The Christmas Miracle of the Incarnation of the Omnipresent Word

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Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 
— Hebrews 13:8

Jared Wilson:

Every year at this time as we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus to the virgin Mary, I don’t suppose it occurs to too many merrymakers that what they’re really celebrating is the incarnation. All of the other miracles are in service of that central miracle: God became man. And in becoming, through spiritual conception, the man Jesus of Nazareth, the Word of God did not cease to be God. Baby Jesus, from the moment of conception to the straw habitation of the manger, was fully God and fully man. That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

When we put our minds long to the idea of Jesus being 100 percent God and simultaneously 100 percent man, they naturally feel overwhelmed. The orthodox doctrine of the incarnation is compelling, beautiful, biblically sensible, and…

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Glory of the Newborn King

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Caleb Cangelosi:

Of all the hymns written about the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the words of Charles Wesley’s “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” are among the most theologically dense and substantive–because all five stanzas are filled with Scriptural truths about Jesus. Before considering the Christology of this beautiful carol, though, it will help us to recall a little of the fascinating and ironic history behind it.

Charles Wesley first penned the words of this poem in 1739, a year after his conversion. He originally wrote ten shorter stanzas, without a refrain, and his first two lines were “Hark! How all the welkin rings // Glory to the King of Kings.” Nearly all of us today would ask, “What on earth is a welkin?” A welkin is actually not “on earth” at all. Rather, it is the archaic English word referring to the sky or the celestial sphere where the angels…

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Born of the Virgin Mary

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R.C Sproul:

Along with the great theologian and philosopher Anselm of Canterbury we ask the question, Cur deus homo? Why the God-man? When we look at the biblical answer to that question, we see that the purpose behind the incarnation of Christ is to fulfill His work as God’s appointed Mediator. It is said in 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself ….” Now, the Bible speaks of many mediators with a small or lower case “m.” A mediator is an agent who stands between two parties who are estranged and in need of reconciliation. But when Paul writes to Timothy of a solitary Mediator, a single Mediator, with a capital “M,” he’s referring to that Mediator who is the supreme Intercessor between God and fallen humanity. This Mediator, Jesus Christ, is indeed…

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The Word Became Flesh! A Meditation on the Paradoxes of the Incarnation

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Sam Storms:

I’ve often said that the single most amazing, mind-boggling verse in the Bible is John 1:14 – “The Word became flesh!” As we approach Christmas, I thought it would be good to post again some observations I made in my book, Pleasures Evermore. I pray you are blessed by this meditation on the paradoxes of the Incarnation.

Take a deep breath and ponder what this means. Don’t dismiss it as theological speculation. This is a truth on which your eternal destiny hangs suspended. This is a truth the beauty and majesty of which will captivate your attention and cause sin to sink in your estimation. Wherein lies the power to turn from iniquity and say No to sin? It lies in the power and irresistible appeal of an uncreated God who would dare to become a man!

The Word became flesh!
God became human!
the invisible…

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The Heavens are Telling the Glory of God- Psalm 19 in the Holy Bible. Music by Franz Joseph Haydn.

Love recognizes no burden. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” — Maya Angelou

Yerushalayim

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Three useful keys

Word and Heart

In chapter 1 we saw the great joy that the gospel brings – Jesus is alive and he rescues us! All Christians are called to share this wonderful message! But there have been far too many times when the sharing hasn’t been done well, and people have been hurt. Or the person doing the sharing has become discouraged and their passion for the message has waned. Chapter 2 helps.  Paul provides there a model for Christian ministry – how Christians should speak and live as they go about sharing the good news of Jesus. Read chapter 2 here. There are three keys that I can see in this passage.

1. Go with boldness

Sharing about Jesus always involves opposition. The Greek word translated as conflict or opposition in verse 2 is the word agon – the origin of English word agony. Share anyway is Paul’s advice. ‘We dared to tell…

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Biblically Based Management From The Life Of Moses

StopAndPrayTV

During Israel’s trek across the desert, Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, paid him a visit, observed his style of operation, and offered some sage advice on management principles:

1. Allow mentors into your life: We need people around us who respect us but are not overpowered or impressed by us; people who are not afraid to tell us what we need to hear, rather than what we want to hear. “When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, ‘What is this you are doing for the people?… What you are doing is not good… Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you… ‘” (Exodus 18:14a, 17b, 19a) (See 1 Kings 12:1-19; Proverbs 11:14; 15:22; 24:6; 20:18; Isaiah 19:11-14)

2. Recognize your own limitations: Divest yourself of visions of grandeur, Lone Rangerism, the Napoleonic or Messianic…

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28th December: Revelation 14-17

Praying Through God's Word

Revelation 

14:1-15:8  –  With ‘patient endurance’, we are to ‘obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus’ (12), This will not be easy. Satan will do all that he can to defeat us. How can we be ‘victorious’ over him? We must rejoice in all that God has done for His people, Israel. He delivered them from their bondage in Egypt. We sing ‘the song of Moses’. Beyond the great event of the Exodus, there is something even more wonderful. We rejoice in what God has done for us – ‘In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself’. We sing ‘the song of the Lamb’ (15:2-3; Deuteronomy 7:7-8; 2 Corinthians 5:19). we hear God’s call – ‘Fear God and give Him glory’. We consider His ‘great and marvellous deeds’. In our hearts, we say, ‘Who will not fear You, O Lord, and bring glory to Your Name’ (14:7…

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Holidays hurt sometimes…

The Living Message of Christ

I have had loved ones in my family who passed away on different holidays in the past, one even passed from this life on my birthday 33 years ago. Today, there are many who suffer from feelings of loneliness and depression during the holidays, even when families are together. It is hard to understand how you can feel lonely with family around you, but you can.

Sometimes the world thinks that Christians aren’t supposed to get sick or feel lonely because they belong to God. But, in this life…right now, we are human and we get sick, we feel depression and loneliness and every other illness which is out there as well. The only time which we will be able to claim no sickness or bad feelings like depression will be when we are in Heaven or we have crossed over into eternity.

Could God give us this great show…

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Do you have a direction?

The Living Message of Christ

Leading a church, a home, and a blog about Jesus should be pretty easy to do. Sometimes..it is, and sometimes these don’t mix very well. Mainly because the “mixer” is out of sync or not plugged into the Source of Wisdom like he should be. The “mixer” of course is me! There are days and nights where things are going along pretty well. Then there are others which are not, for one reason or the other. Sometimes it is because of depression or apathy, sometimes it is because of my own physical pains and other problems which crop up from time to time.

When money is tight or maybe one of us is sick or we have to take the “fur-baby” to the vet’s office, all of these can put a cork in productivity. Life just gets in the way sometimes. There are many other distractions which get in the…

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