Merry Christmas

"The Son of God became man to enable men to become the sons of God."

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Merry Christmas, Love Jen

 

I John 4:9, NIRV "How did God show his love for us? He sent his one and only Son into the world. He sent him so we could receive life through him."

John 17:3, NRSV "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Romans 5:17-19, NLT "For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous."

A Passover Meal

For the past several years, I have been a part of a bible study lead by Darren at his and his wife Sue’s house. Darren is a completed Jew, as he calls himself, meaning that he is Jewish and believes that Jesus was the Christ. Every year on the Thursday before Good Friday and Easter, we celebrate the Passover. This year was much smaller than last year (by about 30 people), but in a way that makes it much more intimate.

I went early to help with getting the table set up. As you can tell by the picture, getting the table set up entails much more than just setting the place settings! There are several items that need to be on the table for each person (or every couple of people) and then, more specifically, a Passover Plate needs to be made up. The Passover Plate, also called the Seder Plate, includes a total of 7 items that symbolize Jewish slavery in Egypt, 6 of the items are on a single plate and include the following:
Bitter herbs :: symbolizing the bitterness and harshness of the slavery which the Jews endured in Egypt;

• Charoses [the “c” is silent] :: representing the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to make bricks in Egypt;


• Saltwater and parsley (karpas) for dipping :: symbolizing the salty tears that the Jews shed in their slavery in Egypt;


• A lamb bone (Zeroa) :: symbolizing the lamb slain for the Passover meal and used for the blood to the doorposts; and


• A hard boiled egg (Beitzah) :: representing the festival sacrifice eaten at the meal.

The 7th item, placed on a separate plate, is matzah bread (unleavened bread). Three unbroken pieces are used and separated from each other by cloths or napkins. Also on the table is gefilte fish (all I can say about that is ICK!!!) and wine, lots and lots of wine. I had purchased a bottle of Shiraz at the Château Tanunda in the Barossa Valley just outside of Adelaide, Australia, specifically to bring for Passover this year, and it was yu-um-my!

I’m not going to write about every single thing we did because you can pretty much Google it and read about it anywhere. I’ll just comment on some of the things I find significant and/or yummy! :) The wine, of course, is always good! I love the Charoses…it is an apple and cinnamon relish to go with the matza bread, and is delish! I also love the matza ball soup, which is fabulous.

One of the other things that is very cool is that Darren reads the blessings in Hebrew, which is pretty awesome to hear!

The youngest son in the household reads the “Four Questions” in Hebrew, and Sam actually does that! (Why is this night different from all other nights? Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either bread or matza, but on this night we eat matza? Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables, but on this night we eat bitter herbs? Why is it on all other nights we do not dip even once, but on this night we dip twice? Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position? (the first question is an “introductory” question.))

Each year, Darren focuses on something different for Passover. One year, we discussed the four cups of wine, and how Judas left the Passover meal before he drank the third cup of wine, the cup of redemption. That was really profound to me, what he missed out on (figuratively becoming literally). This year, however, we focused on the Israelites’ grumblings throughout the Exodus story, and how the Passover is a celebration of God’s goodness to the Israelites who didn’t really see that at the time, and how that is often times the case with us too.

The other focus was on the Psalms that are read just prior to and after the Passover meal, and focusing on what Jesus read/heard the night before his death. Before the meal we read Psalms 113-114 and then after the meal, Psalms 113-118 and 136. That portion was really interesting to hear what Jesus would have read or heard the night of his death. The following were the verses that really hit me this year.

All of Psalm 116, but most especially vs. 1-4:

I love the LORD, because He hears
My voice and my supplications.

Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon
Him as long as I live.

The cords of death encompassed me
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.

Then I
called upon the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!”

and vs. 12-13, 17

What shall I render to the LORD
For all His benefits toward me?

I shall lift up the cup of salvation
And call upon the name of the LORD.

I shall pay my vows to the LORD,
Oh may it be in the presence of all
His people.

…

To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And call upon the name of the LORD.

Psalm 118:22-24:

The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner
stone.

This is the LORD’S doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day which the LORD has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad
in it.

