9 God called to the Man: "Where are you?" 10He said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid." 11 God said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?" 12 The Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it." God said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?" 13 "The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate." 14-15 God told the serpent: "Because you've done this, you're cursed, cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals, Cursed to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your life. I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He'll wound your head, you'll wound his heel." 16 He told the Woman: "I'll multiply your pains in childbirth; you'll give birth to your babies in pain. You'll want to please your husband, but he'll lord it over you." 17-19 He told the Man: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you not to eat from, 'Don't eat from this tree,' The very ground is cursed because of you; getting food from the ground Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife; you'll be working in pain all your life long. The ground will sprout thorns and weeds, you'll get your food the hard way, Planting and tilling and harvesting, sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt." 20The Man, known as Adam, named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. 21 God made leather clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed them. GENESIS 3:9-21 [MSG]
It was the dawn of time, and man had everything -- complete dominion over the earth and all that inhabit it. A wife. Food. Comfort. And only one restriction: "Don't eat from this tree." How simple is that? To have anything and everything you want in all the world, with only one simple restriction -- not to eat from one tree. It's not like it was the only tree in the world, either. Just one tree. Everything else that man and his wife needed were provided for him by God with no limitations.But man blew it, didn't he? The woman fell to the temptation of Satan, then man fell to the temptation of his wife, and they ate from the forbidden tree. And their eyes were opened. They could see. They could see their own nakedness, and felt shame. They could see the difference between good and evil (which, up to this time, was very basic -- as the serpent was evil, and everything else was good). They hid from God.As if! He's all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, and all-present -- as if you can ever hide from God anywhere (though many of us still try it today). But God found them, of course, cowering in clothes they had fashioned together from fig leaves. God found them, heard their case, and passed judgement, punishing all three of them.Because man couldn't leave well enough alone -- because being blind to evil and having everything good in the world just wasn't good enough -- man has been cursed to toil his entire life to provide for his family (I think of this today as I write this from work on New Years Day, when so many are enjoying a holiday off). But even after passing judgement and punishment upon His greatest creation, God still provided. God, who had every right to be fuming mad over the disobedience of His children, made clothing for them from leather that was more durable and more comfortable than their fig leaves, and clothed them. He punished them, but still provided for them.Justice and mercy. Grace and discipline. Do I show such love for my own children that I can punish them in one breath and, moments later, move on with life, loving and providing for them? Or do I hold a grudge against them (even for a very short time) for refusing to obey me? Can I be more like my Father in Heaven?
Lord, help me to follow the example you have modeled so many times throughout eternity -- the example you modeled with Adam and Eve. Help me to be a better father to my children. To love them, provide for them, and correct them. To balance the scales of justice and mercy.
Christmas is upon us. Once each year across the world this day is set aside as a day of celebration. For many throughout the world, today is the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.
The Birth of Jesus {Matt 1:18-25 [MSG]} 18-19 The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced. 20-23 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term: Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us"). 24-25 Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.The every day miracle of child birth took on a whole new meaning on this day, over two-thousand years ago, when the miracle of childbirth delivered the miracle baby -- the God-baby. Even the wisest among men of that time recognized the event for what it was.
An Event for Everyone {Luke 2:9-20 [MSG]} 8-12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger." 13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him. 15-18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed. 19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!Exactly the way they had been told! The miracle of God coming to earth in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ, happened exactly as God had planned. Exactly as it had been foretold by prophets centuries earlier.
{Isaiah 53:1-10 [MSG] (emphasis mine)} 1 Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this? 2-6 The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost. We've all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong, on him, on him. 7-9He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn't say a word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence. Justice miscarried, and he was led off— and did anyone really know what was happening? He died without a thought for his own welfare, beaten bloody for the sins of my people. They buried him with the wicked, threw him in a grave with a rich man, Even though he'd never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn't true. 10 Still, it's what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain. The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he'd see life come from it—life, life, and more life. And God's plan will deeply prosper through him.The story of the greatest gift of all is not complete with the birth of Jesus Christ, for that gift receives it's greatness through the sacrifice He made for us on the cross. Jesus Christ died for our sins, and arose, so that there might be no doubt that he was God in the flesh, here to save us from our sins, so that we might spend an eternity with Him. Merry Christmas, world! May we never forget the meaning of this day. Your comments? Joe
At church today, the topic of the sermon was Peace. We're in the advent season, and over the past four weeks, the sermon topics have been Hope, Love, Joy and (today) Peace.
During today's sermon, Pastor Derek Duncan talked about, of course, Peace. There was one passage that I felt was a major take away:
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 [NIV]
In this day when we are at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting terrorism and drugs, and concerned about the future plans of North Korea, Iran, and Russia, the word Peace has become quite a buzzword. Whether you call it "troop withdrawal," or "draw down," or some other term that refers to ending hostilities, the meaning is the same: Peace. Politicians often run on a platform of Peace (either obtained through withdrawal or victory). But can they truly bring us peace?
No. Absolutely not. Only one person can bring us Peace: Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. Our lives will be filled with trouble, but in the arms of Christ, we find true peace. Even in the hardest of times, we have peace in Christ.
There was something that Pastor Duncan said that I had never considered before. Today, the term "god" can mean many different things to many different people. While I might refer to God as the Creator of all, another might think of their "god," whomever that might be. As Christians, as followers of God through His Son Jesus Christ, we need to shift our focus on the One and Only source of peace and salvation: Jesus Christ. There can be no confusion whom we serve when we serve the Son.
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6-7 [MSG]
It is not news that our nation -- the world, even -- is in the midst of tough economic times. My wife has been quite stressed lately about money, and the task of buying Christmas gifts for two toddlers surely doesn't help. I tried this morning to calm her concerns, reminding her that God has always provided for us, seeing us through tougher times than this.Then God led me to the epiphany of His Word. Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. At a time when many are concerned about jobs, mortgages, even just making ends meet, the Father still reaches out to us through His Word to let us know that He is there to provide for us. Does God still speak to us in the 21st century? The timeliness of this passage is no coincidence.
Thank You, Father, for directing me to Your Word, for reminding me that You are in control. Your love never fails, Lord.
Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage. Ephesians 5:25-28 [MSG]
I am not only to provide for and protect my wife, but to love her so must as to almost elevate her above myself.
Christ showed His love for the church -- for His followers -- by serving them. He didn't put Himself first, but rather put us above Him. He washed the feet of those who followed Him. He broke bread for them and served them. He even died for them -- for us.What kind of love do I show to my wife? Do I serve her, or expect her to serve me? After a long day at work I come home and expect to be able to relax. But my wife has worked all day, too. Do I give her a chance to relax? Why does it have to be a special occasion for me to whisk the kids away and give her a break?I could do a much better job of loving my wife the way Christ loves me.
Father, help me to learn from the example You provided some two thousand years ago. I want to love her like You love me.
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