The King has come, and He has brought life and light to the whole world.
Come, let us adore Him!
A devotional blog from Forest Hill Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Annie Morgan grew up in the Great Depression in the Appalachian region.Her father was a preacher and her mother died when she was a girl.After her mother’s death, Annie and her father were in the small town of Murphy, North Carolina, where her father was preaching.As part of the services, Annie got up and sang the haunting song, “I Wonder as I Wander.” John Jacob Niles, a composer, was in the audience that day and he loved the song Annie sang, which he had never heard before.He paid her twenty-five cents to sing the song to him as he wrote down the words and the melody.Mr. Niles took the first three lines and the tune from Annie and wrote the rest of the song himself. It is one of the most beautiful and haunting songs to ever come out of the Appalachian mountain regions of North Carolina. The song is a contemplation of some of the deep mysteries of Christmas—the fact that Jesus was born to die, that He was the king and yet a poor and humble baby. He humbled himself for us—for “poor, ornery people like you and like I.”
"Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built." - Genesis 11:4-5
The Tower of Babel and the Birth of Jesus:
Man Tries to Reach Heaven and is Scattered. God Reaches Down from Heaven and Gathers.
What could the Tower of Babel possibly show us about Christmas? Well, I could make some goofy comment about how Christmas trees are shaped like the Tower of Babel and are thus evil, but I'd rather be more biblical and thoughtful. What were people trying to do when they gathered on a vast plain the land of Shinar and started building a large tower? Obviously, they were trying to build a tower with its top in the heavens, but why? Well, according to their own words, they were trying to steal God's glory and disobey God's commands.
These tower-builders wanted to make a name for themselves, to gain fame and honor and glory for their accomplishment, stealing glory from God. They also wanted to keep themselves from being scattered over the face of the earth. The problem with this second desire is that God had explicitly commanded people to fill the earth, and they were trying instead to concentrate in one place.
How impressive was their effort? Well, they were clearly impressed with themselves, since they though this tower would make them famous. Interestingly, God had to come down from heaven just to see the tower, so from His perspective, it must not have been that impressive or towering.
Now consider what God did at Christmas and how it was the exact opposite of the Tower of Babel, both in its intent and its effect. At Christmas, God reached down from heaven to the world. God sent His Son to bridge the gap between heaven and earth because people could never reach heaven by their own efforts, whether those efforts were tower-building or law-keeping or good-works-doing or religion-inventing. Christmas tells us very clearly that of the distance between a holy God and sinful people is going to be bridged, God Himself must build the bridge.
Not only was Christmas God reaching to earth, but Christmas was the birth of the first man whose whole life would be perfectly dedicated to bringing glory to God. Remember what the angels sang on that first Christmas night? "Glory to God in the highest!" Babel was an attempt by humanity to achieve self-glory; Christmas is God sending His Son to glorify His name.
Finally, what was the effect of the Tower of Babel? God confused human language and people were scattered over the face of the earth. What has been the effect of Christmas? People from all over the world have been gathered to Jesus and brought into His kingdom. In being gathered to Jesus, all national, racial, ethnic and language differences fade away. The multitude around the throne in heaven praise God by singing,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.” - Revelation 5:9-10
At Babel, men tried to make a name for themselves and resist the fulfillment of God's purposes. They failed and were scattered. At Christmas, Jesus came to bring glory to God and to fulfill His every promise and purpose. Jesus succeeded, and He is now gathering His people from every tribe under heaven.
Heavenly Father, Thank for for the ways in which the gift of Your Son at Christmas reverses the curse of Babel. Make my mind like the mind of Jesus, focused on glorifying You and doing Your will. Use me to further the fame of Jesus' name and to fulfill Your purposes in the world. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Enjoy this worship video featuring Chris Tomlin's song, "Glory in the Highest":
And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch." -Genesis 6:13-14,ESV
Jesus is the Ark of Refuge to Save Us from the Judgment of God
Here's an interesting fact: The word for ark is only used to refer to two things in the Bible: a vessel so big it could hold two of every kind of animal on earth with room to spare and a vessel so small it held only a single baby. When we think of an ark, we think of Noah's ark. We may also think of the ark of the covenant, but that's a different Hebrew word. The ark connected to Moses did not hold the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone, but Moses himself as a baby in the Nile river.
The exact origin of this Hebrew word, tebah, is unknown, but both of these were vessels covered in pitch which held life and protected it from wrath. The animals in Noah's ark were protected from God's judgment, and Baby Moses in his ark of bulrushes was saved from Pharaoh's wrath. Thus, in the Bible, the ark is a vessel of safety to carry life through judgment to salvation.
