God's Perfect Timing

One day in 1582 Galileo Galilei was sitting in a cathedral, watching a swinging lamp suspended by a long chain hanging from the lofty ceiling. Distracted from the priest’s drab homily, he noted each swing was equal and had a natural rate of motion. Galileo was busy with other things for years, including a controversial argument about the structure of the universe and getting tried for heresy by the Catholic Inquisition. But, eventually in 1640, while under house arrest in a villa near Florence, Italy, he found a moment to design a pendulum clock, the result of the swaying lamp’s inspiration so many years earlier. Galileo died before he could complete his project, but the Dutch scientist Christian Huygens picked up on Galileo’s pendulum design and developed the first such clock in 1656.[1]    

Since then our timepieces have become smaller, more accurate and more ingrained in our personal space—from grandfather clocks, to wall clocks, alarm clocks to pocket watches, to the iWatch. It’s been said that the wristwatch is “the handcuff of our time.” We inhabit a world that is obsessed with time; just listen to the mantras: “Time is money,” or “Timing is everything,” or “Time flies!”

Yet, when I turn to God of the Bible I find an eternal Being who is not bound by the constraints of time like we are. God is not changed by the passing of time. Neither do the concepts of “late” or “early” apply to a God who transcends our dimensions. I am reminded of a quote by Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings, “A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to!” So it is with our God—He’s always “on time” because He can freely pass in and out of our time-space universe like a man with a skeleton key to a high-rise hotel. Just as the man with key has access to every room, so too God has unlimited access to every moment of time—past, present and future.

Consider just a few examples:

·         The angel of the Lord stopped Abraham’s knife from piercing Isaac’s body just as he was about to the plunge the blade downward (Gen. 22:10-12).

·         The Lord guided baby Moses’ basket down the Nile River so that it would arrive at precisely the right moment when Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing (Ex. 2:3-6).

·         In the eternal councils of the Godhead there was a specific day selected for the incarnation of Christ, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman” (Gal. 4:4).   

·         The Holy Spirit nudged Philip at just the right moment to leave Samaria so he could meet up with an Ethiopian official on a dusty desert road (Acts 8:26-40).

We can trust God’s timing because He can see the whole timeline of events and people with perfect clarity. Don’t be discouraged by a delay. God’s delays are not God’s denials, instead God’s delays are often by design. Just ask Mary and Martha, who thought Jesus arrived at the tomb of Lazarus four days “late” (John 11:32). Psalm 37:7-8 challenges us, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him . . . Do not fret—it only causes harm.” Trusting in God’s timing is an act of faith that says, “Lord, I am placing my need in your hands and I believe that in Your perfect timing You will come through.” 

-DM

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[1] Ellen Vaughn, Time Peace (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 58-59. 

The Virgin Birth Solves an Intricate Old Testament Problem

The doctrine of the virgin birth has fallen on hard times lately. The idea that Jesus was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary is mocked by skeptics and denied by liberal Christians. A few years ago, Robert Schuller, the famous televangelist of “The Hour of Power” show and pastor of the Crystal Cathedral said in an interview, “I could not in print or in public deny or affirm the virgin birth of Christ. When I have something I can’t comprehend I just don’t deal with it.”

I also read where another church leader called the virgin birth a story on the level of an Andy Capp comic! That’s okay, he hastened to add, because Andy Capp is true—he is true in our imagination, and so is the virgin birth.[1]

Sadly, that’s the way many pastors have dealt with the virgin birth. Indeed, this is the age of apostasy in which the Church is drifting, or just outright denying the central doctrines of the faith (1 Tim. 4:1).

The virgin birth is certainly not a side-issue of our faith. The virgin birth protects Christ’s deity. Had Jesus been born of a human father, Jesus would have inherited the curse of Adam’s sin. (Rom. 5:12). The virgin birth also preserves Christ’s humanity. Had Jesus escaped the birth process and arrived directly from heaven, then we could not have a high priest who understood us (Heb. 4:15). The fact that Jesus was born just like you and I are born, and He lived the same kind of existence we do, means He has the full spectrum of human emotions and experiences.

