Kevin DeYoung's Blog, page 141

Five Reasons Christians Should Continue to Oppose Gay Marriage

Yesterday, to no one’s surprise, President Obama revealed in an interview that after some “evolution” he has “concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.” This after the Vice-President came out last Sunday strongly in favor of gay marriage. Not coincidentally, the New York Times ran an article on Tuesday (an election day with a marriage amendment on one ballot) about how popular and not controversial gay television characters have become. In other words, everyone else has grown up so why don’t you? It can seem like the whole world is having a gay old time, with conservative Christians the only ones refusing to party.

The temptation, then, is for Christians go silent and give up the marriage fight: “It’s no use staying in this battle,” we think to ourselves. “We don’t have to change our personal position. We’ll keep speaking the truth and upholding the Bible in our churches, but getting worked up over gay marriage in the public square is counter productive. It’s a waste of time. It makes us look bad. It ruins our witness. And we’ve already lost. Time to throw in the towel.” I understand that temptation. It is an easier way. But I do not think it is the right way, the God glorifying way, or the way of love.

Here are five reasons Christians should continue to publicly and winsomely oppose bestowing the term and institution of marriage upon same-sex couples:

1. Every time the issue of gay marriage has been put to a vote by the people, the people have voted to uphold traditional marriage. Even in California. In fact, the amendment passed in North Carolina on Tuesday by a wider margin (61-39) than a similar measure passed six years ago in Virginia (57-42). The amendment passed in North Carolina, a swing state Obama carried in 2008, by 22 percentage points. We should not think that gay marriage in all the land is a foregone conclusion. To date 30 states have constitutionally defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

2. The promotion and legal recognition of homosexual unions is not in the interest of the common good. That may sound benighted, if not bigoted. But we must say it in love: codifying the indistinguishability of gender will not make for the “peace of the city.” It rubs against the grain of the universe, and when you rub against the grain of divine design you’re bound to get splinters. Or worse. The society which says sex is up to your own definition and the family unit is utterly fungible is not a society that serves its children, its women, or its own long term well being.

3. Marriage is not simply the term we use to describe those relationships most precious to us. The word means something and has meant something throughout history. Marriage is more than a union of hearts and minds. It involves a union of bodies–and not bodies in any old way we please, as if giving your cousin a wet willy in the ear makes you married. Marriage, to quote one set of scholars, is a” comprehensive union of two sexually complementary persons who seal (consummate or complete) their relationship by the generative act—by the kind of activity that is by its nature fulfilled by the conception of a child. So marriage itself is oriented to and fulfilled by the bearing, rearing, and education of children.” This conjugal view of marriage states in complex language what would have been a truism until a couple generations ago. Marriage is what children (can) come from. Where that element is not present (at the level of sheer design and function, even if not always in fulfillment), marriage is not a reality. We should not concede that “gay marriage” is really marriage. What’s more, as Christians we understand that the great mystery of marriage can never be captured between a relationship of Christ and Christ or church and church.

4. Allowing for the legalization of gay marriage further normalizes what was until very recently, and still should be, considered deviant behavior. While it’s true that politics is downstream from culture, it’s also true that law is one of the tributaries contributing to culture. In our age of hyper-tolerance we try to avoid stigmas, but stigmas can be an expression of common grace. Who knows how many stupid sinful things I’ve been kept from doing because I knew my peers and my community would deem it shameful. Our cultural elites may never consider homosexuality shameful, but amendments that define marriage as one man and one woman serve a noble end by defining what is as what ought to be. We do not help each other in the fight for holiness when we allow for righteousness to look increasingly strange and sin to look increasingly normal.

5. We are naive if we think a laissez faire compromise would be enjoyed by all if only the conservative Christians would stop being so dogmatic. The next step after giving up the marriage fight is not a happy millennium of everyone everywhere doing marriage in his own way. The step after surrender is conquest. I’m not suggesting heterosexuals would no longer be able to get married. What I am suggesting is that the cultural pressure will not stop with allowing for some “marriages” to be homosexual. It will keep mounting until all accept and finally celebrate that homosexuality is one of Diversity’s great gifts. The goal is not for different expressions of marriage, but for the elimination of definitions altogether. Capitulating on gay marriage may feel like giving up an inch in bad law to gain a mile in good will. But the reality will be far different. For as in all of the devil’s bargains, the good will doesn’t last nearly so long as the law.

