REASON #2 Why Christmas Should Take Your Breath Away: This Lowly Baby Crushed Satan’s Head

Note: We all know it is a struggle to sing songs like the angels did 2,000 years ago. We struggle to view the birth of Jesus as a big deal. So, this is my attempt to stir worship within us. This is the second of 20 blog entries, one for each day until Christmas.

Satan is real. And deadly. And he is one million times stronger than you or I. He is a roaring lion, devouring people (1 Peter 5:8). All men apart from Christ have him as their father (John 8:44). We followed him, and not begrudgingly, but whole-heartedly down the path of life unto our own cliff of destruction (Ephesians 2:2). He is the ‘god of this world’ who exerts incredible power as BILLIONS do his damning bidding.
And it has been this way from the very beginning, since Adam and Eve.

Yet God did not leave us on our own. After Adam and Eve’s treasonous disobedience in the Garden of Eden, God graciously gave this glimmer of hope in his curse on the Serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the women, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, ESV).

Notice two awesome things in this promise. First, salvation will not come from Adam or Eve, but will come through the woman’s line. It is her offspring that will destroy the Devil. But who is this offspring? It was not Abel nor Seth nor Abraham nor Moses nor David. None of them bruised the serpent’s head. No, it was this humble, meek infant born of the virgin Mary and lying in a manger. Jesus could not just show up on earth to save. He had to be born of a woman. He is the one and only true offspring of Eve.

Second, look how this salvation comes about. It is the offspring of the woman who “shall bruise [the serpent’s] head,” but the serpent “shall bruise [the offspring’s] heel.” This offspring will deal out a deadly wound (“bruise your head”) and receive a minor wound (“bruise his heel”). Why do you suppose God would waste time mentioning this minor wound? If it is minor, he will recover. No big deal? Right? Perhaps he was just saying that there would be conflict. Perhaps, but I think there is more. Could it be that both are mentioned because God is hinting at how this deadly wound happen? The deadly wound could not happen without his heel being bruised. In fact, it was precisely by having his heel bruised that he crushed the serpent’s head. By the infant Jesus’ eventually laying down his life (“bruise his heel”), he would fully crush the serpent’s head and deal the blow to end his reign (“bruise his head”). Jesus’ death brought Satan’s death.

Notice how clear this is from these two texts:

“This [Jesus] set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:15).

“And they [the saints] have conquered him [the Devil] by the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11).

Come, let us adore this devil-destroying infant!

REASON #1 Why Christmas Should Take Your Breath Away: Our King Has Come!

Note: For the remaining 20 days until Christmas, I plan on writing one post a day about Christmas. The following is the first entry.

Six months into the conception of John the Baptist, the angel Gabriel was sent to the virgin Mary. What was his message? She, though a virgin, would bear a son. And not just any son, but a king. Consider that. A meek, lowly child born to a castaway virgin with no royal pedigree would be the eternal king. Look at Gabriel’s words: “And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32, ESV).

What does it mean for Jesus to have the throne of his father David? It means that Jesus is the promised King who would reign over the people of God and lead them in righteousness and peace. King David was an upright man and God richly blessed David and Israel on account of his righteousness. But two things went wrong: David was sinful (Bathsheba and census) and his reign came to an end. Somehow there needed to be a perfect king who would reign forever.

God promised this kind of king to David: “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13, ESV). This king would come from the line of David and would not just have a very long reign, but an eternal reign. This king was not Solomon nor Hezekiah nor Josiah. No, they all died, and they all sinned. A perfect, never-ending reign needed to come, and we have that promised by Gabriel in Jesus Christ.

Don’t think small thoughts of Jesus as King. His reign is comprehensive and rule is complete. As king, this infant alone has authority to forgive the sins of everyone, including his mother who birthed him (Luke 5:20-26). As king, this infant has authority over all demonic powers. They recognize his authority and beg not to be tormented (Luke 8:28). As king, this infant would crush the greatest enemy (Death) by rising from the dead. As king, this infant would have authority over all men and women who have ever lived, and everyone from Muhammad to Mao Tse Tung to Clara Barton will have to given an account to him (1 Peter 4:5).

Come, let us adore this infant king!