When Jesus was born to Mary, He was wrapped in swaddling cloths and was laid in a manger, another kind of box. He, too, was threatened by the jealous wrath of a king who saw Him as a threat. But Jesus was not placed in an ark to keep Him safe and hidden from Pharaoh. Jesus was also not put in an ark to save Him from God's wrath. No, Jesus Himself came to be our ark of refuge, to be the One in whom we can hide ourselves in order to be saved from judgment.
The Bible is very clear that all people are guilty of violating God's law willfully, repeatedly, wantonly and callously. The Bible also makes it clear that we all do this because it is our nature from birth. We're told of the human condition in the days of Noah when God decided to judge the whole earth: "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen. 6:5)." This fact of our humanity has not changed. Three times in the Bible - in Psalms 14 & 53 and in Romans 3 - we're told, "There is no one who does good, not even one."
Our sin brings us into danger. As much as God had the right to destroy the earth in the days of Noah, so He also has the right to destroy everyone who rebels against His law and commits cosmic treason against the King of the Universe. He not only has the right to punish sinners, but His justice demands it.
Thankfully, God sent His Son into the world to be our ark of refuge from His wrath. Just as Noah and His family found refuge on the ark, so believers find refuge in Jesus Himself. Hiding ourselves in Him, taking shelter in His perfection, shields us from the judgment of God.
The ark itself was not shielded from the judgment of God, It was battered and tossed about by the storms of God's anger. Likewise, Jesus Himself was not shielded from God's anger either. On the cross, He bore the full wrath of God in His body, so that we might be able to hide ourselves in Him and be safe!
Lord Jesus, thank you for being our ark of refuge. Thank You for taking the wrath we deserve, so that we can hide in You and find shelter from God's judgment. Let us trust and rest in You as our ark. Shield us and carry us always, we pray. Amen.
In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. - Genesis 4:3-5, ESV By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. - Hebrews 11:4, ESV But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. - Hebrews 12:22-24, ESV
Why Was Abel's Offering Better than Cain's & What Does that Have to do with Christmas?
So far in our Advent devotions, we've seen that Jesus is the Word that framed the world in Genesis 1, that He is the tree of life in Genesis 2 and that He is the seed of the woman in Genesis 3. So on Day 4, why not look at Genesis 4? This is the first chapter after the fall and the curse in Genesis 3, and we see some other firsts in this chapter: the first offerings made to God, the first case of sibling rivalry in human history and, most tragically, the first murder.
One of the questions that emerges in the opening verses is simple: Why did God accept Abel's offering and not Cain's? We're not told explicitly why in Genesis 4, but God seems to expect that Cain would know why his offering was not acceptable. So, what's the difference between their offerings? Well, Abel offered a bloody sacrifice of the firstborn of his flock. Thus, Abel's offering was more costly and more deadly. Hebrews 11 tells us it was offered in faith, and killing your firstborn animal of your flock certainly is an act of faith. By contrast, Cain only brought God some of the fruit of the ground from his harvest. It wasn't the first and the best and it didn't require the shedding of blood.
God had already shown Adam and Eve that covering their shame would require the shedding of blood. Genesis 4 has the first offerings made to God but not the first deaths in the world. Genesis 3:21 says, "And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." Thus, God made the first sacrifice to cover His people after they sinned. Cain was essentially trying to take a short-cut, and in doing so was making light of his sin and of God's holiness.
Abel's sacrifice was also better than Cain's because Abel's sacrifice was a better picture of the true and ultimate sacrifice. Jesus is God's firstborn, His one and only Son. Thus, when Abel offered the firstborn from his flock, he was offering his one and only, precious in his sight. Abel also demonstrated that atonement requires bloodshed. The cost for sin is death, which is what God had warned Adam: " . . . in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:17)
Our sin is truly vile and it makes us vile in the eyes of a holy, holy, holy God. Sin is not a light and trivial thing to be paid for cheaply and conveniently. Ultimately, the price for our sin could be nothing less than the very life of the sinless Son of God. That's what Advent reminds us of: God's people longed for final and full forgiveness, and such redemption came in a most costly form, the priceless Prince of Peace, who came to ransom us by shedding His blood in our place. This is why Abel's offering was so much better than Cain's, because by faith Abel saw better than Cain what sin would require for real forgiveness.
Heavenly Father, when You made the garments of skin for Adam and Eve, You knew that covering our sin was going to cost You Your own Son. Your people longed for full forgiveness for centuries before You finally sent Your Son into the world to purchase our pardon for us. What a precious and priceless gift! What marvelous and matchless love! Thank You for Jesus. Amen.
Abel's sacrifice points us to the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God:
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” - Genesis 3:15, ESV
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons."
