1 John 3:4-6 The Message
4-6 All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Why do we anticipate Christmas with such relish?
Because we eagerly anticipate that someone will read our mind, discern all of our thoughts, catch on to all those hints we drop in the year for the perfect gift?
What about that “perfect gift?”
Who would know such things at the level where the gift can indeed be called “good and perfect” and exactly what we need at all those times, in all places?
James 1:16-18 English Standard Version
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.[a] 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.
James 5:10-11 The Message
10-11 Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.
Right down to the last detail: For the believer, the answer must surely lie, above all, in the awareness that Jesus Christ appeared and lived to take away our sins.
When we read from the Books of the Prophets, when we read the Gospel writers, we discover the gift of this truth at the very heart of their Christmas message.
From Matthew come the words of the angel to Joseph: “[Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Ahead of what might be regarded as the first ever Christmas concert, the song, the message the angel gave to the shepherds was incredibly similar: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).
The Narrator John began his message to us from a very different vantage point.
As he highlighted the commencement of Jesus’ earthly ministry, having raised our gaze to the eternal Word becoming flesh (John 1:14),
John gave us the immortal words of John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who comes to take away the sin of the world!” (v 29).
And Mark records nothing of Jesus’ birth or childhood, but in his Gospel Jesus’ first words are an announcement that in Him the kingdom of God has come near to people like us (Mark 1:15), and in one of His first miracles Jesus assures a paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (2:5).
If we say that God has shown His love for us in the incarnation of His only Son, that is accurate but that explanation is also quite incomplete and insufficient.
God demonstrated His love for us not simply by sending Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem; rather, His own word tells us “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, emphasis added).
Of course, if we understand that Christ came to take away our sins, then it’s only logical to conclude that we have sins which need to be taken away.
Rare is the man or woman who would say that he or she has never done wrong!
1 John 1:8-10 The Message
8-10 If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.
WITHOUT EXCEPTION:
We all have impure thoughts.
We all speak bitter words.
We all have impure actions.
We all know what it is to live an unholy life.
But the Word of God comes to us and is among us and declares unto each of us, “Here is the good news: Christ appeared in this world to take away your sins.”
Today, this Advent, lay hold of this message with a renewed joy and gratitude.
Let these eight words be the most precious part of your Christmas season:
“He appeared in order to take away sins.”
Your family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors and everyone of those complete strangers in all the stores you will surely be shopping in, may become .00001% more open to the gospel message during the holiday season; make it your aim, then, not to further the sadly misguided worldly perception that Christmas is nothing more than a sentimental emblem of God’s love, as though His Son lay cold, hungry, and gurgling in the manger but never hung in agony on the cross.
His love can only be fully explained in the ultimate purpose of Christ’s coming:
to take away my sins.
to take away your sins.
to take away the sins of the world.
This, and this above all, is what gives our hearts bountiful cause for celebration!
Thanks be to God for this wonderful Gift!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 24 The Message
24 1-2 God claims Earth and everything in it,
God claims World and all who live on it.
He built it on Ocean foundations,
laid it out on River girders.
3-4 Who can climb Mount God?
Who can scale the holy north-face?
Only the clean-handed,
only the pure-hearted;
Men who won’t cheat,
women who won’t seduce.
5-6 God is at their side;
with God’s help they make it.
This, Jacob, is what happens
to God-seekers, God-questers.
7 Wake up, you sleepyhead city!
Wake up, you sleepyhead people!
King-Glory is ready to enter.
8 Who is this King-Glory?
God, armed
and battle-ready.
9 Wake up, you sleepyhead city!
Wake up, you sleepyhead people!
King-Glory is ready to enter.
10 Who is this King-Glory?
God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
he is King-Glory.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 