Romans 5:1–11

Romans 5:1–11 is such a wonderful Scripture passage. It's one of my favorites. So I thought I'd make a poster of it to share!

download:

romans 5:1–11 poster (JPG, 1.53 MB)

font:

tex gyre adventor

A New Month

...one day late. Is it just me, or has 2012 gone by so quickly so far? It amazes me. It's been a full three months, but God has been good. Today I just wanted to share a Scripture verse that I've found encouraging lately.

I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the work of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land....

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

—Psalm 143:5–6, 8

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! What a wonderful day to celebrate God's goodness to us. Listen to this verse:

Our God truly is good and full of steadfast love. What an encouragement. There is indeed much to be thankful for, and I certainly need to remember that this year since it's easy for me to focus on things I'm worried about instead of recounting all God has given me. Yet he has been so good. He has given me all I need, and for that I am grateful, although I'm aware of my need for his grace to see that he does provide everything I need. Here are a few songs that have been encouraging me lately. I hope you enjoy them too! You can listen to each one simply by clicking the play button.

I'm looking forward to a wonderful day celebrating and catching up with family today and enjoying North Carolina style barbecue, turkey, and sweet potatoes. Yum!

A few quick links to fun Thanksgiving things:
+ A Thanksgiving table setting from Holidash via Design Happens. I love the modern look and the bright yellow branches!
+ This post on Mint has some fun Thanksgiving items.
+ A free simple desktop wallpaper from How About Orange. Very festive for fall!

Do you have any Thanksgiving ideas to share? Or any traditions you usually keep? I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrated God's goodness.

Encouraging Words, Part 1

Every now and then, I like to post a few quotes from my Tumblr, words that I've enjoyed and been encouraged by lately. I haven't done a post like this in awhile, so I'm going to divide it into two parts, one today and one tomorrow. I usually don't post over the weekend, but I wanted to this time since there are so many fun things I want to post about! I hope you enjoy these quotes:

“Take my heart and hold it in thy hand;
Write upon it reverence to thyself
with an inscription that time and eternity cannot erase.”

—	The Valley of Vision, page 139

“…let us not reckon upon the continuance of present ease, nor fix our happiness upon the fickle weather of this world, but let us be ready for changes, so that, come when they may, we shall not be afraid of evil tidings, our heart being fixed, trusting in the Lord.”

—	C.H. Spurgeon

“Waiting is an act of faith. Because in waiting for the Lord, we are saying, Lord I trust in you. I hope in you. I have confidence that as I wait, you are being good to me and you are acting on my behalf. I’m trusting you for grace to come. Faith waits confidently for the Lord to fulfill his promises.”

—	Mark Altrogge

“Being with Jesus is the essence of heaven; it is what the life everlasting is all about.”

—	J.I. Packer, Growing in Christ

“The key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel.”

—

Timothy Keller

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”
     —  Proverbs 19:21

“O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.”

—	Isaiah 25:1

I hope you all are encouraged by these words! If you'd like to read more, I post pretty regularly at To Sit at His Feet, my Tumblr page.

Compassion

 

"For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, 

but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, 

and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," 

says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

-Isaiah 54:10

My Portion

 

Whom have I in heaven but You? 

And earth has nothing I desire besides You. 

My flesh and my heart may fail - 

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!
-Psalm 73:25-26

Trust

And those who know your name put their trust in you, 

for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

-Psalm 9:10

A Few from Tumblr, Part Two

I thought I'd post a few more quotes and verses that I've enjoyed lately. These came off my Tumblr.
 

When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus: ‘I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? By no means. For I know One who suffered and made a satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Where he is, there I shall be also.’

— Martin Luther
 

Teach me the happy art of attending to things temporal with a mind intent on things eternal.

— The Valley of Vision pg. 134 

The heart of God never does anything weakly; his love is strong and powerful, for it is the affection of an omnipotent spirit. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus — “As the Father hath loved me even so have I loved you.” Do you know how much the Father loves his Son? Can you form any conception? Are you not baffled in the attempt? “Even so,” saith Jesus, “have I loved you.

