the blazing bright stars in the outer reaches of the universe. Every power, every government, and every ruler was created by him.  And, not only were all of these created through him, but they were also created for him.  They exist to bring glory to Jesus.  And everything that has ever been created would collapse and fall apart if for one moment Jesus ceased to hold it all together.

This is the Jesus laying on a pile of hay, crying for more milk from his mother.  No one has ever, or will ever, humble themselves to a greater degree.  Therefore, in Philippians 2:5-7 Paul calls us to have this mind as well.  In fact, verse 3 of Philippians 2 tells us that in humility we are to "count others more significant than yourselves."

As we think about the baby in a manger this Christmas, we must remember that Jesus is our example of humility.  Therefore, we should spend Christmas celebrating the humility of Jesus by finding ways to treat other people as more important than ourselves.

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Advent Day 4: Jesus Came to Seek and Save the Lost

"For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost"

Luke 19:10

Nobody liked Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10).  He had two strikes against him - he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Tax collectors in Jesus' time had the authority of the Roman government to collect taxes, but they had the freedom to add a "personal service fee" of any amount.  So, if someone owed a hundred dollars to the Roman government, Zacchaeus was allowed to collect the hundred dollars plus any amount above that to put in his own pocket.  So, they hated him because he took money for the Roman government, they hated him because he was rich, and they hated him because his riches came by cheating people out of theirs.

This sinning tax collector heard that Jesus was in town and wanted to join the crowds to get a look at him.  But, Zacchaeus had a problem because, as the song says, he "was a wee little man."  Or perhaps Luke puts it a little more respectfully, he was "small in stature."  So, he climbed a tree to get a look at Jesus from above the crowds.  And, when Jesus passed by Zacchaeus' life changed forever.  Jesus looked up in the tree, called Zacchaeus by name, and told him that he wanted to come spend some time in his house.

You probably could have heard the collective gasp from the Pharisees when those words came out of Jesus' mouth.  Luke says they grumbled, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." They couldn't believe that someone who was claiming to be a man of God would dare associate with such people.  How could he?  In their minds, to be with sinners was sin.  

Furthermore, the Pharisees assumed any man of God would want to spend time with them.  They were the holy ones.  They were the ones who had it all figured out.  God would be honored to have them, they thought.

But, the reason Jesus came to earth wasn't for people like the Pharisees.  He didn't come for the ones who thought they were good enough for God.  He came for the ones who were far from God.  He came, as Luke says, "to seek and save the lost."  This is really good news for us!  If you feel like you're not good enough for God, like you're far from him, like he could never love a person like you, then you're the exact kind of person he's going after.

This Christmas remember that King Jesus left his eternal dwelling with the Father to be born in a filthy manger and walk the streets of earth to seek out the lost, not the righteous.  And, praise God that Jesus' mission hasn't changed.  He's still going after the lost today.

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Advent Day 3: Jesus Came to Make Us Children of God

"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, 

he gave the right to become children of God, 

who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh

 nor of the will of man, but of God."

John 1:12-13

Jesus came to make us children of God.  That statement assumes what many people deny.  Not everyone is a child of God.  We hear the phrase all the time, "We're all children of God."  But, John says only some are given that right - those who believe in the name of Jesus.

Now, to give the benefit of the doubt, what most people mean when they use the phrase "children of God" is that we are all created by God.  They're pointing to the biblical truth that we're all created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26) - all of us; regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, geography, size, age, or shape.  Every human being bears the image of God and should be valued and treated with dignity and respect.  And, while we can all agree on this truth, we should be careful with the language we use.

The Bible defines "children of God" in a different way.  It means more than just being created in his image.  In fact, the Bible tells us that instead of being born as children of God we are born as enemies of God, "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life" Romans 5:10. The Bible tells us that we were hostile to God, "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds" Colossians 1:21.

Therefore, since we are not naturally children of God, we have to become children of God, as John 1:12-13 says.  And, there are incredible blessings attached to being a child of God.  Those who are children of God are actually co-heirs with Christ himself, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ" Romans 8:15-16.

Don't rob yourself of this glorious reality by believing you are a child of God apart from Christ.  John 1:12 tells us that if we believe in Jesus we will be children of God.

This Christmas, praise God for sending Jesus as a child so that you might become a child of God.

Advent Day 1

Advent Day 2

Advent Day 2: Jesus Came to Serve

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, 

and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  

(Mark 10:45 ESV)

Kings who invade foreign lands always intend to be served.  You can search the history books and you will fail to find a king who invaded a land to serve the people.  They come to increase their power, their influence, their wealth, and a whole host of other reasons.  But, it's never to give of themselves.  They come to take, never to give.  They come to be served, not to serve.  They come to kill, not to sacrifice.

