Tag Archives: theology

Uncategorized

Satan’s Conqueror – John MacArthur

Leave a comment

 

“Since . . . the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (Heb. 2:14-15).

To be free to live with God and share in all His blessings, someone had to shatter Satan’s death grip on us. Sin is what gives Satan his powerful hold on us, but the power itself is death.

Satan knew that God required death for us because of sin. He knew that all died in Adam–that death became a certain fact of life. And he knew that men, if they remained as they were, would die and go out of God’s presence into hell forever. So he wants to hang onto men until they die because once they are dead, the opportunity for salvation is gone forever.

To wrest the power of death from Satan’s hand, God sent Christ into the world. If you have a greater weapon than your enemy, then his weapon is useless. You can’t fight a machine gun with a bow and arrow. Satan’s weapon is death, but eternal life is God’s weapon, and with it Jesus destroyed death.

How was He able to do it? He rose again, proving He had conquered death. That’s why He said, “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). His resurrection provides the believer with eternal life.

Nothing terrifies people more than the fear of death. But when we receive Christ, death in reality holds no more fear for us since it simply releases us into the presence of our Lord. We can say with Paul, “To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Rejoice that you have placed your hand into the hand of the conqueror of death, who will lead you through death and out the other side.

Suggestion for Prayer: Ask God to give you a greater realization that He has conquered death to help you live life more fully to His glory.

For Further Study: Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. How are we to live our lives based on what we know about death?

Uncategorized

A Passion to Know Christ – Charles Stanley

Leave a comment

 

Philippians 3:3-11

Most believers know the essential facts about their Savior’s life, but few know Him well relationally. They’re so busy with activities and pursuits that they rarely think of Jesus until a desperate situation arises.

Yet those who know the Lord intimately have a continually deepening relationship with Him. He’s their top priority, and every possession, accomplishment, or pursuit is worthless compared to knowing Him. Consider the results of making Christ the passion of your life (Phil. 3:8-10):

Increasing hunger: “that I may gain Christ.” Even though Paul had an amazing relationship with Jesus, his passion was so great that he wanted to know Him more.

Changed life: “the righteousness which comes from God.” The more we know Christ, the more we’ll mature spiritually and display His righteousness.

Increased capability: “the power of His resurrection.” The Spirit’s power flows through those intimately related to Jesus.

New perspective: “the fellowship of His sufferings.” When we understand Christ, we recognize the benefits He works in us through our suffering.

Victorious living: “being conformed to His death.” Christians who know Jesus intimately count themselves dead to the sins that once dominated their lives.

Is your life characterized by a deep, abiding passion for Christ, or is your relationship with Him shallow and mechanical? Believers must not let the pleasures, opportunities, and responsibilities of this world rob them of the treasure of knowing Jesus. It’s time to count it all as loss and pursue Christ.

Uncategorized

He Who Sanctifies – John MacArthur

Leave a comment

 

“Both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, ‘I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise.’ And again, ‘I will put My trust in Him.’ And again, ‘Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me'” (Heb. 2:11-13).

From our own perspective and experience, it is difficult to think of ourselves as holy. Sin simply is too much a part of us in this fallen world. In thought and practice we are far from holy, but in Christ we are perfectly holy.

We may not always act holy, but because of our faith in Christ we are perfectly holy in God’s sight. Just as a child may not always act like his father, he is nonetheless still his son. We are holy in the sense that before God, the righteousness of Christ has been applied and imputed on our behalf through faith. We were made holy through His sacrifice and have become “those who are sanctified.”

“By one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14). We are as pure as God is pure, righteous as Christ is righteous, and therefore entitled to be called His brothers because we now share in His righteousness.

The Sanctifier and sanctified now have “one Father,” and the Sanctifier “is not ashamed” to call the sanctified His brothers. What an overwhelming truth!

The practical experience of a Christian’s life in this world includes sin, but the positional reality of his or her new nature is holiness. “In Him [we] have been made complete” (Col. 2:10). Yet practically we have a long way to go. So the overriding purpose of our lives is to become in practice what we are in position. Now that we are Christ’s brothers and God’s children, let that be all the motivation we need to live like it.

Suggestion for Prayer: Thank the Lord for His sanctifying work on the cross, which enables you to be holy.

For Further Study:  Read Romans 1:16. Based on what God has done for you through Christ, can you wholeheartedly echo Paul’s statement?

Uncategorized

In the School of Faith – Charles Stanley

Leave a comment

 

Matthew 16:6-12

Jesus spent much time developing His disciples’ faith because He knew it would be essential for the tasks ahead of them. For over three years, they attended a school of faith with Jesus as their instructor and the Scriptures as the textbook. Sometimes Christ used verbal instruction, but many of the lessons were taught through demonstrations. He healed the sick, cast out demons, fed thousands, and calmed the sea. Their training even included tests that revealed if they truly believed Jesus was the Messiah.

