December 17, 2017

  THE GREATEST SALVATION IMAGINABLE    - John Piper

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah…” —Jeremiah 31:31

God is just and holy and separated from sinners like us. This is our main problem at Christmas and every other season. How shall we get right with a just and holy God? Nevertheless, God is merciful and has promised in Jeremiah 31 (five hundred years before Christ) that someday he would do something new. He would replace shadows with the Reality of the Messiah. And he would powerfully move into our lives and write his will on our hearts so that we are not constrained from outside but are willing from inside to love him and trust him and follow him. That would be the greatest salvation imaginable—if God should offer us the greatest Reality in the universe to enjoy and then move in us to see to it that we could enjoy it with the greatest freedom and joy possible. That would be a Christmas gift worth singing about. That is, in fact, what he promised. But there was a huge obstacle. Our sin. Our separation from God because of our unrighteousness. How shall a holy and just God treat us sinners with so much kindness as to give us the greatest Reality in the universe (his Son) to enjoy with the greatest joy possible? The answer is that God put our sins on his Son, and judged them there, so that he could put them out of his mind, and deal with us mercifully and remain just and holy at the same time. Hebrews 9:28 says, “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” Christ bore our sins in his own body when he died. He took our judgment. He canceled our guilt. And that means the sins are gone. They do not remain in God’s mind as a basis for condemnation. In that sense, he “forgets” them. They are consumed in the death of Christ. Which means that God is now free, in his justice, to lavish us with the new covenant. He gives us Christ, the greatest Reality in the universe, for our enjoyment. And he writes his own will—his own heart—on our hearts so that we can love Christ and trust Christ and follow Christ from the inside out, with freedom and joy.

We hear a lot about this ‘new covenant’ – and it is interesting to think this new covenant with us, starts at Christmas – it starts with Jesus.  God recognizing we would never be able to live a sinless life gave us an out and provided us with a way to have a relationship with Him.  He talked about this new covenant for many years (as it states, Jeremiah talked about it 500 years before it happened) and we celebrate the reality of it – Jesus coming to take our place.

When we think about giving gifts at Christmas, we often think about our family, friends, people we know and care for.  When God decided to give us the greatest gift possible, he chose to give it to every one of us even though we are sinners and don’t deserve anything from Him.  He is able to treat us with such kindness, to have a relationship with us despite all of our flaws, because of the Gift we celebrate in a few weeks.  Jesus is the reason God can lavish us with the new covenant – he bore our sins and took away our flaws in the sight of God.

To quote a Christmas movie I may have seen once, “This is the gift that keeps giving the whole year through.”  It is not something we receive once, enjoy for a short time and put on a shelf. This gift redeems us over, and over, and over again.  It provides us a chance to have a relationship with God, to be saved and have a future worth being excited about.

-Kevin

December 16, 2017

    GOD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL SETBACK     - John Piper

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” —Philippians 2:9–11

Christmas was God’s most successful setback. He has always delighted to show his power through apparent defeat. He makes tactical retreats in order to win strategic victories. Joseph was promised glory and power in his dream (Genesis 37:5–11). But to achieve that victory he had to become a slave in Egypt. And as if that were not enough, when his conditions improved because of his integrity, he was made worse than a slave — a prisoner. But it was all planned. For there in prison he met Pharaoh’s butler, who eventually brought him to Pharaoh who put him over Egypt. What an unlikely route to glory! But that is God’s way — even for his Son. He emptied himself and took the form of a slave. Worse than a slave — a prisoner — and was executed. But like Joseph, he kept his integrity. “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:9–10). And this is God’s way for us too. We are promised glory — if we will suffer with him (Romans 8:17). The way up is down. The way forward is backward. The way to success is through divinely appointed setbacks. They will always look and feel like failure. But if Joseph and Jesus teach us anything this Christmas it is this: “God meant it for good!” (Genesis 50:20).

You fearful saints fresh courage take, 

The clouds you so much dread, 

Are big with mercy and will break, 

In blessings on your head.

If someone was to come up to me in the midst of deep personal suffering and say, “God means this for good,” I’d want to slug ‘em. To embrace that truth feels like embracing a giant strip of sandpaper, and rightly so. Seeing our setbacks through the lens of Jesus Christ is incredibly difficult. 

The world encourages us to do whatever we can to avoid suffering but scripture teaches us to endure it because God has transformed pain into a basis for communion. One of my professors once said, “To contain the joy God hopes to give us he must make room within us.” May we allow him to hollow us out so thoroughly that we might one day receive his glory.

-Anna

December 15, 2017

       LIFE AND DEATH AT CHRISTMAS             - John Piper

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” —John 10:10

As I was about to begin this devotional, I received word that Marion Newstrum had just died. She and her husband Elmer have been part of Bethlehem longer than most of our members have been alive. Marion was 87. They had been married 64 years. When I spoke to Elmer and told him I wanted him to be strong in the Lord and not give up on life, he said, “He has been a true friend.” I pray that all Christians will be able to say at the end of life, “Christ has been a true friend.” Each Advent I mark the anniversary of my mother’s death. She was cut off in her 56th year in a bus accident in Israel. It was December 16, 1974. Those events are incredibly real to me even today. If I allow myself, I can easily come to tears—for example, thinking that my sons never knew her. We buried her the day after Christmas. What a precious Christmas it was! Many of you will feel your loss this Christmas more pointedly than before. Don’t block it out. Let it come. Feel it. What is love for, if not to intensify our affections— both in life and death? But, O, do not be bitter. It is tragically self-destructive to be bitter. Jesus came at Christmas that we might have eternal life. “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Elmer and Marion had discussed where they would spend their final years. Elmer said, “Marion and I agreed that our final home would be with the Lord.” Do you feel restless for home? I have family coming home for the holidays. It feels good. I think the bottom line reason for why it feels good is that they and I are destined in the depths of our being for an ultimate Homecoming. All other homecomings are foretastes. And foretastes are good. Unless they become substitutes. O, don’t let all the sweet things of this season become substitutes of the final great, all-satisfying Sweetness. Let every loss and every delight send your hearts a-homing after heaven. Christmas. What is it but this: I came that they might have life. Marion Newstrum, Ruth Piper, and you and I— that we might have Life, now and forever. Make your Now the richer and deeper this Christmas by drinking at the fountain of Forever. It is so near. 

Christmas time is an interesting one. We all know about the amazing and wonderful things that are around this time of year. Like Christmas movies, the first big snowfall, seeing decorations everywhere, going to parties, and all things peppermint. We also hear radio stations giving gifts to families in need, see people working hard at finding that one really perfect gift, and communities coming together collecting toys and money. Obviously, there many more things, but you get the idea. When people say how much they like Christmastime, I’m assuming all this is why, and rightfully so. What other time of year do we have carved out time to spend with family and friends?

Unfortunately, there seems to be another side to Christmas. One of stress and sadness. Perhaps being so close to the end of the year warrants reflection, or just the obvious fact that certain people are no longer available to attend get togethers, but Christmas seems to feel like a glaring reminder of our loved ones that have passed away. Even if their passing wasn’t recent, we can still find ourselves upset. Then feeling bad about not being jolly all the time. Yikes. Even “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) He was upset his friend had passed away. Death is a hard thing to deal with. 

There is a time for everything. (Ecclesiastes 3) I encourage anyone that will listen to provide space for those who may find this time of year tough. Try not to tease or get frustrated if someone isn’t having as much fun as you think they should. If we can take a few steps back and remember that real reason we celebrate Christmas, then giving someone some space seems like an easy thing to do.

