Tag: Christmas

God With Us (an Advent reflection)

On By Cole NewtonIn Advent, ThoughtsLeave a comment

All this took place to fulfill what the LORD had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Matthew 1:22-23

Jesus is the centerpiece of all human existence. His advent, His arrival  is the highest point of human history. The significance of His birth can be glimpsed by a quick thought upon our conception of time.

Chronologically, we divide existence into two eras. They are now being officially called the Common Era (C.E.) and Before Common Era (B.C.E.); however, they are still commonly called Anno Dominae (A.D.) and Before Christ (B.C.). Regardless of their name, the event, which serves to divide them, remains the same: the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel of Matthew seeks to capture the weight of this moment by revealing how every promise became fulfilled through Christ. Through a virgin birth, Jesus became the only one who can claim to be the offspring of woman. As a Jew, Jesus was the offspring of Abraham. Being of the tribe of Judah, Jesus could also trace His lineage back to king David.

Matthew concludes that because of these fulfilled promises that Jesus is the only one worthy to be called Immanuel, God with us. Jesus is the completion of the Old Testament, the hope underlining its entirety.

As the Promised One, Jesus alone is able to be called Mighty God[1].

He alone is the King whose kingdom will last forever and who will be worshipped by everyone from everywhere in every language[2].

Jesus alone is the meeting of heaven and earth.

He is God come down to deliver His people.

He is the innocent sacrifice that died to pay for the sins of His creation.

The incarnation of Jesus Christ cannot be overstated. It cannot be given too much importance. It is the very moment of God making Himself nothing for the sake of the merest of vanities such as us. Though our lives are like passing vapors in the winter air, God chose to dwell among us, to take on the form of humanity[3].

What is our central thought during this Christmas time, during this season of Advent? Like the rest of our lives, may it be consumed by the wonder that God would choose to save us by being with us.

[1] Isaiah 9:6

[2] Daniel 7:14

[3] Philippians 2:7

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Incarnation, Devotions, & Reading (Dec 23, 2016)

On By Cole NewtonIn Friday Reading ListLeave a comment

The Fullness of God Dwelled in a Womb

An excellent devotional from Jared Wilson.

10 Ideas and 10 Tips for Family Devotions in 2017

Great thoughts!

Less important than how you do family devotions is that you do family devotions.

Dad, take responsibility for family devotions. Lead your family by leading them to the Word and leading them in prayer.

Drop Everything and Read

Reading is not an activity for when everything else is done. It’s an activity to put in our schedules first. We must guard and protect this time to nourish our minds and our souls.

Birth of Jesus – Gospel of Luke Ch 1-2

A fantastic start to their new series covering the Luke’s Gospel… and just in time for Christmas!

Light for Those Who Sit in Darkness

This Christmas may God cause our hearts to explode with real joy over the salvation that comes through Jesus. If that is going to happen, we first need the courage to reckon seriously with the darkness within us. And if we do this, then we’ll truly appreciate that “a light has dawned” among us (Matthew 4:16).

Christmas, Sin, & Small Towns (Dec 2, 2016)

On By Cole NewtonIn Friday Reading ListLeave a comment

Here are a few articles from around the Internet that are worth reading.

A Plea to Pastors: Don’t Cancel Church on Christmas

Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, so why should we attend church on Christmas?

It’s the day we celebrate the incarnation, the birth of the Messiah, the entrance into our world of the second Person of Trinity. Don’t we want to sing? Don’t we want to celebrate? Don’t we want to preach and praise and pray?

Sin Will Never Make You Happy

With all eternity hanging in the balance, we fight the fight of faith. Our chief enemy is the lie that says sin will make our future happier. Our chief weapon is the truth that says God will make our future happier. And faith is the victory that overcomes the lie, because faith is satisfied with God.

Big Dreams and Blue Jeans

Since I pastor a church within a small town, it’s encouraging to remember that small towns matter in the kingdom of God.

How to Stop Despairing Over World Suffering and Start Addressing It

I believe we should act locally, specifically, and personally. We should start with the spheres closest to home, and then continue to reach out from there, as God gives time, money, and opportunity. Such giving combats some of the feelings of fatigue and guilt that come with knowledge of worldwide suffering. To stay stuck in that place of guilt is to remain in a selfish spot. But if we assume ourselves responsible for all the problems of the world, that also is a selfish response.

5 Christian Clichés That Need to Die

But one-liners aren’t always helpful. Sometimes, in our desire to simplify truth, we can trivialize and even obscure it. And to obscure the truth is to tell a lie.

