God Was In Christ: The Doctrine Of The Incarnation V

I wrote to you in an earlier post that Christ did not begin to exist at His birth in Bethlehem. He has always existed; the Godhead Trinity are co-equal, co-eternal, one in essence, nature, power, action, and will; all uncreated, and all three are eternal without beginning. Jesus Himself told the Jews that “…Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” {Jn. 8:58 NASB}, and He said in John 6:62, “What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?” (NASB). Not only does Scripture affirm the pre-existence of Christ, but the earliest leaders of the church, from the Patristics to the Reformers, concluded that Scripture taught that Christ eternally existed with the Father (One of the greatest works being St. Athanasius’ On The Incarnation). His pre-existence is revealed throughout the Old and New Testaments, the prophets, and by Jesus Himself, which I will discuss all in later posts. Christ’s divine nature is the very same nature as the Father and the Holy Spirit. Christ, according to His divine nature is immutable, impassible, and neither lessened nor weakened by the incarnation.[1]

The pre-existence of Christ is essential to the Incarnation. If Christ pre-existed eternally with the Father, He was God. If He did not pre-exist, He could not have been God. If He is God, He is to be worshiped as God, and the attributes of God should be ascribed to Him. The complete teaching of Scripture about Jesus Christ is that He was fully human and fully divine. “Although the Word does not explicitly occur in Scripture, the church has used the term Incarnation to refer to the fact that Jesus was God in human flesh. The Incarnation was the act of God the Son whereby he took to himself a human nature.”[2] Scripture implies and assumes that Jesus was God. The nature of Christ’s pre-existence deals with the nature of His deity. If Jesus’ birth was His beginning, He was not God, and it negates any idea that He is the Word in the flesh. He simply could not be God incarnate if He did not pre-exist eternally with the Father. “The world was from the beginning, but the Word was in the beginning. The Word had a being before the world had a beginning. He that was in the beginning never began, and therefore was.”[3]

Another aspect of the nature of His pre-existence is that He is the Second Person of the Trinity. The implications of this are imperative to His pre-existence. Christ was not only human, but He also claimed to be equal with God; sharing the very same essence of the Father. Jesus prayed in John 17:5, “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” This is a clear statement by Christ that He existed before the world. This means Jesus existed before His birth and was as God in nature and attributes.

 

There are several key events in Scripture that speak to the eternal Second Person of the Trinity. It is these events that solidify His pre-existence. We will examine these events in the next post with the appearances of Christ in the Old Testament.

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[1] Timothy Pawl, In Defense Of Conciliar Christology: A Philosophical Essay (Oxford: Oxford University Press., 2016), 16.

[2] Grudem, 543. 

[3] Leslie Church, ed., Matthew Henry’s Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1960), 1506.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

“For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” {Is. 9:6 NASB}.

God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 24

 Day 24 Luke Chapter 24

We made it through all twenty-four chapters! Thank you for walking through Luke’s wonderful Gospel with me. I pray that these little devotions blessed you and helped to make your Advent season one of reflection and dedication to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’” (v. 32 NASB).

 This is one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture. I pray this prayer every day: May my heart burn within me as you open the Scriptures to me. If I had a time machine, the road to Emmaus would be my first choice so that I could eavesdrop on the Lord’s conversation with these two disciples. 

This account is the first of three post-resurrection appearances Christ made in the New Testament. Two men are walking to Emmaus just a few days after the crucifixion of the Lord. Jesus came upon them, though they did not recognize Him through their sorrow. He came to comfort them in their grief. I love the rendering of the KJV and the NKJV and the ESV which says that Jesus drew near to them.

Together these three men walked and they listened as He encouraged them that what the women reported was true. Yet another glimmer of hope that the injustice from just a few short days before could be made right. Jesus opened their spiritual eyes so they could understand all that the Scripture spoke about Christ—His sufferings, death, and resurrection. He began with the Old Testament—Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. He was exactly who He claimed to be—the Christ, the Son of God, the promised Redeemer. There was no one more worthy or qualified to explain the Scripture to them but the Prince of Peace—the very Word Himself. His words were so full of power and life that their hearts burned within them; they were like a burning fire in them like many others who came before them who heard with joy the Words of the Lord:

My heart was hot within me, While I was musing the fire burned {Ps. 39:3 NASB}. 

