Manger Throne

You could have stepped into creation
With fire for all to see
Brought every tribe and nation to their knees
Arriving with the host of heaven
In royal robe and crown
The rulers of the earth all bowing down

But You chose meekness over majesty
Wrapped Your power in humanity

Glory be to You alone
King who reigns from a manger throne
My life, my praise, everything I own
To Jesus the King on a manger throne

You could have marched in all your glory
Into the heart of Rome
Showed them splendour like they'd never known
But You wrote a better story
In humble Bethlehem

Creator in the arms of common men

… From heaven to the cradle
From cradle to the cross
Let heaven and nature sing
This is our King
But the grave couldn't hold Him
Our God has overcome
Let Heaven and nature sing
This is our King

Lyrics from part of the song, Manger Throne by Phil Wickham 

Advent is the season of waiting. Waiting to celebrate Jesus’ first coming and looking forward with great anticipation to his second coming. 

For centuries the Jewish people had been waiting for their Messiah to come. Isaiah had prophesied about him 700 years before, and they wanted one who would come in clouds of glory and put everything right. In Jesus’ day it was a Messiah who would drive out the hated Romans, but it could just as easily be the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, any of those nations who had oppressed God’s people. They wanted a Messiah who would arrive as the song above suggests.

However, what no one was expecting was a baby born in humility, born to poor, righteous parents and having nowhere to place their precious baby but a manger. Goodness knows what Mary thought of giving birth to the Son of God in such conditions. 

The first recorded visitors were shepherds, those who were almost certainly looking after the sacrificial lambs for the temple. What wonderful symbolism that they should come and worship the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world by the ultimate sacrifice of his perfect life upon a terrible cross. The great shepherd of the people (Hebrews 13:20) visited by shepherds. 

Then many months later, the magi arrived in an exotic caravan bearing fabulously expensive gifts, no doubt causing quite a stir in small town Bethlehem. 

The Messiah had been born who would not only save the Jewish people, even the poorest but also rich Gentiles. He would save anyone who would come, bow down, and give their worship and adoration to him alone. He would save them not from oppressors but the greatest oppression, sin. 

Jesus could have indeed come the first time in glory and majesty and swept mankind into a slavish obedience to the King of King and Lord of Lords. That path would not have saved us from the bondage of sin. Instead, he showed us the true path of love, service and sacrifice leading to redemption for all mankind. He invites us today to walk that same sacrificial path of lives yielded to him, overflowing with love and thankfulness for all he has done.

And so we also look forward with great anticipation to his second coming this time ‘in great splendour, with the host of heaven in royal robes and crown’ and he will right every wrong. Every oppressor, tyrant, dictator big and small will be dealt with in justice and righteousness, whilst believers will be rewarded and ushered into an eternity with him in the new heaven and earth.  

What a wonderful future we have. God’s reign of righteousness coming to Earth and restoring everything to its original mandate.

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Psalm 85: 10.  What a promise!

Come and see what God has done

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

As we re-acquaint ourselves with the Christmas story through carol services, singing those beautiful songs and reading the Scriptures, we can become almost a little blasé at the familiarity of the story.  We have lived with this story and the Scriptures every year of our lives. We can feel we have understood the significance of the prophecies and the events of the Christmas season but it is good to pull back and wonder afresh at how it all felt for those at the heart of the story.

We are told that Mary ‘treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart’Luke 2: 19.  I bet she did. So much had happened to her. She had gone from insignificant young lady about to be married to Joseph the carpenter to mother of the Son of God. She had been through labour and delivery in a stable not a palace or even a clean room. The first visitors were shepherds, the lowest of the low with tales of angels singing ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests Luke 2: 14.

Joseph too must have wondered what had happened to him; the disappointment of Mary’s pregnancy followed by an angel visitation and at the end he had been charged with protecting and raising the Son of God.  I am sure there were times when both he and Mary felt hopelessly inadequate for the task.

As Mary looked at her baby and gazed into the face of God I am pretty certain she wasn’t remembering ‘For to us a child is born. To us a Son is given.’ But maybe she was.  Maybe as the years went by and they raised their extraordinary son Joseph was impacted by the Messianic prophecies as he worshipped in the synagogue.

However for us familiarity can dull the edge of the wonder of Christmas. That God became man and dwelt with us. Emmanuel. God with us.  I love some of the more recent Christmas songs. One of my favourite is Noel by Chris Tomlin.  It has the line ‘Noel. Noel. Come and see what God has done.’It gives me the shivers.  God has done the miraculous. He has become a man to dwell with us, his sinful creation so in need of a Saviour.

Matt Redman has written in his song ‘ Joy to the world. Joy to the world. The Lord has come, The Lord has come to us.’ It’s a miracle. 

With hindsight, we do get the significance of the events of Christmas.  The prophecies, the virgin birth in Bethlehem in poverty, the arrival of the shepherds and the visit of the Magi. My prayer is that this Christmas we will get fresh revelation of just what an incredible things God has done in bringing Emmanuel – God with us.  

