What Did Jesus Do?
The elder to the elect lady and her children…
2 John 1
When we consider that Jesus came to raise up one family, God’s family, by repairing the breach between the Father and his children, isn’t it ironic how so many churches take such pains to separate themselves from other churches? Even more, isn’t it troubling? And this is to say nothing about the internal acrimony and division present in a lot of congregations. But, as the Second Letter of John makes clear, Church is all about family, family brought together and held together in and through Jesus, who raised up fathers, many sisters, and lots of children, in truth and in love, and made them one family, God’s family.
Though there is still some ongoing debate as to the authorship of 2 John, it seems pretty clear that it is the same person who penned 1 John (and 3 John), there are so many stylistic and thematic similarities. And there is almost no question at all that 1 John is the work of the author of the Gospel of the same name—John, the apostle, and as we see here, the elder. Elder (Greek presbuteros) is sometimes translated in English as overseer. In the New Testament it is a title which represents one with authority over one or more congregations or fellowship of believers in the First Century. It is quite a natural title for someone like John, who was literally an old man by the time of the canonical letters, and one who looked upon the members of the Church as his little children (1 John 2:1, 28; 3:7; 4:4). John not only understood that he had an apostolic responsibility for the Church, but also expressed a paternal love for her ( We often use the feminine personal pronoun when talking about the Church, for the Church is the Bride of Christ, she is, as John writes here, the elect lady.). They were one family, God’s family.
Those of Christianity’s first generation, John and the other apostles, were fathers whose proclamation of the word of life called, formed, and sustained the Church in intimate fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:1-3). John and the other apostles proclaimed the truth, and shared with the Church a life characterized by both knowledge of the truth, and loving relationships in the truth (2 John 1). They were one family, God’s family.
Even as the Church catholic (universal) was betrothed to Christ, she also existed and functioned in particular places, and for specific gatherings of believers, as the elect lady in a house, or in a city. The many particular churches were as daughters to the apostles, and sisters (2 John 13) to one another. They were one family, God’s family.
No family, not even God’s will be around for more than one generation, if there are no children. But the elect lady was not barren, she had children, lots of children. And for these children, these little children, John also had an abiding love. For the children, like John, and the elect lady, abided in the truth forever (2 John 2). They were one family, God’s family.
Today, when many churches are barely on speaking terms with one another, if the Church is one family, it is one broken and dysfunctional family. If the elect lady and her children in our day are going to abide in the same truth and love as John and the Church once did, it will only be through our common acknowledgment of the truth of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and our submission to Jesus and to one another in love. It is this truth and this love alone which can make of us one family, God’s family.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Subscription Invitation
The majority of people who read What Did Jesus Do? receive them directly via email. Recently, we've contacted our "e-clock" inviting them to officially become subscribers. Not that we have lots of blog followers, but we would also like to invite those of you who are, to also become subscribers and receive the WDJDs directly in your inbox. Below is the text of our "Subscription" invitation.
We've emailed something over 400 What Did Jesus Do? devotions over the last two and a half years. Some of you have been receiving them pretty much from the beginning of our ministry, while others have only recently been added to the address book. Certainly, long-time or recent recipient, we hope you find the WDJDs more helpful than not, and take time to read them, well, more often than not.
Up to now we have not required any kind of subscription to receive WDJDs. Unfortunately, times being what they are, we are facing some real financial challenges. Therefore, commencing March 1st of this year, we are going to ask everyone to become a subscriber (Don't worry, you'll be amazed at how cheaply you can keep getting the WDJDs. Essentially, there are four subscription options, two of which don't cost a cent:
1. Simply acknowledge via return email that you would like to continue to receive
WDJD emails, and we'll keep sending them to you (If we don't hear from you by
March 1, however, we will take that as an indication of disinterest, and remove
you from the mailing list).
2. Indicate via return email that you would like to continue to receive WDJD
emails, and help grow this ministry by sending us the names and email addresses
of family and friends who you want to receive, well, a "gift" subscription.
(This still won't cost you a penny, but you will be helping us as you help
us to grow the audience for this ministry).
3. Become a paying subscriber for the super low price of $2 a month ($24.00
annually). What a bargain! Your subscription may be conveniently paid through
our website using PayPal.
