The Story of Christmas - No 7

Today's Christmas episode deals with the arrival of the wise men from the east. They had probably travelled for around 900 miles. The guidance they had was the star. They knew they had come to see a new King, the King of the Jews. 

Their problem was they were looking in the wrong place. I wonder if you are looking in the right place when it comes to meeting God, finding the meaning of life and knowing the peace of God within your soul. The right place is not church nor religion. You can approach God directly by prayer and know the forgiveness of sins when you turn from your sins (repent) and confess them to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible promises 'the blood of Jesus Christ his Son (God's) cleanses us from all sin,' 1 John 1:7. 

Read this passage to discover how these wise men made their journey and finally discovered Jesus Christ, the Son of God

Why do we hurt?

It’s our aim in this blog post to address some of the questions that people ask in life and to discover what the Word of God (the Bible) has to say about it. We place real confidence in the Bible because we have become convinced that the Bible is God’s communication to men and women and we wish people to benefit from what God has said.

I’m sure that most would agree that life hurts! That hurt can be caused by the normal progression from youth to old age and all the problems that come with ageing. Sickness also brings its heartaches! Natural disasters are devastating and destructive! To say nothing of the dreadful treatment that people endure at the hands of their fellow man. War and acts of terror produce unimaginable horrors. I’m sure that at times we all question why life is such a difficult and a hurtful experience.

Is it wrong to question why? No it isn't. Even the Lord Jesus asked the question - why? 

The first thing I’d like to say is that “it's not personal”. What I mean is that we do not usually suffer as individuals because of something specific we have done. Before I go any further let me qualify that statement.  There are times in life when we do reap what we sow. There actually are consequences to our actions! But all the awful things that happen in the world are not usually the direct result of our personal actions.

My main thought when I say it’s not personal is this: ;people don’t die as a result of some sinful thing that they have done; old age doesn’t come because you did something wrong. The fact that we die, that we have sickness, that we grow old is explained to us in the Bible. The Bible states that all of these conditions and circumstances exist because sin came into the world. As a result of Adam, the first man, disobeying God the floodgates to all that was evil were opened. The fact that all of this is the result of the first man’s rebellion to God is explained by the biblical statement “by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin,” Romans 5:12.

The Bible clearly teaches that God gave man a choice:

Obey Him,

Enjoy His presence,

Enjoy all that He created for him….

But, there is a but, God warned him that the day he ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he would die. And that is what happened! Adam didn’t die physically but he died as far as his relationship with God was concerned. He was dead spiritually. Sin, death, pain and suffering became the normal experience of life. He had to work by the sweat of his brow for everything. Childbirth became a painful experience for the woman and the earth was cursed. So life hurts as a result; a fact that we know only too well.

However, what is quite incredible about the biblical story of salvation is that God had already a plan in place. God’s plan to provide forgiveness and to offer salvation to men and women was devised long before time began, 1 Peter 1: 19, 20.

God had always planned to send His ‘Son to be the Saviour of the world’. He made sure in the writings of the Old Testament, the first half of the Bible, that we would know Him when he visited earth. In the Old Testament, God told the prophets how to identify His Son. There were specific facts such as what family He would be born into, His distinctive and sinless lifestyle and His mode of death. Normally how people will die is an unknown fact but God was making a point in defining how Jesus would die in advance. Psalm 22:16 and Zechariah 12:10 speak of the death penalty as crucifixion and of the piercing of the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus which at the time was unknown. All of this information was so that when He came we would know Him.

To me the greatest and most amazing thing about this whole thing is that God came to earth in person. He was a real but sinless man. He suffered, He hurt and He endured death to pay for our sin. God wants us to be forgiven therefore the price and the legal penalty for our sin was dealt with by the Lord Jesus Christ when He died upon the cross.

The Bible explains it like this:  “Christ died for our sins.”, 1 Corinthians 15:3, “He was despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, Isaiah 53:3.

Today God offers us not hurt but forgiveness;

Today God offers us love.

The Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”, John 3:16. The greatest proof of the love of God is that, “God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”, Romans 5:8.

I want to point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, if you pray to God, today, confessing your sins He will forgive you.

I trust that you will do this.

May God bless you!

