Meditational Musings from the Mind of Milo

• Band of Brothers
• Lombardi Was Right. Winning IS the Only Thing
• God's Wardrobe
• Imago Deo
• All In!
• Super Body
• God-Think
• Bragging Rights
• The "Rest" of the Christmas Story
• How God Will Decide When to End the World
• Let's Raze Hell
• God Wants Us to Commit Suicide
• Reverse the Curse
• God and Sides
• Growing Up
• Insiders
• My Lampstand

Band of Brothers

Although I never fought in a war or even served in the military, I've seen the strong bond that comrades-in-arms have for each other in shows like Band of Brothers, movies like Saving Private Ryan, books I've read, and veterans I've encountered. Their devotion to each other and willingness to sacrifice for one another is as strong as can be found in any human relationship, including marriage.

This has given me insight into why God asks His people to suffer for His cause. Serving God puts us into the middle of a cosmic battle:

• For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

No different from any other war, this epic conflict comes with casualties. Throughout the centuries Christians have been imprisoned, tortured, and killed for their faith. Others have lost family, their livelihood, and everything they own. All Christians who are persecuted for their faith comprise a Band of Brothers and Sisters with a common bond forged in the face of adversity:

• Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (I Peter 5:8-9)

Moreover, this Band of Brothers and Sisters includes the Lord Himself:

• But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. (I Peter 4:13-16)
• I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)
• For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. (II Corinthians 1:5)

Just as veterans who have fought side by side in earthly wars have cemented a special bond lasting the rest of their lives, so will the brotherhood of Christ that endures trials and tribulations for the good cause of God's work on Earth enjoy a unique kinship for all eternity:

• Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12)

We believers who are blessed to live in a land where we are free to exercise our faith are also fighting against a world system that opposes God, and we stand with the holy warriors on the front lines of the battle for this planet:

• Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. (Hebrews 13:3)
• If one part (of Christ's body, the body of believers) suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (I Corinthians 12:26)
• Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. (Hebrews 10:33-34)

Lombardi Was Right. Winning IS the Only Thing.

I hate losing. Losing stinks. It's never good when the Packers lose, especially to the hated Vikings or Bears. In politics, I can't stand seeing my side lose an election. Maybe the only time I tolerate losing is at the craps table as a price for entertainment. Nah, I hate losing there, too. Winning is best.

Although Vince Lombardi may have said, "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing," the sentiment is absolutely right when it comes to God executing His plan. Unlike the Packers, elections, or craps where the prospect of winning is always in doubt, God guarantees victory:

• With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies. (Psalms 60:12)
• A day of the Lord is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime -- a day known to the Lord. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name. (Zechariah 14:1-9)
• I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he wages and makes war. His eyes are like a blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one but he himself knows. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of the people, free and slave, small and great." Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. (Revelation 19:11-21)
• Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him. (Daniel 7:27)
• Then the end will come, when he (Christ) hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (I Corinthians 15:24-26)
• When the perishable has been clothed with imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 15:54-57)
• And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:9-10)

The Bible says it's a done deal. We win! I love winning. It's the ONLY thing. Through the blood of Christ, we have victory over sin, victory over death, and victory over the power of the devil!

God's Wardrobe

In our sin we stand naked before God, as Adam and Eve found themselves after they disobeyed Him:

• Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3:7)

Our attempts to hide our sin with good deeds aren't acceptable to a holy God, just as He found Adam and Eve's clothing of themselves to be inadequate, so He dressed them Himself:

• The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

This was indeed the first sacrifice, for some animal had to be skinned, and foreshadowed the death of God's Son, Jesus the Christ, as the final recompense for sin:

• And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)

Simply put, we can't save ourselves through our own effort, which the Bible again describes as clothing ourselves:

• All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; (Isaiah 64:6a)

I recently heard a preacher say that the previous verse refers to a menstrual cloth. Let's remember that before we think we can earn our way to heaven. No, we need to put on God's clothing, which is the righteousness provided from the Christ's work:

• You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27)
• Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." (Zechariah 3:3-4)
• Therefore put on the full armor of God, so after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:13-17)

The Wedding Supper of the Lamb is the grand party of all parties when the Christ gathers His people together with Him in eternity. He referenced this momentous event when He instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion:

• "I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." (Matthew 26:29)

Everyone there must be clothed in His righteousness:

• Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb (Jesus, John 1:29) has come, and his bride (the church, the true followers of Jesus, Ephesians 5:23-32) has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Revelation 19:7-8a)
• But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. "Friend," he asked, "how did you get in here without wedding clothes?" The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, "Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 22:11-13)

For only His righteousness can cover sin:

• I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire (things refined by fire have eternal value, I Corinthians 3:13-15, I Peter 1:7), that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness (i.e. sin); and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. (Revelation 3:18)
• Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed. (Revelation 16:15)

Imago Deo

Imago Deo is Latin for "image of God". God created us in His image:

• So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

What does being created in God's image mean? Does God have arms and legs, and a head? No, at least not before the incarnation of the Christ. It means each of us has a personality, powers of reason, the ability to love, emotions, desires, and a will. Just like God does.

