Galatians 4:4-7
Timing is very important. The chef has to be careful of how long something stays in the oven. The coach selects the best time to send in certain players. It is very important that the general selects just the right time for his military maneuvers. Taking the cake out too early because one is too anxious is no good. Bad timing can cost a team the game, and even more serious, bad timing can cost many lives in a war. We might wonder why God waits so long to do things, such as answering our prayers. And when we think of it, why did He wait so long in sending the Messiah?
In our Scripture passage today the Apostle Paul states that “when the fullness of time had come”, God sent the Messiah (vs. 4). God is always very particular about timing. At the time of Jesus’s birth, the conditions of the world were just right. A few hundred years before Jesus’s birth, Alexander the Great had conquered a large part of the known world at the time, and made Greek the common language of that time. When Jesus was born, most people had at least a working knowledge of Greek. With the coming of the Roman Empire, Latin, as well, was becoming spoken by a majority of people. This made it possible for those seeking to spread the Gospel to do so in at least two very familiar languages, spoken by a majority of people, rather than dozens of mutually unintelligible languages.
Also, at the time of Jesus, the Roman empire stretched from the British Isles to the borders of India, from eastern Europe to North Africa. The Romans built sturdy roads all across the empire, some remnants still remaining today, over 2,000 years later. This made travel the easiest it had ever been, and their military presence made it the safest. The location of where Jesus was born was right at the crossroads of three continents, again facilitating an ease for sending the Gospel around the world.
Had Jesus been born several centuries earlier none of this would have been in place. Several centuries later and the Roman Empire would have fallen, bringing the start of the Dark Ages, when civilization stepped backwards quite a bit. God’s timing was just right.
Furthermore, Paul states in verse 4 that Jesus was born of a woman. Jesus had to be both fully man and fully God. He had to be fully man in order to take our penalty, as a substitute sacrifice for our sins. Jesus had to also be fully God for His sacrifice to be of the infinite worth necessary to fully atone for our sins. As a human, He was subject to God’s Law, and fulfilled it perfectly.
Paul continues on by telling us that, as believers, we have been adopted into God’s family (vs. 5-7). In the culture of the Roman Empire, adoption was a serious business. Adoption wasn’t only of young children. Teens and adults were often adopted, as well as slaves being adopted into the family. When a person was adopted they left their old family and became a part of the new one. When we are saved we leave the devil’s family which brings damnation and become part of God’s family with salvation. The adopted person became a legitimate heir to the estate. Nobody could take away these benefits. No one can take away what we get when we join God’s family (Romans 8:38-39)! Any debts the adopted person had were wiped away at the time of the adoption. The old life was put away. When we are saved and become a part of God’s family. Jesus took our sins upon Himself and paid the penalty in full.
When we accept Jesus as our Savior we are set free (vs. 7). We are delivered from the authority and power of darkness. We are brought into the light of Jesus. Salvation makes us an heir of God. An heir means we have rights, standing, access, power and authority in the Name of Jesus. We have the right to approach the throne of God (Hebrews 4:16). We have been set free from sin’s curse, and all enslavement to Satan. We were slaves to sin, but once we call upon Jesus as our Savior we are now God’s children!
Psalm 147
Today’s psalm, like so many psalms, is one of praise to the Lord. As I write this devotional it is the last day of the year, and most of you will be reading this at the beginning of the new year. What better way to either end the old year and begin a new one than to sing praise to the Lord!
Some of you may have ended the past year with a heart that is heavy with sadness. Perhaps a dear loved one passed away during the last year, and you are facing this new year, and all future years without the one you loved so well. Or perhaps the one you thought loved you has broken trust and that relationship has come crashing down this past year. Spouses, children, parents, friends - they can all hurt us terribly, leaving us with a broken heart. The Lord God addresses our broken hearts here in our psalm today, in verse 3.
When we feel like our heart has been broken because of a death, a divorce, or the end of a relationship, it is as if the light has gone out in our life. Left unchecked, a broken heart can lead to depression, sometimes a deep depression. A doctor cannot mend a broken heart. Counselors and therapists can help, but are not always effective. Where can we turn?
