Edtucner, Author at Creation Beckons

From Manger to Cross to Empty Grave

1 John 4:9,10 From Manger to Cross to Empty Grave

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (NLT).

“What Child Is This?” was written by an insurance salesman. Well, by the time he wrote this soul-searching Christmas hymn, William Dix was the manager of an insurance company, and a successful one at that. But Mr. Dix had an avocation; he was a writer whose favorite form of writing was poetry. Most of his poetry was kept at home in his writing desk. After a serious illness and a prolonged recovery period, Mr. Dix penned the one piece of poetry that he felt should be shared. That one piece of poetry was “What Child Is This?” When paired with the classic melody, “Greensleeves,” it eventually became a Christmas classic.

In twenty-four lines, the hymn takes us from the birth of Jesus through His crucifixion to His resurrection.

In verse one we find Jesus asleep on Mary’s lap, while angels and shepherds guard, sing, and praise Him. In the second verse Jesus’ meager earthly beginnings lead to God’s silent, for the moment, Word, the Christ Child, pleading for the souls of men. The horrific torment that this little babe, grown into Jesus, our Savior, endured for me and for you is made manifest. In verse three we are brought to the knowledge that this little Babe has become the King of kings, who brought salvation for us, and for this, we, today sing praises to Him for He has brought us great joy. And, finally, we are reminded that this King of kings, the savior of all mankind, left the glories of heaven to come to earth as a human babe in order to bring us all to eternal life with Him.

Perhaps reading silently and thoughtfully through this poem written by William Dix brings the meaning of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus closest to our hearts.

The First Noel

Matthew 2:9-11 The First Noel

“After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (NLT).

“The First Noel probably began in the 1400’s as on oral song. Some believe that it began in England, while others claim a French beginning. It was not published in English until the 1800’s. This is another great example of God’s words being put on paper by some fortunate man or woman, and we have been blessed.

The song begins with an announcement to shepherds, but quickly, in the next verse, it turns to the wise men from the east and the star they followed. Verse by verse, from verse two through verse five, the song closely follows the Scripture quoted above.

What a wonder this is—kings from the east came to see the child who was born to be the king of the Jews. We are told that they traveled several years, leaving their own kingdoms to visit a baby. He was, even in their eyes, many years from becoming king, yet they travelled a great distance to see Him, who was born to be King of the Jews. They had to have known that Israel was ruled and held captive by Rome. How did they recognize that this strange. new star was the one that would lead them to the King of the Jews?

And the star led them to the very house where Jesus was. I can find my way across North America to visit someone on the other side of the country, but I have maps, and I know exactly where I am going, and I know personally the person I am going to see. They had a star, and they didn’t know where it would lead or how long it would take to get there. I need to have the faith of the wise men—belief that whatever God says,I must follow if I want to have blessings. The kings weren’t Jews. Jehovah was not their God. I wonder—did they continue to worship from afar after they left Bethlehem on their way home? Were they the first Gentiles to believe in Jesus?

We have an advantage that they probably never had, the New Testament, the writings of the apostles who lived with Jesus for several years. We can read what the apostles experienced while with our Lord and Savior, and we can read the very words spoken by Jesus. We know His message, His love, and His sacrifice, and we have the assurance that we can live with Him forever because of His message, His love, and His sacrifice. They saw Him for a very short time. I have wondered if these three wise men who visited Jesus at His birth ever got to hear of His life and message. I thank God that I got to hear it, and now I know Jesus personally even though I did not attend Him at His birth. Thank you, Father God. Thank you, Jesus.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Luke 2:28-32 O Come, All Ye Faithful

“…he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and a glory to your people’” (ESV).

This well-known Christmas Carol has been around for centuries, and its authorship has been attributed to several people including John Francis Wade, John Reading, King John IV of Portugal, St. Bonaventure, and anonymous Cistercian monks. At least five different people have been credited with writing the tune. The earliest time listed as possible for the writing of this song is the 13^th century. In any case, we are blessed that O Come, All Ye Faithful has come from the mind of God to the pen of men.

The man mentioned in the Scripture above was named Simeon, a man who had been waiting to see the “consolation of Israel.” He had been assured by the Holy Spirit that he would see Christ before he died. On a normal day that quickly became a glorious day for Simeon, he was led by the Spirit to go to the temple. When he saw Mary, Joseph, and the baby, Jesus, “he took him up in his arms….” After Simeon spoke the words in verses 29 to 32, he again spoke to Mary, saying, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also) so that thoughts from any hearts may be revealed” Luke 1:34-35.

