Once Upon a Time...

We remember that an important event happened today as I'm sure you are all aware... and just in case you had forgotten, Google wants to leave you in no doubt...

That's right... today is the anniversary of the birth of the Danish author, Hans Christian Anderson.

Of course I write with something of an air of sarcasm... despite Google's political correctness, we recall that something much, much greater occurred on this day... because it just so happens that (this year at least), Anderson's birthday falls on Good Friday.

Many fundamental atheists may scoff and feel that is fitting that Anderson - the writer of children's stories and fairy tales, shares this day with what they consider to be the ultimate fairy tale story - the Gospel.

Amazingly, I agree with them but for entirely opposite reasons.

What do I mean?

Well... amongst his other works, Hans Christian Anderson wrote a little fairy tale you might have heard of - The Ugly Duckling. We all know the story... a mother duck lays a clutch of eggs and broods over them... but one of the eggs she warms does not belong to her... it found its way into the nest by some other means... but she doesn't notice. As the hatchlings emerge, it soon becomes clear that one of the ducklings is very different indeed. He suffers abuse at the hands of his siblings and fares little better in the wider world. Eventually the duckling ends up alone in a bitter winter... expecting to meet his end. However, when spring arrives his visage has utterly transformed and he has become a beautiful swan... capable of winning the hearts of his former abusers.

That tale, although largely written by Anderson as an autobiographical parable, shares similarities with the ministry of Jesus. Today a passage from the book of Isaiah is often read out... it is a prophecy that speaks to us of the life of Jesus. It begins:

"Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted."

Isaiah 53:1-4

You may think (and one could hardly blame you because of the way he is often portrayed), that Jesus Christ is someone you might find hard to relate to. I disagree. He was born upon this Earth to live as one of us. He experienced the full spectrum of human emotions available from his experiences. He knew what it was like to be different... and what it meant to be despised for being different. He knew loneliness, he knew the deepest sadness... and by virtue of his passion... his suffering, he knows exactly what it's like when we are experiencing pain and sorrow.

Upon Good Friday, it seemed that all that suffering was in vain. Jesus - suspended from a crude wooden cross and apparently abandoned by God... died. He entered into the bitter winter that is death.

But it was not for nought:

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth."

Isaiah 53:5-9

You see... Jesus, although he was raised as one of us, lived as one of us and completely shared our humanity... in as much as he was all these things, he was also equally God. Just like the ugly duckling, his origins were different. If you go to various old churches and look in the stained glass windows, you often see an image of a swan. This may seem obscure but it is no mistake. In the older days, people mistakenly believed the swan fed it's cygnets by plucking food from its own breast (presumably the y mistook the bird's preening of itself for this). Artists inspired by this image drew the analogy and made the point that Christ was God granting his people life, by sacrificing his own body. There are many other allusions to swans and Jesus, you can read a few of them on this page that I discovered.

"Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

Isaiah 53:10-12

You might think it cold and capricious of God, the Father to desire the crushing, suffering and death of his Son... let alone actually allow it to take place... but to think that, is to misunderstand the relationship between Jesus and the Father. John's gospel in particular speaks a lot about the oneness in the relationship between the Father and the Son... and in another prophecy God tells his people that they will "look upon me, whom they have pierced". So whilst the Father speaks of Jesus as a separate person here... it's clear that they are (along with the Holy Spirit), also one person. So when the crucified Jesus spoke of God forsaking him... he was speaking on an entirely different level to what we normally comprehend when saying that.

You've seen the awesome power that is released when the atom is split... how much more so was the power released when the Godhead was split; for the power of God goes unimaginably far beyond the nuclear.

If the ugly duckling had died in the bitter winter that followed its suffering, it would forever have been known as the ugly duckling. Similarly, if Jesus had remained in the grave... there would have been nothing special about his death. Just as spring revealed the swan... Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday revealed his sonship... and confirmed that his sacrifice, intercession and atoning sacrifice had been acceptable in the Father's sight.