— Charles Spurgeon 

The wrong inference from God’s transcendence is that He is too great to care; the right one is that He is too great to fail.

— Derek Kidner

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

— Isaiah 40:28-31

I hope those encourage you today!

A Few from Tumblr

I've been coming across some great quotes + verses lately that I've really been enjoying. I've posted many of them on my Tumblr, but I thought I would copy a few here as well. Enjoy!

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness….If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
— James 1:2-3, 5

“But in the gospel Jesus says, “Come to me.” Jesus came to save sinners, to forgive the guilty, and to cleanse the corrupt. This means the painful presence of sin in your life should not be an occasion of remaining distant from God but another reason to draw near. Your unrighteousness is not a reason to run from God but a reason to run to God. Only in the Son will you find cleansing, healing, and restoration, and always in him do you find acceptance.”
— Joe Thorn, Note to Self

“When we value God more than living, and faithfulness and suffering more than compromise and ease, we show God to be supremely worthy of our affections and our allegiance. This brings him great glory.”
— Kevin DeYoung

“There are times when all that the Christian can responsibly do is trust his heavenly Father in the midst of darkness and pain.”
— D.A. Carson

“If there be any hope for sinners; if there be any consolation for sufferers; if there be any cleansing for the guilty; if there be any life for the dead, it is here…. O, dwell at the cross, then. Whatever your minds may forget to consider, let them never lose the savor of this, or leave the meditation of Christ crucified.”
— Charles Spurgeon
 

…be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”
—Hebrews 13:5b-7

I hope you all like these quotes. I would love it if you'd tell me which one you like best, or share one of your current favorite quotes or verses in the comments section.

Titus

Just went through the book of Titus in my quiet times... these two passages are my favorite. I'm putting the one from chapter 3 first:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:3-7

I love how this passage emphasizes grace - God saved us because of his "goodness and loving kindness," not because of anything we've done.

Then here's a passage from chapter 2:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11-14

So even though we are saved by God's grace alone and no good work we could ever do could add anything to our salvation, that grace actually works in us to produce good works, not because we're earning our salvation, but because we've been "brought salvation."

I love how Titus spurs us on to good works, but in light of the fact that ultimately our works never add to our salvation, but overflow from it.

2 Timothy 1:6-12

Such an encouraging passage...here is part of it.

I love how this passage draws conclusions from what we know to be true. Because we have a Spirit [the Holy Spirit] of power and love and self-control, we can be bold and unashamed in sharing the gospel and even in suffering. Because we know who we have believed and we know God is powerful and able to guard the message of the gospel until the final day, we can be unashamed. How kind of God to give us ample reason to be unashamed and bold, and ample reason to lean on Him and His power. He doesn't just say "go out there without shame." He says "be unashamed because I am great and I will give you power." We are weak and insignificant and inadequate. But He is the almighty, powerful, faithful God and we can rely on Him. Isn't that wonderful?

Ephesians 2:1-10

If you've got a minute, please read this whole passage. It's amazing.

I was dead. DEAD. And yet God gave me new life. This is such a big deal. Even in my sin, God loved me and showed me mercy. Jesus gave His very life to ransom me, a person dead in her sin. When I read this, the fact that I was dead in my trespasses, and the fact that we all are dead in our sin really hit me.

And it got me to thinking... no one is any more or less dead in sin than anyone else. It would sound totally illogical for someone to say "Oh, I was just 'sort of' dead in my sin, but those people, they are really dead." What? That seems so ignorant and ridiculous. Thinking like this just makes me want to show compassion towards people who don't yet know what I know about God and the gospel, not because I'm some nice compassionate person who does everything right, but because I was once dead, too. It's only by God's grace that I'm alive in Him today, and He offers that same grace to those who believe.

Isn't God's love and mercy in the cross so amazing? I love passages like Ephesians 2 that remind me of the gospel - because I can so often forget.

