Hard Times, Hard Truths

Hard times reveal hard truths. The panic-buying exemplifies the selfishness that ultimately drives us. We can be very generous and altruistic when we are sure there is enough to go round, but the moment we think we might have to do without, it shows that we are nowhere near as generous as we thought – the consuming thought is, “It has to be mine!”

What a waste?

I was recently in correspondence with an atheist who was commenting on the work of a Christian evangelist. He said it was so sad the man was wasting his life proclaiming a lie.

What God has joined...

When the Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce, He took them back to “the beginning”, showing them that God’s plan was one man with one woman becoming one flesh for life. He concluded His statement with, “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6).

The devastation that no-fault divorce has brought on society cannot be estimated. The heart-breaking consequences of a marriage break-down, particularly on children, cannot be exaggerated.

But as you go back to Genesis you find that God has not only joined husbands and wives. There are other things He puts together that are not to be separated.

The Greatest Message ever expressed

God has received a bad press. Many who have claimed to represent Him have misrepresented Him. The wrong message has been communicated. People think He is out of touch, cold, distant and uncaring. In the birth of Jesus Christ God speaks for Himself.

When we converse with people, we often struggle to find the right words to communicate what is on our minds. We are left feeling frustrated because we haven’t adequately or accurately expressed ourselves – our hearers haven’t got the right impression or the full story.

When God wanted to express Himself to the human race, He had just the word. John opens his Gospel with this statement:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word God used was a person. This person couldn’t be a mere man – that would be an inaccurate representation of God, because the human race has been corrupted by sin and so couldn’t communicate what God is like. Neither could the person be a mighty angel – that would be an inadequate representation of God, because angels, though sinless, are finite – they are creatures, and as such could never fully communicate what God is. In order for God to accurately and adequately express Himself, the person had to be God, and so John tells us, “the Word was God.”

But for us to understand this message it had to be translated into our language. That’s why John goes on to say:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

John 1:14

One who was God became man in order to declare what God is like. As one Bible teacher said, “when we look at Him, the guessing games about God stop.” We don’t have to imagine what God is like. We don’t have to wonder if He’s interested in us. We don’t have to speculate about how we can know Him. Look at Christ.

Look at Jesus in the manger – He was God, and He was prepared to come to us. Look at Jesus in Nazareth – He was God, and He was prepared to live with us. Look at Jesus on the cross – He was God, and He was prepared to die for us.

God has something to say to you, and He has said it all in Christ.

Have you got the message?

The Greatest Gift ever given

It’s the Christmas tradition that causes the most excitement for children (and anxiety for parents) – presents. So what makes a gift a good one? Here are five features. As you look at them you will see that God is offering the perfect gift.

The Greatest Person ever born

A baby – the epitome of weakness, in a manger – the epitome of poverty, and yet Christmas carols declare, and Christians believe, that this baby in the manger is none less than “Christ, by highest heaven adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord.” But are there any good reasons to believe that the baby in the manger is the Creator? Let’s look at three.

The Greatest Story ever told

The Creator entering into His creation to sacrifice Himself for His creatures – there is no story like it, but is it just a story, or is it true?

I don't (want to) know

I was talking to an atheist friend of mine a while ago, and I asked him how he could account for reason if the only reality is physical reality.

Ehrman's error

Bart Ehrman is a New Testament textual critic who used to be a professing Christian but is now an agnostic and writes books that seek to cast doubt on the reliability of Scripture, but his arguments are self-contradictory.

Who do you think you are?

We live in an individualistic society. In many parts of the world today, and in every part historically, a person was identified by their family, tribe and nation. There was a great sense that the individual’s identity was bound up in the group. The theory of our culture is that you can make your own identity, and it doesn’t matter about your family, tribe or nation. That’s the theory anyway.