The Epiphany

Jan06
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Warner Smith

Today, January 6 is the Epiphany (Greek ἐπιφάνεια “manifestation”).  On this date the Christian church celebrates God’s appearing and manifesting Himself to man in the person of Jesus Christ. On this day, we mark the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the child Jesus, or his manifestation to the Gentiles.

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Matthew 2:1-12(ESV)

There are many things we could say about this text. I could begin by pointing out that in the original language of the New Testament the word  παιδίου translated child in verse 8 and 11 does not mean infant but “boy” or even “youth.”  Were our nativity scenes biblically accurate no wise men would be present.

Instead I want to focus this devotion upon the gifts which each wise man brought to the boy Jesus. Matthew is writing his gospel to the Jews and as such he is attempting to show this Jewish audience that Jesus is the Messiah for whom they have waited and prayed.  There is therefore great meaning placed by Matthew into each of the gifts each wise man brings.  As a theocracy the Jewish nation was divided into three important offices.  The office of King governed the people and was to administer justice.  The Priestly office represented the people before God and most importantly offered sacrifices before God on behalf of the people.  Finally it was through the office of prophet which God spoke to directly to His people.

Matthew uses the gifts which each wise bring to Jesus to remind his reader that Messiah would unite these offices and be a king, a priest and a prophet to His people. The wise man’s gift of gold symbolized the tribute which subjects owe their sovereign, the king.  The frankincense represented the incense burned in the temple by the priests as a sweet-smelling offering to God.

And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.  Leviticus 2:2 (ESV)

Myrrh was used to make perfume and anointing oil, signifying that Jesus would also be a prophet.

The lesson we should each remember from the Epiphany is that Jesus is the only true king.  He makes the final and complete sacrifice for us before God.  His words must be heard because through Him God speaks, and He has perfectly revealed God to mankind once and for all.

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The Obedience of Obeying without Understanding

Jan03
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Warner Smith

This Sunday will be the Epiphany, it occurs 12 days after Christmas each year. This year it falls on a Sunday.  Were Jesus actually born on December 25th (scholars believe the actual date of His birth would most likely have been in the middle of April of 6 BC) he would be nine days old today and recovering from the wounds of His circumcision.

21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Luke 2:21-22 (ESV)

From Leviticus 12: 4 we learn that at least thirty three days elapse between verse 21 and 22 of Luke.

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. 3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. 5 But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.  Leviticus 12:1-5 (ESV)

Think of all the legal minutiae which Joseph and Mary had to complete so that Jesus would be ritually pure so that He would be a perfect law keeper according to the Mosaic law.  Joseph and Mary could have never have fully understood the true eternal significance of each and every act of obedience which they performed.  We all benefit from their obedience, however.  God choose well when he gave such an important assignment to the two of them. They were capable of blind obedience.

This raises the question in my mind, “What could God accomplish through me today if like Joseph and Mary I submitted and obeyed Him completely even blindly?”  What about you?

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Independent and Ruined

Jul02
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Warner Smith

I have seen the American flag in some awesome places. Surrounding the Washington monument, flapping in the breeze, on the back of a fire engine following 9/11.  I have seen it draped across the coffin of members of my family.  I am a patriotic American who has participated in and partaken of the American spirit and independence.  Yet while it is great to be independent I don’t need to be independent of everything.  I do not wish to be independent from my wife, or from my children.  I do not wish to be independent from the rule of law, and I certainly do not want to be independent from God.

As we celebrate our independence we need to be reminded that this desire to be independent is not always a good thing. In fact this independent spirit caused all the heartbreak and suffering that is in the world.  What am I talking about?  It was this desire to be independent of God’s rules that caused the fall of man.  True freedom comes not when we are free from all rules and responsibilities but when we submit to God’s perfect rule.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, ‘‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 ‘‘You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.  5 ‘‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.  7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.     Genesis 3:1-7

I want you to consider with the me the incredible beauty of the Garden on Eden. Think of the most perfectly manicured park you have ever been in.  Think of the beauty of the Augusta National Country Club when the Master’s Golf tournament is played and then increase by a power of x.  That is Adam and Eve’s backyard.

They will be given a choice between death and independence or dependence and submission to a benevolent, perfect, holy, loving, and all mighty God, and as impossible as it seems they will choose to be independent. God had not placed a single tree in the garden as these few verses suggest, but if you read the entire context you discover that there are two trees placed in the center of this garden from which mankind might choose. The tree of life or the tree of knowledge.