Seeing Something New

John 10:16
John 11:47-53


I always come away with something new, something I have seen or realized after going to Bible Study that has given me that "ah ha" moment. Even though I know I have read that same passage before, when I see something that I haven’t understood, comprehended, or recognized before I just love it! There are two passages from the past couple of weeks in my Bible Study’s study of the Gospel of John that I thought were pretty cool that I just feel like sharing, one is from John 10:16 and the other is John 11:47-53.

In the first verse, John 10:16, Jesus talks about me. I’ve never really looked at that verse so specifically before. I have always read it as there were people who were not yet believers, and would become believers. That is a very general principal for the verse. Specifically, however, Jesus is talking about the gentile nation. He is referring to the non-Jews who will be able to be one of God’s children because of the sacrifice that he talks about immediately preceding and following this verse. All of this goes back to God’s promise in Genesis. God’s promise to Abraham was that God would swear “…by my own name that I will certainly bless you…And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:16-18, emphasis added.) I find it so awesome to see that direct reference to a united group of God-worshippers – the Jewish nation and the gentile nation as one. I am able to belong to God (as a gentile) because of these words of Jesus.

The second passage, John 11:47-53, raises two very distinct emotions in me: excitement and sadness. Excitement in the fact that here is a direct prophesy that shows just what Jesus was about (again taking us back to Genesis). “…he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” John 11:51-52. God used Caiaphas to prophesy the truth, but he himself was blinded and/or hardened to the truth. He was supposed to be a student of God, a religious leader who knows (or is supposed to know) God and His word, but he didn’t see God in Jesus. In John 3:19, John writes that “…the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” Because of the religious leaders’ selfishness and love for power, they plotted to (and did) kill Jesus. How sad that the very people who were looking for the Messiah/Christ missed Him because of their sin.

To read just what the religious leaders were about is, on the one hand sad, but on the other hand, it is something that I must guard myself against. I must not become so entrenched in my traditions and opinions that I lose sight of God and who He is and what He wants. As the body of Christ, the church (little “c”) must also guard against this tendency to miss the truth in a bid to keep a hold of its traditions, power, etc.

Jesus’ Conversation with Nicodemus – Part 3, A Look at John 3:16

John 3:1-21

I have read John 3:16 a thousand times. I have memorized it. It is the standard verse that shows the way of salvation. It is so easy to be blasé about the verse because it is so familiar, but I have to remember how important it really is. It is because of verses like it that I can be confident in my salvation. However, John 3:16 must be looked at in light of the surrounding verses, especially the ones that follow it.

It is not just belief, but a willingness to walk into the light and let our evil be seen that is my salvation. I must live by the truth, come into the light, and let God’s great deed be seen through me. Yes we are saved through faith; yes, the only way is Jesus. However, we must acknowledge that it is God that saves. That it is God’s work through Jesus that has left us “not condemned” (v. 18). “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God" (v. 21). Anyone who believes and comes into the light is because it is God’s work being done, not our own. Our salvation is so that God may receive glory, that is what Jesus coming is about.

Jesus’ Conversation with Nicodemus – Part 1, Background

My Bible study group is going through the book of John right now, and some of the things we have discussed about this topic have been very intriguing to me, so I though I’d share some of our thoughts and insights with you.

John 3:1-21

There are two things that I believe are important to understand when looking at Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus: why John wrote and the portions of the previous two chapters of the gospel John wrote. I have learned how important it is to look at a historical document’s (or any other writing, oral history, video, photograph, etc.) purpose, to look for the author’s agenda; to understand what they are attempting to get across. When a picture is taken, the photographer chooses what to include and exclude. If a photographer is taking a picture of a slum area and shows a run-down building with graffiti and broken windows, are they trying to show a slum’s poverty or its recent upswing in crime, and why did they leave out the newly renovated park next door: because it doesn’t show the photographer’s purpose. It is the same with the written word; the author chooses how to phrase his writing and what to include or not to include. In the case of the gospel of John, he states clearly at the end of the book that there were more things that Jesus did than could fill John’s book (John 20:30-31 and 21:25). John also states clearly his purpose in writing: “…these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31.)

