Time for Renewal

    As I entered the house from a tiring day of strenuous manual labor from using a chain saw to trim and cut down trees, my body needed to be renewed. What is true of our physical man is also true of our spiritual man. From time to time, we need to be renewed spiritually. Are you in a spiritual recession and need to be renewed spiritually?

    Spiritual recession in our lives is not the end of the world unless we die in that condition. Realizing that we are in a spiritual recession may be the greatest thing that has ever happened to us. If we recognize that we are in a spiritual recession, we can begin to make a conscious effort to be renewed according to truth. When this happens, we can be better off than we have ever been.

    In the December 18, 2001, issue of USA Today there was an article entitled, “Bad Times Spawn Great Start-up.” It noted that sixteen of the thirty companies in the DOW began during recession. Walt Disney failed as a movie actor and started his cartoon business in a garage in the recession of 1923-1924. Hewlett-Packard started their business in the depression of 1938. Gates dropped out of college in the recession of 1975 to start Microsoft.

    What you do following your spiritual recession is more important than what you did to get in that condition. Since this is the beginning of a new year, it is a perfect time for each of us to think about being renewed spiritually, especially if we feel that we have been in a spiritual recession. God knew that we would need spiritual renewal and therefore spoke of it in several passages.

Romans 12:1-2 

    “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (NASB).

    Paul pointed out a contrast in this passage – conformed and transformed. God expects us to transform the world rather than be conformed to the world. Transforming the world will be done only when we are renewed. The difference between being conformed to the world and transforming the world can be illustrated by the difference between a thermostat and a thermometer. A thermometer conforms to its surroundings. On the other hand, a thermostat controls its surroundings. Which best describes you? Do you conform to the world around you or do you control the world around you?

    Notice that transformation takes place when one renews his or her mind. No one ever accidentally transformed into a new person. Becoming a new person requires a mind committed to that goal. Where has your mind been the last few months? Was it focused more on the material than the spiritual? Was it focused more on earning a living than making a life? Was your mind focused more on self than on God? It is so easy to let the focus of our mind get away from spiritual matters. When that happens, we begin to be conformed by the world rather than us transforming the world.

    If we are ready to get out of our spiritual recession, the first lesson we need to learn is that renewal begins as a conscious effort in the mind. The text tells us that when one’s mind becomes renewed, he or she can then determine what God’s will is for his or her life.

    Too often people don’t know which way to go. The reason is, they can’t see God’s will because their mind has not been renewed. When one renews his or her mind, he or she can see that God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect. But, looking at the world through an unrenewed mind, one gets confused as to what is good, acceptable, and perfect.

2 Corinthians 4:16 

    “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

This gives the second great principle of renewal. Our inner man must be renewed day by day. Renewal is not a one-time event. The problem with many people is, they want renewal today, but don’t think about renewal tomorrow. That will not bring about transformation of the world, but rather conformity to the world.

    The writer went on to tell us how we can be spiritually renewed every day. That will be determined by where our focus is directed. He explained, “while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

    In our fast-paced society in which the attitude is dog-eat-dog, in order to stay alive or get ahead, it’s hard to look beyond the physical things this month’s income will buy. But, these things are temporal. Renewal comes day by day when we realize the difference between the temporal and the eternal. Renewal will not come when we put most, or all, of our effort toward obtaining the things for here and now! Renewal will not come from an on-again-off-again attitude toward spiritual things. We must remember that all temporal things will soon be taken to the dump, but the eternal things will never be taken to the dump. So why do we pursue the temporal things with such gusto?

    It is because we have forgotten that renewal must be a daily commitment. Many think that renewal is a one-time event. After that one-time renewal is started, we then faltered along the way. We faltered because renewal was not a daily commitment. With daily renewal it enables us to see the difference between the temporal and the eternal. By being renewed daily, we’ll be able, as Paul said, to determine the will of God (Romans 12:1-2).

Ephesians 4:22-24 

    “In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

The Ephesians needed to be renewed in the spirit of their mind because they were not walking in accordance with the truths they had learned. Often, we get down spiritually because we are not living as we know we should live. So, let’s renew the spirit of our mind and begin living according to the way we have been taught.

Conclusion 

    If we are in a spiritual recession, what are we going to do about it? If we do not turn it around, we’re in danger of the warning the Hebrew writer gave, “It is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame” (6:6). But, if we are concerned about our spiritual condition, we can pray what David prayed when he was in a spiritual renewal. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You” (Psalm 51:10-13).

— Wayne Burger

The Birth of Jesus - Facts, Fiction, and Applications

Facts

Place of Birth Foretold.

Micah prophesied at the same time of Isaiah from about 750 to 690 B.C. He particularly worked in the smaller towns and villages. God spoke through him to foretell that the Messiah was going to be born in one of those small towns – Bethlehem. God spoke through him saying, “But as for you Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (5:2).

Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, was not His origin. He had no beginning He is from eternity.

It is interesting that Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth and only by the providence of God, was Jesus born in Bethlehem. The government required a census be taken and everyone had to return to the town of their origin, which for Joseph and Mary was Bethlehem. Therefore, about the time for Mary to give birth, they made the 80 mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-5) and thus, the prophesy was fulfilled.

Significance of Being Born in Bethlehem.

First, Jesus was from the lineage of David, so it was appropriate for Him to be born in the city of David (Luke 2:4). Second, it was in this area, which was six miles from Jerusalem, that the lambs that were offered as a sacrifice each day in Jerusalem, were kept. Those lambs were only a “shadow” of the real lamb, who was Jesus Christ (John 1:29; I Peter 1:18-19).

Second, the word “Bethlehem” is formed from two Hebrew words beth meaning house and lehem which means “bread” thus “house of bread.” That was the perfect place for one who is the bread of life to be born (John 6:32-35, 48). One partakes of that bread when one partakes of the word of God. In that same context Peter explained, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Jesus Himself said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4).

Fiction 

    The Date of His Birth.

The Bible does not indicate the exact date of Jesus’ birth. There are evidences that it would not have been during the coldness of December.

    The Number of Wisemen and Were They Found Jesus.  

First, it is commonly believed that there were three wisemen who came to worship Jesus. All the text says is that there were wisemen, plural, who came (Matthew 2:1-5). The supposition that there were three comes from the fact that they brought Him three gifts: (1) Gold, (2) Frankincense, and (3) Myrrh. Of course two or more wisemen could have brought those three items.

Second, it is usually taught that the wisemen came and worshipped Jesus when He was in the manger. Notice what the text says. “After coming into the house they saw the Child” (Matthew 2:11). Notice, Jesus was not in a manger, but in a house. Notice also that Jesus is not called a “babe,” but a “child.” Jesus was probably several month old and maybe even two years old because the wisemen said His star had appeared two years earlier (Matthew 2:16).

Third, it is commonly thought that the wisemen followed the star from the east to Israel. The text only says that they saw His star in the east (Matthew 2:2). If the star led them, it led them to the wrong city – Jerusalem (Matthew 2:1). After they learned from Micah 5:2-5) that the Messiah was going to be born in Bethlehem, then the star led them to the particular house where Jesus was staying (Matthew 2:9).

    Mary a Perpetual Virgin.

Because the Roman Catholic Church puts so much emphasis on Mary, they have promoted the idea that Mary was always a virgin. Again, notice what the text says, “And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son” (Matthew 1:24-25). The word “until” is the key word in this discussion. “Until” shows there is a time limit. He did not have a sexual relationship with her “until” after she gave birth to Jesus. Latter Matthew even names Mary’s other children, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” (13:55).

Honoring Jesus’ Birth Is Not a Command.

There is nowhere in Scripture a command for us to honor the day of Jesus’ birth. Since there is no command to do so, the church cannot command us to honor Jesus’ birth. If an individual wants to honor the day of Christ’s birth as his or her own desire, that person has that right, but cannot bind that on anyone else (Romans 14:5).

Applications

First, Jesus Became the “God-Man.”

What better way could God have brought His Son to earth than through a woman? Jesus is as human as could be because He was born of a woman (Galatians 4:4). Because He had an earthly mother, He had all the characteristics and needs of any other human.

Second, Because He Came with a Human Body, He Could Be Sacrificed for Our Sins.

Sin brings death (Romans 6:23). To illustrate that, all through the Old Testament, animals had to give their life as a sacrifice for men’s sins. The Hebrew writer explained, “Therefore, when He (Christ) comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifices and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me’” (10:5). “You have not desired” simply means that those animal sacrifices did not satisfy the penalty of sin. Something greater was required. Therefore, Jesus was given a body to be that sin sacrifice.

Third, Jesus Became the Perfect Mediator.

A “mediator” is one who stands between two parties in order to bring them back together. That is what Jesus did. The perfect “mediator” is one who is equally related to both parties he or she is trying to reconcile. Jesus is that perfect mediator because He is God and understands God’s holiness and at the same time, He is human and understands man’s weaknesses and needs. When Jesus returned to heaven, He continued to be a man. That was part of the sacrifice He made. Paul explained, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5). Notice – “the man Christ Jesus.”

Because He is that perfect mediator the Hebrew writer encourages us with these words, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:15-16).

Conclusion 

    When anything is done for a long period of time, as is the honoring the birth of Jesus, the tendency is to accumulate some ideas that are fiction along with ideas that are fact. In everything where God is being honored, not just the birth of Jesus, we must try to separate fact from fiction. The Holy Spirit instructs, “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good” (I Thessalonians 5:21).

— Wayne Burger