by Terry Laughlin | Apr 30, 2016 | Christmas
“Many people and church attendees today form their views of the true God much as the pagan mythologist did. Their view of God is the product of their own experiences or the experiences they have heard recounted by others and is not formed by seeing God’s inerrant revelation of Himself in the Scriptures.” (Jim Berg, Created for His Glory)
Jesus came for a specific reason, He said, “… Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) William Barclay wrote in regards to the incarnation, “In Jesus we see the creating Word of God, …we see God living life as He would live it, thus, showing us how we should live on earth.” The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning… The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-2,14) This is the basic statement of the Incarnation, for Jesus entered into this earth through the gateway of childbirth and took up residence among men. His incarnation was the full manifestation of grace and truth because it was the greatest possible expression of God’s compassion for people and the most perfect way of conveying truth to their understanding. God’s personal revelation of Himself in Christ has no parallel elsewhere, nor has it ever been repeated.
By inviting the Holy Spirit to bring revelation and illumination to the human mind and spiritual heart, mankind may understand who Christ is. Through prayerful study of God’s Word about Jesus Christ you have the opportunity to learn what real love is, communicate with God in prayer, how to live a life in obedience to God’s commands and decrees. You may learn how to defeat the attacks of Satan, overcome the sinful flesh and escape the lures of this world’s view.
Because of everything Jesus did upon this earth and His going to the Father and the sending the Holy Spirit to us, we can behold the presence of Christ living in us through the Spirit of Christ. (Romans 8:9-11) There is no greater Christmas present than having, experiencing and enjoying the life changing presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. And that is a treasure worth pondering. Grasp the true Christmas, Christ!
by Terry Laughlin | Apr 30, 2016 | Christmas
“On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and the [Magi] bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11)
God, through these Magi is showing the attitude of the heart He longs to see in those who approach Christ. All who have hope in Christ will fall before Him in their hearts, they adore Him and submit to His authority.
Gold is the gift for a king – Seneca tells us that in Parthia it was a custom that no one entered into the king’s presence without a gift. Gold at that time period was considered to be a metal of kings. Jesus is the King of kings who serves and reigns through sacrificial love and full authority over everything in heaven and earth.
Frankincense is the gift for a priest – It was in the Temple worship and during Temple sacrifices frankincense was the sweet perfume used. The function of a priest is to open the way to God for man through the sacrifice being offered. The Latin word for priest (pontifex) means bridge builder.
This is what Christ did for us. His sacrificial death on the cross built a bridge so repentant mankind can have a way for getting back to God, have fellowship with God, know God’s will, and be empowered for service to the King of kings.
Myrrh is the gift for one who is to die – Myrrh was used to embalm the bodies of the dead. Jesus came to reveal God to man and He came to die. Holman Hunt has a famous picture of Jesus. It shows Jesus at the door of the carpenter shop in Nazareth. He is still only a boy and had come to the door to stretch out his arms so to give them a break from working over a bench. In this picture He stands at the doorway with arms outstretched and on the wall behind him, the setting sun throws his shadow in the form of a cross. In the background there stands Mary, and as she sees the shadow there is concern on her face of the coming tragedy that awaits the sinless Christ, all because of the wickedness of man’s heart.
All three gifts honor Christ, thus Christians will worship Him in spirit and truth!
by Terry Laughlin | Apr 30, 2016 | Christmas
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This passage of Scripture offers the greatest gift anyone could receive.
God sent His Son to invade the dominion of sin upon this earth and the Holy Spirit to liberate Christians from the grip of the flesh, the world and the devil.
Christ coming in the flesh was for man to see what God is like and to show Christians how to live the abundant life in the midst of a sin-torn world. Because of the incarnation, through Jesus Christ we see what real love is and how to show it to others. We see how to communicate to God through prayer and how to live a life of obedience to God’s commands and decrees. Knowing about the life of Christ gives us the knowledge of how to truly trust in God.
Because of Christmas, Christians can know God, be intimate with Christ, learn His character and determine His will for them in this life and service unto Him.
