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Often in the Bible we read the phrase "And it came to pass" (in the classic KJV vernacular).  Or, in more modern English translations it might be "And so it happened."  What follows on the heels of this Bible phrase varies widely, from the most mundane to a whirwind of insane activity.

And so it goes in life.  Transitions come and go.  We close one chapter to open a new.

The past four months have been a time of tremendous transition for me and my family.  The Lord has given us a new church, Corydon Baptist Church in Corydon, IN.  (www.corydonbaptist.org).  The people are precious and the Southern Indiana scenery is gorgeous with its rolling hills and wooded farmlands.  We pinch ourselves daily!

We were so blessed to serve King Jesus at Tar Landing Baptist Church in Jacksonville, NC for 5 years.  We miss it, but also know that God led us here to Corydon.  God has favored us by allowing me to serve as Preaching Pastor here at CBC, and He alone gets glory for any good accomplished in and through me, period.  I have already been telling the folks here at CBC, "If it's good, it's got to be God.  If it's not so great, it must be me!"

But what I want to explore in this post is the challenge of marriage and parenting through a time of major transition.  Anyone who says moving or changing things does not impact a marriage or home is just lying.  We (the McWhorter's) knew this time would stretch us, stress us, and potentially undo us if we did not rest solely in the grace of God in Christ.

To be truthful, I have sinned against God and my wife and children in these tension-ridden days of moving furniture, setting up new routines, new offices, new bills to pay, new people to meet, and on and on it goes.  I could use the "stress" as an excuse, but it would not make my sin any less sinful.  Anger is anger.  Lashing out in frustration is lashing out in frustration.  Blame-shifting is blame-shifting.

It is only the gracious presence of Holy Spirit God in my life that has kept me repenting before God and my wife and children.  They have been so good to forgive me repeatedly in the last few months!  I could never deserve them, and I could never deserve my Savior who just keeps lavishing me with love and kindness in spite of my fretful self.

Christian friends, could you imagine where you would be or how you would live apart from the restraining power and presence of God in your hearts?  After all the stressed out antics I've unleashed recently I am amazed Jesus still wants me and keeps me, not to mention my precious wife and children!

And so that's the point.  How do we get through life's transitions without losing our minds, blowing our stacks completely, losing our marriages or needlessly harming our children?

The gospel. 

Time after time in these days of change I have felt the tug of God on my heart to get in the Word, and to lead my family to a passage of Scripture that helped keep us focused on what matters most in this life - the glory and grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ! 

One episode comes immediately to my mind.  The home we bought is older and had been sitting for some time prior to us moving into it.  So, we have had a fair share of plumbing "back-ups" and clogged pipes.  This sometimes forced us out of the home for a few nights at a time, since the bathrooms were inoperable (totally unacceptable to my girls to go behind the tree out back, but I made the suggestion nonetheless).  When the stress level got high, just before we had company coming up from NC to visit, I knew God was calling and equipping me by His Spirit to be "the man of the house."

Not by fixing the plumbing, because I'm clueless on home repairs!  But by leading my family in the Word.  So, we reminded ourselves that evening, with overflowing toilets all around us, that people all over the world did not have homes, or toilets.  We reminded ourselves that young girls in Vietnam were in prison that very night for loving Jesus and reading their Bibles.  We remembered that God had called us here to be gospel salt and light to the people of Southern Indiana.  Were we going to let a toilet shipwreck us and drive us to ingratitude?

In short, we preached the gospel to ourselves that night.  God carried us through on the wings of His gospel and the winds of grace, and we were refreshed in the midst of our "life transition."

The gospel is good for all of life's ups and downs.  It is powerful to save, powerful to keep, powerful to renew, powerful to convict.  The gospel is powerful, for in it Christ graciously comes to us and reminds us, "I died to redeem you from every lawless deed, and to purify you for Myself as My very own possession.  Now go be zealous to live for My Fame" (see Titus 2:14).

Praise God, I believe more stable times are ahead for us here.  But, I'm thankful for gospel grace and forgiveness in the times of transition, too!