Romans 5:1-5

I really like Romans 5. I think it's one of my favorite chapters in Scripture. I'm sure I don't understand all of what it says, but what I do understand is quite encouraging. I read just the first five verses recently and I noticed how rich they are. I'd like you to read them too:

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
[Romans 5:1-5]

There is so much in this passage. Here are a few things that stick out to me:

We are justified. For those who have believed in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, we're right with God.
We have peace with God. This justification leads to peace. Real peace. Peace because our eternity is secure! When we are right with God, we no longer have to fear His wrath, and instead, we can look forward to eternity with Him.
We stand in grace. The word "stand" really caught my attention. We're IN grace. It's not something we experience one, but we stand in it all the time. God's grace is all around us.
We rejoice. Because we have hope we can delight in God and all He has done for us in the gospel.
We rejoice in suffering. What? Suffering is hard, right? And it can be very hard to rejoice when things are hard. But our reason for rejoicing doesn't change when suffering comes. Even when things are hard, we have the same hope and the same reason for rejoicing.
God uses suffering to grow us. He teaches us through hard times and He helps us love Him more.

What good news! In Christ we have justification, we have hope and peace, we have grace, and we have a reason to rejoice in all circumstances.

I actually made a poster with Romans 5:1-5 on it, and I'd like to share it with you to look at and download if you want. You can download it right here.

And here's what it looks like!

I hope you enjoy the poster and are encouraged by this Scripture passage. Have a great day!

Jesus' Sacrifice

"The Lord hath made him, who knew no sin, to be made sin for us. Wonder of wonders! It is beyond all degree amazing that he who distributes crowns and thrones should hang on a tree and die, the just for the unjust, bearing the punishment due to sinners for guilt."
- C.H. Spurgeon

It is indeed, as Mr. Spurgeon says, a wonder of wonders that God Himself would take on human form and bear my sins on the cross.  What great love!  The love of Jesus, as shown in the cross, really is like no other love.  In Romans 5:6-8 it says...

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Romans 5:6-8]

Jesus loved us, sinners, so very much that he even gave his very life for us.  What amazing love!

What the Bible is About

 Tullian Tchvidjian recently posted some thoughts and a quote about the storyline of the Bible.  Here's his introduction in the post.  I thought it was very helpful and clear:

Contrary to what many Christians have concluded, the Bible does not tell two stories: the story of Israel in the OT and the story of the church in the NT or the story of law in the OT and the story of grace in the NT.  No, the Bible tells one story and points to one figure: it tells the story of how God rescues a broken world and points to Christ who accomplishes this. In the OT God revealed himself through types and shadows, through promises and prophecies. In the NT God reveals himself in Christ who is the substance of every shadow and the fulfillment of every promise and prophecy. The OT predicts  God’s rescuer; the NT presents God’s rescuer. In all of its pages and throughout all of its stories, the Word of the Lord reveals the Lord of the Word. The plot line of the Bible, in other words, is Jesus-centered. He is the rescuer sent by God to right all wrongs, mend all that is broken, and reconcile separated, fallen human beings like you and me to God.
- Tullian Tchvidjian

The Bible really is all about Jesus!  Another way to put it that I learned from one of the pastors in my church is "God is redeeming a fallen people for His glory through the person and work of Jesus Christ."  I'd encourage you to read the whole post on Tullian Tchvidjian's blog, with a quote from Sally Lloyd-Jones.

A Gospel Reminder

"HE gave Himself!" Yes, Jesus gave Himself for us. Note the contrast between the Giver — and those for whom He gave Himself.

The Giver is He who was the only begotten Son of God, the author of creation, the sustainer of the universe, the brightness of divine glory, the source and end of all things! He who was proclaimed by the prophet as "the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the prince of peace." He who is declared by the apostle to be "God over all — blessed for evermore!" He who is "God manifest in the flesh."

"He gave Himself for US." For us — who at the best are mere creatures, between whom and our Creator there can be no comparison. But it was not for us as mere creatures — but for us as base, vile, insignificant, and totally depraved creatures! We had debased ourselves, even unto Hell. Worse, our nature could not be, for "the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked!"

