Two things worth living and dying for in 2012

Acts 7:59-60 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.  ⁶⁰And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

MY CHALLENGE TO YOU FOR 2012          As we begin this year of 2012, I want to propose to you that you make this the year that you find something that is both worth living for and dying for.  Many of you reading this blog have made a "New Year's Resolution" in which you believe you have found something worth living for.  Fewer people have ever found something worth dying for.  However, Stephen, the first martyr ever for the Christian faith, found not one, but two things that were worth living and dying for - The Entire Bible and the Entire Christ.

STEPHEN PREACHED TO THE DEATH           As he stood before his accusers, the charges leveled against him were those of blasphemy and attempting to replace the Jewish religion with Jesus Christ.  The religious leaders who were accusing Stephen did not have anything to live for or die for.  They had tradition, ideas, self-righteousness and themselves.  When they actually ran across someone who was proclaiming what he believed was worth living and dying for, Stephen's words became as a stench in their ears.  Mediocrity will always hate excellence, religion will always detest true godliness and self-righteousness will forever wage war against Christ. 

STEPHEN LIVED AND DIED BY THE ENTIRE BIBLE          Stephen first of all believed that it was worth living for and dying by the entire Bible.  His address to this angred mob gives the entire history, in highlight form, of redemptive history from Abraham to Christ.  Before it is all said and done, Stephen will had referenced over 60 Old Testament passages, mentioned eight major Old Testament figures, covered 2100 years of time and summarized 40 books of the Bible.  Stephen burned with a white hot passion for the word of God.  He knew that his sermon was going to end in death - yet he never felt more alive.

STEPHEN LIVED AND DIED BY THE ENTIRE CHRIST          Then Stephen secondly believed that it was worth living and dying for the entire Christ.  In the lives of the people mentioned in Stephen's address, we find pictures of Christ.  Abraham pictures the promised Christ, Isaac the Sacrifical Son.  In Jacob's life we are reminded of Christ anticipated and in Joseph the picture of Christ's death and resurrection.  In Moses we see Christ the intercessor for His people and with Joshua we see portrayed the victorious Christ.  David reminds us that Christ was to be the King of Kings and Solomon foreshadows Christ our wisdom.  Stephen also briefly mentions the prophets, reminding us that Christ alone could reveal the glory of God - since He is God.   Is it no wonder that as stones bludgeoned Stephen to death that he echoed the prayer of forgiveness that Christ prayed when He was being crucified.

SO WHAT ABOUT YOU?      
         Will you this year make the entire Bible and the entire Christ your standard by which you determine what is worth living and dying for?  Christianity's cornerstone is shaped by the Written Word and The Living Word - Jesus Christ.  Make 2012 your year by which you are willing to live and die for the Christ of the word and the word of Christ. 

Treasuring Christ makes every day like Christmas

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

As we close out this month, and this year, I want to leave 2011 with thoughts on how we can make everyday "Christmas" by making our life all about "treasuring Christ" in 2012.  I believe if we unfold what it means to be a "living sacrifice" as stated in the above verses,  you and I by grace can do this:

1. Receive in order to Give for Christ in 2012
I want to challenge my readers to present themselves to God through Christ, every day, for 2012.  Perhaps you are reading this blog, and have not yet by grace through faith believed on Jesus Christ as your Savior, Lord and treasure.  Romans 10:8-10 tells us how to do that: what does it say? “The word is near you, in your heart and in your mouth”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  Christmas is all about giving.  As we have witnessed in these last 30 blogs, God demonstrated His infinite capacity to give to a people who otherwise were not willing to receive.  By receiving Him into your life, you will discover the only way you can begin making your life a life of giving for His glory.

2. Giving yourself in 2012  is maintained by presenting yourself constantly to Him
By its very nature, the miracle of Christ's incarnation set the pattern for all of those who would by grace through faith believe upon Him.  Christ presented Himself, quite literally as a living sacrifice.  He was born into a world that was diametrically opposed to He and His Father.  He later on, at 30 years of age, would "present" Himself for baptism by John the Baptist - who heralded Him as "The Lamb of God". (John 1:29)

3. As you present your life in 2012, keep focused on the cross
As Christ ministered throughout the regions of Galilee and Judea, He was constantly "presenting Himself" as God's living sacrifice.  Six times throughout the course of His ministry He would predict His death.  Then on the cross, He did the ultimate presentation - He laid down His life for His sheep. (John 10). 

4. In focusing on the cross, draw your strength from His resurrection power in 2012
However three days later He would rise again, demonstrating that He was not the God of the dead, but of the living.  In His Humanity He still could say he was the living sacrifice.  As God, He could decree as much. 

