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On December 9, 2023 By In Christmas

Merry Christmas. This Means War!

In one of the classic holiday songs, John Lennon harkens that the war is over, saying:

“And so happy Christmas, for black and for white, for yellow and red ones, let’s stop all the fight.”

John Lennon & Yoko Ono

According to Jesus, Christmas signifies that the war has just begun.

A WARLESS PEACE

One of the most significant accomplishments in antiquity, which is littered with wars and violence, was a hundred year stretch of peace known as the Pax Romana, which in English means the peace of Rome. This unique and peculiar era of warless tranquility is unmatched in any other period known to man. During this peace nation no longer rose up against nation, rumors of wars no longer leaped from the lips of women in the marketplace, and the myriad of complex personalities and cultures, usually unwilling to submit to world empires, were now contained within a burgeoning peace, that lasted from 27BC, under the reign of Augustus, to the death of Nero Caesar in 68 AD. This is the world and setting that the Savior of the world was born.

On that first Christmas morning in Judea, God did not show up for a press conference at a palace or a “Precious Moments” commercial in the big city. Instead, in a surprise attack, He stormed the beaches of Bethlehem. He blitzkrieg’d the stables of that old country barn and assembled all the legions of heaven to herald Christ is Lord to shepherds in their fields. He held His fiery star in the sky to announce kings and kingdoms would either worship Him or be put down. While under the peace of Rome, God was bringing war. 

And He was bringing war because this old world had fallen into bitter, soul-crushing slavery to an evil dragon. A serpent of great beguiling who tricked our only king into trading in his scepter for over-tight handcuffs… His crown for rusty chains. On that first Christmas morning, after legions of failed men who came before Him, the heaven-sent God-Man was born the royal Man-King. Delivered as a helpless babe to deliver and set the helpless free. 

Isaiah said it like this: 

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. – Isaiah 9:6-7

INCARNATION AS INVASION

Every Christmastime we celebrate that the invasion has begun. The world was not left to pine away in oppression and deep darkness. The Light of the world has come! Human governments, which all have limits and ends, would be replaced by a government that knows no end. A government that would not bring a measly hundred-year ceasefire but would bring His wonderful and perfect peace forever. 

Our King is the one who put the world on notice. That babe in swaddling clothes announced to the nations you will either bow down and worship Him or be trampled underneath His glorious feet. The Son of Man, the Prince of Peace, entered brokenness and brought His Shalom. He went raiding behind enemy lines, rescuing His elect and delivering them safely back to God. He triumphed not only over the manger but also over the grave. He wrestled control of the cosmos away from the fallen serpent, disarming his authorities, powers, and spiritual forces, and began an uprising that would turn the world upside down (as far as the curse is found). And for 2000 years, this is precisely what our King has done. 

NEVERENDING REIGN

When you look at what God says in Isaiah 9, He promises nothing less than total dominion. He claims that the government Jesus inaugurates will continue until no ground on earth is left to take. He will rule until His Kingdom comes on earth as it already is in heaven. This means Christmas is about the downfall of sinful nations. Christmas is about the end of corrupt politicians padding their pockets and allowing their children to live above the law. Christmas is about the war of God that will end sex trafficking, annihilate abortion mills, and will put the world back right again. Christmas is the first fruits of the death of democracies, oligarchies, and socialism. The Christ Child in the manger signifies that the world is now under the rule and authority of a King, and His rule of total peace is coming deeper and deeper in

CONCLUSION

This Christmas, as you enjoy eggnog and figgy pudding, ham, and hot cocoa, remember that Christ was born as King. As King, He was born to reign. And in that reign, all the iniquity we see on earth will one day be put under our messiah’s feet. Instead of despair, allow the Light of hope to fill your heart. Remember, He is Lord! And He will make all things new in good time. 

Merry Christmas! 

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On December 2, 2023 By In Culture

The Lord of Creation Has Come

Photo courtesy pexels.com

The Son of God became Man in order to redeem and elevate men so that we might become the sons of God. Many Christians think of the Incarnation only as a solution to a problem, a means of addressing and rectifying sin. But there is a larger context to the first Advent than just correction of a problem. The God-Man came to bring creation to its intended fullness and glory.

Yahweh made Man as his image in creation and gave him dominion over it. But that dominion was lost by means of transgression. The image was marred by sin. The lord of creation rebelled against the Creator, and creation turned against its lord. Now thorns and thistles grow from the ground instead of grain, and the animals once named by Adam flee in fear or turn with bared teeth against his sons. Adam was given authority to rule the world and power to command its obedience. But he lost the power to exercise that authority so that now his heirs cower in terror as the wind and waves batter their boat rather than rising to order the water gods to knock it off and behave.

