Tried With Fire

You know what “good will” means. Well, all that it means, and more, God has to you, ye sons and daughters of Adam. Poor sinner, thou hast broken His laws; thou art half afraid to come to the throne of His mercy, lest He should spurn thee; hear thou this, and be comforted, God has good will toward men, so good a will that He has said, and said it with an oath, too, “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live ;” so good a will, moreover, that He has even condescended to say, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” And if you say, “Lord, how shall I know that Thou hast this good will towards me,” He points to the manger, and says, “Sinner, if I had not had good will towards thee, would I have parted with My beloved Son? If I had not had good will towards the human race, wo...

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 Merry Christmas!

1 Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand; ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in His hand Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand. 2 King of kings, yet born of Mary, as of old on earth He stood, Lord of lords, in human vesture - in the body and the blood. He will give to all the faithful His own self for heavenly food. 3 Rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its wings on the way, as the Light of light descendeth from the realms of endless day, that the pow'rs of hell may vanish as the darkness clears away. 4 At His feet the six-winged seraph, cherubim, with sleepless eye, veil their faces to the Presence, as with ceaseless voice they cry, “Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, Lord most high!”

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

It's my turn at Out of the Ordinary : During this time of year, it is more acceptable to bring up Jesus. I've seen plenty of nativity scenes in people's yards and even in front of businesses. (The fortune teller with the plastic creche out front broke the cognitive dissonance meter, though.) Even traditional Christian Christmas carols are being played on the airwaves. Many see the story of the baby in the manger as just that, a feel-good myth about love, joy, and peace on earth in sentimental but indistinct terms that don't offend anyone's sensibilities. But is that good enough? Many people say they believe in "Jesus," but sadly we live in a day when we need to press the issue and ask "Which Jesus?" Read the rest of the post here .

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...  For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.  John 1:1-5, 16-18

This constant undivided union of two perfect natures in Christ's Person is exactly that which gives infinite value to His mediation, and qualifies Him to be the very Mediator that sinners need. Our Mediator is One that can sympathize with us, because He is very man. And yet, at the same time, He is One who can deal with the Father for us on equal terms, because He is very God. It is the same union which gives infinite value to His righteousness, when imputed to believers -  the righteousness of One Who was [and is] God as well as man. It is the same union which gives infinite value to the atoning blood which He shed for sinners on the cross - the blood of One who was [and is] God as well as man. It is the same union which gives infinite value to His resurrection: when He rose again, as the Head of the body of believers, He rose not as a mere man but as God. Let these things sink deeply into our hearts. The second Adam is far greater than the first Adam was. The first Adam was only ...

Oh Saviour of our fallen race, Oh brightness of the Father’s face Oh Son Who shared the Father’s mind Before the world knew day or night Oh Jesus very light of light Our constant star in sin’s deep night Now hear the prayers Your people pray Throughout the world this holy day You came down You came down To a stable and manger Not a kingdom or a crown Remember Lord of life and grace How once to save our fallen race You put our human vesture on And came to us as Mary’s son You came down You came down To a stable and manger Not a kingdom or a crown For from the Father’s throne You came His banished children to reclaim And earth and sea and sky revered The love of Him who sent You here Oh Christ redeemer, virgin born Let songs of praise your name adore And with the Father be adored And Holy Spirit evermore You came down You came down You came down You came down To a stable and manger Not a kingdom or a crown From Christmas -  Jill Phillips and...

I am posting at Out of the Ordinary today: When I was a child, there were times when I would lie awake at night and think about God after my parents tucked me into bed. I knew a little about Him from Bible stories and Sunday school, but I still wondered what He was really like. Having been taught that God was already  there  before Genesis 1:1, I imagined going back in time just prior to Creation or traveling into deep space to find Him. Needless to say, it was more than my young mind could handle. God was so completely  other  that I felt very small, not just in age but in significance. Well, I had a similar feeling of smallness this past Sunday... Read the rest of the post here.

I'm posting at Out of the Ordinary today: I don't remember where I saw it on Facebook, but at the beginning of November, someone posted that Christians get a month off before we can start arguing again about whether or not we should celebrate Christmas. Funny but true, and I have been on both sides of this issue... I'm not suggesting we abstain from civil discourse about the pros and cons of celebrating Christmas. Dialogue about differing ideas can be profitable. But there is more to being a Christian than what we do or don't do on December 25. Read the rest of the post here.

God kept His promise from Genesis 3:15: "The New Testament witnesses to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the One in whom and through whom all the promises of God find their fulfillment. These promises are only to be understood from the Old Testament; the fulfillment of the promises can be understood only in the context of the promises themselves. The New Testament presupposes a knowledge of the Old Testament. Everything that is a concern to the New Testament writers is part of one redemptive history to which the Old Testament witnesses. The New Testament writers cannot separate the person and work of Christ, nor the life of the Christian community, from this sacred history which has its beginnings in the Old Testament." The Goldsworthy Trilogy: Gospel and Kingdom by Graeme Goldsworthy, 2011, Paternoster Press, pp. 18-19.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  John 1:29

Oh Saviour of our fallen race, Oh brightness of the Father’s face Oh Son Who shared the Father’s mind Before the world knew day or night Oh Jesus very light of light Our constant star in sin’s deep night Now hear the prayers Your people pray Throughout the world this holy day You came down You came down To a stable and manger Not a kingdom or a crown Remember Lord of life and grace How once to save our fallen race You put our human vesture on And came to us as Mary’s son You came down You came down To a stable and manger Not a kingdom or a crown For from the Father’s throne You came His banished children to reclaim And earth and sea and sky revered The love of Him who sent You here Oh Christ redeemer, virgin born Let songs of praise your name adore And with the Father be adored And Holy Spirit evermore You came down You came down You came down You came down To a stable and manger Not a kingdom or a crown Words ...

I'm sharing a prayer from The Valley of Vision at Out of the Ordinary : O SOURCE OF ALL GOOD, What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts.     thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,     my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,     his self-emptying incomprehensible,     his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp. Herein is wonder of wonders:     he came below to raise me above,     was born like me that I might become like him… Read the rest here . The Valley of Vision , edited by Arthur Bennett, Banner of Truth Trust, 2013, pg. 16. Photo credit: Workshop of Rembrandt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!  Merry Christmas!

We worship “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Our faith sees Him go from the manger to the cross, and from the cross right up to the throne; and there, where Jehovah dwells, amidst the ineffable glory of the Divine presence, stands the very same Person who slept in the manger at Bethlehem; there He reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. Our souls worship Him. Thou art our Prophet; every word Thou sayest, we believe, and desire to obey. Thou art our Priest; Thy sacrifice hath made us free from guilt, we are washed white in the fountain of Thy blood. Thou art our King; give Thy commands, and we will obey them; lead Thou on, and we will follow. Thou art God, and we worship Thee.   ~ C.H. Spurgeon

 It's my turn to post at Out of the Ordinary today: "The world is still broken, and we long for the day when fear, conflict, and death will be things of the past. But where can we find this? Is peace possible through finding our better selves? The bumper sticker tells us to "Visualize World Peace", but even if every person on the globe obeyed, it wouldn't change things one bit. "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me" sounds nice, but it doesn't get to the root because the problem is you. The problem is me." Read more ...