“But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,’ Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it’” {Jer. 20:9 NASB}.

They had a taste of what John the Baptist declared about Jesus, that He would baptize with fire.

I cannot escape the language of drawing near. For that is just what God did in sending His Son, He drew near to us because we could not draw near to Him. He came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. There was no way for us to draw close to Him because of our sin. But the Lord of Glory, not only drew near, but He also communed so that He could have a relationship with His fallen, human creation. Jesus walked the road to Emmaus and at their bidding, He broke bread with them. As soon as He blessed the bread and ate with them, their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him! He then vanished before them, but they were witnesses to the Eleven that what the women proclaimed—that Jesus was indeed resurrected—and their hope was revived! I must make note as well that these two disciples were not numbered with the Eleven. Our Savior found them to be just as important as the Apostles. We are equally important to Him and He desires to reveal Himself to all who will receive Him.

In the quiet, still, cold night, Christ crept into the world unnoticed, except for a few lowly shepherds. While the world slept, the Chronos was broken with the Kairos—the long-awaited promise—the Redeemer, Deliverer, and King of Glory drew near to the world that He loved so much, in a humble stable that holy night. 

He did for us what we could not do for ourselves; we now have the privilege of drawing near to Him:

“Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” {Heb. 10:22 NASB}.

 

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” {Jam. 4:8 NASB}

 

 

 

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God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 23

 Day 23 Luke Chapter 23

“And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong” {v.41 NASB}.

Jesus was born in a manger and died on a cross. He came to redeem mankind from our fallenness, darkness, sin, and rebellion. He was the only perfect sacrifice for sin and the only mediator we will ever need {1 Timothy 2:5-6}. He was declared innocent by seven different people that day. Seven times Jesus was examined, judged, and found to be without sin. God is a detail-oriented God. Each sacrifice brought to the Tabernacle was to be carefully observed by the priest to ensure the offering being presented was without spot or blemish. Everything in the law in Israel was observed, in Christ, they are fulfilled, in the church (believers) they are applied. Christ fulfilled every Old Testament Scripture concerning the Messiah.

Jesus’ innocence was so apparent that even a thief dying on the cross next to Him could see the truth. Though Luke’s Gospel gives the impression that one thief mocked Him and one did not, Matthew and Mark’s Gospels give the full account. Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32 reveal that both criminals mocked Jesus.

Though both mocked Him, hours spent being crucified next to the King of kings taught him to think better of his behavior. He began to see Jesus for who He was and put his faith and trust in the Jewish carpenter from Nazareth. In this Chronos, the condemned thief and criminal who was a rebel against God became a child of God. What a difference one moment can make in one life. He was no longer on his way to hell, but rather on his way to paradise. One moment he was a criminal who did not deserve mercy but was welcomed into the Lord’s bosom that very day. What mercy. What grace. What a price Christ paid to bridge that gulf between God and man; life and death.

That is what the innocent babe in the manger came for; to seek and save the lost {Lk. 19:10}. The same mercy and grace He extended to that dying, repentant thief is available to you and me. He was innocent of sin at His birth; He was innocent of sin at His death. That is what He took on His shoulders for you and me.

I know I have made much use of Bonhoeffer in my Advent musings, but he says it so eloquently:

The Great Turning Point Of All Things

What kings and leaders of nations, philosophers and artists, founders of religion and teachers of morals have tried in vain to do—that now happens through a newborn child. Putting to shame the most powerful human efforts and accomplishments, a child is placed here at the midpoint of world history—a child born of human beings, a Son given by God {Is. 9:6}. That is the mystery of the redemption of the world; everything past and everything future is encompassed here. The infinite mercy of the Almighty God comes to us, descends to us in the form of a child, his Son. That this child is born for us, this son is given to us, that this human child and Son of God belongs to me, that I know him, have him, love him, that I am his and he is mine—on this alone my life now depends. A child has our life in his hands.[1]

 

 

 

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[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is In The Manger (Westminster: John Knox Press., 2010), 56.

God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 22

 Day 22 Luke Chapter 22

“And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, and said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation’” {vv.44-46 NASB}.

