Risky Plan

Imagine if
two evil spirits had attacked baby Jesus and strangled him while his protecting angels were celebrating his birth with the shepherds.

What if
the wise men had misunderstood their dream and returned to Jerusalem after they had found Jesus. Herod would have gone to worship him, but after he had left, he would have sent a couple of his most vicious henchmen to slaughter Jesus and his parents. Jesus did not receive the Holy Spirit until he was baptised by John, so he would not have been able to heal himself as he was bleeding to death.

What if
Joseph had not understood his warning dream, as we often don’t, and had remained in Bethlehem after Jesus was born, because work was plentiful and well-paid. Jesus would have been killed when Herod killed all the boys under the age of two living in the vicinity of Bethlehem.

What if
Jesus had been helping his father as a builder when a heap of stones fell from the wall of a building and killed him.

Any of the possibilities listed above could have happened. This shows that God took on a huge risk when he sent his only to the earth son to be born as a baby and grow into childhood and eventually to become an adult who would would deliver the people of the world.

If Jesus had been killed, God would have lost his only son. He could not create another one, because Jesus was not created. If Jesus was killed as a child, God’s plan would have failed. The Trinity would become incomplete.

The success of God’s plan depended on a dozen people hearing from God and doing what he needed them to do. If any one of these had missed it, as we often do, the plan would have failed.

More at God’s Big Strategy.

Ant World

Here is an audio version of the parable that can be downloaded.

Ant World

Ant World – A Parable

Once upon a time.....
a botanist who had been studying ants all his life discovered an ant colony at a site where a new road was being built. The machinery that would build the road and destroy the ant colony would arrive within the next week.

He loved ants and did not want them to suffer, so he set to and built an ant world on a table in the spare room of his house. His construction contained everything that ants would need for a good life, including food, warmth and moisture. The botanist had studied ants for most of his life, so he understood everything that they needed. His ant world was a paradise for ants.

The ants lived happily in the ant world for many years. But one day, a restless ant found a crack in the outside wall of their home. He pushed out through the crack and dropped onto the floor of the spare room. A group of ants followed him as he moved out the front door and into the garden.

The move into the garden proved to be a dangerous adventure, because the garden was full of birds that attacked and killed many of the escaping ants. The few who survived formed a small colony, but the attacks by the birds were so severe that the colony was in danger of dying out.

The young ants who were born in the garden colony heard stories about the paradise in the ant world that their ancestors had escaped from, but they did not know how to get back there. As they struggled for survival, they longed to get back, but they had no hope of doing it.

Although the ants had escaped from his care, the botanist loved the ants that were struggling to survive in the garden. He built a tube that went back up into the ant world, but he had no way of showing the ants in the garden how to find it. Even if they had found it, they would have been scared to go up the tube.

The botanist did not have the ability to speak to the ants, and the ants had no ability to hear him speak. If he went too close to the garden colony, he would be in danger of crushing with his feet the ants that he wanted to save. He could write a big sign on the front door of his house, but the ants could not read it.

The botanist decided that the only way he could resolve the situation was to transform his favourite daughter into an ant. He told her what he wanted her to do. She would go into the ant colony and tell them about the paradise in the ant world that was still open to them. She would show the ants the way to the tube that he had built that led back up into the world. She would tell the ants that the botanist still loved them and would look after them in the ant world paradise. He would forgive them for their mistake, and there would be no negative consequences.

Once she knew what to do, the botanist used scientific power to change his daughter into an ant. He took her carefully into the garden and place here near the dying ant colony. This was a hugely risky move, as once she was on the ground, he could not distinguish her from any other ants. The birds were still flying around, and if she could not get into the shelter of the ant colony, they would quickly pick her off. Her father could not protect her from destruction and failure.

At first, the daughter ant received a hostile reception from the ant colony. The guards recognised her as an outsider and tried to attack and kill her. They only stopped when she told them that she had good news for the colony. Some still wanted to kill her, but a few thought they should listen and took her to the leaders of the colony. They were hostile at first, but she pleaded with them, and her description of the ant world paradise appealed to them. Eventually, they agreed that they had nothing to lose from following her up the tube to see if they could find the ant world. Their situation in the garden was so desperate that they decided it was worth the risk.