At times the disciples’ understanding was slow or faltering, but Christ never gave up on them. He reproved them when they exhibited a lack of trust (Mark 4:40) but also commended signs of progress (Matt. 16:15-17). His objective was to firmly establish their faith so He could accomplish His work in and through them. After His ascension, He commanded His men to spread the gospel of salvation to the remotest parts of the earth. Without faith, they would have failed.

The Lord has the same goal for us—to increase our faith so we can do the work He’s planned for us. If our faith is great, He will entrust us with challenges and achieve amazing things through us. But small faith limits God’s activity in a believer’s life. He uses us only to the degree that we trust Him.

Faith building is essential in a believer’s life, and God has two primary means of doing this. Scripture tells us what to believe about Him, and tests place us in difficult situations that stretch us to believe and rely on God instead of our own understanding. Each time we believe Him, our faith grows.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning   “The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of

God.” / Galatians 2:20

When the Lord in mercy passed by and saw us in our blood, he first of all

said, “Live;” and this he did first, because life is one of the absolutely

essential things in spiritual matters, and until it be bestowed we are

incapable of partaking in the things of the kingdom. Now the life which grace

confers upon the saints at the moment of their quickening is none other than

the life of Christ, which, like the sap from the stem, runs into us, the

branches, and establishes a living connection between our souls and Jesus.

Faith is the grace which perceives this union, having proceeded from it as its

firstfruit. It is the neck which joins the body of the Church to its

all-glorious Head.

“Oh Faith! thou bond of union with the Lord,

Is not this office thine? and thy fit name,

In the economy of gospel types,

And symbols apposite–the Church’s neck;

Identifying her in will and work

With him ascended?”

Faith lays hold upon the Lord Jesus with a firm and determined grasp. She

knows his excellence and worth, and no temptation can induce her to repose her

trust elsewhere; and Christ Jesus is so delighted with this heavenly grace,

that he never ceases to strengthen and sustain her by the loving embrace and

all-sufficient support of his eternal arms. Here, then, is established a

living, sensible, and delightful union which casts forth streams of love,

confidence, sympathy, complacency, and joy, whereof both the bride and

bridegroom love to drink. When the soul can evidently perceive this oneness

between itself and Christ, the pulse may be felt as beating for both, and the

one blood as flowing through the veins of each. Then is the heart as near

heaven as it can be on earth, and is prepared for the enjoyment of the most

sublime and spiritual kind of fellowship.

 

Evening   “I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword.” / Matthew 10:34

The Christian will be sure to make enemies. It will be one of his objects to

make none; but if to do the right, and to believe the true, should cause him

to lose every earthly friend, he will count it but a small loss, since his

great Friend in heaven will be yet more friendly, and reveal himself to him

more graciously than ever. O ye who have taken up his cross, know ye not what

your Master said? “I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and

the daughter against her mother; and a man’s foes shall be they of his own

household.” Christ is the great Peacemaker; but before peace, he brings war.

Where the light cometh, the darkness must retire. Where truth is, the lie must

flee; or, if it abideth, there must be a stern conflict, for the truth cannot

and will not lower its standard, and the lie must be trodden under foot. If

you follow Christ, you shall have all the dogs of the world yelping at your

heels. If you would live so as to stand the test of the last tribunal, depend

upon it the world will not speak well of you. He who has the friendship of the

world is an enemy to God; but if you are true and faithful to the Most High,

men will resent your unflinching fidelity, since it is a testimony against

their iniquities. Fearless of all consequences, you must do the right. You

will need the courage of a lion unhesitatingly to pursue a course which shall

turn your best friend into your fiercest foe; but for the love of Jesus you

must thus be courageous. For the truth’s sake to hazard reputation and

affection, is such a deed that to do it constantly you will need a degree of

moral principle which only the Spirit of God can work in you; yet turn not

your back like a coward, but play the man. Follow right manfully in your

Master’s steps, for he has traversed this rough way before you. Better a brief

warfare and eternal rest, than false peace and everlasting torment.

Uncategorized

The Author of Our Salvation – John MacArthur

Leave a comment

 

“It was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10).

As we look at what Christ has done, we must never forget that He was fulfilling the sovereign plan of God. The writer of Hebrews tells us it was fitting in God’s sight for Christ to bring many sons to glory. That means everything God did through Christ was consistent with His character.

The cross was a masterpiece of God’s wisdom. It displayed His holiness in His hatred of sin. It was consistent with His power: Christ endured in a few hours what it would take an eternity to expend on sinners. The cross displayed His love for mankind. And Christ’s death on the cross agreed with God’s grace because it was substitutionary.

To bring “many sons to glory,” God had “to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.” The Greek word translated “author” (archegos) means “pioneer” or “leader.” It was commonly used of a pioneer who blazed a trail for others to follow. The archegos never stood at the rear giving orders; he was always out front blazing the trail. As the supreme Archegos, Christ has gone before us–He is our trailblazer.

