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Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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Christmas in the Light

Christmas in the Light

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The coming of Christ was like the dawning of the day. The Apostle John framed his coming this way, “The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth (1Jo 2:8).” This was nothing less than what the Prophet Isaiah had foretold in his wonderful words, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined (Isa. 9:2). Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. (Isa 60:1).”

Christmas is the celebration of God opening the curtains, and exposing to mankind how dark indeed was the darkness in which we were living. He sent His Son, to be the light, in order to show us how to be truly human. Since His advent, we now live in the day, not in the dark.

Your sin cannot hide from God, so don’t pretend it can. Your lies & evasions won’t cloud the Son of Righteousness that has arisen. The Church’s task is to teach the world to live in the Light of Christ’s glory. This is why we make a habit of confession of sins.

Christmas calls you to humble yourself, and confess your sins one to another. It summons you to curb your lusts by the power of the Spirit. You can no longer slink around in the dark alleys of spite, sloth, or slander. Christ’s coming means that every hidden drawer, closet, and cave are bathed in His Kingdom’s Light.

All the current convulsions of our culture are from its insane attempt to try to go back into the pre-Bethlehem darkness. But the powers and principalities are overthrown. Christ is King of this planet. We live in the Light, as He is in the Light, because He is the Light of the World.

Always remember, it is a mercy whenever your sin comes to light. You ought not think that keeping your sins hidden is for the best, or that it is even possible. We most certainly live in a time when rebellious men are attempting to bring the world back into shadow. But, whenever we avoid hard conversations, refusing to bring our sin into the Light, we have joined that foolish project of trying to live as if Christmas never happened. So as the Psalmist said, “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles (Ps. 43:3).”

Refusing to confess your sin is like trying to live in the White Witch’s Christmas-less winter. But when you confess your sin to God, and to those you’ve sinned against, Christmas has indeed come.

The Brightest Light & the Darkest Night

The Brightest Light & the Darkest Night

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Introduction

In Adam the human race declared war with God. We became a rebel kingdom; sunk in the darkness of the blackest night of hatred toward God. We want to rule ourselves, to determine good and evil by our own reckoning, and worship at the altar of self-glory. Our position before God is that of traitors and rebels. Left to our own devices we will not seek God, nor reconciliation with Him. Yet, we were made to enjoy the fellowship of His glorious presence. We hate this darkness, but we hate the light of God’s holiness more. The good news is that the Son has risen; and His light brings life.

The Text

1 John 1:5-10

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Summary of the Text

John’s introduction (vs.1-4) is no innocuous greeting. It is laden with theological and philosophical claims regarding Jesus Christ, concluding with the crescendo that this is all written that our joy may be full. The message which John heard from Jesus and declares unto us is that God is light, and there is not a shred of darkness in him (v5). This is followed by five “if/then” statements; these are foundational to John’s later discussion of antichrists (1 Jn. 2:18, 4:1-3) and assurance (1 Jn. 2:3).

First, claiming to have fellowship with God, yet continuing in the darkness of error, is evidence that you are a liar like your father Satan (v6, cf. Jn. 8:44). Second, walking in the light results in fellowship with God and His people, and being cleansed from sin through the blood of Jesus (v7). Third, claiming to be without sin is self-deception and is a tell-tale sign of the absence of truth (v8). Fourth, confessing our sins brings the assurance that Christ is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse from unrighteousness (v9). Finally, claims to sinlessness blaspheme God’s holiness, and prove that His word (by which we are born again, cf. 1 Pt. 1:23) is not in the one who claims to be without sin (v10).

God is Light

This is Jesus’ message, not John’s. John has simply been sent to proclaim. While later on John teaches that “God is love (1 Jn. 4:8),” he doesn’t lead with that. Rather, Jesus’ message is: “God is light!” Light here encompasses all of God’s perfections: His white hot purity of being. All of His divine attributes in perfect concord, no disharmony, no external source. As the hymn states: “Self-fed, self-kindled like the light, changeless, eternal, infinite.” His holiness, wisdom, understanding, and power. All without mixture, defect, or deficiency.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus’ declared: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (Jn. 8:12).” [epq-quote align=”align-right”]Following Jesus is man’s only path out of the darkness of sin and into the glorious light of God’s favor in which is found abundant, eternal life.[/epq-quote]Following Jesus is man’s only path out of the darkness of sin and into the glorious light of God’s favor in which is found abundant, eternal life. Jesus’ Gospel is quite simple: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (Jn. 3:36).” This is why we confess our belief that Jesus is “God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made.”