The Only Hope to Lasting Change

Selfishness. Back-biting. Greed. Living loose sexually. Gossip. Addictions to drugs or alcohol. As we look around us, it is not hard to be weighed down by the corruption that surrounds us (perhaps even in our own lives). Despite our boasts as a well advanced culture, our decay seems to be more apparent than ever. Just look at the evening news.

What then is our hope to real change? Like the Emperor with his invisible clothes, we have all tried on positive self-image (“Believe in yourself”), psychotherapy (“It’s not your fault; it’s a disease”), or self-discipline (“Just try harder”). All of these have been ineffective and have left us exposed.

Enter the Apostle Paul and the corrupt Corinthian church. This church had split allegiances to different church leaders (1 Cor 3), was boasting over a man sleeping with his mother-in-law (1 Cor 5), was suing their fellow believers (1 Cor 6), was getting drunk at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11), and was gloating in their own gifts to serve one another (1 Cor 12). And you think your church had problems!

The only thing more amazing than the corruption in the Corinthian church was the counsel for lasting change given by the Apostle Paul. In chapter 15, he writes, “I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you...that Christ died for our sins...that he was buried, that he raised on the third day” (1 Cor 15:1,3-4, ESV).

The only clothes that can truly cover us and the only hope to real change is this: understanding and resting in the cross. Ironically, we do not need to hear what we must do; we need to hear what has been done. As we realize how much we are loved by Jesus, we will then be able to love others (1 John 4:11). As we grasp the depth of our own sinfulness, we will be tender-hearted to those who wrong us (Matthew 5:43-45). As we understand that our sin has been crucified with Christ on the cross, we can finally have freedom over our addictions to pornography or alcohol (Romans 6:1-4).

Let us stop putting our hope in moral commands and positive self-image. The answer for change is not in ourselves. The answer is only found in Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

The Demands of the Empty Tomb

Easter week may be past, but its incredible claims live on. According to the Bible, the linchpin of Christianity centers on the empty tomb (1 Corinthians 15:19). No resurrection equals no Christianity. But if Jesus’ rising from the dead can stand the test of scrutiny, not only is Christianity true, but it makes demands on all people.

Let’s survey the evidence for the resurrection. The oldest objection, begun by the chief priests themselves, is that the disciples simply stole the body of Jesus and fabricated the tale. The problem with this is that the soldiers who guarded the tomb never were killed. If Jesus’ disciples did steal the body, wouldn’t they have to kill the soldiers? And if any of those soldiers remained alive to tell the chief priests, wouldn’t they have also been killed for failing to complete their mission? But the soldiers remained alive, proving that the disciples could not have stolen the body (Matthew 28:11-15).

Some contend that Jesus’ appearance was simply an illusion. He was a figment of their imagination. In response, Scripture tells us that Jesus proved he was real by doing things ghosts don’t do, like eating fish (Luke 24:42) and having his nail-pierced hands touched (Luke 24:39). He also appeared to 500 people at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6). Hallucinations don’t work well in mass crowds.

Finally, some argue that Jesus wasn’t really dead; he just ‘swooned’ and then revived in the cool air of the tomb. But the evidence argues strongly against this. After being condemned to be crucified, Jesus was scourged nearly to the point of death. In fact, he was so weak that he could not even carry his 30-40 pound cross (Luke 23:26). After he died, he had 75 pounds of spices placed on top of him (John 19:39). Doesn’t it seems like a stretch to think that after he has been confirmed dead, he can now miraculously shoulder double the weight?

The clear evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is not simply an interesting fact. We do not stand in judgment of it; it stands in judgment of us. The disciples, energized by seeing their risen Savior, proclaimed, “[God] has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). Because he rose from the dead, he is now the judge of all men. How will we respond to this evidence?

Viewing Trials Biblically

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2-3)

There is something profound about the way James views hard times. Difficulties in life, of all shapes and colors (“various kinds”), are not view as an irritation, a nuisance, or a tragedy. They are viewed as a testing of one’s faith. How profound is this!

I am convinced that if we understand this as believers, this will radically change the way we face these difficulties.

If we believe that what comes out of us flows from what is inside of us, then we should view trials as tests of our faith rather than as inconveniences. They reveal who we are; they do not cause us to be something we aren’t.