4. Become a paying subscriber, and sustainer of this ministry as well, at the
level of $40 or more, and we will send you as a thank you a copy of I Just
Wanna Ride (One man's ride to real faith...), by Dr. Bob Kopp, a biker and
Presbyterian pastor, who challenges both those who mount chrome ponies and
those who sit in pews, or stand in a pulpit, to live authentically after the
example of Jesus.
Now, I have to be frank here, if everyone takes option 1 or 2, we may have to shut down the ministry because we simply won't have the money to keep even our shoestring operation going. Nonetheless, we trust that, ultimately, it is the Lord who provides for you, and for us, and for all.
We hope 2012 has begun well for you, and pray God will bless and highly favor you, and position you to prosper.
Christ IS All!
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.3
We've emailed something over 400 What Did Jesus Do? devotions over the last two and a half years. Some of you have been receiving them pretty much from the beginning of our ministry, while others have only recently been added to the address book. Certainly, long-time or recent recipient, we hope you find the WDJDs more helpful than not, and take time to read them, well, more often than not.
Up to now we have not required any kind of subscription to receive WDJDs. Unfortunately, times being what they are, we are facing some real financial challenges. Therefore, commencing March 1st of this year, we are going to ask everyone to become a subscriber (Don't worry, you'll be amazed at how cheaply you can keep getting the WDJDs. Essentially, there are four subscription options, two of which don't cost a cent:
1. Simply acknowledge via return email that you would like to continue to receive
WDJD emails, and we'll keep sending them to you (If we don't hear from you by
March 1, however, we will take that as an indication of disinterest, and remove
you from the mailing list).
2. Indicate via return email that you would like to continue to receive WDJD
emails, and help grow this ministry by sending us the names and email addresses
of family and friends who you want to receive, well, a "gift" subscription.
(This still won't cost you a penny, but you will be helping us as you help
us to grow the audience for this ministry).
3. Become a paying subscriber for the super low price of $2 a month ($24.00
annually). What a bargain! Your subscription may be conveniently paid through
our website using PayPal.
4. Become a paying subscriber, and sustainer of this ministry as well, at the
level of $40 or more, and we will send you as a thank you a copy of I Just
Wanna Ride (One man's ride to real faith...), by Dr. Bob Kopp, a biker and
Presbyterian pastor, who challenges both those who mount chrome ponies and
those who sit in pews, or stand in a pulpit, to live authentically after the
example of Jesus.
Now, I have to be frank here, if everyone takes option 1 or 2, we may have to shut down the ministry because we simply won't have the money to keep even our shoestring operation going. Nonetheless, we trust that, ultimately, it is the Lord who provides for you, and for us, and for all.
We hope 2012 has begun well for you, and pray God will bless and highly favor you, and position you to prosper.
Christ IS All!
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.3
Monday, January 30, 2012
Jesus Forgave Ceaselessly and Loved Exceedingly
What Did Jesus Do?
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them…”
And Jesus said to the thief who was also being crucified,
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:34, 43
Pain makes me angry. Really. Like some wild beast with a wound that drives it crazy, when I’m hurt I can lose it in an instant. Like when the hammer hits the wrong nail. Or the garage door with the old, weak, stretched out spring hangs down just far enough, and at just the right angle, to crack my head open. Hey, I’ve got scars on my head to prove that the door has it in for me. And, even though hammers and doors don’t have parents, I will bellow in pain a few choice phrases about the subject. Pain makes me angry. Like when some does me wrong. I don’t usually say the things to them that I say to hammers and garage doors, but I will develop and nurture a pernicious enmity towards them that is totally contrary to who I’m supposed to be in Jesus. When I’m hurt, when the pain penetrates deep, I forget that I am a follower of Jesus, who forgave ceaselessly and loved exceedingly.
Think, for just a moment, about His forgiveness and His love. In particular, think about them in the context of Christ hanging on the cross. Even as the onlookers scoffed and mocked him in his dying agonies, Jesus pleaded for forgiveness of the ones who hated him and hurt him so much worse than I have ever, or will ever, be hurt. And, if people don’t know what they do, how much less a hammer or a garage door? So, I’m going public with my confession and forgiveness, “Hammer, I forgive you for all the times you’ve smashed my thumb. And, garage door, though I will carry the scars on my scalp to my grave, I forgive you too.” Guess that sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it? So, here’s something a little more serious, I’m forgiving all those people who have, and those who no doubt will sometime down the road, hurt me (Whether they know they’re hurting me or not), whom I have been so angry with. If this includes any of you who are reading this, I ask you to please forgive me for being not only a jerk, but so un-Christian towards you. And, as not only the Lord, but you also, are my witnesses, hold me accountable and help me to be as ceaselessly forgiving as my Savior.