Life seems most anxious and dreadful when death is near. That’s a trail we cannot travel by ourselves. But the Author of our salvation says, “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). Only the perfect Pioneer could lead us out of the domain of death into the presence of the Father. All you have to do is put your hand in His nail- scarred hand and He will lead you from one side of death to the other. Then you can say with the apostle Paul, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55).

Suggestion for Prayer:  Praise God for all His attributes, specifically for each one displayed in Christ’s death for you.

For Further Study:  Read Hebrews 5:8-9 and 1 Peter 2:19-25. How do those verses expand on Hebrews 2:10?

Uncategorized

A Saving Faith – Charles Stanley

Leave a comment

 

Matthew 7:13-29

The greatest tragedy that can befall someone is to think he’s saved, only to discover after death he’s not. We’d all liketo believe the claims of those who say they’re Christians, but Jesus gives a harsh warning because He knows many will be deceived. They’ll sit in churches week after week, professing that Jesus is the Son of God, but will never really enter into a personal relationship with Him.

Intellectual faith isn’t the same as saving faith. It’s not enough to know facts about Jesus or to believe He died and rose again. Even demons believe that (James 2:19). Salvation involves more than knowing: it requires trusting that Jesus paid the penalty for your sin, receiving His forgiveness, turning away from old sinful ways, and entering into a relationship with Him. What matters is not what we say with our mouths, but what we mean in our hearts.

Although you probably won’t understand all that happens at the moment of salvation, when Christ becomes your Savior, He also becomes your Lord. As the Master of your life, He then has a right to govern what you do. His Holy Spirit takes up residence within you when you are saved, and that means you will change. He continually works to remove sinful attitudes and behaviors, replacing them with His spiritual fruit (Gal. 5:22-23).

We recognize a person’s salvation not by his profession but by fruit. If you’re truly saved, your character will become more Christlike over time, and your desire will be to obey Him. This does not mean you’ll never sin or stumble, but the overall direction of your life will be one of obedience.

Uncategorized

Unwanted Gifts – Ravi Zacharias

Leave a comment

 

There’s an amusing commercial airing in Atlanta this Christmas season. Five friends gather around a fireplace to exchange gifts. When one recipient opens her package, she exclaims with a fake beauty contestant smile, “Oh, a kitty book! Now everyone will know I’m still single! Yeah!” Another chimes in enthusiastically about his unwanted gift, “Oh man! This is gonna go straight in the trash!” No one is subtle about their jovial dislike of what they receive, and so the narrator advises, “Give a better gift this year.”

Besides the obvious humor, the advertisement’s appeal highlights our own cognitive dissonance. While we may share similar feelings about certain gifts, few of us would blurt out, “What were you thinking?!” And yet, sometimes we may not hesitate to say such words to God.

I am reminded of the story of Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, which Luke records in the first chapter of his Gospel. Elizabeth is barren and they are both well advanced in years. Unlike Abraham and Sarah—and even Simeon—as far as we know, Zechariah and Elizabeth have not been given any promise of a child. They are living in a period of silence, as some Bible scholars call it: it has been over 400 years since God spoke of a coming Redeemer and his forerunner through the prophet Malachi. Nevertheless, Zechariah and Elizabeth hold onto God; as Luke tells us, “Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly” (Luke 1:6).

Year after year faithful Zechariah serves in the temple, and one day the lots fall to him to perform the evening offering—a once in a lifetime privilege. He is alone at the altar of incense when suddenly the angel Gabriel appears. “When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear,” writes Luke. “But the angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord’” (Luke 1:11-15a). Gabriel adds that John will go before the Lord to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (verse 17).

The name John is significant because none of Zechariah’s relatives share this name and, as it is still today, it was customary to name a firstborn son after his father.(1)John is a Greek form of the Hebrew phrase Yohanan, meaning “God is gracious.” Hebrew scholar Skip Moen offers this insight about the word gracious:

This single word describes an elaborate picture. It creates an image of two parties; one who has a gift to give and the other who is in desperate need of the gift. However, the imagery does not convey the idea that the giver patronizes the recipient with the needed gift. There is no suggestion of condescension here. Rather, the picture is one of a deep, heartfelt concern on the part of the giver so that the gift is granted not from anything that the recipient may negotiate or earn but out of compelling mercy. When the Old Testament uses this verb of God, it conveys the idea of God’s unmerited but nevertheless unlimited love for His children. God willingly favors us with His love and blessings entirely because He chooses to pour His mercy upon us.(2)

Strangely, Gabriel’s announcement to Zechariah that God has answered his prayer is met with distrust: “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” Indeed, Zechariah rejects the very gift he has longed for because he is completely focused on wanting tangible proof of this promise. Perhaps this is because he and his wife have lived for decades with disappointment and heartache—barrenness in their culture symbolized shame, scorn, and God’s supposed disapproval. Whatever his reason, he is struck dumb until Elizabeth gives birth and they bring the child to the temple where Zechariah encountered Gabriel. There Zechariah acknowledges God’s gracious gift and “to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, ‘His name is John.’Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.”

