January 3

Genesis 3 I had a blast in fencing class in college. I have often wished that I had the time and lived in an area where I could pursue fencing as a hobby. During the semester of fencing, I developed a planter’s wart on the heel of my right foot. When one is right handed and makes a thrust in fencing, one kicks their right foot forward and lands on their heel. The planter’s wart became painful. I went to the doctor. On three visits over three weeks he applied some acid to the wart and then the next week he would cut off the dead part of the wart and then reapply the acid. There were one or two days where I could not fence in class because it was too painful to land upon my heel. Yet, I overcame the pain and remained one of the top fencers of the class. The glory of Jesus is seen right from the fall of Adam and Eve. We are not told how long Adam and Eve were in the garden before they sinned. We are only told of the simple act and its terrifying, dreadful, deadly results. The sin immediately cast Adam and Eve into defensively hiding their sin and blaming someone else for their sin. That sin brought pride into the life of Cain, who became the first murderer. That sin brought ruin on the whole race. Adam's race quickly multiplied. (Can you imagine living to 900 and being healthy enough to bear children until you were really old?) Genetic mutations in the gene pool were just beginning. So, as a whole they were not only healthier, they were probably also smarter, as a whole. In an environment that was much friendlier than ours, they probably had more free time. We spend the majority of our adult working lives paying for our home and setting ourselves up for retirement. Can you imagine having your home paid for and still have 800 years of your working life in front of you. You could work part time and devote much of your time to things that really interested you. And so they did. Jabal developed his interests in animal husbandry. Jubal developed his interests in music. Tubal-Cain developed his interests in metallurgy. But the planter’s wart of sin was growing in the race. Rather than using their free time to glorify God, the sin infection of the sin and too much free time corrupted them and they became violent. The human race was off to a poor start. Fifteen hundred years had produced an exploding population full of morally corrupt people. Satan's bite upon the heal seemed to be fatal. But the glory of Jesus was seen from the beginning. The seed of the woman whose heel would be bruised looked prophetically beyond the descendants of Adam and Eve to one particular descendent, Jesus. The planter's wart of sin has grown in every human since. Adam’s sin was transferred to Jesus on the cross. Jesus did not have a wart until the cross. He was born of a virgin and did not inherit the deadly virus from Adam. So on the cross God allowed Satan to bite His Son. God transferred the wart from us to Him. That was a painful bruise. But He did it willingly. It looked as though the serpent had taken Jesus' life. But on the third day Jesus came out of the tomb and crushed the head of the serpent. The acid did its job on the cross and in the resurrection. Oh it was painful! But He overcame the pain and He was victorious. He offers His victory to you and me. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * Ezra 3 Sitting in the backyard of my parent’s house on a fall Saturday afternoon can sometimes be a noisy experience. They are about 5 or 6 blocks from Boone Pickens Stadium. We can hear the roar of 60,000 people whenever something good or bad happens during the game. We know that OSU has scored whenever we hear the ROTC cannon fire and the band playing Oh, A&M. It is a noise of celebration that we like to hear. Do you celebrate the goodness and mercy of the Lord? It had been 70 years since the first exile and about 54/55 years since the destruction of the temple. Hmm. . . as I write I am 55 years old. Had I been born when the temple was destroyed, I would have had no memory of the first temple. All my memories would have been only of the exile. I am sure my parents would probably have replayed again and again their memories of Jerusalem. To be able to return to live in Jerusalem as a free man would certainly have seemed like a dream. Yet God accomplished it in their lifetime. They were able to establish homes and return to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles and then lay the foundation for the second temple. Surely this was a time for celebration! Indeed the Lord is good and his mercy is everlasting! I was in exile from my Lord. My sin had alienated me from experiencing the pleasure of His presence. But He is good and His mercy is everlasting toward me. In His kindness He moved upon the heart of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver me from exile. He has brought me back to Himself. What a joy and cause for celebration that is! When the people laid the foundation for the temple, they rejoiced, and it was heard far away. Their 70 year old dreams were being realized. With 42,000+ people assembled on the top of Jerusalem’s rocky temple mount, the sound of their celebration could be heard far away. God had scored an amazing touchdown in their nation! Should I not also celebrate upon my return from exile? He has scored an amazing touchdown in my life! Let the celebration of his goodness and mercy begin! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John * Psalm 3 Salvation belongs to our God. What does He save us from? He saves us from His own wrath. He saves us from ourselves. He saves us from our families. He saves us from our enemies. Wow, salvation belongs to Him! At a time when he was at one of his greatest emotional lows, David declares that salvation belongs to our God. Can you imagine being hunted by your son? Absalom was a son who was truly gifted. He was good looking and charismatic. He was talented enough to have won the hearts of the people over to himself. He had a sense of justice. When Absalom’s full sister was raped by her half-brother, he waited for David to execute justice. It was not executed. Absalom made it happen with His own hands. David couldn’t bring himself to forgive Absalom or completely condemn him. After all, he too was a murderer. It led to David’s downfall and crowned the schism between them. Surely David was proud of him, and yet, he was repulsed by him. He had held Absalom at arm’s length. Now Absalom was seeking to kill him. David is dying. His own past condemns him. His son seeks his life. How can God save him? But He does. God saves David. He heals David’s broken heart. He delivers David from death. In the midst of it all David can say, “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” If He can do that for David, He can do that for me! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * Matthew 3 Every great leader has his entourage that goes before him to prepare the way. In May of 1974 President Nixon gave the graduation address at Oklahoma State University. My house was on 5 or 6 blocks from the stadium. The campus was a whirl of excitement as the SS did their advance preparation for the visit of the president of the United States of America. Although we had no family graduating, we went to the graduation. It was the only time I had seen a president in person. Each entrance into the stadium was carefully watched by men looking for any suspicious activity. The whole event was carefully planned. The President arrived by helicopter from the Air Force base in Enid. I was expecting one helicopter. Several arrived. They landed near the field house. The President entered the stadium surrounded by a great number of men. He exited in the same manner. When the helicopters had left we were released. Three months later the President resigned in the ignominy of one of the most publicized scandals of Presidential history. What kind of advance preparation would you expect from the coming of the King of kings and Lord of Lords? He sent a forerunner, John the Baptist, before Him to tell the people to prepare for His coming. Their preparation was not for the protection of the King, but for their own protection. They needed holiness not pomp. Therefore, John's message was of the purifying glory of our King. His purifying glory is like a fire. If we yield to Him our sin is taken away and we experience the power of the Holy Spirit. If we don't, His fire is to our detriment. John's baptism was a baptism identifying with repentance, with yielding to His purifying fire. Jesus' baptism was a baptism identifying Him as the baptizer in the Holy Spirit. When John baptized Him, the glory of the triune God was seen. The Spirit of God descended physically upon Jesus like a dove, revealing Jesus' Spirit baptism power. The heavens opened and the voice of God the Father was heard saying, "This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." There is no greater testament to a son's character than for a father to pronounce that he is pleased with his son. The greater the character of the father will be greater the value of the father's pronouncement. This is God the Father speaking of God the Son of His pleasure in Him! You can't get a better endorsement than that! All three persons of the God head are expressing their delight in each other and in the beginning of the redemption of mankind. What an entrance into redemptive history! Three years later our King of kings suffered innocently in our place the ignominy of crucifixion with two criminals. But unlike the president of the USA who never recovered from his disgrace, our King rose again on the third. He forever defeated sin and death. He is returning not as a suffering servant but as Lord of lords! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John