Tag: Christmas

Insights from Mathew: Behold Immanuel

On By joshnnomiIn Insights from MathewLeave a comment

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” Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us).

Christmas came and went but the miracle of Christmas, God with us, leaves an eternal impact. God, who is transcendent, the creator of time and space, invades time and space and he comes through a miraculous act of the Holy Spirit on a young lady named Mary, in the form of a baby named Jesus. WOW! Down through the centuries, we have attempted to make this look cute with our porcelain nativity scenes, children’s Christmas musicals and traditions, not that I don’t enjoy those things. But that first Christmas was scandalous. A young woman who was almost married, but not quite, pregnant without having sex, having to explain to her husband to be, she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Imagine being in Joseph’s shoes. To say Joseph is confused and hurt is an understatement. Joseph was planning to break it off quietly until we have divine intervention, grace. God sends an angel to tell Joseph it’s all true, get married and name Him Jesus. What does Joseph do? Exactly what God tells him to do. It could be said of Joseph what was said of Abraham, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:3).

The scene of the first Christmas certainly appeared scandalous, but so was Jesus family tree. We see the good the bad and the ugly in Jesus’ lineage.  There were some heroes of the faith like Abraham, David, and Boaz. There were evil kings like Abijah, Jehoram, and Ahaz. We have the heroes, the zeroes, but we also have 4 women mentioned, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Mary and 1 woman alluded to Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. The women mentioned are all involved in scandalous situations and 4 of the five are Gentiles. Gentiles in the line of the Messiah? A Gospel to the Gentiles? Scandalous indeed.

After Jesus is born, in Matthew 2, we don’t find the Jewish nation flood the town of Bethlehem searching for the Messiah, even though they know the situation and explain to Herod where the Messiah is to be born,

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, ” In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “‘ And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel. (Matt. 2:3-6)

We don’t see the Jewish leaders searching for the King. We find wise men from the East, Gentiles, searching for the King so they can worship Him. Scandalous!

Could this be? A Gospel that includes the Gentiles? There are certainly missional trails throughout the Old Testament,

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. (Isa. 49:6)

And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. (Zech. 2:11)

There are numerous more, but not only do we find a Gospel for the world in the Old Testament. We also find clues, God is doing something among the Gentiles in Matthew chapters 1 and 2. Four Gentile women in the lineage of Christ, wise men from the East, full blown Gentiles, worshipping a Jewish Messiah. A salvation which reaches the ends of the earth, for all peoples, nations, tribes and tongues. God’s plan from the beginning was to send Jesus to save the nations, to save you. Scandalous Grace indeed.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you (I Peter 1:20)

Until Next Time

Soli Deo Gloria

Love Came Down and Rescued Me

On By joshnnomiIn Christmas 2014Leave a comment

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But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

(Ephesians 4:4-7 ESV)

We have been looking how God formed the plans for Christmas before the world began and how He has been proclaiming for centuries that a deliverer is coming. Last week we looked at how God was working even though He appeared to be silent. But Christmas is finally here and our souls cry out,

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.

Christmas is here and it is the celebration of a love which came to rescue dead people. The celebration of God’s love for humanity to provide the way for us to come back to Him. Christmas is the celebration of the promise of the great deliver being delivered. Christmas is the story of God’s love and grace which revives us, rescues us, and raises us. Come thou long expected Jesus.

God’s Love Revives Us

Humanity is born into this sinful condition (Rom. 5:11) and as a result of this sinful condition we are born dead. We are dead sinners and deserve God’s judgment and wrath poured out on us, but God. Those two words are so filled with love. But God, because of His mercy, grace and kindness, saw it fit to come down and bring dead people back to life. God’s love through Christ provides a way for the dead to come to life.

When you think about Christmas, it seems strange that Jesus was born to die so that the dead can be born to live. But that is the story of Christmas, God’s love through Christ sent to revive us for the glory of God. Come thou long expected Jesus.

God’s Love Rescues Us

I am thankful God’s love revives us. God’s love and grace does more, God’s love rescues us from our sinfulness. The apostle Paul tells us,

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Eph. 2:1-3 ESV italics added)

Do you notice anything? Notice all the past tense phrases Paul uses to point out our condition before Christ. We were dirty rotten scoundrels and the only person who could rescue us and enable us to live a new life is Christ. He is our rescuer. Come thou long expected Jesus.

