The Light of Life

The exact date of Jesus’s birth is not known, and occurred somewhere around 5 BC. It is believed that after the Roman emperor Aurelian made December 25 into a celebration of the “Invincible Sun” to mark the winter solstice (AD 274), the Church chose that date to celebrate Christ’s birthday to appropriate that festival time. Certainly the solstice would be an appropriate time to mark the arrival of the Light of the world into the darkest day of the year.

There are about 80 references to light in the New Testament. Many of those refer directly to Jesus.

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:4-5, 9).

“The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19).

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

“The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned” (Matt. 4:16).

God’s first act in creation was to speak light into existence: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). When Jesus died on the cross, “the sun’s light failed” (Luke 22:45). Then of the new earth to come, we are told, “The city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23).

Scripture also refers to our responsibility to live in the light:

“For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

One of the reasons we decorate with lights at Christmas is to remember the arrival of the Light of the world. Jesus came to expose our sin, redeem us from eternal death and darkness, and enable us to share His light with the world. Let there be light!

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

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© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Waiting

Simeon,
awaiting the Savior,
the consolation of Israel,
waiting faithfully,
waiting patiently,
salvation for all,
the light for Gentiles,
and the Jews’ Messiah,
waiting righteously,
waiting devoutly,
believing God’s promises,
trusting the Spirit’s revelation.
Lord, make me more like Simeon.

Anna,
awaiting the Savior,
worshiping daily,
fasting and praying,
waiting for decades,
the redemption of Jerusalem,
giving thanks to God,
speaking to all,
waiting for the Redeemer.
Lord, make me more like Anna.

Jesus,
the Christ,
the Messiah,
Savior,
Redeemer,
Son of God,
Friend of sinners,
coming again,
awaiting the Father’s cue,
wanting none to perish,
but all to repent.
Lord, make me more like Jesus.

Help me to live
in holiness,
in godliness,
faithfully,
trusting You,
waiting for the coming day,
for the new heavens
and new earth,
where righteousness dwells.
Lord, come quickly.

“And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book” (Rev. 22:7).

[See Luke 2:25-38 and 2 Peter 3:8-13.]

© 2023 Dawn Rutan text and photo. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Blessed Forever

As we approach Christmas, it’s likely that you’ve seen or heard some reference to Mary’s song of praise (the “Magnificat”) in Luke 1:46-55. In her book Jesus Through the Eyes of Women, Rebecca McLaughlin notes similarities between Mary’s words and Hannah’s praise in 1 Samuel 2. She notes,

“Looking at Jesus through the ancient telescope of Hannah’s and Mary’s eyes, we see the one who turns the tables on all human power, the one who lifts the humble and humbles the mighty, the one who is the Savior of his people, showing mercy even as he shows his strength.”

One thing I noted in reading through the Magnificat is how little of Mary’s praise is for her own personal blessing of being the mother of the Messiah. While it is true that Mary’s role was unique and that she was blessed in that way, it’s also true that every believer is blessed through our adoption into God’s family through Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection. When Jesus began His ministry, some of His first recorded words are proclamation of blessings—the Beatitudes in Matthew 5—for the poor in spirit, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and persecuted. In fact, there are several parallels between the Magnificat and the Beatitudes. Mary quotes from many Old Testament passages in saying that God has shown mercy to the meek, scattered the proud, exalted the humble, and filled the hungry.

In Ephesians 1:3 we’re reminded that God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” In a recent sermon from Immanuel Nashville, Barnabas Piper notes that Mary wasn’t chosen because she was spectacularly different from other people, and neither are we. God “chose us before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), not for anything we have done but by His own grace and mercy. Our blessed status is entirely dependent on Jesus’s righteousness, not our own. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). And Jesus’s righteousness never changes. We can trust in His promised blessings forever. We can join Mary in saying, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.”

During this Christmas season, rather than elevating Mary beyond measure, let’s give our praise to God, who elevates all believers beyond anything we could ever ask, imagine, or deserve. As Amy Orr-Ewing notes in an interview in Christianity Today, “It’s encouraging to know that, whatever our qualifications or status, we can have this deep theological conviction in the reality that Jesus is Lord of all.”

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy” (Psalm 103:2-4).

 

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

True Community

For Thanksgiving weekend I was away from home visiting family members who have not attended church for a few years for health reasons. They watch services online each Sunday. Together we watched the service at Parkside Church with Alistair Begg, and he made a brief comment about how online gatherings can never replace the gathered Body of Christ in sharing life together.