There was also in the temple that day, a prophetess, Anna. She was 84 years old and spent all her time in the temple worshipping, fasting, and praying. In verse 38 we are told that “…she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

These two faithful ones not only came to see Jesus, they were the first of the faithful to “come and adore Him.” And they were joyful and triumphant. Thanks to the writer(s) of this Christmas carol, we can all come and “…adore Him, Christ, the Lord.” We can join with the choirs of angels to sing in exultation to the glory of the Lord as the “Word of the Father” appears as human flesh. He became one of us.

O Come All Ye Faithful

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;

Come and behold Him born the King of angels;

O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him.

Christ the Lord.

Mary, Did You Know?

Luke 1:28-33 Mary, Did You Know

“And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women.” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name, JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father, David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (NJV).

In 1984 Mark Lowry was asked to write something as a bridge between well-known Christmas carols for a church program. “When I wrote this thing about Mary, I began by thinking I was interviewing her on her thoughts of being a mother to Jesus. A couple of the lines I wrote really stood out like, ‘when you kiss your little baby, you’ve kissed the face of God.’ I just thought this needed to be a song,” Mark explained. The melody was a bigger challenge. Mark asked one music writer to create a melody, and he did, but it didn’t feel right to Mark, so he tabled it for a while. In 1988 Mark got to know Buddy Greene and shared the lyrics with him. The result was one of the most blessed combinations of lyrics and music ever written.

Mary, Did You Know?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you’ve delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will bring sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby, you’ve kissed the face of God.

Mary, did you know?

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the dead will live again.

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will someday rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?

That sleeping child you’re holding

Is the Great I Am!

The answer to all these questions was probably, “No.” Did she have any idea of the joy and agony she would experience? Probably not, but Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55 shows how much she loved her God, Jehovah, trusted Him, and how blessed and ready she was to do her Lord’s bidding. With Mark, I am captivated by the line, “And when you kiss your little baby, you’ve kissed the face of God.” But singing the song with the crescendo of the music at the end with the words, “That sleeping child you’re holding is the GREAT I AM,” sends shivers down my spine and joy to my heart as my hands raise in worship and wonder.

The Small Village, Bethlehem

Micah 5:2 The Small Village, Bethlehem

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf” (NLT).

O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see thee lie;

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by.

Yet in thy dark streets shineth

The everlasting light;

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight.

A little village about six miles from Jerusalem, the capital, in a stable, not even a closed room, was the birth place of the most important man ever born, Jesus. God chose this town and this space, the only one left in the town, to send His Son, Jesus, as the Savior of mankind. Jesus was with God in the beginning, and it was known by both Father God and Jesus, that Jesus would need to come to earth as a human to provide a sure manner by which any man or woman could secure a guarantee of eternal life with God.

The only fanfare this Savior of mankind got was sung by an angel choir, not to a large gathering in a synagogue or even a large arena, but to a small group of shepherds in fields outside of town. The shepherds came to the village, saw Jesus, worshipped Him, and left. We are told in Luke 2:17,18; “When they had seen him, they spread the word what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them” (NIV). Their message had been somewhat forgotten, because in a few years a group of kings “from the east” came to see the one who was born “King of the Jews.” When the “Kings from the East” asked King Herod where they could find Him, King Herod seemed surprised, and he asked the Kings to let him know when they found him. I imagine that if the King had known that someone who was known as the Messiah had been born as “King of the Jews,” he would have been searching for him. (I’ve always wondered why “Kings from the East” were the ones to make the birth of the “King of the Jews” known to the ruler of Israel.)

Was God purposely keeping the birth of the Messiah low key? Those of the time who searched the Scriptures had many prophecies about the birth of Jesus. But they had no reason to think that the prophecies had been fulfilled until thirty years passed, and Jesus began His ministry. Then it was all public. Jesus, Himself, announced on several occasions that He was the Messiah, the one sent from God. The message that Jesus brought, that God loved them, that forgiveness of sins was possible, and that each person had the possibility of eternal life was to be the thing that brought men and women to God. People had to believe or not believe on the basis of Jesus’ ministry—nothing else. An open mind and mostly an open heart was needed to grasp this message of God’s eternal love.

