Christmas 2019
"Christ Now. Christ Ever. Christ Always."
Such seeming insignificance. A baby, born without pomp and circumstance, of parents nigh to scandal, in a place declared by the prophet to be "little among the thousands of Judah," nevertheless serves as the only hope for true meaning, worth, and significance to every human being (Micah 5:2). Indeed, Scripture declares that apart from that baby - the Lord Jesus Christ - we are not even alive as God defines life.
"To live is Christ… Without Me ye can do nothing" (Philippians 1:21; John 15:5).
We are either existing, waiting to die. Or we are living, waiting to be glorified. The sole issue that determines such personal reality is the Lord Jesus. He made us. He sustains our existence. He provides all our need. He protects us. He is our salvation, our light, our truth, our grace, peace, hope, joy, and most of all, the Lord Jesus alone defines and delivers love in real and vital experience. "In Him was life and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). As my wife Frances affirms in her life motto, "Having Him, we have all." Or, as Moses declared, "He is thy life" (Deuteronomy 30:20).
In eternity to come, we will know beyond a shadow of doubt that God's eternal purpose begins, continues, and forever proceeds in the Lord Jesus (Ephesians 3:11). Presently, we perceive and respond to such glory imperfectly. Distractions and deceptions abound in a fallen world inhabited by fallen devils. Moreover, the flesh of even the most godly among us resists the intrusion of an all invasive and pervasive purpose of God that flows completely with the current of Christ. We must therefore keep our hearts in the Scriptures of whom the Lord Jesus declared, "They testify of Me" (John 5:39). We must also keep the Lord Jesus as the focus of our prayers, seeking His glory and revelation as the primary intent and content of all communion with God. And we must encourage each other to maintain Christ as the everlasting heart of the matter, and matter of the heart. He is worthy of such emphasis in both time and eternity, and the peace of our hearts ebbs and flows according to our response. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).
Christ now. Christ ever. Christ always. This is our Father's focus. It must be ours also. The Holy Spirit, of course, shares this devotion and works in us to love, adore, affirm, and exalt the Lord Jesus (John 16:14). This is life. This is truth. This is reality. This is significance and meaning. Nothing else is, and no one else can fill and thrill our hearts other than the Holy One who forever serves as the delight of Heaven, and the delight of our hearts.
"This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him."
(Matthew 17:5)
"He is the the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence."
(Colossians 1:18)
Weekly Memory Verse
But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:8).
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