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I did a series of Advent messages a few years ago called “The Carols of Christmas” with the premise that many of our old familiar carols had become too familiar and we had lost the true meaning in those beautiful songs.
I think the same is true with the sentiment of wanting to experience the glory of God. Sometimes you will hear people say, “We just want to see God’s glory!” but I’m not sure they really mean this or really want it.
Throughout the Bible, “glory” comes from the Hebrew word which means weightiness. When God appears—or even one of His angels glowing with His glorious presence—people collapse under the weight of His glory. Look at the examples of Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, and even John the beloved disciple of Jesus (Exodus 3:6; Isaiah 6:3-5; Daniel 8:15-17; Revelation 1:12-17).
In the light of Christ’s glory everything is exposed. We have no excuses for our sin. We are seen exactly as we are, and the fear of God’s judgment causes us to collapse under that weight.
But the First Advent story is filled with the phrase “Fear not.” Let me show you two examples. First, notice the strong emotions when the angels appear to the shepherds—
An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:9-10)
What was this good news that would turn their fear into joy? Listen to the angelic message to Joseph—
Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:20-21)
Notice the phrase, “HE will save His people from their sins.” Part of what contributes to our fear of God’s glorious presence is knowing that we are helpless to remove our sins. The fact that Jesus would do this for us was foretold in prophecies like Isaiah 25:7-9 and 59:15-16.
How will Jesus do this? In 1 Corinthians 15:53, Paul says that in order to enter into God’s presence our perishable, mortal lives have to be exchanged for something imperishable and immortal. We are unable to do this, but in the Incarnation, the immortal God put on mortal flesh!
Paul goes on in 1 Corinthians 15 to say, “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)!
If our sins were still clinging to us, spending eternity in the presence of the King of Glory would be torturous! Our fear of His weighty glory is only changed into joy when we accept that He has saved us from the penalty of our sins. Now our fear of His glory isn’t a crippling fear, but as we worship Him for His salvation our fear becomes reverential worship.
Or we could say it this way—When we fear the King of Glory we fear nothing else!
Charitie Lees Bancroft captures that idea in these stanzas of her poem:
When satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
Behold Him there! The risen Lamb,
My perfect, spotless righteousness;
The great unchangeable “I AM,”
The King of glory and of grace!
One with Himself I cannot die,
My soul is purchased by His blood;
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Savior and my God.
With our sins forgiven by our faith in Jesus, we can now enjoy an eternity in the weighty, awesome presence of the King of Glory!
“Always be sure of your ground and be sure that you are honoring God. If there is anything about the situation that will make you special, it will bring you sorrow. Your whole ministry has to be along the lines of His grace and blessing.” —Smith Wigglesworth
“Leaders have the responsibility to keep evil out. Government is incapable of making men and women moral and, in fact, it is not given that assignment, for it does not have that power. God grants government the right to make laws to hold back the power of evil, for only the church through the gospel can help men and women be good. Conversely, leadership and government can do much harm if they, through injudicious application or partial enforcement of law, let evil in. Government cannot make people good, but it can certainly make them bad. We need leadership and government to build barriers against what is wrong, but neither leaders nor external human powers can usher us to what is right. Only Jesus, full of grace and truth, can do that.” —Dick Brogden, in Proverbs: Amplified and Applied
The celebration of Christmas is obviously not seen in the Bible, but it has always seemed to be closely connected to the church’s calendar. Scott Hubbard has an eye-opening history of Christmas in his post The Curious History of Christmas.
The ways the biblical text has been preserved and transmitted down to us today is nothing short of miraculous! Daniel Wallace is at the forefront of continuing to preserve the Word of God for future generations. Here is an example of the dedication of the biblical scribes: “The hand that wrote [this] is rotting in the grave, but the letters remain until the fullness of the times. Completed with [the help of] God. February 23, Friday, the second hour, during the eleventh indiction, in the year 1079, through the hand of Andrew, scribe and calligrapher. And if it happens that any error of omission [remains|—this, for the sake of Christ, forgive me.”
T.M. Moore is sharing a thought-worthy series of posts on the biblical view of our economic activities, including a look at how governments and businesses should operate under God’s laws. Moore says, “Since God has written the works of the Law on the heart of all His image-bearers (Romans 2:14, 15), we should expect that awareness (if only subconsciously) to find expression. Put another way, whether they know it or not, people long for an economy guided by Biblical principles and guidelines.”
After this genealogy, we read that an angel says to Joseph, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). And then notice this commentary from Matthew—
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”). (Matthew 1:22-23)
Matthew says, “all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said.” All what? Everything that came before that statement: the genealogy with all its exceptional items, the 70-year exile of the Jewish people, the Immaculate Conception, the fulfillment of a 700-year-old prophecy.
I find this absolutely astounding! And so, apparently, did Joseph!
But remember that Jesus is not only “the son of David” but He is also called a “son of Abraham.” This means that Jesus came to be more than just the King of the Jews.