The Christmas season and namely, the asking for and receiving of gifts, often taps into our deepest hopes and fears. Maybe you can sympathize with Zechariah’s initial refusal to receive the good that God offers him. You have known disappointment and loss. You may be grateful for untold blessings but still wonder why God doesn’t answer a particular prayer. Or, you may be hesitant or even resistant to hope in a God who is unpredictable.

In such places, the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth—or of Abraham, Hannah, and Joseph—can speak intimately into our lives. And then there are those around us, like quadriplegic Joni Eareckson Tada, who sees her wheelchair and recent cancer as a gift, for they have “pushed her deeper into [God’s] embrace…convincing her that she’d rather be in her chair knowing Him, than on her feet without Him.”(3) Those are sobering words and a gift few of us would want to receive. But perhaps, as we consider the Christmas story, we might discover gifts shining with the brightness and magnitude of a God who,

has come to his people and redeemed them…

to give his people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

because of [his] tender mercy…

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.(4)

Danielle DuRant is director of research and writing at RZIM.

(1) See Luke 1:59-61.

(2) http://skipmoen.com/tag/gracious/

(3) See Joni speaking about her life at http://www.joniandfriends.org/television/id-rather-be-wheelchair-knowing-him/. Regarding her cancer, see Joni & Ken: An Untold Love Story (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013).

(4) Luke 1:68, 77-79.

Uncategorized

The Humiliation of Christ – John MacArthur

Leave a comment

 

“We . . . see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9).

Jesus’ death on the cross was not easy or costless–it was a horrific death. It was not calm and peaceful; it was accompanied by outward torture and inward agony. The death He tasted was the curse of sin. In a few hours on that cross, He suffered the total agony of every soul for all eternity. He was guilty of no sin, yet He chose to suffer the weight of all sins committed for all time.

God sent His Son, and His Son willingly came to die to redeem mankind. Paul writes, “When the fulness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law” (Gal. 4:4-5).

Only by tasting death as a man could He free mankind from death. Historically, kings have had someone taste their food and drink before they consumed it. Christ drained to the dregs the cup of poison rightfully meant for us before it could ever touch our lips. He substituted His death for ours, releasing us from the deadness of sin to life with God.

What moved Jesus to suffer for us? Grace. What we did not deserve (salvation) we received, and what we did deserve (death) we did not receive. Unbounded love prompted Christ’s gracious work on our behalf: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

After He accomplished the work of His substitutionary death, He was “crowned with glory and honor” and exalted to the right hand of the Father, where He will reign forever and ever. He is our great Substitute, whom we can thank and praise throughout all eternity.

Suggestion for Prayer:  Ask God to give you opportunities to communicate the gospel to new people, even if you might suffer in the process.

For Further Study:  Read Isaiah 52:13–53:12 to understand what the God of the universe had to endure at the hands of men.

Uncategorized

Benefits of God’s Greatest Gift – Charles Stanley

Leave a comment

 

Matthew 27:51

On Christmas, we think of a newborn in a manger, perhaps with a halo surrounding his head. This sweet image is certainly meaningful to us. But it has become so commonplace in our culture that we tend to miss the enormity of Jesus’ sacrifice and the amazing implications for us.

As we saw yesterday, salvation and an eternal home are two wonderful privileges that come to us through God’s gift of His Son. Now let’s look at three more.

We have a personal relationship with the omniscient and omnipresent God. He is the Good Shepherd, who cares for us individually, unconditionally, and with great passion. He will do whatever it takes to keep us close to Him; no matter how we sin, He will never disown us. What security and value we have because of His great love!

Jesus says that He is our faithful, trustworthy friend, available at all times, whether in seasons of heartache or rejoicing. The Lord offers the type of intimate relationship that we all long to have. And only He can fill our void in a truly lasting, satisfying way.

The moment we are saved, God gives us another gift: His Holy Spirit indwells each believer, counseling, teaching, and enabling us to do His Will. He will never leave us and, in fact, will one day accompany us to heaven.

God is our Shepherd, Friend, and indwelling Teacher. His gift of redemption allows us to live abundantly now and also promises eternity in His presence. Take the time to explore some of the countless benefits of His gift so you can enjoy and be grateful for all the blessings we have in Jesus.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning   “The last Adam.” / 1 Corinthians 15:45

Jesus is the federal head of his elect. As in Adam, every heir of flesh and

blood has a personal interest, because he is the covenant head and

representative of the race as considered under the law of works; so under the

law of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since he

is the Second Adam, the Sponsor and Substitute of the elect in the new

covenant of love. The apostle Paul declares that Levi was in the loins of

Abraham when Melchizedek met him: it is a certain truth that the believer was

in the loins of Jesus Christ, the Mediator, when in old eternity the covenant

settlements of grace were decreed, ratified, and made sure forever. Thus,

whatever Christ hath done, he hath wrought for the whole body of his Church.