5. As His resurrection power gives strength, glorify Him by coming to Him more in prayer in 2012
As He ascended up into Heaven, He has never ceased being that living sacrifice, since He ministers daily on behalf of all true believers at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 1:1-4; 1 John 2:1-2).  The Apostle John in Revelation 5:6 sees Him as "The Lamb in the midst of the Throne".  He is and will ever be the living sacrifice - the God man.

6. As your grow in prayer, make it your chief aim in 2012 to treasure Christ above all things
Thus are we to treasure Him in our hearts, just as Mary did as she watched him grow up before her sight. (Luke 2:51).  May we too be willing, as those who by grace were called and gifted by faith to believe on Him as Savior, Lord and Treasure present ourselves as living sacrifices.  Only at the cross and through the cross can this be a reality.  May you and I make everyday Christmas - imitating our Lord and Savior and Treasure Jesus Christ.

The Journey from Eternity into Time

1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

If there was ever one verse that captures the entirety of the Christmas story - 1 Timothy 3:16 is it.  In a span of one verse, the Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, captures six statements that tells us the Journey of God the Son from Eternity into time.  This verse was most likely one of the first hymns sung by early Christians living in the days following Christ's resurrection.  Consider below the journey recorded for us in this verse:

1. The Journey was made by God  The King James and New King James tells us that it was "God manifest in the flesh".  We know from other scriptures, such as John 1:14, that this was the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, who had agreed with God the Father from all eternity to take upon Himself humanity.  God, in the person of Jesus Christ, would make the journey from Heaven to earth through a virgin's womb. (Isaiah 7:14)

2. The Holy Spirit made this journey possible.  The event of God the Son taking upon Himself human flesh was ordained by God the Father, and made possible by God the Holy Spirit.  In this one short phrase: "justified in the Spirit", we see here not only the twin truths of Christ's Deity and humanity, but also the Personality of the Holy Spirit.  It is He who would overshadow Mary, making the conception of Christ's humanity a reality in her womb.  Also to, the Holy Spirit was the Agent responsible for the miracle of the virgin birth, thus preserving Christ's human nature from the tainting of sin as seen in that term "justified".

3. The Angelic Hosts announced it  When Paul writes "seen by angels", I am reminded of angels who met the Shepherds watching their flocks by night in Luke 2.  Or we could also include the Angel Gabriel who told the news to Mary and Joseph of the Christ child being miraculously conceived in her virgin womb.  The text here tells us that the entire angelic host of Heaven was witness to all of this. 

4. Preached unto the Gentiles  When we read "preached unto the Gentiles", we are talking about the entirety of the proclamation of Christ's birth, life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension.  Herod heard of the Savior's birth.  Then as this baby grew into a man, he lived a perfect life for 33 years and made his way to the cross.  After rising from the dead, He gave his final commission unto His followers, the disciples, to go into all the world an preach the gospel, making disciples, baptizing and teaching them everything He had done and said. (matthew 28:18-20). 

5. He was by grace through faith believed  Paul wrote these words in or around 60 A.D, almost 30 years after the events of which he records here.  No doubt he is reflecting on all those who by grace through faith believed on Christ - from those early saints gathered in the upper room following Christ's ascension to the untold thousands who were converted under his ministry.  John 1:12 tells us that as many as received Him, as many as believed upon His name, He gave them the right to be called children of God. 

6. He ascended, demonstrating that while being man, He never ceased being God.  The ascension of Jesus Christ does for Christ in demonstrating His Deity as the incarnation does in demonstrating His humanity.  He had to become man in order to pay the price for salvation with his blood.  He never ceased being God - for only as God could He be the true source of salvation to all who by grace through faith would believe on Him.

Front row seat to history

Luke 2:8 8In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

As we are beginning to wind down our month long focus on the biblical account of Christ's birth in Bethlehem, we want to consider today the place of the shepherds in the Christmas story.  We have noted throughout this past month that many prophecies from the Old Testament spoke to every detail surrounding the coming of the Savior - the shepherds being no exception.

What is special about our shepherd friends in the fields outside of Bethlehem is the fact they were predicted to be on the "front row" of the appearance and announcement of the Savior.

The Bible predicted the Shepherds would be the first to hear of His coming
Micah was a prophet of Israel who lived over 700 years before the record that we read of in Luke 2.  In Micah 4:8, we read this prophecy: “As for you, tower of the flock, Hill of the daughter of Zion, To you it will come—  Even the former dominion will come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem."  The place called "tower of the flock" was located right outside of Bethlehem where Christ would be born.

