The Birth of the Ancient of Days

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37)

This is a great Christmas text even though it comes from the very end of Jesus’s life on earth, not the beginning.

Notice: Jesus says not only that he was born, but that he “came into the world.” The uniqueness of his birth is that he did not originate at his birth. He existed before he was born in a manger. The personhood, the character, the personality of Jesus of Nazareth existed before the man Jesus of Nazareth was born.

The theological word to describe this mystery is not creation, but incarnation. The person, not the body, but the essential personhood of Jesus existed before he was born as man. His birth was not a coming into being of a new person, but a coming into the world of an infinitely old person.

Micah 5:2 puts it like this, 700 years before Jesus was born:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

The mystery of the birth of Jesus is not merely that he was born of a virgin. That miracle was intended by God to witness to an even greater one; namely, that the child born at Christmas was a person who existed “from of old, from ancient days.”

And, therefore, his birth was purposeful. Before he was born he thought about being born. Together with his Father there was a plan. And part of that great plan he spoke in the last hours of his life on earth: “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).

He was the eternal Truth. He spoke only the truth. He acted out the greatest truth of love. And he is gathering into his eternal family all those who are born of the truth. This was the plan from ancient days.

John Piper 

December 21

John 20:10-18

[10] Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

[11] But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. [12] And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. [13] They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” [14] Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. [15] Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” [16] Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). [17] Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” [18] Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Revelation 18

The Fall of Babylon

[1] After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. [2] And he called out with a mighty voice, 

    “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

        She has become a dwelling place for demons,

    a haunt for every unclean spirit,

        a haunt for every unclean bird,

        a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. 

    [3] For all nations have drunk

        the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,

    and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,

        and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

    [4] Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, 

    “Come out of her, my people,

        lest you take part in her sins,

    lest you share in her plagues; 

    [5] for her sins are heaped high as heaven,

        and God has remembered her iniquities. 

    [6] Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,

        and repay her double for her deeds;

        mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. 

    [7] As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,

        so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,

    since in her heart she says,

        ‘I sit as a queen,

    I am no widow,

        and mourning I shall never see.’ 

    [8] For this reason her plagues will come in a single day,

        death and mourning and famine,

    and she will be burned up with fire;

        for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

    [9] And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. [10] They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, 

    “Alas! Alas! You great city,

        you mighty city, Babylon!

    For in a single hour your judgment has come.”

    [11] And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, [12] cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, [13] cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.

    [14] “The fruit for which your soul longed

        has gone from you,

    and all your delicacies and your splendors

        are lost to you,

        never to be found again!”

    [15] The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

    [16] “Alas, alas, for the great city

        that was clothed in fine linen,

    in purple and scarlet,

        adorned with gold,

    with jewels, and with pearls! 

    [17] For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.”

    And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off  [18] and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, 

    “What city was like the great city?”

    [19] And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, 

    “Alas, alas, for the great city

        where all who had ships at sea

        grew rich by her wealth!

    For in a single hour she has been laid waste. 

    [20] Rejoice over her, O heaven,

        and you saints and apostles and prophets,

    for God has given judgment for you against her!”

    [21] Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, 

    “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence,

        and will be found no more; 

    [22] and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,

        will be heard in you no more,

    and a craftsman of any craft

        will be found in you no more,

    and the sound of the mill

        will be heard in you no more, 

    [23] and the light of a lamp

        will shine in you no more,

    and the voice of bridegroom and bride

        will be heard in you no more,

    for your merchants were the great ones of the earth,

        and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. 

    [24] And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,

        and of all who have been slain on earth.”

Job 39

    [1] “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?

        Do you observe the calving of the does? 

    [2] 

    Can you number the months that they fulfill,

        and do you know the time when they give birth, 

    [3] 

    when they crouch, bring forth their offspring,

        and are delivered of their young? 

    [4] 

    Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;

        they go out and do not return to them.

    [5] 

    “Who has let the wild donkey go free?

        Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, 

    [6] 

    to whom I have given the arid plain for his home

        and the salt land for his dwelling place? 

    [7] 

    He scorns the tumult of the city;

        he hears not the shouts of the driver. 

    [8] 

    He ranges the mountains as his pasture,

        and he searches after every green thing.

    [9] 

    “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?