I am in the process of moving to a new state and a new ministry.  I do not think many folks are actually following this blog, but for the few who are, I just wanted to say I plan to either get this blog back up and running soon, or perhaps begin a new one.  Either way, I will let you faitfhul few know soon!

Stay fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith!

Keith

It has been one week since Hurricane Irene blew through my home town.  Some 30+ people in North Carolina lost their lives during the storm.  And, the east coast is still cleaning up and recovering from the aftermath.

My street was without power for about 5 days.  It was scorching hot and miserable.  But, we were all alive, and no major property damage to speak of on my street.  And when the power finally came back on, wow, air conditioning never felt so good!  Storms have a way of generating thankfulness in our hearts. 

Funny thing (or actually not so funny), I spent more time talking with my neighbors in the last week than I have in quite a while.  No TVs, no internet, not even any lights.  In other words, no distractions.  Just neighbors trying to help one another through a rough spot.  My family took cold water in ice chests to several houses on our street.  And, my next door neighbor offered to use his backhoe and dumptruck to haul off our large limbs and trees. 

It struck me after a few days of seeing neighbors come alongside neighbors, and gathering in front yards to just joke and poke fun at the situation to relieve some tension - storms have a way of reminding us of what really matters. 

Matthew wrote as the Holy Spirit of God carried his pen along:

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.  When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (9:35-36).  

It makes me sad that I need God to bring a storm into my life to make me more like Jesus.  Thankfulness is far too easily lost when all is well.  The people around us are far too easily lost in our daily techno-distracted shuffle.  So, here's praying a prayer of gratitude for the spiritual reminders God brought this past week via Irene. 

Thank you, sovereign Lord, for sending storms into our lives to conform us to the image of Your Son.  May my heart rejoice in times of ease and in times of hardship, knowing that You are still determined to do whatever it takes to kill off the things in my heart and life that do not image Jesus Christ.  Help me remember these lessons, and please continue to show the hurting people around me mercy.  Make me a channel of Your mercy, as I seek grace to see people as You do.  For Jesus' glory, amen.    

On July 27^th the church lost one of its warriors for Christ.  John R. W. Stott left this sin-stained world at the ripe age of 90 to
behold the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Stott struggled with the doctrine of hell back in the 90s, espousing what is known as Annihilationism (the false teaching
that hell will not be forever).  Some say he later simply became agnostic on the whole doctrine of hell, which may be
even worse than denying that it is everlasting (Mark 9:42-48; 2 Thess 1:3-10).  At any rate, the evangelical world was
stunned to see such a brilliant Bible mind stray in this matter.

This stumble notwithstanding, John Stott was a blessing to thousands of believers around the world.  Through his pulpit ministry at All Souls Church in London, through his books, and through his life of service to the last, least and left-out, Stott was a channel of blessing.  It is a real shame, in my mind, that most Baptists I know really have no clue who John Stott is, having never read or heard him.

Personally, I was introduced to Stott at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in the Spring Semester of
2005.  One of the required texts for Dr. Albert Mohler’s Systematic Theology course was The Cross of Christ by John R. W. Stott.  That book catapulted me into far deeper thinking on the work of Jesus the Christ than anything I had ever encountered.  Since then, I have enjoyed and been challenged by Stott’s commentary on John’s Epistles, as well as his classic preaching text Between Two Worlds.

Rather than continue to type my own words, I would simply like to let Stott have the last word on this blog post.  May the readers of this blog take up the challenge to go buy some books authored by Stott and read them.  They will drive you deeper into the Book of books – The Holy Bible.