Now, unlike the way so many practice forgiving and “forgetting” (You know, they forgive and forget how they are to love others, especially those who hurt them), I need to move on to the practice of loving like Jesus, which is to say exceedingly, which it to say deeply, fully, visibly, vocally, and to the very end. I mean, there are so many examples of Jesus loving so many people in so many ways, but I can’t think of one more moving than when the Lord loved the thief who was hanging on the cross next to his own, and pledged in effect to love him forever, for death could not and would not part them. THAT’s some kind of love! Even “crazy” love, the love of Christ for those who broke his heart, love even for his far from perfect bride.
I’m not going to presume to say it’s what’s wrong with your life, or the life of the Church, but I know it’s been messing up my life for a long time, hurt and anger that lead to unforgiveness and anything but love. Not that I’m going to be able to keep from being hurt, and losing it at least a little. But from this time on I don’t want to ever cease forgiving, and I want my love today to exceed my love yesterday, and my love tomorrow to exceed my love today, and on and on without end. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them…”
And Jesus said to the thief who was also being crucified,
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:34, 43
Pain makes me angry. Really. Like some wild beast with a wound that drives it crazy, when I’m hurt I can lose it in an instant. Like when the hammer hits the wrong nail. Or the garage door with the old, weak, stretched out spring hangs down just far enough, and at just the right angle, to crack my head open. Hey, I’ve got scars on my head to prove that the door has it in for me. And, even though hammers and doors don’t have parents, I will bellow in pain a few choice phrases about the subject. Pain makes me angry. Like when some does me wrong. I don’t usually say the things to them that I say to hammers and garage doors, but I will develop and nurture a pernicious enmity towards them that is totally contrary to who I’m supposed to be in Jesus. When I’m hurt, when the pain penetrates deep, I forget that I am a follower of Jesus, who forgave ceaselessly and loved exceedingly.
Think, for just a moment, about His forgiveness and His love. In particular, think about them in the context of Christ hanging on the cross. Even as the onlookers scoffed and mocked him in his dying agonies, Jesus pleaded for forgiveness of the ones who hated him and hurt him so much worse than I have ever, or will ever, be hurt. And, if people don’t know what they do, how much less a hammer or a garage door? So, I’m going public with my confession and forgiveness, “Hammer, I forgive you for all the times you’ve smashed my thumb. And, garage door, though I will carry the scars on my scalp to my grave, I forgive you too.” Guess that sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it? So, here’s something a little more serious, I’m forgiving all those people who have, and those who no doubt will sometime down the road, hurt me (Whether they know they’re hurting me or not), whom I have been so angry with. If this includes any of you who are reading this, I ask you to please forgive me for being not only a jerk, but so un-Christian towards you. And, as not only the Lord, but you also, are my witnesses, hold me accountable and help me to be as ceaselessly forgiving as my Savior.
Now, unlike the way so many practice forgiving and “forgetting” (You know, they forgive and forget how they are to love others, especially those who hurt them), I need to move on to the practice of loving like Jesus, which is to say exceedingly, which it to say deeply, fully, visibly, vocally, and to the very end. I mean, there are so many examples of Jesus loving so many people in so many ways, but I can’t think of one more moving than when the Lord loved the thief who was hanging on the cross next to his own, and pledged in effect to love him forever, for death could not and would not part them. THAT’s some kind of love! Even “crazy” love, the love of Christ for those who broke his heart, love even for his far from perfect bride.
I’m not going to presume to say it’s what’s wrong with your life, or the life of the Church, but I know it’s been messing up my life for a long time, hurt and anger that lead to unforgiveness and anything but love. Not that I’m going to be able to keep from being hurt, and losing it at least a little. But from this time on I don’t want to ever cease forgiving, and I want my love today to exceed my love yesterday, and my love tomorrow to exceed my love today, and on and on without end. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Jesus Came And Crowned Creation With His Incarnation
What Did Jesus Do?