Paul Tripp gives a helpful illustration of this truth. Taking a bottle of water, Tripp will shake it, splashing the water onto the ground. He then asks the question, “Why did water come out of the bottle?” The immediate answer usually is, “Because you shook it.” While that is the cause as to why water came out, that that is not the ultimate answer. The correct answer is, “Because water was inside the bottle.” The shaking did not produce the water; it simply revealed it.

So it is with us. Hard times reveal who we really are. They are, as James says, a testing of our faith. In this loss of a job, will we be dependent upon the Lord? We may say we are, but are we really? As our bodies age, is our confidence in our intelligence or our athleticism or in our beauty, or is it in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

A lack of hardships is not good, for we will never realize who we really are. Trials do not change us; they reveal who we are.

So, count it all joy when hard times come in your life. They are a gracious gift from a sovereign God who is bringing them to reveal to you what your heart is really like. And even if there is some nasty filth that comes out of your heart, isn’t God good that he would reveal this to us? What a gift these trials are!

Christianity: Glorious News, Not Burdensome Advice

For many, Christianity is not good news. It is perceived as a burden, a weight, a guilt trip. Many think it is an endless ladder of self-improvement that must be climbed, never knowing when one has grasped the favor of God.

But this is not what the Bible teaches. The core message of the Bible is the gospel, which means “good news.” So when you boil down all of the sermons, the hymns, the baptisms, and the celebrations of the Lord’s Supper, what is it about the message of the Christian faith that actually makes it good news?

The Apostle Paul sums up the things of ‘first importance’: “That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, ESV).

Notice who does the acting. It is Christ who died, who was buried, who was raised. It was not us. The good news is not a cooperative effort. We are not partners with Christ in the work of redemption. He does all the work for us. That is why Jesus’ last words before he died were “It is finished,” not “It has begun” (John 19:30).

But here is the problem: we have a very hard time believing that everything has truly been accomplished. Rather than realizing that Christ’s blood will cover our sin, we talk about how we must get our lives “cleaned up” before we come to Christ. Rather than testifying to Christ’s perfect substitution, we twist Christianity to be only about our personal transformation. Rather than understanding that our righteousness is from Christ and in him, we talk about being a “good Christian.” In short, Christianity becomes a burdensome religion about what we must do, rather than a declaration of what has been done.

Consider how glorious news it is if everything has indeed been done by Christ.

Because Christ bore the wrath of God on the cross, we have the approval of God and can stop living for the acceptance of others. Because Christ’s resume of perfection is ours by faith, we can finally admit our weaknesses and sins. Because of what Christ has done, my improvement will come from God’s approval; God’s approval will not come from my improvement.

What good news the gospel is!

Lack of Faith and Acting Like an Animal

What wonderful news this was! The angel Gabriel just promised the old man Zechariah that he would be the father of a baby boy named John who will be great before the Lord. He would be the only human to be filled with the Holy Spirit for one’s whole life (including before birth!). With the spirit and power of Elijah resting upon him, he would turn the hearts of many toward God. What a forerunner this little boy would be!

But how did Zechariah respond? He responded to God’s word spoken through Gabriel with doubt. “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years” (Luke 1:18). Gabriel rebukes him for his lack of faith, and closes his mouth and shuts his ears until the baby would be born (for evidence of him being deaf, look at Luke 1:62).

Is there any significance in Zechariah going mute and deaf? I think so. God has graciously endowed all humans with certain body parts so that they would be used properly, namely, to glorify him. God had given Zechariah ears to hear his word and a mouth to speak words of faith. Ironically, Zechariah used his ears to doubt God’s word and his mouth to speaks words of distrust and fear. In doing so, Zechariah was acting more like an animal than a human. Therefore, to be a permanent reminder to us all, God took away his senses to show how un-human he was acting. In fact, whenever we lack faith, we are not acting as a true human. To be fully human is to use the members of our body exactly as God designed them, that is, in faith.

So, act as a human today.

Use your mouth to proclaim the wonderful glories of Jesus.

Use your ears to hear words of truth and respond in faith.

Use your eyes as channels that take in God’s wonderful creation, and let what you behold be fuel on the fire of your faith.

Use your mind to humbly ponder the acts and promises of God, and may that propel you on a deeper dependence of God.

Learn from Zechariah, and act like you were meant to be and not like an animal.