John is writing so the readers will believe, not to show a chronological story of Jesus’ life. With his purpose discovered, it is also important to remember that it is a very Western idea or mindset that things occur in chronological order. This is not so in many Middle Eastern cultures, and is especially not true of the Jewish culture (of the time). John places Jesus’ overturning of the money changers’ tables in the temple in chapter 2, while the other gospels place it during Passion Week, just prior to Jesus’ death. Many look at this as an error in the Scriptures; however, if you look at John’s purpose for writing and the themes, style, and rhythm of the entire book, it is fairly clear that he couples events and conversations to emphasize a point of Jesus’, as well as to show who Jesus is and why He is so important. This is true of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (as well as the second portion of chapter three where John the Baptist discusses with his disciples that it is through belief in Jesus that one receives eternal life). John’s writings are with a purpose, each event seems to be paired with another which emphasize who Jesus is and what His purpose was in coming as man.

Following this emphasis of John’s style of writing and points he is making to the reader, it is important to note when reading this conversation with Nicodemus that portions of the previous two chapters are reflected in the dialogue and statements that are made. First, when Nicodemus says to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him” (John 3:2), it is almost a direct reflection of the demand by the Pharisees at the end of the previous chapter to have Jesus “prove” his authority by miracles (John 2:18). (Interestingly enough, Nicodemus is a Pharisee and uses the word “we” when he comes to Jesus. So, it would seem that not all Pharisees were out to get Jesus. Some saw His authority and wanted to know more, to understand who He was and why God sent Him.)

The second portion that needs to be looked at in light of a prior chapter is John 3:19-21 (John 1). John’s use of light and dark in this chapter needs to be read and understood in light of the first chapter of the book. But first, we have to understand why John labels Jesus as “the Word” in chapter 1. If we go back to Genesis 1, it is another “In the beginning” phrase (John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1), written in John 1:1 to specifically bring Jewish readers’ attention to Genesis Chapter 1. Although my writing here is in no way a theological statement, it is interesting to read about creation in light of John’s labeling of Jesus as the Word. I almost picture God speaking “let there be light” and Jesus, being the Word, makes it happen (John 1:3). The Greek word logos used in John 1:1 does not just mean "word," it became a technical term in ancient Greek philosophy; to the readers it had the connotation of the ordering of the universe. So, again, looking back at Genesis, God spoke the words, and the world was created. John’s point? We must again look at why he wrote the gospel of John. John wrote so that we would “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God...” (John 20:31.) Jesus was always. From the very beginning of creation, Jesus was. John is declaring that Jesus is God. (John 1:34.)

Second, after the introduction of who Jesus is, John writes about Jesus’ purpose. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4.) Again, look back at John’s purpose for writing, “…and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31.) This also reflects back on Genesis; God created life, Jesus was with God, the Word. Not only was Jesus at our creation, He is what makes us alive; through Jesus we have life.

The light that John discusses needs to be looked at in real terms. What is light but the absence of darkness; it illuminates the dark and shows us what we cannot see. Jesus shows us who we truly are, He illuminates our life. At that point, we have two choices: choose the dark or choose the light. With the choice of the light, Jesus, we “have life in his name.” (John 20:31.) We have life because of Jesus in two ways, first through creation and second through belief.

“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did
not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not
receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent,
nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 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 1:10-14)

Bringing us back to Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, the above text from John 1 reflects this conversation in John 3. The right to true life, to belong to God, is not a birthright (as the Jewish nation saw it), but it is through God that we have this gift. The Word was born physically to show us this fact, that it is not our physical acts of obedience that gives us grace, it is our choice to accept the light, to believe.

Can I Truly Say That His Grace is Enough for Me?

At worship this week, we sang “Your Grace Is Enough” sung by Chris Tomlin. (I’ve placed the lyrics at the end for anyone who doesn’t know the song.) Something hit me while I was worshipping that really made me think about my life. I know God’s grace is enough to save me, that’s a no-brainer. But what I wondered is whether I am content or satisfied with God’s gift of grace.

In Philippians 4:11-13, Paul is responding to the Philippians’ concern for him while he is imprisoned in Rome. Paul’s response to their concern and gifts is that he has “…learned how to be content with whatever I have.” (v. 11) Am I content with what I have? God has given me this huge gift of His grace; I am forgiven and loved by the God who created all and is all. Am I selfish enough to continually desire more? Yes, and that is what hit me when I was signing “Your Grace Is Enough.” I don’t live my life like God’s grace is all I need. I live my life like that gift He gave me, sacrificed for me, is a right and that I deserve more.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that we shouldn’t ask God for whatever is in His will, but I don’t believe that I seek His will often enough to know what God wants for and from me. I have to learn to let go of my desires and learn to embrace God’s desires. God desires me to live for Him, not for me. God desires me to love others, not just myself. God wants me to use my time, energy, talent, and money for His work, not for my selfish desires.

