This was to fulfill what was spoken…

In Matthew 5, Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” (v. 17). There might be a temptation to think that His fulfillment of the Law began with His public ministry. Not so. His fulfillment began with His birth, […]

It’s not just a name

When my wife was pregnant with our children, we spent many dinners and evenings reading names to each other from the baby name books. And until we settled on a final name, not wanting to call the baby, “baby,” we came up with interim names — monickers that tickled us as we read through the […]

God’s grace and genealogies

If you haven’t heard it already, probably within the next couple of weeks you will hear read (or read yourself) the genealogy of Jesus. What is one to do with such passages? We are to hear the grace of Christ, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones has noted: The Lord Jesus Christ has manifested his Father, and has […]

May I Go In There?

From Jared Wilson’s blog: This is taken from an illustration in John Phillips’ Exploring Hebrews commentary that has always moved me. Imagine with me a Moabite of old gazing down upon the Tabernacle of Israel from some lofty hillside. This Moabite is attracted to what he sees so he descends the hill and makes his […]

Pleasing God

Martin Luther: Now, we are sure that Christ pleases God, that he is holy and so on. Inasmuch, then, as Christ pleases God and we are in him, we also please God and are holy. Although sin still remains in us, and although we daily fall and offend, grace is more abundant and stronger than […]

Knowing Christ alone in ministry

John Flavel: “I determined to know nothing,” that is, to study nothing myself, to teach nothing to you, but “Jesus Christ.” Christ shall be the center to which all the lines of my ministry shall be drawn. I have spoken and written of many other subjects in my sermons and epistles, but it is all […]

Heaven’s gain

When a believer dies, it is not unusual to hear a response something like, “Our loss is heaven’s gain.” I have always taken such a sentiment to subtly suggest that in some manner, heaven has been deficient until this person has arrived, and that now because of their inherent abilities and worth, heaven has “gotten […]

Christ’s sacrifice

A healthy baby was born in the hospital down the street. Ho-hum. God provided for your basic needs again this week. Yawn. You shared the gospel with someone this week and he trusted Christ. Of course. Your spouse/child/parent/friend loves you. Okay. The extraordinary has become ordinary. It happens in life. And it happens in the […]

That’s My King!

HT: Kevin DeYoung.

Christ is all

In Colossians 3:11, Paul says (echoing v. 4 — “Christ, who is our life…”), “Christ is all, and in all.” That is, Christ is all-sufficient. He is everything a believer needs and He is everything to that believer. And He is in all believers equally — no one gets an extra dose of Jesus. His […]

Since Christ has been born…

A few years ago, pastor Sam Crabtree filled in the blanks to the statement, “What Would Not Be if Jesus Had Not Been.” Reading that contemplation and pondering some additional related thoughts then led me to consider the statement, “Since Christ has been born…” Here are the Biblical realities that we, as believers, experience because […]

Book Review: The Case for Christmas

Title: The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger Author: Lee Strobel Publisher: Zondervan, 2005; 96 pp. $9.99 (print), $1.99 (e-book) Recommendation (4-star scale): Lee Strobel was a journalist who rejected Christ. His hatred was such that he decided to prove once-and-for-all that Christ was not who He […]

The preciousness of Christ

I am now reading Octavius Winslow’s 18th century work, The Precious Things of God. Yesterday I came across this statement, which is a fitting reminder for the Christmas season: Other objects often lose their attraction, their desire to interest, or their power to charm us, by the lapse of years; but Jesus is that glorious […]

A greater event

There are many significant events in the history of the world. Great men and leaders have risen and fallen. Great civilizations have been established and others destroyed. Great movements and developments and advancements have been made in language and science and knowledge. But the advent of Christ was the greatest event in all of history […]

Jeremiah, destruction, and Christ

This morning I finished reading the last few chapters of Jeremiah — prophecies of the destruction of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Elam, and Babylon. And then the account of Judah being taken into captivity in Babylon. With all the words concerning the judgments of God and then that judgment being demonstrated against His own people, […]