The problem Christ came to address was not merely that you or I sometimes do bad things or fail to do the good things that we ought. He came to rescue the created universe, to redeem a world in bondage, to repair and restore the temple of God’s glory. Adam forfeited his power and position to grasp a greater, forbidden power, but the Serpent’s promise proved to be a lie. The world descended into chaos as the covenant of life and creation was broken and its curse fell upon us all. Men sought order by looking for a new lord who could master and control the madness. Demons of fire, earth, air, and water were reinvented as gods who could bring order to one’s life and blessing to one’s labor, for a price. Men worshiped creatures rather than the Creator and lost the blessings of communion, liberty, and glory they were made to enjoy.

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (1Cor. 15:3). He was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification (Rom. 4:25). This means more than merely that Jesus was crucified so that my sins could be forgiven and I could go to heaven when I die. It means more, not less, than a promise of personal salvation. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:17). God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them (2Cor. 5:19). For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8:20-21).

We know these passages and dozens like them, but we often read them narrowly, only in the context of personal salvation. We behold the glories of Christ’s Incarnation and saving work as if through a keyhole. We describe the doctrine of the kingdom and of new creation as would those chained inside a cave, watching shadows on a wall, never realizing the larger reality that surrounds us. The problem is not that what we are saying about the gospel and Christ’s work is wrong. In most cases it is right and good and true. But it is often incomplete, a story of personal relationship, individual salvation, exclusive grace without the greater creational, covenantal, and cosmological context.

Christ is Immanuel, God in the flesh, divine glory united to humanity, but he is also Man united to God, the beginning of resurrection and new creation, the reconciliation of heaven and earth, Man as God made him to be, invested with authority, exercising power, in righteousness and holiness, to bring creation to its intended glory. When we see Jesus, we see God, but we also see Man, true man, the Last Adam, the head of the human race. The Creator made men to be lords of creation, and Jesus is Lord over all lords and King over all kings. Men were made as the image of God, and Christ is the exact image of his glory (Heb. 1:3). Men were made for life with God, to glorify and enjoy him forever (WSC 1), and our destiny from creation is attained by union with Jesus Christ in whom we become partakers of the divine nature (2Pet. 1:4).

The Church’s celebration of Advent is larger and fuller than merely western society’s celebration of Christmas. There is more to be seen than a baby in a manger or an elf on the shelf. The Creator has come into creation. The Redeemer has descended in compassion. The King has come in triumph and brings everlasting glory in his train. O come, let us adore him!

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room,
and heav’n and nature sing,
and heav’n and nature sing,
and heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as, far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
and makes the nations prove
the glories of His righteousness
and wonders of His love,
and wonders of His love,
and wonders, wonders of His love.

“Joy To the World! The Lord is Come!” Isaac Watts (1719)

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On January 3, 2020 By In Theology

Psalm 80: A Song of Christmas Hope

Songs are both expressive and volitional. They give voice to and move us through a whole range of experiences and emotions.  People will often say that they were “moved” by a piece of music, and they are probably more right than they realize. Because music is a gift from God, and we are creatures made in God’s image, music takes us somewhere. 

Consider the psalms of David. These are songs of movement. They take us back, they move us forward. They ebb and flow in a way that is always directing our hearts and minds and communities toward a certain end. 

So is the case with repetition in the psalms.  Rather than retreading ground already covered, the repetition serves as a spiraling staircase leading us to higher ground. Repeating something is not just for the purpose of remembering, although that is immensely important. It’s also for the purpose of strengthening our longing and anticipation for what the song is leading us toward. 

Psalm 80 is one of those songs. It divides up into three sections by a chorus that is repeated three times. Depending on the liturgical tradition you are familiar with, repeating choruses in a song several times evokes different responses. Many of us have had some experience with choruses gone wild. We know what it’s like to be singing a song that feels more like being stuck in a whirlpool that wears you out with endless repeating circles rather than lifting you up in a spiraling ascent.  

But choruses, used rightly, can stir the waters in ways that help the song move us in the right direction. The chorus employed in this psalm is far from simple refrain as we will see.

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On December 31, 2019 By In Culture, History

Yes, Jesus was born on (or near) December 25

OK, maybe the title of my article is a little too bold. The Bible doesn’t give us the date of Jesus’s birth, so we can’t claim a particular date with certainty. But is it the case that Jesus was actually born in late summer? Is it the case that the church chose December 25 to co-opt pagan festivals? Enough people — Christians and non-Christians alike — believe these theories that they are repeated every Christmas season. Yet given the historical data we have, there’s no reason to believe them.