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The Radical Claims of Jesus

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

As you survey the New Testament, it’s easy to see that Jesus made history’s most radical claims (John 6:35,John 8:46, John 8:58, John 10:27-28, John 14:6, 9, Matthew 9:2, John 14:15). Even a cursory reading of the four Gospels reveals that Jesus claimed to be a whole lot more than a “good teacher,” “spiritual leader,” or a “prophet.”

Search the writings of the world’s religions, and you’ll never read anything like Jesus' claims on the lips of Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, Joseph Smith, or you name the leader. But anyone could say the things Jesus said. Saying those things doesn’t necessarily mean they are true. And Jesus knew that. So, Jesus didn’t just make the claims. He proved that what He said was true by…

• Fulfilling dozens of Old Testament prophecies
• Living a sinless life for which we even have the eyewitness testimonies of his enemies
• Opening the eyes of the blind
• Healing lepers
• Opening the ears of the deaf
• Causing the lame to walk
• Casting out demons

• Feeding 5,000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread

Why do we need so much #security?

© Christian De Grandmaison | Dreamstime Stock Photos

We live in a highly security-conscious age with security guards, security fences, security lights, security cameras, security alarms, etc. etc. We are increasingly aware of more and more threats to our security and by all means we endeavour to minimise the risks and dangers and eliminate the threats.

However, there is one area where there is an alarming neglect and carelessness on our part; that is in relation to our eternal security. We secure our homes, our cars, our computers but we leave our undying soul exposed to all forms of danger. We are so obsessed with the physical, the temporal, the external that we have failed to protect our most precious asset, our soul. We can replace the car, we can have viruses removed, we can repair damage to our homes but we cannot undo the irreparable damage that will be sustained if we lose our soul. The old hymn says:

To lose your wealth is much,

To lose your health is more;

To lose your soul is such a loss,

That nothing can restore.

I ask you then, my friend, have you ensured the eternal security of your immortal soul; are you saved? Have you, until now, fallen into the same trap as the ‘rich farmer’ of Luke chapter 12? Have your priorities been your career, your finances, your health, your family, etc. so much so that your precious soul has been neglected? Have you been so preoccupied with the years ahead; making provision for retirement and the other contingencies of life that the consideration of your invaluable soul has been buried under all the other encumbrances that have filled your life hitherto?

Thankfully God has made provision for our eternal security. The Lord Jesus said, "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish" John 10.28. He also affirmed, "… those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost …" John 17.12. The life that we receive when we trust Christ is "eternal life" John 3.15; "everlasting life" John 3.16. In Hebrews 7.25 we read, "He is able also to save them to the uttermost [evermore, completely] that come unto God by Him …" Paul wrote, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8.38,39. These rock-solid, iron-clad, inviolable guarantees ought to reassure us; we need not fear to trust Christ; we should not hesitate for one moment to rely on Him alone for our eternal security.

Dear reader, is all well for eternity? If you died today, are you sure that you would be in heaven? If your answer to these questions is ‘No’, please do not rest until you have guaranteed your eternal security by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ Who died for your sins and rose again, thereby providing an eternal salvation for us. When you trust Christ, He assumes full responsibility for your salvation and it is utterly impossible for a soul trusting Him to perish. You can have that unshakable peace, that unwavering confidence today if you "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" Acts 16.31. Let me quote, in closing, another hymn:

O, what can equal joy divine or what can sweeter be,

Than knowing that the soul is safe for all eternity?

The content of today's blog was provided courtesy of Assembly Testimony

To get in touch or for more information visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk 

How many days are left until Christmas 2016

As I write there are 68 days left until Christmas 2016 - Oh no!!!

It could be the onset of years but Christmas seems to come around quicker every year. It is probably the early appearance of adverts and the Christmas commercial juggernaut appearing on the horizon which gives the impression that Christmas is coming.

For a Christian, the event which is celebrated at Christmas is not confined to December or even November. It is not even restricted to being about the Saviour’s infancy; it is actually about more about His deity and that is a truth which bears consideration all year round.

