Christmas Day is almost gone!

Christmas Day is almost gone at the time I am writing this! A whole month of expectation comes before this day. For some, even longer. Yet, the expectations of most people is about the holiday, the gifts, the time off work, parties, and many other earthly prospects.

For most, that is how far their thinking goes concerning Christmas. That really is a shame! Christmas is so much more than holidays, gifts, etc! If that was all Christmas was about, it would be such a waste! All those millions spent over the Christmas period! For what? For good times and parties?! Surely money can be spent on much better issues than parties and gifts?!

"(4) And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, (5) to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. (6) And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. (7) And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (8) And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. (9) And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. (10) And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. (11) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (12) And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. (Lk 2.4-12 ESV)"

Christmas is the outflow of a belief in a historical event that happened around 2000 years ago. That belief is that Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, was born into this world through the virgin Mary. That belief does not stand all by itself. If that were all it was, then God would have accomplished nothing apart from showing up to show us His face.

No, the purpose of God's visit to this planet is much bigger. Jesus came to reveal the truth to this world. Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for many (Mt 20.28). That was the purpose of His coming. Jesus came with the express purpose to die on that cross of Calvary! (Lk 24.26) His purpose was to make a propitiation for God's people, to be the sacrifice that turns God's wrath away from sinners that so gravely deserve God's wrath. Jesus came to atone for the sins of His people.

We must remember that when we celebrate Christmas, we cannot celebrate Jesus as He was at His birth, but as He is now! He is the slayer of the last enemy, death! He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the King of kings!

We must remember that He came for a purpose. A purpose of salvation for His people! Why should we continue to think of Him as that baby in the manger when He is the King of kings. Let us celebrate not only His birth, with the cuteness factor, but worship Him as the only wise God. Christmas led to His death on a cross. However, He is risen and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

HALLELUJAH!

Let us celebrate and worship Jesus as the great victorious KING!

"Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, (2) for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.' (3) Once more they cried out, 'Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.' (4) And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, 'Amen. Hallelujah!' (5) And from the throne came a voice saying, 'Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.' (6) Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, 'Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. (7) Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; (8) it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure'-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. (9) And the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he said to me, 'These are the true words of God.' (10) Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, 'You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.' For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (11) Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. (12) His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. (13) He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. (14) And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. (15) From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. (16) On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (17) Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, 'Come, gather for the great supper of God, (18) to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.' (19) And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. (20) And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. (21) And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. (Rev 19.1-21 ESV)"

Why our first parents were punished so severely

I have been reading the City of God by St. Augustine. I have to admit, for me it is not an easy read. It is an enjoyable book, but for me, it is going slow. Augustine was one of the great minds of his time, and this mind (i.e. my own) is no match for Augustine. I constantly have to keep my mind in overdrive. Yet, it remains enjoyable.

The book is available online at CCEL, in the same translation of the book in my hand. It can also be downloaded from the online page in PDF format, but then you need to be registered (for free) as a member.

Anyway, Augustine, concerning the reason for the harsh punishment on Adam and Eve for their sin, says the following:

"Therefore, because the sin was a despising of the authority of God,—who had created man; who had made him in His own image; who had set him above the other animals; who had placed him in Paradise; who had enriched him with abundance of every kind and of safety; who had laid upon him neither many, nor great, nor difficult commandments, but, in order to make a wholesome obedience easy to him, had given him a single very brief and very light precept by which He reminded that creature whose service was to be free that He was Lord,—it was just that condemnation followed, and condemnation such that man, who by keeping the commandments should have been spiritual even in his flesh, became fleshly even in his spirit; and as in his pride he had sought to be his own satisfaction, God in His justice abandoned him to himself, not to live in the absolute independence he affected, but instead of the liberty he desired, to live dissatisfied with himself in a hard and miserable bondage to him to whom by sinning he had yielded himself, doomed in spite of himself to die in body as he had willingly become dead in spirit, condemned even to eternal death (had not the grace of God delivered him) because he had forsaken eternal life. Whoever thinks such punishment either excessive or unjust shows his inability to measure the great iniquity of sinning where sin might so easily have been avoided." (Book XIV, 15)

I am not in complete agreement on this.

