Listen to the implications of Christmas in this prophecy from Micah 5:2,4-
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days...
He shall stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth.
And He shall be their peace.
The King born in Bethlehem will shelter His flock under the majestic refuge of the name of God. And we will be forever secure, temporally and eternally safe in His hands, because He shall be great to the ends of the earth. Think on that for a moment, and be staggered by the connections made right here in the verse. Christ's global greatness is the day-to-day rock-solid foundation for our assurance, peace, comfort, and security. Because He is ascended at the right hand of God, with "all authority in heaven and on earth" given to Him, we can be confident that we are secure. The One who was born for us and lived for us and died for us and rose for us is now reigning for us and interceding for us and guaranteeing our security and entrance to glory by His own blood-bought peace with God.
Hear the apostle Paul's own inspired implications of this Christmas prophecy, echoing Micah's words: "But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace." (Eph. 2:13)
This Christmas, stand in awe once again at the mercy and majesty of our God. And count yourselves secure, immovable on this glorious foundation: "now He shall be great to the ends of the earth."
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thinking Lightly
I've been slowly getting back into translating Romans from Greek to English, and recently my work in Romans 2 jumped out at me. Here is my literal translation of Romans 2:4-
"Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, being ignorant that the kindness of God leads you into repentance?"
Do you "think lightly" of God's kindness and forbearance and patience? Is it a small thing to you, something that rests lightly on your mind and heart? The truth of God's new-every-morning mercies in Christ is the most massive, weighty reality in the universe, a reality which should be daily, hourly crushing the sin out of our souls, taking our breath away, and bowing our hearts down before the throne of grace.
Yet too often in the church and in my experience, God's grace has been a small, light thing. Too often I reckon "the riches of His kindness" to be more like a $5 bill and less like the inexhaustible, precious treasure that it really is. Too many mornings, the patience of God is a small thing to me. I rise with my alarm clock and go about my day, not stopping to realize in wonder and awe that God again caused the sun to rise this morning on millions of people-- myself included-- who deserved to die in their sleep and yet have another day of divine forbearance and mercy in front of them. Think of it! The sun rose this morning-- a testament to God's love for His enemies. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust." (Matthew 5:44-45) And the same love for His enemies that the sunrise proclaimed this morning was also demonstrated, in an even more magnificently glorious way, on the cross. "While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son." (Romans 5:10). Every morning, we should be staggered by the sunrise!
O, that the weight of God's kindness and forbearance and patience would fall with sin-shattering, joy-maximizing implications on His people! By His massive mercy, may we today find His kindness to be wealth beyond compare, His forbearance to be an unending fountain of hope, and His patience to be a firm foundation of peace.
"Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, being ignorant that the kindness of God leads you into repentance?"
Do you "think lightly" of God's kindness and forbearance and patience? Is it a small thing to you, something that rests lightly on your mind and heart? The truth of God's new-every-morning mercies in Christ is the most massive, weighty reality in the universe, a reality which should be daily, hourly crushing the sin out of our souls, taking our breath away, and bowing our hearts down before the throne of grace.
Yet too often in the church and in my experience, God's grace has been a small, light thing. Too often I reckon "the riches of His kindness" to be more like a $5 bill and less like the inexhaustible, precious treasure that it really is. Too many mornings, the patience of God is a small thing to me. I rise with my alarm clock and go about my day, not stopping to realize in wonder and awe that God again caused the sun to rise this morning on millions of people-- myself included-- who deserved to die in their sleep and yet have another day of divine forbearance and mercy in front of them. Think of it! The sun rose this morning-- a testament to God's love for His enemies. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust." (Matthew 5:44-45) And the same love for His enemies that the sunrise proclaimed this morning was also demonstrated, in an even more magnificently glorious way, on the cross. "While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son." (Romans 5:10). Every morning, we should be staggered by the sunrise!
O, that the weight of God's kindness and forbearance and patience would fall with sin-shattering, joy-maximizing implications on His people! By His massive mercy, may we today find His kindness to be wealth beyond compare, His forbearance to be an unending fountain of hope, and His patience to be a firm foundation of peace.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Past, Present, and Future
O the sweetness of these words: "To Him who loves us"- loves us! That He would ever look with even a mere moment of love upon a sinner such as I is earth-shattering. But that He loves me with a present tense, ongoing, ever-present passion is unfathomably staggering. Who am I, that the God who "inhabits eternity" (Is. 57:15) would break into time to pursue me with a present tense love?
And in order to make my experience of His present tense reality eternally sure, He has grounded it in the objective past tense: "and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom." God demonstrates (present tense) His love in that while we were still sinners, Christ died (past tense) for us. O, the marvelous assurance that this truth brings! The foundation of His love is not my present-- my weak, wavering, sin-stained present; the immovable Rock of His affection is His own past-- His unchanging, faithful, eternally accomplished past!
Therefore my heart's deepest longing and desire is this: that every future tense of my life would be suffused with His praise, and an ever-increasing conformity to His precious likeness: "To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen!"
"To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." ~Revelation 1:5-6
And in order to make my experience of His present tense reality eternally sure, He has grounded it in the objective past tense: "and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom." God demonstrates (present tense) His love in that while we were still sinners, Christ died (past tense) for us. O, the marvelous assurance that this truth brings! The foundation of His love is not my present-- my weak, wavering, sin-stained present; the immovable Rock of His affection is His own past-- His unchanging, faithful, eternally accomplished past!
Therefore my heart's deepest longing and desire is this: that every future tense of my life would be suffused with His praise, and an ever-increasing conformity to His precious likeness: "To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen!"
"To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." ~Revelation 1:5-6
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