There are many places I have visited around the world, and in most of them I have been well received. But there have been a few places where God was not working and the atmosphere was very cold. These experiences remind me of what Jesus experienced as He entered the world He created. Yesterday, I wrote of the hatred in Herod – an ugly reception that hurt innocent mothers.
Yet, God always paves the way for His Son, the Savior and Son of Righteousness, with a few warm, receptive hearts. In each example below, some gave Jesus a warm reception because they were divinely prepared. · The wise men who “saw His star…and came to worship Him” (Matthew 2:2). · Elizabeth who “was filled with the Holy Spirit” and blessed Mary in her pregnancy with Jesus (Luke 1:41-42). · The shepherds who received the news from the angel that “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (2:11). · Simeon “took [Jesus] up in his arms and blessed God” (2:28). · The widow, Anna “that very hour…began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (2:38). How warm is your heart toward Jesus the Savior who has come into the world? The preoccupation with decorating, shopping for gifts, preparing meals, and the busyness that goes along with all this, tends to affect the place He should have above everything. My prayer for you is that the Holy Spirit will ignite a new fire in your heart; replace a cold heart with a deeper, more determined love for Jesus; a home in your heart and life that shuts out the cold of this world that has rejected the Father’s Son. HIS PRESENCE WILL WARM YOUR HEART!
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Today we see dimensions of hatred that few of us can remember in our life time. It is launched against nationalities, religious groups, political parties, businesses, and much more. But there was one man who vented his hatred against one child to the extent that he “became furious and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under” (Matthew 2:16). Herod could have avoided this grief he caused to numerous mothers, fathers and families if only he had asked why Jesus had come; a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a cattle manger challenged his authority and position. Herod allowed his pride to assume his kingship was in jeopardy and reacted in anger. Solomon says, “A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.” (Proverbs 29:22). How true!
The child Jesus, is well protected by an obedient father and mother who follow the instructions of the angel. Do you notice the difference in these two attitudes? This is a lesson that needs to be learned well, otherwise anger can be very destructive. Those who obey God’s instructions find peace, rest and safety. Has Jesus brought these to your life? Of the four Gospel writers, Luke, known for recording details that are so important, gives us Mary’s response to the angel when she heard that Jesus would be conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit. “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
God chose the right person! There is no doubt that God had prepared Mary in her heart for this momentous event. Her life had to be in complete submission to God, otherwise the message of the angel might have been rejected. How do we know this? In her response she says, “I am the servant of the Lord”. This indicates her submission and the way she looked at herself. As a “servant”, Mary was willing to step into the background and eventually out of sight so that her Son could take center-stage of human history. The same submission was in Joseph who received confirmation from the angel that Mary’s conception was from the Holy Spirit. After hearing specific instructions, “He did as the angel of the Lord commanded him” (Matthew 1:24). Joseph became a model protector of his wife. Running from those who hated the treasure Mary carried, he stopped at nothing to give the best of care and protection to his wife. Even as they lived a fugitive existence for several years, Joseph never deviated in his love and commitment to follow divine instructions. In this, God honored him. These two models God has given us for a reason. God wants us to live this kind of faithfulness. Even when we are unable to reconcile His instructions with our human experience, as His servants, we must obey. Understanding and glory will arise through obedience. ARE YOU WILLING? One of the most important facts about the incarnation (the birth of Jesus) is the role of the Holy Spirit in His coming into manhood. Mary’s pregnancy before she and Joseph “came together” raised concerns with Joseph as to what he should do. What are we to learn from this man and his relationship with Mary?
1. Joseph was morally pure and would not have sexual relations with Mary in the first stage of “betrothal” or what most of us would consider ‘engagement’. Joseph understood that God places a very high value on sexual abstinence outside the consummation of marriage. This moral standard honors the institution of marriage that was established by God as a representation of His character. It also confirms the requirement of fidelity within the marriage bond. 2. Mary was likewise concerned about her virginity which was a mark of her godliness. Pregnancy could not be hidden from public knowledge. She wanted to do what was right. 3. Because Joseph was “a just (righteous) man”, he even considered putting Mary away (divorce) because of such an unrighteous stigma of such a situation. He highly valued righteousness in his own life and every relationship. Both concerns with Joseph and Mary had to be quickly addressed before Joseph took further action. God used nothing less than “an angel of the Lord” to communicate to Joseph, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). 1. When we are committed to living righteous before God, there is no need to fear, even when others see our actions far differently than we understand them to be! 2. God will affirm what is right by His Holy Spirit! Nothing on earth or in heaven can stop the divine plan. Joseph was free to consummate his relationship with Mary because God the Spirit had acted in causing her conception. This was one divine act in the whole course of human history that had God’s seal and it would not and could not be changed. It should make us extremely grateful for the role the Holy Spirit played in God coming to earth through the birth of Jesus. WORSHIP!!! It is a very rare experience that anyone on earth hears what is happening in heaven. Because these times are so rare, they should grab our attention and make us ask what the meaning of such events are. In the following verses, we see the intense interest of angels in what God is doing on earth.
“Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”” (Luke 2:13–14). No one on earth at that time really understood the full meaning of Jesus birth. Mary responds to the message about John and Elizabeth’s prophecy with “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my soul rejoices in God my Savior” (1:46-47). Simon took Jesus “in his arms and blessed God” (2:28). But for a multitude of the heavenly host to praise God in unison, this is an event like none other. The news is proclaimed to shepherds out in the field by “an angel of the Lord…and the glory of the Lord shone around them”. This is an extraordinary event that has never happened before and will never happen again, and demands glory and praise to accompany its announcement! The wonder of God becoming incarnate and dwelling among us needs to awaken our praise. The coming of Jesus to earth was not for the angels, it was for sinful man. Yet the angels were fully aware of such an event on earth and it demanded their worship (see Hebrews 1:6). How much more should we for whom Christ came to redeem, be joined in abandoned worship for the love, mercy and grace of God toward man! “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Paul was making sure that the saints in Colossae and those throughout the Church age clearly understood the principles he already outlined in verses 15 and 16. Christ was before any created thing which again verifies His deity. Not only that, because “He is before all things”, He is placed in rank above all things in heaven or on earth. There was no other being that existed before creation except God.
Because of the unique place Jesus holds as “one” with God the Father (John 10:30), He holds “all things…together”. The writer of Hebrews says, “He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (1:3). All that is needed for the countless galaxies to the smallest microcosm to function in perfect harmony, is His word. WHAT MIGHTY POWER! Is there any reason why you would not submit your entire life to His powerful control? As we approach Christmas, receive the free gift of grace by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. If you belong to Christ, are you still trying to run your life your way? It is time to yield control to His power and experience His blessing! As we continue to look at the glorious description of Jesus from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we cannot miss the universality and totality of his words: “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” (Colossians 1:16). Paul’s repetition is by intent; to get across a very important point about Jesus Christ as Creator. We must remember that “God created” in Genesis 1:1 is a plural noun, meaning that all members of the Godhead were together in the act of creating the universe. We must include the Son in this act. The “all things” means that the entire life and substance of the universe came into being through Jesus Christ the Son. Nothing that has existence is present in any part of the universe without Jesus putting it there. Paul takes this a step further and says that “all things were created…for Him”. In other words, any will of mankind that is not living for Jesus Christ is not living for the purpose for which it was created. When this is true of us, our lives become filled with frustration, disappointment, sorrow and failure. Only in living for Christ do we find fulfillment!
Putting these thoughts into the perspective of celebrating the birth of Jesus, we see that He came into the creation that He made as a babe in order to redeem those in it who are marred by sin so He could set us free from the wages of sin and give them eternal life (Romans 6:23). The death of Jesus in our place was so that “those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:15). Are you living ALL YOUR LIFE for Him? This is your only purpose! We often think of the firstborn as the order that siblings are born in a family. This word “firstborn” that Paul uses in Colossians 1:15 (“the firstborn of all creation”) means “existing before creation”. The phrase helps us understand that Jesus is both first or before all creation in term of time, and according to Genesis 1 where time began, Jesus is before time. He is also first in rank and over all things. This is confirmed in Ephesians 1:22, “And He [God] put all things under His [Jesus] feet and gave Him [Jesus] as head over all things to the church.”
It was the ancient custom that the firstborn in a family was given rights and privileges that were not shared by anyone else in the family. The firstborn was the father’s representative and heir and had the responsibility to manage the household. In the same way “Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are His house” (Hebrews 3:6). Not only are we to submit to His authority because Christ is over God’s household, but God planned that everyone in the household “be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29). If angels are told to worship Jesus Christ as the firstborn (Hebrews 1:6; Psalm 97:7), should not we excel in doing the same? This place was given to Him by God and deserves our worship. Jesus received worship at His birth; “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” (Luke 2:13-14). Worship Christ the Firstborn of ALL! We looked yesterday at Christ as the exact representation of God. Today, I want us to think of how Jesus manifested, or perfectly revealed God during His life on earth. This is a subject that could fill volumes and yet never come close to exhausting the limitless facets of how God has been revealed through His Son.
While the manifestation of God was available to all, only a few were able to receive the revelation of God in human form. As Jesus walked through the villages of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum and did mighty works in them, they still did not repent. After chiding them for their hard hearts, “Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25). The phrase “little children” speaks figuratively of infants or at least those younger than three or four who are simple in their understanding. They are eager to learn. Paul approaches the same problem between the ‘know-it-alls’ of this world and those who desire to be taught of God. “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:3–4). I thank God that He did not leave me in that state of mind. By His grace “God…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” (4:6). How full of praise I am for this light in Christ that has enlightened my heart! Have you shared with someone today how this light reveals the glory of God in His Son? When it comes to describing the person of Jesus Christ, Paul reaches into the depths of his personal experience with the Savior and exudes expressions of His glory. He writes a portrait of the Lord of Glory to a church he did not plant and had never seen. It seems that Epaphras was the disciple who carried the gospel to Colossae and established a church there (Colossians 1:7). During its early stages of formation, false teachers sought to corrupt their understanding of the person of Christ which prompted Paul to write them so they would be unified and strengthened in His Person.
“He is the image of the invisible God” (1:15). What is the “image” of something? It is the exact representation of that which is being represented and has the same characteristics in every sense. Exodus 20:4 prohibits making “for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” Anything in that list is something that is made according to the imagination of man and by man. Jesus came from God the Father (John 3:2; 8:43; 16:27) and derived nothing from man. Even at the announcement of His birth, Mary questioned how she could conceive since she was a virgin? The angel Gabriel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God” (Luke 1:34-35). When Philip wanted to see the Father, Jesus said, “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father…Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?” (John 14:9-10). The glorious but foundational truth about the person of Jesus, the Person who stopped Saul on the Damascus road, Paul wanted to protect in the minds and hearts of the Colossians. Are you doing the same where you are? Make sure He is exalted to the highest place He deserves in your thoughts and conversations this Christmas season and always! |
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