While those reasons for the virgin birth are compelling, there is an even deeper reason for the virgin birth—it solves an intricate Old Testament problem. The last king to rule over Judah was a wicked man named Jeconiah, also known as Jehoiachin. In fact, he was the last king to rule over Judah before the Babylonians invaded the nation, burnt down the Temple and exiled the Jewish people in 586 B.C. Jeconiah was so bad that God placed a curse upon him in Jeremiah, 22:30, “No man of his descendants will prosper sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah”

This curse created a rather grim and perplexing paradox: for the Messiah had to come from the royal line of David (Is. 11:1; 2 Sam. 7:16), yet now there was a “blood curse” on that very line of descent! It seems as if God has painted Himself into a corner. But, we know that God’s promises cannot fail. I like to visualize a celebration in the councils of Satan on the day God pronounced this curse, but then I imagine God turning to His angels, saying, “Now! Watch this one!”

The Lord already had a loophole planned called the virgin birth. According to Matthew’s genealogy, Joseph was a descendant of Jeconiah. Had Joseph been the biological father of Jesus, then Jesus would have inherited the curse of Jeconiah. But, because He was not Joseph’s biological son, Jesus escaped the curse–however because He was Joseph’s legal son, He inherited the right to rule as a descendant of David! Only God could come up with a solution like that to avoid the curse of Jeconiah and keep His Word! -DM

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[1] John MacArthur, “The Assault on the Virgin Birth,” Decision, December 2016 <https://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/december-2016/assault-virgin-birth/> 

Tell Your Kids the Truth About Santa

“For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 17:38)

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (3 John 4)  

This year my son turned four and he’s really starting to get excited about Christmas. He’s also beginning to understand many of the traditions, myths and stories. My wife and I decided early on that we would tell our kids the truth about Santa Claus, presents, reindeer and how all those things were “fun to pretend,” but that they were not the real reason for the season. We have stressed that Christmas is about worshipping Jesus and celebrating His birth. We did this because we didn’t want our kids coming back to us when they got older saying, “Why did you lie to us and how can we trust you about the things you taught us about Jesus?”   

My explanation to my son went like this: “Santa was a real, historical person who loved God. He was kind and generous. His real name was Nicholas and he did give gifts to people in need. But, he died along time ago and Christmas is not really about him, it’s about God becoming a baby to save us. God gave us the most precious gift when He sent Jesus to this earth.” Daniel nodded and said, “Yeah. Jesus. He died on the cross.” Out of the mouths of babes!

Actually, the real story about Nicholas is quite intriguing and important to church history. Nicholas was born sometime around 280 AD in what is modern-day Turkey to a wealthy Christian couple. When his parents died during a plague, nine-year-old Nick was left with an incredible sum of money.  When he became an adult, Nick donated much of his resources to the feed the poor and take care of the needy in his hometown.

Nicholas is most notably remembered for helping the family of a nobleman in Patara who had gone bankrupt. Ruthless creditors not only took the nobleman’s property, but also threatened to take his three beautiful daughters as well. The father’s only hope was to marry off his daughters before the creditors could take them, thereby saving them from a life of slavery and prostitution. Unfortunately, he did not have money for the girls’ dowries, which were necessary for them to marry. Nicholas heard of this dilemma and late one night threw a bag of coins in the family’s window to save the daughters. When Nicholas threw the money, a few coins supposedly landed in one of the daughter’s stockings that she had set out by the fireplace to dry. Thus, began the tradition of gifts in stockings.

Nicholas grew to be a well-loved Christian leader and was eventually voted the Bishop of Myra, a port city that the apostle Paul once visited (Acts 27:5-6). However, to be a Christian during this time was dangerous business. In 303 AD, the Roman emperor, Diocletian, issued a formal edict to destroy all Christian churches, burn the Scriptures and imprison or kill those who preached Christ. The storm of persecution which led to the deaths of hundreds of Christians, eventually reached Myra. Despite threats of imprisonment Bishop Nicholas continued to preach boldly the deity of Jesus. He was soon seized by torturers and confined to prison for several years. Nicholas was beaten and tortured for his faith, but remained strong.  

