Gifts at Christmas - Part 3

We have now reached the point of unwrapping the final gift; the gift of gold. Matthew 2:11 reminds us of the great gifts presented to our Lord and Savior;

11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

So let’s look at the gift of gold and what a gift it was. Gold; over time, has symbolized power, beauty, purity and accomplishment. Throughout history gold has been considered a precious metal with great power and has been used financially as well as medically. It is interesting to note that Homer in the Odyssey calls gold the “glory of immortals”. Further, we can see that gold is mentioned in Genesis 2 where we are told of the land of Havilah “where there is gold and the gold of that land is good”. So I think we could all agree that this gift of gold presented to our Lord and Savior was a gift befitting a King! A gift for a King that is all powerful, all beautiful, all purifying and all accomplishing.

Throughout scripture we see Christ identified as King; our King. In John 1, Nathanael declares,

“Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel”.

Nathanael recognizes Christ as our King, just as these wise men have done. I am awestruck as I read Revelation 19 where we see;

“On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

So this Christmas may we all remember that to us a child is born; to us a son is given. May we all come to correctly recognize just as the wise men did that this child is our great physician, our high priest, our King of Kings! As we correctly recognize Christ, may we as these wise men did bow down and worship him.

As we celebrate this Christmas may it be all about Him who saves us. As Paul teaches us in 1 Timothy;

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Grace and Peace!

Gifts at Christmas - Part 2

As we continue to unwrap the gifts of the first Christmas we are reminded of the gifts presented to Christ in Matthew 2:11; 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. Stepping through the gifts, examining, learning and applying brings us to incense and in some translations Frankincense.

This gift too was valuable. Incense has historically been used to purify, to eliminate bad things, odors for example. Wikipedia states that incense "is composed of aromatic biotic materials, which release fragrant smoke when burned. The term incense refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces. Many religious ceremonies and spiritual purificatory rites employ incense, a practice that persists to this day. Incense is also used in medicine and for its aesthetic value."

The bible reveals incense being used by priests to purify and to create an aroma pleasing to the Lord. So these wise men have brought our Lord and Savior this gift of incense perhaps creating something pleasing, but also perhaps to identify our great high priest. So what can we take from all this?

Let's begin by looking at Hebrews 2:17; For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for[a]the sins of the people. So can you see that Christ is our high priest atoning for our sins?

Since Christ has done that for each of us; what does that mean for believers? I think we can find the answer in 1 Peter 2:9; 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Wow, isn’t that amazing? As believers we are a chosen people; a royal priesthood. So as believers we are to be priests telling the good news to all who will listen; to love and serve our high priest. Francis Schaeffer says that “Christ is our priest, and in fellowship with Him every believer is a priest.” What an honor; what a responsibility.

To conclude the gift of incense can seem insignificant in our current culture, but I have come to see what true significance it has for each of us. It purifies, identifies and sets the course for all believers. Let’s end with a couple of verses Revelations 1;

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits[a] before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

May we all go forward as a royal priesthood serving Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood!

Grace and Peace!

Gifts at Christmas - Part 1

I am going to attempt something during this Christmas season. I want to explore something. I want to take a single verse; Matthew 2:11 and attempt to blog a series on this one verse. In this verse we are told;

11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

What immediately comes to mind is that upon seeing the Child; upon recognizing Christ our Lord they bowed and worshipped. Shouldn’t we all? However, I want to look at the last sentence in the verse and attempt to unpack (or maybe I should say unwrap) the three gifts and examine what we might learn from these gifts, what they might tell us about Christ and perhaps what we might learn about our relationship with Christ.

I would like to invert the order and begin with Myrrh; probably the least recognizable to each of us. I will be honest and tell you I wasn’t really sure what is was, how it was used or if it is even around anymore. However, upon doing a little research I found that Myrrh has many uses ranging from a preservative to perfume to a medicine.

What really struck me were the healing properties of Myrrh. Myrrh is used to treat many ailments and is also known for regenerating properties. A popular aromatherapy site states that Myrrh’s medicinal uses include; Anti-infectious, Antiviral, Antiparasitic, Hormone-like, Anti-inflammatory, Antihyperthyroid, and helps support the immune system.

So we might say the Myrrh is good for what ails you and you must admit what ails us most is our broken natures. With such brokenness comes great need; the need of a great physician; a healing, regenerating, preserving savior! Maybe those wise men were pretty wise; symbolically helping to reveal to us something about the nature of Christ.

I just love this imagery; the image of being healed; regenerated by the loving touch of Christ. Wayne Grudem defines regeneration as “a secret act of God in which He imparts new spiritual life to us”. Sounds like pretty powerful medicine for what ails us.

We can see healing by Christ in scriptures; both physical healings, but more importantly spiritual healings. And when we think of the spiritual healing that we need, I am so comforted by Isaiah 53 which reminds us;

4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 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.

So, by His wounds we can be healed; restored. However, most are reluctant even avoid medicine so how do we take this medicine; the medicine of Christ shown through a gift of Myrrh? As Christ himself tells us in coming to heal the young daughter of Jairus in Luke;

50Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."

How appropriate the gift of Myrrh; a gift given to a child and freely given to us. Friends, don’t be afraid; just believe!

Grace and Peace!