Should mankind choose the tree of life, he would know immortality and communion with God.  Just as an aside can you imagine how much the fruit of the Tree of Life would be worth today.  Can you imagine walking through the produce section at Kroger and being able to purchase a pound of Fruit of Life. Choose God and live forever in communion with Him.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  16 And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;  17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”     Genesis 2:15

The problem is not that they ate the fruit but what is so bad about the choice Adam and Eve make standing before the Tree of Knowledge is that in so doing they disobeyed the direct and clear command of God. How does someone make such a poor choice?  How did Satan get Adam and Eve to choose death over life?  He did so using the same method he still uses today.  I want you to carefully notice what happened from each participant’s point of view.  First notice Satan’s perspective.

“Has God really said?” or  Did God really say?  In Genesis 3:1b Satan begins by casting doubt on the Word of God.

God left no room for doubt, He said “you will surely die!”

“ . . .you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”     Genesis 2:17

You say but they did not die, so Satan must have been right.  No! They did not die because God is merciful, gracious, loving and forgiving.

So we learn from Genesis 3:1 that the first part of Satan ‘s modus operandi is to cast doubt on the Word of God.

Next, Satan cast doubt on the God’s goodness of God. when He assigns a motivation for God’s commandment for Eve to consider.

‘‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5

So we learn from Genesis 3:5 that the second part of Satan ‘s modus operandi is to cast doubt on the goodness of God.

Now consider Eve’s point of view which is revealed in her answer to the serpent.

2 The woman said to the serpent, ‘‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you (may) will die.’” Genesis 3:2-3

From eve’s answer to Satan’s accusation we learn that she views God’s commandment as overly severe. This is evident because she makes the commandment of God appear more rigid than it is. Next, Eve makes the punishment of God appear less than God’s Word stated.  In the Original Hebrew you could translate her reply to be “you may die.” So you could translate Eve’s words as  “we might die.”

I propose that the process by which Eve yield’s to temptation is the very same process by which each of us fall to temptation today.  Are there not times when we see how luscious the fruit appears and although we know God’s Word says NO!  In our attempt to rationalize our sin we say “How do we know what God said?”  Then when our conscious reminds us of the consequence of sin, punishment, we downplay it.  This is the motivation behind pop culture’s denial and romanticism of hell.  All too often it seems Satan wins again. God’s Word says NO! And just like Eve we say “Why?” We rationalize “Everybody sins, what’s the big deal.”

What Satan is all to willing for us to forget is that God’s hates and abhors sin.  It repulses him. We might be repulsed by a particular sin, pedophila, or child abuse. We forget, however, that God has those reactions toward all of our sin.  God hates all sin.  He does not pick and choose as we do.

Next consider Adam’s point of view regarding this incident in the garden. A careful reading of Eve’s reply to the serpent make it extremely clear that Adam did not perform his duty.  He is the one who heard the command from God, and when he heard Eve misquote it and misapply it he was silent. Sin flourishes when those who know the truth keep silent. Then when God’s judgement falls Adam blames Eve and then blames God “the woman you gave me” and finally the serpent. In other words Adam is not going to take responsibility for his actions unless God makes him. He is not a positive model for Godly manhood.

Finally consider God’s point of view. (Let me qualify this discussion. God is an infinite being who transcends all of our understanding and no one can ever presume to understand Him with our limited finite minds. So while we cannot ever have absolute understanding of God this does not preclude us from having adequate understanding, especially about those things which God has chosen to reveal to us in His Word as in this passage from Genesis.) Notice what God does Not do.

If God were to have exercised his divine prerogative to judge sin solely,
verse 8 would read “And God killed them dead.” and verse 9 would read “The End” and the Bible would be a very short book indeed and there would be no one around to read it.

Instead God knows what has occurred and who is at fault before He asks a single question. What we see revealed is His nature to root out and forgive sin. Notice God’s activity as revealed in this text.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9 But the LORD God called to the man, ‘‘Where are you?” 10 He answered, ‘‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Even though their sin causes Adam and Eve to feel fear of God, and hide from Him, God is merciful and loving and good. This is clearly demonstrated by God’s redemptive acts.

21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Genesis 3:21 

Their nakedness is the symbol of their sin and God covers their shame but not without consequence. Sin brought disunity, blame and shame. God had to shed blood to cover sin.
This is the beginning of God’s Salvation plan.