Let me state up front that it doesn’t really matter when Jesus was born; what matters is that he was born. Remarkably, a New Testament author never recorded the date for us, even though they could have. Surely Mary and Joseph and the shepherds remembered the date, and this date would have been known by Jesus and passed on to the apostles. Yet the Holy Spirit didn’t deem it necessary to put into writing.

If it doesn’t matter, then why defend a December 25 date? Defenders of December 25 primarily do so in response to the naysayers. It’s a matter of defending the decisions and intentions of the church, and of historical accuracy. Given the information we have, there’s no indication that the church wanted to co-opt pagan festivals. In fact, the opposite was generally true: The church wanted nothing to do with pagan practices. Christians, of all people, should want to be charitable to our ancestors and not impugn their motives.

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On December 3, 2019 By In Theology

Ends of the Incarnation

A Guest Post from Dr. Scott Swain

Christmas (along with Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost) is one of five “evangelical feast days” that celebrate key moments in the Son of God’s saving mission.

On these days, the church turns its attention in a special way to the redemptive-historical events that mark “the fullness of time” (Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10): the time that realizes God’s saving purpose and therefore that decisively determines all other times for the people of God (Rom 6; Col 2:9-10; 3:1-4). As we approach Christmas, it is worth reflecting upon the incarnation, the first epochal moment in the saving mission of the Son of God. 

Reflecting theologically on the incarnation requires that we consider three topics: (1) the uniqueness of the incarnation in relation to other historical events, (2) the nature of the incarnation, and (3) ends of the incarnation. Following some brief comments on the first two topics, I will focus a bit more fully on the third. 

The uniqueness of the incarnation
Although the incarnation fulfills various Old Testament promises and prophecies, most notably those related to the Davidic Covenant, the incarnation does not follow from prior historical antecedents. The incarnation is a “new thing,” an event that exists in a class by itself. The incarnation is a mystery, once hidden but now revealed: “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16). 

For this reason, it is (strictly speaking) improper to classify under the label of “incarnation” any events or activities that happened before or after the coming of the Son of God in the flesh (see Todd Billings’s excellent discussion of this point). In a proper sense, there is and only ever will be one incarnation: the incarnation of the Son of God. Though the incarnation opens up new ways of seeing and acting in the world (see Luke 1:46-55), Christmas is not the occasion for launching an “incarnational” social program. Christmas is the glad announcement that God’s saving program has begun in the incarnation and it is the announcement that God’s saving program will be consummated when the incarnate one returns (Heb 9:26, 28). 

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On December 29, 2018 By In Culture, Family and Children, Men, Politics, Theology, Worship

Extending the Christmas Season

Guest post by Steve Wilkins written on  December 23, 2016 & published by permission

Stretching Christmas
For many people Christmas comes on December 25 and is over December 26. The tree is taken down along with the lights and the other decorations, and everyone begins setting the house in order for the new year. No more Christmas hymns. No more celebrations (well, until New Year’s Eve). Christmas comes but once a year – and thanks be to God, because we’re exhausted!

So, if I were to ask, “How’s your Christmas going?” most people would give me the blank stare. But according to our calendar (and I mean the Church calendar), Christmas is just getting started on December 25. Christmas day is just the beginning of a “season” numbering twelve days (the “twelve days of Christmas”).

During this season of celebration we remember not only our Savior’s birth (the feast of the Nativity on December 25) but our first martyrs (St. Stephen, December 26), St. John the evangelist, and the murder of the boy babies in Bethlehem by Herod (“The Feast of Holy Innocents”). Then on January 1, we commemorate the circumcision of Jesus (circumcised on the 8th day). All that before closing out our celebration of Christmas with the Feast of Epiphany on January 6!

Christmas is intended to be a “season,” not just a day.

You say, “But who can stand this? By Christmas day I’m already worn down to my last frazzle!”

Well, granted, given the way things are presently, changing our practice and getting into the new rhythm of the Church calendar is going to take some time — and realistically, it may now be impossible to turn the culture away from the present “tradition.” I’m not quite sure how to go about it or what it would look like. But somehow, I think it would be good to try to get back to the old rhythm of the Christmas season.

The fact that we have lost the rhythm of the various “seasons” has contributed, at least in part, to the fleeting joy (and often extended depression and disappointment) we have during these times — and here, I’m speaking especially about Christmas — the celebration is simply too brief to be appreciated fully. The traditional Christian calendar gives us a different rhythm for life and time — especially Christmas time.