It also includes being male and female. Don't get me wrong. I'm no heretic who thinks the Bible, the creeds, and our hymns need to be rewritten to be gender neutral. God is our heavenly Father and is referenced by male pronouns, and the Christ walked this planet as a man, but I believe Genesis is saying that God has apportioned His attributes to men and women in varying degrees.

The Lord is a warrior. He provides. Stereotypical male traits. He's also relational and a nurturer, things that women tend to be better at than men.

I see in this the mystery and wonder of marriage, and why God hates adultery and divorce:

• "Haven't you read," he (Jesus) replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19:4-6)

The union of man and woman brings together the attributes of God that He has apportioned between them, resulting in wonder, the creation of more humans.

All In!

We know what's right, yet we delight in our sin. We want to have it both ways, looking for a minimum standard to please God, and living the rest of our lives however we want. God thinks otherwise. He wants us to offer everything we have to His service:

• No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matthew 6:24, also Luke 16:13)
• Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world -- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does -- comes not from the Father but from the world. (I John 2:15-16)
• You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

In the Texas poker games on ESPN, the time comes when a player shoves all the stacks of chips he has left into the pot. All in! God wants us go all in:

• Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5)
• Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

Let's submit everything to God. Let's make Him master of our finances. Let's surrender to His plan for our lives. Let's spend time with Him. Let's draw on His power to give up unholy pleasures.

Afterall, the Lord God Almighty has done no less for us. He went all in when He intervened in human history in the form of the Christ. The Holy One held back nothing, getting down and dirty in the muck and mire of our sin:

• (Christ Jesus), being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8)
• Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)

As Jesus, God experienced the suffering we have brought upon ourselves besides the usual toil of our lives, being hungry and tired, and such. Surely we can trust Him to supply our needs and meet our desires, and ultimately to grant us eternal life, for that's the ultimate bet, our eternal destiny, so let's go all in. The stakes are well worth it.

Super Body

Note the recurring terminology in the following verses:

• For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)
• But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (I Corinthians 15:20)
• For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (I Corinthians 15:22-23)
• He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (Colossians 1:15)
• And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Colossians 1:18)
• And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." (Hebrews 1:6)
• ... and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. (Revelation 1:5a)

What do firstfruits and firstborn mean? Does it mean that the Christ was the first to rise from the dead? Trick question! Jesus had already raised the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:35-41), the widow's son (Luke 7:11-15), and Lazarus (John 11:38-44). There were even resurrections at the moment He died (Matthew 27:52-53).

Jesus is different. His resurrected body is the first one that never gets sick and will never die. Not like Lazarus and the others who had their old bodies and just died again. Moreover, Jesus could appear in a locked room (John 20:19), vanish from sight (Luke 24:31), and float into the sky like a spirit (Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9), although He was corporeal because He could eat (Luke 24:42). He has a Super Body, and someday we each get one!

• But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagarly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21)
• So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it it raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it it raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (I Corinthians 15:42-44)
• For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. (I Corinthians 15:53)

Hindus believe in reincarnation. So do Christians, but just once. According to Ephesians 4:5, there's one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. There's also one reincarnation, i.e. a resurrection.

God-Think

Would we rather think like God or think like our world system? Of course, we fancy ourselves as thinking like God, but in reality we don't:

• The Lord knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile. (Psalms 94:11)
• "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)
• Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (I Corinthians 1:20)

The Scripture is full of examples:

• The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king". ... When they (Jesse and his sons) arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord." But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (I Samuel 16:1, 6-7)
• Jesus called them together and said, "You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:24-28)
• Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." (Mark 9:35)
• As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." (Luke 21:1-4)
• As he (Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
  "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." (John 9:1-3)
• "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (John 12:25)

Even after the Christ's resurrection, His disciples merely thought He had come to kick Roman butt:

• So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6)

God's thinking doesn't make sense to human reasoning:

• At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure." (Luke 10:21)
• For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. (I Corinthians 1:21-25)