God’s Love Raises Us

God’s love revives us from the land of the dead to the land of the living. God’s love rescues us from our sin to a new way of living. God’s love also raises us and gives us a new identity in Him. When the apostle Paul points out who we were before Christ, he does so to contrast who we now are in Christ.
God raises us out of the pit of our sinfulness and gives a new identity in him. We are raised with Christ and seated with Him. This new identity in Christ is astounding read and be amazed,

The Word of God Says in Jesus Christ…

I am faithful (Ephesians 1:1)

I am God’s child (John 1:12)

I have been justified (Romans 5:1)

I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15)

I belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:20)

I am a member of Christ’s Body (1 Corinthians 12:27)

I am assured all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)

I have been established, anointed and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

I am confident that God will perfect the work He has begun in me(Philippians 1:6)

I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)

I am hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3)

I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7)

I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me (1 John 5:18)

I am blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing(Ephesians 1:3)

I am chosen before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4, 11)

I am holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4)

I am adopted as his child (Ephesians 1:5)

I am given God’s glorious grace lavishly and without restriction(Ephesians 1:5,8)

I am in Him (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:30)

I have redemption (Ephesians 1:8)

I am forgiven (Ephesians 1:8; Colossians 1:14)

I have purpose (Ephesians 1:9 & 3:11)

I have hope (Ephesians 1:12)

I am included (Ephesians 1:13)

I am sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)

I am a saint (Ephesians 1:18)

and that is just the beginning. Come thou long expected Jesus.

Christmas is the expression of God’s love to us. God become man to revive us, rescue us and raise us for His glory. Come thou long expected Jesus.

Until next week
Soli Deo Gloria

Worship Through The Silence

On By joshnnomiIn Christmas 20141 Comment

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It is hard to believe Christmas is around the corner. Back in November I began a 5 part series, taking a look at Christmas. On our journey we have learned that Christmas was always the plan of God, even before the world was created. Last week we looked at the promise of a Seed that would come and destroy the works of the devil. This promise of a Messiah unfolds throughout the pages of the New Testament and became the hope of the Old Testament believers. Today we are seven days away from Christmas Eve and many of us will gather to worship with our churches or fellowship with families. We will worship and commemorate Christmas, an event in history which already happened. While we worship an event that has happened, the Old Testament believers were longing for Christmas to come. Hanging on every word of promise from the Lord, waiting for the time of the Messiah.

Then came a time in history when there was no word from the Lord, no prophet proclaiming to the people, just silence, around 400 years of silence. 4 generations pass with no new word from the Lord, no new prophet, generations of Jews hanging on the words of the prophets from the past. I imagine they may have felt God has stopped moving among them. Have you ever experienced the silence of God? A period of silence is when it appears God isn’t moving in or among you anymore. CS Lewis gives an excellent description of a period of silence in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe when he describes Narnia, under the curse of the white witch, as “always winter but never Christmas”.

My friends worship through the silence. Worship through the winter because Christmas is coming. Worship through the silence because even though it doesn’t appear so, God is still working. What was God doing in this 400 years of silence? What can we learn from this period of silence?

3 Things We Can Trust

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. (Psa. 103:17-19 ESV)

Trust in God’s love. God is steadfast in his love. Out of love and mercy, God chose to work through the Jewish people. Out of love he chose for Jesus, the hope of the world, come through the Jews (Jhn. 4:22). We must trust in God’s love when He seems to be silent. Trust his love to accomplish what he plans to accomplish, even though it is difficult. He has promised,

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Rom. 8:28 ESV)

We must learn to trust in God’s Word. Throughout the pages of the Old Testament we read of the promise of Christmas. Prophetic word coming from God proclaiming a Messiah will come. The promises of God pointing to Christmas. God’s word will not return void. His word will accomplish what He plans for his word to accomplish (Isa. 55:11) God will fulfill what he has promised because He isn’t a liar (Num. 23:19). Part of the problem with trusting God’s word is we expect God to work on our time table. Can you imagine being promised a deliver and waiting generations for it? God accomplishes His word on His time table. Which leads us to our next point.

We must learn to trust in God’s Sovereignty. God sovereignty means God rules, governs and will accomplish his purposes in our world. In these 400 years of appeared silence God was putting His plan in place, in Galatians we read “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son”. (Gal. 4:4) Sometimes we skip things over because they appear unimportant, but turn out to be vastly important. For example, here in Galatians the phrase “when the fullness of time had come” is packed with meaning. Joseph Stowell points out, “Jesus’ arrival during the Roman Empire was perfect timing. The known world was united by one language of commerce. A network of global trade routes provided open access to the whole world. All of this guaranteed that the Gospel could move rapidly in one tongue.” God was sovereignly orchestrating the world, putting all the necessary elements together for Christmas and Christianity to spread. Worship through the silence because we can trust in God’s love, word and sovereignty.

