 Ordered Loves
A couple of weeks ago, Vice President J. D. Vance stirred up some headlines by talking about the need for us to understand that it is right and appropriate for people to love some people more than other people. I’m not completely sure of the specifics of the context in which he was speaking, but I thought this might be a helpful subject for us to think about, especially today. The concept is called in Latin “Ordo Amoris” meaning “the order of loves.” This is not actually a difficult concept. For example, I love babies. I have always loved babies. However, when my own children were born the affection that I had for them as infants far exceeded the general feelings I have for all babies. It is right for us to have priority and loyalty in the way that we love the people in our lives. No Favorites But someone might argue that we are not supposed to be partial. Partialism is a very serious sin (James 2:1-12). The difference is that the sin of partialism is the bias of showing mercy or favor for certain classes of people while extending those favors or benefits to others for selfish or greedy reasons. The sin of partialism is rooted in unjust judgement not the proper prioritization of affection. Our Loves So what should be the order of loves for us as believers in Jesus Christ? I think that it will serve us best if we work our way from the least to the greatest or from the outside in. So we might start with the fact that as redeemed image bearers we should have a kind of general love for all of humanity that is motivated by our Biblical view of creation. By this statement I mean that we ought to have a genuine care and concern for the well being and flourishing of all people. After all this is a part of our motivation to get the gospel out to every people group so that they may be saved. Of course this kind of care is not the kind of personal attachment and connection that we usually mean when we use the term love but it is a kind or category of love. But the commands of King Jesus will not leave the relatively unknown masses of humanity and proceed directly to those close and compatible relationships that we endearingly refer to as “loved ones.” The next category in the order of loves for the Christian is our enemies. Remember, Jesus taught us that in the economy of His kingdom we must love our enemies, pray for our persecutors, and endure all sorts of hardships and inconveniences for the conversions of our enemies (Matthew 5:38-48). Next, we ought to love those who are lost and known to us. By this I am saying that we ought to have a genuine burden for the salvation of lost people in our own community, especially those who we know personally. These may not be close relationships but our concern for them must be more than just local or civic pride. These people, whose faces and names we know, will one day be with us in glory or separated from God forever in hell. So we ought to be motivated by that severe reality to have a true compassionate heart for these folks (1 Corinthians 9:20-23). Next, we ought to have a special love for our own extended family members and friends, especially those who are believers. It is not tribalism to have a bond with those who are a part of your own family. These are your people and in the providence of God they have an enduring connection to you, your past, and your life. Now, you may have thought that I missed a category. Bro. Eddie, should we love the church and especially our local church? Yes we should! But I am placing that above our extended family. Outside of our closest family members and of course our spouse, our brothers and sisters in the church should be our closest community. These are the people with whom we have entered into a covenant of love and devotion (John 13:33-34). The New Testament texts are too numerous to mention. But Jesus loves His church and so must we (Ephesians 5:25-32). Next, we ought to prioritize our love for our immediate family. Primarily, I am referring to our children and our spouse. Parents, God has blessed us with children and we ought to love them with the same nurture, instruction, discipline, and merciful grace that God has for us. In this way we love them well and point them to Jesus in a healthy and constructive way (Ephesians 6:4). But above every other human relationship on the planet we must love our spouses. As noted above this covenant relationship is a picture of Christ’s relationship with his church. Husbands, we must sacrificially love our wives just as Jesus sacrificed for us. Also, wives you must respect and submit to your husband as worship to God. This is pleasing to God and a powerful testimony to the gospel. God’s Love God also has an order to His love. Many people wrongly conclude that God is required to love all people in the same way. However, in the Bible, it is clear that God does not love everyone the same. He loves people according to the relationship He has chosen to establish with them. The Bible tells us how God has instrumentally extended His love to the peoples of the world through the work of Jesus on the cross for the salvation of all believers (John 3:16-17). However, the Bible is also clear that God loves His people in a special way (Ephesians 1:3-6). Jesus not only established this relationship but carries it through to glorification (Romans 8:29-39). Finally, God loves God! What I mean is that the highest, best, purest love is the love of God and it is perfectly expressed between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! The connections and distinctions with the one being of God and between the three persons of God are difficult to express accurately because of the limitations of our human facilities. But let us make no mistake, the best and highest love is both the love of God and love for God! Happy Valentine's Day!