The most exalted, glorious, and holy being in the universe — gave Himself for the most vile, polluted, and degraded of His creatures! O how astonishing!

But He volunteered on our behalf, without any solicitation, offering to become . . .
our Substitute and fulfill the law in our stead;
our Sacrifice, and make a full atonement for our sins; and
our Ransomer, paying the satisfactory price for our redemption.

He engaged to bear the desert of all our sins in His own body — to suffer all that the inflexible justice of God could inflict on our Surety — and so put away our sins forever, by the sacrifice of Himself. He gave . . .
His person — for our persons;
His blood — as our ransom price;
and His life — for our lives.

He gave His entire self, doing and suffering all that was necessary to secure our release from sin's curse, and our everlasting salvation. O amazing grace of a gracious Savior!

- James Smith

What a great quote!  I love this reminder of how Jesus bore all our sin so that we could have "everlasting salvation."  You can read the whole article by James Smith here.

Commentary on a Favorite Bible Story

The story of how Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from the dead is one of my favorites of all time.  I love how it is a picture of what Jesus has done for me in raising me from spiritual death to new life in Him as a Christian!

I saw this very interesting commentary by Tim Keller on that story over at Justin Taylor's blog recently, and I thought I would post it here.

Tim Keller, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, pp. 67-69, commenting on Mark 5:38-42:

Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

---

Do you think it is odd that when Jesus arrives at Jairus’s house he says that the girl is just sleeping? The parallel account of this story in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels make it clear that Jesus understands she’s dead. She’s not mostly dead; she’s all dead. Then why does he make that reference to sleep? The answer is in what Jesus does next.
Remember, Jesus sits down beside the girl, takes her by the hand, and says two things to her.
The first is talitha. Literally, it means “little girl,” but that does not get across the sense of what he’s saying. This is a pet name, a diminutive term of endearment. Since this is a diminutive that a mother would use with a little girl, probably the best translation is “honey.”
The second thing Jesus says to her is koum, which means “arise.” Not “be resurrected”: it just means “get up.” Jesus is doing exactly what this child’s parents might do on a sunny morning. He sits down, takes her hand, and says, “Honey, it’s time to get up.” And she does.
Jesus is facing facing the most implacable, inexorable enemy of the human race and such is his power that he holds this child by the hand and gently lifts her right up through it. “Honey, get up.”
Jesus is saying by his actions, “If I have you by the hand, death itself is nothing but sleep.” . . .
. . . There’s nothing more frightening for a little child than to lose the hand of the parent in a crowd or in the dark, but that is nothing compared with Jesus’s own loss.
He lost his Father’s hand on the cross.
He went into the tomb so we can be raised out of it.
He lost hold of his Father’s hand so we could know that once he has us by the hand, he will never, ever forsake us.

Stories

I've been seeing the phrase "write your own story" in the crafty world recently.  I can across it on Etsy in association with some typewriter motifs, and I actually have a rubber stamp that has a typewriter and that phrase on it.  I think it's one of those nice, warm-fuzzy kind of phrases.  Writing our own stories sounds like a nice concept.  But what does it really mean?  Beyond the nice idea of writing a story, what is this phrase saying?

Well, I'm honestly not sure what is meant by the phrase because I don't really know what sense it is used in.  Probably in most cases, it is not used to mean any specific philosophy, but just a nice phrase that looks good with a typewriter.

But all the same, "write your own story" got me thinking about the concept of stories.  And so I thought I'd share my thoughts.  This doesn't really have to do with graphic design (well, I guess it could in a big picture type way...) but I wanted to post it anyway because it is something I have been mulling over.

In the sense of writing stories, I think "write your own story" is perfectly harmless.  I like writing stories.  It's fun.  It's creative.  And I think writing is a gift from God that can be used to honor Him.  And in the sense of writing stories, yes, the stories should be our own and not someone else's.