How To Worship Through The Silence

The Psalmist also gives us some pointers on how to worship through the silence. The first, continue to fear the Lord. When God seems silent continue to have a sense of awe for who God is. Much of the lukewarmness among Christians is due to the lack of knowing who God has revealed himself to be. We cant truly fear and have a sense of awe of God if we don’t know Him. When we know Him and our focus is on God, the silence may be difficult, but we will be able to trust in who God is. When the silence is over we will look back and see how God was faithful and working while we were worshipping through the silence.

Be a doer of the word. Being a doer of the word is symptomatic of fearing the Lord. Continue in your walk with Him. Remain faithful to pray, read the word and to obey His word. Continue fellowshiping and serving other believers. God promises to bless your faithfulness.

Recognize it may appear God is silent, but He is still accomplishing His purposes in this world.

Until Next Week
Solid Deo Gloria

Something To Look Forword To

On By joshnnomiIn Christmas 20142 Comments

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Christmas is a day I have circled on my calendar ever since I can remember. I have always loved the Christmas season. As a kid I would count the days to Christmas for many reasons. One of them was so I could enjoy the extended vacation from school. Another is the receiving of gifts on Christmas morning. What kid doesn’t enjoy gifts? The Christmas church dramas and Christmas Eve services were memorable times of worship and fun. The homemade tamales were always delicious. As a child I looked forward to Christmas.

As I have moved into adulthood, my wife and I have always looked forward to Christmas because of the traditions we have developed with our kids. These traditions have become special times of worship for our family. We still participate in church dramas, for the past three years I have helped my wife with the children’s Christmas choir at church, which is always an adventure. We still love the Christmas services and Christmas Eve with the Reed family has been a heaven sent, as we are states away from our extended family. The tamales are still delicious, giving and receiving gifts is still a highlight of mine. What adult doesn’t enjoy gifts? Christmas is something I look forward to every year because it is the celebration of the promise fulfilled.

The Serpent and the Seed

Let’s take a journey back to the beginning to that fateful day when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The day that sin and bondage was introduced and became a part of human condition and the world we live in. The day the human race succumbed to the lies of Satan and rebelled against our Creator. The day when Adam and Eve ate from the tree and went from a mind with no thoughts of sin to a mind that became filled with sin. On that day when it seemed Satan had won and all was lost, until the Creator showed up with a question so full of grace “where are you?” (Gen. 3:9)

God comes down to the fallen world to seek the lost. Sound familiar? In the midst of God proclaiming the curses which resulted from man’s sin we get a nugget of God’s plan for Christmas in the Proto-Evangelion, the First Gospel declaration.

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)

After God curses the serpent, He turns His attention to Satan, who inhabited the serpent. We learn that there will be hostility, animosity and hatred between Satan, the woman and the Seed. We also learn Satan will bruise the heel of the Seed but the Seed will prevail and bruise Satan’s head. Here we have the first message of the hope of Christmas. The Seed of the woman will one day claim victory over Satan. This promise gave humanity something to look forward to, the hope of Christmas.

The Promise to Abraham

Turn the pages of your Bible 19 chapters and we discover God has chosen to work through Abraham and his descendants. God has been giving Abraham direction and he has faithfully obeyed. God blesses Abraham and Sarah with Isaac in their old age, a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. One day God shows up and asks Abraham to take Isaac up a mountain and offer up his son as a sacrifice. Sound familiar? Abraham faithfully obeys and as Isaac and Abraham journey up the mountain, Isaac begins to ask where the lamb for the sacrifice is. Abraham answers God will provide the lamb. When they arrived to the mountain Abraham builds an altar and lays Isaac on the altar and binds him to it. Abraham grabs his knife and raises it about to sacrifice Isaac, the child of promise, until God stops him.

God stops Abraham and gives a promise to Him that builds upon the First Gospel message given in the Garden of Eden,

“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
(Gen. 22: 16-18)

The offspring promised to Eve will come through the offspring of Abraham. Through this offspring, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. The promised Seed will claim victory over the serpent and bless all nations. Giving all of humanity something to look forward to, the hope of Christmas.

