Blogger's Note: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!!!
Passage of the Day: Philippians 2: 9, 11 [see highlight passage in bold/underlined] … 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Journal for Today: Everything Jesus did, through His incarnation, which we celebrate on this date, and through His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and exaltation, was/is for the glory of God, The Father (see Phil. 2: 11). It is true that God, The Father, declares Himself to be the One and only God (see Exodus 20: 2 – 3 and Isaiah 45: 5a). However, as MacArthur relates in today’s Strength for Today entry, both Matt. 17: 5 and John 5: 23 declare, from the majesty of the Trinity, that all who honor God, The Son, give glory to God, The Father. They are One; and our lives are lived to glorify our TRINITARIAN God.
Therefore, as I meditate here on Christmas morning, I’m drawn, with conviction, to the realization that when I confess Christ as my Lord and I live in obedience to His word, doing all I can to reflect His Light into the world, I give honor and glory to The Father just as did His Son, Jesus (see Matt. 5: 16). And when the fruit of God [see Gal. 5: 22 – 23], the Spirit, are manifest in my life, again God, The Father, is glorified (see John 15: 8).
So, in this time of Advent reflection and celebration of Christ’s birth, we see that Christ’s exaltation by God, The Father, was to affirm that Christ would be glorified by His Church; and in so doing, God, The Father becomes greatly glorified. And likewise, when we worship Christ as our Lord with lives being directed by the Holy Spirit, we become the “living sacrifices” described by Paul in Rom. 12: 1; and in so doing we bring glory to our Father in Heaven. It is perfect circular redundancy; and the more it becomes our life of worship, we live to be God’s glory.
That is what all of this Christology has been about this month. I pray that it has touched you the way it has me; and tomorrow we switch to another passage from Paul in Colossians to round out these last few days in December; so, stay tuned!
My Prayer Today: On this special day to honor my Lord’s birth, may my life be lived to honor You, my Father in Heaven. Amen
Showing posts with label Advent season. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advent season. Show all posts
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Monday, December 05, 2011
December 5, 2011 … Christ Remained God
Passage of the Day: Philippians 2: 6 - 7 [see highlight passage in bold/underlined] … 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Journal for Today: In all of this discussion from Phil. 2: 5-11 about Christ becoming a human – a man – it is important for Christians to understand that Christ did not lose any of His deity. Yes, as Jesus, The Christ, did empty Himself of His glorious POSITION in the Godhead for a season of earthly time. However, He lost none of the PERSON of God in the process. And so, rather than losing anything in the emptying process, Christ’s choice of manhood to fulfill the Old Covenant actually added humanity to his Godhood, the second Person of the Trinity.
In His discussion of this emptying by Christ in Strength for Today, John MacArthur, reminds or enlightens his readers that the incarnation of Christ required what is called “kenosis” in theology, which comes from the Greek verb “kenoo,” found in today’s text. When one reads the connecting phrase, “…but made Himself nothing …” in the NIV above, in the NASB it is translated, “…but emptied Himself;” and the term “emptied” is that Greek word, “kenoo,” which literally means “to empty or make void.”
It is difficult – well really, impossible - for my finite mind to fully comprehend the extent of Christ’s sacrifice in this process of voiding His claim to His glory and majesty in His incarnation while He became a human. But it is truth. He lost nothing of His Godhood; and we see that often in the New Testament account of His life and ministry. For example, we read [in Matt. 8, Mark 4, or Luke 8] where He calmed a raging storm with a simple command. How often do we read of Christ speaking or gesturing and bringing complete healing to people who had had lifelong physical or health maladies or even raising the dead to life? So, we know of Jesus’ full deity as was evidenced in Scripture. He was 100% God and 100% Man. However, to become man, Jesus had to lay aside [i.e., empty Himself of] His heaven-bound glorious majesty for that time on earth when he would carry out the will of the Father and fulfill all the prophesies for The Messiah … until the time when He was resurrected and ascended again into Heaven to be re-glorified and re-crowned in majesty by God, The Father, as the King of Kings for eternity.
To me this passage of Scripture (i.e., Phil. 2: 6 – 11) is the best Christmas story of all; and there is even more to it. … So, in this Advent Season, stay tuned for more!