        Will he spend the night at your manger? 

    [10] 

    Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes,

        or will he harrow the valleys after you? 

    [11] 

    Will you depend on him because his strength is great,

        and will you leave to him your labor? 

    [12] 

    Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain

        and gather it to your threshing floor?

    [13] 

    “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,

        but are they the pinions and plumage of love? 

    [14] 

    For she leaves her eggs to the earth

        and lets them be warmed on the ground, 

    [15] 

    forgetting that a foot may crush them

        and that the wild beast may trample them. 

    [16] 

    She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;

        though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear, 

    [17] 

    because God has made her forget wisdom

        and given her no share in understanding. 

    [18] 

    When she rouses herself to flee,

        she laughs at the horse and his rider.

    [19] 

    “Do you give the horse his might?

        Do you clothe his neck with a mane? 

    [20] 

    Do you make him leap like the locust?

        His majestic snorting is terrifying. 

    [21] 

    He paws in the valley and exults in his strength;

        he goes out to meet the weapons. 

    [22] 

    He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

        he does not turn back from the sword. 

    [23] 

    Upon him rattle the quiver,

        the flashing spear, and the javelin. 

    [24] 

    With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;

        he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet. 

    [25] 

    When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’

        He smells the battle from afar,

        the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

    [26] 

    “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars

        and spreads his wings toward the south? 

    [27] 

    Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up

        and makes his nest on high? 

    [28] 

    On the rock he dwells and makes his home,

        on the rocky crag and stronghold. 

    [29] 

    From there he spies out the prey;

        his eyes behold it from far away. 

    [30] 

    His young ones suck up blood,

        and where the slain are, there is he.”

Haggai 1

The Command to Rebuild the Temple

[1] In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: [2] “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” [3] Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, [4] “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? [5] Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. [6] You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

[7] “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. [8] Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. [9] You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. [10] Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. [11] And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

The People Obey the LORD

[12] Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. [13] Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD’s message, “I am with you, declares the LORD.” [14] And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, [15] on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Haggai 2

The Coming Glory of the Temple

[1] In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: [2] “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, [3] ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? [4] Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, [5] according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. [6] For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. [7] And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. [8] The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. [9] The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

Blessings for a Defiled People

[10] On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, [11] “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: [12] ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” [13] Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” [14] Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. [15] Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the LORD, [16] how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. [17] I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD. [18] Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider: [19] Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

[20] The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, [21] “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, [22] and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. [23] On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts.”

Too Small a God to Worship

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’”

1 CORINTHIANS 2:7-9

 

PONDER THIS

I’m not trying to prove to you that Jesus is the Messiah. True faith is rooted in evidence, but it goes beyond evidence; true faith becomes its own best evidence. We can’t find God based on human reasoning. Nothing will hold anything beyond its own capacity. Do you think you can cram God into your mind? Your mind doesn’t have the capacity to contain God. So, don’t try to eliminate God because you don’t understand Him.

To have a God that I can worship, He must be a God greater than my mentality. If I could understand God, God would be no bigger than my intellect, which is far too small a god for me to worship. If we could understand God, we wouldn’t need God, but we don’t have to understand Him to know Him.

When I was a little boy, my dad used to go off to work. I didn’t know where he went, nor what he did, but I knew he was my dad; I knew him personally; and I loved him. You don’t have to understand how God runs the mighty Universe to put your faith and trust in Him. I’m telling you by faith you can know the Lord Jesus Christ.

When have you tried to understand God and His ways? What happened?

How have you seen God at work in some of the ways you couldn’t understand at the time?

PRACTICE THIS

Go to a place in nature that reminds you that God is bigger than you and bigger than anything you can understand. Sit for a while, praying and praising God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Christmas Solidarity

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

The assembly line of Satan turns out millions of sins every day. He packs them into huge cargo planes and flies them to heaven and spreads them out before God and laughs and laughs and laughs.

Some people work full-time on the assembly line. Others have quit their jobs there and only now and then return.

Every minute of work on the assembly line makes God the laughingstock of Satan. Sin is Satan’s business because he hates the light and beauty and purity and glory of God. Nothing pleases him more than when creatures distrust and disobey their Maker.

Therefore, Christmas is good news for man and good news for God.

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). That’s good news for us.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). That is also good news for God.