 

What Sermon Prep Really Looks Like

Monday – I’m so glad it’s my day off. Yesterday’s sermon was terrible. Maybe this week will be better.

Tuesday AM -  I better get some emails done and get the blog lined up. If I can check a few things off my To Do List I’ll really be able to concentrate on my sermon.

Tuesday PM – I wasn’t expecting the lunch to go so long and for them to stop by. I’ll guess I’ll get to my sermon tomorrow.

Wednesday AM – Man, more emails. I need to make a few phone calls too. The agendas also need some work. Sermon prep soon.

Wednesday PM – I forgot–staff meetings all afternoon. I got to buckle down and start on this sermon tomorrow.

Thursday AM – Okay, here we go. Let’s get the paper and pencil out and open my Greek Bible. Darn, made the mistake of checking my email and leaving my door open. Got to take care of a couple more things.

Thursday PM – Finally started on my sermon. Working on translation. Making notes. So thankful to be a pastor. What a privilege to study God’s word. I’m getting a little sleepytrhough.

Friday AM – Excited to work on this sermon and think about preaching. So much to learn. So much to study. Never saw that before.

Friday PM – What a mess. I don’t see three points anywhere. Better pray. What is this sermon about? Where I am going? Need an outline before I go home. Brain don’t fail me now.

Saturday AM – It’s quiet here. Need to stop fiddling around with emails. Need some better illustrations. What is my application? These three points could be worded better.

Saturday PM – Praying for help. A few good thoughts I think. That section will preach. The introduction is so-so. Conclusion needs work. Have to push through and finish this. If I push print I can go home.

Saturday extra-PM – I’m sure this is too long. Needs pruning. I’m excited to preach this, but boy it doesn’t feel like much. No time left except for prayer. Should be in bed already.

Sunday before preaching- I can’t believe I get to preach. Stay humble. Pray for unction.

Sunday during preaching – What a joy to teach God’s word. And a challenge. Am I getting through? Am I getting in the way? Need to trust God. I must decrease, he must increase. I think I see a cloud the size of a man’s hand in the distance.

Sunday after preaching – That was too long…again. Trying to smile and talk to people while wondering if that made any difference. A lot of polite hello’s. A couple critiques. Several people seemed genuinely helped. I’m getting hungry and may need to use the bathroom.

Sunday evening – Crazy day. Get the kids to bed. Talk to my wife. Call my mom. Thankful for a good day. Glad it’s over. Not sure what God did, but I’ll trust him for something. I love my church.

Monday – I’m so glad it’s my day off. Yesterday’s sermon was terrible. Maybe this week will be better.

Director of Operations Position at URC

We have an employment opportunity at University Reformed Church. If you are interested in this position, please submit an application and resume by May 21.

1. Description of Position

The Director of Operations is responsible for managing, coordinating and overseeing the daily operations of University Reformed Church (URC). Broadly, responsibilities include (1) day-to-day administration and management of church operations and (2) participating with URC leadership, especially the Senior Pastor and Executive Committee, in developing and executing strategic initiatives for URC.

Please click here to view a more thorough description of job duties.

The Director of Operations should be a member, or willing to become a member, of University Reformed Church. The Director is also expected to participate in a URC Small Group, as well as attend Sunday services at URC.

2. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

The qualified candidate for Director of Operations is a mature, sincere, godly believer in Jesus Christ. This person should meet the qualifications for elder laid out in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. The Director will be in general agreement with the system of doctrine taught in the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort, and will have a complementarian understanding of gender roles. This person will be in agreement with URC’s statement of faith and membership covenant.

The qualified candidate also will fulfill the following educational, professional and personal requirements:

● Experience with management-level (not merely supervisory) responsibility in either a business or ministry context.

● A gifted administrator, able to function in ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ administrative roles with strong organizational skills.

● Effective in written and verbal communication; willing and able to speak well before groups of people.

● Able to think critically, imaginatively and strategically; able to contribute thought to long-range visioning and planning.

● Entrepreneurial, willing to work diligently and faithfully, often in a low-visibility role.