There's an interesting fact about the word atonement. When the Bible was first being translated into English, there wasn't a word that described what it means. William Tyndale had to invent it. It literally means exactly what it says on the tin: at-one-ment (being returned to a state of oneness). That's the great thing about Jesus Christ... he didn't just return to life, he opened a door that allows us all access to that oneness with God.

When the ugly duckling became a swan, nothing else changed... but Jesus offers us all the opportunity to become "swanlike", to quote an old praise song he "lifts our humanity to the heights of his throne". The ugly duckling's story ended... but the story of Jesus goes on because his story is our story... the human race learning soul by soul to kneel in humanity before God's utter compassion and being changed from glory to glory because of it.

A few years ago at Easter, I posted the lyrics of a Phil Overton Song "Golgotha"; I think I want to leave you with the final verse of that song as my parting thought. You see, despite the fact that Good Friday and Hans Christian Anderson share today; despite the fact that there are similarities between The Ugly Duckling and the life of Jesus, there is a greater fact in the contrast. The Ugly Duckling is just a fairy tale... but the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth... and the truth shall set you free:

And this is no fairy story but reality.

Death it couldn't hold him.

He arose in victory!

From the place of a skull, to a place of majesty,

From the place of a skull, to a place where we can see that He’s alive…

Oh yeah, Jesus is alive

Jesus is alive,

Jesus is alive.

...and one day we'll all live happily ever after.

"THE END"

Things to Come

I sadly have not yet had the honour of becoming a parent, knowing the agony and ecstasy of watching something that is a part of you grow up and realising their own personal destiny.

However, I am knowledgeable enough to realise that when a child is born, nobody really knows quite what to expect along the rocky path of pilgrimage that is life on Earth.

Though this is true of every child, it was especially the case with Jesus Christ - not just for his parents, but for all those around him.

When you look at a child it easy to project your own ideas and aspirations about who or what he shall be... because to our eyes a child is an open book.

Even if you take the slightly unsubtle angelic gesture proclaiming the birth of Christ, then just a week into his natural life... Jesus was causing a lot of commotion.

Simeon spoke of him:

"This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."

I wonder what Mary made of that? As far as we know, it is the first time she had any hint that the life of Jesus would be marked with controversy and suffering.

A short while later and Mary, Joseph and Jesus get a visit from some foreign wise men. They bring gifts "gold for a king", no surprise there... that's in line with what the angel said... Son of David, reigning over his kingdom - no problem. "Frankincense for a priest" - hmm interesting - whatever could that be referring to? After all Jesus was of the tribe of Judah - not Levi. What could it mean? Finally, "Myrrh" for the grave. Now everybody dies... but these gifts were to signify that kingship, priestly virtue and death were to play a major role in Jesus destiny. What could it all possibly mean?

As Jesus grew into a healthy teenager, favoured by God and men... he began to openly recognise the unique nature of his relationship with God in heaven. Hew began to say and do things that made his earthly family uncomfortable.

Eventually as a man, he struck out on his own... pursuing his Father's business, THE Father's business - namely making known the good news of the Gospel message: healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, feeding the hungry, raising the dead, proclaiming the forgiveness of sins and the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Just three and a half years later, his body hung limp on a cross - bruised, battered, cut to ribbons, drained of blood and life.

Just three days after that he was ALIVE. Not just revived, he had gone beyond death and become something so magnificent and wonderful... we can barely grasp the concept.

No one could have seen that coming as he lay gurgling away in the straw of Bethlehem. Who could have seen it?

My Christmas message to you is simply this:

What is Jesus to you? What do you expect from him? Is he merely forever frozen in time and space as an infant fairy tale on a stained glass window? Is he a wise teacher? Or is he the magnificent and wonderful risen Lord who comes to change the destiny of mankind? My challenge to you, whatever you see Jesus as this Christmas... is to let him grow in your heart.

"Don't be afraid!" That is what the angels said to the shepherds... and that is what I say to you. Don't worry about what Jesus will become in your heart, or fret over who or what that will lead you to become. Unleash God in your heart and just wait and see what happens.

