Tag Archives: Satan

A wide-angle view of Christmas: Revelation 12

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

In 1 Corinthians 13:9-12, Paul reminds us that now, we know only in part. Our knowledge of God’s ways and plans is like looking at an image in a dirty mirror. We can at least clean up the mirror a little by looking at less-familiar scriptures from time to time.

Our focus on Christmas (and Easter) is like taking a picture with a telephoto lens.

The familiar Christmas story in the gospels portrays a young peasant woman becoming pregnant in an unusual way, then having a very ordinary pregnancy.

The birth experience was certainly inconvenient, but many other women have given birth in awkward circumstances.… Read the rest

Jesus’ temptations from the wilderness to Holy Week

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

Immediately after his baptism, Jesus withdrew to the wilderness to fast and pray. That’s why he probably thought he was going there, anyway. Scripture says the Holy Spirit led him there explicitly to be tempted by the devil.

Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness prepared him for his ministry. In this post, I’d like to explore how they prepared him for the events of Holy Week.

A friend of mine once counted all the verses in the gospels and determined that 40% of them deal with Holy Week. That is, the gospels describe the period between the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his appearances to his disciples on Easter in more detail than any other part of Jesus’ life.… Read the rest

Jesus’ humility, Satan’s pride: whom do we follow?

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

God is all-powerful, but when he chose to use his power to become a man, he also chose not to use power like other men. It is Satan who turns power into something coercive and egocentric.

It would be nice if we could say that Christians understand the situation and exercise power as Jesus did. Unfortunately, we can truthfully say no more than that some do, and they successfully imitate Christ maybe only some of the time.

… Read the rest

Universal brotherhood?

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

Many people in the church today simply assume that all humanity is one large family, with God as its Father. They take offense at the thought that maybe some people are not God’s children.

Do they realize that they are taking offense at Jesus himself? Oh well. Religious people have always found Jesus offensive.

… Read the rest

Being spiritually dressed

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

gatting dressedPaul had quite a lot to say about clothing.

No, I don’t mean any comment that looks like a dress code. We all have earthly clothing. We have to take it off from time to time to wash both it and our bodies. It wears out and we have to repair or replace it.

Spiritual clothing is different. We need to have that on at all times. We are already clean, and spiritual clothing can never wear out or become soiled.

… Read the rest