While we in America celebrate our independence today each of us need to remember that independence has limits and freedom has a cost which comes with many responsibilities. While “freedom is not free” and “the tree of liberty has to be feed from time to time with the blood of patriots” the greatest debt each of us owe is not to the fathers of our nation nor the brave men and women who defend our liberties today. As great as their sacrifices are and as much as we are in their debt their is a much greater debt we bear and one whose sacrifice surpasses them all.God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ are those who deserve our greatest thanks and deepest devotion on independence day and everyday.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart Lord, Take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

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Being A Godly Father Part 2

Jun18
2012 Written by Warner Smith

Another way in which Satan attacks men and their families is to make it as difficult as possible for us to accomplish our God given role as spiritual leader.  Too few men take the responsibility of being the spiritual leader in their home seriously.  One pictures a typical Christian family preparing for bed with Mom reading a Bible story and leading the kids in their bed time prayer.  If Dad is present he may be seen leaning against the door waiting for Mom to finish so he can kiss his children goodnight.

As a father it is my responsibility to give my children biblical instruction. Unfortunately the average Dad does not know how to teach scriptural truth to his children.  Fortunately for us, God gave Moses some simple directions which all of us can follow.

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (ESV)

As a Dad I must first instruct my children about spiritual truth by loving God myself. Christianity is better caught than taught.  For too long too many have told our children about God, instead of showing them how we love God.  How do I do this?  By being real!  God’s word must be in my heart.  I must have my own personal relationship with Christ before I try and teach my children about Christ.

Kid’s are wired from birth to spot all of our inconsistencies.  What father has not had one of his children in their innocence tell on us because of something we said or did in their presence.   How did you react to their observation?  Did you apologize or did you lie?  Did you scold them and tell them to mind their own business?  Our kid’s know us and before they will take any of our spiritual instruction seriously they must see that we love God and are living for Him.

Next, we are told teach God’s commandments to our children with diligence.  How is this done?  By talking about the things of God throughout our day.  We are to be talking with them about God’s word and the things of God as we go to work, as we have breakfast, and as we go about living our lives with our children.  One cannot be an absentee father and a spiritual leader to your children.

Finally, when our children see our hands or look us in the eye they should see authenticity. Culturally we have trouble understanding these verses.  A few years ago there was a popular song Daddy’s Hands, by Holly Dunn which can help us understand the point of these verses.  As a Dad the legacy I leave my kid’s should include memories of my loving God and living for Him.

Dad when you die what sort of eulogy could your children give concerning you were they to speak at your funeral.  Would they talk of how your were a fan of some sports team?  Would they speak of how much money you made?  Could they say that you loved and served God? Could they say that they had caught a love for Christ from you?

May God help us to raise our children in a way which honors Him, and teaches them to love Him also.

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Being a Godly Father

Jun17
2012 Written by Warner Smith

Happy Father’s Day! As a Christian man (by Christian I mean one who loves Christ and gives Him first place in their life) the best thing which you can do for your children is to love their mother.  (This is the subject of the devotions “Being a Godly Man” Part 1 and 2).  Many books have been and continue to be written on parenting, yet this foundational principle is seldom if ever mentioned. By loving your spouse you demonstrate to your child what married love should look like when they become married.

Children learn much more from our example than from our speech. It is very easy to tell them what is right but much more difficult to live correctly before them. The best example of this difficulty is the irony of the following quote from former President Bill Clinton.  He said “people the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.”  He was talking about the nation but he could just as easily have been speaking of the power of fathers in their own home.

Children learn from watching and then imitating their parents.  When you truly understand the fact that your children are watching how you live, so as to imitate you, you should be frightened.  This awareness should motivate us to be a better example.  Someone has written;  “One night a father overheard his son pray: Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is. Later that night, the Father prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.”

According to the Scripture the way I raise my children will impact them for their entire life.

6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)

Many of the problems in our society today can be traced to a failure in our parenting.  A generation is now being raised who not only do not know God, they know very little about anything else.  In 2008 a book was written by Mark Bauerlein entitled: The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30).  Many of us complain when someone cannot make change, or is rude or vulgar.  Guess what, each of those individuals about whom we complain had parents!  Government, schools, and the church cannot become a substitute for the God given role of parent.  Bad parents are a problem for all of society.  It is easy to complain about other parents, but the only parents over which we have any control is ourselves. Unfortunately, as a general rule it is usually the Dad who is the most negligent of parents. Scripture seems to recognize this fact.

21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Colossians 3:20–21 (ESV)

Dad’s have incredible power over their child’s emotional well being.  A father who can never be satisfied can raise a son who refuses to try.  A Dad who is emotionally distant can raise a daughter who becomes promiscuous as she seeks to find that emotional connection.  Dad the bottom line is that your role as a parent to your children is vitally important.  Society will never give you credit, but eventually your children will.  You will make mistakes.  From time to time you will have to go to your son or daughter and apologize but that is o.k.  Will Rogers famously said “Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.”  I have always heard that “If you never make any mistakes, then your not trying.”

Dad, please get in the game!  Your sons and daughters need you more than they know or will ever admit.

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