More Proof

Matt 2:11 "And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

 

More proof of Jesus deity. I picture this: Mary, Joseph and Jesus are no longer in a cave or stable. Jesus was born and Joseph being the great Dad that he was, knew that they had to get out of there to a safer, cleaner environment. So, he looked around and found a place to stay. It was a house in Bethlehem. Now it is interesting to me that they did not go back to where they had traveled from originally. Instead they stayed in Bethlehem for a couple of years…living in this house.

 

The Wise men who knew how to study the night sky knew that they had to follow this unusual phenomena that was moving ahead of them. First they made a pit stop with King Herod who gave them some line about wanted to worship this child too. As they followed the star, it led them to this house. They knocked on the door and Joseph probably went to the door to see who was there. To his surprise he saw a bunch of guys with treasures. Pretty cool. I don't know what was said in that conversation at the door, but I can imagine it was something like they told King Herod…that they saw and followed the star and that they wanted to come in and present gifts to the baby who was now probably around two years old. Not only that, but they wanted to come in and worship Him.

 

Worship a baby? Why? I mean if this was just like any other child that is born into the world, why would some strangers want to come in and fall on their faces and worship Him? Now some of us have been accused of worshiping our kids, but not like this. These guys entered the house and fell down. They didn't trip on the carpet. They were forced down. They were filled with astonishment because they knew that they were in the presence of Someone that they had to get low before, so they got on their faces in His presence and they worshiped Him. Wait a minute. Didn't part of the 10 commandments say that you should only bow down to almighty God, no one or nothing else? How is it that these guys are bowing before this baby and worshiping Him? Duh! They knew that they were I the presence of God and they had to get low…fast.

 

Not only that, they gave some pretty cool gifts. Gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold was given to kings. Frankincense was incense offered up to gods. And myrrh was a spice used in burial. Jesus, this baby that the wise men worshiped was King, God and born to die.

 

I wonder why I don't fall on my face before Him? Too familiar? Too proud? No more.

 

Jehovah Saves

Matt. 1:21 "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins."

 

Two days ago I wrote about how God does not change. I noted that the word Lord is Jehovah which means "existing One". That the Lord is eternal. He has never had a beginning and He will never have an ending and in all of that He is consistent, constant, never ever changing. I made the case that this Jehovah is Jesus because of what it says in Hebrews where it says that Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Jesus also never changes. He has been the same for all time and eternity. I didn't realize at that time that I would be reading in Matthew today but look at what this verse says.

 

This verse describes the birth of Christ. The angel is communicating with Joseph telling him what is going to happen to Mary. The angel says that she is going to give birth. And before they had ultrasound Joseph knew the sex of the child…it was going to be a little boy. Now, what do parents do when they know the gender of their child before he or she is born? I know what Michelle and Jeremy did. They picked out a name. They would not tell us the name that they picked but they knew that Maddie was going to be Madeline before she was born. Madeline Ann Underwood. What a great name for an amazing little girl. Now she is here and is blessing all of us.

 

When Joseph found out that the baby was going to be a boy, he needed to come up with a name. Back then the name that was picked was usually a family name. (See Luke 1:61) He could have named Him Joseph or maybe even after his grandpa and named Him Jacob or his great grandpa and named Him Matthan. This, apparently, was not going to cut it…at a least not with the angel who was talking to Joseph because not only did the angel bring Joseph the news that this was going to be a boy, the angel also told him this little boy's name. He said: "You shall call His name Jesus." Jesus? Where did this name come from? How did the angel come up with this one? Did the angel grab a book of "What to name your baby" and figure out which one he liked? Hardly. This was a God thing in more ways than one.

 

First, this name was given from God through the angel. I don't think that Gabriel picked out the name. It was God, the baby's Father who determined the name. And God knew why He wanted this name. Just like many times we pick names and look at their meanings (we did with Michelle and Elise) so God picked a name because of its meaning. The angel then followed up this announcement with why he was giving this name. Because Jesus would save His people from their sins. The angel was saying: "Jesus saves". Jesus delivers. Jesus rescues. Jesus pulls His people out of the pit of sin and despair and guilt and depression and eternal damnation. It is Jesus who does this. It is only Jesus who does this. This was Jesus' life goal. Right away God placed on Jesus His purpose even before His birth. "Jesus, you are born to save."

 

The weird thing is this, and this is what takes me back to what I wrote two days ago: Jesus saves. The name Jesus actually means: "Jehovah saves". Not only is the Lord, Jehovah God unchanging and Jesus is unchanging, Jesus is Jehovah because He is the One who saves. His name says it all.