This verse touches me. It really makes me ponder the humanness of Jesus. He was fully God, but He was also fully man. You cannot ignore Jesus’ humanity or you will never fully grasp the depths of Gethsemane or your own humanity when you are faced with choices like that of Jesus. Jesus could have gone His own way and followed His own will. But thankfully, He chose to follow hard after God and to fulfill the will of the Father. Our salvation was on the cusp as He cried out in anguished prayer, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done” {v. 42 NAS}. He obeyed the Father—sealing our salvation. The curse that came on Adam in the garden to toil by the sweat of his brow is broken by the Redeemer of the world in a garden by the blood-sweat from His brow.

In His love for real human beings, Jesus becomes the one burdened by guilt – indeed, the one upon whom all human guilt ultimately falls and the one who does not turn it away but bears it humbly and in eternal love… As the human being who has entered reality, Jesus becomes guilty. But because His historical existence, His incarnation, has its sole basis in God’s love for human beings, it is the love of God that makes Jesus become guilty. Out of selfless love for human beings, Jesus leaves His state as the one without sin and enters into the guilt of human beings. He takes it upon Himself.[1]

Each of us will face our own Gethsemane or many of them perhaps. Though we do not bear the salvation of the world on our shoulders, we each must choose in the hard places who we will follow…our fleshly desires or the will of the Father.

Advent is about Jesus’ birth in a manger, that Holy crèche on that Holy night, but will we make room for Him? Not just as our Savior but also our Lord in the hard places—the hard choices—in this fallen world.

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[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is In The Manger (Westminster: John Knox Press., 2010), 34.

God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 21

 Day 21 Luke Chapter 21

“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” {vv. 27-28}.

I love when the Old Testament meets the New. Jesus speaks of yet another fulfillment of God’s Word that He poured into His prophets concerning things to come. And Jesus, the Son of Man, stands before them as the fulfillment of the prophet Daniel’s words given by God. Jesus came to save the world and to offer salvation to those who will receive the precious gift. Those who choose Him become citizens of the glorious, universal Kingdom of which Daniel foretold. The Jews have been harassing Jesus for a sign that He is who He says He is and He answers their demand. 

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him” {Daniel 7:13 NASB}.

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen” {Revelation 1:7 NASB}.

We must remember that though Christ came as a baby; He is a grown, real, living person; who grew in wisdom and stature before the Lord {Lk. 2:52}. Christianity is not a religion that follows a certain set of rules, but a real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to us and now lives in us through His Spirit. He lived and died and rose again to redeem you and me. At the Second Advent, He will judge our mortal lives and the decisions we made and whether or not we lived for Him. This is a time to reflect on our lives and consider whether there is any part of our life that does not please Him. The One True God is holy and hates sin, but He loves us immensely, so much so that He sent His Son to redeem the world. Because we are living for Him His Second Advent need not be a terror in the night. Only those who persist in their wickedness need fear His coming. If we submit our lives to Him now, we will be accepted when He appears on that Great Day.

His message is urgent that we believers on earth be ready. The tribulation and tumult of the earth will not last forever. Just when it looks as though the anguish and despair can only worsen, Christ will be revealed in the heavens and every eye shall see Him. And the old prophet Zechariah’s words concerning His appearance will come to pass, “they will say where did you get those marks in your hands? And he will say, ‘in the house of my friends’” {see Zech. 13:6}. Then, according to the Apostle Paul the Jewish nation will be born in a day; all Israel will be saved.

Jesus will also place His precious, nail-pierced feet on the Mount of Olives. The prophet Zechariah tells us that Christ, accompanied by His raptured saints, will enter the great city of Jerusalem. The returning saints along with those believers on earth will gather to crown Him King of kings and Lord of lords and Christ will begin His millennial and eternal reign.

Are you ready for His return? What part of you are withholding from Him that you may offer Him as a gift this Advent season? Is there room in the inn of your heart for this precious gift of the promised Redeemer?