Christmas is good news for God because Jesus has come to lead a strike at Satan’s assembly plant. He has walked right into the plant, called for the Solidarity of the faithful, and begun a massive walkout.

Christmas is a call to go on strike at the assembly plant of sin. No negotiations with the management. No bargaining. Just single-minded, unswerving opposition to the product. We won’t be a part of making it anymore.

Christmas Solidarity aims to ground the cargo planes. It will not use force or violence, but with relentless devotion to Truth it will expose the life-destroying conditions of the devil’s industry.

Christmas Solidarity will not give up until a complete shutdown has been achieved.

When sin has been destroyed, God’s name will be wholly exonerated. No one will be laughing anymore.

If you want to give a gift to God this Christmas, walk off the assembly line of sin and don’t go back. Take up your place in the picket line of love. Join Christmas Solidarity until the majestic name of God is cleared, and he stands glorious amid the accolades of the righteous.

John Piper 

December 20

John 20:1-9

The Resurrection

[1] Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. [2] So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” [3] So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. [4] Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. [5] And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. [6] Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, [7] and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. [8] Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; [9] for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

Revelation 17

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

[1] Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, [2] with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” [3] And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. [4] The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. [5] And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” [6] And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. 

When I saw her, I marveled greatly.  [7] But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. [8] The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. [9] This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; [10] they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. [11] As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. [12] And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. [13] These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. [14] They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

[15] And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. [16] And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, [17] for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. [18] And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

Job 38:22-41

    [22] “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,

        or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, 

    [23] which I have reserved for the time of trouble,

        for the day of battle and war? 

    [24] What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,

        or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

    [25] “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain

        and a way for the thunderbolt, 

    [26] to bring rain on a land where no man is,

        on the desert in which there is no man, 

    [27] to satisfy the waste and desolate land,

        and to make the ground sprout with grass?

    [28] “Has the rain a father,

        or who has begotten the drops of dew? 

    [29] From whose womb did the ice come forth,

        and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? 

    [30] The waters become hard like stone,

        and the face of the deep is frozen.

    [31] “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades

        or loose the cords of Orion? 

    [32] Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,

        or can you guide the Bear with its children? 

    [33] Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?

        Can you establish their rule on the earth?

    [34] “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

        that a flood of waters may cover you? 

    [35] Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go

        and say to you, ‘Here we are’? 

    [36] Who has put wisdom in the inward parts

        or given understanding to the mind? 

    [37] Who can number the clouds by wisdom?

        Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, 

    [38] when the dust runs into a mass

        and the clods stick fast together?

    [39] “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,

        or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 

    [40] when they crouch in their dens

        or lie in wait in their thicket? 

    [41] Who provides for the raven its prey,

        when its young ones cry to God for help,

        and wander about for lack of food?

Zephaniah 3

Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

    [1] Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,

        the oppressing city! 

    [2] She listens to no voice;

        she accepts no correction.

    She does not trust in the LORD;

        she does not draw near to her God.

    [3] Her officials within her

        are roaring lions;

    her judges are evening wolves

        that leave nothing till the morning. 

    [4] Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men;

    her priests profane what is holy;

        they do violence to the law. 

    [5] The LORD within her is righteous;

        he does no injustice;

    every morning he shows forth his justice;

        each dawn he does not fail;

        but the unjust knows no shame.

    [6] “I have cut off nations;

        their battlements are in ruins;

    I have laid waste their streets

        so that no one walks in them;

    their cities have been made desolate,

        without a man, without an inhabitant. 

    [7] I said, ‘Surely you will fear me;

        you will accept correction.

    Then your dwelling would not be cut off

        according to all that I have appointed against you.’

    But all the more they were eager

        to make all their deeds corrupt.

    [8] “Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD,

        “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.

    For my decision is to gather nations,

        to assemble kingdoms,

    to pour out upon them my indignation,

        all my burning anger;

    for in the fire of my jealousy

        all the earth shall be consumed.

    The Conversion of the Nations

    [9] “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples

        to a pure speech,

    that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD

        and serve him with one accord. 

    [10] From beyond the rivers of Cush

        my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,

        shall bring my offering.

    [11] “On that day you shall not be put to shame

        because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;

    for then I will remove from your midst

        your proudly exultant ones,

    and you shall no longer be haughty

        in my holy mountain. 

