God With Us

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  (John 1:14 ESV)

For many, Christmas is nothing more than getting stuff and an excuse for unbridled revelry. Of course, this obscures its true meaning: the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Creator of the universe left eternity and entered time to take on a tent of human flesh and to live among us.  Not only that, He came on a rescue mission to save broken men and women from sin and death by living a sinless life and dying in our place on Calvary’s cross.   (Romans 5:10)

In addition, He triumphed over death by rising from the dead for our justification. (Romans 4:25, I Cor 15)

And He offers to us the gift of eternal life to us as a free gift.  (Romans 6:23) All we need to do to receive it is to repent from our sins and place our trust in Him as our Savior and Lord.  (Acts 3:19, Romans 10:9-10)

“Christ has not left going forth yet. And when he goes forth, recollect, he goes to Bethlehem. Have you a Bethlehem in your heart? Are you little? will go forth to you yet. Go home and seek him by earnest prayer. If you have been made to weep on account of sin, and think yourself too little to be noticed, go home, little one! Jesus comes to little ones; his goings forth were of old, and he is going forth now. He will come to your poor old house; he will come to your poor wretched heart; he will come, though you are in poverty, and clothed in rags, though you are destitute, tormented, and afflicted; he will come, for his goings forth have been of old from everlasting. Trust him, trust him, trust him; and he will go forth to abide in your heart for ever.” - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Keep Contending!

“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”  Jude 3 ESV

We are living in difficult times.  There is war, strife and uncertainty.  The world is permeated with doubt.  Postmodern thought has ushered in an era that champions unbelief in the guise of modesty.  Subjectivity is utterly pervasive.  However, the Bible tells us to contend for the faith.  What faith?   The once, for all delivered, faith.

The Christian faith has a historical basis.  Thousands of years of history undergird it.  From Adam and Eve in the garden, through Noah, Abraham, Moses, King David, the prophets and all the way to John the Baptist and culminating in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead for our justification, the Christian faith is based upon actual events. 

Our faith is, therefore, not subjective.  It is not only based upon historical facts and substantiated evidence, but that evidence has been documented in the Holy Bible.   The life of Jesus Christ is recorded in the four Gospels.  The history of the early church is recorded in the book of Acts, and the epistles lay down its doctrinal foundation.  Even though it was vilified, censored and destroyed, the Bible has miraculously survived through the centuries.  Based upon substantial documentary evidence, the Bible that we have today is over 99% intact and the other less than 1% has no bearing on any major doctrine.

Despite the ever-blowing “winds of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14), our faith is not amorphous and vacuous.  It is clearly defined and unchanging.  Despite those who “twist the Scriptures to their own destruction” (II Peter 3:16), Holy Scripture is our only standard for faith.  As the writer of Hebrews penned, "the Word of God is alive, powerful and sharper than any double-edged sword".  It penetrates all the way to our soul and spirit, the very essence of who we really are. (Hebrews 4:12)

As a result, we must “earnestly struggle for the system of religious truth that was conclusively transmitted to the believers in Christ”. (Jude 3, literal Greek translation)  We have to be ready and equipped to destroy every stronghold of doubt and every lofty human opinion that is in opposition to the true knowledge of God and bring it into conformity with His will and revelation. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Thoughts on the Gospel

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...” --1 Corinthians 15:1-4 ESV

I have been reading a lot of Michael Horton lately. I highly recommend his books: “Christless Christianity” and “The Gospel Driven Life”.  

In them, he emphasizes that the substance of the true Gospel is not what we do, but what has been done for us. The Gospel is not a “to do list”. It is not a list of rules and regulations. That is the law. And, according to Paul, we have “died to the law through the body of Christ...” (Romans 7:4 ESV)

It is the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried and was raised from the dead. The fact that He lived the righteous life that we are unable to live. The fact that His righteousness is imputed to us.

A lot of people today are trying to “live the Gospel”. This is a concept foreign to the Bible.  

We can’t live the Gospel, we can only proclaim the Gospel. Of course, Jesus Christ is our example. However, the Gospel is not “What Would Jesus Do?”. It is what Jesus did for all of us if we will only trust in Him.

Christ Our Passover

“Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” (1 Co 5:7 ESV)


At the beginning of John’s Gospel, John the Baptist makes a stunning announcement:  “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:36 ESV).  


To those who heard the announcement, these words held a special meaning.  During the Passover (or Pesach), a lamb without spot or blemish was sacrificed and the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts and lintels so that the angel of death would “pass over” the Jewish households and all of the first borns would live.


Just as God accepted the sacrifice of the Israelites who sprinkled the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, God sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to the cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  


Why did Jesus Christ have to die?  


According to Hebrews 9:22, without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin.  Romans 5:9 and Ephesians 1:7 say that we are redeemed and justified by the blood of Messiah.


Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life and died on the Roman cross as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of those who would put their faith in Him.  


God has imputed His perfect righteousness to all believers and has imputed our sin to Christ: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  (II Corinthians 5:21 ESV)


Not only that, He rose again from the dead to demonstrate His dominion over death and to assure us that we will also triumph over death:  “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.  Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”  (1 Corinthians 15:22–26 ESV)


This should be enough to cause us to rejoice!  For Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!