-Jaimie

December 14, 2017

     MAKING IT REAL FOR HIS PEOPLE        - John Piper

Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. —Hebrews 8:6

Christ is the Mediator of a new covenant, according to Hebrews 8:6. What does that mean? It means that his blood—the blood of the covenant (Luke 22:20; Hebrews 13:20)—purchased the fulfillment of God’s promises for us. It means that God brings about our inner transformation by the Spirit of Christ. And it means that God works all his transformation in us through faith in all that God is for us in Christ. The new covenant is purchased by the blood of Christ, effected by the Spirit of Christ, and appropriated by faith in Christ. The best place to see Christ working as the Mediator of the new covenant is in Hebrews 13:20–21: Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant [this is the purchase of the new covenant], even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. The words “working in us that which is pleasing in his sight” describe what happens when God writes the law on our hearts in the new covenant. And the words “through Jesus Christ” describe Jesus as the Mediator of this glorious work of sovereign grace. So the meaning of Christmas is not only that God replaces shadows with Reality, but also that he takes the reality and makes it real to his people. He writes it on our hearts. He does not lay his Christmas gift of salvation and transformation down for you to pick up in your own strength. He picks it up and puts in your heart and in your mind, and seals to you that you are a child of God.

Many times, I feel that God is distant. I think that one of the reasons may be because I am a physical being with visual inclinations—I like to see things to believe them and experience them and interact with them. Because God is invisible to me, many times, I feel that God is distant. And more than distant, many times, I feel that He is inactive in my life. But this advent devotional states the opposite by saying that God actively places reality—His salvation—into our hearts. 

And that is the Christmas story. The story of a God Who was actively, enthusiastically, engagingly in love with His creation, so much so that He actively left His Son as a helpless babe in a dirty manger on the planet Earth. Beyond that, however, God not only told His Son to go down to earth, not only guided His ministry among humans, not only spread healing and teaching to humans, not only led His Son to a bloody death upon the cross, but actively and willingly placed the full blast of His just, violent, wrath upon Jesus, so that humanity would be clothed in Jesus’ righteousness and stand justified before God. And that is why we celebrate Christmas.

But the Christmas season is not the only time that Christians celebrate Jesus. God’s active saving work not only ended with the death of Jesus. As Hebrews 13:20 declares, God was actively engaged in bringing Jesus back from the dead, as well. And that is what the early Christians placed their hope in. The resurrection of Jesus was the hot topic back in the Early Church. Because that signified His victory, and thus their victory. And it signifies our victory as well, which is why we celebrate Easter. 

So brothers and sisters of Arbor Bridge Church who are reading this right now, I humbly encourage all of us to not let our awe and wonder of our God to end with the Christmas story, but go beyond to the Easter story. Let us remember that God actively lowered His Son to the form of a baby crying in a manger, but He also actively raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at His right hand. Lastly, let’s not even end with the Easter story, but look beyond to the day that Jesus comes back. Let us remember that Advent means coming, and as we celebrate this Advent season, we wish to not only celebrate how Jesus came to earth over 2000 years ago, but how He will come back again. 

-Peter

December 13, 2017

THE FINAL REALITY IS HERE - John Piper

Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. —Hebrews 8:1–2

Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing. Hebrews 8:1–2 is a kind of summary statement. The point is that the one priest who goes between us and God, and makes us right with God, and prays for us to God, is not an ordinary, weak, sinful, dying, priest like in the Old Testament days. He is the Son of God—strong, sinless, with an indestructible life. Not only that, he is not ministering in an earthly tabernacle with all its limitations of place and size and wearing out and being moth-eaten and being soaked and burned and torn and stolen. No, verse 2 says that Christ is ministering for us in a “true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.” This is the real thing in heaven. This is what cast on Mount Sinai a shadow that Moses copied. According to verse 1, another great thing about the reality which is greater than the shadow is that our High Priest is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. No Old Testament priest could ever say that. Jesus deals directly with God the Father. He has a place of honor beside God. He is loved and respected infinitely by God. He is constantly with God. This is not shadow reality like curtains and bowls and tables and candles and robes and tassels and sheep and goats and pigeons. This is final, ultimate reality: God and his Son interacting in love and holiness for our eternal salvation. Ultimate reality is the persons of the Godhead in relationship, dealing with each other concerning how their majesty and holiness and love and justice and goodness and truth shall be manifest in a redeemed people.

In the Wizard of Oz, the wizard is a giant, frightening, floating head with a booming voice.  He used the “lesser people” around him to get the things he wanted.  In reality, the wizard was not a wizard at all but a small, weak, and scared man hiding in a control room, who ended up there because he could not even control his own hot air balloon.  He wanted to hold on to the control of the people around him so they would not see who he really was.  Often those who do not know God envision him in the same way. They may see a giant head barking orders and passing down judgements for the fun of it.

