Friday, December 30, 2005

God With Us



God With Us
By Bill Denton


And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.  (John 1:14, NASB95)

The true Christian religion ... does not begin at the top, as all other religions do; it begins at the bottom. You must run directly to the manger and the mother's womb, embrace this Infant and Virgin's Child in your arms, and look at Him--born, being nursed, growing up, going about in human society, teaching, dying, rising again, ascending above all the heavens, and having authority over all things.  -  Martin Luther in Lectures on Galatians. Christianity Today, Vol. 38, no. 14.

If you would like to do away with all the reservation, hesitation, and outright unbelief in Jesus as the Messiah, then start at his birth.  Modern man has played down the meaning and implication of the doctrine of the Incarnation.  Though we are seldom aware of it any more, the “Christmas” story is actually weighty doctrine.  It is not, as many would have it, simply a pastoral manger scene suitable for a children’s play re-enactment, or for a drive-by “live” manger out in the church yard, complete with real sheep, a cow, and costumed shepherds and wise men.  No, there is far more to the birth of Jesus than such scenes tend to convey.

When Jesus was born, he was as the Scriptures say, Emmanuel, “God with us.”  If you get that one single point, if you understand that the baby born to Mary was God in the flesh of humanity, then you are prepared for all that follows.  This child, though in every appearance, a human being like all the rest of us, was in every sense God as well.  The mystery of the incarnation may still puzzle us, but once we accept this fundamental fact, the rest of the story of Jesus becomes completely understandable and acceptable.

Take the miracles of Jesus, as an example.  Believing in a miracle worker is not easy, unless the miracle worker is God, and then miracles become easy to believe because of the one causing them to happen.  Take Jesus’ offer to forgive sins.  Now, who could do that except God alone, questioned the Jews, and us.  Such a claim would be ridiculous, except for the fact that Jesus was the very one we acknowledge as possessing the power to forgive.  Take his resurrection from the dead.  Not only is resurrection from death completely unexpected, but according to the apostle Paul, it declares one more thing to us:  Jesus was the Son of God.  Start wherever you would like in the life of Jesus, and if you find it difficult to accept or believe, return to the stable where he was born and ask yourself, “Who was the child born to Mary?”

Once you settle the answer to that question, there is no more obstacle to belief.  We do not have to wait for a man to become God, for God has already become man.  All the power of divine grace, love and mercy found its grandest expression in that child.  “God with us,” is the explanation we need.  Rejoice at the birth of the Savior, who is Christ the Lord, God in the flesh.  Get this point you will then see God at work in that Jesus says and does.

© Copyright  2005, Dr. Bill DentonAll Rights Reserved.Articles may not be reprinted in any "for profit" publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy.   http://www.crossties.org
 
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Wednesday, December 14, 2005

CrossTies Devotional Article for December 11, 2005

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The Indescribable Gift
By Bill Denton

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!  (2 Corinthians 9:15, NASB95)

Your standard man, at this point in the Christmas season, has purchased zero gifts. He has not yet gotten around to purchasing an acceptable gift for his wife for last Christmas. He did give her something last year, but he could tell by her reaction to it that she had not been dreaming of getting an auto emergency kit, even though it was the deluxe model with booster cables and an air compressor. Clearly this gift violated an important rule, but the man had no idea what this rule was, and his wife was too upset to tell him.
     Dave Barry, "Your Gift Is in the Male,"
     http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44760-2004Dec7.html (12-12-04)

Men are notorious gift-givers.  OK, that may be a misleading statement, because Dave Barry probably has us men pegged accurately.  We’re not all that great at buying gifts.  We think we’re being practical, the person for whom we bought the gift thinks we’re nuts.  When it comes to gift-giving, most of us men could use a little help.

I remember a time when I asked my wife what she wanted for her birthday.  She said, “Oh, nothing.”  Now, being the very logical, practical person that I am, I took her at her word.  When her birthday rolled around, there was no present.  Let’s just say that I try not to make the same mistake any more.  I read somewhere about a fellow who bought his wife a rain gauge for their anniversary.  After all, being a farmer’s daughter, she often kept up with the weather.  His gift is now one of the family jokes, and I suspect he shops with a different purpose now-a-days.  I’ve heard all kinds of gift stories.  Some of them make you scratch your head and wonder what in the world that guy was thinking about when he bought that.  Others make you smile as you realize how well-intentioned the gift was, but how far off the mark it ended up.  Some get the “Oh, no!” response as you realize the gift was really what the giver himself wanted.  And, most of these stories are tales about men’s attempts at gift-giving.

