Monday, December 16, 2024
Peace
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14
This week we will be considering the peace that Jesus brought into the world. We will consider that he came to bring peace, and that God had arranged all things so that Jesus came in the fullness of time. I remember as a young person being in a youth choir where we sang a song entitled “Let There Be Peace On Earth”. Isn’t it interesting how you can remember lyrics to songs even though you may not have sung them or heard them for many years? One of the lyrics I remember as I think about this song is “let it begin with me”. At the time that I was in the choir, the war in Vietnam was happening. The news, as I remember being reported, was not talking about much peace. In addition to the wars there were riots and protests. It was a time of great unrest. It was anything but peaceful. There was a call for peace and there was a plea for each person to live in peace, and so we sang that we might be the first to bring peace into a chaotic world. Peace needed to begin somewhere. Why not with me? While there is a certain degree of truth to asking that peace would begin with me, the truth is that peace can begin only with Jesus. Truthfully, the chaos of this world is not unusual. There are times, like when I was a youth, that chaos seems more focused. But the world is always in chaos because it is always opposed to God. The world does not seek peace with God. It seeks distance from God. Sin has separated us from him and separation brings everything except peace. The peace we need is peace with God. This comes though Jesus alone. When I have his peace, I can then bring his peace into the world. In that way peace can begin with me as I face situations that will allow him to be revealed in my responses which come from his peace overwhelming me. As I turn to him in repentance, I become one of those in whom he is pleased, and I experience the peace with God I have been designed for. Are you at peace with God?
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Fullness
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Luke 2:6
Please read the two verses above and think about the fullness that is spoken of. There is a fullness to time. Most significantly is the fullness of the time that God had ordained to be fulfilled in the coming of Jesus at the exact moment he had determined. This was revealed not only in the amazing unfolding of the redemptive plan of God that he revealed in Genesis 3:15, but also in the moment of the birth of the Christ child. There is an immediate fullness of time as Jesus is born. Mary has carried the Son if God full term. God has arranged for this moment. It is the moment she has been waiting for since the angel spoke this blessing over her. While there is an overarching fulfillment of time, there is also a beautiful moment of peace that has come in the arrival of the promised one. I can imagine that there was a moment when Mary and Joseph just looked silently at this child that had been promised. I can imagine that they were filled with peace that passes understanding. It does not mean that there would not be struggles and trials, but they knew that this baby was the one who held God’s plan for peace. They were the first to gaze into his eyes with wonder. They had heard the word of the Lord, and they believed. Faith lets peace be seen. It lets peace be embraced and held. In all the noise and commotion of a city filled to overflowing, there was a silent night, if only for a moment as the fullness of time was revealed in infant form. Consider the circumstances of your life. Think about the times in your life when you saw things come to a fullness. Are you able to see God was in those moments bringing his peace? Pause today and ponder.
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Fullness-part 2
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law Galatians 4:4
Please read and/or listen to Matthew 1:1-17. Matthew starts his gospel with a genealogy. His audience was a Jewish audience so it would be very appropriate to start in this way. It would establish that the Messiah had indeed come as promised through Abraham and David. It is one of the indicators that this was indeed the fullness of time—the exact moment that had been planned and awaited. Especially notice Matthew’s overview in 1:17. Matthew is the gospel that is first in the New Testament and in many ways, it is his account that records God’s breaking the silence of 400 years. It has been 400 years since he spoke through a prophet. In our Bibles the final book of the Old Testament is Malachi. Did you know that in the Hebrew Scriptures, which was actually a collection of scrolls that included the traditional order which has been referred to as “TaNaK.” The TaNaK is an acronym for the names of the three large subcollections of the Hebrew Bible: Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. Torah, often referred to as “Pentateuch,” is directly translated as “law” or “instruction.” Nevi’im means “prophets,” and this section was traditionally split into two groups, the former prophets and the latter prophets. Ketuvim means “writings,” and this subcollection includes the rest of the Old Testament. It is here that we see Chronicles wrap up the Hebrew canon. It is actually one book not two and it begins with genealogy as well. Only it traces all the way back to Adam! Chronicles was written for the post-exilic nation of Israel as an overview of its history and a call to serve the Lord and to look for his appearing to fulfill the promise to David. For us, it is a reminder that God has a plan for redemption that involves his covenants and that he is and will accomplish his plan in his time.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Fullness-part 3
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law Galatians 4:4
Please read and/or listen to Luke 2:5-23 today. Within the account of Zechariah, we see how the fullness of time was revealed. John Koessler has a very interesting perspective on Zechariah that he attributes to I. Howard Marshall, a New Testament Scholar. He notes Marshall “observes that prayer for the salvation of Israel was associated with the evening sacrifice. He suggests that at this time, Zechariah may have been praying for the coming of the Messiah. The answer to prayer about which the angel spoke was not merely the birth of John but the dawning of the age of salvation.”