 We strongly reject, therefore, every explanation of the death of Christ which does not have at its centre the principle of ‘satisfaction through substitution’, indeed divine self-satisfaction through divine self-substitution.  The cross was not a commercial bargain with the devil, let alone one which tricked and trapped him; nor an exact equivalent, a quid pro quo to satisfy a code of honour or technical point of law; nor a compulsory submission by God to some moral authority above him from which he could not otherwise escape; nor a punishment of a meek Christ by a harsh and punitive Father; nor a procurement
of salvation by a loving Christ from a mean and reluctant Father; nor an action of the Father which bypassed Christ as Mediator.  Instead, the righteous, loving Father humbled himself to become in and through his only Son flesh, sin, and a curse for us, in order to redeem us without compromising his own character.  The theological words ‘satisfaction’ and ‘substitution’ need to carefully defined and safeguarded, but they cannot in any circumstances be given up.  The biblical gospel of atonement is of God satisfying himself by substituting himself for us (The Cross of Christ, IVP, 1986, pp. 159-60).

Tornados everywhere!  My own county got ripped up just two weeks ago, along with much of eastern NC.  Now, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia have suffered horrible damage and loss of life.

It never ceases to amuse (and sadden) me how Christians shy away from attributing control over weather systems to God.  From non-believers this is expected, but not from people who claim to read and believe in the God of the Bible and the Bible of the One True God.  I mean, read Job 38-41 and Isaiah 40-48 for starters. 

Actually, what many Christians do today is attribute only mercy to God, while shirking to give Him glory when and if He gives justice.  So, for instance, if our homes were spared, or our neighbors' homes, we boldly say, "We were blessed" or "God was good to us."  But, for those poor souls who lost property or life, we simply say something like, "That's tragic" or "Unlucky" or "Unfortunate." 

Yet, God plainly says He sends blessing and cursing, good and calamity, mercy and justice.  God raises up nations and brings them down.  We must glorify Him for it all, because only He knows best and only He can possibly "work all things together for good to them who love God and are called acording to His purpose" (Rom 8:28).  And, the accounts rolling in even in my own city show that indeed God is doing His eternal, saving work even through these storms.

But, I want to avoid sounding trite, and I surely would not make light of any human suffering.  And let me be very clear, I do think Christians should exercise extreme caution when trying to label a certain weather event a sure judgment of God, or a direct act of Divine retribution on certain people.  After all, two things are true in these matters today:

1. We do not have any direct revelation (Scripture) from God telling us about His precise reasons and purposes for the recent tornados. 
2. Inevitably, Christians end up dying in these storms right alongside their non-Christian neighbors.

So, how are we as blood-bought, grace-saved followers of Christ to react to these horrific, destructive storms?  The Master provided us the answer in Luke 13:1-5.

Apparently, two "tragedies" had occured.  One, Pilot had mingled the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices offered in worship.  Two, a tower in Siloam fell on 18 people, killing them.  Unexpected, horrible events that brought suffering.  How should we react, Jesus?  Please tell us.

"And He answered them, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish' " (Luke 13:2-5).

Whoa.  Sobering.  So, if I get Jesus' answer, we should all be spending time in worship with our families tonight, praising God that He has not visited our iniquities upon our own heads yet.  We are not better than Alabama-folk.  We are dreadfully sinful, just like them.  We are deserving of God's justice and wrath, just like them.  We have no hope of salvation outside of the bloody cross-work of Christ, just like them. 

Why not us?  Why has God not destroyed our homes today, snatched our lives, or sent us to hell today? 

This is the great equalizing effect of the true gospel.  Humility.  Worship.  Love of the God of totally unmerited mercy.  Love for all others, too, especially our fellow Jesus-needing sinners who are suffering.

So, beloved saints of God in Christ, rise up and "kiss the Son" tonight, then go find ways to help your suffering neighbors.  Go love them in Jesus' Name.  Go share with them the amazing gospel grace of a God who sent His own Son to suffer more than any man.  Go tell them of the One whose suffeing brings many sons to glory!

O Lord, please help us, and help our suffering countrymen.  In wrath, Lord, remember mercy.  Help Your church be Your hands and feet in these troubled times, that the Name and Fame of Jesus may be spread throughout our land, and that His gospel may take root in many weary hearts.  Amen. 

With the recent passing of two women I loved dearly (a great aunt and a grandmother), death has been on my mind.  Sounds morbid, I know.  That's because death is morbid!

