Season of Advent.

The Season of Advent, the four Sundays before Christmas Day, starts on Sunday 29 November 2015. The word “Advent” essentially means “coming” and “expecting”.

We remember during Advent that Jesus Christ promised to physically come to us again, to create a new heaven and earth in which we will live for all eternity!  His first coming, celebrated on Christmas Day, inspires us to believe that the next coming of our Lord brings hope, peace, joy and love to our lives, our churches and our world!

1. During the Advent Season we in faith are looking forward to the day when the kingdom of the Lord Jesus will bring all distress to an end. And Jesus who promised to return to us says: “Yes, I am coming soon." (Rev 22:20).  It is a season for hope.

2. During this season we also remember that Jesus wants to come into our lives, here and now, through his Spirit’s work in us, and through us come to a lost world in dire need of him.  It is a time for peace with God and each other.

3. It also is a time to be filled with joy, because God became a human being and was born as a baby on that first Christmas, to become our Redeemer and King!

4.  Ultimately it is a time for love.  God so much loved us that he sent his Son, that we may not perish but have eternal life.  This love we share with our fellow believers and with the whole world.

Central Message of this Season:  God gave his Son

During the Advent Sundays, until Christmas day, we will remember that Christ took on our weak, human nature and became one of us.   As the Apostle Paul puts it in 2 Cor 5: 21:  God made him who had no sin, to be sin for us so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.

This is what Jesus Christ did for us on that first Christmas day. In taking on ”weak human flesh”, he associated himself with our dilemma which is the result of our mistakes, disobedience and sin.

Let’s put our trust in God the Son. Let’s rejoice, because he did everything we could not do to save us! Let’s pray that he will come soon to dry all our tears and grant us peace.  Let’s wait with the same urgent love of the believers in the New Testament Church for the victorious and conquering return of Christ, our King.

Christ the King - part two

If Jesus is King and Lord, why are so many things still wrong, impure and painful in this world? If the Messianic Kingdom, promised in the Old and New Testaments, came about when Jesus went to heaven to be crowned King of the universe, of heaven and earth, and if he is in control of everything, how must we understand the experience that so much of our lives is still about injustice, sadness, sin and death?

The answer simply is:  Until Jesus comes again there are both goats and sheep in the world.

First of all, the truth is that there one day will be a separation of the sheep and the goats. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left!  See Matthew 25:31-46.

There will be a judgment day. King Jesus is coming again. The Son of Man will come in his glory and he will sit on his throne as the royal Judge of all. He will come “to judge the living and the dead.” (Apostles Creed) And in this judgment of all people, there will be a separation: “He will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left.” There is no middle ground.

Secondly, the truth about sheep and goats is that this judgment will be on the basis of whether we showed the nature of being one of Christ’s sheep, or if we lived like a goat! He will say, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.”  And then, on the other hand he will say, “I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.” 

Paul also teaches in 2 Corinthians: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

Thirdly, we all know that it is only faith in Christ that can produce the Kingdom works that righteous sheep do. Notice what the King says “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

Everything is centred on our relationship with the King and the person of the King. If our works of love are done as a result of our faith relationship with Christ, then it is regarded as works of his Kingdom. If we have is no relationship with Christ and has not been done for him, then even what is considered good works in the unbelieving world, make no difference to our status in the Kingdom of Christ.  

We must be linked to Christ and his goodness. We must live as a sheep in his fold and therefore receive the gracious gift by which sinners are accounted as good-in order for there to be any works of love and mercy for Christ. Faith in Christ is the key as to whether our lives will be judged to be works of his Kingdom, or not.

Finally, it is faith in Christ the King that saves. Following the King, accepting him as King and Lord of our lives, turns our lives around and the evidence that our lives have been turned around form being goats to sheep, is a free gift! Pure grace! 

Only Jesus Christ the King gives us this miracle, that we are redeemed from belonging to the flock of goats and turned into his sheep.  His precious blood washes away our sins. His righteousness is imputed to us as a gift. His perfect holiness purifies our imperfect lives, and his Spirit turns us into people who do everything for him in obedience to our majestic King and Lord!

Faith alone saves by grace, but the faith never stands alone. It is always accompanied by the works of the Kingdom of the King that saved us.

Faith works. Like a good tree, it bears good fruit.

The righteous do not proudly keep score of their Kingdom works. They look to the finished work of Christ, who alone can produce works in us that are accepted as good in God’s eyes.

The key to living and experiencing the Kingdom of Christ is to have a relationship with Christ.  It ensures that our sins have been forgiven, washed away by his blood that was shed on the cross. This is the only way through which our impure, selfish lives can be wiped away and be replaced with the very works of Christ the King: your Judge is also your Saviour!

This is how we glorify Christ the King!  We live for him. 

We do things similar to what he did when he was on earth.  Then others can also believe that Christ the King, the Messiah, indeed reigns!  They can believe that they too may believe in him and be saved through faith in him, by grace. 

Christ the King – part one.

