Another in between chapters devotional...

Today is an in between chapters devotional as we push on to Proverbs 26 on Wednesday and beyond. 

I would like to spend a little more time this morning looking at what Luke has been presenting to us in these first 87 verses of his gospel.  As I speak of Luke and his authorship I also acknowledge that he is being carried along by the Holy Spirit to give us the very words of God as Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:20 and 21.

20 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, 

21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Luke is concerned with us knowing the details.  He has been giving us persons and places to know.  Look at the list so far.  Theophilus, his audience.  King Herod the Great, one of Jesus' first opposition.  Zechariah, the old priest.  Elizabeth, his old barren wife.  Jerusalem, the holy capital city and the temple it held.  John, the baby and the Baptist.  Gabriel, God's messenger angel.  Nazareth, a "where?" town in the north.  Joseph, a physical father but not the biological one.  Mary, a young virgin told to us over and over again.  Jesus, the baby and the Messiah.  Caesar Augustus, the Roman ruler of the world.  Quirinius, an appointed governor of Syria.  Bethlehem, the small city of origin of King David.  And finally a place with a manger where Jesus was born. 

Luke is not done.  In the coming weeks we will be introduced to more angels, some shepherds, a righteous and devout man named Simeon who had been waiting for this event to happen and a widow prophetess named Anna.  Luke is giving Theophilus plenty of information to fulfill what was said back in verse 4 of chapter 1.

4 so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.[a]

The Bible amazes me.  I love the internet. It is so vast and it comes up with new material everyday because new material is added to it even throughout the night as we sleep.  But the Bible has not been added to and we are actually instructed not to do so in Revelation 22:18 and 19 which are some of the very last words of this great book.  It says,

18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. 19 And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book.

The Bible keeps growing in our minds as we see continued evidences in our world to catch up with it.  We have more information that verifies what we are reading so that our faith in what God has said is actually so.  The Bible is viewed as a history and textbook to be the "go to" document to understand and to check with as it is many times the only document that tells of certain events or people groups.  We hold in our hands a precious gift from God.

Sunday was a time to look again at the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.  The point of the sermon was a warning about adding to the event that distracts from its central gospel message.  Christmastime is precious for all of its warm family gatherings and treasured traditions but it should never replace or take center stage of Immanuel, "God with us," in some feeding trough in little Bethlehem.  Those great things to participate in should never overshadow the fulfillment of the prophecy of our God and His covenants with His people that a Messiah would come as a Savior to save us from our sins.  He came because we are messed up spiritually with no way out but a Savior named Jesus.

Here are a couple quotes again from the message on Sunday that are worthy of repeating.  The first is from Mark Dever about the gospel.

"The good news is that the one and only God, who is holy, made us in His image to know Him.  But we sinned and cut ourselves off from Him.  In His great love, God became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law Himself and taking on Himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn and trust in Him.  He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted Christ's sacrifice and that God's wrath against us had been exhausted.  He now calls us to repent of our sins and to trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness.  If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God."

The other was by Ed Stetzer who puts the gospel so Biblically and poetically as,

"The gospel is the good news that God, who is more holy than we can imagine, looked upon with compassion, people, who are more sinful than we would possibly admit, and sent Jesus into history to establish His Kingdom and reconcile people and the world to Himself.  Jesus, who love is more extravagant than we can measure, came to sacrificially die for us so that, by His death and resurrection, we might gain through His grace what the Bible defines as new and eternal life."

Christmas is all about the gospel.  The manger holds the Savior who will die in our place on the cross because of our sins.  He will cover the live grenade thrown into the foxhole of life so that we can live with Him and for the glory of Him.  We will witness through Luke and others carried along by the Holy Spirit this God who has come to be with us and His great love for us to do such a thing.  Christmas is a time to be heavy on the "why" that He came while we tell the events of "how" it all happened.  Let us pray.

"Lord, You are such a great God and You have provided for us in so many ways.  Your Word is so precious to us that gives us the information of something even more precious which is the salvation that it speaks of.  Help us to accurately share with others today where our joy comes from and why we have a hope that is eternal.  May we clearly point to You.  Amen."

Pastor Adam