When nightfall came, and the birds went to bed, the daughter ant led the members of the ant colony towards the house. They filed under the front door and into the spare room. The daughter ant led them up the tube and back into the ant world paradise. The ants living in the ant world recognised the ants from the garden as their distant cousins and welcomed them back into their paradise. They quickly settled back into the pleasant life that it provided.

The ants guarding the ant world did not recognise the daughter ant, so they would not let her in. They pushed her out of their world and back down the tube through which she had rescued the garden ants. This seemed like another disaster, because the daughter ant would be quickly killed by the birds if she went out into the garden to find some food.

Fortunately, the watching botanist was prepared, because he had expected that his daughter would be rejected and ejected. When the rescuer ant tumbled down out of the tube, he knew it was his daughter. He quickly and gently scooped her up and reversed the process that had transformed her into an ant. Once she was restored, she was even more special to him because she had rescued the ants that he cared about.

The botanist and his daughter lived happily ever after....

And the ants in the ant world continue to enjoy the paradise that the botanist had prepared for them.

This story is a bit stupid because no sensible man would turn his favourite daughter into an ant that could be eaten by birds just to rescue a few runaway ants, even if he was a botanist who had spent his life studying them.

Yet this is something like what God did when he took the immense risk of sending his favourite son to be born as a human baby to rescue the people who had rejected his care, even though he had created them.

This story demonstrates what a great act of love the incarnation was. God did something that no human father would do.

More at The Incarnation.

Incarnation

The incarnation of Jesus was the greatest even in the history of the world. God came into the world that he had created, which had rejected him, in the form of a created being. Yet many Christians struggle to understand its wonder, without getting stuck on the baby, or jumping to the cross.

For more see Incarnation

Incarnation

A creator god becoming a human, a created species, is an amazing event. What problem made this extreme event necessary.

God had created humans in his image and given them authority over the earth. Because humans have authority, the solution to any problem on earth has to come from a human.

The spiritual powers of evil tricked humans into rejecting God’s authority. By submitting to the deceiver, they handed authority on earth to the spiritual powers of evil. They set about destroying every aspect of God’s good creation.

The creation was becoming a problem.

• Earth was being wrecked, but God could not do anything about it, because he no longer had authority to intervene on the earth. He needed permission from humans with authority on earth before he could act to rescue his creation.
• Humans had given the spiritual powers of evil authority on earth, so they were not strong enough to defeat them.
• The spiritual powers of evil would not willingly surrender their authority back to humans.

To break the impasse, a human person needed to take back authority over the earth. He had to rescue his fellow humans from the clutches of the spiritual powers of evil without being caught himself.

The only solution was for God to become a human. That is the incarnation. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and Jesus was birthed in her as God, yet also as a human.

Jesus was truly human, so he could take back authority on earth. He had the authority on earth to do what had to be done to defeat the spiritual powers of evil and rescue humans and the earth from their power. He never disobeyed God, so the spiritual powers of evil were never able to capture him. What a wonderful rescuer.

I explain this in more detail in Kingdom Authority.

Incarnation

In my previous post, I explained why Jesus had to be human. However, he also had to be God. Our God is so amazing that our finite minds struggle to understand who is. By becoming human in Jesus, God gave us a revelation of himself that our human minds can grasp. We can know God truly, because Jesus has revealed his character and nature to us.

Imagine a man who damaged the entrance to the hole of an ants’ nest by mistake when he is hoeing his garden. He had not known the nest was there, so he wanted to tell ants the ants that he cared about them, even though he has damaged the entrance to their place of safety.
Communicating with the ants is a nearly impossible task. The ants might hear his voice, but they would understand what he is saying. They might hear the noise, but they would not understand that human language carries meaning.