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son,
born of a 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
When we finish a job, we like to rest and recreate. When we’ve done a good job, we are sure we’ve earned some “R & R.” And, if the work we have completed is very good, well, surely, there should be some extended rest and recreation. And why not, God established the rhythm of work and rest in the beginning, when he ceased from his labors on the seventh day, going so far as to make the seventh day holy (Genesis 2:2-3). The finished work of God in the beginning, which, it must be acknowledged, was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), was tragically broken, and God had to get right back to work to keep all creation from going to, well, hell. And it all but did (Check out Genesis 6-9, and the balance of the Old Testament to see how close a call it was). But, though God had to get back to work to clean up the spill, the Fall actually, in the middle of the Garden of Eden (And it would take more than Adam and Eve could have ever imagined to clean up the mess they made.), the ordinance establishing a regular time of rest and recreation has remained, all modern evidence and lifestyles to the contrary not withstanding. For God perseveres; he’s not a quitter you know. So, through call and covenant, through patriarchs and prophets, through kingdoms that crumbled, and exiles who exited, and remnants who returned, he was faithful, until, when the fullness of time had come, he sent forth his Son. And, from Bethlehem to Egypt, from Egypt to Nazareth, from Nazareth to Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to the Cross, from the Cross to the Grave, from the Grave to Glory, Jesus came and crowned creation with his incarnation.
In other words, knowing all along that it would be necessary for his work to be consummated in the passion and the glory of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of his Son, the Father created, so that Jesus would, in the absolute ripeness of the most Kairos of kairos moments, perform the work of re-creation, that would redeem, would transform and radically make over, humanity, in and through himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. In and through Jesus, the creation, which was very good from the beginning, becomes glorious through the Father's works of re-creation in and through the incarnation of the Son.
Now, here’s the thing, God is still glorified through the re-creative power of incarnational lives. That’s right, the work which Christ completed on the Cross continues, and shall continue, to re-create, to transform, to radically make-over those who are fallen and broken, as the Lord’s disciples live like Jesus by loving like Jesus. The power of the incarnation, the power to re-create, is nothing other than the power of God’s love manifest by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. As it was the power of the Holy Spirit in the Son that enabled him to accomplish the work the Father sent him to do, so the Father gives the same Spirit to all who follow Jesus, that we would be enabled to live incarnationally.
You see, redemption is so much more than restoration, so much more than being made as good as new. If in Christ we are made no better than good as new, we would be no better than Adam. Praise God that, in and through Jesus by the power of God’s love and the work of the Holy Spirit, what was very good in the beginning is made perfect unto the end of time, and forever and ever. Creation is crowned by the Incarnate One who lives in those who believe in and bear his name!
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son,
born of a 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
When we finish a job, we like to rest and recreate. When we’ve done a good job, we are sure we’ve earned some “R & R.” And, if the work we have completed is very good, well, surely, there should be some extended rest and recreation. And why not, God established the rhythm of work and rest in the beginning, when he ceased from his labors on the seventh day, going so far as to make the seventh day holy (Genesis 2:2-3). The finished work of God in the beginning, which, it must be acknowledged, was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), was tragically broken, and God had to get right back to work to keep all creation from going to, well, hell. And it all but did (Check out Genesis 6-9, and the balance of the Old Testament to see how close a call it was). But, though God had to get back to work to clean up the spill, the Fall actually, in the middle of the Garden of Eden (And it would take more than Adam and Eve could have ever imagined to clean up the mess they made.), the ordinance establishing a regular time of rest and recreation has remained, all modern evidence and lifestyles to the contrary not withstanding. For God perseveres; he’s not a quitter you know. So, through call and covenant, through patriarchs and prophets, through kingdoms that crumbled, and exiles who exited, and remnants who returned, he was faithful, until, when the fullness of time had come, he sent forth his Son. And, from Bethlehem to Egypt, from Egypt to Nazareth, from Nazareth to Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to the Cross, from the Cross to the Grave, from the Grave to Glory, Jesus came and crowned creation with his incarnation.
In other words, knowing all along that it would be necessary for his work to be consummated in the passion and the glory of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of his Son, the Father created, so that Jesus would, in the absolute ripeness of the most Kairos of kairos moments, perform the work of re-creation, that would redeem, would transform and radically make over, humanity, in and through himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. In and through Jesus, the creation, which was very good from the beginning, becomes glorious through the Father's works of re-creation in and through the incarnation of the Son.
