Christmas..

More light than we can learn, More wealth than we can treasure, More love than we can earn, More peace than we can measure, Because one Child is born.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

a poem..

God appears, and God is Light,
To those poor souls who dwell in Night;
But does a Human Form display
To those who dwell in realms of Day.
William Blake (1757-1827)

Filed under Christianity,

More than words..

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
From 'And Can It Be' by Charles Wesley 1738

J.I. Packer puts it like this: when you realize that God has taken you from the gutter, so to speak, and made you a son in his house - you, a miraculously pardoned offender, guilty, ungrateful, defiant, perverse as you were - your sense of God's 'love beyond degree' is more than words can express..

so true.

Filed under Christianity, Books | Reading

from slavery to sonship..

When Charles Wesley found Christ on Whit Sunday, 1738, his experience overflowed into some marvellous verses ('The Wesleys' Conversion Hymn', Methodist Hymn Book 361) in which the transition from slavery to sonship is the main theme.

Where shall my wondering soul begin?
How shall I all to heaven aspire?
A slave redeemed from death and sin,
A brand plucked from eternal fire,
How shall I equal triumphs raise,
Or sing my great Deliverer’s praise?

O how shall I the goodness tell,
Father, which Thou to me hast showed?
That I, a child of wrath and hell,
I should be called a child of God,
Should know, should feel my sins forgiven,
Blessed with this antepast of Heaven!

Filed under Christianity

in the name of love..

Justification is a forensic idea, conceived in terms of law, and viewing God as judge. In justification, God declares of penitent believers that they are not, and never will be, liable to the death that their sins deserve, because Jesus Christ, their substitute and sacrifice, tasted death in their place on the cross…

But contrast this, now, with adoption. Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father. In adoption, God takes us into His family and fellowship, and establishes us as His children and heirs. Closeness, affection and generosity are at the heart of the relationship. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the father is a greater.
J.I. Packer, Knowing God

adoption.. it's the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification. Heaps thankful!

Filed under Christianity, Books | Reading

be a soldier..

The true Christian is called to be a soldier, and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death. He is not meant to live a life of religious ease, [laziness], and security. He must never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and doze along the way to heaven, like one traveling in an easy carriage... If the Bible is the rule of his faith and practice, he will find his course laid down very plainly in this matter. He must 'fight'.
J. C. Ryle, Holiness

what a challenge..

Filed under Christianity, Books | Reading

before the throne..

Before the throne
by Charitie Lees Smith Bancroft, 1863

Before the throne of God above,
I have a strong and perfect plea,
A great High Priest whose name is “Love,”
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart;
I know that while in heav’n He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
To look on Him and pardon me

Behold Him there! the risen Lamb,
My perfect, spotless Righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace!
One with Himself I cannot die,
My soul is purchased by His blood;
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God
With Christ my Savior and my God.