I don’t suppose anyone can ever fathom what it means for God to be born in a manger. How does one explain the Almighty stooping to become a tiny infant? It was the greatest condescension the world has ever known or will ever know. Our minds cannot begin to understand what was involved in God becoming a man. We will never comprehend why He who was infinitely rich would become poor, assume a human nature, and enter into a world He knew would reject Him and kill Him.

Nor can anyone explain how God could become a baby. Yet He did. Without forsaking His divine nature or diminishing His deity in any sense, He was born into our world as a tiny infant. How can both things be true?

Humanity and Deity

For nearly two thousand years, debate has been raging about who Jesus really is. Some say He is one of many gods, a created being, a high angel, a good teacher, a prophet, and so on. The common thread of all such theories is that they make Jesus less than God.

But let the Bible speak for itself. John’s gospel begins with a clear statement that Jesus is God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3). Who is “the Word” spoken of in these verses? John 1:14 removes any doubt: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”.

The biblical evidence is overwhelming that this child in the manger was the incarnation of God. For one thing, He was omniscient (knew all things). John 2:24-25 says that, “But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.” Nathanael was shocked to discover that Jesus knew all about him before they ever met. It was enough to persuade him that Jesus was the Messiah (John 1:48-50). John 4 describes Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. He knew everything about her (John 4:17-19, 29).

Jesus also did the works of God, saying, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves” (John 14:11). Jesus’ works are convincing proof that He is God. He began His miraculous ministry with a simple act—He created wine at a wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11). Only God can create. Moreover, He healed people who were hopelessly ill. He gave a blind man eyes. He opened ears that had never heard. He restored withered limbs. He created enough fish and bread to feed thousands. He raised the dead simply by a command.

This child was God

Why would God become a man and be born in such a lowly manner and let men treat Him the way they did?

“It was the Father’s good pleasure . . . through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:19-20).

He did it to make peace between God and humanity. All of us have sinned, and we sin repeatedly: “There is none righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 2:23). God hates sin and must respond with His wrath. He is a righteous judge who “is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). Humanity reacts with more hatred, rebellion, or indifference toward God: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). The only possible response of a holy God to our sin is more than we can bear, for “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Only Jesus, because He alone is both God and man, could ever resolve the conflict.

He takes the hand of a repentant, yielding sinner and the outstretched hand of a holy yet loving God, and He joins the two. He can forgive our sins, reconcile us to God, and thus make “peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:20). And God is not reluctant for that to occur; rather it is the very reason He sent Christ into the world.

God is justifiably angry with our sin. Yet He loves us enough that He gave His own Son to live on earth, die on a cross, suffering the full weight of God’s wrath, which should have been our lot. He paid the penalty for sin and can bring peace between us and God. It could not have been done any other way.

Will you hear the voice of God in His word, the Bible and trust His Son, Jesus, for salvation. Our prayer is that you will.

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

Written for STT by a guest blogger

Your personal advocate - 1 John 2:1-6

If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you will no doubt get frustrated at the times when you make mistakes and you end up sinning. It can be so annoying! You don't intent to; in fact you mean to keep your mind clear but you get caught out. There are a couple of passages in the New Testament that deal with these situations.

But first, in the Old Testament we have some healthy guidance in about this topic. The overall lesson of the Psalm 119 is that the word of God is vital and essential to our survival. For instance verse 9 says 'with what shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word'. Verse 11 states 'I have hidden your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against You'. This is all great advice to prevent a believer from sinning!

But what happens when we do sin!

That is where today's passage helps, as does yesterdays!

Yesterday we read in verse 9 - 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness'. On our part when we realise that we have sinned we should admit it (confess to God) and God will keep his part of the bargain - Forgive us and cleanse us!

Today we read in 1 John 2:1"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous'. This verse is teaching that when we sin the Lord Jesus draws along side His Father in heaven on our behalf. He is our advocate, that is the one who represents us before God. He (Jesus) is righteous. He, as a result of his death, made us righteous before God or right with God. On account of his sacrifice (that dealt with our sins) he also maintains our right standing before God.

My dear fellow believer do not give up in despair when you sin. The Lord Jesus who saved you will forgive and cleanse you when you confess your sins but before that even happens he has dealt with the issue in the presence of God. Your confession ensures that you consciously enjoy the benefits of what he has done for you.

1 John 2King James Version (KJV)

2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

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