Christmas Eve 2014

During Advent this year I have been reading J John’s daily devotional Advent Reflections. I have been struck again how God fulfils his purposes in often quite unexpected ways and uses the most unlikely and sometimes downright ungodly people to achieve his plans.

In particular I marvelled that God would use a Roman emperor who thought he was a god to get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and used one of the most evil, wicked rulers, Herod the Great, to get the magi to their destination.

What is incredible though is the reaction of the religious leaders when the magi arrived at Herod’s court and asked, ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews?’ Herod called them and they correctly told both Herod and the magi that the King of the Jews, the Messiah, would be born in Bethlehem.

The magi then hotfooted off down the road to Bethlehem. So why didn’t the religious leaders go as well?’ It was only 5 miles away.

If an entourage of Middle Eastern magi pitched up on your doorstep, having travelled months to get there to come and worship your Messiah, you might think the religious leaders would want to investigate what was going on. They dismissed it though out of hand. They assumed, quite wrongly, that these magi couldn’t possibly know what they were talking about. The very people that the Messiah came to save couldn’t believe that God would talk to some Gentiles rather than to themselves, the religious leaders of the Jewish faith.

Too often, as Christians we wrongly assume we know how God works in a given situation. But God is God and he will do things his way. He will even use ungodly leaders to fulfil his purposes. Too often our prayers are for God to raise up Christians to places of influence and my goodness don’t we need that? Our societies and leaders need the Josephs and Daniels at the highest levels of government, media, education and so on.  However we also need to be open to see God working and answering our prayers in the most unlikely ways, using the most unlikely people.

The sad thing is that though the Jews have been praying for their Messiah for centuries, only a few recognised him when he came. Despite every indication given both at his birth and then during his ministry that Jesus is the Messiah, only a handful believed it.

My prayer is that our prejudices and short-sighted assumptions do not prevent us from seeing what God is doing in our day and that we do not limit God to working the way we think it should be. May our eyes be open to all he is doing and our hearts ready to receive him however and with whoever he chooses to use.

Be still and know that I am God

Be still, and know that I am God;
      I will be exalted among the nations,
      I will be exalted in the earth.  Psalm 46: 10

One of my favourite books of the Bible is Isaiah.  His gift of beautiful poetry and wonderful use of words is an inspiration. However Isaiah lived during some very troubled times in the kingdom of Judah and he must have experienced great highs and lows during his ministry.

The early chapters of Isaiah were written during the reign of King Ahaz, a wicked king of Judah who did not follow in the path of King David.  He reigned in the troubled times of the Assyrians whose total warfare of terror, destruction and deportation was both brutal and barbaric.  The surrounding nations of Syria or Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel suffered greatly at their hands. Indeed it was the Assyrians who took Israel into exile as God had promised because of their unfaithfulness to him.

These were truly terrible days and King Ahaz did all he could to appease the Assyrians but to no avail. Isaiah kept urging him to seek the Lord, turn back to him because only he could help. Instead King Ahaz closed the temple and set up his own altar which he had built modelled on one he had seen and liked in Damascus (II Kings 16).

Nevertheless, in the midst of all this, Isaiah prophesies one of his most famous and frequently read encouragements found in Isaiah 9. At Christmas we usually hear and read just Isaiah 9: 2, 6 – 7 because this is the most obvious prophecy about the Messiah but the first seven verses of the chapter taken together were indeed a source of great encouragement in the dark days of King Ahaz’s reign.

God promised through Isaiah that the northern lands of Zebulun, Naphtali and Galilee which had suffered terribly at the hands of the Assyrians would one day be greatly honoured. This of course was fulfilled during Jesus’ ministry there. God promised the people who were walking in the darkness of despair that a light will dawn, that the yoke of oppression will be broken and all the tools of warfare will be burnt.

This will happen because a child will be born, a royal child from the house of David who will rule with justice and righteousness for ever. ‘The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.’ God will make sure this happens and he has. He has sent his son Jesus who even now is reigning in glory and will one day return to the earth to establish his kingdom on earth for ever.

In the midst of despair and terror, God spoke words of life and hope to the Jewish people. God never left them even when they were eventually taken off into exile; he is indeed Immanuel God with us.

In the midst of our trials and difficulties, no matter their source, he will speak words of life and hope to us if we will be still and know He is God.

The heavenly host

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.” Luke 2: 13 – 14

What a night for the shepherds!  Shepherds were well down the social order and whilst not exactly ostracised by society, they were definitely on the fringe, mainly one suspects because they spent so much of their time away from family and friends and probablyfrom  the synagogue looking after their sheep.

Jesus came as the good Shepherd (John 10: 11 ) to save people (his sheep) from their sins.  God seems to love shepherds. Abraham and his family, Moses and David were all shepherds and the last two must have learned a lot about looking after and leading people from their experiences of looking after sheep.  