All too often, I look at my life and think, why don’t I have this, or why don’t I have that. I need to learn to look at my life and thank God that I have what He has given me and be content with it, not continually want and desire more. I need to look at my life and do my best to honor God for his gift of grace. I want to be able to truly say to God that His grace is enough for me. Being single at 32, this is, more often than not, a very difficult thing to say. I want to be able to say it and mean it with everything that I am. I want God to be my all and I want to recognize that He is all I want and need.


"...it’s when we’re on the brink of personal collapse that we’re best able to shift the direction of our soul from self-protection to trusting love. The more deeply we enter into the reality that life without God is sheer desolation, the more fully we can turn toward Him.... The richest love grows in the soil of an unbearable disappointment with life. When we realize life can’t give us what we want, we can better give up our foolish demand that it do so and get on with the noble task of loving as we should. We will no longer need to demand protection from further disappointment. The deepest change will occur in the life of a bold realist who clings to God with a passion only his realistic appraisal of life can generate." - Dr. Larry Crabb, Inside Out

“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” - Socrates

“The world draws the heart from God; and the more the love of the world prevails, the more the love of God decays…. Unless this victory over the world is begun in the heart, a man has no root in himself, but will fall away, or at most remain an unfruitful professor. Yet these vanities are so alluring to the corruption in our hearts, that without constant watching and prayer, we cannot escape the world, or obtain victory over the god and prince of it.” (1 John 2, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible.)

1 John 2:16 “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.”

Proverbs 15:15 “For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.”

Proverbs 27:20 “Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.”

Ecclesiastes 1:8 “Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.”

Your Grace Is Enough

Great is Your faithfulness oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You lead us by still waters in to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

[So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me]

Great is Your love and justice God
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

[Chorus x3]

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaching down to us
Your grace is enough for me
God I see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough for me
For me

Composed by Matt Maher

Who is Christmas’s Baby Jesus Really?

Do we know enough about who Jesus is to value what He is really worth? At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus as baby, but often times we do not look any further into who Jesus is until we hit Easter and “celebrate” Jesus’ death and resurrection. Although it may seem that I’m referring to Holiday church-goers, it is also Christ followers that do not really recognize who Jesus is. Too often we celebrate the Holiday as the Christmas story alone (Jesus’ birth) and forget the purpose and significance behind that birth.

Philippians 2:6-8 (NLT)

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Jesus was born so he might die. It is hard to fathom that anyone would choose to die like a criminal in order to save humanity, but to take it a step further and see that Jesus willingly waived His divine rights, humbled Himself, and became a human in order to die for humanity is mind blowing.

Jesus voluntarily surrendered his rights as God. He didn’t attempt to hold on to his power, glory, omniscience, omnipotence etc., but let go of those rights to become human. In the NLT version, it uses the phrase “cling to,” which can be likened to a robber seizing something that is not his own. As a human, Jesus let go of the privileges of His divinity. He added humanity to His divinity and restricted Himself from some of His powers. Eternity entered time, infinite became finite, the all powerful, all knowing, always everywhere became contained in a human baby, dependent on those around Him and limited to His current time and space. Paul, in this passage, likens the shift from being Divine God to human being as being a slave. Jesus is no longer the master, but is now a servant. Even further, a servant of humanity!

The passage in Philippians continues (9-11):

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Regardless of whether we know or acknowledge Jesus now, everyone will bow before Him. What we have to choose is whether to bow now or later. Choosing now means looking at that question I first asked and choosing to take action in our lives to KNOW Jesus.

The Promises of God Fulfilled in Jesus

To me, I sometimes think of the Advent season as just another tradition that we perform in the month of December that does not really strike the heart. My church does not celebrate Advent (with the wreath and candles, etc.), and I have never really participated in the events of it since I a was a little girl, and I did not really get it then. Communion, Advent, Lent, The Lord’s Prayer, and other practices that many Christian churches do on a weekly (or annual) basis can inspire, in and of themselves, great reverence, awe, thankfulness, and humility. However, at the same time, these practices may also cause apathy, indifference, and a lack of attention to the purpose behind the acts or events because of their repetition.