The ants would see the dark shadow of the man’s foot as it approached, so he was a source of fear. From their perspective, the garden he had created was a jungle in which they lived. They simply could not understand his care for the garden. The biggest animal they knew was a dangerous beetle that tried to eat them, so they would never understand the man’s kind nature.

Even if the man could discover the method by which the ants communicate with each other, it would not help him much, because this communication method would be capable of describing his love, honesty, knowledge, etc.

The only way that the man could communicate his character and personality to the ants would be to become an ant himself. He could then show them what he was really like. He could prove that the did not want to destroy them. He could show them that they could trust them.
The thought of a human becoming an ant is absurd, but it is what God has done in Jesus. He came as a human so that we could have a true understanding of his nature and character. This is why Jesus was God.

We cannot know God through human philosophy or human religion. We can know him through Jesus, because he came down to our level. We must shape our understanding of God by the revelation we received through Jesus’ words and actions. The only way to know God truly is through Jesus.

Incarnation (7)

When Mathew described the angel announcing the birth of Jesus to Joseph in a dream, he quoted from Isaiah 7:14.

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and they will call him they will name him Immanuel”,
which means “God with us” (Matt 1:23).

What a wonderful promise.

Many peoples used to carry their gods around with them, but they were tinpot gods that did nothing.

We have our God with us, and he is the God who created the universe, so there is no limit to his power. What a privilege! To have such a wonderful God with us.

Jesus came to be God with us. When he ascended into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit, so that we could continue to have God with us.

Paul explained the incarnation of Jesus to the Colossians.

For in him all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form (Col 2:9).

John said,

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory (John 1:14).

This Word was with God in the beginning. Everything that was made was made through him. He became flesh and dwelt among us.

Incarnation (6) Illegitimate

When God became man, he did not just become a human, he became an illegitimate child.

When Mary became pregnant, her explanation was absurd. She said that the Holy Spirit had overshadowed her, and that she was still a virgin. No one would believe that story. Everyone would assume that, at worst, she had been seduced by someone, or at best, she had been raped by a Roman soldier. She could not name the father of her child, so everyone would assume that the baby was illegitimate. I presume that she went to visit Elizabeth to escape the insults.

Joseph assumed the worst. He could not marry a woman who was already pregnant, but he was a kind man so he offered to divorce here quietly. Only when an angel spoke to him in a dream and confirmed Mary’s account of what had happened did he agree to Mary her and care for her baby. Marrying Mary was a tough choice for Joseph, because everyone in the village would see that she was pregnant, but not married. He would be labelled as the man with an illegitimate son.

The label stuck with Jesus when he was growing up. When he entered the synagogue at the beginning of him ministry, the people scoffed.

Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son (Mark 6:3).

The were offended by Jesus. They called him “Mary’s son”. That was a reminder that his father was not known. Deut 23:2 said that an illegitimate person could not enter the assembly of the Lord. They believed that he had no right to speak in the synagogue.
When the Jewish leaders challenged Jesus they threw the same insult at him. They asked him.

Where is your father (John 8:19).

They were reminding him that his mother had refused to name his father. When Jesus reminded them that they were spiritual slaves, they said,

We were not born of fornication (John 8:41).

They were trying to insult Jesus by reminding him that he was born illegitimately.
God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son. He did not just becomes man. He was born amidst poverty and insults. What amazing love.

Incarnation (4) Dangerous

Coming to earth as a baby was highly dangerous for God. If the spiritual powers of evil could kill him before he grew up, they could foil God’s plan to rescue his people and his creation.

That is why the spiritual powers of evil stirred up Herod to kill all the baby boys living in the vicinity of Bethlehem. They hoped to wipe him out, before he became a problem for them.

An angel spoke to Joseph in a dream and he and Mary fled to Egypt. The wise men had provided them with wealth to support themselves while there.

I believe the spiritual powers of evil did not notice Jesus fleeing during the night, because they believed that they had destroyed Jesus when Herod killed the children.

Or perhaps they were so arrogant, they did not believe that a baby boy could be a threat to them.

