Spiritual blessings in the New Year come by choice

by Barrett Vanlandingham
December 31, 2013

            “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).”

            When I was baptized as a young man, the feeling of coming back up out of the water is something I will never forget.  My sins were washed away!  It was as if I was starting all over with not even a single sin attached to my soul.  It was like being a baby again… sinless.  A “new creation”!

            As I grew in my knowledge of scripture and awareness of God’s constant presence in my life, my faith and appreciation of God grew.  Once again God was right, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).”

            I love verses such as 1 John 1:7 that remind me that as long as I continue to walk in God’s light where he is, the blood of Jesus will continue to cleanse me from all sin. 

            It’s like wearing a Jesus covering all the time.  Galatians 3:26-27 says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

            Of course, the water itself has no supernatural properties (1 Peter 3:21).  The Bible describes what happens during baptism as God’s power at work. 

            “…having been buried with him (Christ) in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.”   

            It is not our power or works that save us.  It is God who does the work, and it is God who saves us by his grace, through our faith (Ephesians 2:8) in Jesus as our Savior, and when we allow our love for Christ to be shown in our obedience to him (James 2:24-26). 

            So, what are we supposed to do with this information in the coming year?  Well, according to scripture, if you want to turn over a new leaf, so to speak, and become a new creation, you must be “in Christ”, or clothed in Christ.  Paul says in Romans 6:3-4 that baptism "into Christ" makes it possible for Christians to live a new life.  He also says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).”

            Anyone or anything can be dunked.  But baptism is different.  It involves a person who believes that Jesus is the son of God, and who is ready to begin a new life of obedience to him.  Have a great week!

The weeks after Jesus’ birth are fascinating, too

by Barrett Vanlandingham

December 24, 2013

            The birth of the Christ child immediately drew the attention and praise of nearby shepherds (Luke 2:8) who visited him in a manger, with Joseph and Mary there.  Then, up to 24 months later, Wise Men from the east came to worship and bring gifts to Jesus in a house. 

            But what happened in between?  Those were not the only significant appearances recorded in the Bible regarding the early days of our Savior.  On the eighth day, when the baby was circumcised, Joseph and Mary named him Jesus (Luke 2:21). This was the name the angel had given Him before He was even conceived.

            When Jesus was 41 days old, his parents brought him to the temple in Jerusalem to present Him to God, and also to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.  The 41 days is how long it took under Jewish law for a woman to be considered purified after giving birth to a son, or 81 days if she gave birth to a girl (Leviticus 12).

            To me, one of the most exciting parts of the day at the temple involves an elderly man named Simeon.  Luke 2:25 says that he was righteous and devout, and that God’s Holy Spirit prompted him to go to the temple.  He no doubt was very happy he listened to God that day, because when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple, Simeon was not only there, but the following verses tell us exactly what happened. They also quote his exact heartfelt words in the presence of the baby, Joseph, and Mary.  We can only dream of being so fortunate!

            “Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, now you dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel (Luke 2:28-32).”

            Can you even imagine the joy of this elderly man, Simeon?!  He is the only person recorded in the Bible as having held the Christ child in his arms while talking to Jesus’ heavenly Father, God?!  Even God himself did not get to hold his own son in the flesh. Other friends or family must have also held this child.  But Simeon is certainly in a small circle who can say they held the Christ child on the day he was presented to God in the temple.

            As always, the important part of the story is what our response will be today.  Will we, like Simeon, pay attention to where God’s Spirit is leading us?  Do we allow Jesus to be the Light for our path?  And do we lift up and glorify the King of Kings in the way we live?  Have a great week!

The mystery behind the three gifts may not be so mysterious

by Barrett Vanlandingham

December 17, 2013

                                 

            Unless we fall victim to a cleverly-timed, random, holiday infomercial, most of us try to buy or make Christmas gifts that either fit the personality of the one to whom we’re presenting the gift, or the gift is something the person needs.

            So, did you ever wonder about the choice of gifts brought by Wise Men in the Bible, also known as Magi or astrologers, to give to the probable toddler? 

            “And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11, ESV).”      