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 Ambiguity
The usual purpose of communication is to relay information clearly. However, many times our communication may not be as clear as would otherwise be intended. One reason that we may not be communicating clearly is because we are ourselves unsure of the exact point that we desire to share. Another reason that our conversations or dialogues may result in uncertainty is because of the way that we are communicating. We can all very easily slip into patterns where we are being too vague. We can also disrupt our communication by over sharing so much that the important details or points are lost in the avalanche of content. All of these reasons for unclear communications result from unintended consequences. Manipulation But sometimes the reason that communication is unclear is not unintentional. Often liars and con artists will lace their speech with subtle inferences that make you think they mean one thing when they actually mean something very different. This slight distinction in expression is meant to manipulate honest people to do or think or agree to something that they would not agree to if they understood the concept accurately. This is often the case with polls and surveys. The people making the questions can almost guarantee the desired outcome of the research if they manipulate the way the questions are asked of the participants. This kind of nefarious communication is not the result of an innocent miscommunication but rather a deliberate attempt to deceive. The purpose is to influence people to act or answer contrary to their actual desires. Meaning But the subtle addition can also be used to help persuade the listener to hear out a clear presentation. When seeking to share or receive truth we must remember the genuine reality in a real universe are not always simplistic concepts. This means that often the communication of truth will involve the use of nuance and proper tone to convey both the meaning and the importance of many concepts. We must not come even to Scripture with an attitude that is unwilling to acknowledge the necessary nuance to understand and interpret the things written for us. For example we must know that the Scripture was written not to us but to the audience of the time. This important point is crucial to understand the meaning of the things recorded in the Bible. It is also necessary to understand that the Bible is a book of progressive revelation. This means that as more of the truth was revealed by God it explains and clarifies earlier revealed truths which at the time may have seemed incredible and cryptic but in light of later revealed truth these things fit together perfectly. There is a symbiotic relationship between these passages. Take for example the writings of the prophets in the Old Testament and the prophecies of Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament. We must understand the context and setting of the Old Testament prophecies to correctly interpret the things in a book like Revelation which uses those same images, but you must also have Revelation to rightly understand the fulfillment of the visions that the prophets beheld. Foundation Our understanding of our Christian faith and hope of eternal life is not something that was uploaded to our brain or downloaded to our hearts at our conversion. Rather God has chosen to allow us to get to Him and His will through written revelation. Our status as citizens in Christ’s kingdom and members of God’s household is defined through the foundation that we have in the apostles and prophets with Jesus Himself being the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-22). This reference to the foundation means the message they handed down to us in the page of Holy Scripture. So let's look diligently into every line and precept that we might correctly interpret even the nuanced points so that we may know, love, and obey God all the more (Isaiah 28:10-17).  Fantasy
Do you believe in dragons? How about unicorns? Most people consider these and many other creatures the inventions of myth and legend. Some ferocious and amazing creatures have come from the imaginations of mere men. Consider the whole worlds devised by men such as Tolkien and Lewis, or even more so the whole universe created by George Lucas and those who have contributed to the Star Wars franchise. Most modern people who have been heavily influenced by bias toward scientific surety have cultivated a kind of rationalistic skepticism about the fantastic claim from the ancient past. However, as Christians we are not materialists. What I mean is that while we do believe that there is consistency in the universe based on the way that God made the universe to conform to natural laws and patterns which He determined. We also believe that beyond this physical dimension is a realm even more real than those things that we can now touch and feel and see. This means that as believers we must not be so quick to assume that those things that our materialistic neighbors have attributed to myth do not really exist. Defending Dragons In the book of Job, when the Lord Himself is answering back to Job about his grasp of reality and truth, He references a couple of amazing creatures. First, God Himself describes a great beast named Behemoth (Job 40:16-24). From the description the animal sounds like what our modern experts would call a Brontosaurus. Of course this poses a problem because Paleontologists today would say that the Brontosaurus is a ‘prehistoric’ beast, but if these animals are prehistoric how would God have been able to reference it as an example for Job if Job had no experiential knowledge of the creature? Another issue is if one takes an atheistic view that the Book of Job is simply a man made production then how did these ancient