Now, here’s the thing, God is still glorified through the re-creative power of incarnational lives. That’s right, the work which Christ completed on the Cross continues, and shall continue, to re-create, to transform, to radically make-over those who are fallen and broken, as the Lord’s disciples live like Jesus by loving like Jesus. The power of the incarnation, the power to re-create, is nothing other than the power of God’s love manifest by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. As it was the power of the Holy Spirit in the Son that enabled him to accomplish the work the Father sent him to do, so the Father gives the same Spirit to all who follow Jesus, that we would be enabled to live incarnationally.
You see, redemption is so much more than restoration, so much more than being made as good as new. If in Christ we are made no better than good as new, we would be no better than Adam. Praise God that, in and through Jesus by the power of God’s love and the work of the Holy Spirit, what was very good in the beginning is made perfect unto the end of time, and forever and ever. Creation is crowned by the Incarnate One who lives in those who believe in and bear his name!
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Jesus Came to Give Us True Understanding of God
What Did Jesus Do?
And we know that the Son of God has come and have given us understanding…
1 John 5:20
In the words of Hitch (Will Smith), “You wouldn’t know the truth if it kicked you in the head.” While the truth didn’t exactly kick him in the head, it, or, more accurately, He, looked Pilate right in the face, and Pilate was clueless (John 18.38). But maybe it/He doesn’t matter all that much—the truth, I mean. Or, perhaps, the truth matters, but not as much as a lot of other things? Should we, like Agent Mulder on the X Files, make knowing the truth a crusade?
Ask someone who should know, say, a Christian. More to the point, ask them, “Why did Jesus come?” We might expect to hear, “To save us” or “To free us” or “To give us eternal life” or perhaps even “To repair the breach between us and God.” But I believe that what Jesus had to say on the subject is of more value than any of our thoughts or opinions. And, not just what Jesus said to his disciples as he traveled from village to village, but the Lord’s actual testimony given to Pontius Pilate at his trial. Do you know the Lord’s testimony on the night before he was crucified? Jesus said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.” (John 18.37) Kind of makes truth a big deal, doesn’t it? The Lord completed his testimony with these words, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” What did Jesus come to do? Jesus came to give us true understanding of God.
Here’s the thing about the truth that Christians know, or should know, it is not an intellectual construct, doctrinal supposition, or abstract philosophical proposition. For Christians, the truth is ultimately not a thing at all, but a who, more specifically a him, and, most specifically, “him who is true”(1 John 5:20). All truth is grounded in, and emanates from, the one true living God, who has made himself known to us in a most intimate and personal way through his Son. Is God knowable, then, only in and through the Son? No. The apostle Paul tells us that God may be known, may be “clearly perceived…in the things he has made.” (Romans 1:20) But the general knowledge of God which is plain to see in his creation does not of itself keep anyone from making a fool of themselves by exchanging the glory of God for images and idols of “mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:23) How, then, do we keep from becoming fools; how can anyone truly know God?
The only way to move from knowing about God, to knowing God, that is to say, to have a fellowship, a personal relationship, with him, is through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Son came to give us understanding in order that we could know the Father (God who is true), and be in the Father (who is true) by being in the Son (Jesus Christ, who came to bear witness to the truth.) The end result of the knowledge of the truth, of knowing God the Father in and through God the Son by power and work of the Holy Spirit is eternal life. To know and abide in the truth is to live in the love of God now and forever, which is the theme of John’s letter to his little children (the Church).
Finally, knowledge of the truth must be guarded, if it is to remain pure and unadulterated. And, any “truth” that is not pure and unadulterated in fact ceases to be true in any meaningful sense. So John closes his letter admonishing his little children to avoid making fools of themselves by turning from the truth to idols (1 John 5:21). There is, at the last, a call to constant vigilance in defense of the truth. John calls the Church, which exists in a world that has little use, and even less love, for truth, to preserve that for which Jesus came into the world—the revelation of true knowledge of the true God.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
Ps 37.4
And we know that the Son of God has come and have given us understanding…
1 John 5:20
In the words of Hitch (Will Smith), “You wouldn’t know the truth if it kicked you in the head.” While the truth didn’t exactly kick him in the head, it, or, more accurately, He, looked Pilate right in the face, and Pilate was clueless (John 18.38). But maybe it/He doesn’t matter all that much—the truth, I mean. Or, perhaps, the truth matters, but not as much as a lot of other things? Should we, like Agent Mulder on the X Files, make knowing the truth a crusade?