We were crucified in him and buried with him (read Col. 2:10-13), and to make

it still more wonderful, we are risen with him and even ascended with him to

the seats on high (Eph. 2:6). It is thus that the Church has fulfilled the

law, and is “accepted in the beloved.” It is thus that she is regarded with

complacency by the just Jehovah, for he views her in Jesus, and does not look

upon her as separate from her covenant head. As the Anointed Redeemer of

Israel, Christ Jesus has nothing distinct from his Church, but all that he has

he holds for her. Adam’s righteousness was ours so long as he maintained it,

and his sin was ours the moment that he committed it; and in the same manner,

all that the Second Adam is or does, is ours as well as his, seeing that he is

our representative. Here is the foundation of the covenant of grace. This

gracious system of representation and substitution, which moved Justin Martyr

to cry out, “O blessed change, O sweet permutation!” this is the very

groundwork of the gospel of our salvation, and is to be received with strong

faith and rapturous joy.

 

Evening   “Lo, I am with you alway.” / Matthew 28:20

The Lord Jesus is in the midst of his church; he walketh among the golden

candlesticks; his promise is, “Lo, I am with you alway.” He is as surely with

us now as he was with the disciples at the lake, when they saw coals of fire,

and fish laid thereon and bread. Not carnally, but still in real truth, Jesus

is with us. And a blessed truth it is, for where Jesus is, love becomes

inflamed. Of all the things in the world that can set the heart burning, there

is nothing like the presence of Jesus! A glimpse of him so overcomes us, that

we are ready to say, “Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome

me.” Even the smell of the aloes, and the myrrh, and the cassia, which drop

from his perfumed garments, causes the sick and the faint to grow strong. Let

there be but a moment’s leaning of the head upon that gracious bosom, and a

reception of his divine love into our poor cold hearts, and we are cold no

longer, but glow like seraphs, equal to every labour, and capable of every

suffering. If we know that Jesus is with us, every power will be developed,

and every grace will be strengthened, and we shall cast ourselves into the

Lord’s service with heart, and soul, and strength; therefore is the presence

of Christ to be desired above all things. His presence will be most realized

by those who are most like him. If you desire to see Christ, you must grow in

conformity to him. Bring yourself, by the power of the Spirit, into union with

Christ’s desires, and motives, and plans of action, and you are likely to be

favoured with his company. Remember his presence may be had. His promise is as

true as ever. He delights to be with us. If he doth not come, it is because we

hinder him by our indifference. He will reveal himself to our earnest prayers,

and graciously suffer himself to be detained by our entreaties, and by our

tears, for these are the golden chains which bind Jesus to his people.

Uncategorized

Born to Die – John MacArthur

Leave a comment

 

“We . . . see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9).

At this time of year, it is difficult for us to see Jesus other than as a little baby. We of course know why He came, but we usually focus on His death on the cross at another time of year. But we must never forget that He came to die.

Those soft baby hands fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb were made to have two great nails hammered through them. Those little chubby feet were to walk up a hill and be nailed to a cross. That sacred head was made to wear a crown of thorns. His tender body wrapped in swaddling clothes would be pierced by a spear to reveal a broken heart. The death of Christ was no accident; He was born to die.

Jesus died to remove the curse so we could regain our dominion. But to do that, He had to come as a man. Even though in doing so He temporarily became lower than the angels, He accomplished something no angel could: our restoration.

The first and foremost reason for the incarnation is that Christ might taste death on behalf of every man and woman. He came to die in our place–to be our substitute. God had two options: Either let us die and pay for our own sins, or allow a substitute to take our punishment and die in our place. He mercifully chose the latter.

It is vital that we affirm the fact of Christ’s substitutionary death because modern liberal theology claims Jesus died merely as an example, like a martyr dying for some cause. But He died as a substitute for you and me. As a result He freed us to live for and with God. Rejoice that the creator of angels, the Lord of hosts, would become lower than His creation for our sakes.

Suggestion for Prayer:   Thank the Lord for His willingness to humble Himself to become a man to save you.

For Further Study:  Read Psalm 22 and note which verses prophesy Jesus’ suffering on the cross.

Uncategorized

What God Can Do – Greg Laurie

Leave a comment

 

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.— Colossians 1:13

Our society doesn’t really have answers for all the problems we are facing in our country today. Ironically, our society seems to do everything it can to undermine the only one who can help us, and that is Jesus Christ.

There are people caught in our legal system as repeat offenders. There are judges who make the wrong decisions. There is the breakdown of the family. And all of these elements combined produce a society that can do very little to change a person’s heart, if anything at all. Rehabilitation efforts largely fail. In fact, the only real programs that seem to produce lasting change are faith-based, and more specifically, are being operated by Christians who are calling people to faith in Jesus Christ. Society doesn’t have the answers.