people know what a dinosaur looked like so as to be able to describe it so accurately? It would seem that the simplest answer is that the Behemoth which we call Brontosaurus did coexist with humanity from the beginning of creation and in the days of Job. The second creature is far more unbelievable. This one is a gigantic sea monster with scales like armor, unimaginable power, and breath of fire. Now that description that I just gave you sounds like a fairytale dragon but it is a very accurate summary of the Bible’s description of the beast called Leviathan. I would like to encourage you to go read Job 41 and see if my summary is accurate. Leviathan sounds like a dragon. Now some people, even serious and sincere Bible scholars, would point out that Job is written in the genre of wisdom literature and poetry in the Hebrew text. Therefore, these folks would say that we must consider that the description may not have been meant to be taken literally. This is worth considering but I would argue that since God is using these beasts as an object lesson they must be real creatures. Also, while some of the description could possibly be hyperbolic, the underlying reality would still have to be true. Even more important to our understanding of the Bible is that we as believers must cultivate a presupposition that assumes the reliability of the Bible. So that even when it comes to believing in dragons we are first committed to believe God as we seek to understand what he has revealed. I want to be clear. I am not saying that you have to conclude that Job is describing a dragon like Lancelot fought in the tales of Camelot. I am saying that we as believers must believe what God has said to the best of our ability, to understand and comprehend it. If you are convinced that the creature is only a literary device used by God to convey His point through Hebrew poetry, then ok as long we are not assuming that the Bible couldn’t be telling us about an actual dragon because we know those don’t exist. With our God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). Another Dragon The Bible does tell us about another dragon and this one is very real. In Revelation 12, John saw a great red dragon. This dragon was destructive, devastating, and dangerous. In John's vision the dragon is clearly seeking to destroy Christ and is set against Him even from His birth and before (Genesis 3:15). In verse 9 of Revelation 12, this dragon is identified as the ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan. Now, this text is clearly symbolic, but the evil enemy is absolutely real. But the story of the Bible is the story of the hero who vanquishes this greatest of all villains and rescues His fair, beautiful, and pure maiden who becomes His glorious bride. And they lived happily ever after! Now read Revelation 19-22 with the view of this last sentence)  Sanctity
This past Sunday was the day set aside to pray and advocate for the end of abortion in our country. Of course, we should always be praying for righteousness to prevail in our land, but this date commemorates the passage of the Roe v. Wade decision and the millions of babies that have died because of that decision. Thankfully, that policy was changed through the Dobbs decision. However, babies are still dying because even with changed laws the reality is many people still want to murder their children. There could be many reasons that people might put forward for why this is the case but in this article I would like to argue part of the problem in the hearts of people willing to have abortions began in the home life of these individuals. The Culture of Death Maybe you have heard the language of the culture of death. It really does seem like abortion is a sacred ritual of the modern progressive atheistic movement. No doubt it is a sacrament in the religion of theism just as baptism is a precious ordinance of Christians. Now they would not claim that death is the goal but rather the autonomy of the woman. In this worldview for the woman to be free she must be able to choose to terminate the child for any reason so that she is not unwillingly burdened. This is about both unburdening her body of the effects of pregnancy and childbirth as well as her lifestyle of the accountability and responsibility of parenthood. For most of us who are opposed to abortion it is extremely difficult to understand that they are not concerned about the baby because the preferences of the woman supersede any rights of the child. For many years we have thought that was simply because these people do not believe or acknowledge that the baby is a person. I’m sure that many scared and ignorant young women have been manipulated into this horrific choice by that logic. However, I think even when they understand and know that the baby is a person there is an even more heartbreaking subconscious denial that explains how so many of these women have consented to such an evil act. The Life of the Family Many of those who are supportive of abortion are those who do not have strong bonds with their own families. This means that the reality that they are killing their own children is not as impactful for them because they do not have the inclination which adds personal value to those in close relationship to them. To put my point simply these women do not think of the baby as their own child. I think that the hyper individualistic nature of our modern society has eroded the bonds of family commitment that have been the glue of society from the beginning of creation. Now we should not assume that this is only a modern problem because even the first pair of siblings exhibited this kind of animosity and rivalry as the older brother Cain selfishly murdered his brother Abel. But notice, in Cain’s response to God regarding his brother, we see this same breakdown of familial bonding. Cain says to God in Genesis 4:1-16 , “Am I my brother’s keeper?”