- Galatians 4:4-5, ESV
"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." - Romans 16:20, ESV
The Miraculous Seed Who Crushes the Serpent
In the very best stories, important details are revealed early. If you're not paying close attention, it's easy to miss them. That's one reason why the very best stories should always be read over and over again.
Of course, God's story is the very best story of all. Like the Master Storyteller He is, God gives clues, hints and details that foreshadow the story's climax from the very beginning. Some are more obvious and others are quite subtle. Just like other masterful stories, the clues God gave His people along the way didn't prevent them from being shocked when the climactic moment finally arrived. The key difference between God and a novelist is that God wrote His story in the very real history of His people- not in the space of a few hundred pages, but over the unfolding course of hundreds and hundreds of years.
The first significant clue God gives comes just three chapters into the story. There would be 926 more chapters before the main character would finally appear in the flesh, in the womb of a virgin. In just a few short lines in Genesis 3:15, God shines a ray of light into the darkest chapter in human history. Just as sin was entering the world, as the forbidden fruit was still digesting in their stomachs, sitting heavy with guilt, God gave the promise of redemption: the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent's seed, even as His heels would be crushed by the serpent's deadly bite.
It is very significant that God addresses this promise to the serpent and makes reference not to the offspring of the man, but to the offspring of the woman. The lineage of offspring is traced through the father's line, not the mother's. Even more, the word God uses here is often translated as "seed," commonly refering specifically to the man's contribution toward offspring. But here God says not "the offspring of the man," but "her offspring."
When this promise would finally be fulfilled many centuries later, the One who came as the crusher of the serpent would be born of a woman but not the offspring of any man. Jesus came into the world "born of a woman." He may have been the Son of Man, but He was not the son of any man. His Father was God Himself, and His conception and birth would be as miraculous as His life, His death and His resurrection.
The promise would be fulfilled when the deadly sting of the serpent's fangs would drive nails through the heels of the woman's offpring. The woman's seed would indeed be crushed and would forever bear the scars of that crushing. But in striking the heel of the offspring of the woman, the deadly serpent fulfilled this promise and sealed his own doom. His greatest power was removed. The deadly serpent was de-fanged, as our sins were forgiven, our accusations settled, our guilt removed and our ransom secured.
Not the offspring of the woman is risen and exalted and he extends His victory to us in this promise: Our heels will crush the head of our deadly lifelong adversary. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet because the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with us to see His victory through to its final end.
Lord Jesus, You are the Promised One in every way! Every promise of God finds its fulfillment in You. You have crushed the vile serpent under Your feet, though it cost You Your life to do so. You have freed us from His tyranny and have given us the promise that one day, we will step on his evil head. May that day come quickly! Amen.
"And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden . . . " - Genesis 2:9-10, ESV "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— Galatians 3:13, ESV "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." - 1 Peter 2:24, ESV "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lambthrough the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him." - Revelation 22:1-3, ESV
The Christmas Tree of Life: A Tale of Three Trees That What Was Lost Might Be Restored
I love trees, and not just Christmas trees. Strong, old trees have a majesty and beauty unique to their gnarled forms. Some of my favorite authors have made good use of trees, including C.S. Lewis in Prince Caspian and J.R.R. Tolkien in The Two Towers. The story of Christmas is a story of redemption, one that begins, climaxes and culminates with trees.
When God created Adam and Eve in His image, He put them in the Garden of Eden with two special trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, telling them that eating from it would bring death to them.
Some people have wondered why God would put an evil tree right in the midst of His very good world. But the tree of knowledge was not evil, for God does not create anything evil. It was forbidden, which is different. It was there as a test, for while Adam and Eve were on probation and under trial by God, they must not eat it. Interestingly, God did not forbid Adam to eat from the tree of life- at least, not until after he fell into sin.
Thousands of years after Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and were barred from the tree of life, one of their descendants - one who was uniquely the seed of a woman (more on that tomorrow) - was born and laid in a manger, probably made of rough wood. His tender infant flesh, wrapped in strips of cloth, was laid on wood. Nearby shepherds were told to come and see this precious lamb. All of this prefigured what Jesus would do 33 years later on another piece of wood, before being wrapped in other strips of cloth.
Jesus purchased our ransom, paid for our forgiveness and satisfied God's holy justice by hanging on a tree. As Jesus hung there, outside of Jerusalem's gates, He who was the Word made flesh, He who was the Truth and the Life, made the Way to God in His own flesh by being cursed upon a tree for us. In the death of Jesus, the cruel cross of Roman execution became the tree of life for God's dearly loved people. He become cursed that we might be blessed. He drank death that we might receive life.