Jesus met two men whose lives had been controlled and ruined by Satan. Society didn’t have the answers. Enter the Savior, Jesus. What did He do? He sought them out in their graveyard and offered them hope. In fact, Luke’s account of the story tells us what happened to one of the men who was delivered: “Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid” (Luke 8:35). Why were people afraid? They didn’t know what to make of it. He was so transformed it frightened the people. They couldn’t even imagine a guy like him could be changed in such a dramatic way.

It is such a glorious thing when Christ so transforms someone that you can’t even imagine that person being what he or she used to be. You realize that it is the power of a changed life. And that is what God can do.

Uncategorized

The Greatest Gift of All – Charles Stanley

Leave a comment

 

John 3:15-21

Even children understand that unless a present is opened and explored, its value will remain unknown. Yet many people neglect “unwrapping” God’s gift of salvation through Jesus. They receive His forgiveness but fail to discover the marvelous treasures made available to them as children of God.

When God the Son came to dwell on earth, He took on human flesh. This mystery is known as the incarnation. Jesus, who was fully God, lived a sinless life. Yet He was also fully human. Without Christ, we would be eternally separated from God the Father. The sin we all inherited through Adam does not allow fellowship with the perfect God. So the Savior took our iniquities upon Himself and endured the death penalty in our place. And then He rose from the dead.

In doing this, Jesus redeemed us and opened the door for eternal fellowship with the Father. Any who so choose can accept mercy instead of punishment. It is God’s free gift, which includes an eternal home in heaven. We will live forever with Christians from every generation and can look forward to reuniting with loved ones who have already died in the Lord. A small baby in a manger was truly the greatest gift of all time.

Do you have a relationship with Almighty God? Jesus came to redeem you. If you haven’t accepted His salvation, take this opportunity: admit your need for forgiveness, and ask Christ to be your Savior. The gift is wrapped and ready, waiting for you to open and enjoy all God has given.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning  “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name

Immanuel.” / Isaiah 7:14

Let us today go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and

adoring Magi, let us see him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith

can claim an interest in him, and can sing, “Unto us a child is born, unto us

a son is given.” Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our

brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice at the very first

glance his miraculous conception. It was a thing unheard of before, and

unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first

promise ran thus, “The seed of the woman,” not the offspring of the man. Since

venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she,

and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, although truly

man, was as to his human nature the Holy One of God. Let us reverently bow

before the holy Child whose innocence restores to manhood its ancient glory;

and let us pray that he may be formed in us, the hope of glory. Fail not to

note his humble parentage. His mother has been described simply as “a virgin,”

not a princess, or prophetess, nor a matron of large estate. True the blood of

kings ran in her veins; nor was her mind a weak and untaught one, for she

could sing most sweetly a song of praise; but yet how humble her position, how

poor the man to whom she stood affianced, and how miserable the accommodation

afforded to the new-born King!

Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our

punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with him, in

resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendour.

 

Evening “And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent

and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt

offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my

sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.” /

Job 1:5

What the patriarch did early in the morning, after the family festivities, it

will be well for the believer to do for himself ere he rests tonight. Amid the

cheerfulness of household gatherings it is easy to slide into sinful levities,

and to forget our avowed character as Christians. It ought not to be so, but

so it is, that our days of feasting are very seldom days of sanctified

enjoyment, but too frequently degenerate into unhallowed mirth. There is a way

of joy as pure and sanctifying as though one bathed in the rivers of Eden:

holy gratitude should be quite as purifying an element as grief. Alas! for our

poor hearts, that facts prove that the house of mourning is better than the

house of feasting. Come, believer, in what have you sinned today? Have you

been forgetful of your high calling? Have you been even as others in idle

words and loose speeches? Then confess the sin, and fly to the sacrifice. The

sacrifice sanctifies. The precious blood of the Lamb slain removes the guilt,

and purges away the defilement of our sins of ignorance and carelessness. This

is the best ending of a Christmas-day–to wash anew in the cleansing fountain.

Believer, come to this sacrifice continually; if it be so good tonight, it is

good every night. To live at the altar is the privilege of the royal

priesthood; to them sin, great as it is, is nevertheless no cause for despair,

since they draw near yet again to the sin-atoning victim, and their conscience

is purged from dead works.

Gladly I close this festive day,

Grasping the altar’s hallow’d horn;

My slips and faults are washed away,

The Lamb has all my trespass borne.

Uncategorized

Recovering Man’s Destiny – John MacArthur

Leave a comment

 

“We . . . see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9).

The ultimate curse of our lost destiny is death. God warned Adam that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die (Gen. 2:17). In the restored kingdom we will be elevated again over a redeemed earth. But the only way that we could ever reign again as kings was to have the curse of sin removed, and the only way to remove it was to pay the penalty of sin, which is death (Rom. 6:23).