. Cain is not actually denying his murderous sin but he is denying his bonded responsibility to his brother. I am arguing here that when mothers knowingly consent to the destruction of their children, especially for the sake of hedonistic convenience, the same evil rebellion of Cain is manifest again in our own day. So what can we do to protect our grandchildren from being murdered by their parents? Well their parents are our children so I would like to suggest some Biblical principles that just might save our grandchildren. First, we must teach our children to obey us so that they will be obedient to God (Hebrews 12:5-11). Second, we must show our children genuine affection and love (Titus 2:3-4). Finally, we must not provoke our children to anger and discourage but instead bring them through a loving mixture of exhortation, encouragement, and rebuke (Ephesians 6:4).  Surprised
Do you like surprises? Some people love the exhilaration of experiences that are completely unexpected. Other people hate surprises. This could be because they simply don’t like the feeling of panic or fear created by the sudden surprise, but it could reveal a more serious issue. Many people don’t like surprises because it reveals that they are not really in control of their environment. It can become very easy for us to convince ourselves that we have managed to manipulate the many variables in our lives such that we think all our plans must happen according to our will. But when a sudden component is out of place and our agenda is compromised this reveals that our confidence is actually in ourselves and not in the Lord. Expectations are incredibly important because in many ways our expectations define the boundaries of what we consider good or bad, acceptable or rejected, righteous or evil. But if our expectations are derived from our own preferences then we are bound to be disappointed. Instead we must base our expectations on a view of reality and existence that is based on the truth of God revealed in the scriptures. Along with this worldview we must believe the hopeful promises of God that are for His people and according to His grace that is revealed through the Lord Jesus Christ. Concerned Some surprises ought not to be enjoyable. Concern is a legitimate response to tragic news. The surprise of a devastating or fatal diagnosis is not something that will bring about encouragement. But concern that drives us to look to the Lord and seek to honor Him in our distress and trust in Him for the accomplishment of His perfect will is an appropriate way to respond to difficult news. However, this is not the same thing as the faithless worrying of a person who does not trust God’s will or His grace to be sufficient in light of their tragic circumstances. God is explicit that we must not worry but rather we ought to rejoice in all things (Philippians 4:4-7). We also need to realize the danger of panic. If you are driving in hazardous icy conditions and you begin to slide, you must not panic. Rather, you must react carefully and deliberately to safely regain control. Excited On the other hand, we must have our eyes open to see the many unexpected and sometimes subtle surprises that God puts into our lives for our joy. The giggles of small children playing and the ambition of zealous teenagers to accomplish their dreams ought to cause us to rejoice in the good things that God is bringing about all around us. We must allow ourselves to be encouraged and energized by the blessings of God. As the old hymn exhorts us, we must count our many blessings. We also ought to be excited about the promises that God has made to us. God has good things in store for His people who rely on Him. Our concern or excitement is profoundly affected by our own attitude and disposition. Even the falling snow will for some people be a source of great anxiety and worry about the struggles and difficulties that may accompany the winter precipitation. But many others will be excited to see the beautiful winter wonderland, enjoy an adventurous sled ride, or taste the first batch of snow ice cream. The weather will be the same either way but the difference is found in our attitude and perspective. So let us receive the will of the Lord with faith and find the blessing even in our hardships (James 1:2-4).  In the Beginning
The Scripture begins by taking the reader back to the beginning. It really is funny how we all seem to want to know the back story. Many myths and fictions have been imagined by people considering the past before Genesis 1:1. But consider this, there is no past before Genesis 1:1. What I mean is that to speak of the past is to use time to define the existence before the Lord created time as dimension of reality. Even me using before in the previous sentence really doesn’t work because of this concept. We use this language because our existence is tied to the concept of time in such a comprehensive way that we are not at all capable of contemplating a timeless existence. Human language also fails us because our words and verbal structures are bound to time and space distinctions. Since this is the case what should we do with our thinking about eternal things whether in reference to what we would think of from our time bound vantage point as past or future? Options As I see it, we have three options. First, we could just ignore the difficulty and impose our time bound ideas on the realm of timeless eternity. This will inevitably mean that we are building an understanding of heaven or our future eternal existence that is simply wrong. In this scenario it is not a matter of it possibly being right it is simply a sentimental perspective for the purpose of making us feel better but without any basis in reality. Option