Sunday 29 November 2015 is the first of four Advent Sundays.  It means, amongst other things, that Christmas comes after only 6 more Sundays.

Between Pentecost and Advent we learn about the matters of the Kingdom of God. So before Advent starts we consider a few focused thoughts on “Christ the King”.

We know that the kings of Israel failed to live up to God’s standard. Yet the true believers continued to trust in the Messianic promise of a just and righteous king. This promise helps our understanding of Christ as king. Whereas no human being was ever completely able to fulfill the expectations of a king (or government) that ruled justly, for Christians “Christ the King” is the fulfillment of all the prophecies.

Christ does not and did not come as an earthly king.  He is not going to overthrow earthly rule. His kingdom is not one of swords and military, economic or corporate and organizational might.

His sovereign power comes from bearing the truth: The truth of salvation, the truth of love, righteousness, and eternal life that ultimately is the only power that is sustainable and lasts eternally.

John writes about our King in the Revelation Book: “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.”   Rev 1: 5.

John proclaims that Jesus is the faithful witness of the salvation truth. “He is "the firstborn of the dead," meaning the first to rise from the dead and we will all follow. He also is the ruler of the rulers of the earth. He made us a kingdom of priests serving his God and Father in all circumstances.

Proclaiming that Christ alone is Lord and King is a counter-cultural choice to make. The unbelieving world will never accept his authority.

But neutrality is not a choice. We either serve the world or serve the truth that is Christ.

It is the only way to true living.

I am failing physically, emotionally and spiritually! “But God!”

Psalm 73: 26: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

“My flesh and my heart may fail" defines despondency, meaning an experience of failure, unhappiness, sadness, hopelessness and misery. There are three parts to this little phrase.

"My flesh" – there is a physical component to failure.  The body weakens; there are aches, pains, fatigue and eventually the risk of serious illness as a result of constant despondency – ulcers, diabetes, strokes, heart decease and many more. And when “my flesh” fails me, there always is exhaustion.

Secondly, "and my heart may fail" – which means that there is an emotional-spiritual dimension to my despondent experience of being a failure.  We experience emotions that can be described as feelings of being discouraged, depressed, gloomy and burned out.

Thirdly, there is this word, "fail" in this verse. It means that I have come to my wits end, depleted of resources and of a vision for my life and the future.

Is it a sin to feel that I am failing physically, emotionally and spiritually?

Under sad and hopeless circumstances it is no sin to feel despondent. Many of the exemplary believers in the Scriptures experienced deep and dark sadness - and even hopelessness. Jesus was overwhelmed with sorrow in Gethsemane.

But, what is a sin is to yield to despondency. To make it your partner for life, to refuse to counter-attack it and to think that God cannot reach you in that dark space – or to believe that God cannot do something new in your life and change your broken heart into a source of fresh gladness and joy!

The most important 2 words in this verse are: "But God..."

Psalm 73:26 contains this truth: "My flesh and my heart may fail":

And then we launch the spiritual counter attack by saying:  “but God.”

So here we are. Often feeling that life left us failing, empty and without vision, plan or joy.

The Scripture reminds us of the counter attack we are called to:  “But God”. 

God is the strength of my life.

And God is my portion forever!

God is my help, my salvation.  In Jesus Christ I am saved from even my failures, sadness and hopelessness.

Despondency comes from many places.

But faith comes from one place only. It comes from the willingness to say: “but God.”

But God can fill me with gladness again – in and through Jesus Christ, my almighty Lord.

God liberates from sin’s tyranny.

Humanity’s biggest problem is that death reigns. We need miraculous interventions to be liberated from the tyranny of death!

We read about this in Romans 5. In verse 14 Paul says:  Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

The reason that we need to talk about being delivered from sin's presence, penalty and power, is because sin must be reckoned with.  We see the extent of sin’s power in the little phrase "death reigned" found in verse 14. And death has reigned in all ages and among all people. Everyone dies. The one thing that we can say about sin's power is that it is remorseless.

Our problem is that through the legacy of sin, we live to die. We are dying while we are alive. The reality of the presence, penalty, and power of sin cannot be avoided by human or natural effort.

This is why we all need to be saved from sin’s consequences.  This is why our deepest possible human need, is for God’s miraculous interventions in our lives!

The answer lies in the power of a supernatural life!!

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:15-21

The solution to our problem, struggling with a life infected with death and its consequences,  is not to be found by redoubling our efforts to be better people.

It is only to be found by looking outside of ourselves to a power greater than ourselves:  the power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Unless we received the supernatural life in Jesus, given to us by the intervention of a supernatural God, we will never be free.

Instead of liberty, we will experience death. Sin is merciless and the reign of death has exempted no one.

But the gift of sharing in the eternal life of Christ Jesus has released us from our burdens.  

We are told that through the gift of righteousness we shall reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

It means is that Jesus Christ is more powerful than the reign of death. He causes us to reign in life. We are released from the bondage of the power of sin through Jesus Christ.

His gracious gift of life has set us free from the tyranny of sin and all its consequences!