Life in the Son

Solomon says that life on this earth — life under the sun — is vanity. But the New Testament says even more clearly what Solomon can only hint at: that life in the Son is satisfying, fulfilling, and the only ultimately worthwhile venture.

Living like Jesus lived

Many years ago, many Christians began sporting rubberized wrist bands with the initials WWJD — What Would Jesus Do? In one sense it’s an irrelevant question — Jesus is the Son of God, the third person of the Trinity, perfect in all His attributes and actions, completely sinless. I can’t do what He would do. […]

Christ, our Advocate

A couple of years ago I sat in a courtroom as a member of a jury serving a criminal case. On that day there were two lawyers in that courtroom serving as advocates — one as a defender of the man accused of a crime, and the other serving as both defender of the victim […]

The blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin

When it comes to blood, I am squeamish. On two separate occasions I’ve almost fainted while making a pastoral hospital visit. When a hospital scene comes up in a television show, I always avert my eyes. When someone wants to show off a scar or wound, I ask not to be shown. Yet there is […]

The Supremacy of Christ

Watch this. It’s a little long (just shy of 20 minutes). But it’s worth the investment of that time. HT: Challies.

That’s My King

He is the risen Savior! And He is the ascended King! He’s my King! HT: The Cripplegate.

Christ’s death and God’s will

George Smeaton, The Apostles Doctrine of the Atonement: Peter intimates that God subjected Him to death, and that He was not properly overcome by His enemies, — that it was the will of God, His determinate counsel or plan, that Messiah should be delivered as a malefactor into the hands of men, and be put […]

“I don’t do blood”

I don’t do blood. Those real-life operating shows on TV? You’ve never seen anyone flip channels so fast! Dissections in my high school and college biology labs? Someone else had to do them. Emergency room and intensive care visitations? They better be quick — I’ve had more than one hospital room start “spinning” on me! […]

The end has come

The babe in the manger whose arrival more than 2000 years ago we celebrate today was as helpless as any other child ever born. He who created the vast expanses of the heavens and the stars that fill them and the atoms that comprise them was dependent on the care of his teenage mother and […]

You shall call His name…

When Raye Jeanne and I chose names for our children, they were our attempts to give them an identity. We desired for them to carry names that would reflect our desires for them. And we hoped that the legacy we left them with their surname would give them a heritage to live for when we […]

Why the virgin birth is important

This morning we considered the birthday story of Jesus and the virgin birth (Matthew 1:18-25). Some might think that spending time thinking about the virgin birth is immaterial — that it really doesn’t matter whether or not Jesus was born of a virgin. Yet there are many reasons why the virgin birth is essential. To […]

“You shall call His name Jesus”

From John Broadus on Matthew 1:21: It is familiar fact that Hebrew names were commonly significant, a natural and pleasing custom. This being no longer a usage with us, we often give names of great and good men who have lived in other days. Sometimes heroes of fiction. This too is beautiful. Names often make […]

Two truths about God’s wrath

It seems somewhat inappropriate to think and write and talk about the wrath of God at Christmas time. Shouldn’t we be thinking about gifts, friends and family, food and fellowship, joy and happiness? How can we think about wrath — God’s judgment and condemnation at Christmas? Yet the wrath of God is linked to the […]

They want to get away

It is the nature of the ungodly to seek to escape God. In introducing his important book, The Long War Against God, Henry Morris writes, The denial of God — rejecting the reality of supernatural creation and the Creator’s sovereign rule of the world — has always been the root cause of every human problem. […]

The Lamb and His book

Just about everything we know about the Book of Life is from Revelation (cf. Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27; the only other reference is in Phil. 4:3). And here’s what we know. It is a book about life (how’s that for insightful?). It’s not that the book itself imparts life, but it is […]