two would be that we use our understanding of reason and logic to ponder the metaphysical realities of God and His existence outside of the dimensions we exist in so as to come to conclusions about these things that have not been revealed by God explicitly. However, I hope you already see the flaw in this logic. Our understanding of reason and logic are as bound to time and space as everything else that we encounter and so these tools are simply insufficient to answer these impossible questions. So what's the third option? As I see it the third option is to believe God and take Him at His word. The secret things belong to God only the revealed things belong to us (Deuteronomy 29:29). Since this is true we must not speculate beyond what God has revealed in the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 4:6). This is not the same as ignoring the realities that are beyond our understanding because we are trusting God with what we cannot know instead of dreaming up sentimental fables. But this is also not the same as the hubris of employing intellect beyond the scope of God’s revelation. We are simply going to seek to understand everything God has shown us and stop where the illumination ends. A New Beginning As we begin a new year most of us are probably pondering what will be coming our way. In our world and in our own personal lives many unexpected things will happen over the next 12 months. So today we should go ahead and set our minds not on the things we don’t know such as our temporal future or the things we can’t know such as the internal nature of timeless existence but rather what God has called us to know which is Himself. The Lord taught us that knowing God means knowing Jesus Christ! Jesus came to give eternal life to all whom the Father had given to Him but notice that eternal life was not defined by Jesus as some abstract metaphysical concept based on pondering timelessness but rather Jesus defined eternal life as having a relational knowledge of the one true God and Jesus Christ the One sent from the Father (John 17:1-5)! So let us spend the forthcoming year knowing Jesus through the word of God, the blessing of prayer and the fellowship of the saints!  Reflections
This is the time of year when we are all given to the idea of reflecting on the things that have happened in the last year. Some are perpetually locked into thinking about the guilt and shame of the past remembering all the flaws and failures of the past year or years. Others may be looking back nostalgically on the fun and freedom of days gone by. Still some are only glancing back to make some needed evaluations so that they can pivot quickly to focus on the days ahead. As I think about the year that is now nearly completely passed I am struck by the reality of what does and does not really matter. One year ago there were things that I was concerned about and praying about that today seem so insignificant. There are also other things that I didn’t realize were going to be important but actually have proved to be weighty matters. Finally as I ponder these things I feel the need to be careful and even slow to presume that I am grasping clearly what are the real priorities. But I do think that King Jesus has some instruction for us in these matters. With the rest of this post I would like to consider two important commands given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ! Don’t Worry In Matthew 6 and Luke 12, Jesus teaches us how we are to relate to the many things that we encounter in the world. The first lesson I would like to remind us of from these parallel teachings of our Lord is that we must not be worried or anxious. I know for many people that seems impossible. The chaos and stress that may be surrounding us at the moment may make us think that a command to not be anxious is unreasonable. This will be especially true of us if we have been convinced of the lie perpetuated by worldly philosophy and psychology that anxiety is a mental illness and not a sin to repent of and mortify. But Jesus commands us in (Matt 6:25), “do not be anxious about your life.” If this was not something that we with new hearts could do, Jesus would not have commanded us to obey in this way. Jesus goes on in this text to give us examples in the birds and flowers of the enduring providence of God over His creation. The implication of these examples is that God is so meticulous in the care of even these things that we must know He will not fail to care for us also. Jesus points us to the reality that we can trust our Father in heaven who knows our needs and what is truly best for us. However, in each of these examples there is also a warning against thinking that our worry is actually accomplishing something. Jesus warns us not to be faithless. In this passage the Bible uses a word which is rendered as “little faith” but it conveys the idea of such little faith that it is indistinguishable from having no faith at all. So Jesus is saying don’t be anxious and faithless but instead trust your God. Be Motivated It may, at this point, sound like I am saying that Jesus told us to just “don’t worry, be happy.” But Jesus was not saying that we should be flaky or purposeless. Instead Jesus said that we should prioritize the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). I do not think Jesus was simply saying make sure God is first. He was saying make sure God is your life. In this way of thinking every part of our lives becomes concerned with knowing God and obeying Him with hearts full of love and gratitude. As we close the chapter on the year of our Lord 2024 and we begin the new year 2025, let us resolve to do everything for the glory of our great God (1 Corinthians 10:31)!  Shopping