Let’s not deceive ourselves. “Your redemption is drawing near” {Luke 21:28}, whether we know it or not, and the only question is: are we going to let it come to us too, or are we going to resist it? Are we going to join in this movement that comes down from heaven to earth or are we going to close ourselves off? Christmas is coming—whether it is with us or without us depends on each and every one of us. Such a true event happening now creates something different from the anxious, petty, depressed, feeble Christian spirit that we see again and again, and that again and again, wants to make Christianity contemptible… Advent creates people, new people. We too are supposed to become new people in advent.[1]

 

 

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[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is In The Manger (Westminster: John Knox Press., 2010), 40.

God Was In Christ The Doctrine of the Incarnation An Advent Journal Part IV

The Incarnation: Necessary For Salvation

Why did Christ come to earth? Why would He leave the glory of heaven to live in human skin and suffer the things this world has to offer?


The Incarnation is essential to God’s plan of redemption. Salvation comes by believing in Him as Lord and Savior and accepting the sacrifice He made for mankind. Packer writes,

“Take the atonement, how can we believe that the death of Jesus of Nazareth—one man, expiring on a Roman gibbet— put away the world’s sins? How can that death have any bearing on God’s forgiveness of our sins today?”[1] The writer of Hebrews answers Packer’s query, “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17 NASB). 

He came and died as a sacrifice for sin. We are incapable of making the sacrifice for ourselves. It is only by the sacrifice made by Christ, that we can be forgiven and reconciled to God. If Jesus were a mere human being, He would in the end amount to nothing more than a great religious teacher or spiritual guide. However, in the Incarnation, God bears the brunt of suffering and evil by subjecting Himself to the cruelty and horror of the world.[2]

Mankind was made in the glorious image of God:

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth’” (Gen. 1:26 NASB).

The Potter molding His clay; The divine Creator creating. He separates mankind from the rest of creation to be made in His holy image:

“The image of God in Genesis 1 functions as a calling for humankind: to use all their capacities, those they share with the other animals and especially those that set them apart, in establishing a community that exercises dominion over God’s world, a dominion that reflects God’s faithfulness, wisdom, benevolence, and creativity.”[3]



Satan came to the garden and broke the earthen vessels and tempted them to sin by choosing to believe his lies. They fell, damaging the beautiful image that God bestowed on them. This was too big for them to repair; they had dug a hole too big to climb out themselves. God had to cast them from His presence. He longed to restore mankind to Himself so they could once again be in His presence. 

“What was God to do? What else could He possibly do, being God, but renew His Image in mankind, so that through it men might once more come to know Him? And how could this be done save by the coming of the very Image Himself, our Saviour Jesus Christ? Men could not have done it, for they are only made after the Image; nor could angels have done it, for they are not the image of God. The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father, Who could recreate man made after the Image…He assumed a human body in order that in it death might once for all be destroyed, and that men might be renewed according to the Image. The Image of the Father only was sufficient for this need.”[4]

That is His purpose—that we may know Him. That we have a personal relationship with Him. That He be our everything. He loves us that much.

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[1] J.I. Packer, Knowing God (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press., 1973), 52.
[2] Michael Green, The Truth Of God Incarnate (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), 103.
[3] C. John Collins, Reading Genesis Well (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018), 164.
[4] Athanasius, On The Incarnation (Yonkers: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press., 2011), 41.

Sabbath Sanctuary God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 20

 Day 20 Luke Chapter 20

“How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms,‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet. Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?’” (vv.41-44 NASB).

I love this exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders. Once again, wisdom is vindicated by all her children {Luke 7:35}. This speaks to the dual nature of Jesus, which the Jewish religious leaders never understood, though the Old Testament told them to look for these signs in the Redeemer. Jesus validates this by quoting from the verse in which the Lord gives dominion to the King. He solidifies the inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures.

What they did not understand is that Jesus was telling them that this implies both the future existence of David’s throne and the authority of the Messiah over all that has been given Him by the Father, His spiritual authority as King over the nations.

The Sadducees were silenced once again by Jesus, who as fully God {the preexistent Christ} was David’s Lord, and as fully man was David’s son. This same account in Matthew’s Gospel tells us that He so confounded them that “No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question” {Matt. 22:46 NASB}. Jesus again bewildered His adversaries.

In God’s holy promise of the coming Savior into the world, it was imperative that the prophecies reveal both the true God and true man nature of the Holy Savior. The revelation of the coming Redeemer of man-kind—this holy truth—caused the Old Testament prophecies to declare of Him, “And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace,” as well as being the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief {Is. 9:6; Is. 53: 1-12}. 