God bless and Merry Christmas!

Nick

A Day of Atonement

Today is the Jewish festival of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and although I'm not jewish... today has seen an atonement of sorts for me personally.

No, I didn't fast for 25 hours or follow any of the practices of modern Judaism... and I certainly didn't have any bulls or goats sacrificed on my behalf in Jerusalem... for as a Christian, I believe that Jesus' death outside Jerusalem has paid for my sin... or as Matt Redman once put it - the cross has said it all!

Anyway, I digress. The atonement I speak of today is a financial one. Today, the last direct debit on my penultimate loan came out... and siezing the moment, I took the opportunity to alter my final outstanding loan. I will no longer have to wait 18 months to be free... by God's grace I have reduced the timescale down to a maximum of 12 months... and I have changed the nature of my loan, so that I can pay extra amounts if I choose to. Optimistically I could well get the heck out of Dodge by late summer next year!

Glory to God!

OK, so you could argue that I'm ahead of myself here... I'm not free yet, after all. However, to cite an example:

In the United States of America, Independence Day is celebrated on the 4th
July... but the historical fact is that independence had not been secured on
that day. The war did not end... and my people did not recognise
the Declaration of Independence until over 7 years later.

In the same way as America's founding fathers served notice on Britain, I have served notice to my own tyrants... though my enemies are not flesh and blood... but fiscal.

"No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power tyrants and dictators cannot stand. The Centauri learned that lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free." - Citizen G'Kar (Babylon 5 Season 2: The Long Twilight Struggle)

Again I want to use this post as a rally cry to those struggling in sin, debt or any weakness. If I can be free, then any of you can be free... all of you can be free!

You don't have to write what your problem is here... but send me a comment with just your name in it... that can be YOUR signature in your own personal declaration of independence from whatever problems ail you. If your name goes in here... not only are you making your pledge to fight for yourself.... but you have my word that I will at the very least say a prayer for you.

If you want to be free of your chains then give them to Jesus, for this is why he came:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

If you don't feel in a position to do that then lay them here at this door and be assured that those who follow Christ and read this blog... will take up your cause with you. I fundamentally believe that whatever weighs you down today... be it guilt, sin, hurt, fear, illness, bitterness, loss, rejection, neglect, abuse... whatever it is... God would have you be free of it and I offer you the chance to cry out for that freedom here and now!

For freedom's sake write down your name.

God bless you... whatever you decide

N

Jesus in Old Testament Law

I thought I would add a couple of posts briefly touching on a few examples from the Old Testament of why Christians see Jesus as the Messiah... both from the Law and the Prophets. This is because I was asked recently about it... and it only seems right to give some kind of answer

Firstly, lets look at the Law.

If you believe the Old Testament, all mankind fell... due to the actions of our ancestors. I'm not getting into a debate here as to whether that is a literal descent from Adam and Eve, or an allegorical descent... you come to your own conclusion... the Gospel message is more important than theology. The only thing I will say is that everyone on Earth today is descended from one woman... our mitochondrial DNA proves it.

So, we fell... we are in a sinful state. Fast forward a few generations. God decides to literally set in stone the actions that separate us from Him... and ways of making up for those actions, through sacrifice. The levitical Law is written. There is only one problem, our actions are borne out of our motivations and our motivations come from within us... our hearts. The Law does not fix us. Lets take a look at two big ones:

Passover Lamb:

Passover recalls how God called the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. They were told by Moses to select a lamb without defect and kill it, smearing the blood on the doorposts. God sent an angel of death to judge Egypt for not allowing Israel to leave. The angel was given permission to kill the firstborn of every household... unless it saw blood on the doorposts. The resulting loss of life moved Pharaoh to release Israel. They were free... no longer slaves.

We too are slaves, not to a nation but to our sinful nature.