So have you bought all your Christmas gifts yet? Just a few days remain for the shopping season leading up to the Christmas holiday. I have heard of more and more people who are choosing to celebrate at different times in the year, maybe before Thanksgiving or in the new year so that they can avoid the hectic schedule, chaotic crowds, and inflated prices that come along with the holiday season. Maybe your family or group of friends have chosen to forego the gift giving part of the holiday tradition. I have often heard other believers complain that the emphasis shouldn’t be on the gifts but on the celebration of God’s gift to us in Christ. I myself just the other day told my wife that I would be just fine if at our extended family gatherings we just brought gifts for the kids and enjoyed good food, games, and fellowship. Sometimes I think that we may be tempted to think that this kind of non materialistic way of thinking is more spiritual, but I would like to explore some reasons why we can view our modern practices of gift giving as biblical, faithful, and meaningful. Biblical Precedent In the book of Esther, we are told that after the young woman, Esther, is chosen to become the queen, the King gives a great feast and gives gifts to the provinces with royal generosity (Esther 2:16-18). Someone may respond with the question, “Should we be following the pattern established by a pagan king?” The answer to that would be no. However, we can establish here that even among the pagans the practice of great generosity motivated by an important celebration is common to humanity. There is another reason to take into account the events of Esther when considering how we will understand our holiday celebrations and festive generosity. At the end of the miraculous story of God’s gracious salvation of the Jews which He provided through the means of Mordecai and Esther we are told that the Jews celebrated with days of feasting and gladness. The text even says that they had it as a holiday (Esther 9:17-19). From these initial days of celebration the Jews established a obligatory holiday for their people when they would enjoy feasting and gladness and sending gifts of food to one another and to the poor. This holiday is called Purim. Doesn’t this sound very similar to the traditions that we have established around celebrating Christmas? Again someone might point out that this is in the Old Testament and we are not under that covenant anymore. Of course that is true. We are not those people and we do not celebrate their holidays. Actually even for them the Lord did not establish Purim, they did (Esther 9:20-28). God is not mentioned in the book of Esther. God did not command His people to keep these days like He did the sabbaths or the covenantal feast days that He gave to Israel. But that is exactly why it is so instructive for us! Just like they were free even under the Old Covenant law to celebrate the great things God did for them, beyond just what He had commanded, how much more are we under the New Covenant and the freedom we have in Christ free to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Lord, and King! My point is simply that while we are not obligated by a command of God to celebrate Christmas or any holy day under the New Covenant, we do have a real biblical precedent for joyfully celebrating the amazing salvation we have from God as much as we want. We also need not keep this celebration to some kind of hyper pietistic inner tranquility, we can feast and give gifts with exercises in hospitality and generosity for everyone. So let me leave you with this thought for Christmas: if we are celebrating the birth of our King who came so that we could be made citizens in His kingdom and siblings in His royal majestic family then let us celebrate with lavish, extravagant, royal generosity and gladness!  Colorful Traditions
So what are the things that really seem to support the holiday mood for you? You may be thinking about certain tastes or smells that are a part of your holiday experience. Maybe you think about the changing of the season and the chill in the winter air. Possibly it is the decorations and hustle and bustle associated with this time of year. Because of the different traditions and practices that we have developed, even certain colors have become associated with the season. In this post, I would like to consider how these colors can be used to remind us of the true reason for the season found in the incarnation of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. Garden Green Green is one of the colors considered a Christmas color. This probably stems from the practice of bringing in the evergreen tree to be decorated in celebration of the coming of new life. Of course there are many various claims and legends surrounding the origination of the phenomenon of the Christmas tree. Some argue that it is a pagan symbol and a direct violation of the prohibition given by God to the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 10:1-5). I would like to say two things regarding this view. First, if you are convinced that this is evil you should not just go ahead with it because so many other Christians seem to enjoy this tradition. However, since this is not something that is clear and there is not a consensus among other believers, I would say that we should treat this as a category of Christian liberty (Romans 14). This would mean that while you may choose to not celebrate the birth of Christ with a Christmas tree or to celebrate at all, you should not judge your brother for you each are seeking to obey Christ according to your own conscience informed by Scripture. Secondly, the text in Jeremiah seems to me to clearly refer to fashioning an idol. We should not be making an idol out of our Christmas tree. The passage is not prophecy about our future celebration of the birth of the Messiah but rather the ancient practice of