There’s just one problem: how can we reign if we are dead? We need to be raised from the dead, but we certainly can’t do that ourselves. That’s why God sent Jesus Christ.

To accomplish this great work for us, Jesus had to become a man. He Himself had to be made “for a little while lower than the angels.” To regain man’s dominion He had to taste death for every man. Christ came to die for us because in His dying He could conquer death.

But He was also raised from the dead: “Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him” (Rom. 6:9). How does that help us? “If we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection” (v. 5).

The moment you put your faith in Christ, you are identified with Him. You died with Him on the cross, you were resurrected, and you began to walk in newness of life. You now are a joint heir with Christ in His eternal kingdom.

Christ tasted death for you and me so we could recover our lost destiny. Celebrate that glorious truth as you celebrate His birth today.

Suggestion for Prayer:  Before you do another thing today, praise your heavenly Father for His wonderful plan of salvation.

For Further Study:  Read Isaiah 2:2-4 and 11:6-9 noting the character of our future kingdom.

Uncategorized

Jesus—His First Appearance – Charles Stanley

Leave a comment

 

Romans 8:28

Some situations in the Bible may seem perplexing to us, but none of them were mere happenstance. God, who knows all things and sees the end from the beginning, was sovereignly working out all the details of His redemption plan.

For example, it may strike us as strange that a government census inconveniently caused Mary the discomfort of having to travel in her ninth month of pregnancy. Caesar Augustus may have thought this census was his idea, but the reality is that he was being sovereignly overruled: God was moving this family to Bethlehem in fulfillment of a prophecy about the Messiah’s birth. Centuries earlier, Micah wrote, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (5:2).

Not only was the travel a hardship, but once Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, the only accommodations they could find were rather unglamorous. A stable with a feeding trough for the baby’s crib was hardly what we would think of as a setting fit for a King. But the Father had purpose in mind for that as well. He wanted the Lamb of God to be born in a lowly setting, alongside other lambs.

What difficult circumstances are you facing? Do you wonder why God would allow such trials? Rest assured, your heavenly Father sees all and has a good purpose beyond what our finite minds can grasp. Choose to trust Him, and rest in His promise to work everything for His children’s good.

Uncategorized

Unfamiliar Christmas – Ravi Zacharias

Leave a comment

 

If the first chapter of Luke is the preface to a great story—the foretelling of a herald, the prophecy of a child, the return of the throne of a king—the second chapter is the culmination. The Roman world is called to a census. A young couple journeys to Bethlehem to be counted. A child is born. “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’”(1)

Christian or otherwise, the Christmas story is often viewed as wonderful in its familiarity, calling forth each year a childhood delight in the monotonous, beckoning our imaginations to a stable and a story. Christmas hymns, full of imagery and story, are piped in as background music at post offices and malls. Manger scenes can still be found as part of familiar Christmas décor. Yet often for those to whom it is all most familiar, it is also a story we can find surprisingly unfamiliar each year. Like children delighting in another reading of a bedtime favorite, the Nativity is somehow still startling in its mysteries, the child still out of place in the manger, the story full of profound paradox.

The first time I walked through the crowded, pungent streets of Bethlehem, I was struck by the disparity between what I was seeing and “the little town of Bethlehem” I had imagined in pageants and songs. The harsh reality of God becoming a child in the midst of the cold and dark world I knew myself suddenly seemed a blaring proclamation: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. There is a plaque of the same words outside the dark and ancient church built upon what was once the place of the nativity. Reading this in the actual Bethlehem, I remember thinking I had never really considered it before: God taking on flesh to live here, with us, in our chaos and fighting and despair.

 

Upon his conversion, Charles Wesley took to hymn writing as a means of attempting to capture the strange hope of a God among us, which was persistently stirring in his mind. Though a few of the words have long since been changed, one of Charles Wesley’s 6,000 hymns is a widely beloved declaration of the Incarnation. Seeking to convey in pen and ink a Christmas story both familiar to our hearts and startling in its wonder, Wesley wrote:

Hark, how all the welkin rings,

“Glory to the King of kings;

Peace on earth, and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled!”

For Wesley, the Christ child in the manger was forever an indication of the great lengths God will go to reconcile his creation, a savior willing to descend that we might be able to ascend. “Welkin” is an old English term meaning “the vault of heaven.” Wesley was telling the radical story of the Incarnation: All of heaven opening up for the birth of a king and the rebirth of humanity.

The star of Bethlehem, the magi, the shepherds, and the willing child Mary are all amid the long-imagined and inconceivable markers of a God among us. The birth of Christ is the timeless gesture that God has chosen to remain. And Christmas is a time to imagine what it means if the hard cries of a real and unpolished world have really been heard, if a savior was born, if the vault of heaven was truly opened.

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings,

Ris’n with healing in his wings.

Mild He lays his glory by,

Born that man no more may die.

Born to raise the sons of earth,

Born to give them second birth

Hark! the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King!”