When Jesus came he literally and figuratively tore down the curtain exposing God and himself. They do not hide in shadows.  What they build does not blow away in high winds.  Jesus sits next to God on his throne not trying to control the “lesser people” but redeeming their relationships so everyone can approach his throne.

Christmas night was just the first step in his plan. What a brilliant plan.  A reason for us to  celebrate!

-Montina

December 12, 2017

REPLACING THE SHADOWS - John Piper

Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. —Hebrews 8:1–2

The point of the book of Hebrews is that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, has not just come to fit into the earthly system of priestly ministry as the best and final human priest, but he has come to fulfill and put an end to that system and to orient all our attention on himself ministering for us in heaven. The Old Testament tabernacle and priests and sacrifices were shadows. Now the reality has come, and the shadows pass away. Here’s an Advent illustration for kids (and for those of us who used to be kids and remember what it was like). Suppose you and your mom get separated in the grocery store, and you start to get scared and panic and don’t know which way to go, and you run to the end of an aisle, and just before you start to cry, you see a shadow on the floor at the end of the aisle that looks just like your mom. It makes you really happy and you feel hope. But which is better? The happiness of seeing the shadow, or having your mom step around the corner and seeing that it’s really her? That’s the way it is when Jesus comes to be our High Priest. That’s what Christmas is. Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing.

After reading today’s Advent devotion, I began thinking about our church, not our local Arbor Bridge Church but the church universal — the church of Christians worldwide. It made me think of the church as an extension of God and His love, His compassion, and His sacrifice. History is filled with stories of people who, in the name of God, sacrificed everything to save others and help them in desperate and dangerous times. 

As inspiring as these stories can be, it is just a shadow of the reality that God has in store for us. God’s glory is made available to us because of His sacrifice for us; that of sending His son to earth to live and die as a man, and to rise again in glory so that we may have our sins wiped away.

That’s why we are recognizing Advent this year. Not only to remember the birth of Christ, but also what the birth led to: the ability for all to live forever in the glory of God. 

-Rex

December 11, 2017

WHY JESUS CAME - John Piper

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. —Hebrews 2:14–15

Hebrews 2:14–15 is worth more than two minutes in an Advent devotional. These verses connect the beginning and the end of Jesus’s earthly life. They make clear why he came. They would be great to use with an unbelieving friend or family member to take them step by step through your Christian view of Christmas. It might go something like this… “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood…” The term “children” is taken from the previous verse and refers to the spiritual offspring of Christ, the Messiah (see Isaiah 8:18; 53:10). These are also the “children of God.” In other words, in sending Christ, God has the salvation of his “children” specially in view. It is true that “God so loved the world, that he sent [Jesus] (John 3:16).” But it is also true that God was especially “gathering the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:52). God’s design was to offer Christ to the world, and to effect the salvation of his “children” (see 1 Timothy 4:10). You may experience adoption by receiving Christ (John 1:12). “…he himself likewise partook of the same things [flesh and blood]…” Christ existed before the incarnation. He was spirit. He was the eternal Word. He was with God and was God (John 1:1; Colossians 2:9). But he took on flesh and blood and clothed his deity with humanity. He became fully man and remained fully God. It is a great mystery in many ways. But it is at the heart of our faith and is what the Bible teaches. “…that through death…” The reason Jesus became man was to die. As God, he could not die for sinners. But as man he could. His aim was to die. Therefore he had to be born human. He was born to die. Good Friday is the reason for Christmas. This is what needs to be said today about the meaning of Christmas. “…he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil…” In dying, Christ de-fanged the devil. How? By covering all our sin. This means that Satan has no legitimate grounds to accuse us before God. “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33). On what grounds does he justify? Through the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:9). Satan’s ultimate weapon against us is our own sin. If the death of Jesus takes it away, the chief weapon of the devil is taken out of his hand. He cannot make a case for our death penalty, because the Judge has acquitted us by the death of his Son! “…and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” So we are free from the fear of death. God has justified us. Satan cannot overturn that decree. And God means for our ultimate safety to have an immediate effect on our lives. He means for the happy ending to take away the slavery and fear of the now. If we do not need to fear our last and greatest enemy, death, then we do not need to fear anything. We can be free: free for joy, free for others. What a great Christmas present from God to us! And from us to the world!