Ask someone who should know, say, a Christian. More to the point, ask them, “Why did Jesus come?” We might expect to hear, “To save us” or “To free us” or “To give us eternal life” or perhaps even “To repair the breach between us and God.” But I believe that what Jesus had to say on the subject is of more value than any of our thoughts or opinions. And, not just what Jesus said to his disciples as he traveled from village to village, but the Lord’s actual testimony given to Pontius Pilate at his trial. Do you know the Lord’s testimony on the night before he was crucified? Jesus said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.” (John 18.37) Kind of makes truth a big deal, doesn’t it? The Lord completed his testimony with these words, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” What did Jesus come to do? Jesus came to give us true understanding of God.
Here’s the thing about the truth that Christians know, or should know, it is not an intellectual construct, doctrinal supposition, or abstract philosophical proposition. For Christians, the truth is ultimately not a thing at all, but a who, more specifically a him, and, most specifically, “him who is true”(1 John 5:20). All truth is grounded in, and emanates from, the one true living God, who has made himself known to us in a most intimate and personal way through his Son. Is God knowable, then, only in and through the Son? No. The apostle Paul tells us that God may be known, may be “clearly perceived…in the things he has made.” (Romans 1:20) But the general knowledge of God which is plain to see in his creation does not of itself keep anyone from making a fool of themselves by exchanging the glory of God for images and idols of “mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:23) How, then, do we keep from becoming fools; how can anyone truly know God?
The only way to move from knowing about God, to knowing God, that is to say, to have a fellowship, a personal relationship, with him, is through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Son came to give us understanding in order that we could know the Father (God who is true), and be in the Father (who is true) by being in the Son (Jesus Christ, who came to bear witness to the truth.) The end result of the knowledge of the truth, of knowing God the Father in and through God the Son by power and work of the Holy Spirit is eternal life. To know and abide in the truth is to live in the love of God now and forever, which is the theme of John’s letter to his little children (the Church).
Finally, knowledge of the truth must be guarded, if it is to remain pure and unadulterated. And, any “truth” that is not pure and unadulterated in fact ceases to be true in any meaningful sense. So John closes his letter admonishing his little children to avoid making fools of themselves by turning from the truth to idols (1 John 5:21). There is, at the last, a call to constant vigilance in defense of the truth. John calls the Church, which exists in a world that has little use, and even less love, for truth, to preserve that for which Jesus came into the world—the revelation of true knowledge of the true God.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
Ps 37.4
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Jesus Made Every Day CHRISTmas
What Did Jesus Do?
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20
It has been bugging me for a good month now, and, thanks to an article I read in The Week magazine from December 2011, I have come to a conclusion—with Christmas we should either be all in, or we should drop it all together. You see, for the last month I have been posting on Facebook about keeping CHRISTmas every day. Every year we all hear, and many of us say to one another, “Gee, I wish it could be Christmas throughout the year.” But then we all take Christmas and box it up and shove it in the attic, or the basement, or the garage for eleven months or so and forget about it. I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong. Why? Because when he came, Jesus made every day CHRISTmas.
Did you know that the Puritans, you know those folks who brought us Thanksgiving, were strongly, almost violently, opposed to the observance of Christmas? And, did you know, that opposition to Christmas lasted through the colonial era and the birth of this nation, right on into the 19th Century? What? Were the Puritans a bunch of Scrooges? Were we a nation of Grinches? Not at all. Let me explain briefly.
You see, the Puritans were really big on the Bible, particularly its authority. And the Bible, specifically the New Testament, instructs us to put no stock at all in special feast days, new moons, and holy days (Colossians 2:16), even as it never says one word about Christmas or Easter. What’s going on? I think the confusion is largely the result of our not getting Christmas. Christmas, or, if you will, CHRISTmas, is all about the birth of Emmanuel, God with us. And this is a big deal, a VERY BIG deal. Oh sure, Zeus supposedly liked to come and masquerade on the earth, but that was for the purpose of trying to hide his many adulteries. When God, the one true living God, became flesh, it was for a very different purpose. He came to die for us, in order that, by believing in and through him, we should live, and live for ever with him.
Even more, when God, in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ came, it was with the sovereign intention of never again leaving. God, in the person of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, came to stay, even to the end of the age. Again, Jesus came, and promised to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). What does all this have to do with the Puritans aversion to the observance of Christmas? Well, because they, unlike most of us, truly believed what the Bible says, they understood every day to be a holy day (holiday) because they truly believed that God was with them, literally, in spirit and in truth, not merely as some kind of intellectual or philosophical construct. Though they didn’t actually come out and say it, I believe the Puritans felt that the observance of Christmas belittled the Incarnation, because, for the sake of one day of celebration the other 364 were lived in tacit denial of the abiding presence and power of Christ.