And following the Christian calendar is not just another way to thumb our noses at secular ideas of the “Christmas season.” The twelve days are important because they give us time to reflect on what the incarnation and birth of Jesus means. We need the twelve days to celebrate the wonder of God becoming man and all that was accomplished by our Savior.

Why twelve days? No one knows for sure. Perhaps this was to be an analogy to the twelve tribes of the old Israel that have now been transformed into the new Israel. Or maybe the 12 days signify the twelve months of the year pointing to the fact that Christ is with us not just one day but year-round.

Whatever the intention, the twelve days give us an opportunity truly to rejoice and reflect on the great mercy and grace of God in giving us His Son.

We have been baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection and have now entered the “new heavens and new earth” (though not yet perfected). Whether we are called to martyrdom, or to prophetic witness, or simply to faithful living in the joys and sorrows of our daily lives, we must live all of our days in the knowledge of our blessedness: redeemed by Jesus and in Him made acceptable and beloved in God’s sight. We are part of the society of people whose world has been turned upside down, and we are to live out this truth that overturned the old world and made all things new.

Observing Christmas as a season helps us to move beyond the sentimentalism that has become so much a part of “Christmas” and commemorate the true significance of Jesus’ birth. It enables us to see that Jesus’ coming truly transforms all things. It marked the end of the old world (under the dominion of sin and death) and the beginning of the new. And it reminds us of our new identity and purpose. We are now children of the King and are called to rejoice and give thanks and show the world the new destiny that now has come in Him. To celebrate for twelve days (as opposed to one) enables us to realize afresh the significance of what happened in Bethlehem and it declares to the world the remarkable reality that Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil and established a kingdom that shall have no end.

So, I don’t know exactly how to begin to do this, but it sure seems like a good idea to me. Stretching Christmas out over a number of days — making it a more full (and perhaps a more relaxing and refreshing) celebration — might bring far more benefits than frustrations; it just might bring us more joy than worry; more peace and less hustle and fuss. Whaddaya say? I think we should give it a shot.

Steve Wilkins is Pastor of Church of the Redeemer in West Monroe, Louisiana.

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On December 8, 2018 By In Art, Culture, Family and Children, Scribblings, Theology, Wisdom

Advent and the Art of Arrival

Guest post by Remy Wilkins

“The best way that a man could test his readiness to encounter the common variety of mankind would be to climb down a chimney into any house at random, and get on as well as possible with the people inside. And that is essentially what each one of us did on the day that he was born.”

~ G.K. Chesterton, On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of the Family

I love it when the hero arrives. I get chills when a fedora appears in shadow or when a farmboy watches two suns set. I get tickled every time someone knocks on Bilbo’s door. And although the joy of my introduction to the dear Baudelaire siblings that grey and cloudy day at Briny Beach was mingled with sadness, I still cherish the miracle of their lives.

The season of Advent, the time just before Christmas, is all about arrivals. It is a preparatory season for the celebration of the incarnation, his first coming, and it is looking forward to his second coming. The Messiah’s first arrival was both inauspicious, sleeping in a feeding trough, and universally portentous, declared by astronomical signs. His second coming is also grand and mysterious: no man knows the hour or day in which he comes. It’s a good debut. As a reader, I can get excited about this story. Anticipating the end is also great fun. I love it when stories are interrupted by better stories. (more…)

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On November 30, 2017 By In Interviews, Podcast, Theology

Episode 20: A Conversation about Advent

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:45 — 11.7MB)

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In this Episode of the Kuyperian Commentary Podcast, Pastor Uri Brito and Mr. Sean Johnson discuss the next season of the Church Calendar: Advent. The season of Advent, which comes from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming” or “visit,” begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year for Christians.

Pastor Uri explains how this section of the church calendar helps give us a picture of the Gospel in a Biblical promise and fulfillment paradigm. “Advent and Christmas work together… and when we skip Advent we’re missing that first portion of the Gospel. “He also recommends the book: The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life by Joan Chittister.

Mr. Sean Johnson continues to emphasize the importance of observing Advent with, “Anything that you want to enjoy seems to deserve the service of expectation… Anything that you can await is going to be enjoyed more.” Both believe that Advent adds to the importance and significance of our greater Christmas feast. Brito reminds us that: “If we have a major event like Christmas on December 25 and we simply arrive at Christmas without haven’t spent the season prior to that in preparation for Christmas, I think over the years—it trivializes the event. It becomes something you do, not something you expect.”

Advent 2017 will begin on Sunday, December 3 and ends on Sunday, December 24. The liturgical color for Advent is purple, Kuyperian Contributor Steve Macias also wrote on its significance here.

