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

John 4:1-45

(Jacob's well from John 4 - in a Greek Orthodox church building that has been built around the site)

In our L3 journals this past week, we read John 2 through John 4. In John 4, we read of Jesus' encounter with a Samaritan women at Jacob's well, on the outskirts of Sychar. As Joe shared this weekend, Jesus, exhausted from His journey and the noonday heat, began the conversation by asking her for a drink, then spoke of the "living water" that only He could offer, and then launched into telling the woman her own life story. When she realized that Jesus was a "prophet" (which, at the least, meant that she knew He was 'gifted'), she began to discuss the differences in the theology of the Samaritans and the Jews, specifically in reference to the place of worship.

The History

Around 400 B.C., the Samaritans built a rival temple on Mt. Gerizim (see the location in relation to Sychar on the map below, and read Deuteronomy 11:29-30 and 27:2-7, 12 for context), which was destroyed in the 2nd century B.C. by Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus of Judea as their empire expanded north. This only served to increase the mutual animosity between the Jews and Samaritans. Despite the destruction of their temple, the Samaritans continued to worship on Mt. Gerizim. 

(The well is located near Sychar, along the road north from Jerusalem to Galilee)

No Mountain Necessary

When the Samaritan woman raises this subject, Jesus responds by telling her, "the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father" (Jn. 4:21). In other words, the previously assigned locations for worship will soon be superseded by a better way for those who worship the Father. Then, Jesus speaks of the nature of divine revelation in the two people groups: the Samaritans only believed that the first five books of the Old Testament (aka the Pentateuch - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) were divinely-inspired Scripture, while the Jews held the entire Old Testament (the Tanakh) was divinely-inspired. In John 4:22 Jesus tells the woman that the Samaritans worship what they "do not know" (i.e. they are "outside the stream of God's revelation" [D.A. Carson - The Pillar New Testament Commentary on John, 223]). Inversely, He tells her that the Jews worship what they know, "for salvation is from the Jews" (Jn. 4:22). He is saying here that Jews know the person and work of God because they have believe all of God's revelation in Scripture, and know that the Messiah (thus, salvation) will come from the Jewish line and according to the prophecy of the entire Old Testament.

The New And Living Way

Then, in John 4:23-24, Jesus once again shows how this way of worship is superseded by a better way. he says to her, "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." What is Jesus saying here about worship? He is saying that a new era has dawned with His own coming. He is saying that "this worship can take place only in and through Him; He is the true temple" (Carson, 224) (remember Jn. 2:19-22). Jesus is the turning point between the old way and the new way. He is the cause and the means for true worship.

To worship "in spirit and truth" is not dependent on a location, but on a person, Jesus Christ. John 4:24 says that "God is spirit"--invisible, not limited to a specific place, divine, and somewhat unknowable "unless He chooses to reveal Himself" (Carson, 225)--and therefore He must be worshiped in a manner that goes beyond physical things and comes from the depths of one's being. Tied to this is the idea of worshiping in "truth." The idea of truth is connected to God's Self-Revelation and Self-Expression in Jesus. Jesus is the Truth. Jesus is the Word of God. Both of these ideas ("spirit" and "truth") share one preposition in the original Greek ("in"), and are inseparable. We cannot have one without the other. So it is that "unless they are born from above, unless they are born of the Spirit, they cannot see the kingdom of God, they cannot worship God truly" (Carson, 225).

The Bottom Line

"The worshipers whom God seeks worship Him out of the fullness of the supernatural life they enjoy ("in spirit"), and on the basis of God's incarnate Self-Expression, Christ Jesus Himself, through whom God's person and will are finally and ultimately disclosed ('in truth'); and these two characteristics form one matrix, indivisible" (Carson, 225-226). True worship of God is only made possible by the person and work of Jesus Christ, the "Truth" who reveals to us who God (being "spirit") truly is. True worship encompasses all of who we are as His people, redeemed and born-again because of His death and resurrection.

May we worship the Father in spirit and truth each and every day from here to eternity!

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

Over this past week, we read through the first chapter of the Gospel of John. As Joe said this weekend, John's Gospel starts out in a different way when compared with the other three Gospels (aka the "synoptic gospels"). He describes who Jesus is and what His incarnation accomplished. Here's a list of some of what we can learn about Jesus from John 1:

• Jesus (the Word) was in the beginning with God (1:1, 2).
• Jesus (the Word) is God (1:1).
• Everything was made through Jesus, and without Him, nothing was made that was made (1:3).
• Jesus' light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (1:5).
• All who receive Jesus have been given the right to become children of God (1:12).
• The Word, Jesus, became flesh and dwelt among mankind (1:14).
• Jesus, in the flesh, reveals the glory of God (1:14).
• Grace and truth come through Jesus (1:17).
• While no one has ever seen God, He has been made known through Jesus (1:18).
• Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (1:29).
• Jesus is the Son of God (1:34).
• Jesus is the Christ (literally, "the Anointed One," or "Messiah") (1:41).
• Jesus is the one about whom Moses and the prophets wrote and prophesied (1:45).