            Did they just have a weak moment and randomly purchase these items from a traveling salesman or maybe a bi-vocational sheep herder?  Not likely.  After all, these visitors “from the east” had plenty of time to think about what kind of gifts they would bring, since it would have taken several months to get to Jerusalem from any number of places east of the Euphrates River, after having seen Christ’s star.  In fact, since the paranoid King Herod ordered the slaughter of all males in the area who were two years old and under “in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi (Matt. 2:16),” we can be reasonably certain that Jesus was not still a newborn in a “manger”.  As verse 11 points out, the Wise Men actually went “into the house.”  It was earlier that the “shepherds” visited the “baby” in a manger (no room in the inn).

            There are more than a few explanations for the choice of gifts.  One is that they were expensive, and Joseph could have easily carried these items to be used as barter during their trip to Egypt where they stayed until Herod’s death. 

            Another explanation is that the Wise Men, however many there were (the Bible doesn't say) brought three gifts fit for a king!  In the Old Testament, the Queen of Sheba and many others brought gifts to King Solomon including gold, spices, and jewels (1 Kings 10). 

            A third possible explanation has more to do with symbolism.  In Exodus 30:22-38, a recipe is given for anointing oil that included myrrh, and another recipe for incense that included frankincense.  Both recipes were considered holy, and to be used only on burnt offerings by priests, or on other holy items used in some way to honor God, but not to be used simply for anyone’s enjoyment, under the penalty of being cut-off from God’s people.

            For those reasons, one tradition says the gold was given in recognition of Christ as King, the frankincense in recognition of Jesus as High Priest, and myrrh to symbolize the anointing oil that would be needed after his sacrificial death.

            The most important gift we can give to Christ today is that of our love and obedience.  God bless you, and have a great week!

Is God really listening?

by Barrett Vanlandingham
December 10, 2013

            As I write this article, I am on hold with AT&T while a customer service representative is trying to figure out why my cell phone can receive text messages but it cannot send them.

            I was thinking to myself that there has to be a spiritual parallel here somewhere, and then it hit me!  Why does God get to tell us everything He wants us to know through the Bible, but when we communicate to God through prayer, many of us wonder if our message actually gets there?  And if He does hear our thanksgivings and pleas for help, what does He think about them, and how are we supposed to know His time frame for answering?  Wow! Serving an invisible God can be frustrating sometimes!  Any other relationship would probably be doomed from the start if it were modeled after this kind of communication. 

            Thankfully, our relationship with God is not like any other relationship, nor is the ultimate outcome.  While we do have a personal relationship with God, He is also the Savior to the masses who believe and obey Him.  He has already proven His love to us by coming to earth in the form of Jesus, a 100-percent human and 100-percent God being.  And just so people would believe in His message and His identity, Jesus did miracles, A LOT OF MIRACLES.  In fact, Jesus regularly performed miracles seen by thousands of people during His ministry. Those were in addition to the crucifixion and resurrection which fulfilled prophecy from a thousand years before those events happened.

            John said, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30-31).”

            God threw us a lifeline when He sent His Son, Jesus, to save us from sin and its consequences.  But the bottom line is that we still must believe in a God we haven’t personally seen, and we must believe in a story that we did not personally witness.  The same could be said of other historical figures who no one doubts existed.  However, none of this means we are somehow relegated to worshipping a God we have never experienced.  He impacts our lives everyday if we will just take notice of what He has done and continues to do, and all of those “little” coincidences that simply cannot be explained in the absence of a living God. 

            Many first and second century writers from outside of the Bible quote scripture and even talk about Jesus in ways that are consistent with the Bible’s description.  They include Josephus, Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, Lucian, and even the Babylonian Talmud (a collection of writings by Jewish rabbis from 70-200 A.D.).  With each generation, more overwhelming evidence continues to surface in science, history, archaeology, geology, and astronomy that supports the Bible’s teachings.

            Yes, we would all like immediate audible answers when we talk to God, and we want them in our preferred time frame.  But the evidence of God’s existence and His love for us is overwhelming.  His word already gives us all the information we need to make it to heaven (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The least we could do is to have faith that He has our best interest at heart, even if we don’t always understand his reasons or timing.  His grace gives us something more than worthy of our belief and obedience.  And in the end, the reward of heaven will be more than worth it.  Have a great week!