We have a cliché that says something like, “Don’t miss the forest for the trees.” By this, we mean that sometimes in the moment we only see one large tree or obstacle in front of us and we miss seeing the majesty of the whole forest. Or maybe we only see the obstacle and not the path that would take us where we need to go.
We are living between the Advents now so you would think that we have a good “forest” perspective, but even we sometimes get bogged down in the moment, wondering what God is doing. The story of Abraham should help us to see the whole forest of God’s plan a little better.
In Genesis 12:1-3 we read God’s promise to Abraham that all people on earth would be blessed by his obedience to God’s call. Listen to the opening words of Stephen’s sermon as he looked back on this—
The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. “Leave your country and your people,” God said, “and go to the land I will show you.” So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. (Acts 7:2-4)
Stephen reminds us that God spoke to Abraham while he was still living in Mesopotamia. Abraham must have shared this promise with his father because in Genesis 11:31 we read that Terah takes Abraham, Sarah, and Lot with him to make this journey, but they only traveled as far as Harran.
Why did they stop here? We’re not sure. Perhaps Terah was still grieving the death of his youngest son who had died before they left. Maybe Terah was concerned about his middle son Nahor who chose not to travel with them. Or maybe Terah was paralyzed by the magnitude of the journey still ahead of them. Whatever the reason, Terah allowed a “tree” to obscure his view of the whole “forest” of God’s plan.
Stephen then says that Abraham continued the journey to Canaan “after the death of his father.” But if we do the math, it appears that Terah was still biologically alive when Abraham left (see Genesis 11:26, 32; 16:3, 16).
Abraham had to trust God more than he respected his father, even to the point of considering his father as dead.
Later on, God gave Abraham a similar test with his own son. Abraham passed this test and God repeated His promise about blessing all people through Abraham(see Genesis 22:1-18).
In Romans 4, Paul explains that Abraham’s faith in God’s promise was rewarded, and that through our faith in Jesus we are connected to this same promise.
Just as there was an “all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said” about Jesus—including the faith-filled obedience of Abraham and David—God has an “all this” for your life too.
God saw you before you were born. He had a plan for your life. He gave you gifts and talents to be used for His glory. There is not a single part—not a single experience—of your life that is accidental (Psalm 139:16; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:28).
Just as He used all this for Jesus, He is using all this for your life too. Will you trust Him?
Through David, God fulfilled the promise that Jesus would be King of the Jews. Through Abraham, God fulfilled the promise that Jesus would be King of all nations. Through Jesus, God fulfilled the promise that Jesus would be our Righteousness.
Abraham died without seeing the promise fulfilled. But we have seen the promise fulfilled, and that should fuel our faith to trust God to fulfill the promise He has for each of us. I pray that this assurance will be renewed in your heart as you celebrate Advent this year.
Are you looking for a Christmas gift for your pastor? Check out my book Shepherd Leadership. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“We rise no higher when we pull others down, yet when we stoop to serve, we conquer.” —Dick Brogden, in Proverbs: Amplified and Applied
“Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it. Malice may distort it. But there it is.” —Winston Churchill
“Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.” —J.M. Barrie
“God has made His Word so precious that if I could not get another copy of it, I would not part with my Bible for all the world. There is life in the Word. There is power in it. I find Christ in it, and He is the One I need for spirit, soul, and body. It tells me of the power of His name and the power of His blood for cleansing.” —Smith Wigglesworth
“Christians can most directly affect the shape of our economy by practicing love for God and neighbor in all our transactions. Beyond that, we should make the most of every opportunity and means for influencing the shape of public policy so that honesty, fairness, justice, and love guide all the policies that bind us together as we the people.” —T.M. Moore
Christian apologist Sean McDowell goes head-to-head with ChatGPT—
Listen to the audio-only version of this podcast by clicking on the player below, or scroll down to watch the video.
Christmas seems to be the one time of year when everyone loves to share their traditions, both in their families and in their organizations. As leaders we should embrace organizational traditions, and use them to show our team the culture of our organization. We also need to be aware that the personal traditions of our team members might make their lives a bit more hectic, and understanding and flexibility on our part will go a long way for them.
Books make great Christmas gifts! Pick up a copy of my and Greg’s new books to give to the leader in your life. Greg wrote Sage Advice and I wrote Shepherd Leadership.
[0:22] Christmas has more traditions than probably any other holiday—both in our families and in our organizations.
[2:22] Organizational culture isn’t written down, so holiday traditions can help us convey the culture to our teammates.
[3:28] I share one of my family Christmas traditions.
[6:00] What does generosity have to do with traditions?
[7:14] Greg shares one of his Christmas traditions with his family.
[9:02] Traditions bring comfort in uncertain times, but we can still adapt them as some situations change.
[12:25] Leaders need to be aware of the stress our teammates may feel during the holidays.