Whatever the reason, Jesus was able to grow up to be as a normal young man.

I am sure that a host of angels continued to surround him for protection. The prayers of Mary and people like Anna and Simeon gave them authority to surround Jesus and protect him. God had to wait for them to be there, before he could send Jesus.

When Jesus was baptised, the spiritual powers of evil realised that Jews really was a threat. They went into the wilderness and tried to get him to disobey God and disqualify himself for his mission. Or to take a rash action that would result him being killed.

Jesus resisted the spiritual powers of evil and defeated them. He was then able to enter his ministry and fulfil his calling.

Although the angels were there to protect Jesus, it was an enormous risk. What if the people has stopped praying, or Joseph had ignored the angel and stayed in Bethlehem. God loved us so much that he was willing to risk his son on a mission to rescue us.

Imagine if you had rented your house out to someone that you trusted to look after it, but they let some gangsters move in and live with them. Would you send your child to live in the house for a couple of years, in order to get it back. If that was the only way to do it, most of us would give up and look for another house. We would not risk a child to save a house. But that was what God did. He sent his son, to save the world. He loved us so much that he was willing to risk his son to rescue us.

Incarnation (3)

We have heard the story of Jesus birth so often, we have forgotten how amazing it is. Imagine a toymaker making wooden dolls. If something went wrong with the dolls, the toymaker could turn himself into a wooden doll so that he was small enough assist them. This children’s story has never been written, because it is just too absurd. Why would a creative human being turn himself into a tiny wooden doll?

What human would turn themselves into an ant to rescue an ant’s nest that was in danger of being destroyed? A kind person might stoop down to look. They might try to remove the danger. But no human would think of turning themselves into an ant to live with them and rescue them. The idea is totally stupid.

Yet that is what God has done. Our creator became a human, so he could rescue us from the mess that we created in his world.

No wonder the angels went mad with Joy. I guarantee that when the idea was first mooted, some angels were surprised and said it would not happen. God would not became a human, a little lower than the angels. Yet that is what he did. That is why the angels sang, Glory to God in heaven, and Wow, the humans who messed up the earth have got a lucky break”.

Incarnation (2)

Why did God send Jesus a baby? Why did he not send him as an adult? He could have done that as he did with Adam and Eve. It would have been much safer.

The problem if Jesus had come as an adult is that the spiritual powers of evil could argue that Jesus was not truly human and not entitled to authority on earth. He had to be born helpless and grow to be a man, so there could be no argument about his humanness, and his right to take authority over the earth. He had to be a true descendant of Adam. Being born to an Israelite girl was the only way that it could happen.

Incarnation (1)

I am struck by the number of Christmas messages that end up being about the cross. It seems that may preachers do not understand the wonder of the incarnation. Let me try to explain it.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He gave authority over the earth to humans. Satan tricked Adam and Eve and they submitted to him, which gave Satan and his follower’s authority over the earth.

The powers of evil had stolen God’s earth. He had given authority to humans, so he could not intervene without their permission. Humans continued to sin, which made them slaves of the spiritual powers of evil. They made sure that humans did not seek him, so God was shut out of his own creation. For a millennium, the spiritual powers of evil had a free reign to attack and destroy the earth. They did terrible harm (Gen 6:5).

Then men like Lamech, Noah and Abraham began to call out to God and invite him to get involved. Moses led the people into Canaan and established a land where God would be free to operate. However, that did not last long, because the Israelites rebelled against God and were taken into exile. The land where God should have been free to work was controlled by evil empires.

The world was a mess, but God had decreed that only humans could exercise authority on earth. But only a human who had not sinned could be free from the spiritual powers of evil and take back authority on earth. None of the descendants of Adam could do it, so the situation looked like a stalemate.

God had created a dilemma. He had given authority over the earth to humans, and he does not go back on his word. Only a human could win the world back from the spiritual powers of evil. However, the spiritual powers of evil controlled humans so, they would not let humans give God authority to intervene. God is sovereign, but because he is faithful, he honours the commitments he has made.