But that's not really the point.  I think this phrase plays into something a whole lot bigger, and that's the stories of our lives.  That phrase is used casually sometimes - you know, things like "being tired is the story of my life."  But the real story... it's pretty serious.

If it's up to us to write our own story for our lives, that's a huge responsibility.  What if we mess up?  What if one blunder completely messes up our the whole happy ending we had planned?  I think that sounds like a pretty fear-filled way to live.  Doesn't it?

And it also means that our life stories are about us.  If we write them, they're ours.  If we write our own stories, our lives belong to ourselves and it's our job to plan out our lives and do all we can do make our stories just the way we want them.

That's where the "write your own story" concept falls short: it's not about us.  God has created us, and for those of you who are Christians, you belong to God.  It's about HIM, not any of us. 

In 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a, it says:
You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.

I'm not my own?  So that means that none of me is my own, including the story of my life.  If God has bought me with a price - the blood of Jesus - (and He HAS!), then I belong to Him.  Me and my story, too.  And this is so good.  This means that my future and controlling my story is not up to me.  And I don't have to be afraid of messing up or making the wrong decision - because it's ultimately not in my control.

And God loves me.  He knows what is best for me and He will accomplish those plans - He says so in His Word.


Jeremiah 29:11:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

And God is perfectly sovereign and in control of every circumstance.  He has good plans for us, and our lives are His story.  So I'm not writing my own story and figuring out the details of the plot.  God is writing His story in my life, for His purposes, and for His glory.  Ultimately, I'm not here to be the main character in a good story at all.  I'm here because God made me to worship Him and bring Him glory.  That's the purpose of life!  And that's also the thing that brings us the most joy.  I love this quote from Charles Spurgeon:

"The purest and most exhilarating joy is the delight of glorifying God, and so anticipating the time when we shall enjoy him for ever." - C.H. Spurgeon

Sometimes I can be deceived into thinking that trying to do my own thing and make myself happy actually will make me happy.  But that's all wrong.  Nothing apart from God Himself and honoring Him and bringing Him glory gives me joy.  And trying to satisfy myself won't satisfy me - in fact, that's the mindset God graciously saved me from.

I love that the C.H. Spurgeon quote talks about Heaven - that's the "time when we shall enjoy him for ever."  When we delight in bringing God glory by embracing the story He's writing in our lives, we get joy that's a little foretaste of the final joy we'll experience in Heaven.

But until then....

And I'm so grateful and so glad that it is.

ESV

The Bible is the most wonderful book ever, and not just because it's a good book, but because it is the very word of God to all of us.  Isn't that amazing?  Listen to this verse from 1 Timothy:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV

When you think about it, it's so good that Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for us.  And it makes reading Scripture an astounding privilege.  Every time we read God's word, we get to read the words God Himself has spoken.  Wow.

One thing I love is my ESV Study Bible.  The ESV (English Standard Version) is a great translation of the Bible, and the one I've used for a good long time.  The notes in the ESV Study Bible are so helpful, too.  Several times, the notes have really helped me see and understand something new about God.

I highly recommend the ESV Study Bible.  They're not exactly cheap, but it is so worth the investment.  They come in different editions, and I've made a little collage about it.  You can click on each image to be taken to the version's Amazon page.






I also wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the graphic design of the ESV Bible.  Of course, no graphic design could ever come anywhere close to being as important as the content of the ESV Bible, which is God's very words, but graphic design can be a good tool to help people be drawn towards that content and not be distracted from that content.  The ESV does this very well, and I thought I'd explain why I think they do.

First, the logo for the ESV translation.

Sorry for the small size - the logo I found on the internet was rather tiny.  Hopefully you can still see the logo well.  I like this logo.  The typography in particular is great.  The way the monogram is intertwined is well done, and I like the way the end of the "S" is the same width as the end of the "V."  The gold/brown color is very good, too.  I think that the way the logo looks like a seal is very elegant.