[15:17] Leader should be especially aware of our staff members’ needs during this time of year.
[18:00] Greg shares a mistake that his organization made that generated a lot of stress, and how they corrected it.
[21:18] We both share some fun stores about Christmas.
[24:23] Leader need to really leverage what Christmas really means.
Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
My podcast partner Greg and I just recorded an episode of our leadership podcast about Christmas traditions. I think there more traditions associated with this time of year than with any other event on our calendars. Traditions keep us connected to our roots, but they also help us feel like we can be in control of things.
There has been a tradition in countries with monarchies that whenever a king died, the people would say something like, “The king is dead. Long live the king!” They would say this because the next king ascended to the throne immediately after his predecessor died. Except when a nation had been defeated, the traditional cry of, “The king is dead” was unanswered by, “Long live the king!”
It appears at this moment that a new tradition has to be started—one where we take leadership over our own fates.
The apostle Peter noted that people awaiting the Second Coming of Jesus would question if that event was ever going to happen. And the prophet Malachi closed the Old Testament with people saying much the same thing: “There doesn’t seem to be any advantage to following God’s laws, so maybe we should just do things our own way” (2 Peter 3:3-4; Malachi 3:13-15).
But then we turn the page to the dawn of the New Testament, and Matthew writes his Gospel about the First Advent of Jesus. He wants to show us that although the line of earthly kings in Israel may have been broken, the promised King of kings had now come to earth.
I’m intrigued by the exceptions Matthew lists in his opening genealogy to illustrate this truth. First, as you might expect, the phrase “thefather of” appears 39 times. This tells us a biological fact of life. These men didn’t know if they had fathered a son or a daughter, what their child’s contribution to the world might be, or even if their child would live faithfully to God.
Matthew opens his genealogy by saying “the son of” twice. First, Matthew lists Jesus as the son of David—the king to whom God gave a very special promise of an eternal King coming from David’s family line. Then Matthew traces the genealogy back further to say “the son of Abraham”—the one through whom God said He would bless all nations (2 Samuel 7:11-16; Genesis 12:1-3).
And what about the exceptional women Matthew records in this male-dominated genealogy? We have Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, who tricked him into fathering a child by her; Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute who put her faith in God; Ruth, a Moabitess who left her homeland because she trusted God; Bathsheba, an adulteress who became David’s wife; and then Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was called “highly favored” of God (Luke 1:28).
The phrase “son of” appears one more time when the angel calls Joseph by this title (Matthew 1:20). Jospeh is also called “thehusband of Mary” (Matthew 1:16).
Whereas Abraham and David were rewarded for their faithfulness to God and were told of future blessings, Joseph’s act was different. Joseph had a choice. He was told that the Child in Mary’s womb would be the Messiah. Now Jospeh had to decide: Would he choose to believe this? Would he choose to bear the shame and reproach to accept his role as father?
We have the a similar choice today: Will we choose to believe that God has announced His plan and that He is fulfilling His plan?
Here’s the simple truth. It appears as two statements, but it is really the same thought—
The Advent of Jesus has come. The Advent of Jesus will come.
The First Advent of Jesus should build our anticipation for the Second Advent. His First Advent should be proof that God keeps His promise.
Jesus told us that believing God’s promise would bring us into God’s family. Jesus said, “For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:40).
The apostle Paul also assures us, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith” (Galatians 3:26).
Let’s not blindly follow the traditions of previous generations, but let us chose for ourselves to believe in God’s promised Messiah, to trust that He alone can give us eternal life, and then let us live in both celebration of His First Advent and expectation of His Second Advent.
Your Heavenly Father never gets tired or distracted. He lovingly keeps His eye on you all the time❣️I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“Could you use some high-octane boldness? If you want to outlive your life, you could. As long as you are stationary, no one will complain. Dogs don’t bark at parked cars. But as soon as your accelerate—once you step out of drunkenness into sobriety, dishonesty into integrity, or lethargy into compassion—expect the yapping to begin. Expect to be criticized. Expect to be mocked. Expect to be persecuted. So how can we prepare ourselves? Simple. Imitate the disciples. Linger long and often in the presence of Christ. Meditate on His grace. Ponder His love. Memorize His words. Gaze into His face. Talk to Him. Courage comes as we live with Christ.” —Max Lucado, Outlive Your Life
J. Warner Wallace has an excellent teaching on why we can trust the truthfulness of the Bible.
“Unbelief robs them of these blessings. It is possible to hear and yet not to perceive the truth. It is possible to read the Word and not share in the life it brings. It is necessary for us to have the Holy Spirit to unfold the Word and bring to us the life that is Christ. We can never fully understand the wonders of this redemption until we are full of the Holy Spirit.” —Smith Wigglesworth
Fascinating evidence from Dr. Joel Kramer for the dating of the biblical exodus from Egypt and the naming of the pharaoh that reigned during that time.
Craig T. Owens 