A Different Kind of Bread for Christmas by crw

1 Corinthians 5:7b -8, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

When the subject arises about mid-October concerning the place where your family is to celebrate the Christmas holiday, are your thoughts taken to a place where worship and speaking on the Incarnation are as much a tradition as eggnog and gift giving, or do you say under your breath, "Oh no, here we go again"? Many approach the holiday with the dread expressed in the latter. For it's just reality for so many of us that the festivities surrounding every holiday season are marked by "malice and evil." Brothers acting prideful with one another. Sisters gossiping. Parents spending beyond their means and children having their materialistic desires fulfilled. Families eating, drinking, laughing; living for the moment and ignoring matters of eternity; ignoring the LORD who calls all men everywhere to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ of the manger, cross, and the tomb. So, how should we, as those called out to be ambassadors of Light, approach and prepare for this time entrusted to us with family and friends? Prayerfully? Certainly. Lovingly and resolved to forgive when wronged? Undoubtedly. Evangelistically? Beyond question. How many in just my small family have suppressed the truth of God in unrighteousness and continue to do what is right in their own eyes?
Here in 1 Cor. 5, Paul is instructing these brothers and sisters that when they do celebrate gospel realities reflected in holidays like Christmas, there is a manner in which they are to do it--with sincerity and in truth. Within the Corinthian context, there were certain persons in the church that were not very sincere in their professions, nor were they living lives in step with the gospel because they were engaged in rampant immorality. The call was not only for discipline of certain members, but purity within the body of Christ.
We must take note of God's words to us through the apostle. "Sincerity" conveys the idea of clearness or purity, which instructs us against any expressions of hypocrisy. If we do not pray, or do not love, or do not forgive, , or do not encourage one another with the word of God, or fail to share the claims of Christ over every life with others (when we have banked all our hope openly in the gospel) then hypocrisy is ours. Too, the "bread of...truth" is to characterize our gatherings and celebrations. Truth in the occasion. Truth in relationships. Truth in who we are, who we once were, who we will be; and all that in relation to the lowly Lamb who was born to die for those who once loved "malice and evil." What kind of bread are we eating?

The King is coming! Prepare the way! by adp

"A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our GOD." -- Isaiah 40:3

What a fitting message to think about this time of year, the declaration of the coming of our King! This is such a Christo-centric passage from the Old Testament that I believe we must not over look. In the first two verses of this great chapter in Isaiah, we have the Gospel message, "Comfort, O comfort My people, says your God. Speak kindly to Jerusalem; and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins." Comfort to know that our warfare with sin has ended, that our iniquity against our Holy God has been removed, and that from God we have received blessings and pardon double for our sins! This is the Gospel, the good news of Christ Jesus! Now repent and prepare the way of the LORD!

I hope that this Christmas we will all be reminded of this good news. I hope that we can all lay aside the secular things that have poisoned the true meaning of Christmas and reflect on the birth of our Savior. What do you think this declaration meant to the shepherds in the field that night? "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." -- Luke 2:10-11 The shepherds response to this good news should be every ones response, "they came in a hurry" -verse 16. When we hear the good news of Jesus Christ we should not delay in our response to Him. Prepare ye the way of the LORD! Repent and believe! What a glorious thought that God sent His only begotten Son from heaven to earth, to be born of a woman and take upon Himself the flesh of earthly men. This very One that we celebrate this time of year is the same One that bore our sins on Calvary.

Not only did God give us His Son, He was also pleased to crush His Son on or behalf (Isaiah 53:10), so that we would receive "double for all our sins." Not only that, but God raised Him from the dead and He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3). This is the One in whom we owe everything, our lives, our breath, our families, etc. But where has this One gone in our Christmas "traditions"? Do we really reflect on the good news of the Gospel and the coming of our King? I am just as guilty as you. I get caught up in all of the same hoopla that everyone else does, the tree, hanging big bulb lights around the house, the presents, egg nog (non-spiked), parties, and so on. But my prayer is that this year will be different. No more being comfortable with traditions and secular non-sense, but reflection on the birth of my King, prayer for repentance, sharing the good news, reading the birth narrative to my kids instead of playing Santa, and thanking God for the great joy that He has given us in Christ.

This is my prayer for us all, that we will not neglect our Savior...ever!

1 Peter 2:21-24 by adp

"For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed."

This morning I was reading this passage and contemplating the great love of Christ for His children. It is hard for me to consider being reviled and not reviling in return, or suffering and not uttering any threats. By our nature we feel that we should claim our rights and stand up for ourselves, if someone insults us we feel we should insult them all to more, just to make ourselves feel better. But what do we see here in Christ? He that entrusted Himself to the One who judges righteously. What would happen to our Christianity if we would follow this example of Christ? To entrust ourselves fully on God would bring about a drastic change in our lives. The title of this blog is "A Call to Holiness" and I think this passage does the same thing. Because Jesus Christ "bore our sins in His body on the cross" we ought to "die to sin and live to righteousness."

I think sometimes as believers we can comprehend the thought of dying to sin, but we never really live to righteousness. What I mean by this is this. We take the time to pray and ask forgiveness for our sins, we may even name various particular sins that we are struggling with, we may truly seek for greater repentance and find that we do have a hatred for our sin and mourn over it. But do we ever really desire to live righteously (live holy)? Matthew 5:6 says, "blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness." How many times have we pleaded with God to walk in holiness? Yes God help us to die to sin, but help us to live holy lives. Christ bore our sins on the cross and satisfied the wrath of God for His people, ought we not live as those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb?

May God help us to lay aside ourselves and our sin and live to holiness and righteousness for the glory of His eternal kingdom!

A Colossal Promise by crw

John 16:22 "So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you."  I burn when I read this...in light of my own sorrow in sinning, the sorrows of those closest to me, the burdensome sorrows that flood this planet. Unmet expectations, personal aggravations, unspeakable loses, small disappointments, subtly (and not-so-subtly) being ostracized because of our commitments to Jesus Christ and His Word---all these pile up and are like unsatisfied thieves whose purpose is to rob our joy in God.  But Jesus makes a declaration here that causes the hearts of those who are His to leap and long and love.  This is such a great and precious promise to the church.  There will be a day when our joyous Lord Jesus will mercifully snatch from us of every sorrow, replacing them all with a "joy unspeakable and full of glory."  Now that's a truth worth rejoicing over.   

The Pain and Pleasure of Transparency by crw

2 Corinthians 4:2, "But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God."

 

     Paul and the other apostles desired that integrity be a hallmark of their lives and ministries.  Just as Christ lived always before the face of God, the apostles were conscious of this.  Paul and other gospel ministers associated with him displayed undisguised sincerity with reference to pleasing the One who always sees and knows our very steps and our deepest motivations.  When we start thinking God-wardly about the manner in which we carry ourselves, the weeds of hypocrisy will begin to wither and die.  The gospel (that is the context of this verse--the lava-hot center of revelation) makes us say things like what Tim Keller said, "...We are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope — at the very same time. This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. It means that the more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God’s grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God’s grace and acceptance in Christ, the more able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions and character of your sin" (Timothy Keller, http://mail.google.com/mail/#label/Of+First+Importance/119fb104f9c86ec4, Internet 2008).  How we need...no, how I need desperately a constant dose of transparency as a minister of God's gospel.  I need the pain of seeing my sin.  I want the pleasure of seeing my Savior.      

Revelation Chapter 4

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things." Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon that thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. Out from the throne come flashes of lightening and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature like the face of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creature, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come." And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." --NASB