Here in America, we are blessed (or is it cursed?) to be able to shield our children and ourselves from death.  Most of us will rarely ever have to see death in the raw.  Heck, I spent 6 years in the Marine Corps and never had to see anything remotely close to what my Fireman/EMT brother sees routinely.  For all but a few of us, death in America is painted over and made to look dainty, even pretty.  We even make comments when standing over corpses in funeral homes like, "Doesn't she look so pretty?"  I've often wanted to respond, "Well, I guess she is as pretty as a dead person can be."   

But as Christians living life from a biblical worldview, we must not miss out on the tremendous teaching opportunity death presents us.  The topic of death is one of the simplest gospel "lead-ins" I know of.  Nobody wants to think long on the issue, but when death draws near people, they typically become a "captive audience" to anyone who can offer words of counsel or consoling.  And the gospel is all that and more!  

But as Christian parents, solemnly charged by God to instruct our children in His ways and His word, we dare not shield our children from death, nor miss the teaching moment it brings with it.  Here are a few thoughts drawn from my own feeble attempts at using death to teach my daughters in recent weeks:

1. Teach your children death came into the world because of human sin (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12; 1 Cor 15:22).  My Mamaw, as sweet as she was, died because she was a sinner by nature and by choice.  That's why we all die.  There was no death in this cosmos prior to Adam's sin.  This is why the whole creation groans anticipating the day when God once again removes death from its midst (Rom 8:18-25).
2. Teach your children death is an ugly enemy.  Because it is a result of disobeying God, and loving someone or something more than God, death is a horrific thing.  It is not to be trifled with or coddled or painted to appear pretty.  Do you think Adam and Eve found death attractive or something trivial as they stood over their son Abel, bludgeoned to death by his own brother Cain?  "The wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23).  This is what we've earned with God.
3. Teach your children death goes beyond the physical realm.  Yes, the physical bodies of Adam and Eve eventually died, just as God promised (Gen 2:17).  Every person thereafter has also died physically, and all of us will, too, if Jesus does not return in our lifetimes.  But friends, Adam and Eve died spiritually the moment they rebelled against the word of the Lord.  To be spiritually dead is to be cut off from God, who is life (Isaiah 59:2; John 5:26).  And now we all, too, enter this world spiritually dead, unable to patch things up with our Creator God (Eph 2:1).  Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves . . . it did not work then, and it does not work now.
4. Teach your children that after death, there is no "second chance" to repent and trust Christ alone for salvation (Heb 9:27).  Jesus did not believe in purgatory (Luke 16:19-31).  Neither should you.  You see, friends, our children must know that how they, in this life, answer the question of Jesus to His disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" matters forever!
5. Teach your children that nobody knows the day of his or her death.  "Boast not yourself of tomorrow; for you do not know what a day will bring" (Prov 27:1).  "Instead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live'" (James 4:15).  Living like each second of each day is not guaranteed has a strong tendency to help us focus on what really matters.
6. Teach your children that in Christ, God remedied this greatest of dilemmas for us poor sinners.  When Jesus died, death died with Him for all those whom the Spirit births anew.  This is the best news ever!  This is the gospel, "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3-4).  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).  Who but Jesus, the Perfect Son of God, God in the flesh, could say, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live"? (John 11:25)
7. Teach your children that for those granted repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ, death is a defeated enemy!  "Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 15:54-57).  Those who die in Christ simply pass from "death unto life" (1 John 3:14).
8. Teach your children that one day, Jesus will sovereignly eradicate death once for all.  "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more" (Rev 21:4). 

Wow!  Death is a great teacher, if we will let it lead us to Messiah.  This all makes me wonder if instead of the "afterlife" we Christians should speak of the "afterdeath"? 

"Whoever has the Son has life" (1 John 5:12).  Got Jesus?  If not, you have every reason to fear death.

On March 30th, 2011 my Mamaw died.  Or, more biblically, she passed from death unto life. 

Lovine McWhorter grew up during the Great Depression.  She knew hard times and like so many of her generation, she knew what sacrifice meant.  The sacrifices Mamaw made for our family were legendary, and very humbling for us grandchildren to observe.  Every single one of us knew that Mamaw would gives us her last penny, her last piece of bread if it meant she would literally starve and die.  She simply had been given an extra measure of God's grace when it came to selflessness.