In verse 3 of our psalm today, we read that the Lord God is the one we can turn to for healing of our broken heart. He binds up the wounds to our spirit that happen during these difficult times, and bears our sorrows for us. God hears our cries when we are heartbroken and feel we can’t go on any more. Jesus will not abandon us. This verse is echoed by the prophet Isaiah when speaking of the Messiah (Isaiah 61:1). The Lord Jesus quoted Isaiah’s verse when He started His ministry (Luke 4:16-19). Jesus is the one to turn to when our heart is badly broken, as He is the one who will heal these wounds.
Many people make a new year’s resolution to get in physical shape, perhaps by joining a gym or using some exercise equipment they may have. Exercising and getting into good physical shape is good, however the Lord delights even more when we fear Him, having a deep reverence and respect for Him, and putting our trust in His divine mercy (vs. 10-11). We can impress other people by our good physical shape, how fast we can run or swim, how much weight we can lift, etc. God is not impressed with that. He is not impressed by the speed of the fastest horse in a race, or even by how fast our car can go. God delights in those who have a healthy fear of him, who know and seek His unfailing love. Although He has created everything, His greatest joy come from our genuine worship and trust. When the Lord God has our love and fear then He will be able to use any skills and abilities we have.
Throughout our psalm we see the thread of God’s care in His creation. He brings the rain to earth to grow crops for men and animals to eat (vs. 9, 11). He brings us our four seasons. For many of us winter is just getting started This is my least favorite season, as I dislike the cold and snow. Who can stand before or bear His cold, as our author said (vs. 17). We can rest assured, though, that no matter the weather or the cold, it is all in the Lord’s hands.
As we begin this new year let’s give our lives to the Lord God in fear and reverence, knowing that He holds all things in His hands. Also, if any are carrying a broken heart into the new year, know that Jesus, alone, is the one who can heal broken hearts if we only bring them to Him.
Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3
Planning for a wedding takes a lot of preparation. One of the biggest decisions a bride makes is for her wedding gown. The bride and her friends spend hours pouring over bridal catalogs looking for just the right gown, just the right veil, jewelry, and hair style. A lot of time is spent deciding on the dresses for her bridesmaids. Hours are spent getting the fittings just right, as well. The groom and his men don’t spend as much time selecting their tuxedos, but they want everything to be just right, too. Imagine a bride coming to her wedding with a stained dress that had some tears in the lace and veil, and rip in the hem! Imagine the groom’s suit was worn nearly through at the knees and elbows! How about if they both picked up any old clothes at a free giveaway rag barrel! No one would come to their wedding dressed like that! Even a bride and groom with little money wants their attire to look nice.
In our reading today from the Prophet Isaiah, we read how the Lord God has clothed us with His garments and robes of righteousness, just as the best adorned bride or groom. The Church, composed of all born-again believers, is the Bride of Christ. How are we adorned as we come to our Groom? We try to dress ourselves with our good works. We put on all the volunteer work we’ve done, the gifts we’ve given the poor, the Bible studies we’ve attended, singing in the choir, etc. Then we stand in front of our mirror and think we look gorgeous. Left to our own ability we would be attired no better than the bride getting her gown from a rag barrel. As Isaiah said just a few chapters later, all of our righteousness, all of our good works, are just as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). On our own we are dressed in the worst from the rag barrel.
This is where the Lord steps in and has the best clothes to offer us. When we accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior, He then clothes us in His righteousness. He clothes us with the garment of salvation, with a robe of righteousness, like a bridegroom’s best ornaments and a bride’s jewels (vs. 10). The only fitting attire we can have to stand before the Lord is in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, which He freely gives to all those who come to Him in faith. When we accept Him as our Savior we can be clothed as beautifully as the flowers in the best tended gardens (vs. 11).
These verses in Isaiah give us a picture of imputed righteousness. When a penitent sinner realizes he can’t achieve his own righteousness by works, he then repents and calls on the mercy of God. At this time the Lord will then cover him with His own righteousness, by grace through faith.
As Isaiah continues in our passage we see how the city of Jerusalem, and the people of Israel had been intended by the Lord God to be as a lighthouse, giving forth a light of testimony for the Lord to the nations of the world. They were supposed to bring His truth and witness to the Gentiles and other nations (vs. 1-2). This is an assignment that Christians have today. We are to be a witness, a light, a beacon to the unsaved world of God’s salvation through the Lord Jesus.
Are we being that lighthouse? A lighthouse’s purpose is not to just stand there and look pretty. It has an important purpose, and that is to warn the boats of the rocky, dangerous shore, and to direct them safely into the secure harbor. Are we warning the lost of the danger they are in? Are we directing them into the safety of the Savior’s arms?