idolatry taking place in Jeremiah’s time. So it is not a prohibition on our current practices and traditions at all. But maybe we could reimagine the use of the color green to remind us about the garden of perfection into which God placed our first parents. This lush and fruitful paradise is the portrait that God has given us of our being in close connection with God. Of course, they sinned and the peace and tranquility was lost, but Jesus came to bring us back into the right covenantal relationship to God. Thinking about the garden should give us hope as we remember that God through Jesus has promised us a future paradise where we will dwell with Him forever (Revelation 22:1-5)! Blood Red The other color, probably on the same Christmas status level as green, is red. Red is ubiquitous from the suit worn by that famous but fictitious jolly old elf to the glowing nose of his magically reindeer. Red is everywhere this time of year. I know that I am not really reaching creatively to point you to see the association between red and blood of Christ shed for us at the cross. As we see all of this red used to celebrate the birth Jesus let it also be a reminder that this baby was born to die as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29-34)! Pure White The other color I would point out to you is pure white. Everyone may be dreaming of a snowy white Christmas but the white that we should most of all be celebrating is the white robes of righteousness provided by Jesus for all His people (Isaiah 61:10-11). It is an interesting thing to ponder that our robes are washed white in the red blood of Christ! So when we see the white and red of a candy cane we should think of the amazing gift of God’s grace given to us by Christ. Maybe one more way that white reminds of the true meaning of Christmas is the pure light coming from the star that proclaimed the birth of the newborn King (Matthew 2:1-12). We should also point everyone we can to the fact that unto us a Savior and King has been born, but even more than that He has died for our sins and been resurrected for our justification. So brothers and sisters, let's celebrate our Savior's birth!  Promise
Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord is continually pointing to His promise to save His people. This salvation is specifically referred to as the time when God will dwell with them. He says you will be my people and I will be your God (Ezekiel 37:26). The hope of man is not to simply escape the torments and punishments of God but to actually live with God and at peace. I think that the sense we have of dwelling with God is enhanced as we meditate on God being with us or us being with God. The more we ponder the reality of eternity and what the scripture reveals about that eternal condition the more we are filled with awe and wonder. Also, when we are focusing on the simplicity and humility of God invading our current condition we are filled with astonishing amazement. Of course, many are captured more by nostalgia than Christ this time of year, but for us believers I think that as we are more given to think about the beauty and glory of the incarnation we are prone to experience more deeply the profound reality of God coming to dwell with us. Remember, the name prophesied by Isaiah (Isaiah 7:10-14) and proclaimed to be fulfilled by Matthew – Immanuel, means God with us (Matthew 1:18-25). Even in John’s gospel we are told that the Word of God became flesh so that He could dwell among us (John 1:14-18). Of course, Jesus had to have a body like ours to take our guilt and shame on Himself on the cross but He also came to live with us and know us (Hebrews 10:1-14). But Jesus came to bring us to God and fulfill the promise of us living with God. Jesus came to live with us so that in the eternal state of His kingdom we will reside with Him forever (1 Peter 3:18; 2 Peter 3:13)! Peace In the Ezekiel passage mentioned above, the prophet proclaims a coming reunification of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. However, as we examine the text it seems that this extends to people from all the nations. The meaning of the prophecy is that God is promising a better covenant than the one He had formerly made with the physical descendants of Abraham. This is the new and better covenant that comes through the blood and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:22-28). However, Ezekiel does not call it the new covenant in this passage but rather the covenant of peace (Ezekiel 37:24-28). The Old Covenant with its conditions and stipulations could not because of the sin and failure of the people bring true peace but only enmity between God and the people because of their sin. Rather mankind both Jew and gentile need a covenant that can forgive our sin and make peace with God. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he teaches them and us that the righteousness of God going all the way back to Abraham was received by faith. So that, by faith in Jesus who was offered for our sins and resurrected for our justification, we could receive His righteousness credited to our account (Romans 4:3-9;16-25). Paul then writes in Romans 5 that the result of being justified by faith is that we are now at peace with God. Through Jesus, the promise of the covenant of peace prophesied by Ezekiel has been granted to us. Since this is true, that we now have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, we can also see the definitive fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that He would be called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6-7). Our prince will reign forever and of the increase of His peace there will be no end. Come to this great prince, King Jesus by trusting in Him completely and you also will enjoy this eternal happiness and peace with God! |