Mamaw was a simple woman.  Materialism seemed to have absolutely no hold on her life.  She left this world with almost nothing of temporal value to her name.  She spent most of her final years in her own home, often alone with just her God and her Bible.  And what effect, do you suppose, this had on her life?

Well, let me just tell you that in His providence, God called my great aunt Bonnie (Mamaw's sister) home to heaven just 6 short weeks ago.  I was close to Aunt Bonnie, so I was compelled to attend the funeral, some 13 hours drive from my home.  But, this gave me a few precious days to spend with Mamaw, mere weeks before the Lord called her home.  God is good.  I've done nothing to deserve this obvious kindness from His sovereign hand.  Thank you, O Lord, for giving me those few days with Mamaw.

As was always the case when visiting with Mamaw, our conversation turned to the Lord and His Christ and His Word.  Unlike so many around me in the church today, Mamaw always wanted to hear me comment on the Scriptures.  She was never ashamed or afraid to ask questions about the Bible, even after reading it for 75+ years.  She was a true "learner" of Jesus, even at 86 years of age.  She often had questions so deep I had to leave them unanswered.  God does, after all, blow our minds, doesn't He?!

But during the course of my preaching to Mamaw (which she loved to provoke, by the way) on the last night I spent with her on this earth, lovely, simple Lovine waxed eloquent.  Mamaw and I were speaking of the greatness and beauty of Christ as compared to the foolishness of so much ornate religion and bombastic ritual.  Mamaw particularly did not appreciate flash and pomp in the pulpit.  And so, with tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks, she said:

My High Priest wore no ornate robes, but was stripped bare on the cross. 

My High Priest had no gold chains around His neck, but bore my sin on His shoulders.

My High Priest had no golden crown, but was crushed by a crown of thorns.

My High Priest received no applause, but was slapped and spit upon.

My High Priest wore no gaudy rings on His fingers, but had His hands and feet spiked to a tree.

Now, friends, this is the legacy Mamaw leaves me - lavishing praise and adoration on her Savior and King, the Lord Jesus.  It was so beautiful, to see her so in love with Jesus.  Her heart and eyes that night were just so full of Jesus.  The Savior was enormous in her vision!  She died walking closer to Him than ever before in her 86 years of life.  Is it any wonder, then, her King called her home to finally rest on His breast, and behold God's glory in His face?

"For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens" (Heb 7:26).

Thank You, O Lord, for the gift of my Mamaw.  She was a lady who left us a legacy of a soul captured by Your grace.  In our grief, turn our eyes to Your blessed face, Lord Jesus.  This is, after all, what my Mamaw would have insisted upon.  So, to honor her, I honor You, and bless You, and worship You, and love You, and long to see You.  Until that day, help me live with Your light in my eyes and Your love in my heart.  Amen.    

       

Fitness nut Jack Lalanne died yesterday.  He was 96 and looked incredible.  Read about his death here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41225595/ns/us_news-life/?gt1=43001

It is not my intention to mock anyone's death, or make light of the obvious grief his wife and children are experiencing right now.  My condolences to them.

When I heard the news of his death, however, it simply drove home to me in a powerful way the truth of Hebrews 9:27.

"Just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment."

And 1 Timothy 4:8.

   "For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."

Friends, at this time of the year when we bow down to the idols of the NFL, when Christian parents push their children into sports as hard as they can go, when young adults bronze their bodies in salons at the risk of deadly cancers, when Christian beach bums lay nearly naked on vacation hot spots, at this time, we need to be reminded . . .

"The wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23).

God has appointed a day for our death.  While I am not encouraging laziness or abuse of our physical bodies through negligence or gluttony, the point is clear.  Isn't it? 

Jack Lalanne is dead.  I hope and pray his soul was in as good a shape as his body (3 John 2).  Nothing else matters now, except Jesus, or the conspicuous absence of Jesus, in the fitness guru's life. 