The significance of otherwise insignificant people
This particular spot would be where the Shepherds of Israel would lead and feed their flocks.  Shepherds were considered the lowest people on the social ladder.  In fact, Shepherds were so despised that their testimony was not accepted in a court of law.  However there was one very important job these Shepherds had - raising all of the sheep that would be used in the sacrificial system in the temple in Jerusalem.  In the eyes of men, these Shepherds were the lowest and least important.  Yet in the eyes of God, they would play a key role in prophetic history.

Christmas' front row seat
Micah writes in his prophecy that, concerning this location of the "Tower of the Flock", "To you it will come".  When we come to Luke 2:8, we see the fulfillment of Micah's words.  For the angelic host suddenly appeared in the fields where they were watching their flocks by night.  Those famous words were spoken: "Unto you this day is born, in the city of David, the Savior, Christ the Lord.". 

Those who were raising lambs for the Spring slaughter would be the first to hear of the coming of the Lamb of God.  These who were but paupers in the sight of men were treated as prinices.  They had hearts of faith.  The hearts of the priests and teachers of the law had been hardened by religious tradition. Yet the hearts of these men, who were never allowed to walk in the temple that they raised sheep for, would be the first human beings outside of the family of Mary and Joseph, to hear of the birth of the Savior.  They were treated to History and Eternity's front row seat. 

The Star of Bethlehem

Matthew 2:2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Today's blog is going to attempt to deal with the question: "What was the star of Bethlehem?"  Whenever you begin to dive into this subject, you come away with three general explanations.

1. The star was a natural phenomena.   In reading the literature on this subject over the years, I have found all kinds of explanations, some of which range from the purely ridiculous to the downright intriguing.  Some have suggested that the celestial object witnessed by the Magi may had been a comet or a brightly exploding star called a supernova.  Recent computer programs that can depict the appearance on the sky over any location on Earth have have run back to the period of Jesus' birth (7 b.c to 2 b.c) and have discovered the alignment of three planets: Jupiter, Mars and Venus. 

Could these astronomical phenomena been used by God in guiding these wisemen?  It would seem that as suggestive as this may be, it is not adequate to explain what they saw.  The object in question, accordng to Matthew's record, "guided them" and then "stayed" over the spot where Jesus and his family were living. 

2. The star was a supernatural phenomena  On the other end of the spectrum of explanations lies the supernatural explanation.  Many will point back to the times when the people of God were led through the wilderness by "a pillar of fire" by night.  Certainly we cannot argue that when the Magi explain this object as guiding and leading them, and then "standing over the place" where the Christ child was at, that thise object is of supernatural origin.

When one does a word study for that word "stand" in Matthew 2:9, we discover that the star not only just "stood over" the place of Christ's dwelling, it "stationed, positioned itself".  This tells us that the object in question had some level of intelligence (perhaps an angel for instance).  The only issue with this view is that like the completely natural explanation, we don't have enough information to make a judgment on what exactly the star was.  However, we can at least say that the object possessed intelligence of some sort.

3. The star was both natural and supernatural  If we take both the natural and supernatural explanations together, we can say that whatever the Magi saw that night entailed God communicating through both the night sky and the supernatural realm.  In a past blog I demonstrated how the prophet Daniel, over 600 years prior to the Magi in Matthew 2, had injected the prophecies of the Messiah into the thought life of these Persian Astrologers.  If you look at Matthew 2 once again, the quotation of a particular prophecy helps us to arrive at an explanation that includes the scriptures, the specific means through which God communicates saving truth. 

4. The Star definitely had prophetic significance
Theologians have noted that God communicates to human beings in two ways: General Revelation and Special Revelation.  General Revelation is the witness of God that we have in creation and the conscience.  It proves His existence and our responsibility to Him, but it does not identify Who He is nor does it lead to salvation.  This is where we need "Special Revelation" from the scriptures to fill in what is needed to lead a person to saving faith in Jesus Christ. 

When you scan the account of the Magi in Matthew 2:6, they do quote the prophecy in Numbers 24:17 concerning a star arising out of the tribe of Judah in Jerusalem.  This suggests to us that they were operating on what they first detected from General revelation - the positions of certain things in the sky (as wells as some time of supernatural phenomena), beginning over 800 miles at where they lived and them following that over a period of two years to where Christ was.  Then with them already possessing ancient copies of the Jewish scriptures handed down through their number from the days of Daniel, God at that moment used a particular text in His Special revelation to persuade them to worship the Christ child. 

We must remember what they ultimately sought and the only proper response
Although we could offer a pretty plausible scenerio for what the Magi saw in the night skies over Babylonia and Bethlehem - one thing is sure - the star in question was but a Divinely given natural/supernatural means, and beholding God in Human flesh was the true goal.  By the time they reached Him, the Spirit of God, through the scriptures, had convinced them that this was the One they sought.  They worshipped Him, and then went away exceedingly glad.  May that be our response to Christ throughout this season and the rest of lour lives: worship and exceeding joy. 

