But, the angel was not angry. He was excited. He was happy. He told the shepherds not to fear but to rejoice. Then a huge chorus of angels appeared singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace…” God was coming to earth not to condemn, but to save. He was coming to make peace between God and mankind.

God would eventually get angry. But, He would not pour out His wrath on the people He loved. He would pour it out on His Son, Jesus. On the cross, Jesus would endure God the Father’s wrath and anger for our sin. On the cross, God’s wrath and love would meet. Because of Jesus, we are forgiven. Because of Jesus, we are sons and daughters of God. The angel’s message was true. Glory to God in the highest!

The lie that God doesn’t really love us is hidden in each of these misconceptions about God, keeping us from Him. And, we all end up like Adam and Eve, covering ourselves from him with fig leaves and hiding from Him in the shadows.

Genesis 1-4 presents a God who really does love Adam and Eve, even in the midst of their sin and disobedience against Him. God shows His love by providing clothes for them and giving them many children – clear indications that His love is gracious and merciful.

But, God declares His love for Adam and Eve most clearly in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” God, in a single statement declares that His love is redemptive by promising to come for His beloved creation in the form of a man who would crush the power of evil, sin, and death. God was speaking of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who would become a man, live among us, experience the pain and suffering of our world, die for our sin, and rise from the dead victorious once and for all over Satan, evil, and death. His death was the redemption that God spoke of in Genesis, and it is our redemption as well. Romans 5:8 says it best, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God’s first response to Adam and Eve in their sin was love, Divine love that would cost God everything. This is the love of God.

So, what will be your response? Will you run and hide from Him? Will you continue to deny Him? Or will you respond by believing His love?

–This is an excerpt from Rob’s upcoming sermon, “The First Love Story”, which will be preached on Sunday evening, June 6.

While celebrating the past and hoping in the future are good and right for every Christian, Jesus gave us an important calling in this present life. In Acts 1:6-8, Christ’s followers struggled to understand their life. They hoped that Jesus was going to end present evil and suffering and bring about the kingdom of God on earth. Jesus’ answer for them was jarring and explicit. He said, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. In essence, Jesus said, ‘you don’t need to know when the end is coming. Don’t spend too much time thinking about the future because you’ve got an important job to do right now: to be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.’

Paul teaches us in Ephesians that the Church is the body of Christ. In other words, the Church is designed by God to embody the person and work of Jesus Christ on earth. The Church should be Christ made visible. The way we live in community should reflect Jesus. The way we treat our neighbors should reflect Jesus. Our thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions should reflect Jesus. I John 2:6 reads, ‘whoever says he abides in (Christ) ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.’ Christians are empowered by Jesus to be His life on earth.

Christians, what are we waiting for? Jesus has called us into the church community to embody Him in the world. This is our witness. Our world is broken, corrupt, and suffering. Jesus came to our world to bring healing and redemption, and through His power, we are called to do nothing less.

Peter does not qualify his statement. He does not tell us that there are some people we should honor or some we should not honor. He just tells Christians to honor everyone.

I studied that word honor. It means ‘to revere, adore, esteem highly, respect, hold in the highest regard, treat as valuable.’ Jesus speaks of honor as something that involves more than our words. Honor involves our heart attitudes (Matthew 15:8). Jesus is trying to make the point that we can honor with our lips, but our hearts be in the wrong place. He goes on to call that kind of honor vanity (verse 9). Our words are worthless if we do not honor with our attitude.

So, I began to think about whether I really honor all people. It’s easy for me to speak kind words to others, mostly because I want them to think well of me. Often, I speak kind words to hide an unkind heart attitude.

If I’m honest with myself, I’m quite sure that I don’t always think of everyone as valuable. I don’t see everyone as a person. I often see people and judge their value (or respectability) based on their income level, their clothes, their ethnicity, their religion, their hygiene, their education level, their age, etc. Yet, Peter implies that everyone is valuable, respectable, and important. Period.

Jesus modeled honor perfectly. He saw everyone as a person, and valuable as such. He always honored people in his attitudes, his words, and his actions, even if it meant ‘tough love.’ He honored us by dying for us, for our sins.

I want to learn to walk through my neighborhood and honor everyone without discrimination. I want to learn to serve others because I truly honor them in my heart. People seeing Jesus depends on it.

The New Testament book of James talks about dead and real faith bluntly. Real faith helps the fatherless and widows in their affliction (1:27), shows respect to the poor and treats them equally (2:1-4), and cares for people’s material needs of food and clothing (2:15-17). Dead faith merely says a kind word to the person in need and ignores their physical need.

I’m afraid American Christianity is in many ways showing itself to be a dead faith. I’m afraid that my own faith too often shows itself to be dead.

Jesus came to earth to set everything right, to redeem it, to save a rebellious and idolatrous people. Jesus came so that the world could see Him (John 1:14), and the world forever changed when it saw His glory. He did not just come so that the world could hear him. He knew hearing wouldn’t be enough.

Am I willing to let the world see me – or rather – Jesus in me? Or will I continue to speak of a God that I say is alive while showing the world a faith that James callsdead?

I want the world to hear Jesus in my words and see Jesus in my life. I want people to come to know Jesus through me. To do so, they must see Him. Hearing is not enough.

1. This blog is about me, but it’s also not about me. Who I am is wrapped up in someone else – Jesus Christ to be specific. If I’m writing about me, I want it to point to Him. So, this blog is in no way going to be self-promoting.

2. This blog is about our world. I want to affect our world for Jesus. To do so, I must be honest about what I see and what I think needs to change.

3. This blog is about Christianity. I see problems in the way that I live and in the way other Christians live, and I want to be upfront about those problems and how Jesus is our solution. I will refuse to be judgmental or self-righteous, and I want you to call me out if I am being so.

4. This blog is for my own growth. I want God to change me. But, I know that if God really changes me, He will change my world too. Maybe, this blog will help fuel that change.

5. This blog will not be long-winded. I am not a natural writer, so I’m going to keep my thoughts short and sweet.

6. This blog might go up in flames, and believe me, I could care less if it does.