We ought to think on these things, beloved.

Jesus said the greatest commandment we could possibly endeavor to obey is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt 22:36, emphasis mine).

Loving God with our minds surely means engaging our minds in the things of God.  Thinking about God involves us in the highest of activities.  And surely we cannot think of God at all properly apart from His revealed Word. 

Reading God's Word (the Bible) is the paramount way to love Him with our minds; for where the Bible speaks, God speaks.  There simply is no subsititue for daily reading and meditating and praying and thinking on God's Holy Word.  When we take up this task, the Lord meets with us, engages our heart strings, and powerfully impacts our souls.  It seems we human creatures must first get something into our heads before it has any hope of sinking deeply into our hearts and souls.  So dear readers, in 2011, I urge you to resolve to spend more time in the Bible than ever before.  You are reading through the Bible this year, aren't you?

Assuming your Bible reading is vibrant, then may I also recommend a few books for you in 2011?  Reading gospel-centered books is yet another way to love the Lord with our minds.  In 2010, I read about 42 books, give or take.  From those 42, I want to commend these to you in 2011:

Marriage/Parenting/Family       

Family-Driven Faith - Voddie Baucham

Biblical Manhood

The Masculine Mandate - Richard D. Phillips

Doctrine / Theology 

What is the Gospel?  Greg Gilbert; The Cross-Centered Life - C. J. Mahaney 

Personal Evangelism

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism - Mark Dever; Evangelism and the Sovereingty of God - J. I. Packer

Personal Devotion 

Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross - Ed. Nancy Guthrie; Radical - David Platt; The Red Feather - Tom Ellif

Apologetics

I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist - Normal Geisler & `rank` Turek; Why Pro-Life? Randy Alcorn; Grave Influence - Brannon Howse

For Preachers

The Priority of Preaching - Christopher Ash; Spirit-Led Preaching - Greg Heisler

May the New Year find you loving King Jesus with all your mind.

"Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!" (2 Cor 9:15).

"For to us a child is born, and to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:5-6, emphasis mine).

As I drove I-75 and then I-40 returning from visiting family recently in Kentucky, I reflected on two questions:

1. What is the Gift of Christmas?
2. What does the giving of this Gift say to us?

Christmas is a time of giving and receiving gifts.  Few in the Christian or non-Christian realms would disagree.  But perhaps it escapes some as to why we give gifts during this holiday.  More tragically, far too many fail to ponder the true Gift of Christmas. 

Humanly speaking, we often assume the nature of a gift says something of the value or worth of the gift recipient, at least in the eyes of the gift-giver.  In other words, if I give someone an extravagant (either financially or otherwise) gift, it means I think they are worthy of whatever the gift cost me.  I sacrificed because I valued the recipient.  And, it is expected that the recipient would respond to me with gratitude.

But what of God and Christmas?  First, what is the gift of Christmas?  Isaiah prophesied of the Gift of a Son 700 years prior to the birth of Jesus.  This son would not be ordinary by any stretch.  This Son would be none other than the "Mighty God, Everlasting Father."  So, for 700 years, all who had been given spiritual eyes to see were looking for God to come as a son, a ruler, a king on earth!

But Isaiah was merely echoing Moses, and Moses was merely reporting on God's promise made all the way back in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:15).  God declared war on Satan and sin after Adam's trangression.  God promised to fight and win this war, to crush Satan's head, and He said He would do so through a child (offspring or seed) of Eve.  What?  A human baby would conquer Satan and sin?  Yes, He would, and He has (Gal 3:15-29).  This He could do because His humanity served to conceal, as it were, His majesty. 

As the story of redemption unfolds in the Bible, it becomes clear that the promised "seed" is Jesus, and Jesus is no ordinary baby boy.  He is the "Word made flesh" who made the worlds and had glory as God before the worlds existed (John 1).  He is Immanuel.  God with us.  Jesus came to "save His people from their sins" (Matt 1:21).  Jesus - God in the flesh - He is the Gift of Christmas.