My Prayer Today: How blessed I am that You, Lord, became a man … for me … and all who read here! Amen
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Journal for Today: In all of this discussion from Phil. 2: 5-11 about Christ becoming a human – a man – it is important for Christians to understand that Christ did not lose any of His deity. Yes, as Jesus, The Christ, did empty Himself of His glorious POSITION in the Godhead for a season of earthly time. However, He lost none of the PERSON of God in the process. And so, rather than losing anything in the emptying process, Christ’s choice of manhood to fulfill the Old Covenant actually added humanity to his Godhood, the second Person of the Trinity.
In His discussion of this emptying by Christ in Strength for Today, John MacArthur, reminds or enlightens his readers that the incarnation of Christ required what is called “kenosis” in theology, which comes from the Greek verb “kenoo,” found in today’s text. When one reads the connecting phrase, “…but made Himself nothing …” in the NIV above, in the NASB it is translated, “…but emptied Himself;” and the term “emptied” is that Greek word, “kenoo,” which literally means “to empty or make void.”
It is difficult – well really, impossible - for my finite mind to fully comprehend the extent of Christ’s sacrifice in this process of voiding His claim to His glory and majesty in His incarnation while He became a human. But it is truth. He lost nothing of His Godhood; and we see that often in the New Testament account of His life and ministry. For example, we read [in Matt. 8, Mark 4, or Luke 8] where He calmed a raging storm with a simple command. How often do we read of Christ speaking or gesturing and bringing complete healing to people who had had lifelong physical or health maladies or even raising the dead to life? So, we know of Jesus’ full deity as was evidenced in Scripture. He was 100% God and 100% Man. However, to become man, Jesus had to lay aside [i.e., empty Himself of] His heaven-bound glorious majesty for that time on earth when he would carry out the will of the Father and fulfill all the prophesies for The Messiah … until the time when He was resurrected and ascended again into Heaven to be re-glorified and re-crowned in majesty by God, The Father, as the King of Kings for eternity.
To me this passage of Scripture (i.e., Phil. 2: 6 – 11) is the best Christmas story of all; and there is even more to it. … So, in this Advent Season, stay tuned for more!
My Prayer Today: How blessed I am that You, Lord, became a man … for me … and all who read here! Amen
Sunday, December 04, 2011
December 4, 2011 … Christ’s Equality With God
Passage of the Day: Philippians 2: 6b [see highlight passage in bold/underlined] … 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Journal for Today: Today we focus on the second phrase in Phil. 2: 6; and it’s truly a remarkable truth, … one which the religious leaders who opposed Jesus in His day could not understand. Even today, with all the historical information we have, many people refuse to try to understand the truth about Jesus. And here’s where I think I have some empathy for the Pharisees of Christ’s day. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I hope that I wouldn’t have been so prideful in my position that I would be willing to plot the death of this One Who claimed to be The Messiah. But if I had learned about the God of Abraham the way the Pharisees had, with all the religious training and traditions of the day, it probably would have been difficult, if not impossible for me in that day to understand how this Jesus, the son of a simple carpenter in Nazareth, could claim to be One with “Elohim” or “Jehovah,” the God whom the Jews worshipped as the One true God.
And so, how could we expect the people of Christ’s day to understand how He, the God-Man, would be willing to release Himself from the holdings of glory and His favored position as the 2nd Person of the Trinity? And then to carry this through to the conclusion where we see Him completely fulfilling every one of the Messianic prophesies of the Old Testament, … becoming one of us, being rejected by His own, being humiliated and then, being executed so that His shed blood could allow all who believe in Him as Savior/Lord, by His grace, to share in His glory forever. How could the people of Christ’s day accept this because it’s difficult for theologians and religionists of today to get their minds around that truth as well?
Can any who might read this grasp and believe this greatest Christmas story ever told, where God, The Son, willingly decided to release Himself from His glorified place in the God-Head and become a babe in a manger … to grow to manhood … and to march to the cross so that the greatest gift of all time would become our “Christ Mass,” … this wondrous time when we can celebrate the birth of our Savior? I don’t think I will ever truly understand the full implications of what The Son of God did for me; but His humble decision to be incarnated into humanity, His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His coronation, and His re-glorification have given me the picture I need to see of the One Whom I believe is Lord and Savior and the One Whom I know has given me eternal life.