Download URC Employment Application

When Paul Sent the Celebrity Pastor

Here is a verse that caught my attention yesterday: “With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel” (2 Cor. 8:18).

There are many things we’d like to know, but don’t know about this verse.

1. We don’t know who this brother is. Could be Luke, Apollos, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, or Mark. Others suggest one of the entourage mentioned in Acts 20:4–Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Tychicus, Trophimus, or Gaius. Some names are more likely than others, but at the end of the day we just don’t know who Paul has in mind.

2. We can’t be sure why Paul did not mention this brother’s name. Paul might have been trying to lower this man’s profile or maybe Paul hadn’t appointed him directly or perhaps this famous brother because was from Corinth or had been instrumental in the church at Corinth and needed no introduction. We shouldn’t read too much into the anonymity one way or another.

Although we don’t know everything about this reference, we can draw some conclusions that are relevant for us, especially as we try to think through this whole “celebrity pastor” business.

1. There have always been men who gain a certain notoriety for their preaching of the gospel. The ESV uses the word “famous.” Other translations speak of this brother being “praised” in all the churches. Here was a man who was well known and well regarded for his powerful preaching. No doubt, there were other teachers and other preachers, but this individual must have been particularly gifted, effective, and recognized.

2. Whomever this person was, “the brother” was known to the Corinthians. Or he was about to be known. He was part of the delegation going with Titus to administer the collection. If it wasn’t obvious from the letter that Paul was talking about Barnabas/Tychicus/Apollos/whomever, then it would be obvious when he arrived with Titus in Corinth. The point of not mentioning his name can’t be to keep his identity secret (though it could be to sound less flattering).

3. Paul appears to reference the brother’s fame as a way of commending him to the Corinthians and thereby assuring the church that Paul’s plan was trustworthy. Three men are mentioned in this delegation: Titus in verses 16 and 17, “the brother” in v. 18, and “our brother” in v. 22. All three are commended by Paul–Titus for his earnest care, “the brother” for his famous preaching, and “our brother” for his testing, earnestness, and confidence in the Corinthians. Paul alludes to their character, their track record, and their reputation as a way of helping the Corinthians receive them and trust them as they should.

The take away from 2 Corinthians 8:18 should not be an unbridled enthusiasm for “celebrity pastors.” We know from 1 Corinthians that some Christians were dreadfully misguided in their allegiance to specific teachers and leaders. We also know from the Corinthian correspondence that ritzy “super apostles” were impressing Christians for all the wrong reasons. So clearly, fame comes with many dangers, both for the followers and for the famous ones.

And yet, verse 18 demonstrates that if “celebrity” simply means notoriety or recognition or high regard, then celebrity preachers are not new. There have always been men–like this fellow and like Chrysostom or Knox or Whitefield or Spurgeon or Lloyd-Jones or ten thousand others–who have been “famous among all the churches for [their] preaching of the gospel.” It is not a capitulation to culture to admit this fact. And it’s not bad to acknowledge these men and commend them to others. Could actually be quite biblical.

I Have Succumbed to the Twitterverse

The handle is @RevKevDeYoung.

Monday Morning Humor

In honor of a (belated) Happy Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth be with you”) here are a few clips to enjoy:

Is Bibliolatry the Real Danger?

Which poses the bigger risk of idolatry–a high view of the Bible that sees Jesus submitting to the Scriptures or a low view of Scripture that sees Jesus standing apart from the Scriptures? Some Christians fear that if they have a high view of the Bible they will end up denigrating Jesus and being guilty of bibliolatry. But what if the danger of idolatry is much more likely when you try to place Jesus above the Bible?

J.I. Packer explains:

Others tell us the final authority for Christians is not Scripture, but Christ, whom we must regard as standing apart from Scripture and above it. He is its Judge; and we, as His disciples, must judge Scripture by Him, receiving only what is in harmony with His life and teaching and rejecting all that is not.

But who is this Christ, the Judge of Scripture? Not the Christ of the New Testament and of history. That Christ does not judge Scripture; he obeys it and fulfills it. Certainly, He is the final authority of the whole of it. Certainly, He is the final authority for Christians; that is precisely why Christians are bound to acknowledge the authority of Scripture. Christ teaches them to do so.