 

 

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) Luke 2:8-14.

Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

Leave a comment

 

Morning   “For your sakes he became poor.” / 2 Corinthians 8:9

The Lord Jesus Christ was eternally rich, glorious, and exalted; but “though

he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.” As the rich saint cannot be

true in his communion with his poor brethren unless of his substance he

ministers to their necessities, so (the same rule holding with the head as

between the members), it is impossible that our Divine Lord could have had

fellowship with us unless he had imparted to us of his own abounding wealth,

and had become poor to make us rich. Had he remained upon his throne of glory,

and had we continued in the ruins of the fall without receiving his salvation,

communion would have been impossible on both sides. Our position by the fall,

apart from the covenant of grace, made it as impossible for fallen man to

communicate with God as it is for Belial to be in concord with Christ. In

order, therefore, that communion might be compassed, it was necessary that the

rich kinsman should bestow his estate upon his poor relatives, that the

righteous Saviour should give to his sinning brethren of his own perfection,

and that we, the poor and guilty, should receive of his fulness grace for

grace; that thus in giving and receiving, the One might descend from the

heights, and the other ascend from the depths, and so be able to embrace each

other in true and hearty fellowship. Poverty must be enriched by him in whom

are infinite treasures before it can venture to commune; and guilt must lose

itself in imputed and imparted righteousness ere the soul can walk in

fellowship with purity. Jesus must clothe his people in his own garments, or

he cannot admit them into his palace of glory; and he must wash them in his

own blood, or else they will be too defiled for the embrace of his fellowship.

O believer, herein is love! For your sake the Lord Jesus “became poor” that he

might lift you up into communion with himself.

 

Evening   “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it

together.” / Isaiah 40:5

We anticipate the happy day when the whole world shall be converted to Christ;

when the gods of the heathen shall be cast to the moles and the bats; when

Romanism shall be exploded, and the crescent of Mohammed shall wane, never

again to cast its baleful rays upon the nations; when kings shall bow down

before the Prince of Peace, and all nations shall call their Redeemer blessed.

Some despair of this. They look upon the world as a vessel breaking up and

going to pieces, never to float again. We know that the world and all that is

therein is one day to be burnt up, and afterwards we look for new heavens and

for a new earth; but we cannot read our Bibles without the conviction that–

“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun

Does his successive journeys run.”

 

We are not discouraged by the length of his delays; we are not disheartened by

the long period which he allots to the church in which to struggle with little

success and much defeat. We believe that God will never suffer this world,

which has once seen Christ’s blood shed upon it, to be always the devil’s

stronghold. Christ came hither to deliver this world from the detested sway of

the powers of darkness. What a shout shall that be when men and angels shall

unite to cry “Hallelujah, hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!”

What a satisfaction will it be in that day to have had a share in the fight,

to have helped to break the arrows of the bow, and to have aided in winning

the victory for our Lord! Happy are they who trust themselves with this

conquering Lord, and who fight side by side with him, doing their little in

his name and by his strength! How unhappy are those on the side of evil! It is

a losing side, and it is a matter wherein to lose is to lose and to be lost

forever. On whose side are you?

Uncategorized

The Restriction of Man’s Destiny – John MacArthur

Leave a comment

 

“But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him” (Heb. 2:8).

God gave man dominion over all the earth, and the earth supplied his every need. All he had to do was accept and enjoy the earth as provided for him. But Adam sinned and Satan usurped the crown. A new chain of command was born: the earth now rules man.

To know how true that is, all you need do is look at the amount of effort expended on restoring the ecological balance of the earth. Environmentalism is a popular watchword of our day. Yet with all our modern technology, we are still unable to gain control over the earth.

Look what happened once Adam sinned: no longer could man easily harvest what the earth provided–now he had to toil by the sweat of his brow (Gen. 3:18). Women would experience pain in childbirth (3:16). Murder soon followed in Adam’s family. God had to destroy virtually all mankind in the Flood because they had become so debauched.

Much of the animal kingdom now lives in fear of man and cannot be tamed. Where once the earth produced good things naturally and abundantly, now it produces thorns, weeds, and other harmful things. Extremes of heat and cold, poisonous plants and reptiles, earthquakes, typhoons, floods, hurricanes, and disease were all products of the Fall. Man was no longer a king but a slave–a dying creature fighting a losing battle with a dying earth.

Amazingly, the earth is aware of its condition: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it” (Rom. 8:20). Now it eagerly awaits for the day when the sons of God, believers, are manifest in the kingdom, for then it will be liberated from the bondage of corruption (vv. 19, 21-22).

There is coming a day, in the wonderful plan of God, when man will receive once again the dominion that he lost. May our Lord hasten its coming!

Suggestion for Prayer:  Thank God that He will one day redeem the earth from its subjection to the curse.

For Further Study:  Read Isaiah 60:21, 65:25, 2 Peter 3:13, and Revelation 21:27. What will characterize the new earth?