Again, though they didn’t say it, the Puritans sought to live each and every day as Christmas, or CHRISTmas, believing that the Lord, Emmanuel, was and is among us 24/7/365. Our trouble is, we either don’t believe that Jesus is truly here to stay, or we prefer to live most of our lives as if he isn’t here. Maybe we’ll put the spotlight on Jesus for an hour or so most Sundays. And perhaps we’ll make kind of a big show of Jesus being Lord and Savior on a few special days of the year (Christmas and Easter). But, truly acknowledge and live each day affirming Christ’s active presence in us and in the world, well, don’t you think that’s a bit much? The Puritans didn’t.
So, I am going to keep posting on Facebook about keeping CHRISTmas every day. And, I am going to offer a “Merry Christmas” or two each day in affirmation that every day is CHRISTmas. In and through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, I am going to live each day in celebration, service, and worship of God, the Father. I invite you to join the observance of CHRISTmas, of God with us, every day. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenmiistries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20
It has been bugging me for a good month now, and, thanks to an article I read in The Week magazine from December 2011, I have come to a conclusion—with Christmas we should either be all in, or we should drop it all together. You see, for the last month I have been posting on Facebook about keeping CHRISTmas every day. Every year we all hear, and many of us say to one another, “Gee, I wish it could be Christmas throughout the year.” But then we all take Christmas and box it up and shove it in the attic, or the basement, or the garage for eleven months or so and forget about it. I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong. Why? Because when he came, Jesus made every day CHRISTmas.
Did you know that the Puritans, you know those folks who brought us Thanksgiving, were strongly, almost violently, opposed to the observance of Christmas? And, did you know, that opposition to Christmas lasted through the colonial era and the birth of this nation, right on into the 19th Century? What? Were the Puritans a bunch of Scrooges? Were we a nation of Grinches? Not at all. Let me explain briefly.
You see, the Puritans were really big on the Bible, particularly its authority. And the Bible, specifically the New Testament, instructs us to put no stock at all in special feast days, new moons, and holy days (Colossians 2:16), even as it never says one word about Christmas or Easter. What’s going on? I think the confusion is largely the result of our not getting Christmas. Christmas, or, if you will, CHRISTmas, is all about the birth of Emmanuel, God with us. And this is a big deal, a VERY BIG deal. Oh sure, Zeus supposedly liked to come and masquerade on the earth, but that was for the purpose of trying to hide his many adulteries. When God, the one true living God, became flesh, it was for a very different purpose. He came to die for us, in order that, by believing in and through him, we should live, and live for ever with him.
Even more, when God, in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ came, it was with the sovereign intention of never again leaving. God, in the person of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, came to stay, even to the end of the age. Again, Jesus came, and promised to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). What does all this have to do with the Puritans aversion to the observance of Christmas? Well, because they, unlike most of us, truly believed what the Bible says, they understood every day to be a holy day (holiday) because they truly believed that God was with them, literally, in spirit and in truth, not merely as some kind of intellectual or philosophical construct. Though they didn’t actually come out and say it, I believe the Puritans felt that the observance of Christmas belittled the Incarnation, because, for the sake of one day of celebration the other 364 were lived in tacit denial of the abiding presence and power of Christ.
Again, though they didn’t say it, the Puritans sought to live each and every day as Christmas, or CHRISTmas, believing that the Lord, Emmanuel, was and is among us 24/7/365. Our trouble is, we either don’t believe that Jesus is truly here to stay, or we prefer to live most of our lives as if he isn’t here. Maybe we’ll put the spotlight on Jesus for an hour or so most Sundays. And perhaps we’ll make kind of a big show of Jesus being Lord and Savior on a few special days of the year (Christmas and Easter). But, truly acknowledge and live each day affirming Christ’s active presence in us and in the world, well, don’t you think that’s a bit much? The Puritans didn’t.
So, I am going to keep posting on Facebook about keeping CHRISTmas every day. And, I am going to offer a “Merry Christmas” or two each day in affirmation that every day is CHRISTmas. In and through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, I am going to live each day in celebration, service, and worship of God, the Father. I invite you to join the observance of CHRISTmas, of God with us, every day. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenmiistries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, January 23, 2012
Jesus Adjusted Our Attitude Towards the World
What Did Jesus Do?