We are drawn to Christ and salvation in the same manner. Unless we believe and accept the teachings of Jesus, we will not spend eternity with Him. The size of the church, the impressiveness of the church building, the degrees held by the pastors, and even the great oratory of some pastors are not the reasons for salvation. The only thing required is belief in Jesus Christ and acceptance of Him as Lord. The trappings don’t really matter except when they are involved in drawing us to Jesus. That is their whole purpose. So, whatever the reason you came to Christ, be thankful for it and for anyone who helped you to find Him, but mostly be thankful for and to Jesus for His sacrifice that atones for your sin.

It’s Still Thanksgiving

Philippians 4:6,7 It’s Still Thanksgiving

“Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer, and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (NET).

Well, thanksgiving is over. NO, IT IS NOT! We are told to give thanks in every situation. Thanksgiving is to be included in our prayers and requests. And when we do include thanksgiving, we will be given the peace of God. The verse doesn’t say that we will get what we pray for, but that we will have peace. It’s interesting that the verse says that God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds. We need God’s peace to protect us from the barbs of satan. His barbs are constant, but we can always remind him that he is a defeated foe—defeated by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We just need to use the victory that Christ bought for us and brought to us.

So when are we to be thankful? We are to be thankful in every situation, and that includes the little and the really big problems. That also means that we should be thankful when things are going well. Yes, we owe thankfulness and appreciation to God every minute of every day because He has given us everything from the oxygen we breathe to the promise of eternal life with Him.

The people we thanked this past week are still doing those things we thanked them for, and we need to continue to express our thanks to them throughout the year. It’s a long time between thanksgivings if we wait until late November to thank the people who make our lives comfortable, safe, and enjoyable. So let’s celebrate thanksgiving all year.

Oh, thank you to those who bake pies. (Sorry, I forgot to thank you yesterday.)

Thank You!

1 Thessalonians 1:2 Thank You!

“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers” (NIV).

First of all, I thank God for everything. But, in accordance with the verse above, I have many, many people to thank. Truthfully, I don’t always continually mention all of the following people in my prayers. But I will endeavor to thank God for several of them each day and ask Him to bless them.

Thank you to our postman.

Thank you to our garbage collector.

Thank you to the check-out clerks in the grocery store.

Thank you to the people who stock the shelves in the grocery store,

Thank you to the people who replace burnt-out lights in traffic signals.

Thank you to all my teachers, elementary, high school, college, and Sunday school.

Thank you to all members of our armed services—past and present.

Thank you to policemen.

Thank you to fire fighters.

Thank you to those who repair the highways.

Thank you to the ushers and security personnel in my church.

Thank you to all those who make it possible for me to post this message.

Thank you to farmers.

Thank you to truck drivers.

Thank you to waiters and waitresses.

Thank you to cooks.

Thank you to pilots.

Thank you to flight attendants.

Thank you to those who handle the paperwork necessary for government to function.

Thank you to our elected representatives.

Thank you to those who repair the electrical lines.

Thank you to those who drill for oil.

Thank you to engineers.

Thank you to those who invent things or improve things currently in use.

Thank you to doctors.

Thank you to nurses.

Thank you to pastors.

Thank you to cooks.

Thank you to EMTs.

Thank you to song writers.

Thank you to entertainers.

Thank you to photographers, still and motion.

Thank you to those who repair computers.

Thank you to store clerks.

Thank you to fruit and vegetable harvesters.

Thank you to auto repairmen.

Thank you to authors.

Thank you to the Pittsburgh Pirates. (This one is personal.)

Thank you to reporters.

Thank you to carpenters.

Thank you to choir directors.

Thank you to plumbers.

Thank you to electricians.

Thank you to counselors and social workers.

Thank you to Border Patrol.

Thank you to office workers.

Thank you to dentists.

Thank you for reading this.

If I missed you, I’m sorry. THANK YOU!

Thank God for God

Psalm 7:17 Thank God for God

“Oh, how grateful and thankful I am to the Lord because he is so good. I will sing praise to the name of the Lord who is above all lords” (TLB).

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (KJV). So what do I have to thank God for—everything! He created this fantastic universe with His spoken Word. It is His, we are His, and I am quite thankful that I am His. When I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, He assured me of life eternal with Him. And I am most thankful for that!