When we turn to the Savior, Jesus Christ, not only does He clothe us with His garment of salvation, and robe of righteousness, clothed as a most gorgeous bride, we also become a crown of glory to Him, a royal diadem (vs. 3). Many of us have seen royal weddings on TV in the last several years. The gowns the brides wear, the diadems the royalty wear are breathtaking. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we become the Bride of Christ, and we no longer need to be dressed out of a rag bag. We are dressed grander than any royal princess!
Titus 2:11-14
Our New Testament reading out of the Book of Common Prayer lectionary for this week of Christmas takes us to the letter St. Paul wrote to Titus. Titus was an early Christian missionary and church leader. He was a Gentile (non-Jewish) young man, who had been converted by Paul on an early missionary trip. Titus assisted Paul in his ministries, and often was his courier in bringing his letters to the various churches. He was later appointed by Paul to lead the churches established on the island of Crete. The book of Titus in the Bible is a letter Paul wrote to him, advising him in his responsibilities of supervising the churches in Crete.
At the start of our passage today, Paul tells us that salvation has appeared and is available to be known to all people (vs. 11). Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross was sufficient to cover every sin of everyone who believes, thus making salvation available to everyone. However, salvation becomes effective only when one accepts it by faith. Not everyone will be saved. There is no universal salvation for everyone, regardless of whether they believe or not. Some people reject Jesus’s provision for their sins and the forgiveness He offers. Out of all humanity, only those who believe will be saved. Those who refuse to believe and accept His provisions must bear the full penalty for their own sins. Those who refuse God’s grace will not automatically be granted salvation. They have chosen to reject God.
Paul continues in his epistle to tell us that our behavior and conduct must match our salvation testimony (vs. 12). Salvation transforms us, producing a new life, where the power of sin has been broken. Christians should not only renounce all ungodly and evil behavior, we should also live actively for God. Years ago there was a campaign here in the U.S. of “just say no to drugs”. We can say the same here - say no, or as Paul says, “deny” the temptations that come upon us, and also say yes to living our lives in service for Jesus.
In verse 13 we read of something that as believers we should be eagerly looking forward to and anticipating, and that is the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Paul refers to this as our “blessed hope”. This refers not only to the return of Jesus, but also to the resurrection and reign of believers with Jesus in glory. How eagerly are we awaiting the return of Jesus? Do we look at this coming event as something that we know will happen, but hope won’t happen soon, as we have too many things going on in our life right now that we wouldn’t want interrupted by Jesus’s return? Perhaps some don’t want him to return soon because of some special sins in our life we don’t want Jesus catching us at, but which we don’t want to give up, either. (Jesus knows about it anyway, so that’s not even a valid excuse.) When a spouse or other loved one has to leave for an extended period of time, we eagerly anticipate their return. Believers should be just as eager and anxious to see our Savior again at His return!
Paul continues on in verse 14, speaking of how Jesus redeemed us from a life of sin under Satan’s control, from a life of “lawless deeds”. To redeem someone was to release a person who was held captive by the paying of a ransom. Jesus redeemed us by paying a ransom of His precious Blood, which satisfied God’s justice. We weren’t redeemed to just sit around and idly wait for Jesus to return. Once we are saved, we are to be zealously pursuing the work the Lord has called us to do (Ephesians 2:10). We are not saved through performing good works. However, once we are saved, good works and obedience to the Lord should be evident in our lives.
As we grow as believers to become more in the image of Jesus, our behavior and conduct should become less like the world around us. Christians should be known for their good and moral behavior. As believers, God has given us power and understanding to live according to His will, and to do good. When we are living according to His will, we can look forward to Jesus’s return with eagerness and hope.
Psalm 98
Many churches have a time during their gathering together that is designated for worship. Often it is comprised of singing hymns or other worship songs. Sometimes there might be some time spent in quiet, where believers are encouraged to praise and worship the Lord silently to themselves, or even speak praise aloud, one by one. However it is done, worship should be an important part of a church service. Today’s psalm is a call to worship God, our King, who reigns over all. When we consider all of the attributes of God, as our psalmist has, we should respond with worship.
The word “worship” in the English language means to show reverence, veneration, and adoration for something. We sometimes speak of worshipping beauty or works of art. The word comes from an old-English word meaning “worth-ship”, which basically means to give worth to something. For Christians, worship is the act of magnifying God. It will enlarge our vision of Him. When we participate in real worship of God, our perception of His glory and magnificence should grow greater.
Psalm 98 is a song of praise to the Lord as a victorious king. When kings and rulers in times past would come back victorious from war with some other nation or kingdom, the people would gather in each city he would pass through, and they would joyously sing his praises, playing grand music, throwing flowers in the air, and waving banners and flags as the king passed through on his horse. That is the figure that our psalmist is giving.
Verses 2 and 3 speak of the Lord first coming, bringing salvation to His people. When a mighty king of the past returned from battle victorious, the people rejoiced because he had saved them from being overrun by an enemy army. These verses were fulfilled when Jesus came to earth the first time as our Savior. Cheers of greeting welcome the victorious King. An eruption of praise which cannot be contained (vs. 4-6). He saved us from sin and the power of Satan when He died for us on the cross. As the psalmist said here, Jesus has made known His salvation, and those who have accepted Him as their Savior have seen the salvation of our God. If there is one thing that we have to worship and praise God for, it is that He has brought salvation to all those who accept Jesus into their hearts.
Verse 9 will be fulfilled when Jesus will return to earth a second time, to judge the world. At that time He will judge the earth and all people. The Apostle Peter spoke of this same thing when he preached a message in the home of Cornelius in Acts 10:42-43. At this time all of nature will even rejoice (vs. 7-8). If even nature will rejoice, how much more should God’s Blood-bought children worship and praise Him?
Believers should have joy and excitement knowing the Lord Jesus will return to judge and rule the world. For those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior, there should be no fear surrounding His return. The Blood of Jesus paid the price for our sins, and He bore our punishment on the cross. In His judgment, God is perfectly just and perfectly loving. He is merciful when He judges and punishes, yet He overlooks no sin when He loves.
God will be victorious over all evil when Jesus returns. Because of that, all those who follow Him will be victorious with Him when He judges the earth. For all of this God is worthy of all worship and adoration. Whether our worship is quiet prayers of thanksgiving and whispered praise, or whether we sing songs of worship and praise that make us want to stand up and clap our hands, let’s be like our psalmist, and give the Lord God all praise and worship.
Luke 2:1-20
Merry Christmas to all of our readers! Today is when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Though there is no record as to what day He was actually born on, this is the day that much of the Church celebrates Jesus’s birthday. Today let’s take a look at the Nativity story from the Gospel of Luke.
I would like to focus on the obedience of several characters from the Nativity story. As our passage begins, we read how Joseph had to leave the village of Nazareth where he lived, to travel to Bethlehem to register with the occupying Roman government. He took his new bride, Mary with him, even though she was due to give birth at any day. Only several months earlier Joseph had been engaged to be married to Mary, when he was told by her that she was expecting a child through the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-24). This was too preposterous for Joseph to accept. He knew he wasn’t the father. According to Jewish law, he could have had Mary stoned to death for unfaithfulness, but being a loving and caring person, he chose not to go that route. He settled for just breaking the engagement. God stepped in and gave Joseph a dream, verifying what Mary had said, and told him to go ahead and marry her. Joseph immediately obeyed God, despite the fact that by doing so he was setting himself up to be ridiculed by the townsfolk for marrying a woman who became pregnant outside of marriage. Joseph obeyed God.
Mary obeyed God by saying yes to God when He sent the angel Gabriel to tell her she had been chosen to bear the Messiah (Luke 1:26-38). She could have said no, knowing that this could brand her as a promiscuous, immoral woman, which would have been dangerous for her in that day. However, Mary obeyed God, and thus became the mother of the Savior of mankind.
Joseph obeyed God when he left Nazareth to journey to Bethlehem for the registration, taking Mary with him (vs. 1-7). He could have left her at home where she would have had her baby with the safety of a midwife. That would have made more sense than traveling with a 9-month pregnant wife over 80 miles on a donkey. However, the prophets had foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Joseph obeyed God here, as well.
Next we read about the obedience of the shepherds. At the time of Jesus’s birth, shepherds were basically an outcast group of people. General society looked down on them as uneducated, filthy, smelly people since they lived and worked with sheep out in the fields day and night. It was to these scorned, outcast people that God, in His boundless love for all mankind, sent His angels to first announce the birth of the Messiah (vs. 8-12).