I can see why Augustine would say that the punishment was so severe. To Augustine, the severity of the punishment is the inverse of the ease with which God's command could have been kept, i.e. Because it should have been so incredibly easy for our first parents to refuse to eat from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen 2:17), God decided to punish them very harshly.

Augustine's idea doesn't necessarily follow, since I am not so sure that the Biblical data points this way. James in his NT book says the following:

"(10) For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. (11) For he who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' also said, 'Do not murder.' If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law." (Js 2:10-11)

According to James, it is not the level of difficulty in keeping the law that is important, but the One who gave the law. It is not even the individual commandment within the law, but the One who gave that commandment. James highlights the fact that the One who said 'Do not commit adultery,' is the same One who said, 'Do not murder.' So, it is the importance of the Lawgiver that should draw our attention, not the individual commandments of the law.

Granted, the first law only contained one commandment: "Don't eat from THAT tree!" However, the severity of the punishment on mankind, not just on our protoparents, has nothing to do with the ease of keeping the law, but with the Lawgiver Himself.

So, this gets us somewhere.

In October 2005, in a blog post I entitled "What is the Gospel? What is the foundation to the Gospel?," I wrote the following:

"God is an infinitely holy God, and His justice therefore demands infinite vindication before the righteousness of God. Without an infinite payment (which only Christ could fulfill), only an eternal payment by sinners could even begin to vindicate the holiness of God."

When we sin, no matter how "small" the sin, we are sinning against a holy God. Since God is infinite, we have to agree that His holiness is also infinite. Therefore, the punishment for sin against infinite holiness must be commensurate with the holiness that was infringed upon. Remember, sin is not merely the breaking of the law. It is disobedience against a infinitely holy God! Propitiation for sin against infinite holiness cannot be a simple slap on the wrist! That would be a gross misunderstanding of who God is!

So, the reason our protoparents, and through them us, were punished so severely, is that the payment for their sin had to be an infinite payment to satisfy the wrath of an infinitely holy God.

Thank God for sending Jesus, that He could be "the propitiation for our sins!" (1 Jn 4:10) Only an infinite sacrifice could satisfy infinite holiness!

Where can you buy The City of God?
Amazon US - $12.44
Amazon UK - £9.23
Kalahari.net RSA - R199.71
Christianbook.com - $12.99

Nothng but the Cross!

For I decided to know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Apostle Paul, 1 Cor 2:2

To many, even in the church today, the cross has become an offence. Sure, they claim that they do believe in the work of the cross. But, my question is what place does the cross take up in the preaching of these churches. Is the cross the central point of their existence, the way that the Bible portrays it? The cross is the culmination of all of salvation history. It is the focal point of all that the Old Testament era was pointing to.

Just as an example of a church that claims that the cross is central in its message. This church is having an Easter weekend celebration starting today (21 March 2008). Apart from the morning and evening services today, they are also having workshops during the day from Friday to Sunday. Workshops on marriage, our past (healing emotions), our future, our friends, etc.

From the list of workshops available, not one deals with the cross and its implications. Not one! And, there are 13 workshops. This omission says way more than the list of workshops do.

If it weren't for the cross, we would all be still in our sin. I would say that makes the cross, and the death that Christ died for the elect a very serious and central matter in Christianity!

However, what we preach about the cross is just as essential as the cross itself. Sure, many are preaching the cross, but they have removed the essentials of the message of the cross. They have removed the offense of the cross (Gal 5:11). Once we remove the offense of the cross, we are no longer preaching the cross.

Without rehashing what I have said before, I would like to point you once again to my article, "What is the Gospel? What is the foundation to the gospel?"

Please, think about the cross, and make it central to your life and message. Yet, not a cross without the cruelty that Christ suffered, or without the horror of sin, that took Him to the cross!