Government - that's quite a story!

There are three principle elements of government, Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. The Legislators make the laws, the Executive enforce the law, and the Judiciary interprets and applies the law.  

There are over 200 different forms of State Government - Republicans, Monarchies, Autocracies and, is some cases, Theocracies. Sadly none as yet own God's rule exclusively.  

The world in its present state is groaning under the burden of sin and is crying out for righteous government; this will be here sooner than many people expect. Demonstrations in many countries are all too familiar, with people objecting to the legislation, the executive and the judiciary in their various countries. Calls for change of government are becoming commonplace, caused by the discontent of the people with their governors.

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

More than meets the eye!

More than meets the eye!

People often say that 'there is more to something than meets the eye'! By this they usually mean that there are hidden values or facts regarding something. Or sometimes when used about a person it can mean that they are more interesting or complicated than they appear at first.

We live in a world where that expression is so true about so many things. The United Kingdom is about to vote on whether to leave Europe or to stay. One of the problems the electorate has is knowing what the facts are! What is propaganda and what is truth!

A lot of people are big into conspiracy theories. I am not of that persuasion but I do think that there is a lot more going on behind the scenes than most people are aware of.

The Bible teaches that there are powers and influences over nations and individuals that people are not aware of. If you researched the book of Daniel in the Old Testament Bible you would discover in a number of chapters that there are Spirit powers (some good and some bad) who influence the decisions that are made by governments and people in positions of power. You may be very cynical about that claim but the Bible teaches it and many a time I have wondered how world leaders ended up making decisions that in the lead up to the vote they were unlikely to make - look into Mrs Thatcher and The Maastricht Treaty in this respect!

In Ephesians chapter two verse two we discover that people 'walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience'. We would like to think that we are all free agents and in one sense we are - we are responsible for our behaviour. But on the other hand there are evil influences in this world that find their source in the devil who is described in this verse as 'the prince of the power of this world'. These influences tempt us to do wrong, to look after ourselves, to indulge ourselves and to sin.

This is not the only passage in the bible that talks about the powerful influence of evil that pervades our world. In Second Corinthians chapter four we read that 'the god of this world (another description of the devil) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving ones so that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ (who is the image of God) should not dawn on them'. 

The reality is that the devil wants to delude and deceive people so that they end up in Hell and the Lake of Fire. He wants people to think that they have liberty to live as they like but what he doesn't tell them is that sinful habits ensnare and trap them. His master stroke is to convince people that he does not exist and that the idea of a devil is just a tool of religious people to make other people fear and or behave. He has no desire for people to live life as God intended them to or to know the forgiveness of sins. 

Yes - there is more to life than meets the eye. God is not mocked whatever you sow you will reap and there is an appointed day when God will judge the world in righteousness!

Make sure you see the truth for what it is and 'seek the Lord while he may found'.

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.