Instead, the foolishness of the world system runs as rampant as ever in our politically correct age: Time Magazine ran a feature article that men and women actually are different. This was news? Carbon, the building block of life, is a pollutant. Our breath is a greenhouse gas! In fact, hard-core environmentalists believe the Earth would be better off without us, and some think animals have the same rights as humans. God's Word says we're the crown jewel of the creation (Psalms 8:5, Hebrews 2:6) and have been given stewardship over the Earth (Genesis 1:28-30, Psalms 8:5-8, Hebrews 2:7-8). Truthfully, nature is no mother that nurtures us, rather it means to kill us! We have a mandate from God to tame our world so we can survive. Cromwell's English Revolution. French Revolution. Communism. Our socialist regimes rejecting God have never failed to bring economic ruin and mass death, but we still believe in a man-made utopia. For most of history, women were held inferior to men, but our society has swung the pendulum the other way. Men and fathers are ridiculed as clueless buffoons on situation comedies. Husbands gain favor with self-deprecating humor about their wives being the "boss", always right, and the better half. God says both men and women were created in His image, and are to treat each other as such. Homosexuality is normal, i.e. natural? Not according to Romans 1:26-27, and not according to nature itself, which is all about procreation. All religions lead to the same place. It doesn't matter what we believe, just that we believe in something. Everyone determines their own god. Utter nonsense! We're all born with such a mindset. God offers us His Holy Spirit so we no longer have to conform to the pattern of this world, but can be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2a).

Bragging Rights

Nobody likes a braggart. The NFL players who are so full of themselves with their end zone celebrations have caused a backlash so their behavior is penalized. Worse yet are the self-righteous. Jesus didn't approve of their attitude either:

• Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels of their prayer shawls long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' ... Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Matthew 23:1-7, 27-28)

The same disdain is held in our day for certain "religious" evangelists. The same applies to our secular religious faithful:

• "Look at me. I'm better than you because I drive a non-polluting car."
• "I'm a good person for saving the Earth because I don't eat meat, use the right light bulbs, and don't use toilet paper."
• "I care more than you because I wear colored ribbons for every disease and good cause."

However, in light of this, there's actually a time when bragging is good and proper:

• My soul will boast in the Lord" (Psalms 34:2a)
• In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever. (Psalms 44:8)
• This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
• May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14)

My God is the best God there is, and so I brag. He's creator and master of the universe, yet He has infinite love and mercy for me. His works are mighty. He even died for me because I'm special and important to Him. He created me for a purpose. He approves of me and delights in me. I'm His child and heir to an eternal inheritance. These are things worth bragging about.

The "Rest" of the Christmas Story

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find the baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Luke 2:8-14)

I've wondered why the angels only appeared to some shepherds. This is only conjecture, but I like to imagine the behind-the-scenes part of this story as follows:

For centuries, the Lord God has predicted by His prophets the sending of His deliverer to the planet Earth, and the angels in heaven are buzzing with excitement that a grand moment in human history is about to begin. Who is this deliverer? The rumors are flying in the heavenly places. The Lord God Almighty intends to appear on the Earth Himself! He has become that little baby in Bethlehem.

The heavenly host cannot restrain their enthusiasm. What an incredible wonder! How favored are humans, sinners though they are, that the Most High is willing to stop at nothing to restore them. They surround the throne and beg the Father, "We must go down there and proclaim the marvelous news to the human race, please, please, please!"

The Father is reluctant. The Christ is on a stealth mission in enemy territory to be carried out in utmost humility.

"Please, please, please!" They beg. "Your plan is so transcendant, beyond anything we could have ever imagined, we cannot hold ourselves back. We must proclaim your mighty deed!"

The Father knows they only desire to serve and worship Him as they were created to do, so He tells them, "See those lonely shepherds outside the town? You may go tell them the good news."

So with great gusto, the angelic throng descends on the shepherds' fields to make their announcement and sing praises to Almighty God, which I like to think is the rest of the story.

How God Will Decide When to End the World

There are plenty of crackpots holding signs, and charlatans claiming they know when the Christ is returning, even though Jesus Himself didn't know, but only God the Father (Matthew 24:36). Even so, the Bible provides a good idea how God will select the date, whatever it is, by telling us about His competing objectives:

• This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (I Timothy 2:3-4)
• The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9)
• You are kind and forgiving, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. (Psalms 86:5)
• But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (Psalms 86:15)
• The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. (Psalms 103:8)
• The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. (Psalms 145:8-9)
• When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" (Revelation 6:9-10)
• O Lord, the God who avenges, O God who avenges, shine forth. Rise up, O Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve. How long will the wicked, O Lord, how long will the wicked be jubilant? (Psalms 94:1-3)