A Christ who permits His followers to set Him up as the Judge of Scripture, One by whom its authority must be confirmed before it becomes binding and by whose adverse sentence it is in places annulled, is a Christ of human imagination, made in the theologian’s own image, One who attitude to Scripture is the opposite to that of the Christ of history. If the construction of such a Christ is not a breach of the second commandment, it is hard to see what is.

It is sometimes said that to treat the Bible as the infallible word of God is idolatry. If Christ was an idolater, and if following His teaching is idolatry, the accusation may stand; not, however, otherwise. But to worship a Christ who did not receive Scripture as God’s unerring word, nor require His followers to do so, would seem to be idolatry in the strictest sense.  (Fundamentalism: and the Word of God, 61-62)

Hiding Above the Fray

I’m not saying their positions are always wrong, but their position on their positions makes me nervous. I’m talking about those pastors, politicians, pundits, and publications which, at the first sign of firefight, always scramble for the cleanest spot above the fray.

The ones that always claim to transcend old polarities. The ones that always claim to be above all the silly nonsense that used to drag us down. The ones that keep their noses clean by putting them high into air. The ones that are never dirty enough for the trenches.

Why not get shot at with the rest of us? Are there not right sides to be on in some battles? Or do you not want us to see that you are at war as much as everyone else?

I get nervous when the middle ground is always the safe spot. I wonder if the two sides are being described fairly. Or if there are really twenty sides instead of two. I wonder if the sane voice of civility crying in the uncouth wilderness has something it doesn’t want me to hear. I wonder if instead of getting an intellectual argument for the truth I’m getting an emotional appeal to feel superior than the lowbrow rabble-rousers. I am skeptical of those whose first instinct in the midst of theological, political, or cultural controversy is to plead with everyone that there doesn’t have to be a controversy.

I have no desire to turn every skirmish into a war. There is more to life than belligerence. But there is also more to life than boasting of civility when battles need to be won. When the Bible tells us to seek the things that are above, it doesn’t always mean the fray.

Just Say “No” to Legalizing Drugs

It’s not uncommon to hear Americans of a more libertarian bent argue that we should give up on the failed “war on drugs” and just legalize the stuff like we did after alcohol prohibition proved disastrous. Even some Christians maintain that while they personally wouldn’t use harmful narcotics, it’s time we get government out of all this regulation, seize the tax revenue, and legalize drugs.

John P. Walters, former “Drug Czar” during the George W. Bush administration, disagrees and makes a good case that legalizing drugs is dumber than you think. In this short article, Walters counters three bad arguments made in favor of drug legalization.

First, they contend, “the drug war has failed”​—​despite years of effort we have been unable to reduce the drug problem. Actually, as imperfect as surveys may be, they present overwhelming evidence that the drug problem is growing smaller and has fallen in response to known, effective measures. Americans use illegal drugs at substantially lower rates than when systematic measurement began in 1979​—​down almost 40 percent. Marijuana use is down by almost half since its peak in the late 1970s, and cocaine use is down by 80 percent since its peak in the mid-1980s. Serious challenges with crack, meth, and prescription drug abuse have not changed the broad overall trend: Drug use has declined for the last 40 years, as has drug crime.

The decades of decline coincide with tougher laws, popular disapproval of drug use, and powerful demand reduction measures such as drug treatment in the criminal justice system and drug testing. The drop also tracks successful attacks on supply​—​as in the reduction of cocaine production in Colombia and the successful attack on meth production in the United States. Compared with most areas of public policy, drug control measures are quite effective when properly designed and sustained.

That’s the first bad argument: the drug war hasn’t worked. The second bad argument has to do with prisons.

The second false argument for legalization is that drug laws have filled our prisons with low-level, non-violent offenders. The prison population has increased substantially over the past 30 years, but the population on probation is much larger and has grown almost as fast. The portion of the prison population associated with drug offenses has been declining, not growing. The number of diversion programs for substance abusers who commit crimes has grown to such an extent that the criminal justice system is now the single largest reason Americans enter drug treatment.

