God’s people were waiting for a deliverer, the Messiah, to come. They were expecting a lion to crush their enemies. Instead they got Jesus – a lamb who would take their sin away. But Jesus was no pushover. He stirred fear in the heart of the opposition and amazement in the heart of the onlookers. He goes head-to-head with demons – even the Devil himself. He does the impossible. Contemporaries of Jesus Christ saw firsthand what it meant to be more than conquerors.
We’ve heard the story before – An angel’s message. A miraculous conception. No accommodation. Shepherds. Wisemen. Saviour.
John’s rendition of the birth of Christ forgoes some of those details. He writes, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” (John 1.14) Greek readers understood the word “logos” as the representation and the essence of God. Hebrew readers also understood John’s message. John writes: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” “In the beginning” are the first words of the book of Genesis.
John says the beginning of all creation is with the Logos, the Word of God who has become flesh. For the Greeks, he was reason who became flesh. For the Hebrews, he was the Creator who became flesh. For us all, he is God who became flesh.
We all know people whose defences have fallen down. Their lives have become ruinous, absolutely hopeless and helpless. For a ruined life, what does it mean to rebuild defences? Can a ruined life be rebuilt to strength and power and purpose again?
This week in The Story, we look at the book of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. God’s people return from captivity and begin the arduous task of rebuilding Jerusalem’s defences.
In the ‘Parable of Shrewd Manager’ Jesus comments on the belief that morality or being law abiding is the end result of being a Christian. Jesus seems to be saying that the end result of following Him is living a life of generosity that produces the fruits of the Spirit. Certainly morality is tied up in the way Jesus calls us to live, but if we stop at living morally we may have missed the point. Jesus calls us to something far richer and far, far more beautiful than simply raising a moral standard.
The things we do demonstrate how we feel about God. Or, to get right at the heart of the matter: what we do with our money reveals what we believe about God. What money is to us shows what God is to us. Jesus cares more than anything about what your heart is pursuing. That is why he said, “A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”. It consists in his relationship to God. “This is eternal life – true life” Jesus said, “that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” What we do with our money shows where we believe life – and joy and love and hope and security and meaning and freedom – is found.
Jesus taught more about wealth than he did any other social issue - more than marriage, politics, work, sex, or power. He considered money hazardous and helpful. And he taught us how to minimise the hazard, and maximise the helpfulness. In Matthew 6.19-24, Jesus takes on the danger of money and the relationship between how we spend our money and what we believe about the Kingdom. What does our heart’s treasure say about our loyalty to God’s Kingdom?
The topic of money and giving is one of the most difficult things the Bible addresses, yet the Bible speaks clearly and abundantly on it. This series explores what the Bible has to say about how we as Christians are called to steward and use our finances for our joy, for God's glory, and for the expansion of His kingdom on this earth.
This week we will be looking at the greatest complete story in the bible. It reads like a movie. There are plot twists along with villains and heroes. In the middle of it we see normal people caught up in the great plans of God. We see a God who is never mentioned but works behind the scenes without the use of incredible miracles or prophetic words. We see the faith of an orphan girl with no aspirations, move the wheels of history. Connect with the life of Esther and find how we can choose to connect with the plans of God that He has for each one of us.