Light for the Greek mind would signify knowledge, wisdom, understanding; for the Jew, it would be understood in the context of God’s creating power and thus His holiness as the Almighty God. The Jews’ longing for the promised Messiah who would restore holiness to the people of God, and the Greek longing for true wisdom are found in the light of Jesus Christ: God in the flesh, the eternal Word of Life, and the lone Mediator between God and Man, our only way to fellowship with God (Jn 14:6). The pathway to life was not through the dark promises of the gnostic’s hidden knowledge, nor in the shadowy figures of the Old Testament. The life-giving light of God’s holiness and wisdom shine in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

However, “What communion hath light with darkness (2 Cor. 6:14)?” How can God’s holiness and our sinfulness be reconciled? By a Mediator of the covenant: the man Jesus Christ. While many attempt to exalt the love of God to a place of supremacy within God’s attributes, and while it is a glorious reality that God is love, we must remember God is light and God is love.  Light before love. Holiness which endures no sin subsisting with affectionate charity which grants mercy. John lays the foundation of God’s holiness, in order to reveal His lovingkindness.

If Then

These if/thens are promise language. You experience the light of God’s holiness, wisdom, and power as either wrath and justice or love and mercy. In order to be saved from God’s wrath we must be convinced of our positional guilt in Adam, and receive the positional righteousness of Christ. False Christology always leads to man’s sin not being dealt with or forgiven. These false gospels explain away sin. Covenant breakers insist on finding in themselves, or in some antichrist, a savior. They always run to one extreme or the other: hedonism or asceticism; intellectualism or sentimentalism; traditionalism or spontaneity; legalism or licentiousness. So they remain under the wrath of God.

New Covenant Saints walk in the light–which is the Lord Jesus Christ–for in His light is the only hope for propitiation of our sins (1 Jn. 2:2) and eternal life (1 Jn. 2:25). Tozer once said: “We must hide our unholiness in the wounds of Christ as Moses hid himself in the cleft of the rock while the glory of God passed by. We must take refuge from God in God.” Matthew Henry put it wonderfully: “[Jesus Christ’s] blood applied to us discharges us from the guilt of all sin, both original and actual, inherent and committed: and so far we stand righteous in his sight; and not only so, but his blood procures for us those sacred influences by which sin is to be subdued more and more, till it is quite abolished.”

Do The Truth

False saviors can only offer false righteousness. Jesus Christ offers cleansing from our unrighteousness. Antichrists command us to do; Christ commands us to rest in His doing. Claiming to have fellowship with God, while walking in the darkness of a false gospel, is the vanity of “doing not the truth (v.6).” They remain blind corpses.

By contrast, if you are to “do the truth,” you must believe in Jesus and all that He claimed to be: the one mediator between God and man. By faith you are united with Him in His righteousness. The light of Christ pierces through the darkness of unbelief, and by grace opens the eyes of your faith to behold in Him your only salvation from sin and means of fellowship with Almighty God (cf. Ps. 36:9 & Is. 45:22). Christ is the only channel whereby eternal life is extended to you, along with the fullness of enjoying the Father’s love. So as you walk in the light of Jesus Christ, you are reckoned righteous and may say with John, “what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God (1 Jn. 3:1).”

Unstoppable and Unmistakeable

Unstoppable and Unmistakeable

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The Text

Matthew 5:13-16

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Salt

Salt was a bountiful resource in Israel, due to the Dead Sea. Most of it was pristine quality. However, sometimes there was simply “saltless salt” that had no flavor and was more like gravel; this latter kind was then only useful for being traction on slick surfaces during the rainy winter months. This thought of being tread underfoot, carried with it a shamefulness. It was supposed to bring great flavor to food, and was vital for preserving food during the winter months. Thus, “saltless salt” was devoid of the very thing it was useful for, and the only thing it could be used for is shamefulness of being trampled. Salt is able to permeate the flavor of the whole dish, but saltless salt is hopeless. There’s no way to infuse salt with “salt-flavor”.

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]Jesus intends his disciples to go out into the world and change the world by their presence.[/epq-quote]The positive lesson is that Jesus intends his disciples to go out into the world and change the world by their presence. Meat without being salted will quickly rot; however, meat that has been salted is entirely changed and is preserved. You don’t need a lot of salt to affect change in a whole dish. Once mixed into a dish, salt is an unstoppable force flavoring agent.

The negative warning is that if we claim to be followers of Jesus, but lack the very character which he describes we ought to have (changing the world with the good news of His kingdom), we are useless salt. We are shameful. We are no good for anything but being trampled by every passer-by. Notice that Jesus uses the idea of being a shame to motivate his hearers to be an active and unstoppable force in the world.

Light

This world is described in the Old Testament (Isa. 60:2) as being “in darkness”. The coming of Jesus, is described in terms of the sun dawning. But here Jesus tells his disciples that they are the light of the world. Meaning, they are receiving the light which he brings in order to go into the darkest corners and bring the light with them.

Jesus came to establish his kingdom in this world, the reference to “a city on a hill” carries with it a reminder that the church is a heavenly city. This kingdom of light which he was establishing was to be unmistakeable. A city atop a hill is evident to the entire surrounding countryside.

After the sun set in ancient times, there wasn’t the “light-pollution” of our modern electrical cities. So, interaction in a home after nightfall was entirely dependent on however many oil lamps the family could afford. The lamps in those one-room dwellings was usually placed on a special shelf that it might be unmistakeable. If it was smothered under a basket, you might not know it was there, but if it was brightly burning above you, you would most certainly be aware of its presence.

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]For Jesus, good works are not an end in themselves, they are intended to be subordinate to the ultimate aim of glorify God.[/epq-quote]Jesus tells his disciples that by shining their lights–whose source was in Him–there are two goals in view: that men may see the good works of Christians, and that men would glorify the Father. For Jesus, good works are not an end in themselves, they are intended to be subordinate to the ultimate aim of glorify God.

Better Than Advice

These words are given directly to Jesus’ disciples who had gathered to hear him preach and teach. Thus, when he says “You are”, he intends those who are his followers, his disciples, those who will hear and obey his word. This is a word for Christians. Jesus doesn’t simply represent a man who taught nice moral lessons, rather this “Sermon on the Mount” is permeated with symbolism that should make us think of Moses on Mt. Sinai, bringing God’s law to his people. In this way, Jesus is acting as a new lawgiver, an authority to be obeyed, not simply advice to be taken.

The end He has in view is that His disciples would go out into the world and that by their good work of Gospel living & proclamation, the dark and unsalted corners of the world would be brought into the Kingdom of God. In the nations being brought to glorify God, they are then displaying what the chief end of mankind is: to glorify God & enjoy Him forever. In sum, the command Jesus gives to His disciples is that they would be as unstoppable as salt (changing the flavor of the world), and as unmistakeable as light (bringing those in darkness to see and then glorify God).

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Skinning the Sheep

Skinning the Sheep

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A pastor friend of mine, Shawn, is fond of saying, “You can either scream at the darkness, or you can light a candle.” More

Eduardo Amorim via Compfight cc
Eduardo Amorim via Compfight cc

3552731927_342fe5041b3552731927_342fe5041band more I have seen the wisdom of that statement. Christians can see darkness a mile away, and get really loud about it. Yet, we are not so swell at being, well, you know, the whole “light of the world thing.” Christians are often appalled at the wickedness of the culture and the compromise within the Church. I did a little research before I wrote this, and you can find whole websites devoted to “unveiling” all the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Apparently, some guy who owns a website finds it to be his personal commission from God to lump Oswald Chambers, Charles Spurgeon, John Piper, CS Lewis, Joel Osteen and Oprah into one massive heretical lump.

[Read more…] about Skinning the Sheep

Ben Zornes