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Sabbath Sanctuary God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 19

Day 19 Luke Chapter 19

“The whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’” {vv.37-38 NASB}.

In the third chapter of Luke’s wonderous gospel, we again see people crying out to God. The ten lepers, blind Bartimaeus, cry out in anguish for mercy. Now, the crying rings of anguish have become praise for the miracles they have seen, a stark contrast from the nine who went their own way. One wonders if they were in the crowd that day.

Rejoice Zion! The prophecy is fulfilled in their very presence:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey” {Zech. 9:9}.

Advent is a season in which we look for the crèche, the babe in the manger, and rightly so. But I think that when we read about Christ’s triumphal entry, we tend to lose the seriousness of what this particular day means. This entry into Jerusalem is definitely revered on Palm Sunday, but do we understand the whole meaning of this day? What are we seeing?

We have become accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God’s coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us. {Dietrch Bonhoeffer, The Coming of Jesus in our Midst}.

Reflect and prayerfully seek God about what His coming truly means for this world. He is the Light in darkness that was foretold from ages past. He is the blessed King who comes in the name of the Lord, bringing Peace for those enduring this chaotic world—this weary world rejoices…the promised King is here. Yes, He was a babe in a manger, which is what we are celebrating in this hushed season of Advent—don’t let go of that holy hush. Let us also remember that He is our King and is coming again.

 

 

 

 

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God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 18

Day 18 Luke Chapter 18

“‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (vv. 38-39 NASB).

These two chapters of Luke speak volumes to the pain and suffering in the world. Two accounts of hurting and sick people crying out for the mercy of God. If He does not see their pain and intervene, they have no hope.

Bartimaeus has lived in a blind existence. His world was dark and lonely. Jesus said that while He is in the world, He is the Light of the World {Jn. 4:5}. Isaiah prophesied of the coming Child that He came to give Zion a happy future;

“Say to those with anxious heart, ‘Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy’” (Is. 35:4-5 NASB).  

Mary did you know that your baby boy would give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God…

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the Lamb

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am.

(Mary Did You Know? Mark Lowery, 1984)

How often have we faced trials and circumstances that have brought us to our knees and caused us to cry out with anguished desperation, “Jesus, have mercy on me!?” The darkness, the sickness; this lost, dark, evil world gives many an opportunity. I have been brought to cry out on many occasions. 

“God doesn’t miss a single sigh that escapes our lips. But historically, God’s people most often cried out in spoken words that sprang from the depths of their being. 

Remember this Advent that He came to set the captives free—giving sight to the blind and opening deaf ears to hear the Good News of His coming Kingdom and to see Him when He arrives. Keep your eyes open. He will be arriving soon. 

 

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God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 17

Day 17 Luke Chapter 17

“Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan” {vv. 15-16 NASB}.

Leprosy was a horrible disease. There was no treatment and no cure. It was a brutal disease that met with a horrific death. Their cry, “Have mercy on us” is heart-wrenching. Such a cry of anguish that echoes through human history.
The ten lepers cry to Jesus for mercy because He is their only hope to be delivered from this agonizing existence. One with the curse of leprosy was marked as someone God Himself had cursed. There was no way out from this deadly mark. They desire to be healed because they know that only their healing can lift the pain and ostracism, allow them to enter society, and give them hope that life can return to normal life like it was before.

The narrative of the ten lepers is a lesson for us. Before entering this Advent season, we were focused on being thankful and not complaining and murmuring about what we didn’t have or want. God responds to gratefulness, not grumbling at our circumstances. These ten lepers all had faith in Jesus. They knew He was the only one to deliver them and make things right again. Every hope they had clung to who Jesus was and the power of God within Him. Jesus delivered. They cried out for mercy, and He granted it to them. He told them to show themselves to the priest {according to the Law of Moses} to declare them clean. They all went away healed!