Wiktionary notes in the definition of the word community that it comes from prefix con meaning ‘bringing together several objects’ and munus meaning ‘service, burden, duty, obligation.’ So by definition, community cannot occur where people are physically separated. We can have temporary substitutes to communicate with other people, though that too requires ‘bringing together’ and not just ‘talking at’ one another that often happens on social media.

Also implicit in the definition of community is the duty we bear for one another in the local Body of Christ. Church is not just about hearing a sermon and singing a few songs together. It includes bearing one another’s burdens, praying for and with one another, encouraging one another, giving thanks to and for one another. All of that requires actually spending time with one another and talking about the things that are on our hearts and minds.

It is true that thanks to technology we don’t always have to be in the same room quite as frequently as we used to, but that in no way negates the need for regular in-person gatherings with fellow believers. There are some folks (you know who you are) that I wish lived closer so we could see each other more frequently. And there are some other Christians I’ve been seeing more frequently and enjoying getting to know. But at the same time I don’t want to give up my relationships with my local church family.

After moving between states many times when I was growing up, and never having any fellow believers to connect with long term, I highly value the stability and connections gained through more than two decades in one place. And I have to say that I don’t understand why anyone would willing move away from their faith community if they didn’t have to, though I realize there are many circumstances that can impact such a decision.

In 1 Corinthians the Apostle Paul points out that each believer is given spiritual gifts “for the common good” (12:7). I have to wonder how many gifts are being neglected because individuals are not regularly gathering with other believers in a local church. We are all needed to play our assigned roles in the community known as the Body of Christ, and we need to be with one another on a regular basis.

“And all who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:44).

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

A Shared Faith

“You may not believe me now, but I want you to hold on to my faith because I believe that Jesus can change your life.”

I came across this sentence recently, though now I’ve forgotten where I read it. There are times when it is hard to believe that God is working all things for good (Rom. 8:28), or that “The Lord is my strength and my shield” (Ps. 28:7) if He doesn’t seem to be on guard against the difficult times we each face. Sometimes we need those friends who can say, “You may not have the faith you think you need right now, but I’ll believe for the both of us.”

It reminds me of the paralytic in Mark 2 whose four friends carried him to Jesus and cut a hole in the roof just to make sure Jesus saw him. I wonder if that man was a confident in the results as his friends were? Was he saying, “Guys, why are you wasting your time with this expedition?” Jesus didn’t specifically refer to the man’s faith. Verse 5 says, “And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” After this odd response, the man doesn’t suddenly jump up from his cot. He apparently lays there and listens to the lecture to those who doubt Jesus. It isn’t until Jesus commands him to pick up his bed and walk that he realized he was healed.

There are several times in Scripture when Jesus mentions someone’s “little faith” (Matt 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; 17:20). Usually it’s a word to His disciples, encouraging them to believe He is who He says He is. A few people were commended for their faith; for example, the centurion whose servant was sick (Matt. 8:10), a Canaanite woman whose daughter was oppressed by demons (Matt. 15:28), and the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years (Matt. 9:22).

There is no one-size-fits-all standard of faith. Our confidence in God can ebb and flow over time and through changing circumstances. We all hope we are growing in faith, but there are hills and valleys throughout life. That’s why we need to be engaged with the church, vitally connected to the Body of Christ. We need those who will lift us up when we are weak, fearful, discouraged, or struggling. And in turn, we need to lift others up when we have the faith that they are lacking at a difficult time in life.

This week I had a random phone call from a stranger who read a couple verses of Scripture and encouraged me with the reminder that Jesus is coming again soon. I have no idea what prompted her to this particular ministry of encouragement and evangelism, though I’m glad there are people like that. But how much more powerful is an encouraging word when it comes from a friend who knows the road we’re on and offers to come alongside saying, “Lean on my faith for this season.”

May we all be those who share our faith, not just in terms of evangelism of unbelievers, but in encouraging fellow believers to keep holding on no matter how small their faith feels.

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11).

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Fast Forward

Reading through the Simplified Harmony of the Gospels, I came across a couple verses that got me thinking. The first comes from John 17:24:

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

Why did Jesus pray this? Like much of His “high priestly prayer” it states things that were already predetermined. In a way, the whole prayer is more of an encouraging word to the disciples than a petition to the Father. However, another verse just a little later in the timeline shifted my focus a bit:

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39).