 

This Lord, this Jehovah, this God, this little baby that was about to be born…this Jesus, was God in the flesh coming "so that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:17

 

Lord Jesus, thank you for rescuing me.

God is Not Fickle

Mal 3:6a "For I am the Lord, I do not change..."

 

This is such a cool verse with an amazing truth. (Not hard to memorize either.) Why is it cool? Because it is kind of redundant. "For I am the Lord." Lord is Jehovah and Jehovah means "existing one"…eternal one. So this verse says "I am the eternally existing One, I do not change." Get it? If God is eternal, if He has always been in existence, then I would think that the One who is eternal is also unchanging. The truth is this: God is the same today as He was before the world was even created. And God is the same today as He will be a million years from now. Constant. Consistent. Reliable. True.

 

Kind of sounds like a familiar verse in Hebrews that says: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Heb. 13:8 Let's see. If God never changes and Jesus never changes what does that make Jesus? No one else can make this claim. I certainly change, probably every day or more often than that. But Jesus never changes and God never changes The truth here is that this is another verification that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. They have exactly the same nature: Eternality.

 

The beauty in all of this is the fact that I don't have a fickle God. I don't have to worry that He is going to change in His love for me. I don't have to worry that He is going to fly off the handle one day because He is mad. I can trust that His love for me is the same no matter what I do. In fact, this verse backs that up. "For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed…" Thank God for that! His patience is eternal as well. Does God get frustrated with us? Is He grieved because of dumb things I do? I believe that He is, but He can't deny His character and His character is loving. His character is merciful. His character is gracious. His character is long suffering. And because of this, the world has not been consumed.

 

Just think if God did not have these character qualities, this place would have been toast a long time ago. But God is consistent and He is watching and waiting. He is the eternal God who is going to someday judge the world with fire, but Peter reminds us that He is not slacking around about this promise, but rather is exhibiting His great patience waiting for many to come to repentance. (I Pet 3:7-10)

 

I thank God that He is constant. I praise Him that He is not fickle. When I think about the dumb things I do and say any mortal would say: "Forget you." But not God. Because He is immortal. He is eternal. He never changes. Thank You.

Think Again

Mal 3:5 "'And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien-because they do not fear Me.' Says the Lord of hosts.

 

What happens when we don't fear God? We do dumb things. We ignore His heart. We become our own bosses and do what we want instead of what God wants. When that happens, look out. He will come and judge and be a witness against us. Tough, the witness and the judge are the same and it is the Holy God of the universe. I wonder why we think that we can do our own thing and forget what God wants? I mean, how can we be so pompous? But we are.

 

Look at the stupid stuff we do. Some people get involved in witchcraft. Now most of us would say:
"Sure. Those people should be judged by God." Not so fast. Look what comes next. Adulterers. Now in this society, that would include a ton of people. And God says: "I am going to be a witness against you and judge you because you don't fear me and you want to have sex whenever you want and with whomever you want." Not only that, but remember what Jesus said about lust. That is adultery. This is getting tough. Then look. God is going to judge perjurers. This actually means "false swearers". How many of us are guilty of doing this? Not just in a court of law, but of not telling the truth, or breaking a promise. Why do we do it? We don't fear God. Then look…and this is where it can get political. Against those who exploit wage earners, widows and orphans and who turn away aliens.

 

SB 5 is a huge issue in Ohio. Wisconsin is going through it right now as well. I understand the need to get our budgets under control and I realize that a lot of money is being paid out right now for wages and benefits and pensions. The problem is, this can be a slippery slope. If the end result is fairness, then great. But if the end result is to exploit wage earners then the Judge is coming.

 

Then another hot political issue: Immigration. Turning away aliens. This is a tough call. How do we treat people with respect, honor and dignity and care about them? This is God's heart. God's heart is that we care about those who are the little guy. God's heart is that we treat those who have no power with equity. The wage earner, the orphan, the widow, the alien. When we do we show that we fear God. When we don't, we show that we are a law to ourselves and God will stand as a witness and judge against us.

 

Obviously, as a conservative guy, this is causing me to rethink some of the things that are going on out there right now.

Teach the Truth

Mal 2:5,6 "My covenant was with him (Levi), one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear me; So he feared Me and was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity."

 

What is a covenant? It is a solemn promise…a binding agreement between parties. Basically it is a legally binding contract. If I say that I will do one thing, you promise to do another thing.