Connecting Christmas and the Cross

Luke 2:34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed".

In this fifth and final song of Luke's account of Christ's infancy, we are brought to that one word spoken by Simeon before he disappears of the pages of scripture and history: behold.  As we have noted in the last four blogs, this song has a title from the Latin Vulgate: "eius ecce" or (behold this).

The connection between Christmas and the cross
I find it interesting that the things spoken of here by Simeon have details that correspond remarkably to the time of Christ's crucifixion"

1. Behold This same word was spoken by Pilate when he presented Christ to the crowds who had been demanding his crucifixion.  In John 19:5, we read of how Christ, when led out before the crowds with a crown of thorns on his head, was heralded by Pilate with these words: "behold the man".

2. This child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel  Simeon reminds the couple that this beautiful child upon whom they gazed was born to bring salvation.  As a result of Christ's crucifixion, the temple system would fall apart, Judas would hang himself for his betrayal of Christ and the whole Roman empire would never be same. 

3. A sword will pierce even your own soul  These words would find their fulfillment as Mary, 33 years later, would be standing beneath the cross, gazing in grief strickeness at the mangled body of Christ in his humanity. (John 19:26-35)  Though the cradle at Bethlehem was heralded by angels as glorious, the shadow of the cross was never that far. 

Despite the grief that lined Simeon's words, hope could not be eclipsed.  For it was in the death of Christ in His humanity that the God of glory in His deity would be shown victorious over death, Hell and the grave. 

God's grace personified in Christmas

Luke 2:29-32 “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; 30For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

The joy of unwrapped presents
I'm sure many of you reading today's blog have experienced the joy that follows the unwrapping of that favorite gift.  Seeing the very things you had been anticipating for weeks and months evoked an eruption of joy once you opened and unwrapped the treasures under the tree.  No doubt this is in a very small way pictures the type of emotions that welled up in Simeon when he beheld the Christ child.

The song that speaks of sweet release and fulfillment of God's promises
It has been eight days, and Mary and Joseph brought their son, Jesus, to the temple to have performed upon him the rites of the Old Testament circumcision.  From the very beginning of Christ's birth, the theme of fulfillment marks his life: fulfillment of prophecy, time and the law.  Themes such as these would accompany Him 33 years later to the cross.  In the Latin text the name of Simeon's prophecy is referred to as "nunc dimittis" (now release). 

The significance of Simeon's words
I love this title for it signifies the release from the confines of something.  The Lord had given Simeon a word that his life would not expire until He saw the salvation of Israel.  As in all of the five songs recorded here in Luke 2 and 3, this fourth song carries with it tremendous scriptural gold that points to Christ's identity as revealed by God's grace:

1. God's Grace brings freedom.  When Simeon saw the Christ child, he was "released".  When you and I by faith behold the Lord, we are set free.  We are free to truly fulfill everything God calls us to do when He is brought to us by the working of grace in our hearts by the Spirit of God. 

2. God's Grace brings faith  How did Simeon know this was the One whom He was looking for?  The text states in Luke 2:29 - "according to your word".  It is the word of God that the Holy Spirit uses to bring the faith needed to trust and rely upon the Savior. (Romans 10:17)

3. God's Grace goes from being a principle to a Person. Up until we are brought into contact with Christ by the convicting work of the Holy Spirit through the gospel, God's grace is a principle that we have heard about.  However Simeon beholds the very Promise that centuries had been predicted by the Old Testament Prophets.  God's Grace had truly appeared.   Grace goes from being a principle to a person; from a power of God working towards men to becoming a Person who would dwell among men.   

4. God's grace brings light into darkness  As Simeon rounds out this portion of His prophecy, He quotes from Isaiah 9:2.  In that same chapter we are given information regarding the human and Divine natures of the Messiah. (Isaiah 9:6-7)  God would send His Son into this world to bring light into the darkness of sinful man.  Unfortunately man unaided by grace shrinks from the light, and is not able nor desirous of receiving it (John 1:3-11). 

5. God's grace enables to hear God and believe.  Simeon, the speaker of this prophecy, has a name whose meaning is: "to hear God".  Though we never hear of this precious old saint of God ever again, the one thing he is noted for is that he not only heard God, he saw Him!  In human flesh He saw the creator of worlds. 

Would it be dear friend that the world's memory of you and I would be that we are people who heard and saw God by faith and yearned to live out the last of our lives to see Christ cherished by those around us.