On the one hand, God is merciful and full of grace, and wants to allow enough time for as many as possible to find salvation. On the other hand, He's listening to the pleas of His people for deliverance from an all too often horrible persecution. God is asking His people to suffer so that others may be saved, but at some point the situation will become so bad that God will decide He must rescue His own. Then time's up:

• "If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:22)
• "And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly." (Luke 18:7-8a)

My software engineer mind thinks of God's timetable this way:

saving = saving the lost
delivering = delivering His people
while (saving > delivering)
  tarry
end while
trumpet call (Second Coming)

saving = saving the lost
delivering = delivering His people
repeat
  tarry
until (delivering > saving)
trumpet call (Second Coming)

Let's Raze Hell

Some decades ago a hit song by Trooper named Raise A Little Hell advocated making a ruckus to protest injustice. Rather than "raising" hell, perhaps our efforts can be more effective by "razing" hell. The Christ made some fascinating statements on the subject:

• "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils." (Luke 11:21-22)
• "Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house." (Matthew 12:29)

The strong man is the devil, our enemy who prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (I Peter 4:8). Jesus invites us to pray for him to be restrained so the lost can be freed from his deceptions and have a chance to come to know the one true God:

• "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:19-20)

The lost are the possessions the devil claims for his own, but the Christ has made His own claim sealed by His blood sacrifice. The devil has robbed us of so much joy and peace, it's time to plunder him in return! God can use us to rescue the lost and de-populate hell!

St. Paul wrote about razing hell:

• For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (II Corinthians 10:3-5)

The devil's lies are strongholds that need to come crashing down like Sauron's tower in the epic Lord of the Rings movie The Return of the King.

God has equipped us for spiritual battle to victory:

• Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-17)

We're God's holy warriors. Time to raze hell! Pick a battlecry:

Jesus is Lord and Christ, and He's taking over this planet!

Jesus is victor!

To live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21)

We live for the Christ! We die for the Christ!

God Wants Us to Commit Suicide

He does, in a manner of speaking. The New Testament exhorts us again and again to put to death the desires of our sinful nature because the Holy Spirit has empowered us to become a new person. We cannot change by sheer force of will. We need our hearts cleansed by the living water of the Spirit, and our minds renewed and transformed to think like God; conforming to the likeness of the Christ. A word to the depressed; put your self-loathing to good use and allow the living God to change you!

• By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:2-4)
• For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin -- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. (Romans 6:6-7)
• In the same way, count yourselfs dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do no let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (Romans 6:11-14)
• So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. (Romans 7:4)
• But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:6)
• But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. (Romans 8:10)
• For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:13-14)
• Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)
• For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (II Corinthians 5:14-15)
• Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (II Corinthians 5:17)
• For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:19-20)
• Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)
• You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)
• Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)
• In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2:11-12)
• Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:2-3)
• Put to death, therefore, whatever belong to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)
• But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:8-10)
• Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. (James 1:21)
• Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (I Peter 1:13-16)
• Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. (I Peter 2:1)
• He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (I Peter 2:24)
• Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. (I Peter 4:1-2)

Reverse the Curse

No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

This third verse from the Christmas hymn, Joy to the World, refers to God's curse against mankind after Adam and Eve sinned:

• To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' Cursed is the ground because of you, through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." (Genesis 3:16-19)

The curse of sin also adversely affected the whole creation:

• The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (Romans 8:19-22)

There's a law of entropy in the universe that keeps it winding down and leads to death. It's like God has withdrawn some of His sustaining power, which is actually an act of mercy because who in their right mind wants this imperfect world and the pain in our lives to last?

Before God gave the curse, He first cursed the serpent, i.e. Satan, thereby giving His first promise for our salvation:

• "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Genesis 3:15)

Jesus, the Christ, was Eve's offspring who conquered Satan through His suffering and temporary death, and gives us the hope of restoration as in the aforementioned Romans 8 and reiterated in other passages:

• Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:1-4)
• Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding it fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. (Revelation 22:1-3)
• Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4)
• The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)
• Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. (Isaiah 65:17-19)

For a small inkling of the wonder the future beholds, imagine what even this temporal world would be like without sin. No war and no terrorism. All the money spent on the military could be put to better use, and traveling would be a whole lot easier. No airport security, and since nations would no longer need to protect themselves, all borders would be open. So much time would be saved! When I traveled to Colombia, I thought about how I wouldn't have to stand in line at customs in a sinless world. No need for a passport, either.

There wouldn't be any crime; murder, rape, assault, theft, fraud, and the list goes on. We would no longer need to fear walking certain streets, or bother locking doors and windows, and say bye to the law enforcement apparatus; no police, no courts, and no jails and prisons. More money saved, and with no more lying and cheating, we wouldn't have to install anti-virus software on our computers, need passwords, or worry about identity theft.