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
1 John 5:19
It is a shame that so much of the Church has ignored most of what Jesus said and did, while embracing his rebuke of Peter at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:23). Too many Christians, both individually and corporately in many congregations, are so determined to be heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good to anyone. Forgetting that Jesus came to save, and not to condemn, the world, a lot of folks who claim to follow Jesus imagine they do so by hating and shunning the world. But how can condemning, hating, and shunning ever be the way to follow a Savior who came to love and to redeem? They can’t. The truth is, we cannot follow Christ if our attitude towards the world is 180 degrees opposite of his. Remember, the Father sent the Son because of his great love for the world (John 3:16). So Jesus adjusted our attitude towards the world, in order that we may indeed follow him.
Our problem is, without Jesus, without being born again, we are not of God. And, if we are not of God, we can only be one thing, in the power of the evil one. Yet, John could say to his little children in the First Century, and to the Church in the Twenty-first Century, “We know that we are OF God.” How can we know? When we have a new attitude toward the world.
When we are not of God our attitude toward the world is love of the world, and the things of the world. Apart from God, the way of the world is selfish, slavish, short-sighted—in sum, rebellious and sinful. The way of the world is to pursue pleasure and self-satisfaction; to strive, to seize, to do whatever it takes to have more of the world for ourselves, though, no matter how much of the world we ever experience or own, it is never enough. This is the trap Satan has set for all of us. The more we have of the world, the more we want of the world, even as more of the world ultimately leaves us more and more enslaved to the world, which, apart from Christ, is under the devil’s power.
But when Jesus adjusts our attitude toward the world, our love of the world becomes love for the world. Love for others supplants love of self. Giving to takes the place of taking from. Love for sacrifices, where love of once seized. Love for goes into the world as the Lord commands (Matthew 28:19), it does not turn sanctuaries into safe houses from which to watch the world and the lost as they perish without Jesus.
Knowing that he was from God, Jesus manifested the Father’s love for the world. Knowing that we are from God, we are, in and through the Son who adjusts our attitude toward the world, to also manifest our heavenly Father’s love for the world, by being salt and light in the world and for the world.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
1 John 5:19
It is a shame that so much of the Church has ignored most of what Jesus said and did, while embracing his rebuke of Peter at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:23). Too many Christians, both individually and corporately in many congregations, are so determined to be heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good to anyone. Forgetting that Jesus came to save, and not to condemn, the world, a lot of folks who claim to follow Jesus imagine they do so by hating and shunning the world. But how can condemning, hating, and shunning ever be the way to follow a Savior who came to love and to redeem? They can’t. The truth is, we cannot follow Christ if our attitude towards the world is 180 degrees opposite of his. Remember, the Father sent the Son because of his great love for the world (John 3:16). So Jesus adjusted our attitude towards the world, in order that we may indeed follow him.
Our problem is, without Jesus, without being born again, we are not of God. And, if we are not of God, we can only be one thing, in the power of the evil one. Yet, John could say to his little children in the First Century, and to the Church in the Twenty-first Century, “We know that we are OF God.” How can we know? When we have a new attitude toward the world.
When we are not of God our attitude toward the world is love of the world, and the things of the world. Apart from God, the way of the world is selfish, slavish, short-sighted—in sum, rebellious and sinful. The way of the world is to pursue pleasure and self-satisfaction; to strive, to seize, to do whatever it takes to have more of the world for ourselves, though, no matter how much of the world we ever experience or own, it is never enough. This is the trap Satan has set for all of us. The more we have of the world, the more we want of the world, even as more of the world ultimately leaves us more and more enslaved to the world, which, apart from Christ, is under the devil’s power.
But when Jesus adjusts our attitude toward the world, our love of the world becomes love for the world. Love for others supplants love of self. Giving to takes the place of taking from. Love for sacrifices, where love of once seized. Love for goes into the world as the Lord commands (Matthew 28:19), it does not turn sanctuaries into safe houses from which to watch the world and the lost as they perish without Jesus.
Knowing that he was from God, Jesus manifested the Father’s love for the world. Knowing that we are from God, we are, in and through the Son who adjusts our attitude toward the world, to also manifest our heavenly Father’s love for the world, by being salt and light in the world and for the world.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
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