There's only one King who has ever invaded another land and then washed the feet of the people. There's only one King who came to give his life instead of taking life.  His name is Jesus.

It's astonishing that King Jesus, the creator of the universe who holds all things together by the word of His power, came not to be served, but to serve.  But, that's exactly what he says in Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  How could one of such power, and prestige, and glory, and worth, come to serve us?

It's hard to wrap our minds around, but that's the astonishing truth of the gospel.  Jesus came to earth and took on flesh so that he could serve us by giving his life in our place.  And, let's make no mistake about it, Jesus' life was not taken from him.  He gave it up. "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father" (John 10:18).

The baby lying in the manger came to serve you by giving his life in place of yours, so that you might live for all eternity.

Advent Day 1: Jesus Came to Crush the Head of Satan

"I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel."

Genesis 3:15

On the sixth day of creation, God made Adam and Eve.  They were created to worship God, enjoy his creation, care for his creation, and multiply and fill the earth.  God provided abundantly for all of their needs.  He created the garden of Eden, placed Adam in it and created Eve to join him.  God told them that the fruit trees in the garden were for them.  They could feast on all the trees, except one.  Adam wasn't told why or given any kind of reason.  God simply said don't eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

But, one day Eve decided to listen to someone else.  In Genesis 3 the serpent, who we know as Satan, began to twist the words of God and convince her that God was keeping something good from her that she should have.  After all, why wouldn't you want to be wise and know good and evil, she thought.  So, she took some of the fruit from the forbidden tree and then gave some to her husband.

Immediately their eyes were opened, they realized their sin and that they were exposed before God.  They tried to run and hide from God, but it was of no use.  When he approaches them, he asks them to tell him what they did.  And, after they answered him, he doesn't address Adam and Eve first.  Instead, he turns his attention to this devious and deceptive serpent and part of what he said to him was, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" Gen. 3:15.

As the Scriptures move forward through thousands of years we track with this promised, head crushing, offspring of Eve through Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and King David.
Then, when we turn to Matthew 1 we find out that Joseph was a descendant of King David, tracing his line all the way back to Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Noah, and Adam and Eve, making Jesus a descendant of King David.   Jesus is the long awaited promised offspring from Genesis 3:15.  And, we know that he has a job to do: he must crush the head of Satan.

But, he doesn't crush it in the way anyone would expect with a powerful military victory or a physical fight.  In fact, Jesus doesn't appear victorious at all. He died on a cross. But, on the cross, Jesus crushes any hope of victory that Satan had by bearing the condemnation for the sin of all of God's people.  None of them would be cut off from eternity by his cunning deception.  He crushed the head of Satan by allowing his own body to be beaten and crucified.  But, when he rose from the grave, Satan took his position under his heel.

The Deception of Ease: Reflections on Jeremiah 44:11-19

Far too often Christians offer Jesus as a solution to problems he never promised to fix:

Come to Jesus and your financial problems will disappear.  Come to Jesus and you'll get a job, find the spouse of your dreams, and be able to have children.  Come to Jesus and you won't be homeless anymore or your debt burden will go away. 

They make Jesus into a genie, but he grants as many wishes as we can dream; none of this silly limit of three.

But, what if things get worse when they come to Jesus?  What if their debt increases, their fiance breaks off the engagement, the infertility of continues, and the homeless man gets kicked out of the shelter?  If we make promises Jesus never offered, then their natural response will be, "I'm not any better off with Jesus than I was without him?"

That's what the people of Jeremiah's day were asking.  In chapter 44 Jeremiah rebukes God's people who were exiled to Egypt because they were worshiping the"queen of heaven."  He warns them that God intended to punish them for turning away from him and looking to this so called, "queen of heaven."

Their response?  Verses 16-17, "We will not listen to you, but we will do everything we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven."

Why did they refuse to listen?  Because, life was easier when they worshiped the queen.  Verses 17-18, "for then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. But, since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven . . . we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and famine."

They were going to do whatever they thought made their life easier.  It didn't matter to them if it was the queen of heaven, Yahweh, or Thor.  They just wanted things to be easy.

When all we offer with Jesus is a life of ease, we're placing him on an equal playing field with everybody else that makes the same offer.  And, if someone else works, then they should follow them.  Devotion becomes nothing more than pragmatism.

But, Jesus offers something greater and exponentially more glorious than being able to pay our bills. So, let's not reduce him to a glorified genie.  He offers us perfect joy and satisfaction in him for all eternity instead of the eternal condemnation we all deserve.  Furthermore, the path to the eternal joy may be filled with suffering and trials to get our eyes off the stuff of this world and on the glory of Jesus.