Despite constant misrepresentation of who is in prison and why, the criminal justice system has steadily and effectively focused on violent and repeat offenders. The unfortunate fact is that there are too many people in prison because there are too many criminals. With the rare exceptions that can be expected from human institutions, the criminal justice system is not convicting the innocent.

Third, Walters dissects the argument that violent drug cartels would be weakened or eliminate if drugs were legal.

Many factors have driven this misguided argument. First, while President Álvaro Uribe in Colombia and President Felipe Calderón in Mexico demonstrated brave and consequential leadership against crime and terror, such leadership is rare. For both the less competent and the corrupt, the classic response in politics is to blame someone else for your failure.

The real challenge is to establish the rule of law in places that have weak, corrupt, or utterly inadequate institutions of justice. Yes, the cartels and violent gangs gain money from the drug trade, but they engage in the full range of criminal activities​—​murder for hire, human trafficking, bank robbery, protection rackets, car theft, and kidnapping, among others. They seek to control areas and rule with organized criminal force. This is not a new phenomenon, and legalizing drugs will not stop it. In fact, U.S. drug laws are a powerful means of working with foreign partners to attack violent groups and bring their leaders to justice.

And finally, Walters argues that legalization removes a necessary stigma that society should place on such destructive behavior.

Irresponsible talk of legalization weakens public resolve against use and addiction. It attacks the moral clarity that supports responsible behavior and the strength of key institutions. Talk of legalization today has a real cost to our families and families in other places. The best remedy would be some thoughtful reflection on the drug problem and what we say about it.

I quoted half of the article, but don’t forget to read the whole thing.

 

 

 

Jesus Is What the Old Testament Promised Him to Be

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Last Sunday evening, Ben Falconer, our excellent associate pastor, preached a sermon called “Immanuel” on Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and promise. He concluded the sermon with a worshipful list of all that Jesus is.

He is the promised seed of Adam who would crush Satan’s head (Gen. 3:15).

He is the descendent of Abraham through whom every nation on earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3).

He is the son of Judah, who reigns eternally as king, whose garments are washed in the blood of grapes, and whose hand is on the neck of his enemies (Gen. 49:8-12).

He is the Passover Lamb who was slain to protect God’s people from the Angel of Death (Exod. 12).

He is the greater son of Israel who came out of Egypt, and He is the great redeemer who brings his people out of a bondage and slavery that is far worse than anything the Israelites experienced there (Exod. 12-14).

He is the true bread from heaven that actually nourishes and feeds his people (Exod. 16).

He is the Rock from whom the only life-giving water flows (Exod. 17).

He is the fulfillment of the Law, perfectly obeying not only the 10 Commandments, but all 613 from the day of his birth (Exod. 20).

He is the One through whom we enter into our lasting Sabbath rest, not just for one day out of seven, but for every day from now through all eternity (Exod. 23:10-12).

He is our great High Priest who offers his very body as an atonement for the sins of his people (Exod. 28-29).

He is the radiance of God, the exact representation of his being, and is the very presence and glory of God among his people, even more than the ark or the pillars of cloud and fire (Exod. 40:34-38).

He is the once for all sacrifice that God offered on the altar on the Day of Atonement on Calvary, and at the same time he is the scape goat that was sent out of God’s presence into the wilderness on account of the sin that he bore (Lev. 16).

He is like the bronze serpent that was lifted up and when people look to him in faith, they find forgiveness and healing (Num. 21).

He is the star that shall come out of Jacob, and the scepter that comes out of Israel (Num. 24:17).

He is a city of refuge for guilty sinners to run into and find shelter (Num. 34).

He gives us every blessing for his obedience to God’s perfect commands, and he paid the price for the curse we deserved for our every disobedience (Deut. 28).

He leads his redeemed people into the Promised Land where they will dwell with him forever (Joshua 3).

He is our conquering warrior, victorious over the powers of sin and death (Joshua 5).

He is the righteous judge and savior who never fails to defend and protect his people when they repent and turn back to him (Judges 2).

He is the offspring of David whose kingdom has been established forever (2 Sam. 7).

He is the very temple of God, which though destroyed was raised again in 3 days (1 Kings 8; 2 Chron. 3).

He is our chief prophet and teacher who restores true religion by calling us away from our idols to return to the One True God (1 Kings 18).