Thankfully, not everyone is so gift-challenged.  Plenty of wives have opened up a little black felt box and gasped at the sparkling gem inside.  Or, they’ve opened the door and found one of those huge red bows topping a new car.  Or, they opened a card to read a not-so-bad attempt at love poetry.  There have been children shocked when Dad actually got that new bicycle or the pony.  Occasionally, we men can come through with a great gift.

There is One who has come through with the greatest gift of all.  When God sent His Son, Jesus into the world to die for our sins, and to rise from the dead to give hope of eternal life, it was the gift of all gifts.  No gift-loaded Christmas tree has ever secreted a gift as loving, as desperately needed, as beautiful, or as magnificent.  We may struggle to give appropriate gifts, but God has come through for us with a gift for all time, for all eternity.  It’s an indescribable gift!

© Copyright  2005, Dr. Bill DentonAll Rights Reserved.Articles may not be reprinted in any "for profit" publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy.   http://www.crossties.org
 
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Monday, December 05, 2005

CrossTies Devotional Article for December 4, 2005



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Problems With Christmas
By Bill Denton

While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  (Luke 2:6-7, NASB95)

We often talk about the night before Christmas, but what do you think about on the morning after Christmas? I've been thinking about this wonderful thing called "the spirit of Christmas." Have you noticed it? Once a year toward the winter solstice, something odd happens. People's attitudes go through an annual change. People start talking about peace and goodwill. They go out of their way to give and forgive. Families get together. We call this different atmosphere "the spirit of Christmas."   -- Stuart Briscoe, “Christmas 365 Days A Year,” PreachingToday.com

Depending on who is talking, you might hear several criticisms or problems with Christmas.  As I see it, the problems revolved around three basic facts.  Some think that to bring up these things we’re being negative or picky.  Well, hold on, because that’s not true, but we do need to consider the three facts from which the problems spring.

The first is the date itself.  At best, it’s an arbitrary date.  The truth is that we just don’t know when Jesus was born.  Some believe December 25 is a good guess, others think it’s considerably off.  But, we need to avoid the extreme position of some people who do all they can to “uncelebrate” Jesus’ birth because they dislike the date.  The more important fact is that he was born, and it’s not all that uncommon for us to pick arbitrary dates to celebrate a person’s birth.  Focus on the essential truth here instead of the one nobody is going to resolve.

The second is the celebration itself.  The Bible does not tell us to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  There is plenty of emphasis on celebrating his death in the Lord’s supper, but celebrating Jesus’ birth just isn’t there.  Then again, how do we leave it out?  You can’t get to his death without first getting to his birth.  Not only that, but looking at the good news in Jesus, you will discover that everything about him revolves around five fundamental facts:  the incarnation; the crucifixion; the resurrection; the ascension; and his return.  The truth is that the incarnation of Jesus is what sets up all the others.  Now, you can eliminate a birthday party if you want, but don’t go so far that you miss the essential truth of God come in the flesh that happened at his birth.

The third is quite different from the first two.  They are more biblical or theological in nature.  The third problem has more to do with the brevity of the celebration.  Stuart Briscoe’s observation is right.  When people begin thinking about the birth of Jesus, something happens to the “spirit” of the people.  But, this may bring us to the greatest of all problems with Christmas:  it’s too brief of a celebration.  All the good-will is focused down on a week or two at the end of the year.  Briscoe’s sermon goes on to bemoan the fleeting nature of the “spirit of Christmas,” and he’s right about that.  What a difference it would be if Christ were our focus all year long.

© Copyright  2005, Dr. Bill DentonAll Rights Reserved.Articles may not be reprinted in any "for profit" publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles. Articles are sent originally to subscribers only. You may have received a forwarded or reprinted copy.   http://www.crossties.org
 
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