As we continue reading through our L3 together this Advent season, I am continually reminded of the significance of Christ's arrival here on the earth and in the flesh. His coming signaled hope and a coming peace for humanity, but not without cost. It would require the defeat of sin and death. It would require Christ sacrificially giving His life up for us. It would require a war like none other.

A song that was released a few years ago made me more aware of this concept, and I was really encouraged by it. It speaks of Christ's arrival as a declaration of war against sin, death, and darkness. Christ's coming changed everything. He has won the victory over sin and death. He conquered the grave. That is what He came here to do. He is Lord and King.

Below are the lyrics and a video of Dustin singing this song. 

"This Is War"
Words and Music by Dustin Kensrue

This is war like you ain’t seen.
This winter’s long, it’s cold and mean.
With hangdog hearts we stood condemned,
But the tide turns now at Bethlehem.

This is war and born tonight,
The Word as flesh, the Lord of Light,
The Son of God, the low-born king;
Who demons fear, of whom angels sing.

Hallelujah, a Child is born
He is the rescue we've waited for
The throne of David He will restore
The reign of mercy forevermore

This is war on sin and death;
The dark will take it’s final breath.
It shakes the earth, confounds all plans;
The mystery of God as man.

May the true significance of Advent stay at the forefront of our minds as we celebrate it with our friends and family this weekend. We have peace and hope because Jesus Christ declared war on sin and death, and became sin for us, so that we could be reconciled to God. Jesus is our peace.

May God bless you with the awareness of His presence during this Advent.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

The Meaning of Advent - "Coming" or "Arrival"

During this Advent season, we are breaking from our usual sequential readings and taking smaller sections from throughout the Bible that point to the coming of the Messiah. These readings can point to Christ's first coming in the flesh, which we celebrate through Christmas; they may also point to the second coming of Christ as the King of kings.

The season of Advent is one of thanksgiving, expectation, longing, and hope. We remember how Christ, the Lord of all the earth, came in the flesh to rescue us from sin and death. We also look forward to the day of His victorious return, when He makes all things new, and when He wipes every tear from our eyes.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. (Revelation 21:1-7).

We have this hope and expectation because He came the first time, and changed everything. He rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into His kingdom (Col. 1:13). Let us look back with thanksgiving on what He has already done for us, and let us look forward with joy at what He is about to do.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

This week in our L3 journal, we read through the end of the Gospel of Matthew. In this portion of Matthew's Gospel, we find what is often called, the "Passion Week," where Jesus experiences the difficult journey to the cross for our redemption. In chapter 27:27-44, we see the focal point of the entire gospel message - the crucifixion of Jesus.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and puta scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. (Mt. 27:27-44 ESV)

The phrase that I highlighted here is what sticks out to me most from this passage today, and this is why: what the chief priests, scribes, and elders were saying in their mocking of Jesus was more true than they knew. Jesus could not both save us and save himself at the same time. In order for any of us to be rescued from our sin and from death, Jesus had to die. There was no other way for us to be rescued. The penalty for our sin could only be removed by the death of the perfect Man (aka "The Spotless Lamb"). Any other sacrifice would have been insufficient. God's righteous wrath against sin was poured out completely on Jesus in our place. He was condemned for our sin, despite His perfect innocence. If He came down from that cross and saved Himself the suffering, He could not have saved us. He stayed on the cross because of His great love for us, and His perfect obedience to the Father. This was the only way, and He would see it through, so that we could be redeemed.

When we choose to place our faith and trust in Jesus' finished work on the cross, where He took the penalty for our sin, we receive His gift of salvation. We can either choose to depend on our own goodness to attempt to earn heaven, but in so doing we also choose to bear the wrath for sin on our own. Or we can trust that Jesus paid it all, recognizing that we have nothing to offer God, and are completely dependent on His gracious gift of salvation through the cross. Truly, "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Praise the mighty name of Jesus Christ, because He endured the cross and the wrath for sin in our place, and did not save Himself. May we each examine ourselves and know how truly desperate we were/are for His saving work on the cross. There was no other way for us to be saved. "He saved others; he cannot save himself."

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

This week in our L3, we have been reading through Psalms 120-132. In these Psalms, we find songs of prayer for deliverance (120, 129, 130), songs of confidence in God's providence and power (121, 124, 125 - the Psalm from which the song "Those Who Trust" was written, 127, 132), songs of celebration (122, 126), a cry for mercy (123), a song of wisdom (128), and a song of peace (131). In your Bible, you may see a heading over each of these Psalms: "A Song of Ascents." These were songs that the people of Israel sang as they ascended the hill on which Jerusalem was situated, "the mountain of the Lord" (Isaiah 30:29 ESV).