When Jesus rose again and went back to His Father, He began building the New Jerusalem, the church triumphant, puchased by His blood and made His body. When He comes again, He will bring the New Jerusalem with Him, which will come down from heaven like a bride prepared for her bridegroom. And in the middle of this most holy city, the heavenly city, is a tree, planted beside a stream of water.
Didn't you wonder, at the end of Genesis 3, what happened to the tree of life and how we might find our way to it? Well, the tree is in heaven with Jesus, and the only way to gain access to it is through Him. His cursed death on the cross not only transformed the cross into a tree of life, but it re-opened way back to the tree of life for all who trust in Him.
And so, humanity was cursed because we ate from a forbidden tree. As part of our curse, we were barred from another tree, until Jesus came and died upon a tree that restored the tree of life to us. Creation. Fall, Redemption, Glory. I do love trees!
Lord Jesus, Thank You for taking my sins upon yourself on the tree so that I might be purchased back to God. Thank You for restoring the tree of life at the cost of Your own death. Thank You for becoming a curse that I might be blessed forever. May I never lose sight of Calvary's tree and may I never cease to praise You for what You did there for me. Amen.
Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree
The traditional carol, "Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree," may strike us as a little strange, but it's a celebration of Jesus as the tree of life, the fruitful tree Who is also the tree of knowledge, the knowledge that comes from faith and brings true joy to our souls. The music for this version was written by Elizabeth Potson:
Here are the lyrics, with thoughts by Jay D. Weaver: Jesus Christ the Apple Tree The tree of life my soul hath seen, Laden with fruit and always green: The trees of nature fruitless be Compared with Christ the apple tree.
In this poem, we immediately see that Jesus Christ is that Tree of Life. It's interesting that we often refer to the forbidden fruit as an apple. Here, the Tree of Life is referred to as an apple tree.
His beauty doth all things excel: By faith I know, but ne'er can tell The glory which I now can see In Jesus Christ the apple tree.
The second verse says that our knowledge of his beauty is based on faith rather than on the forbidden tree.
For happiness I long have sought, And pleasure dearly I have bought: I missed of all; but now I see 'Tis found in Christ the apple tree.
In the third verse, we find that all pleasure comes from this Tree of Life. We no longer need the idyllic Garden of Eden.
I'm weary with my former toil, Here I will sit and rest awhile: Under the shadow I will be, Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.
Remember all that toil that the human had to do to survive. Now in the fourth verse, we find a place to rest.
This fruit doth make my soul to thrive, It keeps my dying faith alive; Which makes my soul in haste to be With Jesus Christ the apple tree.
Finally, in the last verse, the poet provides the denouement to the poem. The fruit of the "Tree of Life" truly keeps us alive and gives us the desire to be grafted onto the apple tree itself.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good."
- Genesis 1:1-4a, ESV
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
- John 1:1-5, ESV
In the Beginning . . .
As we begin the month of December, our hearts and minds, and over-crowded schedules are focused on the rapid approach of Christmas. Shopping lists, decorating tasks, party schedules, gift ideas, baking, cards and family gatherings all conspire to make this one of the most intensely stressful times of the year. The pressure to make this "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" can make many parents - especially moms - feel like they are scrambling to catch up and always falling short.
Let's take a few minutes each morning to remember that Christmas is not special because of what we do but because of what Christ has done. What brings lasting joy is not the perfect present under the tree, but the gift of salvation, laid in a manger more than 200 decades ago, in that little town of Bethlehem.
Who was this child who was born in Bethlehem and was wrapped in swaddling cloths? What was the meaning of His coming into the world? Where do we begin in reflecting on the wonder of Christ's coming? Well, why not begin at the very beginning?
In the very beginning, God framed and ordered the universe and our home in it by using His word. He spoke and light penetrated darkness. He spoke and order brought shape and meaning to chaos. He spoke and life and beauty filled the empty void.
John tells us something unexpected and marvelous at the beginning of his Gospel: This word which God spoke is a Person, a Person who has always been with God and a Person who has always been God. All things were made through this Person of the Word, just like we read in Genesis 1. Even more wonderfully, this Person of the Word is the life of the world and the light of all people. The light of the Word shines in the darkness of this world and is never grasped, never mastered, never comprehended and never overcome.
This Word is the One who "became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) Look outside for a moment and consider: The baby who laid in the manger on that first Christmas, the One whose coming we celebrate, was the Word that formed everything. Go outside tonight and look at the stars and consider: The One who spread that dazzling canopy of light is the light of the world who came into the world to show Himself to us and save us.
Lord Jesus, You are the Word that framed the world. You created everything, and then You stepped into Your creation as a baby, small and helpless, to reveal Yourself and redeem Your people. Such grace is too wonderful for us to comprehend. Fill our hearts with love and wonder that we may worship You this Advent season and always. Amen.