 

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On December 23, 2016 By In Theology

Two Births of Jesus

One night in Nazareth, God became man in the virgin womb of Mary, a young lady betrothed to Joseph. Three trimesters later, Jesus was born on Christmas day. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes (Lk. 2:7). Gentile worshipers brought him gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Mt. 2:11). The infant’s life was threatened by an evil king, but he escaped death (Mt. 2:13-15).

Thirty-three years later, Jesus had his life threatened again by evil rulers (Mt. 26:65-68). Instead of escaping, he volunteered to die (Jn. 10:18). At his death in Jerusalem, Israelite worshipers prepared spices and oils for him (Lk. 23:55-56; Jn. 19:39-40). He was wrapped in fine linens and buried in a virgin tomb, a tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea (Mt. 27:57-60; Lk. 23:53). Three days later, he was reborn on Easter Sunday.

As we celebrate the nativity of our Lord, let us recall the glorious providence of God. Let us remember that not only does Christ’s first coming look forward to his second coming, but that his birth out of the womb foreshadows his birth out of the tomb. King Jesus conquered death and now sits on heaven’s throne. We join his mother in singing these words from the Magnificat: (more…)

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On December 25, 2014 By In Theology

Mary – God’s Glory and the Female Body

Annunciazione, Matthias Stom

Annunciazione, Matthias Stom

God could have given Jesus a body in any way that He chose. It is important to consider this, and to believe that the way He chose for Jesus to come into the world as a human man has great significance for us as women. Mary has been referred to as the ark of the new covenant; her womb becomes the holy place where God chooses to dwell and to come near to His people. God honors the female body by creating in it a place for glory to dwell. When he first created woman, He had this plan in mind.

As I was considering Mary’s role in the incarnation of Jesus as is seen in Luke 1, I kept thinking of Jesus saying, “I go to prepare a place for you…” in assuring and comforting His followers that there was a special place, a beautiful home especially prepared for them. It is beautiful to consider that when God prepared a place for Jesus – a special place, a beautiful home, a secret, glorious, mysterious dwelling place – He lovingly chose the female body to be that place. In our culture, for years and years, there has been shame upon shame heaped on the female body, but this is not from God.

God, from the very beginning, honored our bodies by creating them female, able to conceive and carry and bring forth life. Each one of us walks around with a hidden picture of the ark of the covenant – by God’s design. We are walking pictures of the hidden glory of God. Treasure your body, treasure your femininity, your sexuality that God has given with great purpose to bring pleasure to Himself and to reveal Himself to the world. Whether or not we have ever had a child, ever been married, our physical bodies are glorious pictures of the holiness of God.

Regarding Mary specifically, it is wonderful to look at her response to the role that God announces to her in bringing about the incarnation of Jesus. I have always loved Mary’s words, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” I have always thought that this statement should be interpreted as a humble, sweet resignation to the hard, scary, and yet wonderful, honorable thing that God was telling her she had been chosen to do. And, I imagine, that is true. However, having been reflecting on these words more and more, I’m starting to wonder if Mary was saying, “Amen! Yes, I receive it. May it be unto me to be the ‘favored one,’ may it be true that the ‘Lord is with [me]’; let it be true that I ‘have found favor with God.’”

I think the ability to receive the blessing of the Lord takes at least as much humility as receiving hardship or suffering from His hand. May we, like Mary, have the humility to know we are not worthy of His blessing but to acknowledge that we want it and that He has the right to bestow it on us even in our unworthiness because that is what HE wants, what HE chooses. Saying, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” means having the humility to allow God to do great things in our lives that we DO NOT DESERVE as well as having the humility to allow God to do hard things in our lives.

Two questions
Are there areas in your life that you feel God has promised to bless you that you have been unwilling to receive because you feel you are not worthy (“How will this be?” Or “How can this be?”) Remember, as the angel said to Mary, “…nothing will be impossible with God.”

Would considering your femaleness as a picture of the dwelling place of God bring healing to you in any way?

A suggested application
Please consider spending time praying the words of Mary in The Magnificat during this Christmas season, asking God to allow your soul to magnify Him and to bring to mind specific ways in which He has done the following for you:
• Looked on the humble estate of his servant
• Allowing generations to call you blessed
• How he who is mighty has done great things for you
• Shown you how his name is holy
• Shown you and your generations mercy
• Shown strength with his arm
• Scattered the proud thoughts of your heart
• Brought down the mighty from their thrones
• Exalted those of humble estate
• Filled the hungry with good things
• Helped you in remembrance of his mercy
• Any other phrases of the Magnificat that jump out at you as words to speak back to God, rejoicing in God your Savior!<>mobi onlineинструменты интернет продвижения

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