And wow, what a Gift!  Jesus is the greatest gift the universe had to offer, and Father God gave Him up for wretched sinners like you and me.  We cannot even dream up a more extravagant Gift than the grace of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  This "inexpressible gift" comes to us by the hearing of the gospel - the mesage that Holy God has made a way for unholy sinners to be reconciled to Himself through the person and bloody cross-work of His Son, Jesus. 

Typically, a costly, extravagant gift speaks to the value of the recipient.  But we must approach with caution if we attempt to apply the same logic to the Gift of gifts - the Son of the living God.  So, what does the giving of Jesus say to us?  Let me offer a few thoughts that I pray spur you to deeper reflection this week.  God giving the Gift of gifts, Jesus, says . . .

• God loves sinners.  While I do not think this is the primary lesson of Christmas, I cannot escape John 3:16, nor do I wish to!  When the Bible speaks of God's holy hatred towards evildoers (Psalm 5:5), I can easily understand.  But friends, I shall never grasp why God also chooses to set His love on sinners.  God so loved . . . that He gave.  He gave the Gift of gifts.  Clearly, the Lord does value His human creatures, His image-bearers, and His love proves intensely personal and worship-inducing to those of us who have been wooed to faith in Christ by His amazing merciful Spirit.  Christmas is expressed succinctly in Romans 5:8, isn't it?
• We need a Savior.  We need a Substitute, a Redeemer, a Divinely-initiated atonement, a Mediator, a King.  You and I are fallen sinful people.  If this is not so, then the giving of Jesus was the most absurd and useless act in all of history.  God sending Jesus, the Treasure of treasures, makes no sense at all; that is unless we are truly "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1) and helpless to stand justified before Holy God on our own two feet (Psalm 130:3).  God gave Jesus because we need Him!
• God takes sin seriously.  Jesus was not sent to live in the lap of luxury.  Oh no, Jesus was given as the One and Only perfect Law-Keeper, the Wrath-bearing Redeemer of sinners.  Jesus was crushed for our sins.  God gave His Son to drink from the cup of His wrath, instead of visiting our filth on our own heads.  Were God not absolutely, severely and inflexibly holy, Jesus would not have had to come and die on a tree between two hated criminals.  But, God is holy.  His holiness demands all sins be punished.  And all will be punished.  For those God saves, their sins were punished in the body of Christ on the cross, and God's wrath was fully satisfied there (Rom 8:1; 1 Peter 2:24).  For those who do not repent and trust in the righteousness of Christ, God's wrath will fall on them forever (2 Thess 1:5-11).  The Gift of Jesus says God is holy and serious about sin.
• Jesus is risen from the dead and lives forever to save His people from their sins.  Isn't it ironic how many people get enamored with the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger?  Yet, these same people gag at the thought of the bloody, battered Jesus hanging on the cross because of how much God truly hates the sin in their hearts and lives.  Even more revealing is how many of these same people who put up manger scenes at Christmas really do not believe Jesus rose from the dead.  But friends, if Jesus did not rise, Christmas is not worthy of ever mentioning again (1 Cor 15).  But, because this Son that was given was indeed "Almighty God," the grave was helpless to hold Him.  Thus, our final enemy as mortal sinners has been crushed by this "seed of Eve."
• God is forever determined to see His Son, the Gift of gifts, exalted and praised and adored and worshipped as the Sovereign Lord and King (Col 1:18).  This is why God planned in eternity past to give this Gift (Eph 1).  God has always purposed to see Jesus have "preeminence in all things" (Col 1:18).  God will not be denied!  He will get glory by saving sinners through the life, death and resurrection of His Son.  This is where the rubber meets the road for Christmas.  The Gift was given to ensure "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:10-11).

Here's praying God grants you grace to receive the Gift of Christmas, the Life of Christmas, the Treasure of all treasures.  His name is Jesus.  God gave Him for wretches like me, not because I am worthy, but in order to reveal to me how vastly and immeasurably worthy He is and ever shall be.  "He who has the Son has life" (1 John 5:12). 

I love you Jesus, and only because You first loved me (1 John 4:10). 

Merry Christmas!