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The Birth of Christ. The death of Christ. The cause? Unrepentant sin.
We all know the story. In fact, the whole world knows this story. As those who are genuinely heart-set on being a disciple of His and are sincerely sorry for our sin, we know the REAL meaning of Christmas. Christ had one mission, and that was to take God’s wrath for our sin. Not a pretty sight to think about at this time of year, is it? But once we do grasp this truth, we can be grateful in watching His life as He grew up and in being observant we can see what He did and how Christ used the word of God to combat and point out unrepentant sin.
Before you wake up to Santa coming, and then open your gifts, look at One that doesn’t look like a present, but is the PRESENCE of God Almighty come to earth as a child to die for us. Seriously, we had no hope of eternal life without Jesus Christ’s brutal criminal’s death and payment of our sins.
Mary and I were studying the Bible in Exodus where the tabernacle building instructions were given to Moses. We were reading about the making of the bronze altar. To us, this seemed brutal to kill an innocent animal for our sin and was offensive to us. I had a thought interrupt my thoughts: “I am offended at you.” Whoa, that set me back on my heels! I sensed the context though was in love. The offense was our sin. The solution was Him. Then another thought crossed: “If the lamb was to be without blemish why was Christ brutally beaten?” This thought so perplexed me that I sat in wonderment of the question. I said: “Yes, that is true. How then can Jesus Christ be our “Passover lamb”? Answer: “He was sinless and thus without blemish.” “Ah…then ok. But then Lord, why was He brutally beaten like a criminal?” Answer: “Because people are criminals before God because of our sin.” And this type of punishment was used during Roman times when slaves started to rebel. As the rebellion of the servant continued the discipline ramped up to the viciousness, we saw meted out to Jesus…our babe in the manger. No one but God could take the wrath of God, someone said. Feel free to let that sink in. (As an aside; we were created for Him to serve Him and by default are His servants…but many of us don’t act like we are. We are rebellious toward God’s Word and Will and deserve these punishments.)
What caused the need for His death and the wrath of God poured out on Him? Unrepentant sin. What causes evil in the world? Unrepentant sin. We have a theory: Were religions and legalism created by men to cover unrepentant sin?
Christ’s first words at the start of His ministry were: Matthew 4:16-17… “16the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” 17From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
We have seen a great light, and so did the wise men. They were wise because they followed the starlight to the King of the Universe and gave Him gifts. Their wisdom came in obedience to God. We must act in accordance. As we celebrate Jesus Christ birth, let us examine our hearts with the light of the Holy Spirit for unrepentant sin in our lives to be pleasing servants. Then ask Him to empower us to keep His Word which He gladly does! Our gift back to Him so to speak. Immanuel comes in a manger and God is indeed with us!
Forever grateful for His Coming,
Ric and Mary Joyner
Biblestudycompany.com
For Search Engines: There are many bible verses about love, and there are many bible verse of the day programs. The holy bible provides this remarkable bible commentary. Bible Study and online bible study are available at biblestudycompany.com. Bible verses of faith are of interest as well. Even bible verses about hope are helpful. Bible verses about women are encouraging. Read the Bible online with biblestudycompany.com. We will all do better when love is patient love is kind. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me in times of trouble. With daily bible devotions, I grow. The gifts of the holy spirit are for every day. Online bible study is so helpful. biblestudycompany is a free online bible. With so many books of the bible, I can grow. We love inspirational bible verses in daily Bible reading.
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Broken Bits of Life Pottery
By Ric and Mary Joyner
My mom used to say: "I am literally flabbergasted". I am too, and my heart says WOW! Why? First, when we compare ourselves to Christ, we cannot come close to anything He did or WHO He is…The God of the Universe in Human form. As I peer into the gospels, I look in wonder at His mission (to die) and how His people rejected Him. The bible is written to people who believed in God. Remember that fact… we are them. They are us. We must see Him as the Jewish people saw Him in their culture. In His miracles which He did to restore people. In their religious services. In their Holy Book. How can I compare? What if I ask Christ into my life and repent of my sins how then can I change to match the God of the Universe in the flesh? Am I without hope? Don’t people say: “I am not going to church because it is full of hypocrites”? They are right. And they are hypocrites too! We are all broken bits and pieces of life pottery. But then I see this verse, and I marvel that while in this body (it needs to be thinner) which we will discard shortly, I have no power in myself, to stop sinning. No amount of good works at judgment will save me from the ten commandments. We have all lied, we have all lusted after someone, we all have stolen, and we have all used God’s precious name in vain (ever ask yourself why God’s name is a swear-word in any language?). Flatly, we are under judgment from God. We need saving. Christ said He came not to judge but to save. In other words, we are already judged and under God’s wrath unless someone helps us, poor humans. Romans 2:5-6 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS…(read the verses around these).
But it is up to us to respond to His calling and put trust in His death and resurrection. Each person’s SIN penalty is paid when Christ voluntarily took it to the cross. A true gift from God just like the air we breathe, the family we enjoy and the good food we eat.
But how do I walk out my life to honor His sacrifice because I am going to sin again? I am going to fail again. (you know…the broken life pottery thing?)
I am in astonishment of this fact: Galatians 3: 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Read the verses in context around it because they are so encouraging). By faith, we can “put on Christ’s righteousness” because we don’t have any! How? We identify with His death BY FAITH. Thus, when He was raised from the dead we are raised too…now and in the future! We have eternal life. WOW! 2 Cor 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation... See that? We now can share the good news with people that they too can be reconciled to God and not remain in our sinful states. Wonderment!
The broken life pottery pieces come together now! We are a new pot with new hope and new life. We clothe ourselves with Christ, and by doing so, we are “clothed” with His righteousness. Not mine because I don’t have any, but HIS!. Now doesn’t that make you joyful? My heart soars when contemplating walking in His clothes! Doesn’t that make you want to live your life asking Christ to change you to obey Him through His Spirit! WOW! Take the first step by asking for that reconciliation. Romans 10:13… for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
Call on Christ and see your broken life come together. If you did this after reading, please let us know.
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