The main thing that's great about this logo is that it's not distracting.  Sometimes, logos are meant to grab your attention, but I really don't think that was the intention of this graphic designer.  The goal of this logo, I'm assuming, and the goal that it accomplishes is to point the viewer to the Bible.  However, the fact that the logo is well designed is important.  It sends a subtle message with its professional look to increase the ethos of the translators - it's a visual signal that the translators care about accurately translating the words of Scripture, which is something of essential importance.

This logo, however, is only present on the traditional version of the ESV Bible, without the study notes in the ESV Study Bible.  But the graphic design of both types of Bibles is something that is well done.  Here's a picture of each.

The one on the left, the standard ESV Bible, has graphics that compliment the logo I talked about above.  Like the logo, the graphics look professional and yet unassuming - they don't scream for attention, but draw the reader's attention to the title and the fact that this book is the Holy Bible itself.

The ESV Study Bible, on the other hand, takes a different approach to the graphics.  Although the graphics for this Bible are more colorful and bold, they still don't detract from the most important thing: the Bible itself.  I think the main way this design accomplishes that is through the use of simple shapes.  The use of triangles and squares is interesting, but simple.

I hope you've enjoyed this little peek into some of the graphics of the ESV Bible.  And I want to take one more minute to say yet again what an amazing tool the ESV Study Bible is.  If you don't have one, I'd highly recommend it!

What Christmas Really Is

I wanted to be sure to take time this season to write a post about what Christmas really is.  I think everyone knows that it's not all about Christmas and presents and trees and tinsel and lights and silver and gold.  Or red and green.  But what is it about?

Now, that's a question that a lot of people have a lot of different answers to.  Some people say it's about generosity and doing good deeds towards others.  Other people think it's all about family togetherness.  Still others just like the way the happy holiday season makes them feel.  I know I have been prey to these mindsets sometimes.

For me, though, and for Christians around the world, Christmas isn't about the superficial, commercialized stuff, but it's also not about feeling good or even being nice to others.  For me, Christmas is about just one thing: Jesus Christ.

More than 2000 years ago, a baby was born in a stable in Bethlehem.  And he wasn't just a baby; He was the living Son of God.  And he came not only to be born, but to live a perfect life and to die for the sins of the world.

He came to die.


That's a big thought.  The reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago was because my sin, and yours, and the whole world's grieved God and caused us all to deserve His eternal wrath and judgment.  But that's not the end of the story!  God loved us so very much that He sent Jesus to be born as a baby and to grow up to die for us and appease God's wrath.  Because of the fact that Jesus died for our sins, we no longer have to bear God's wrath.  Jesus bore all of God's wrath in our place.  So instead of wrath, we get eternal life and blessing and love...and adoption into God's family as His children.  That's amazing, and that's why Christmas is so great.

Bethlehem points to Calvary.

Christmas is about Jesus, and not only about his birth, but about why He was born and what He did on the cross in our place.  Because of Jesus' sacrifice for us, we can have true and lasting satisfaction and peace.  As I was reading in Luke 2, I noticed this part specifically:

Glory to God in the highest,
        and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!
- Luke 2:14

In my ESV Study Bible, the note said something about the fact that the peace on earth that the angels proclaim in this passage is the gospel: that Jesus came to bring peace through His blood.  Because of Jesus' death, we can have peace in this season and always, and we can glorify God just as the angels did for all that He has done for us.  I'm so glad that God revealed this to me, because before, I had always thought of "peace on earth" as a nice, happy phrase you say at Christmastime.  But it's so much more than that.

Peace on earth means the gospel.

And what's amazing is that when Jesus died on the cross, he didn't stay in the grave.  He rose from the dead, and now he is seated at the right hand of God in Heaven.  And he's interceding for us before the Father!  Isn't that amazing?

So, this Christmas, will you join me in remembering what it really is?  Let's not buy into the lie that Christmas is just about presents or good feelings.  It's about a perfect, crucified, and risen Savior - Jesus Christ!

I hope you all have a great holiday tomorrow celebrating the birth of our Savior!