Although it may seem that I have gotten off tract in regard to the title of this blog, I haven’t. Christmas has become so commercialized and so formalized that it seems like we don’t really get to the heart of the season, the reason why we celebrate. As my cell group had been studying the book of Genesis, and the promises of God had been a recurring theme throughout that book, this season, I have looked at the birth of Jesus quite differently. In light of the book of Genesis, God’s provision of Jesus to save us is so awesome to realize.

Looking back at the book of Genesis, covenants were contracts between two parties who each agreed and made promises and, if they were not fulfilled, the party who did not fulfill their part could be (would be) killed. In the Covenant between Abram and God, Abram never walked through the blood sealing his promise, but God walked through twice. God made a promise of His own and then promised to keep Abram’s part. Abram’s part was that he’d “walk before me [God] and be blameless.” (Genesis 17:1b) Impossible? Yes. But God promised when he went through the covenant blood that he’d keep Abram’s part. And it was not just Abram’s promise, but “Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.’” (Genesis 17:9) God told Abraham (his name got changed here) that not just he would need to be blameless, but all who would have God be their God would need to be blameless.

How can we do this? Be blameless? We can’t. But God, knowing that Abraham/Abram (and us) would never be able to keep that promise, walked through the covenant blood for us and would keep that promise for us. How? Jesus. Because we couldn't keep the promise of blamelessness (and God chose to keep it for us), the covenant would be fulfilled with the death of Jesus. To me, it is so amazing that Jesus was willing to do this. To be a sacrifice for me who has never been, nor never will be here, blameless.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NLT) reads that: “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘Yes’) ascends to God for his glory.” God fulfilled all His promises to His people with Jesus choosing to come and be a man and Him choosing to be our sacrifice (see Philippians 2:6-8). The Promise of God was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus and in His choice to submit to death. This idea has hugely influenced my outlook on Christmas this year and on how important this birth was. It had been thousands of years in the making, and we only celebrate God’s willingness to be like us and to die for us one day a year, and that has been made so commercialized it has become unrecognizable. The celebration of the Advent of Jesus should be recognized for what it used to be, the anticipation and longing for our God’s sacrifice.

The term “advent” means the “arrival that has been awaited (especially of something momentous).” I realized this year that I don’t celebrate the birth of Jesus through the whole month in anticipation of celebrating that He came to live and die for me. I worry and I fret about money and buying gifts, about having time for Christmas parties and friends and family. I need to re-prioritize my life and realize that it is the advent of Jesus that has given me forgiveness, grace, and mercy. That it is due to that covenant between Abram and God, that God kept both parts, that I am saved through that choice God made to love me unconditionally. Shouldn’t I take that realization and let the Holy Spirit work in me to make me a new creation? Shouldn’t I let go of the old man and put on the new? (See Ephesians 4:17-24) I need to let the Advent of Jesus and the celebration of His life and death change me, make me new, and make life about Him, not me.

Advent song to make way for Jesus

For the most part, I'm not from a hymn-singing generation or church. Neither do I "celebrate" Christmas like many do by following the tradition of Advent. However, this song's lyrics hit me as I read it on someone else's blog, and thought that it really should be repeated for others (oh so many who read this) to enjoy and meditate on; to prepare your heart for Jesus and the Christmas season!

On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry

On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Come, then, and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings from the King of kings!

Then cleansed be every breast from sin;
Make straight the way for God within;
Prepare we in our hearts a home,
Where such a mighty Guest may come.

For Thou art our Salvation, Lord,
Our Refuge, and our great Reward.
Without Thy grace our souls must fade
And wither like a flower decayed.

Stretch forth Thine hand, to heal our sore,
And make us rise and fall no more;
Once more upon Thy people shine,
And fill the world with love divine.

To Him Who left the throne of Heaven
To save mankind, all praise be given;
Like praise be to the Father done,
And Holy Spirit, Three in One.

