LABOR DAY

            As a child, Labor Day was a big deal. We lived blocks from the steel mills and in their nighttime illumination. It seemed most of the men worked in the steel mills and were members of a labor union. Labor Day celebrated working people with parades and speech filled gatherings. It was a really big deal.

            Today Labor Day is just another holiday. There are still a few parades and other activities. (In Tuscumbia you can go to the Coon Dog Cemetery celebration.) Most of society sees it as the last long weekend of summer.

            To us children, Labor Day meant other things. Labor Day was the day the local swimming pool in Ensley closed for the season, a real downer. But more of a downer was the beginning of school. School always commenced the day following Labor Day. Also, the minor leagues were winding up their seasons. Needless to say Labor Day was a melancholy time for us.         

             As we grew into adulthood, however, we recognized that every time and season had its own pluses. Still left in the year were football, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also we saw the changing seasons as a reminder of God’s promise, His assurance of the consistency in this world we occupy. God’s promise in Genesis 8:22 is , “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Winter and Summer, and day and night shall not cease.”

 

Grace and peace.

IN CHRIST ALONE

             A debate over the lyrics of a gospel song, “In Christ Alone,” was reflected editorially in the last two issues of The Alabama Baptist. The focus is over changing the words “Till on that cross as Jesus died/The wrath of God was satisfied” to “Till on that cross as Jesus died/The love of God was magnified.”  The basic question concerns the nature of God. Was God at the cross pouring out his wrath upon Jesus, who bore our sins, or was God at the cross manifesting his love for us, through giving Jesus to die to save us?

            We know in the Bible that God hates sin and sin will be punished. The wrath of God against sin is beyond doubt. And the Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) All of us deserve punishment.

            But the Bible also tells us that, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) The reason Jesus was on the cross was the love of God. Otherwise this passage would need to read, “for God was so angry at or wrathful toward the world that he gave his only begotten Son.”

            So the basic question is, what was on God’s mind as Jesus hung on the cross? Was He full of wrath or full of love? Or was it a combination of both. It does not challenge the truth that He is a wrathful God to imagine that at that particular time He was concentrating on His love for mankind and for Jesus who had become our sacrifice for sin.

            That people disagree on that question should not question anyone’s belief in the substitutionary atonement. Jesus died for us, as our substitute, to satisfy the holiness of God.

 

Grace and peace. 

JUST A LITTLE BABY

             The eyes and ears of the world were trained on Great Britain as a new prince, Prince George, was born. Prince George is now third in line for the throne, behind both his father, William, and grandfather, Charles. Coverage of his birth by the media exceeded any such coverage of any other birth, recent or ancient.Everyone knows his name, who he is and what he can become.

            How different this is than when Jesus came into the world. The angels announced his birth to the shepherds. The wise men knew of it in their readings of heavenly bodies and they informed Herod the King. Otherwise, Jesus snuck into the world unnoticed. Yet, He is the one who already was and has become Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. Because of his life, death and resurrection, and because of his followers spreading the gospel through the years, His name is now known in the entire world. Very few remote villages in remote jungles or isolated islands have not heard his name. With the advent of computers and the internet, more and more people have access to his story and his followers. This reality prevents nations who want to suppress Christianity from doing so. Anyone in their country with access to the internet can read of Him and His followers. Indeed, the gospel has been made known in all the world.

            But knowing His name and knowing the gospel are not sufficient. How we respond to this knowledge is of utmost importance.  A simplistic instruction is: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31) But a reading of the New Testament demonstrates that simple believism is not sufficient for salvation. A real and committed walk with Jesus is demanded. I hope your walk is going well.           

Grace and peace.