It may be too much for my mind to grasp; but not my heart – which is His. I pray that you too have given, and EVERY DAY are giving, your heart to Him, and I pray that you’re celebrating – in this Advent season – the truth of what we’re learning in Philippians 2 … how God Himself was willing to become one OF us so that we could become one WITH Him.
And we’ll see even more of Him tomorrow; so, stay tuned!
My Prayer Today: Help me, Lord, to let go of my personal glory and to become a humble servant like You. Amen
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Journal for Today: Today we focus on the second phrase in Phil. 2: 6; and it’s truly a remarkable truth, … one which the religious leaders who opposed Jesus in His day could not understand. Even today, with all the historical information we have, many people refuse to try to understand the truth about Jesus. And here’s where I think I have some empathy for the Pharisees of Christ’s day. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I hope that I wouldn’t have been so prideful in my position that I would be willing to plot the death of this One Who claimed to be The Messiah. But if I had learned about the God of Abraham the way the Pharisees had, with all the religious training and traditions of the day, it probably would have been difficult, if not impossible for me in that day to understand how this Jesus, the son of a simple carpenter in Nazareth, could claim to be One with “Elohim” or “Jehovah,” the God whom the Jews worshipped as the One true God.
And so, how could we expect the people of Christ’s day to understand how He, the God-Man, would be willing to release Himself from the holdings of glory and His favored position as the 2nd Person of the Trinity? And then to carry this through to the conclusion where we see Him completely fulfilling every one of the Messianic prophesies of the Old Testament, … becoming one of us, being rejected by His own, being humiliated and then, being executed so that His shed blood could allow all who believe in Him as Savior/Lord, by His grace, to share in His glory forever. How could the people of Christ’s day accept this because it’s difficult for theologians and religionists of today to get their minds around that truth as well?
Can any who might read this grasp and believe this greatest Christmas story ever told, where God, The Son, willingly decided to release Himself from His glorified place in the God-Head and become a babe in a manger … to grow to manhood … and to march to the cross so that the greatest gift of all time would become our “Christ Mass,” … this wondrous time when we can celebrate the birth of our Savior? I don’t think I will ever truly understand the full implications of what The Son of God did for me; but His humble decision to be incarnated into humanity, His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His coronation, and His re-glorification have given me the picture I need to see of the One Whom I believe is Lord and Savior and the One Whom I know has given me eternal life.
It may be too much for my mind to grasp; but not my heart – which is His. I pray that you too have given, and EVERY DAY are giving, your heart to Him, and I pray that you’re celebrating – in this Advent season – the truth of what we’re learning in Philippians 2 … how God Himself was willing to become one OF us so that we could become one WITH Him.
And we’ll see even more of Him tomorrow; so, stay tuned!
My Prayer Today: Help me, Lord, to let go of my personal glory and to become a humble servant like You. Amen
Friday, December 02, 2011
December 2, 2011 … The Deity of Christ
Passage of the Day: Philippians 2: 6a [see highlight passage in bold/underlined] … 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Journal for Today: When our first granddaughter, Sydney, was just under two years of age, she was sitting on my lap as I read her favorite book, which was a children’s Bible where there were illustrated depictions of various Bible stories/characters. Sydney’s mom, our daughter, and her dad had taken her through this book many times; and she could name the names of all the Bible characters in the book. I was so proud of our first, and rather precocious, grandbaby at the time.
Well, on this occasion, Sydney was naming all the characters as we came to each story page; and when we got to the first depiction of Jesus, Syd named Him “God.” Thinking that rather curious, especially after she had named all the other characters by their given names – even “Zacchaeus” – I asked her if the “God” character she had named had another name, … to which she replied matter-of-factly, “Well, PawPaw, it’s Jesus!” And, with my chest pounding with pride, I told her she was exactly right!
I use this story to illustrate that even a two year old can understand what the Apostle Paul was teaching in today’s highlighted text … that Jesus was, by His nature, God (see Phil. 2: 6a above). The NASB renders this phrase, “[Christ Jesus], Who, although He existed in the form of God.” And in today’s Strength for Today entry, John MacArthur explains that an even stricter wording from the Greek might be “Jesus, in His inalterable being, was God.” And that reality was what little Sydney, my two year old granddaughter had grasped, … something I didn’t fully understand until I was 39 years old, when the equality of Christ as God became evident to me.
Some of us are slower than others! ;)
This month, we are going to see more of Christ’s divine nature in my devotional entries which are led by John MacArthur’s study. However, as Christians we must first grasp … and believe, … as did little Sydney, that Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter’s apprentice, was and is God, fully expressing Himself and living in human form, being the full essence/character of God even as He walked this earth and most certainly as He lives now, having been resurrected to be rejoined with His Heavenly Father. And from that truth, all we see and learn about Jesus is God’s way of showing Himself to us in Christ’s humanity.
Stay tuned!
My Prayer Today: May You be praised, Lord, for becoming like me, yet without sin. Amen
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Journal for Today: When our first granddaughter, Sydney, was just under two years of age, she was sitting on my lap as I read her favorite book, which was a children’s Bible where there were illustrated depictions of various Bible stories/characters. Sydney’s mom, our daughter, and her dad had taken her through this book many times; and she could name the names of all the Bible characters in the book. I was so proud of our first, and rather precocious, grandbaby at the time.
Well, on this occasion, Sydney was naming all the characters as we came to each story page; and when we got to the first depiction of Jesus, Syd named Him “God.” Thinking that rather curious, especially after she had named all the other characters by their given names – even “Zacchaeus” – I asked her if the “God” character she had named had another name, … to which she replied matter-of-factly, “Well, PawPaw, it’s Jesus!” And, with my chest pounding with pride, I told her she was exactly right!
I use this story to illustrate that even a two year old can understand what the Apostle Paul was teaching in today’s highlighted text … that Jesus was, by His nature, God (see Phil. 2: 6a above). The NASB renders this phrase, “[Christ Jesus], Who, although He existed in the form of God.” And in today’s Strength for Today entry, John MacArthur explains that an even stricter wording from the Greek might be “Jesus, in His inalterable being, was God.” And that reality was what little Sydney, my two year old granddaughter had grasped, … something I didn’t fully understand until I was 39 years old, when the equality of Christ as God became evident to me.
Some of us are slower than others! ;)
This month, we are going to see more of Christ’s divine nature in my devotional entries which are led by John MacArthur’s study. However, as Christians we must first grasp … and believe, … as did little Sydney, that Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter’s apprentice, was and is God, fully expressing Himself and living in human form, being the full essence/character of God even as He walked this earth and most certainly as He lives now, having been resurrected to be rejoined with His Heavenly Father. And from that truth, all we see and learn about Jesus is God’s way of showing Himself to us in Christ’s humanity.
Stay tuned!
My Prayer Today: May You be praised, Lord, for becoming like me, yet without sin. Amen
Thursday, December 01, 2011
December 1, 2011 … The Incarnation of Christ
Blogger’s Note: New month. Last month of the year 2011; and my devotional emphasis, again with the help of John MacArthur’s devotional book, Strength for Today this month will be “Christology” with an emphasis on the Incarnation since this is the Advent Season of the year. So, perhaps you’ll be led to follow along with me this month as I try to get to know my Savior AND LORD more intimately by studying the how and why behind God’s humble choice to become a man, to die, and to be exalted by God, The Father, in glory. So, let’s dig in an get to know Jesus this Christmas season.
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Passage of the Day: Philippians 2: 6 - 8 [see highlight passage in bold/underlined] … 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Journal for Today: As we come into the Advent season, a time where cultural consumerism and/or political activism often attempt to cancel “CHRIST” from Christmas, Paul’s teaching from today’s passage from Philippians 2 is one of my favorite CHRISTmas scriptural passages. In fact, in the mind of this humble Christian, Phil. 2: 5 – 11 is the most powerful Christmas story told in the Bible, with today’s focus from John MacArthur in Strength for Today being on Phil. 2: 6 – 8.