Free Advent Ebook

On By Cole NewtonIn Advent, ThoughtsLeave a comment

The season of Advent begins November 27 this year, leading up to Christmas. 1

I love Advent because it helps us remember how long humanity waited for a Savior.

It emphasizes the glorious miracle of Jesus’ coming into the world that He created.

This ebook collects together the devotional thoughts that I posted during Advent last year, revised and edited.

I’ve hoped to provide a brief sweep through the entire Bible’s storyline, showing how the crucial the Advent of Christ is. Thus, the first devotion begins in Genesis 3, and the final one ends in Revelation 22.

Click here or on the book cover to download the ebook.

Come, Lord Jesus | Day 35

On By Cole NewtonIn Advent, ThoughtsLeave a comment

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.  (Revelation 22:20-21 ESV)

We now close our season of Advent with the final words of the Bible. Though being created good, the world was devastated by the sin of humanity, but even from the beginning, God promised to fix everything. He promised to send the Messiah, the serpent-crushing descendant of Abraham and David.

We have seen that Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies, decisively defeating sin by His death and resurrection. Then before ascending to heaven, Jesus promised to return, ushering in our eternal lives with Him.

This may be an obvious statement, but it’s worth saying: things are not perfect. The world is broken, fallen, and still in sin. We only need to watch the news to be reminded that things are not as they should be.

It is, therefore, important for us to understand that while Jesus’ saving work was entirely accomplished by His death and resurrection, His renewing and remaking work will not be fully seen until His return.

In many ways, we hopefully wait for Jesus’ second coming to make our faith sight. Though the decisive battle was won, we are still longing for the final battle against sin and death to be fought.

Yet our waiting is not to be spent staring up at the sky (Acts 1:11); instead, we are to faithfully live out the Jesus’ Great Commission to us.

Thus, we expectantly pray along with John: “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Since Christ will return without warning, do you live in such an obedient and faithful way that you can expectantly pray alongside John: “Come, Lord Jesus!”?

 

Death Shall Be No More | Day 34

On By Cole NewtonIn Advent, ThoughtsLeave a comment

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4 ESV)

The final three chapters of the Bible are absolutely beautiful. They provide for us a description of our eternal life with God. Following Christ’ return and the day of judgment, God establishes a new heaven and new earth where we will dwell with Him in our new and resurrected bodies.

Too often, we think of heaven as being an ethereal and spiritual place where we live like angels; however, such thoughts are not founded upon Scripture. Instead, we are told that our eternity will be spent upon the new earth that God formed.

We will also have renewed bodies that are without sin. God created us to have physical bodies, and He will give to us sinless, resurrected bodies for all eternity.

All of this is a return to Eden, a testament that our sin did not have the final word.

Revelation 20-22 is the reverse ordering of Genesis 1-3. Death enters the world in Genesis 3, and it is utterly removed in Revelation 20. And just as the Bible began with two chapters of sinless and deathless life with God, so the Bible also ends with two chapters of sinless and deathless life with God. This is the substance of our hope in Christ’s return: that He will finally, visibly, and completely remake the world and us, forever undoing the effects of sin, evil, and death.

Reading Revelation 21:3-4, what will make our eternal life full of joy and peace? What makes heaven heavenly?

 

Our Blessed Hope | Day 33

On By Cole NewtonIn Advent, ThoughtsLeave a comment

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:11-13 ESV)

Paul, writing to Titus, gives here a wondrous summation of Jesus’ first and second advent. He first states that in Christ the grace of God has come into the world, “bringing salvation for all people.” By His death and resurrection, Jesus redeemed “us from all lawlessness” and purified us for Himself as “a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (v. 14).” Indeed, Jesus saved us, redeemed us, purified us, and equips us to live godly lives.

But Paul also claims that in the midst of all of this, we are waiting for our blessed hope. He describes this hope as “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” This is the second coming of Christ. In His first advent, Jesus came as a servant, operating in a behind-enemy-lines manner that left most of the Jews doubting that He was really the Messiah.

Not so with the second advent. Revelation 19:11-21 gives us a clearer picture of Jesus’ appearing in glory. Splitting the sky in two, Christ will come back to earth upon a white horse with the armies of heaven behind Him. The Suffering Servant will establish His throne as Eternal King in the clear view of everyone. With His second coming Jesus will consummate the kingdom that He inaugurated with His first coming.

Considering also 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, in what ways is the second coming of Christ your blessed hope?