• Only a human could do it.
• No human was human was good enough to struggle free and do it.

God had an amazing solution. He would become a man. That was amazing enough, but he could not just becomes an adult man (like Adam), he had to be a descendent of Adam (and Abraham). The only way that could happen was for God to be born of a woman.

The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and Jesus was conceived in her womb. He was truly human, so he would grow to be a man with legal rights to authority on earth. He would live a righteous life, so he could be defeat the spiritual powers of evil and take authority over the earth back from them.

Hallelujah!!!

God became Human

God created the heavens and the earth, so he had authority over them.

He created humans and gave them authority over the earth. Once he had given up that authority, he could not take it back, even if humans mucked things up.

And they did. They surrendered to the tempter’s advice, so authority over the earth passed over to the spiritual powers evil.

No human could take that authority back, because sin had made them captive to the powers of evil.

God could not take the authority back for them, because he had given authority on earth to humans.

The only solution to this dilemma was for God to become a man, because only a man was entitled to authority on earth.

Jesus could have taken authority for himself and ruled the earth, but that was not enough for a loving God. He wanted to redeem all humans from the power of sin and evil. So Jesus died on the cross to set all humans free from the curse of sin.

But none of that could have happened, if God has not becomes a man in Jesus, because only a human has authority to do anything on earth. So Jesus had to be born as a baby, and grow to be a man, because only someone who has lived as we live could be truly human and therefore have authority on earth.

This is why we celebrate the birth of Jesus, not because a baby was born. Babies are born all the time. But because God became a human.

That has only happened once in human history. And had it not happened, the authority over the earth that God gave to humans would have been lost forever.

Incarnation v Christmas

I am amazed at all the effort people put into making Christmas special,
serious money on presents decorations and food,
serious time preparing food and getting the house ready.

I don’t get it.

If we half understood the incarnation,
out hears would be buzzing,
without any need for the hype.

God has come to us.
We did not have to go to him,
which is just as well because we couldn’t.

Humans had shut God out of the world he had created and given to us.
We had given the world he entrusted to us, over to a destroyer,
but he has broken back into his world to set us free.

God has come to us as a human person,
who we can relate to,
not as an important dignitary, we have to make an appointment to see;
or flying in as a superman, filling us with fear and terror;
but as a baby, among the animals outside the house,
vulnerable and open in the midst of life.

God came to us;
to relate to us, and be our friends;
by defeating evil, and rescue the world;
to restore creation and establish a peaceful kingdom.

The birth of Jesus was the biggest game-changer in history;
something so wonderful should not have happened.

Christmas Risk

Behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”(Matt 2:1-2).

God took a huge risk in sending Jesus into the world as a baby, at a time when his authority on earth was still precarious. He was counting on various people being willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and do God’s will.

• Mary had to be willing to care for a baby. This was a huge burden for a young women.

• Joseph had to listen to his dreams and be willing to obey them. He had to be willing to flee to Egypt for safety, which was scary for a Jewish family.

• Anna and Simeon had to be ready to pray and prophesy as required.

• The wise men would have to come and provide the Mary and Joseph with economic security. They did not give Jesus toys for his play. They provided his parents with commodities that could be sold in any economy at any time. They understood that precious commodities are essential for survival in troubled times.

If any of these people had failed to fulfil their calling, God’s plan would have turned to custard. The devil could have come in and killed Jesus, and removed the son of God from the earth. The wise men nearly set the cat among the pigeons when they went to Herod to find the king, instead of following star to Bethelem.

God Came to Us

God did not tell us
to become as spiritual as we can,
that we might find him.

He did not tell us
to climb as high as we can
in the hope of reaching him

He did not send a messenger to the world
so the he could keep his hands clean

He did not have a seeker service in heaven
and hope that we might turn up.

He came to live in this world of sin and shame.
God became human,
so that humans could know him
and love him.

God stepped down here
and became what we are
to make us the people
he created us to be.