Christmas

<sup>Praise be to Jesus Christ,

6</sup> who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

(Phil 2:6-11)

Christmas thought from Athanasius

"The achievements of the Saviour, resulting from His becoming man, are of such kind and number, that if one should wish to enumerate them, he may be compared to men who gaze at the expanse of the sea and wish to count its waves. For as one cannot take in the whole of the waves with his eyes, for those which are coming on baffle the sense of him that attempts it; so for him that would take in all the achievements of Christ in the body, it is impossible to take in the whole, even by reckoning them up, as those which go beyond his thought are more than those he thinks he has taken in.

Better is it, then, not to aim at speaking of the whole, where one cannot do justice even to a part, but, after mentioning one more, to leave the whole for you to marvel at. For all alike are marvellous, and wherever a man turns his glance, he may behold on that side the divinity of the Word, and be struck with exceeding great awe."

Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word. ch 54, 4-5 (free version here, buy here)

Christmas Prayer

"Almight God, who hast given us they only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made Thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by Thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the same Spirit ever one God, world without end. Amen."

- Book of Common Prayer 1928 - Prayer for Christmastide.

Merry Christmas

"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 for glory to your people Israel." And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "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 many hearts may be revealed." - Luke 2:29-35


Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. - Hebrews 1:1-3

As the Prophets Foretold 5

"For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts. "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."

Malachi 4

As the Prophets Foretold 4

"Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.

Malachi 3:1-4

As the Prophets Foretold 3

A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." A voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"

Isa 40:3-9

As the Prophets Foretold 2

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Isa 9:6-7

As the Prophets Foretold 1

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.

Micah 5:2-5a

The Christ of Micah

I've been pretty sparce on original material lately. I have been churning out papers for the end of the semester, and have about 30 pages worth to go before Tuesday, which wouldn't be so bad if one of them wasn't a Hebrew paper. Anyway, I thought if I were to post anything it would be from a paper.

I just finished a paper on Micah following a method that kept everything within a historical-grammatical-only method, which I distain (see here). Last time this happened with Job I went back through the book to see what it really meant by the criteria of Christ (John 5:39; Luke 24:44-45) rather than old German Liberal methods, and I found Christ has something to do with Job! Anyway, I threw this paragraph on the end of the paper on Micah as my conclusion just for fun and truth's sake:

Micah is not rightly read or understood until it leads to Christ. (DTS Doctrinal Statement Article 1) Christ is the climax of Micah’s restoration. The labor pains of judgment for sin give birth to Christ, in predicted Bethlehem. (Matt 2:1-6; Micah 5:2) Micah predicts a greater restoration of the Temple than Ezra records. (Ezra 3:12; Micah 4:1) Jesus points to Himself as that Temple, greater than the Temple built in the restoration. (Matthew 12:6) Micah’s greater ruler, who’s ways were from ancient days, is the eternal second Person of the Trinity. (Micah 5:2) Micah’s great shepherd is the Good Shepherd. (Micah 5:4; John 10) Christ is the firstborn, sacrificed where Israel’s would not do. (Micah 6:7) Some of the promises of Micah await fulfillment in full, such as the bringing of peace to all the earth (Micah 4:3). Whether these promises have been realized, begun to be realized or await another day, nothing could be more sure than that they all find their fulfillment and realization in Jesus the Messiah. (John 5:39; Luke 24:44-45) The ultimate resolution to the argument of Micah, then, is Christ.

Favorite Christmas Albums

I'm not much of a Christmas music fan. For that measure, I'm not much of a "Christian music" fan, (which I think is largely a ghetto for untalented musicians to take their cruddy mushy songs about their girlfriends and sing them about Jesus). But anyway, there are notable exceptions to both. As Christmas nears, I start dumping these albums into my playlist.

Sufjan Stevens - Songs for Christmas

A set of Christmas songs and just great hymns. The selections range from silly to nostalgic to moving. This album is simply beautiful. A work of art.



Andrew Peterson - Behold the Lamb of God

Two years ago, we caught the live performance of "Behold the Lamb of God" in Dallas. Peterson tells the Christmas story in a fresh way: as part of the story of redemption, from Moses to the cross. The must is great, especially "Gather Round" and "It Came to Pass." I appreciate "Labor of Love" that doesn't idealize the birth of Christ as a "silent night" but as bloody and hard as any pregnancy...why do we rob Mary of her honor by thinking it was an easy happy affair?

Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas

Who doesn't love this album?