This chapter is packed with powerful truth about the person and the work of Jesus. As we continue through John's Gospel, we will see these descriptions and titles developed as Jesus begins His ministry to mankind, and His journey to the cross for our redemption.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

Over the past few months, we have been singing a song in our worship services called "Son Of God," in which we sing the words, "Son of God, prophecy of old/ You alone, redeemer of my soul/ Come again, and lead Your people home/ Come lead us home." As we have been reading through the Gospel of Matthew in our L3 journal, Matthew has been very intentional about pointing out how Jesus has fulfilled the words of the prophets as the promised Messiah, or Christ. Let's take a look at a few examples (all from the ESV):

1. The virgin birth - Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:23 - "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel."

2. Jesus' birthplace - Micah 5:2/Matthew 2:6 - "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."

3. Jesus' escape to and return from Egypt - Hosea 11:1/Matthew 2:15 - "Out of Egypt I called my son."

4. The slaughter of innocent children - Jeremiah 31:15/Matthew 2:18 - "A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."

5. About the ministry of His cousin John - Isaiah 40:3/Matthew 3:3 - "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight."

6. Jesus' eventual hometown of Capernaum, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali - Isaiah 9:1, 2/Matthew 4:15 - "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-- the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned."

7. Jesus' quiet ministry, telling the recipients of healing not to tell about Him - Isaiah 42:1-3/Matthew 12:18-21 - "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope."

8. Jesus' listeners' lack of understanding of his message - Isaiah 6:9-10/Matthew 13:14-15 - "You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."

9. Jesus' teaching in parables - Psalm 78:2/Matthew 13:35 - "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world."

Isaiah was written around 700 years before Jesus was born. Jeremiah prophesied more than 580 years before Jesus' birth. Hosea died around 725 years before Jesus was born. Micah wrote around 700 years before Christ. 

Peter W. Stoner and Robert C. Newman wrote a book entitled Science Speaks. The book was based on the science of probability, and examined the odds of any one man in all of history fulfilling even only eight of the 60 major prophecies fulfilled by the life of Christ.

The probability that Jesus of Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight such prophecies would be only 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.

Stoner claims that that many silver dollars would be enough to cover the face of the entire state of Texas two feet deep. With these odds, it would mean that a blindfolded man, heading out of Dallas by foot in any direction, would be able, on his very first attempt, to pick up one specifically marked silver dollar out of 100,000,000,000,000,000!

God used these prophets to tell of the coming Messiah, and their accuracy is nothing short of supernatural. They could not have done this in their own power or knowledge. It had to be the work of God, revealing Himself and His plans to these men. As we continue to read through Matthew, we will see more proofs that Jesus is the true Messiah. May these prophecies only serve to confirm for us that Jesus is truly the Messiah, and He is the only one worthy of our worship and faith.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore, 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. Let 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."

Hebrews 12 comes on the heels (not surprisingly) of Hebrews 11, the great hall of faith chapter. Therefore, in light of the testimony of such a great cloud of witnesses (think Hebrews 11 and the faithfulness of God), we can be sure of things hoped for and certain of things we do not see. Hebrews was written to a group of people who were on the fence between Judaism and Christianity. They liked Jesus, liked the body of Christ, but were scared and hesitant to leave behind their heritage, not fully understanding that Jesus was the fulfillment of their faith. The writer of Hebrews is telling them to let go. Their heritage of faith (Hebrews 11) has pointed them to this, and now it is time to pursue Christ by...

Throwing off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles...what are the things in your life that are keeping you from abundant life in Christ? This is not a trick question. Name them. If you are being honest, you know them easily. Name them. Confess them to God and find a brother or sister in Christ to walk life with you, keeping you accountable and celebrating growth in your life.

Run with perseverance the race marked out for us...God is trying to get you to a point B. You started at point A, and he is taking you to the location he has destined. IF YOU ARE LUCKY, this road will NOT be easy. Suffering in life, times of wilderness and desert are invitations to hold tightly to the hand of God. There is no greater moment in your life to run with perseverance, or be transformed in your faith, than when times are tough. We do not rejoice in the sufferings themselves, but in our God who can get us through. Run your race. I know that for many of us, we are going through tough situations, tough decisions and real pain. I am in no way belittling these experiences, just merely calling you to follow hard after the one who is able to save.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus...The rest of the verse describes his greatness and worthiness, but he must be our gaze. When he is not our vision, our lives are dictated by lesser things. CS Lewis calls this "lovers less wild." Our eyes must be on Jesus, because he is our standard. Our eyes must be on Jesus, because there is no one else worthy to be followed. Our eyes must be on  Jesus because only through him, will our lives have value.

Our circumstances might be different than the 1st century Jews, but our call is the same. This week in our homes, in our schools, in our places of business, may we pursue Christ above all else.

Brian Tryhus
FBC Family Pastor