The Hope of Christmas

Throughout the pages of the Old Testament hope is promised, pointing to Christmas. Now in our era, we use hope to mean something we desire to happen that may or may not come to pass. We can all hear our children say, I hope I get this new game or that new toy for Christmas. Many times we can interchange our usage of hope with the word wish. When we look at the hope of Christmas, promise after promise of a hope to come written throughout the pages of the Old Testament. God revealing His plan one promise at a time. This hope wasn’t a mere wish to Adam, Eve, Abraham and the many other faithful Old Testament believers. The Biblical definition of hope these Old Testament believers had is what John Piper describes as, “a confident expectation and desire for something good in the future”.

Adam, Eve, Abraham and the many other Old Testament believers had a confident expectation in the promises of Christmas. The hope they had in the promises of God was not a wishful waiting but a confident certainty that one day the Seed of the woman whom would defeat Satan and bless the nations would fulfill His mission. They had this confident certainty because Yahweh, the Great Promise Giver was also the Great Promise Keeper. The Old Testament believers had something to look forward to, the Hope of Christmas.

Until next week,

Soli Deo Gloria

In The Beginning God Created Christmas

On By joshnnomiIn Christmas 20142 Comments

in-the-beginning-title-slide-message-series-950x712-1What is Christmas? Christmas has become so many things in our 21st century culture. Christmas has become a time of shopping and gift giving. Christmas is also a time for family reunions and get-togethers. Christmas is for church pageants and programs. A time of tree and house decorating with lights and ornaments and yet even for others it is a time for legal battles to get Christ out of Christmas. All that is fine, except for the last option, if that is your cup of tea. But I thought I would sit down this Christmas, open up the Scriptures and look back into history, look back to when God became a man.  This is the 1st in a 5 part Christmas Series.

knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:18-20)

In The Beginning God Created Christmas

In the beginning God created Christmas. Before the world was ever spoken into existence God planned for Christmas. Before the Creator of the world uttered let there be, He thought of Christmas. Before the hands of the Creator crafted Adam and Eve, Father, Son and Holy Spirit crafted the plans of the Son coming in the flesh for the redemption of man. In the beginning God created Christmas.

Peter tells us Christ coming was “foreknown before the foundation of the world”. So much grace and mercy flows from that phrase it is astounding. The Triune community made a plan for our redemption before you were born, before I was born and before Adam and Eve were ever made. Why did the Triune community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit create Christmas? Peter tells us, “So that our faith and hope are in God”. What does that say about our God?

Our God Is Love

knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Peter points out believers are “ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers”. The Apostle Peter takes us back to the Garden of Eden to that fateful day. The day when Adam ate the fruit. Since that day humanity has been radically corrupted by sin. Plagued by a sinful condition right down to our core. This radically corrupted sinfulness has been passed down from Adam all the way to us in the 21st century. This condition causes our ways to be futile because they only lead to death physically and spiritually. Our condition is hopeless if left in this state.

But God, some of the greatest words ever penned in Scripture, but God knowing the crown of His creation, humanity, would bring sin in this world, He created anyway. Knowing humanity would be plagued by radical corruption because of the sin of Adam, He created anyway. Knowing all the travesties that would occur throughout human history, He created anyway. Knowing humanity would commit the ultimate travesty and reject the Creator and be disobedient, He created anyway.  My friend that is love.

This love goes further. Knowing He would craft a plan for the ransom of man, He created anyway. Knowing this plan would involve God becoming man, He created anyway. Knowing the 2nd member of the Trinity, Jesus the Son, would have to live a perfect life, suffer and die for a radically corrupted humanity, He created anyway. My friend that is supreme love.

Christmas is the demonstration of the love of God to fallen humanity. God the creator of time and space, steps into time and space. Jesus, fully God and fully man, steps into the world he created as the demonstration of the Father’s love. This demonstration of love would cost the Creator of life to lose his life in order that dead humanity can live.

Love Came For You

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The Apostle Peter tells us that Christ came “for the sake of you”. Think back to the Christmas message to Joseph. Joseph is struggling because his betrothed told him she was pregnant. Joseph stuck between a rock and a hard place plans to divorce her quietly, but God. God intervenes through an angel and shares His Christmas plan with Joseph. The plan that was crafted before the world began and the angel declares, “you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21b)

Peter in this passage is reiterating the Christmas message. Love came down expressed through Christ to save us from the futility of our sin. Love came down expressed through Christ so that through Him, the Way, the Truth and the Life, we may become believers in God. Love came down expressed through Christ “so that our faith and hope are in God”. My friends Love came for you and this love was planned before the world began.

In the beginning God created Christmas

Until next week

Soli Deo Gloria