He is leading a remnant out of Babylon back to the Holy Land (Ezra 7).

He is Job’s hope and ours because we know that our Redeemer lives and at the last he will stand upon the earth (Job 19:25).

He is the eternally begotten Son of the Lord Most High, whom kings fear in his anger, and who blesses those who take refuge in him (Psalm 2).

He was for a time forsaken by God on the cross, so that those who are found in him might never be rejected (Psalm 22). And yet, his body did not see corruption, because, as David sang, God did not abandon him to Sheol, but raised him physically with an incorruptible body (Psalm 16).

He is the shepherd of his sheep, who restores the soul of his fold and leads us in paths of righteousness (Psalm 23).

He purges us with a cleanser much stronger than anything the hyssop branch can spatter on us—he washes us clean in his very blood so that we might be whiter than snow (Psalm 51).

At his command the angels would bear him up lest his foot strike a stone, yet he did not call on their aid, but welcomed the cup the Lord had for him to drink (Psalm 91).

He is the greater Son of David who will sit at Yahweh’s right hand until all his enemies are as footstools, and is the priest forever in the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110).

He is the Word of God incarnate, and the only lamp for our path (Psalm 119).

He is the very wisdom of God made manifest in the flesh (Proverbs).

He is the only purpose in life that matters (Ecclesiastes).

Jesus is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley, and he is the husband who brings his beloved to the banqueting table and who satisfies her fully in his love (Song of Songs 2).

He is the sign to Ahaz, one named Immanuel and born to a virgin (Isaiah 7).

He is the great light shining to a people walking in darkness, coming out of Galilee of the nations; He is the child born who is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end, and on the throne of David and over his kingdom, he will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore (Isaiah 9).

He is the shoot coming from the stump of Jesse, and righteousness will be the belt of his waist. During his reign, the wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them (Isaiah 11).

In his coming, the glory of the Lord is revealed and all flesh shall see it together (Isaiah 40).

He is the Lord’s servant, in whom his soul delights, and with whom he is very well pleased (Isaiah 42).

He is Israel’s only savior and besides him there is no other (Isaiah 43).

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. He is the one who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we were healed (Isaiah 53).

He is anointed by the Lord to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prisons to those who are bound. He proclaims the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; and he comforts all who mourn (Isaiah 61).

He creates the new heavens and the new earth and he will dwell with his people there forever (Isaiah 65).

He is the balm in Gilead that heals the sin-sick soul; he is the great physician who restores the health of his people (Jer. 8).

He is the Righteous Branch from David who will deal wisely and execute justice and righteousness in the land (Jeremiah 23).

He drinks the cup of the wine of the wrath of God so that his people will be spared (Jer. 25).

He ushers in the new covenant in his blood, a covenant written on the hearts of his people, and marked by his forgiveness of our sin (Jer. 31).

He is the very manifestation of the never-ceasing steadfast love of God. His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; for great is his faithfulness (Lam. 3).

He brings life to dead men’s bones; by his Spirit he causes breath to come where death had reigned (Ezek. 37).

He is the Son of Man whom the Ancient of Days gives all dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, and that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion (Dan. 7).

He is the merciful husband who takes back his unfaithful wife, and allows us to once again call him “My husband” rather than “My Baal” (Hosea 1-3).

He brings the Day of the Lord, which will be a day of great terror and judgment for all who do not know him, but everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2).

He is the ruler from Bethlehem Ephrathah, whose origin is of old, from ancient days (Micah 5).

He arrived as king in Jerusalem righteous and having salvation, yet he was humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zech. 9).

He is the refiner’s fire and the fuller’s soap, refining us like gold and silver (Mal. 3).

He is the sun of righteousness, who will rise with healing in his wings, and as a result of what he has done, we, like calves, will go out leaping from our stalls (Mal. 4).

Jesus Christ is the only remedy for the infinite gap between our Holy God and sinful humanity. He is the only bridge from one side to the other. He is the only hope for every downcast soul. He is the only comfort for our sorrow. He is the only healing for our diseased hearts. He is our only true joy in a world full of fleeting pleasures. He is the reason for our existence and we exist to give him praise. So set your heart and your mind and your soul and your strength on him and give him worship.

Praise God. Let us worship and bow down.