As providence would have it, Constantine eventually took the seat of power over the Roman Empire. Shortly after his ascension to the throne, in 313 AD Constantine supposedly converted to Christianity and issued the Edict of Toleration, officially giving Christianity tolerance throughout the Empire. Constantine ordered the release of those imprisoned for Christ, and so Nicholas was granted his freedom.   

Afterward, Nicholas traveled to the Council of Nicaea, where he helped defend the deity of Jesus Christ in 325 AD. The council ended the “Arian heresy,” which demoted Jesus to a “less-than-God” status. During the debates Nicholas became so enraged with Arius for formulating his detestable doctrines that he slapped the heretic in the face!

Nicholas died in 343 AD and was canonized into sainthood by the Catholic Church.

Now I ask you, which version of the story is more exciting—the preacher who was persecuted for his faith or the guy who comes down the chimney bearing gifts? Why don’t Christians tell their kids about the real Nicholas—a man who preached Christ, suffered for his faith, and smacked down heretics—rather than the fairy tale version invented by marketing gurus?

Use the mall Santa as an opportunity to tell children about the godly qualities of the real Nicholas, who dedicated his life to serving others and was an example of Christian character.

Sources

1.      William J. Federer, There Really Is a Santa Claus (New York: Amerisearch, 2003).

2.      Max Lucado, And the Angels Were Silent (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1987), 81. 

Interruption or Invitation?

Police officers will often tell you there’s no such thing as a routine call when you’re patrolling the streets. But when Albuquerque police officer Ryan Holets responded to a possible theft at a nearby convenience store, it had all the hallmarks of a mundane assignment he could quickly clear from the call log. But, it didn't turn out that way.

As Ryan left the convenience store on September 23, 2017 he noticed out of the corner of his eye a couple sitting on the grass against a cement wall. It appeared the man and woman were shooting up heroin in broad daylight behind the convenience store. Ryan turned on his body camera and approached the couple but he wasn’t prepared for what he saw. The woman was in the middle of injecting a needle into her companion’s arm. Then he noticed the woman was pregnant. “It's not every day I see a sight like that and it just made me really sad,” Ryan said.

Crystal Champ, 35, looked slightly dazed and agitated in the body camera footage as you hear Ryan begin to scold her. She told the officer that she was almost 8 months pregnant and addicted. “You're going to kill your baby,” Ryan is heard saying on the bodycam footage.

In the course of the conversation, Champ told Ryan that she desperately hoped someone would adopt her baby. Champ says the words triggered a change in the officer’s demeanor. “He became a human being instead of a police officer,” Champ said. Ryan made the call to not charge the couple with drug possession, but he couldn't shake the voice in his mind telling him that this was his chance to help and truly make a difference.

Ryan showed Champ a picture of his wife and four children, including a 10-month old baby and in that moment offered to adopt her baby. “I was led by God to take the chance,” Ryan said. “God brought us all together. I really don't have any other way to explain it.” Champ was stunned and says she looked at him to “make sure his eyes were genuine and that I could see his soul.” Later, Ryan’s wife Rebecca told reporters, “We feel God has called us to do this.”

When the baby was born in October 2017 the Holets decided to name her, “Hope” and she will spend her first Christmas with her new family.[1]

What Officer Ryan Holet did in that split-second decision to adopt Hope made me think of Mary’s surrender to the angelic announcement that she would be the mother of the Messiah.

34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God . . . 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.” 38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:34-38)

In both Mary and Ryan’s situation a baby changed everything. I think what we can learn from this is that God’s invitations, often appear as interruptions. How much more inconvenient can you get than a baby being dropped into the middle of your life? God interrupted Mary’s life with an incredible opportunity. Yes, there would be adversity and heartache, but the blessing of playing a role in God’s salvation story far outweighed the trouble. It takes faith to surrender to the plan of God, especially when it’s going to involve a new set of challenges and unknowns. But if we say “Yes” to God's interruption, there is no telling what good He will bring from it.

-DM  

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[1] Ed Lavandera and Jeremy Harlan, “Police Officer Adopts Homeless Mother’s Opioid-Addicted Newborn,” CNN, 3 December 2017 <http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/01/health/police-officer-adopts-homeless-opioid-newborn-btc-beyond-the-call-of-duty/index.html>