So, when we share the gospel or lead someone in discipleship, don't promise what Jesus doesn't.  The promises Jesus made are glorious in and of themselves - don't try to make them better.  You can't.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Jesus Will Take Your Jersey

It's old news now.  But, the image stuck with me.

It's been over a year since Ray Rice, a running back for the Baltimore Ravens, was caught beating his fiance on a surveillance camera.  In response, the Ravens offered any one who owned an official Ray Rice Jersey the opportunity to exchange it for the jersey of another Ravens player, at no cost.

On September 19th of 2014 over 7,000 people showed up to trade in Rice's jersey.  Stories published about the event included photos of a line of people stretching out away from the stadium, with Ray Rice jerseys in hand.

It's that image I still think about today.  It's still with me a year later.

Thousands of people were willing to wait in line for hours, some arriving as early as 4 am to get their place in line.  They didn't want to wear the name Rice on their backs anymore.  His name was tarnished.  He was a man who had beaten a woman.  There was too much shame in that name, too much guilt, too much disgust.

Who would be willing to wear that name on their back?

Jesus.

That's the shocking good news of the gospel.  Jesus was willing to take the guilt of our sin and make it his own.  That's what 2 Corinthians 5:21 means when it says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

It's as if Jesus said give me the jersey with your name on it.  I'll wear the one that says Brooks - with all the guilt of your pride, jealousy, hatred, anger, lying, and selfishness.  I'll put that on my shoulders and I'll take the judgment from my Father that you deserve.

Imagine if the line at the stadium that day was filled with people wearing a jersey with their own name on it, representing all the guilt of all their past sins.  And, when they get to the front of the line, Jesus is there and he says, "Give me your jersey.  I'll bear the guilt and take the punishment you deserve."  Jersey after jersey after jersey - he puts them all on.  He puts on every single one, bearing all the sin and guilt of every name of every person who comes to him.

And, with each jersey he puts on his shoulders, he reaches into a box and gives out the cleanest, brightest, white jersey you've ever seen with the name JESUS stitched on the back.  He wears all the guilt of your name and you get to wear all the righteousness of his.  

That's the great exchange of the Gospel.  Jesus gets our sin, we get his perfect life.  Jesus endures the cross, we gain eternity full of joy in his presence.

An Open Letter to NASA's Chief Scientist

Written in response to statements made in NASA's recent panel discussion titled Water in the Universe.

Dear NASA,

Many Christians don't trust science.  That's unfortunate, because Christians should view science as a gift of God by which we make incredible discoveries about His world.  We can worship God as we discover the intricacies of a flower or the majestic power of a solar flare.  We can relieve suffering through medical technology and advancements in creating clean water.  As Christians, we should not deny the good that science has brought to our world.  It's something for which we should thank God.
I'm thankful for science and I'm thankful for most of the work NASA is doing.  For example, we have all benefited from the marvels shown to us by the Hubble Telescope.  What an amazing, awe-inspiring universe we live in.  Thank you for pulling back the curtain on the universe!

Psalm 19 tells us that the glory of God can be seen both in creation and through his Word.  I'm thankful NASA has helped us see more of God's handiwork.

Having said that, I think non-Christian scientists are often baffled when Christians doubt their scientific findings; whether it be questions about evolution, the age of the earth, the fossil record, or other similar issues.

While we could have a whole other conversation about those issues, the main point I want to make is this: declaring your bias up front doesn't help your cause.  Maybe my memory is foggy and maybe I don't have a grasp of the modern scientific process.  But, my elementary understanding of the scientific method is I first make a hypothesis, then create a way to test my hypothesis, then I observe the data objectively and decide if it confirms or conflicts with my hypothesis.

NASA has a hypothesis - there is life of some kind on either other planets, moons, asteroids, or other space objects.  NASA is currently testing that hypothesis and observing the data, I hope, objectively.  But, the latest statements from your panel discussion make me doubt it.  It sounds like the conclusion has already been decided.  You said,  "I think we're going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade, and I think we're going to have definitive evidence within 20 to 30 years."

That doesn't sound like objective observation to me.  It sounds like: "we know that life exists somewhere out there, we just haven't found it yet and need a little more time to implement our technology."  Maybe the word "think" was carefully chosen in that sentence and it was just a restatement of a hypothesis that already exists.  But, on the surface, it makes it sound like you've already decided.  And, because of your position as Chief Scientist it places unintended pressure on those who work for you to discover what you have already declared to be.  This kind of bias creates distrust and can drive the wedge further between religion and scientific discovery; a wedge that doesn't need to exist.