When the shepherds outside of Bethlehem heard the news from the angels they had a choice to make. The angels had told them that they could find the newborn Messiah lying in a manger in the village. They had to decide whether to follow the angel’s instructions to find the baby, or whether to stay with the flocks. If they left the sheep, who would protect them from marauding animals? Would the villagers want a group of shepherds roaming around seeking a newborn? However they obeyed God and went in search of the baby Jesus. Their obedience was rewarded, and they were the very first to acknowledge the Messiah.
The shepherd also showed their obedience to God by spreading the Good News of the Messiah’s birth with everyone they met (vs. 17-18). They didn’t let the fact that they were generally not socially accepted by other people stop them from spreading the message. They had been given the most important message the world has ever known, and they were not going to keep it to themselves. We have been given that same message. Will we sit on it, keeping it to ourselves, or will we obey God like the shepherds did and spread the news, the real message of Christmas, to everyone we meet?
Micah 5:2-4
A favorite Christmas carol of many people is Oh Little Town of Bethlehem. That carol would definitely be in my top five favorite Christmas carols. In this week’s Old Testament Scripture passage from the Lectionary, we find ourselves looking at a short passage from the prophet Micah, which speaks of that little town of Bethlehem. Let’s take a look at the significance of this prophecy, and also of the town itself.
Bethlehem was already an existing town before the Israelite conquest of the land of Canaan. It was near Bethlehem that Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, died while giving birth to her son Benjamin, and she was buried there (Genesis 35:16-20). Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, settled in Bethlehem when they returned from Moab (Ruth 1:19). Ruth married a prominent citizen of the town, Boaz, and became the great-grandmother of King David, who also called Bethlehem his hometown. After King David, Bethlehem played no significant role in the history of the Kingdom of Judah, remaining a small, insignificant town on the outskirts of Jerusalem, about six miles south of the capital city.
There were prophecies that the Messiah would come from the line of King David, such as Psalm 132:11; II Samuel 7:12-13; and Jeremiah 23:5-6. Now, the prophet Micah tells us exactly where the Messiah would be born. There were many cities, towns, and villages in the land of Judah, many much more prominent than Bethlehem. When David left Bethlehem as a youth to serve King Saul, it seems he never took much notice of the town again. David’s first capital was in Hebron, and then he moved it to Jerusalem. Yet Bethlehem was the village that God had chosen to be where He wished the Lord Jesus to be born in, not Hebron or Jerusalem.
Centuries later, when God knew the time was set for Jesus to be born, He selected the young woman, Mary, to be the mother of the Messiah. However, she lived in the far northern town of Nazareth, approximately 80 miles north of Bethlehem. How would God get her and her new husband, Joseph to the little town of Bethlehem in time for her child to be born? In that day and age people just didn’t pack up and move across the country like people often do today. God had that worked out. He moved upon the great Caesar Augustus, ruler of the known world to order a census, requiring people to go to their ancestral home where their family originated from (Luke 2:1-5). Joseph, being in the family line of King David, would need to go to Bethlehem.
God arranged for this census to take place right when Mary was due to have her baby. Perhaps Mary could have stayed home, and Joseph could have gone by himself, leaving his wife in the trusted hands of other relatives. Perhaps he could have gotten permission to wait a few weeks until after the imminent birth of the baby. Without modern technology this census would have taken months, anyway. A few weeks delay wouldn’t have mattered much. However that would have made Jesus born in Nazareth, not Bethlehem. Both Mary and Joseph went when required for the census, and ended up in Bethlehem for the birth. God always ensures that His Word will come true.
The second half of verse 2 states that the Messiah was actually eternal, having existed in eternity past - “whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” In His earthly body Jesus was born in Bethlehem on a certain day, in a certain year. However He has always existed with the Father from eternity past. When Jesus debated with the Pharisees, as He often did, He used the term “I AM” in reference to Himself, the term that God the Father had used in reference to Himself when speaking with Moses, signifying His pre-existence from all time (John 8:58).
Though we celebrate the birth of Jesus in a few days, it is important to know that He has existed from all time. What a comfort to know that the Almighty God, pre-existent from all time, came to earth to live and die for us! Also, it is also very reassuring to know that God will always ensure that every Word He has spoken will come true, even if from our eyes it looks like it can’t. When God said the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, He made sure that it would happen!