- Charles Coffin, words

Foreshadowing in Genesis -- Part III

Genesis 49 :: The Messiah Foretold

As we begin this chapter, Jacob lies dying (in Egypt) and gathers his 12 sons around him and says: “I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.” (49:1) He then proceeds to pronounce what will become of his sons, their families, and their descendents. The purpose of this section of Genesis 49 is described by the author/commentator: “These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said as he told his sons good-bye. He blessed each one with an appropriate message.” (49:28) Although all are very interesting, I find two of the messages fascinating: Levi and Judah.

Although Levi’s message has noting to do with the foretelling of the Messiah, I find it very cool what Jacob says about him and about what his descendents will become. Levi, one of the brothers who killed the entire city’s population of men for the rape of his sister Dinah (34:25), is “cursed” as being violent and angry, and that “I will scatter them among the descendants of Jacob; I will disperse them throughout Israel” (49:7). That being said, Levi’s descendents became priests and were given no allotment of land in Canaan; they were dispersed among the 12 tribes of Israel. (When you remove Levi as a tribe inheriting land, there still remains 12 tribes when you include the “half tribes” of Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons whom Jacob made his own sons in Genesis 48:5.)

OK, now on to Jesus. Judah, who is not the eldest, becomes the son of The Promise. What does The Promise refer to? God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the same; that God would swear “…by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:16-18, emphasis added.) The Promise is not just a group of descendents and land, but that the world will be blessed.

Remember the Covenant with Abram. Because Abram couldn’t keep his promise to “walk before me [God] and be blameless” (17:1), God had to keep His promise and be murdered so that we could be blameless before God, through Jesus (see Covenant Blog). In order for The Promise of God to be fulfilled, God choose to bless Abraham, followed by Isaac (not the first born, but the child chosen for The Promise), Jacob (again, not the first born, but the child chosen for The Promise), Judah, through to David (the first to hold the scepter of Judah) all the way down to Jesus (see Matthew 1). Part of The Promise was the lineage of Jesus. Through The Promise, he chose and protected these people until Jesus came to bless the whole world. We all, not just the Jewish Nation (see also Ephesians 2:13-17), are blessed with forgiveness and mercy through The Promise.

Now, read the central part of Judah’s “appropriate message” (49:28). Genesis 49:10 NLT “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.” The rightful ruling of the nation would flow from Judah and that his descendents would hold it until the “one to whom it belongs” comes. David is the first from the Tribe of Judah to become king. Interestingly enough, Judah is called “a lion's cub” (49:9 NIV) here. And later, in reference to this, in Revelation 5:5, Jesus is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne.” The true owner of the right to rule? God. Jesus is God. (see Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58) Jesus is The Promise and “all nations” will not only honor Him, but trust in Him for salvation. Here also is where Jesus is foretold of being from the Tribe of Judah. Also here, I would almost give double meaning to the word scepter; that it is not just meaning a ruler or king, but also as The Promise being fulfilled through the line of Judah, fulfilled in Jesus.

OK, so the next few versus regarding Judah are a bit poetic and weird to me. However, when I read them, I look at them through the lens of what Jesus did for me and I see something interesting. “He will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.” (49:11) Jesus was pure and had done nothing, but took on my sin and my punishment. He dirtied himself for me, and his blood covers me and makes me clean.

That's My King, Do You Know Him?

Very cool audio/visual to Rev. Lockridge's most famous sermon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6wL1IvMuWo

Foreshadowing in Genesis -- Part II

Genesis 22 :: Abraham Tested

This is a really hard passage to read. Abraham is willing to kill his son Isaac, and I think “what is he thinking?” Why is Abraham so willing to kill his only son, the one God promised to him? Would God really ask someone to murder? What would have happened if he didn’t do it? So may questions arise out of this small passage that it is hard to even think about, let alone answer. First, however, a little background…

Isaac is not a young boy, but most likely an older teenager or even in his twenties. This is known / believed to be true from the original Hebrew of the phrase that is used to refer to Isaac as “the boy.” The estimate of his age may also be seen in how Abraham and Isaac get up the mountain. Verse 6 shows that Isaac carried firewood on his shoulders up a mountain, enough firewood to consume a goat (at minimum, as that is what Isaac thought they were sacrificing), which is probably impossible for a young child to be able to do. This, coupled with the Hebrew connotation for the words “the boy” illustrates that Isaac is older than he is often portrayed.