    [12] But I will leave in your midst

        a people humble and lowly.

    They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD, 

    [13]     those who are left in Israel;

    they shall do no injustice

        and speak no lies,

    nor shall there be found in their mouth

        a deceitful tongue.

    For they shall graze and lie down,

        and none shall make them afraid.”

    Israel’s Joy and Restoration

    [14] Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;

        shout, O Israel!

    Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

        O daughter of Jerusalem! 

    [15] The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;

        he has cleared away your enemies.

    The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;

        you shall never again fear evil. 

    [16] On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

    “Fear not, O Zion;

        let not your hands grow weak. 

    [17] The LORD your God is in your midst,

        a mighty one who will save;

    he will rejoice over you with gladness;

        he will quiet you by his love;

    he will exult over you with loud singing. 

    [18] I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,

        so that you will no longer suffer reproach. 

    [19] Behold, at that time I will deal

        with all your oppressors.

    And I will save the lame

        and gather the outcast,

    and I will change their shame into praise

        and renown in all the earth. 

    [20] At that time I will bring you in,

        at the time when I gather you together;

    for I will make you renowned and praised

        among all the peoples of the earth,

    when I restore your fortunes

        before your eyes,” says the LORD.

Unlock the Mysteries

“‘To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.’”

ACTS 10:43

 

PONDER THIS

Would you like to understand the Old Testament? Well, there is a master key that unlocks the mysteries of the Old Testament: the Lord Jesus Christ. If you find a Christocentric approach to the Old Testament, it will burst into flame in your hands. As a matter of fact, if you read the Old Testament and you don’t find Jesus, you need to go back and reread it because you missed the message. The Old Testament is about the Lord Jesus Christ.

When people were challenging Jesus about His authenticity and His Messiahship, He looked them straight in the eye and said, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). When Jesus Christ said that, the New Testament as we know it didn’t exist. It was being formed, but it was not yet written. He was talking about the Old Testament.

Without Jesus, the Old Testament is a list of unexplained ceremonies that won’t make sense. If you try to live by the Old Testament without the Lord Jesus Christ, you will not make it. If you try to read the Old Testament without Him as your lens, you are missing God there.

Have you ever tried to read the Old Testament? What did you learn?

Why do you think there sometimes seems to be a disconnect between the Old Testament and the New Testament?

PRACTICE THIS

Praise God for He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Christmas Is for Freedom

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14–15)

Jesus became man because what was needed was the death of a man who was more than man. The incarnation was God’s locking himself into death row.

Christ did not risk death. He chose death. He embraced it. That is precisely why he came: “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

No wonder Satan tried to turn Jesus from the cross — in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1–11) and in the mouth of Peter (Matthew 16:21–23)! The cross was Satan’s destruction. How did Jesus destroy him?

Hebrews 2:14 says that Satan has “the power of death.” That means Satan has the ability to make death fearful. “The power of death” is the power that holds men in bondage through fear of death. It is the power to keep men in sin so that death comes as a dreadful thing.

But Jesus stripped Satan of this power. He disarmed him. He molded a breastplate of righteousness for us that makes us immune to the devil’s condemnation. How did he do this?

By his death, Jesus wiped away all our sins. And a person without sin cannot be condemned by Satan. Forgiven, we are finally indestructible. Satan’s plan was to destroy God’s rule by condemning God’s followers in God’s own courtroom. But now, in Christ, there is no condemnation. Satan’s treason is aborted. His cosmic treachery is foiled. “His rage we can endure, for, lo, his doom is sure.” The cross has run him through. And he will gasp his last before long.

Christmas is for freedom. Freedom from the fear of death.

Jesus took our nature in Bethlehem, to die our death in Jerusalem — all that we might be fearless in our city today. Yes, fearless. Because if the biggest threat to my joy is gone, then why should I fret over the little ones? How can you say (really!), “Well, I’m not afraid to die but I’m afraid to lose my job”? No. No. Think!

If death (I said, death! — no pulse, cold, gone!) if death is no longer a fear, we’re free, really free. Free to take any risk under the sun for Christ and for love. No more enslavement to anxiety.

If the Son has set you free, you shall be free, indeed!

John Piper