My favorite of these Psalms is 130. In this Psalm, we see the Psalmist mourning his sin and guilt, and his resulting desperation for God's mercy. We can also see the teaching of a righteousness given by faith. The beginning of this Psalm is where each of us truly begin our relationship with God - we need to recognize the depth of our sin, and our desperation for God's mercy. Self-help is not an option for our redemption. God must do it. Verse 3 shows the gravity of the situation, recognizing that if God decides to count all of our transgressions against us, we don't have a chance! It is only because of His grace and mercy that we have hope.

In verse 4, we also get a clearer picture of what "the fear of the Lord" looks like. Notice that forgiveness is the cause of the Psalmist's "fear" of God. If the Psalmist's relationship with God were like that of a slave or servant to a master, this "servile fear would have been diminished, not increased, by forgiveness" (Derek Kidner, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms, 482). Instead, "fear" in the Old Testament "means reverence and implies relationship" (Kidner, 482).

Through the rest of the Psalm, the Psalmist speaks of his hope in the Lord and his word. He speaks of God's "steadfast love" and "plentiful redemption" (v. 7). And then there is the bottom line: God "will redeem Israel from all his iniquities." Notice who is the one doing the redeeming and forgiving. It is God. Not us. Not the Psalmist. He is well aware that he cannot rescue himself from his sin. The Psalmist must to turn to God and trust in Him to forgive us through His mercy, His steadfast love, and His plentiful redemption, even though the Psalmist was not yet aware of the means of this ultimate forgiveness (Jesus Christ).

This Psalm takes us through the journey that we all must walk, from desperation and guilt in our sin to hope, forgiveness, and redemption in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

To think on this Psalm further, listen to this recording of a piece from composer John Rutter's Requiem, entitled "Out of the Deep," which comes almost verbatim from Psalm 130:

Out of the Deep

About a decade ago, this song made me take a close look at Psalm 130, and helped me to see its beauty and value for us today. Enjoy!

May we each recognize our desperate need for mercy, forgiveness, and redemption from our deep sin. We have no hope without Christ! May we each remember and thank Him for His work on the cross to rescue us and to wash away our sin.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

In nearly every one of Paul’s letters to the churches (Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica), there are some recurring themes. The most significant of these themes is that of justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ. In the last two letters we have read together in our L3 journal, Galatians and Ephesians, we see this theme very clearly.

In Galatians 2:16, Paul writes, “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (ESV). To be “justified” is a legal term meaning “to be declared righteousness,” and basically communicates the idea of “right-standing” with God (Leon Morris, The Atonement, p. 187). Paul goes on in chapter 3 to discuss Abraham (this passage is very similar to Romans 3:21 - 5:11), and how God made a covenant promise to him through faith, without any law. "The law," Paul writes, “came 430 years afterward,” and “does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.” Basically, if the promise was given without any law, then the law that came 430 years later does not change the promise. The original promise still stands. The law was given to teach people what true righteousness looks like and what was God's standard for righteousness.

Paul is saying here that a right-standing and relationship with God cannot come by working for it. It always came by believing and trusting Him. Before Christ, true Judaism was looking forward in faith and trust in God’s ultimate provision of salvation through the Savior (the people that Jesus was most harsh with in the Gospels were the ones who were trying to establish a their right-standing and relationship with God based on their own merit, like the Pharisees).

Today, we are on the other side of that ultimate provision in Jesus Christ, and the message is clear: we cannot save ourselves, nor can we have right-standing with God based on our own work. We need Jesus Christ’s perfect life, death, and resurrection in order to have a relationship with God. This is what Paul is saying here: no one has right-standing with God because of their own good works. It is only by God’s grace that we are made right with God. We are all incapable of fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law, and we have all come up short when measured by its standards, so we are hopeless on our own (see also Rom. 3:23). Trusting in Jesus’ work on our behalf is the only way for us to be justified.

In Ephesians 2, Paul says it this way (my paraphrase), “You were dead in your sin. You did not keep the law, even if you tried. You disobeyed God. Despite all of this, God, because He is rich in mercy and loves us so much, that He made us alive together with Christ. It is only by His grace that you are alive. It is not because of anything you have done. You can’t take any credit for this. It is only by His undeserved gift of salvation through Jesus Christ that you have life.”

We do not deserve God’s forgiveness, His love, or His grace and mercy. Rather, we deserve His wrath for our sin. That is where our lives were heading without Christ, because we could not fulfill the law, despite our best efforts. He is our only hope. He is our salvation. He is the one who declares us righteous through His death in our place, for our sins, on the cross. He is the one who gives us right-standing and a relationship with God. The way to have this new life? TRUST HIM- not yourself or anything you have done. Trust what He has done for you. Trust that it is enough. Believe that there is nothing you can do to make it a better deal for God. You cannot make yourself look any better in the sight of God. Jesus has already done all the work and been perfect in your place. His promise is the only way for you to be justified. His grace is our only hope. Let us never forget that our salvation is not of our own doing in any way. We didn’t save ourselves, and we don’t keep ourselves saved. It is only by the grace of God that we are saved and have the promise of eternal life with Him. This thought runs through all of Paul’s letters in some way, and is the crux of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor