One of our pastors spoke today about the meaning of Christmas (okay this was no surprise since it's Christmas Eve-Eve). Instead of the traditional Birth of Christ passage from Luke 2, Dr. David McKinley taught from Hebrews 12:1-2. (This was the 2nd in a 3 part series):
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (NIV)
I have read this passage many times, yet today I gleaned new truths from it. Have you ever been caught in tangly weeds? We get them down by the lake in the summer, long vines with thorns on them. If you accidentally walk through them, you're stuck! Escaping requires precision and patience, or you end up quite scratched and frustrated!
Do I really throw off the things that hinder, and/or the sin that so easily entangles? Sometimes, honestly, it is easier to just remain entangled. Even when I do escape it, I don't know that I really throw it off. Sometimes it's more like I sneak away when I think it's not looking. Actually throwing something off, especially if it's tangled and thorny, implies a violent action. And sometimes I just don't want to put in the effort. But I need to be leaning on Christ, and allowing his Holy Spirit inside of me to do the work. I guess I just...lose focus.
Also, I was reminded that the only race I have to worry about is the one that is marked out for me. And I am to run it with perserverance. Endurance. Excellence. I think I am really missing the mark here... I have always been like Aesop's hare of Tortoise infamy, I run quickly ahead, then lie on the side of the road and take a nap. That's not how a race is run. Every runner knows you are supposed to establish a steady rhythm, a pace, and stick to it. I am praying for a steady pace.
Dr. McKinley taught at length about what it means that Jesus is the author (originator, founder) and perfecter (finisher) of our faith. Our faith comes from Christ - it originates with him. But also it is he who completes our faith. Without Christ, our faith is imperfect, unfinished. Through Christ we are complete. The Greek word used in the text for "perfecter" is totelestai meaning paid in full. This was a common term used in the marketplace when a transaction of goods occurred. Through Christ, our sins are paid in full, because "for the joy set before him [he] endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." In fact, the same word, totelestai, is what Christ said when he died. It is often translated, "It is finished" but it could also be translated, "Paid in full."
I pray you realize, this Christmas, that Christ has stamped "Paid in full" on your life, washing away your sins and opening up the gates of heaven for you. All you need do is accept this free gift of salvation, turn from your sins and follow Him. Your life will never be the same.
Because Christ has paid it all,
1. I have nothing to complain about this Christmas. (Nothing - I really messed up here!)
2. I need not compare myself with those around me.
3. I cannot improve upon what Christ has done for me.
Dr. McKinley closed with this "Christmas song," which isn't a Christmas carol at all, but a familiar hymn, "Jesus Paid It All":
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet.
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
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