Before anyone can enjoy all that the first Christmas birth forth for mankind, man must take time to open their hearts to the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Rick Warren told about a very embarrassing time in his life when he found an unopened Christmas gift in one of his drawers of his desk. The gift was given to him a year before at Christmas time. He opened it and it said, “A gift for Rick Warren.” It was a wonderful gift, however, the gift could not be enjoyed until the Christmas certificate was cashed in. It had been a year, Rick was concerned that the certificate may have expired. What God needs you to grasp is, an unopened gift is a worthless gift. Until you receive the Christ of Christmas, Gods greatest gift has no value to you!
Have you opened the gift God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit has for you? You can choose this day to enjoy the gift of getting victory in your life through having Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord. Thus, the flesh, the world, and the Devil will no longer have their hold on you. Have you opened your heart to Christ?
by Terry Laughlin | Apr 30, 2016 | Christmas
Just as the people in the time of Jesus walking upon this earth beheld the glory of God, Christians today can really know the Lord. The life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus means that God acted decisively to save people from sin and eternal death. The God who saves people in Christ is the God of His redeemed, those who are under the blood of Jesus Christ. And when sinners find Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord they are allowed to come to God because of the cost paid at Calvary. These Christians are under the new covenant of whom the writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote about. Hebrews 8:10-12 says “…I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:10-12)
All those who enter into the new covenant and are interested in all that the Lord is doing in the time we live today, can become acquainted with the Lord; learn His character and determine His will for them in this life and service unto Him. Each child of God can have his own intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus. As a spokesman for the Lord, Ezekiel wrote, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Every true born again Christian may enjoy God, through the Holy Spirit be drawn to things of God, enjoy fellowship with Christians, and be given revelation from the Bible. The more they discipline their spiritual hearts and set their minds to prayerfully read and study the Word of God, the more the Holy Spirit will give them illumination of Jesus Christ, reveal God’s will to them and be enabled to accomplish all He leads them to do.
The religious may be captivated by lights and the Holiday Celebration. However, true Christians proclaim at Christmas and all year round, “I know the Lord!”
by Terry Laughlin | Apr 30, 2016 | Christmas
A truth worth grasping is that Jesus came through and for common people. Luke 2:7 says, “and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:8-11 says, “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.’” The Bible goes on to say, “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,” (Luke 2:15-17)
The King of the universe was not born in a king’s palace nor was His birth announced first to the priesthood. No, He was conceived in a poor woman, Mary, who was simply a willing vessel of the Lord and a kingdom seeker. Catch Mary’s answer to the angel Gabriel, (Luke 1:26) “I am the Lord’s servant… May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38) She was submissive to the Lord’s will for her.
The secret to grasping the truths and joy of Christmas is to be a willing humble common person sold out to the cause of Christ. There is something worth grasping about the shepherds who were most likely devout men seeking the kingdom of God. They were servants about their business ready to receive the good news God was about to give them through the angels. These shepherds were obedient, diligently doing their work; they were not sleeping, but keeping watch.
Take note, no one is out of the way of a divine visit of the Holy Spirit of God. The call of God to hear the good news can come at anytime and the privilege of spreading the good news to others will come to those who are diligently working in their callings. Are you a willing vessel?
by Terry Laughlin | Apr 30, 2016 | Christmas
A miracle worth grasping about Christmas is that Jesus is God in the flesh and yet He was fully man, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself…” (Philippians 2:6-8a)
The words the Apostle Paul used in this passage of Scripture are chosen with great care to show the absolute reality that Jesus is God in the flesh as well as truly being man. He is flesh and blood just as you and I. The writer of the Book of Hebrews tells us the great benefit of the Lord becoming man. “Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:14-18)
He could not have been tempted as we are, lived a life of victory over sin unless He was of flesh and blood. Being man, the sins of the world were able to be laid upon Him. 1 John 3:8 says, “…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” The devil’s work was destroyed on the Cross of Christ. Colossians 2:15 says, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities [of Satan]. He, [Jesus] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Christians, are under the blood of Christ, thus enabled to get victory over the flesh, the world, and the devil. The Apostle Paul writes, “For [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” (Colossians 1:13-14)
Jesus coming to earth with the chief purpose of redeeming fallen mankind gave us a Savior, Priest or rather a Shepherd who is able to help those who are being tempted. Have you grasped this miracle?
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