In the Spirit of this season, we, as Christians, are admonished by Paul in Phil. 2: 5 to be [or maybe better stated “become”] like Christ in attitude; and Jesus’ half-brother James (in James 4: 6, 10) and the Apostle Peter (in 1st Pet. 5: 6) both indicated that our attitudes as Christians would require Christlike humility before God would lift us up as Christ was lifted up by His Father [see Phil. 2: 9 above]. And when it comes to our following behind Christ’s attitude of humility, there is no better place to see our Model of humility than in the overall passage quoted above in Phil. 2: 5 – 11.
May I assume that any reader following along in this devotional entry shares my desire to be uplifted by God in our relationship with Christ? If that is NOT your desire, you need read no further; because I’m writing this with an intense desire to let this study in the month of December enhance my attitude of humility, which, I believe, will help me to have more of God’s grace poured out in abundance into my life. If that is your desire as well, I charge you to read on and to follow these entries on a day-by-day basis in December.
This month John MacArthur, if you’re also using Strength for Today as a devotional book or following along with my journal entries, is going to help me (us) take a closer look at our Savior so that I (we) can see Whom I (we) should model my life [our lives] in His image. And first, we focus on Christ’s incredible humility, personified in His incarnation, where we see Him setting aside His majesty and glory in the God-Head to become a bond servant to His Father’s will, even unto death on a cross as a human.
And so we begin our focus on Jesus this month (a study in “Christology”), continually doing a self inventory, framed in the exhortation of Phil. 2: 5 … questioning our attitudes to see whether our minds run parallel with that of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. And right off the top, I come up short; because humility is one area where I already fall far short of THE MARK (Who, of course, is Christ); and we’ll explore that shortcoming more in days to come.
Stay tuned!
My Prayer Today: Lord, I know this can be a risky prayer as to my life, but I sincerely pray that You would help me to be humble, … like You. Amen
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Passage of the Day: Philippians 2: 6 - 8 [see highlight passage in bold/underlined] … 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
My Journal for Today: As we come into the Advent season, a time where cultural consumerism and/or political activism often attempt to cancel “CHRIST” from Christmas, Paul’s teaching from today’s passage from Philippians 2 is one of my favorite CHRISTmas scriptural passages. In fact, in the mind of this humble Christian, Phil. 2: 5 – 11 is the most powerful Christmas story told in the Bible, with today’s focus from John MacArthur in Strength for Today being on Phil. 2: 6 – 8.
In the Spirit of this season, we, as Christians, are admonished by Paul in Phil. 2: 5 to be [or maybe better stated “become”] like Christ in attitude; and Jesus’ half-brother James (in James 4: 6, 10) and the Apostle Peter (in 1st Pet. 5: 6) both indicated that our attitudes as Christians would require Christlike humility before God would lift us up as Christ was lifted up by His Father [see Phil. 2: 9 above]. And when it comes to our following behind Christ’s attitude of humility, there is no better place to see our Model of humility than in the overall passage quoted above in Phil. 2: 5 – 11.
May I assume that any reader following along in this devotional entry shares my desire to be uplifted by God in our relationship with Christ? If that is NOT your desire, you need read no further; because I’m writing this with an intense desire to let this study in the month of December enhance my attitude of humility, which, I believe, will help me to have more of God’s grace poured out in abundance into my life. If that is your desire as well, I charge you to read on and to follow these entries on a day-by-day basis in December.
This month John MacArthur, if you’re also using Strength for Today as a devotional book or following along with my journal entries, is going to help me (us) take a closer look at our Savior so that I (we) can see Whom I (we) should model my life [our lives] in His image. And first, we focus on Christ’s incredible humility, personified in His incarnation, where we see Him setting aside His majesty and glory in the God-Head to become a bond servant to His Father’s will, even unto death on a cross as a human.
And so we begin our focus on Jesus this month (a study in “Christology”), continually doing a self inventory, framed in the exhortation of Phil. 2: 5 … questioning our attitudes to see whether our minds run parallel with that of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. And right off the top, I come up short; because humility is one area where I already fall far short of THE MARK (Who, of course, is Christ); and we’ll explore that shortcoming more in days to come.
Stay tuned!
My Prayer Today: Lord, I know this can be a risky prayer as to my life, but I sincerely pray that You would help me to be humble, … like You. Amen
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