 

God made a covenant to Levi in Deut 33 where he said: "For they have observed your word and kept Your covenant." What was it? "They shall teach Jacob Your judgments and Israel Your law. They shall put incense before you, and a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar." That was what the priest promised to do. If he did it this what God said that He would do: "Bless his substance, Lord, and accept the work of his hands; Strike the loins of those who rise against him and of those who hate him, that they rise not again." In other words, if the priest was faithful in teaching the truth to Israel and maintained pure sacrifices, God would bless his work and provide abundantly for him. He would also protect him from those who rose up against him.

Malachi simply reiterates this covenant. God's desire, his promise was for life and peace for His guys. The priest was to teach and live in a way that showed that he feared and revered God. The way that he did that was by teaching truth and justice. If he did, the kept promise of God was a life of peace and equity.

Now I think about those of us today who are called upon to teach. The following verse applies to us as well: "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts." V7 Pretty solemn. Pretty serious. Pretty humbling. Teach the truth. Keep knowledge. Don't avoid difficult issues. Hit them head on. Speak the truth…speak it lovingly, but speak it. Don't sugarcoat it. Don't worry whether people will be offended. Don't be concerned if you are considered intolerant. This will happen…but look what else will happen: "And turned many away from iniquity." People's lives will be changed…forever! That is a life of peace and blessing. God will keep His word.

As I get ready to talk, God, let me speak the truth, boldly, honestly, lovingly.

A Great Name

Mal. 1:11 "'For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations.' Says the Lord of hosts."

This is almost a follow up from the any questions, question that was asked through Zechariah. The Lord shall be King over all the earth…the Lord is one, and now through a different prophet, Malachi: "My name shall be great among the Gentiles…My name shall be great among the nations." This is not anyone else's name. This is God's name. This is the Lord of hosts' name. There is no wiggle room here. There is no shared greatness. This is God the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the God who at the beginning of this chapter said: "Jacob I have loved; but Esau I have hated." This is the same God who is referred to in Romans 9 when this quote was used. This is the God of the Bible. It is no one else. God did not stutter. He refers to His name three times in this verse. He wanted Israel to get this right. He wants us to get this right. It is the one and only true God of creation. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

And He repeats another word in this verse: "Great". Great among the Gentiles and great among the nations. The name of God is going to be great, large, intense, important, distinguished. God will be exalted. And this is the cool thing, even though Malachi is writing to the nation of Israel, he is telling them that God is not just for them. He is for the Gentiles. He is for the nations. Everyone is going to experience this. No one is going to be left out. All day long. From the rising of the sun, even to its going down God's name will be the most important thing in the world.

The problem was, the nation of Israel forgot this. They were more concerned about their stuff. They wanted to keep the good stuff for themselves and give God the leftovers. They were not offering the best to God. Instead they were giving Him the blind and the lame and the sick. They were distracted from His greatness.

The problem is, we forget this too. We get distracted. We want to keep the good stuff for ourselves too. We don't give God our best. We may think about praying sometimes, but we have so many other things to do, we can just shoot up a prayer to God when we get the time or when we absolutely need help. We feed out bodies. We eat three meals a day but we don't have the time to feed our inner man through God's word. We want something so we go out and buy it and we are not generous to others and we give God a tip at church. We are no better than these people Malachi was writing to 2400 years ago. We lose sight of the fact that God's name is not just going to be great, it is great now. It is exalted now. It is important now. This is His reputation. There is nothing else that can compete with Him.

God help me. You deserve my best. Your name is great all the time. Let me honor it all the time.

Any Questions?

Zech 14:9 "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be - 'The Lord is one,' and His name is one. "

Any questions? This verse kind of summarizes what is going to happen in the future. Zech 14 lays out how the nations will gather to battle against Jerusalem. Guess what? They will not succeed. In fact, the description of what will happen to those people sounds like it came out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Or maybe this where they got the idea.) "Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths." V12

In the end this is what we will see: "The Lord shall be King over all the earth." There will not be any superpowers in that day. No king, president or emperor will rule anything. There will be only one King. One superpower. One sovereign…the Lord…Jehovah…the eternally existing One. He will be King and everyone will know it.

In that day it shall be: "The Lord is one and His name is one." In other words, God and God alone. Not only will there not be any superpowers, there will not be any other religions. Even though it may sound intolerant, there is only one true religion and it will be revealed in that day. Only one God will rule, only one God will be in charge, only one God will be worshipped. In that day only Jesus will reign. Even though this sounds intolerant one day "every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that (only) Jesus is Lord". (Phil. 2) There is no other. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, Christians…we will all bow to only one King…King Jesus. And again although this sounds intolerant Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) The Lord is one and His name is one. That is it. That is all. It is best to embrace this now. Bow now. Accept this truth now.

Any questions?