We would no longer ruin our health with our foibles, and our better behavior would cause fewer accidents. Think how much maiming and killing wouldn't happen without drunk drivers. Add to that, the end of physical harm from wars and crime, and our insurance premiums would plummet along with our need for the medical profession. We would also have better mental health because we wouldn't have to worry about family strife, getting robbed, or war. No more, or very little, divorce and broken families. Therapists would be out of business.

The government wouldn't have much left to do, and so not much for taxes! Especially since we wouldn't have leaders who are more interested in expanding their own wealth and grabbing more power at our expense. Nobody would be trying to make a quick fortune with a lawsuit, and so the civil courts would become about as extinct as the criminal judiciary. Almost no lawyers!

Considering all the industries and professions that would shrink or cease to exist, wouldn't there be massive unemployment? Actually, since we wouldn't be wasting so many resources on the result of our sin, I think we would have ample funding, and certainly more time to pursue our dreams and interests, to create and invent, and to explore God's awesome universe.

Yes, Utopia, but we're so hopelessly corrupted that we'll never be able to bring it about on our own. We need the coming of the Prince of Peace to fully reverse the curse. When the Christ returns, His blessings indeed will flow as far as the curse is found, to the point of abolishing sickness and death forever! Then there will be no hospitals, no hospices, no health care clinics, no nursing homes, and no drug rehabilation centers. No doctors, paramedics, and nurses. No pharmaceuticals nor pharmacists. No funeral homes and undertakers. Glory to God!

• Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20b)

God and Sides

I'm amused when sports teams, or even contestants on television game shows, ask God to favor them for victory as if He cares who wins. God cares about people, saving the lost, and bringing glory to His name. Sure, let's ask Him for strength and the ability to give a best performance with dignity and class, but let's save the asking for victory to the winning that counts; victory over sin, victory over death, and victory over the power of the devil.

It's the same for more important matters than games, i.e. things on a geopolitical scale. It's absurd for a political party or a nation fighting a war to claim God's on its side. God IS a side! Rather than asking if God's on our side, let's ask ourselves if we're on His side, like Abraham Lincoln did when he said, "My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side."

Growing Up

An important transition in life happens when children become adults. Ideally, they develop a mature relationship based on mutual respect and even become friends with their parents. The time of correction and training is supposed to pass. The same holds true for God's relationship with us as His children. For this reason, Jesus announced a more mature relationship with His disciples at the Last Supper:

• I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)

God doesn't want us to remain spiritual babies:

• Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)
• In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)
• Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly -- mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? (I Corinthians 3:1-3)

Instead, God wants us to grow up! St. Paul wrote:

• When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. (I Corinthians 11:13)
• Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:7-11)

As we grow in our Christian faith, we stake a claim to our inheritance:

• What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different than a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. (Galatians 4:1-5)

Insiders

Like it or not, those on the inside have an advantage. Politicians make deals in back rooms. Corporate executives put each other on their Boards of Directors. Every social structure down to grade school, probably, has an "in" crowd. The rest are "out" and know it.

That's not how things work in God's system. He makes His people insiders:

• Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men) - remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:11-13, 19-20)
• Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)
• His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ephesians 3:10-11)
• "I (Jesus) no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)

Not only do we as God's people get insider information, our Savior gets us access to the top!

• Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
• For through him (the Christ) we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (Ephesians 2:18)
• Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)

We even have powerful and influential players acting on our behalf:

• Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (Romans 8:34b)
• In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. (Romans 8:26)

Considering how we have all this going for us, how can we not say we have it made?

My Lampstand

I have a lampstand (Revelation 1:12-13, 20). It's my calling, my mission, my anointing, my purpose, the assignment God has given me to do. The flame of the Holy Spirit burns on top of my lampstand: You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16) A warning: It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again, and subjecting him to public disgrace. (Hebrews 6:4-6) This could mean losing God's call and anointing, like happened to King Saul, although salvation might still be available (I Corinthians 3:11-15), but without the satisfaction of fighting the good fight or running the race (II Timothy 4:7), having achieved great things building God's kingdom and receiving rewards to lay at the feet of Jesus, Lord and Christ (I Corinthians 9:24-25). Think of a pastor or evangelist who has scuttled his ministry with marital infidelity or other moral failure. He has relegated himself to God's bench, deprived of his ministry, his lampstand. There's consequence for compromise: Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (Revelation 2:5) Lord God, may my lampstand never be removed. I would rather die than lose my lampstand. Thank You for giving me a lampstand. I'm humbled You've given me one.