So it was the shepherds who are chosen for a unique display of heaven’s power and God’s glory. They were terrified by the first angel who appeared and by the ‘glory of the Lord which shone round about him.’  He gave them the good and wonderful news that a baby had been born that would save mankind from their sins and the necessary sign so they could find the baby.

Suddenly!  I love that.  Suddenly heaven rips open and the heavenly host step out to praise God for this auspicious occasion. What else could you possibly have to announce the birth of the Son of God?  It has to be the angelic heavenly host.  What a sight it must have been!

The significance though is as incredible as the event. This baby was not announced by the heavenly host to the religious leaders at the temple in Jerusalem, just 5 miles away, where one might have expected it. No, it was announced to a group of uneducated, poor shepherds out minding their own business, doing their job. 

The significance is that God was announcing that this baby, this Messiah would be for everyone. Time and again Jesus showed that it was not just the religious, the learned, the socially acceptable that he came for but the poor, the marginalised, the hated by society, the tax collectors and sinners. Jesus constantly turned the social norms on their head. He made rough fishermen and tax collectors his disciples. He ate with people like Zacchaeus, he let prostitutes wipe his feet with their tears and hair and he appeared first to a woman after he rose from the dead.

No matter who you are, what your background, social standing, education, marital status, Jesus came for you.  He wants every single one to be not just his friend but his brother. No matter what others may say about you Jesus loves you and came to save you from your sins and in case we are not sure, just remember it was to shepherds, those at the bottom end of the social ladder, that the heavenly host appeared to announce the birth of the Son of God.

Serving where we have been called

To this John replied, ‘A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.’ John 3: 27

John the Baptist’s disciples were getting very concerned with what appeared to be the rising popularity of Jesus at the expense of John’s ministry. People were leaving John to follow Jesus. John explained to them that you can only operate in the gifting and calling that God has given you. This is what he was doing; preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah so when he arrived, John’s role would inevitably diminish.

He encouraged them that when the bridegroom (Jesus) arrived, the bride (believers) had eyes only for him because they belong to him. The groomsman or ‘friend’ is ‘full of joy’ when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. John is the ‘friend’ and now he has heard the bridegroom’s voice, his joy is complete (John 3: 28 – 30).

John understood his calling and was content with his role in preparing the way for the Messiah. He understood we can only do what we have received from heaven. This is such a valuable lesson for us too to learn.  There will be times when others appear on the ascendancy or when others take over things we have been doing. We, however, are called to do what God has called us to do which may mean laying down areas of service or taking up new things.

One thing is certain, all gifts and ministry come from God and are given as the Spirit determines (I Corinthians 13: 11). It is foolish to try and do what God has not called or equipped us for. Walking in the centre of God’s plans is a place of great fulfilment and contentment. Longing for a different gifting or ministry outside of God’s anointing is a place of discouragement that can lead to great disappointment. 

Thank God for the gifting he has given and seek to serve faithfully in what God has called you to do.  ‘Hold it lightly’– it is not yours but something God has entrusted to you. It is an honour to serve God.

Jesus wept over Jerusalem

And as he approached Jerusalem and saw the city he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace- but now it is hidden from your eyes. Luke 19: 41 – 42

…. because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you Luke 19: 44

Jesus was entering Jerusalem in triumphal procession on a donkey with the crowds waving palm branches and shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’. As he approached the city, he wept over it. He knew he was going to be tried, condemned, mocked, beaten and crucified in Jerusalem yet he wept over it. He was not weeping for himself or for the terrible things that would happen to him but because this city, chosen by God to be the place where his glory dwelt, had not recognised the one that God had sent to them.

Jerusalem, where the temple was with all the temple worship, teachers of the law, Pharisees and Sadducees should all have recognised the Messiah when he came, but instead had rejected him and would shortly put their Messiah to death. The religious leaders would have been familiar with the Scriptures about the Messiah but when Jesus came doing all the things that had been promised, they plotted and finally succeeded in killing him.

Jesus also wept over this city because he saw that in years to come Jerusalem would be overthrown and destroyed and the temple with it because of their unbelief. This happened when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70AD. What sorrow he must have felt.

Unfortunately that same spirit of unbelief that opposes the things of God is just as prevalent today. Often God is doing something and it is the religious people in churches who oppose it, not the sinners outside the church. They will be welcoming what God is doing just as the crowd in Jerusalem welcomed Jesus. God may well arrive in an unexpected manner or way that we do not like. We may think things are undignified or not strictly Biblical because not everything that happens can always be found in Scripture but are people being saved, healed, set free? The fruit of God’s love and presence should be evident; people falling in love with God in wonderful ways. Yet there will be the religious people who refuse to recognise what God is doing and miss the blessing.

Let us be open hearted to what God is doing without being gullible but let us trust the Holy Spirit to keep us from error and root out the religious spirit that opposes that which it cannot understand or control. I want God to rejoice over what is happening in our churches not weep over what we missed because we failed to recognise that God was visiting us.