The Day of Atonement:

Did you know that the word for atonement in Hebrew had no equivalent in English... at the time it was first translated? The word atonement was made up from three... to perform the job. At one ment. It literally means to return something to being in a state of oneness (with God). Trivia over, lets look at it.

Among the sacrifices that were made were two goats. The high priest had to slaughter one and present it's blood before God. Having done that he had to pray over the other goat, which would be released into the desert... alone. The idea was that the dead goat paid the price of the Israelite's sins... and the live goat carried them away. When the High Priest performed this ritual, he was to be alone. Nobody else was allowed to enter. I've been told that if the sacrifice wasn't accepted the High Priest would fall down dead. He wore a sash with bells. If he stopped moving about, the bells wouldn't ring and therefore he would be pulled out on a rope by assistants. therefore the High Priest was a living symbol of forgiveness. If he did not come out alive, the sins were not paid for.

This is why for Christians, a belief in the Resurrection of Jesus is important. How can he be our High Priest if there was no proof that our sins were paid for. His death was the payment for the price of our sins. His resurrection is our receipt... proof that God considered the debt paid... our atonement.

The pharisees and Sadducee's were Jewish religious sects at the time of Christ. They believed in the strict observance of the Law, but Jesus had this to say:

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean."

The important thing to realise here, is that Jesus is saying that observance of the Law is not enough. Yes you can make amends for your actions... but it doesn't deal with the heart... the source of our sin, and therefore you will always be in a state of sin.

What mankind needed was something that represented him... to make amends for him. How could this be? The only thing that could adequately represent man was a man... but every man that was descended from Adam, bore Adam's broken nature. It's like when someone scratches a cd. Every copy you make of that cd will bear the damage on the soundtrack... even if it bears no physical damage. The only person good enough, would have to be someone untouched by Adam... someone who was not sinful.

That is why Christians believe Jesus was God's Son, fully human and fully God. He had to be a human... otherwise how could he intercede for us? He had to be God because otherwise how could he be free from Adam's curse? He had to be perfect and He had to die in order to fulfill the Law (which demanded sacrifice), he had to rise to prove that the legal requirements had been met.

Click here, if you want to read more about Passover.
Click here, if you want to read more about the Day of Atonement.
Click here, if you want to read about Jesus being made like us and interceding for us.

Man that was heavy... wasn't it?

Doctor Who - Fathers Day

When I saw the trailer for the latest episode of Doctor Who last week, I was worried it would be a bit naff. I was surprised to find the storyline was one of the better ones offered.

First of all, you have a decent explanation as to the nature of time paradox theory, which is a pretty complicated subject.

However, I felt there was a very strong Christian parallel with last night's episode. You can view the sequence I'm referring to watching the video at the bottom if you have time, if not just continue reading.

Rose (the Doctor's assistant), saves her father back in 1987 when in fact he should have died at the hands of a hit and run driver. This causes a "wound" in time that creatures from another dimension feed on like bacteria. People all over the world are dying because of the change. Despite this, Rose is getting to know her father properly in conversation. The Doctor knows how to stop everything going wrong, but he keeps quiet because he values Rose. Instead he tries to find a way around the problem. His makeshift plan fails though, and he is devoured by an alien.

It's at this point that Rose's dad works out how to resolve the crisis. The car that should have knocked him down is travelling in a perpetual loop, appearing and disappearing at the point where the accident should have happened. To restore equilibrium, he has to lay down is life and let it end as it should have, but in the process sacrifice a future of seeing his daughter grow up. This is a theme that was explored previously in films like "The Last Temptation of Christ" and "Donnie Darko" (the latter is a film that pays tribute to the former).

In this way Rose's father saves the world, by sacrificing himself.

In the same way there is a wound in our world, caused as a consequence of the Fall of man. We are constantly being tempted, corrupted and slowly destroyed by our sinful natures. It is for this reason that Christ came into the world and died. If you haven't already, you may want to contemplate the significance of that in your own life.... and how you should respond to it.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

So there's your proof that science fiction and God are NOT opposing forces.