In today’s world of movies and media we’re surrounded by super heroes, from Superman to Luke Skywalker. They all have their own distinct personalities and each has a list of amazing abilities to help them fight evil. Many of them wear strange uniforms and have terrible social skills, but we admire them anyway and we cheer them on just the same. But the part we love best, the scene we always wait for is that inevitable battle between the good guy and the bad guy to save the world. It’s usually an epic duel with lots of flash and fighting and in the end, the super hero wins the day!  Wild cheers and throwing of popcorn!

If you think about it, Jesus was the greatest super hero of all. He battled the most terrifying and sinister villain ever, and when he won he saved the entire world from death itself.  And he did it without a funny costume and his only weapon was the love of his Father and the willingness to sacrifice everything for us all.

But here’s the thing. To win he had to lose. At the critical moment, the greatest super hero in history lost his life in a most painful way, and at the time it felt like such a terrible loss that even his faithful sidekicks abandoned him. Satan spent three days gloating and strutting around, thinking he’d won the biggest battle of all time. But wait! Not dead, false ending! And the return of Jesus marked the beginning of an entirely new age of believers, a worldwide army of good guys who from that point on had grace, the secret weapon that would always and forever defeat Satan every time. Wow.   

NOW who’s your favorite super hero?

-Robin

December 10, 2017

GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH

- John Piper

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  -Matthew 2:10–11

God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything (Acts 17:25). The gifts of the magi are not given by way of assistance or need-meeting. It would dishonor a monarch if foreign visitors came with royal care-packages. Nor are these gifts meant to be bribes. Deuteronomy 10:17 says that God takes no bribe. Well, what then do they mean? How are they worship? The gifts are intensifiers of desire for Christ himself in much the same way that fasting is. When you give a gift to Christ like this, it’s a way of saying, “The joy that I pursue (verse 10) is not the hope of getting rich with things from you. I have not come to you for your things, but for yourself. And this desire I now intensify and demonstrate by giving up things, in the hope of enjoying you more, not things. By giving to you what you do not need, and what I might enjoy, I am saying more earnestly and more authentically, ‘You are my treasure, not these things.’” I think that’s what it means to worship God with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. May God take the truth of this text and waken in us a desire for Christ himself. May we say from the heart, “Lord Jesus, you are the Messiah, the King of Israel. All nations will come and bow down before you. God wields the world to see that you are worshiped. Therefore, whatever opposition I may find, I joyfully ascribe authority and dignity to you, and bring my gifts to say that you alone can satisfy my heart, not these.”

It’s an interesting concept – to give up focus on material things at Christmas.  Isn’t getting stuff what it’s all about?  The magi gave gifts – and I’ve always looked at it like going to some ones house for dinner and bringing some flowers or a dessert – you don’t show up empty handed (it’s called manners – ha).  What do I have that I could give God anyway?

Thinking about the gifts they brought not as need based, or required – but a sacrifice – is a new concept to me.  Piper talks about giving God what He does not need – after all, what do we have that God doesn’t already have more of?  These gifts we give God may even be things we enjoy – but isn’t this the time of year we focus on things we enjoy more than any other time?  We tend to shift from what we need for our daily life and start looking at what we want – or might enjoy.

Giving Him the things we might enjoy, shows how much we care about Him.  What do we enjoy more than time – our time – to use as we wish?

How can I worship God during this season and give Him my gift?  Maybe it’s as simple as giving up a few minutes per day to read an advent post.  Maybe I take time to reflect on what God means in my life, and how much I really do treasure Him above all else.  No matter what it is, taking the time to prepare our hearts and show God how much He means to us, will make the gift He give us on December 25th have a greater impact in our lives.

-Kevin