I love pondering this. Because we live in an individualistic culture, we assume that the prayers that Zechariah are offering are individually focused prayers. That does not stand to reason. As a priest, Zechariah would have been offering prayers for the nation. Indeed, he may have been praying for a child, but his response would indicate that he didn’t necessarily believe that was a possibility. He very well could have been praying for the Messiah. And it could be that the answer is shown in 1:17 as Gabriel declares that John will prepare a people for the coming of the Lord—the Messiah.
The fullness of time is at hand. The prayers of many, many years is a prayer that Zechariah has repeated, and that at that moment God will answer—in the giving of a son to Zechariah and the giving of His Son to the world. As you ponder this possibility for the fullness of time and Zechariah’s prayers, think about your prayers. Are you praying for the fulfillment of the promises of God that have not yet come to pass? At some point in the future, God will answer the prayers and return! Join in with the prayers now and wait in eager expectation!!
Friday, December 20, 2024
Fullness-part 4
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law Galatians 4:4
There is an unfolding of the redemptive plan of God that is found in Scripture and there is an unfolding of how he is practically unfolding that as well. Man rejects God in the garden and God puts into motion the plan that preceded the creation. for the redemption of man and creation. The birth of the King would be at an exact moment that would be in the fullness of time. God has preordained the moment, the place, and all the people involved. He had been patiently weaving his plan throughout all of history as nations rose and fell, rulers came into power and died. He chose a people, and he unfolded his plan through that nation. Consider just a few things that were taking place at this moment in time that made it the perfect moment. Alexandar the Great had conquered and established a language that was common among most of the world at that time. Pax Romana–Roman peace. This was a time of relative tranquility in the Roman Empire from about 27 BC to 180 AD. Roads were built and travel was easy compared to how it had been prior. Things in the world were at just the right point in time for the King of the Jews to be born and to bring the fulfillment of the promise of the coming of the Messiah. In the fullness of time Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8) and to bring the possibility of peace with God. Take time today to praise God for his working in history to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah!
If you are interested in reading more about what all happened to prepare the time, I would recommend Charles Pfeiffer’s book, Between the Testaments.
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Time
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. Acts 1:6-7
Please read and/or listen to Acts 1:1-11 today. In many ways, this lets us see that there are moments yet coming that are significant. These moments too will come in the fullness of time. God’s plan is still unfolding. The Messiah will come to bring a final and complete peace in his second advent when he comes as King of kings and Lord of lords to restore the kingdom to Israel and Israel will accept him as their King. Within the two verses above we see the two Greek words that are used for time. These two words are chronos and kairos. One way to think of the difference is that chronos time answers the question, “What time is it?”. Kairos answers the question, “What is this time for?” Chronos is quantitative, kairos is qualitative. Here, the disciples ask if now is the time (chronos) for him to become the King of the earthly kingdom of Israel. He indicates that it is not for them to know the time (chronos) or the seasons (kairos) that God has set in place. This time we are in, since his ascension, is for something other than the kingdom of Israel restored on earth. It is the time for the church to step in and make the Prince of peace known in the world as we await his second coming. We can have peace as we wait because Jesus has made peace with God possible. At the same time, we await the coming of the times and seasons when he comes to rule the earth from his throne in Jerusalem bringing a fullness of that peace! Maranatha! How can you be making the peace of Jesus known today?
Tomorrow we will light the joy candle. As you prepare your heart for worship, ask God to speak to your heart about the joy of Christ!