"But courage, believer! your body shall rise again. Laid in the earth it may be, but kept in the earth it cannot be. The voice of nature bids you die, but the voice of the Omnipotent bids you live again."  C. H. Spurgeon

Did We Miss Christmas?

The tree was beautifully decorated. Neatly-wrapped presents were placed underneath. Holly was in evidence and mistletoe hung over our heads. There was plenty of food on the table and merriment abounded. But, did we miss Christmas? Did we forget the real reason for the season?:

The fact that Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah of Israel, was born of a virgin in the little town of Bethlehem and came to live a perfectly righteous life and to die on a cross for the sins of all those who would put their faith in Him.

Our crass commercialization of Christmas has all but extinguished the message of the glorious Gospel.

Many of the songs we sing are largely devoid of meaning. Santa Claus, Christmas trees, yule logs, wreaths, sleighs and reindeer serve to obfuscate the message.

Even the gifts we give are a poor substitute for the greatest gift ever given to mankind--the hope of eternal life with God and the accompanying joys of heaven. In a world filled with hopelessness, pain, war and suffering, this is good news indeed.

Let's take a few moments to thank God for the wonderful gift that He gave to us: the gift of His Son:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

(John 3:16-17 ESV)

Trust in the Lord

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

Proverbs 3:5-6 have been my life verses for the last 32 years that I have been a Christian. They have provided me with strength and direction through some difficult times.

It is often difficult to trust in the Lord. We are constantly warring against our flesh, the world and the devil. These forces continually lead us away from the Lord.

However, the Bible clearly states that without faith it is impossible to please Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

We must not depend on our fallible understanding and intellect, but keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus.

"And when you trust God in spite of all outward appearances and surrounding circumstances, it is a comfortable proof to yourself that you are on good terms with God, that you are walking in sweet fellowship with him, and it is one of the most
blessed facts in your whole history." - Spurgeon

7 Facts About Hell

Flashback: It is the mid 1980s. I have been invited to speak at Calvary Mennonite Church—a small congregation in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood. My topic that Sunday morning: “The Reality of Hell”. As I started my sermon, something happened that I had never seen before. People rose from their seats and headed down the aisle towards the exits. I was stunned.

It was clear that the subject of my sermon hit a nerve. Many people did not want to hear anything about Hell. Little has changed in the last 25 years. People still don't want to hear about Hell. It is subject that is essentially “verboten” in many denominations and churches. Yet, it is a topic that is too important to ignore.

Recently, a book has been published by Rob Bell entitled: “Love Wins”. It essentially challenges the Biblical view of Hell and tries to replace it with a novel form of universalism—a concept completely foreign to Holy Scripture. Bell thinks that, in the end, God gets what He wants and love wins. People are given a second chance and hell is emptied. “Love Wins” has been embraced by many people including some that identify themselves as Christians and sits near the top of bestseller lists.

More recently, popular author Francis Chan (along with Preston Sprinkle) wrote: “Erasing Hell” in an attempt to counter Bell's book and provide a more Biblical perspective. Admittedly, Chan is not comfortable writing about Hell. It is a topic that he would love to erase from the Bible. However, he realizes it has been put there by God and it is something that we must accept.

It is refreshing to see that this topic is being written about and discussed so widely. As I said, it is too important to ignore. Souls are in the balance.

But what does the Bible really say about Hell and eternal punishment? In this article, I will attempt to unpack what the Bible reveals:

1. Hell is a real place. It has a location. It is not imaginary. It is not a state of mind. You don’t make our own “Hell here on earth” because of your actions. (Luke 16:19-31, Revelation 20:13-15)

2. Hell was not designed for man. It was “prepared for the devil and his angels”. (Matthew 25:41) The only reason that anyone will end up there is because they chose human effort over divine grace. They chose to believe a lie rather than the truth. (Romans 1:25) They failed to receive the free gift of Christ’s death on the cross as payment for their sins. (Romans 5:15-17)

3. Jesus talked more about Hell than anyone else in the Bible. He spoke of a place where the worm does not die. A place of unquenchable fire. A place of eternal suffering and torment. He spoke of the outer darkness. A place where their would be wailing and gnashing of teeth. If we believe Jesus when He says He is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, we must also believe what He says about Hell. (Mark 9:42-50, Matthew 8:12, Matthew 25:30, Matthew 5:22, Matthew 10:28, Luke 12:5)

4. It is a place of continuous and constant torment. It is eternal death--just as there will be eternal life to those who trust in Jesus. (Matthew 25:46, II Thessalonians 1:9) We should moan and wail just to think that anyone that we know may end up there. We should do everything in our power to make sure that they don’t. Pray. Witness. Testify. Give.

5. The Bible teaches us that there are degrees of punishment in Hell. The hottest parts are reserved for the most wicked. However, even the “most comfortable” places in Hell are infinitely worse than Heaven as all of its residents are still eternally separated from God. (Matthew 10:15, Matthew 11:21-24, Matthew 16:27, Luke 12:47-48, Hebrews 10:29)

6. God does not want you to go to Hell. He is not willing that anyone should perish but that all will come to repentance. (John 3:16-17, II Peter 3:9)

7. God has made provision for you to escape Hell through the sinless life, vicarious death and victorious resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:23-26, Romans 5:8-10, Colossians 1:13-14)

Receive God’s free gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ and escape the terrors of Hell.