This account is not one of a lack of faith but of a lack of gratefulness. Only one returned to worship the Lord for what He had done for them. They were in utter despair in a crisis moment in their lives, yet how quickly they forgot. As soon as the crisis was over, they went their separate ways. What they received was not taken from them. But the one who returned left with more blessings than the others who did not return to worship. Jesus told him that not only was he healed from this crippling disease, but because he came back and worshiped the Lord for the miracle, he would also be made whole. All that he had lost would be restored to him.

That is Mercy’s pen writing a new chapter for each of them. But special prose was written for the one who worshiped in gratefulness to the divine Physician. He took the time to return and let Jesus know what it meant to him to be healed.


Reflect in this season of waiting for the Christ Child upon everything the Lord has done for you. Let us remember what He has so mercifully delivered us from, how He has healed us and made us whole. Let the Lord know how His mercy has marked your life with deliverance and wholeness.

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God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 16

Day 16 Luke Chapter 16

“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail” {vv.16-17}.

In chapter sixteen, Jesus continually rebukes the Pharisees, who believed they were more righteous. In v.v. 16-17, Jesus speaks about John the Baptist and says that the culmination of redemptive history is marked by his ministry. Jesus once again reveals the hearts of the Pharisees when He explains the Law to them. With the arrival of John the Baptist as Jesus’ forerunner came the arrival of God’s Kingdom. The Pharisees thought of themselves as the experts in the Law and the Prophets, yet they were dense and missed the very One to whom the Law and the Prophets spoke. Many people, including the Pharisees, were trying to force their way into the kingdom by other means than what John and Jesus were teaching. While the Pharisees were busy scheming and plotting against Jesus and opposing His teaching, multitudes of sinners were entering the Kingdom. The “by violent force” probably describes the zeal with which sinners sought to enter the Kingdom.[1]

Regardless of their self-justification, they were not living according to God’s Law. The fulfillment of the Law does not mean an end to the Law. Because of Jesus’ sinless, perfect, once-and-for-all sacrifice, the sacrificial requirements of the Law were no longer needed. However, the principle of the Law did not conclude, and they (and we) are required to live by the principle of the Law, to be written in our hearts (Rom. 2:15). Paul later rebukes the religious leaders for the same heart issue:

“Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it” {Acts 7:52–53 NASB}.

God’s eternal laws and principles did not cease. We must still live out love, faith, hope, loving our neighbors, and putting God first by seeking His Kingdom. 

Let’s purpose through this Advent to continue to live out the principles of God’s Law, which Christ declared should now be written on our hearts. Let’s put God first in our lives—this Advent—and beyond and give Him our very best.

 

 

[1] John F. MacArthur, ed., “Luke 16: 16–17,” The John MacArthur Study Bible: English Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2021), 1409.

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God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 15

Day 15 Luke Chapter 15

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing” {vv.4-5 NASB}.

The care our magnificent Creator of the universe takes in reaching the poor, lost, and wandering sinners. His sheep are important to Him. He cares so much for His sheep that even though He has one hundred, should one stray away, He will search until He finds that one lost sheep.

I find it so beautiful (and no accident) that today is the third Sunday in Advent, in which we focus on joy. {If you would like to read more on joy in Advent, I wrote several posts a few years back for Advent; you can find them here, here, here, here, here, and here}. Jesus continues within this verse to say, “I tell you…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” {v.7 NASB}. When one sinner comes to Him, there is JOY in heaven. There is joy in the presence of the angels of God! Imagine how wonderful that is, that though they cannot fathom salvation {1 Pet. 1:12}, they rejoice when one of God’s human creations receives salvation. Our salvation is one of joy; the psalmist prays, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit” {Ps. 51:12}.
I heard a minister of the Word once say that most Christians look more like they are on their way to hell rather than heaven. We should be the most joyous people on earth. Our salvation should sparkle in our eyes, exude joy on our faces, and joy in our walk; we should not cause the loss to long for what we have. If our Messiah has this much joy over finding us, should we not have joy when we find Him and walk with Him for the rest of our lives?

In chapter fifteen, Jesus teaches parables throughout on the importance of finding those who are lost. The righteous ninety-nine should take care lest they think themselves more virtuous than the lost one. We need to share the heart of the Shepherd and search for those who are lost. Pray daily for the lost—those you know and those you don’t. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Let’s search for them this Advent season and bring them into the care of the Good Shepherd. 

 

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