Next, Isaac realizes that something is just not quite right because he asks his father about the sheep for the sacrifice. However, the text doesn’t indicate that there was any struggle on his part when Abraham tied him to the alter. Although this is remembered as Abraham’s test and all about his faith in God, it is interesting to note Isaac’s reaction to the situation. Even though it doesn’t say Isaac didn’t struggle some might say that it just doesn’t “say” that he struggled, that he probably did struggle. However, Isaac is either a teenager or in his twenties, and Abraham is over 100 years old, almost 120 years old (Genesis 21:5). Now, try and picture a120-year-old man trying to strap a young male to an alter to burn up as a sacrifice. Not going to happen unless said male is willing!

How could Abraham rightly reason that a human sacrifice would be asked by God? It was probably well known by everyone of Abraham’s household that the “gods” of the other people of the land during this same time-period “demanded” human sacrifice so it probably wasn’t something that would have overly surprised Abraham. Except for the fact God promised Abraham a son by which “I [God] will guarantee to give you countless descendants” (Genesis 17:2), Abraham probably did not think it was overly unusual.

The problem comes in the question of how could Abraham reconcile God’s Command and God’s Promise? God Himself comes and tells Abraham and Sarah that they will have a son (Genesis 18). Just under one-year after this particular instance of the promise (Abraham was promised a son, by which his descendants would be numerous, for over 20 years by God), Isaac was born. Abraham knew God’s promise was fulfilled in Isaac, he was also commanded to sacrifice that promised son.

Why was Abraham so willing to sacrifice his son? The conflict going on inside Abraham between the Command of God and the Promise of God must have been staggering; yet, he “got up early” the next morning (Genesis 22:3). Abraham never lost sight of what God promised him; that in God’s command to sacrifice Isaac, He would still continue to fulfill His promise that Abraham’s descendants would be numerous. So, when Abraham calmly states to the servants with them that Abraham and Isaac were going up the mountain to make a sacrifice “and then we will come right back” (Genesis 22:5), he might not be lying. When Abraham answers Isaac’s question about the lack of a sacrifice, Abraham calmly responds with a statement about God’s provision of the lamb. Whether that Abraham’s belief is that God will provide a lamb and stop Abraham or that Abraham doesn’t want to share what’s going on just yet, it is unknown. However, Hebrews 11:19 states that “Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again….” This could be the resolution to the conflict in Abraham’s mind.

What would have happened if Abraham didn’t do it? Obviously we’ll never know what would have happened, but it is interesting to wonder. If Abraham hadn’t been willing, where would the Jewish nation be? Who would Jesus have come from? Would we have ever received the gift of Jesus? God’s promise to Abraham: “…I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:16-18, emphasis added.) This is only the second time that God has indicated that everyone in the world will be blessed by Abraham (“All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:3). Over and over again God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be numerous and that they would be fruitful and would be rulers over the promised land; for over twenty years God had promised, since he was called at the age of 75 (Genesis 12:4). But it is only through Abraham’s obedience to God that we are blessed.

Is there a difference between murder and sacrifice, and would God really ask someone to murder? Is it all semantics? We probably could go round and round with this, so I’m not going to answer the question except to ask a few in return. What did God do with Jesus? Although we are God’s creation, it is not near the same as the sacrifice of God Himself. Is this passage just about the testing of Abraham? Could it be about God testing Himself? Is God maybe asking Himself: can I sacrifice my creation for the “greater good?” Am I able to sacrifice Myself for My creation? Is He maybe thinking that if His own creation cannot love Him enough to sacrifice what they love for Him, how can God do it? God stops Abraham before the sacrifice of Isaac…maybe because God sees Abraham’s total love and commitment to God and thinks that if Abraham can sacrifice his only son, the promised one, whom he loves, then God can do the same. Does God also see Isaac’s willingness to give all for his father? The conclusion of this? Re-read Genesis 22:18: “And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.” God will bless the whole world, not just God’s chosen people, because of Abraham’s obedience to God’s call. Read Matthew 1 and you will see the blessing clearly: “This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac…Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.” The blessing that I have received because of Abraham’s obedience is the gift of Jesus, of God putting His only son to death.