It’s clear that Jesus would have preferred a less painful and difficult way to achieve salvation for mankind, but He submitted to the Father’s plan. If you take that perspective back to the verse in John, it sounds to me as though Jesus might have been praying, “Father, I wish we could just skip to the end where we all dwell together in eternal glory.” That is encouraging because it sounds like many of my own prayers.

Even if my interpretation is stretching it, we can still draw strength from the fact that Jesus knows our struggles and our desire to avoid pain. He can “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb. 4:15) and He “endured the cross” for us (Heb. 12:1). When life is overwhelming and we want to fast forward to the end, He understands and He walks with us through it all. I imagine it brings a smile to His face each time we pray “Lord, come quickly!”

It’s okay to wish for and pray for an end to pain, suffering, and difficult circumstances, though we know that God may not answer those prayers in the way we want. It’s also okay to long for that final Day when all things will be made perfect. In fact, I believe that the longer we live and grow in faith, and the more we experience of the brokenness of this world, the more we should long for the “new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13b).

Jesus spent a lot of time speaking of eternal things, and He encouraged His disciples by point ahead. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3). He never sugarcoated suffering (e.g. Matt. 5:3-12), but He urged us to remember that this is not “your best life now” but merely a prelude to real life in His kingdom. So we can continue to wish and pray for the soon-fulfillment of our hope in the presence of His eternal glory!

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him... The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15, 17).

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Here’s an episode of the Broken Vessels Podcast that touches on some of these ideas and more.

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

IQ Isn't Everything

If you’re like me, whenever you hear the name Albert Einstein there’s this mental sign that pops up saying, “Ah, genius!” When I learned that he was from a Jewish family, had Catholic school education, and was a pacifist, I thought it would be interesting to read some of the things he wrote. They are indeed interesting, but not in the way I anticipated. In just the first chapter of the book The World as I See It, there are a few statements I can fully agree with:

“What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether? To answer this question at all implies a religion... The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow-creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life... I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves.”

Other statements seem mostly correct:

“From the point of view of daily life, without going deeper, we exist for our fellowmen—in the first place for those on whose smiles and welfare all our happiness depends, and next for all those unknown to us personally with whose destinies we are bound up by the tie of sympathy.”

But then there are statements that greatly undermine my respect for this genius. When he gets into religious discussions the anvil drops:

“Feeling and desire are the motive forces behind all human endeavor... [The] most varying emotions preside over the birth of religious thought and experience. With primitive man it is above all fear that evokes religious notions—fear of hunger, wild beasts, sickness, death...

“The social feelings are another source of the crystallization of religion. Fathers and mothers and the leaders of larger human communities are mortal and fallible. The desire for guidance, love, and support prompts men to form the social or moral conception of God... The Jewish scriptures admirably illustrate the development from the religion of fear to moral religion, the religions of all civilized peoples... are primarily moral religions...

“Common to all these types is the anthropocentric character of their conception of God. Only individuals of exceptional endowments and exceptionally high-minded communities, as a general rule, get in any real sense beyond this level. But there is a third state of religious experience which belongs to all of them, even though it is rarely found in a pure form, and which I will call cosmic religious feeling... He looks upon individual existence as a sort of prison and wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole... The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man’s image; so that there can be no Church whose central teachings are based on it. Hence it is precisely among the heretics of every age that we find men who were filled with the highest kind of religious feeling and were in many cases regarded by their contemporaries as Atheists, sometimes also as saints... I maintain that cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest incitement to scientific research.”

While scientific advances are often (though not always) helpful to the world, it’s sad that some of those involved in such research can’t imagine that there is a sovereign God who not only created this world but is intimately involved in the lives of people. If I thought that man’s only purpose was to keep improving this world for future generations, I don’t think I’d be willing to endure through all the seasons of suffering that life brings. Yes, my faith does help to address my fears and it provides a moral framework for me, but my real hope is in a future life in relationship with my Creator and Redeemer. That is what helps me to get out of bed every day and to keep serving those in need around the world.

My life is what it is because of the God who made me in His image (Gen. 1:27), not because I shaped a god in my own image. Einstein is unfortunately one of those the Apostle Paul was writing about when he said, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Cor. 4:4-5a). I’m thankful to God that I have a God I can thank!

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

(You can read more about Einstein’s religious views on Wikipedia.)

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.