The magnificence of the created universe, the magnificence of this beautiful planet, earth, speaks to the glory of God, and His glory is great. He created the universe and mankind because He wanted fellowship. He, of course created the universe to accommodate the physical requirements of human beings. But, I believe that He created the universe in great beauty for our enjoyment, and He gave us the five senses with which we enjoy it. Every time I look at a sunset or sunrise, I am in awe of the act of His creation. But the same thing happens whenever I enjoy a nice slice of blueberry pie, smell a rose, touch a baby’s smooth skin, or hear a bird sing.

God’s love was more wonderfully shown when His Son, Jesus, came to earth to live as a human being, being subject to all the vicissitudes of life as a man, including scorn, hatred, and finally torture and death, so that we could spend eternity with Him. In fact, He did it so that He could spend eternity with us. Yes, His desire to be with us equals or exceeds our desire to be with Him. That’s how important we are to God. Of all the things for which I am thankful, this, the sacrifice of Jesus to provide eternal life for me, is the one thing for which I am most thankful.

The last part of the verse above says, “…sing praise to the name of the Lord….” We are told to sing praises, and I get great enjoyment and am extremely blessed in that, but sometimes I get so involved in the music of a song of praise that I don’t think much about the words. Then I remember, when I am alone, to slow down and speak the words aloud slowly, until I can praise and worship my God with my heart as well as my voice.

THANK YOU, GOD FOR BEING GOD!

Family

Genesis 2:22-24 Family

“The Lord made a woman out of the rib. The Lord brought her to the man, and the man exclaimed, ’Here is someone like me! She is part of my body, my own flesh and bones. She came from me, a man. So I will name her woman!’ That’s why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a woman and the two of them become like one person” (CEV).

Thus, the first family. Children were born, and they became part of the family. Norma and I married, and we became a family. Three sons, Tim, Brian, and Jason, were born, and our family grew. Our sons married, and Michelle, Adirenne, and Danielle became part of the family. Our sons and their wives had children, Josh, Megan, Emily, Jonathan, Benjamin, Haley, and Noah, and our family grew. Our granddaughter, Emily, married a man named Joshua; Josh got engaged to a woman named Alicia, and our family grew.

At each point of this process, love grew because Jesus was included in the family with Norma and me from the beginning. This grouping that God created in the beginning, a family, is the biggest blessing in my life other than my relationship with Jesus, my Savior. I can truly say that love abounds within this family, and I can further say that love will grow as this family continues to grow.

The family, partly because of the increasing rate of growth of it, and partly because it is based on a relationship with Jesus Christ, has an effect on all those any member of the family meets. This is a great way to spread the Good News originally brought by Jesus. Each member of this growing family has many opportunities to spread this Good News, namely, the love of God, as he or she interacts with others by both actions and words.

God greatly blessed me the day that Norma Peden became Norma Croyle, and I have lived in that blessing every day since then. As our family grew with children, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, grandchildren-in-law, and grandfiance, the blessings in my life have grown immensely. For that I am thankful. I eagerly state that I receive love from, and return love to Norma, Adrienne, Alicia, Benjamin, Brian, Danielle, Emily, Haley, Jason, Jonathan, Josh, Joshua, Megan, Michelle, Noah, and Tim. I am a most blessed man, and I knew it from day one of our marriage.

THANK YOU, LORD, FOR MY FAMILY!

I’m Thankful for My Church

Hebrews 10:24-25 I’m Thankful for my Church

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as we see the Day approaching” (NIV).

I’m glad and blessed to be in a local church where we do “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” God is love, so as we spur each other toward love, we are helping each other to move closer to our Lord and Savior. Good deeds occur as the result of living in love and spreading the love of Christ. We are led in this pursuit of love and good deeds from the pulpit by our pastor, by the praise and worship we join, and not least in the conversations we have before and after services. These conversations are where we begin to apply what we have been taught. We do encourage one another also in several monthly informal gatherings. A word of encouragement and prayer from a church friend goes a long way toward lifting my spirits when I am discouraged.

We are told in Romans 12:4-5, “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (NIV). In our church we have people with many different skills and abilities, both spiritual and physical. When the speakers, the singers, the prayers, the cleaners, the encouragers, the ushers, the security people, the office workers, and the prophets all work together, God is glorified and people are blessed. I am thankful that in my church this happens often, and blessings flow within the church body and to the surrounding community.