Heaven Pt. 159: God Stooping

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Praise the Lord.[a]

Praise the Lord, you his servants;
    praise the name of the Lord.
Let the name of the Lord be praised,
    both now and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised.

The Lord is exalted over all the nations,
    his glory above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God,
    the One who sits enthroned on high,
who stoops down to look
    on the heavens and the earth?

He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
He settles the childless woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children.

Praise the Lord. Psalm 113

One of my commentators recently asked a question about the incarnation of Christ, “How do you come to the conclusion that “God became human” when the young girl (Myriam/Miriam/Mary/Maria) became pregnant from a child without sexual contact with any being?  Where in your Bible can you find such a thing? That Jesus would be human without limitation is contradicted in the same proof of him not being God, by him not knowing everything and having to learn everything, plus being able to be tempted and by being able to die and to come into hell for three days.
God knows everything, has no beginning (= not born) has no end (= can not die) plus according to the Bible is an eternal Spirit Who can not be seen by man or they would die. Jesus was seen by many, who did not fall death, and even took some out of dead and proofed after his resurrection out of the dead, that he was not a Spirit..” (sic)

The writer of this comment seems stuck on the implausibility of God becoming a man. I can understand that. How is such a thing even possible? How could the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, eternal, invisible God become a limited, uneducated mortal bound by the laws of time and space?

Psalm 113 verse 6 gives us the simple answer, “He stooped”.

A miracle by its definition takes the impossible and makes it possible. A Miracle takes the unexplainable and reveals it (even if most times it doesn’t explain it).

The incarnation (God becoming man and yet remaining God) is a miracle revealed by Scripture if not explained:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-14

 “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,” Col. 1:15-19 

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” Col. 2:9

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4: 14-15

Scripture doesn’t tell us how it is so; It just says it is so. I am pretty certain that is because even were He to explain it we could never understand it, at least not from our current perspective.

I have to tell you though God becoming man is not the most unfathomable thing in the whole Christmas story. Honestly, God WANTING to become a man is far more incredible to me.

“I don’t know why Jesus loved me. I don’t know why He cared. I don’t know why He sacrificed His life. Oh but I’m glad. I’m glad He did.” Andrae Crouch

All Along the Common Road

“I have always thought of Christmastime, when it has come round…as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Remember at this season… every one of us is in a battle. So give each other grace.

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What Will You Do?

“This Christmas mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love, and then speak it again.”
Howard W. Hunter

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Pastor Wrinkles: Quotes About the Incarnation Pt. 2

” Jesus found no room in the inn yet He said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so I would have told you…I go to prepare a place for you that where I am you may also be.” John 14:2

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“When you make room in your heart for other people you experience Christ more fully.” Barry Risto

“Jesus was born for the purpose of pursuing and destroying the root of all evil, Satan.” Barry Risto

“Never judge the end of a thing by its beginning.” Barry Risto

Pastor Wrinkles: Quotes About the Incarnation

“The Incarnation proves God does some of His most powerful works in insignificant places” Rev. Barry Risto

The twinkling waters of Galway Bay

The twinkling waters of Galway Bay

“Don’t judge by appearance because God hid His greatest gift in the most humble package.” Rev. Barry Risto

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” Jesus endured a human, earthly birth so that everyone who believes in Him and receives Hum can undergo a heavenly and spiritual birth.” Rev. Barry Risto

How Bad Things Really Are

 

“Christmas is God lighting a candle; and you don’t light a candle in a room that’s already full of sunlight. You light a candle in a room that’s so murky that the candle, when lit, reveals just how bad things really are.”
N.T. Wright, For All God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church

This may seem like a dark quote but we can never find the solution until we first see the problem. Christmas brought the light that helped us see and then He solved the problem for us!

 

 

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First Of Four

This day marks the first of four seasonal concerts I am privileged to do this Christmas.

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Today I am heading out to Special Touch REACH New England’s Christmas party. Our team is partnering with the Women’s Ministry from Bread of Life Church in Westminster MA to host a Christmas dinner for 50 disabled individuals!

I will fill you in later peeps!

 

The Daily Post: Sweet Little Lies

Today the Daily Post has asked us…

As kids, we’re told, time and again, that lying is wrong. Do you believe that’s always true? In your book, are there any exceptions?

Check out how others have responded to this question at

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/sweet-little-lies/

Santa’s Dead And Other Things Not To Tell A Six Year Old.

Well I guess you can tell where this one’s going. I always wanted Christmas to be about the Christ child for my children and one of the things that has always gone up my left nostril is the commercialism that comes with the season. The American version of Santa Claus as the guy who plasters the Christmas tree with expensive electronics, jewelry and the newest version of everything just kind of irks me. Don’t get me wrong I take pleasure in giving gifts as much as the next guy but when I have to worry about paying the credit card bills or rent something’s rotten in the good ole US OF A.

Now we didn’t want to destroy the “magic” of Christmas for our children, just maybe dent it a little. We found this book called ‘The True Story of Santa Claus” And during the holiday season we began to read this story to our children and answer their questions about Santa. It was at this time that I learned about sharing only as much of the truth as a person can handle. I am not an advocate of lying in any way, shape or form but before a person is delivered the truth they have to be prepared to be responsible with truth. We told our kids the truth and I still think that was right. Where we fell off the wisdom wagon  was in not instructing them what to do with the truth.

So, picture this. We are on our way Christmas shopping at the mall. My six-year-old, very truthful daughter is sitting in the back with her five-year-old very sensitive cousin. And the conversation goes something like this.

Tyler: Oh I can’t wait to get to the store so we can see all the toys. I’m going to look and see and then I am going to write my letter to Santa and he is going to bring me…

Melanie: Tyler your parents buy your Christmas gifts. Santa’s dead.

End of story. If you want a peaceful Christmas season with your extended family let the lie about Santa live long enough for your children to learn to keep the secret…Santa is dead!

An Incredible Mystery!

“The nativity mystery “conceived from the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary”, means, that God became human, truly human out of his own grace. The miracle of the existence of Jesus , his “climbing down of God” is: Holy Spirit and Virgin Mary! Here is a human being, the Virgin Mary, and as he comes from God, Jesus comes also from this human being. Born of the Virgin Mary means a human origin for God. Jesus Christ is not only truly God, he is human like every one of us. He is human without limitation. He is not only similar to us, he is like us.”
Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline