⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6 

THE CROSS AT CHRISTMAS?

As I’ve been preaching through the book of 1 Corinthians, I have reminded those in our church more than a few times that the Cross of Christ should never be far from our minds.  That’s especially true around Christmas. 

This Christmas season as you think about God taking on flesh and becoming one of us, remember that the human body that the Son took on was crushed, pierced and crucified on your behalf.  As you think about the human blood that was flowing through our Lords veins, remember it was poured out for you and for me.   

"Quote" of the Week

"During this time of year, it may be easy to forget that the bigger purpose behind Bethlehem was Calvary.  But the purpose of the manger was realized in the horrors of the cross.  The purpose of his birth was his death."  -C.J. Mahaney

THE GREATEST MIRACLE OF CHRISTIANITY

If I were to ask you to show me from the Scriptures where the greatest miracle of Christianity is found, some of you might turn to the Gospel account of Jesus walking on water or of Him raising Lazarus from the dead.  I’m also sure many of you would turn to Mt. 28, Mk. 16, Lk. 24 and Jn. 20, which tell of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  But how many of you would turn to John 1:14?  In this verse John tells us,

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.   

This is a key verse in our Bible that reminds us that there was a time in history when God stepped out of eternity and into the world He created, took on flesh and became a man.  There is a sense in which this union of the two natures in Christ is the greatest miracle in Scripture because in order to save us God had to become one of us. 

This Christmas season when you think about the baby in a manger, may you be reminded of the fact that He who was infinite, unchanging and in need of  no one or nothing chose to take on limitations—chose to become one of us entering into this world as a needy baby.  He who is infinitely greater than any thought of us has become one of us--He has lived for us, died for us and has risen from the grave to grant us access to God.  This is the heart of the Christian message. 

"Quote" of the Week

"It is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the profoundest and most unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie. 'The Word became flesh' (Jn. 1:14); God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation." J.I. Packer

WHY WE NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT

In 2 Corinthians 2:10-12, Paul gives his readers some great insight on who the Holy Spirit is and what He does.  In vv. 6-9 he explains that true wisdom is only found in God and that His message—the Gospel Message is a mystery or a secret.  In v. 7 he says,

7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.

Paul is saying here, “The message that I and others share with you—the message of the cross is not a message that you will find on your own.”  That word secret also translated mystery does not mean what you think it means.  It’s not the type of mystery you read in a Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christy book.  That word does not refer to something that is figured out or discovered through hard study and meticulous detective work.  That word refers to a secret that is impossible for man to penetrate—it refers to something that man cannot come to know through personal effort and devotion.  It refers to something that has to be revealed.

For example, if I wanted to know what another person was thinking, there is no way for me to acquire that information unless that person makes it known to me.  The same is true of God’s wisdom—the same is true of His Gospel.  Paul is making the point here that men will never find the one true God on their own—through their own personal effort and devotion.  The world will never develop a religion that is true—human wisdom will never cut it.  Why?  Because the answers to the fundamental and foundational questions of life are outside the realm of this world—they are with God.   

Now some upon hearing this will say, “That stinks.  You mean to tell me that true wisdom is only found in God’s message and that we cannot come to know and understand and receive this message through personal effort?  Then what are we to do?  If we can’t discover it through empirical evidence and reason how are we to understand it?  Our eyes and our ears and our minds are all we have.”  Well Paul tells how in v. 10.  He says,

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.

It is the Spirit of God who makes the message of God known.  Believers the reason we know “the secret hidden wisdom of God” is because the Spirit has revealed these things to us.  Paul continues by saying,

For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Like I said earlier, Paul gives his readers some great insight on who the Holy Spirit is and what He does.  First notice what He does.  Paul says “the Spirit searches everything even the depths of God.”  How is He able to do that?  Paul says in Romans 11:33 that the depths of God’s knowledge and wisdom are too great and that His ways are unsearchable.  How then can the Spirit search the depths of God?  The answer is simply this—He is God.  He knows the depths of God and understands the thoughts of God because He is God. 

Though we cannot know God on our own because we are not God, the Spirit knows the depths and the thoughts of God because He is God.  So Paul is saying here, “Though God’s thoughts and ways are beyond us, they are not beyond the Spirit of God.”  Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Well what difference does that make?  He is still up there and I am down here.”  Do you remember the words Jesus spoke to His disciples before going to the cross in Jn. 16?  Remember what He promised?  He promised that He would send His Holy Spirit.  Look at 1 Corinthians 2:12.  Paul says,

12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

What Jesus promised to do He did.  He sent the Holy Spirit and it is this Spirit who opens our hearts and our minds to the things of God.  So follow this logic with me:  God’s message is the message of true wisdom, but His thoughts and ways are beyond our understanding, but they are not beyond the understanding of the Holy Spirit.  And this same Spirit who knows the mind of God has been sent to us to give us true knowledge of the living God and to make known to us His Gospel. 

"Quote" of the Week

"Apart from (the Holy Spirit), not only will there be no lively believers and no lively congregations, there will be no believers and no congregations at all."  -J.I. Packer