Foreshadowing in Genesis -- Part I

I’ve been missing from here for a while, so I thought I should write something. I’m not really sure why I should write because I doubt anyone actually reads these things, but I feel like I should. So…I had Bible study last night, and we are studying Genesis and I think that I’ll share some things I’ve learned that I think are really cool.
First, I’d say to read the passage because I’m not quoting and I’m writing from memory of wording. Second, this will be in however many parts I need it to be, so stay tuned (all of the hundreds who read this [I’m in full sarcasm mode here]).

Genesis 15 :: God’s Covenant With Abram

The Hebrew word for Covenant means “to cut.” The purpose behind making a covenant with someone (all people would do this, not just God with His people) was to solidify a formal agreement between two parties. The greater party would bring the animal sacrifices and the lesser party would come prepared to make their promises. The parties would dig a trench and cut the animals from top to bottom in half and place the pieces on either side of the trench and let the blood flow into the trench. The greater party (and then the lesser party) would then walk through the blood. The point basically is that if the party breaks their promises, what was done to the animals could be done to the party that broke its promise.

In this passage, Abram brings the animals that God directs him to bring. He knows what is happening because this is a common practice. Without direction, Abram knows what animals to use and does what needs to be done. Then he waits for God because he knows that God is the greater party in this Covenant, and his promise goes first. As Abram waits for God, a dark cloud comes over him. As we discussed this in my Bible study group, we came to the conclusion that whether literal or a nightmare, Abram’s freaking out about what he’ll have to promise in return to God. But God speaks, offers His promise to Abram, and then God goes through the trench, between the halves.

And here is the key…a flaming torch and a smoking pot passed through. (Remember God following the Israelites through the desert after they left Egypt…cloud of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night.) God did not go through the trench just once, for His own promise, He went through twice: once for His own promise and once for Abram’s. Here is one of the first references to what God will do to redeem His people. (The first, many believe, is in Genesis 3 where God curses the serpent.) Because it is impossible for Abram to keep his promises, which we don’t even know about until a few chapters later, God must keep the Covenant Himself; Jesus must die.

I just found this so profound…this Covenant with Abram that is so many thousands of years old is why I am able to be with God forever, because God keeps His promises to His people. Because Abram couldn’t keep his promise…to “walk before me [God] and be blameless” Genesis 17:1, God had to keep His promise and be murdered so that we could be blameless before God, through Jesus.

Teaser for next time…think about Genesis 22:16-18, especially 18.

Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

I understand the interest and controversy over whether to say to people or shop at places that promote or say one over the other. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I personally use Merry Christmas because the point of the "holiday" is the birth of the Christ, Jesus. That is the reason I celebrate. I give gifts; I put up a tree, lights, and other decorations, but the real meaning of Christmas is that the creator of the world became the savior of the world; to do that, he had to become like us, live like us, but not sin like us. That is the point of Christmas.

Happy Holidays has become popular because people celebrate this "holiday" as a fun day of giving gifts, period. They don't want Christ or God to enter into their lives, thus they have left Christ out of Christmas. What better way to do that then to overgeneralize what the purpose of the celebration is and say Happy Holidays?

I agree with those who say the reason for the season is Christ, therefore, Christmas. However, do we want Jesus' birth commercialized any more than it already is? Is fighting with stores and consumers over whether to say "Christmas" or "Holidays" important? Christ is important, but is using the name of Jesus to sell more toys, electronics, and cars right? I want the point of Jesus' birth to be made, but should it be made while customers are fighting over the last toy on the shelf? Should the name of God be associated with, what has become a commercialized time of the year?

On the flip side, aside from the origins of the actual date of the celebration of the birth of Christ (see BBC Article), the reason that the majority of people celebrate the "holiday" is because their parents celebrated the birth of Christ (or, if not their parents, their grandparents). Why do they celebrate now? What is their purpose now? To hang holly, give gifts, and get together with family? What is the real point? The point is a birthday celebration, and the reason for the season should be made clear...just about everyone began celebrating or now celebrates because of Jesus.

What is the answer?


P.S. - Did you know the word holiday is a conjunction of use over time of the words "Holy" and "Day?" Also, Holy means, among other things: "specially recognized as or declared sacred; dedicated or devoted; entitled to worship or veneration; and unimpaired innocence and virtue, free from sinful affections, pure in heart, irreproachable, and guiltless." If this is what we celebrate, Christ's birth as a "Holy Day," I have no problem saying Happy Holidays!