The past few weeks have been cold. -18 degrees is pretty cold by most standards. And the cold weather has caused havoc with water pipes and has had most people talking about insulation, whether it's roofspace insulation or pipe lagging. But as we strive to insulate our homes we also strive to insulate our lives. Insulate our lives from the reality of God and Christ. Insulate them with gadgets and work and things and tv and...stuff.
And we're pretty good at it. Ironically we can do this spectacularly well at Christmas with the presents we give and receive.
But it will not always be this way. There is a time coming when all will be stripped away. When Jesus will come and judge. A time when the veil that separates the spiritual realm from the physical will be taken away and we will see...truly see.
I think it's time to prepare for the reality. Time to put the important things first. Time to prepare, time to be ready. Revolution is coming.
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
It will not always be like it is today.
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Rev 21:4
Monday, 6 December 2010
What are you getting for Christmas?
Over the years I've wanted lots of things from Santa. It has ranged from toys to gadgets to books. But two of the presents on my wish-list were brought back to mind by something John Piper spoke about, namely a telescope and a microscope. I've in the past wanted to be both an astronomer and a scientist. Thankfully I'm neither... But these two particular things can give some insight into what we were made for.
"...everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory , whom I formed and made." Isaiah 43:7
Glorifying God is a lot like magnifying God, and my two Christmas wish-list presents both magnify really well... but really differently. A microscope takes something really tiny, almost invisible to the human eye, and makes it a lot bigger than it really is. A telescope takes something impossibly huge, but to the naked eye seems small, and makes it more like the size it really is. The problem is that we can glorify, or magnify God in those two different ways. We can say, "Here is my God, He's tiny but I want to make him seem bigger to you", or we can say, " Here is my God, he's amazingly huge, but you can't see that, let me show you how big he really is.".
One is blasphemy, one is God-exalting.
I want a telescope for Christmas...
"...everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory , whom I formed and made." Isaiah 43:7
Glorifying God is a lot like magnifying God, and my two Christmas wish-list presents both magnify really well... but really differently. A microscope takes something really tiny, almost invisible to the human eye, and makes it a lot bigger than it really is. A telescope takes something impossibly huge, but to the naked eye seems small, and makes it more like the size it really is. The problem is that we can glorify, or magnify God in those two different ways. We can say, "Here is my God, He's tiny but I want to make him seem bigger to you", or we can say, " Here is my God, he's amazingly huge, but you can't see that, let me show you how big he really is.".
One is blasphemy, one is God-exalting.
I want a telescope for Christmas...
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Jesus was never Plan B
Jesus wasn't plan B. Why do I say that? Well I've been thinking about that statement for a while. Chewing on it, mulling it over, spitting it out, and eventually picking it up and running with it. This statement if true, has profound consequences. If Jesus earthly life and death wasn't a hastily thought up idea after Adam and Eve sinned, then it means that God knew we would sin, and allowed sin to enter this world...and that thought, when you first think it, is like taking a whisk to your brain...at least it was for me. But enough theory, let's put Bible under that.
...and all who dwell on earth will worship [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. Rev 13:8
This verse splits humanity in two. Those who worship the beast, and those who don't. And those who don't had (past tense) their names written before the foundation of the world. So before the world was founded there was a book that had the names of believers written in it. And the name of the book was "the book of life of the lamb that was slain". So before the world was created there was a book belonging to the slain lamb. Before the world began, BEFORE sin came into this world, there was a plan that involved the lamb being slain for the redemption of sinners.
This is so integral to the plan of God that in heaven, of all the bazillion things they could sing about, they sing about slaughter....take that in. They sing of slaughter. (Rev 5:9 ish)
Jesus wasn't plan B. And that might mess with your head. But it also means that God is in control. So when this world seems out of control, it's not.
King Jesus reigns.
...and all who dwell on earth will worship [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. Rev 13:8
This verse splits humanity in two. Those who worship the beast, and those who don't. And those who don't had (past tense) their names written before the foundation of the world. So before the world was founded there was a book that had the names of believers written in it. And the name of the book was "the book of life of the lamb that was slain". So before the world was created there was a book belonging to the slain lamb. Before the world began, BEFORE sin came into this world, there was a plan that involved the lamb being slain for the redemption of sinners.
This is so integral to the plan of God that in heaven, of all the bazillion things they could sing about, they sing about slaughter....take that in. They sing of slaughter. (Rev 5:9 ish)
Jesus wasn't plan B. And that might mess with your head. But it also means that God is in control. So when this world seems out of control, it's not.
King Jesus reigns.
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