In the context of John 14, we see Christ striving to comfort His disciples. He promised them that He would return for them, and would not leave them alone. Christ reveals that He was going to send “another Helper or Comforter”; this Comforter was one who would take the place of Christ in their life. The Greek word translated “Helper” or “Comforter” is παρακλητος (parakletos) and signifies one who is “summoned to one's aid, called to one’s side”. It is a legal term and is used to describe Christ as our “Advocate” in 1 John 2. (See 1 John 2:1-2)

The Holy Spirit has been given to us to provide every part of our spiritual life. (See Romans 8:15) Holy Spirit Provision is the key to divine peace, power, and perspective.

As the body of believers grew in Antioch, and the general population found themselves rubbing shoulders with these people, the local secular society sought for a way to describe those who were devoted to and taught that Jesus was the Christ. Therefore, they took the Greek term for the Messiah, the Anointed One, “Christ”, and attached it to a Latin suffix meaning “belonging to the party of”.

The devotion and change in the believers at the church of Antioch were so radical that the World gave them a new party classification.  They called them “Christianos” or “Christian”.

And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11:26)

This term that has become so mainstream over last 1500 years was not a term that the early believers chose, they did not desire a name for themselves the only thing they longed for was to know Christ better, to be more like Him, and to share Him with the world. (See Philippians 3:10)

Their passion was Jesus. They were devoted to Him. They were His disciples. They would speak of Him often and sought to follow His example as His pupils. The names they chose were in accordance with this passion and given to them by God through Jesus and the Apostles. They were believers. They were saints. They were the children of God. They were His disciples. This new word, this new title, this new classification was chosen by the Gentile world to describe a group of people that were different, that they saw as oddities to what was normal in society. When someone designated you as a Christian, it meant you were an outcast of society. (See 1 Peter 4:16)

In this day and age, the term “Christian” has become more a fad than a word of slander. In many ways, it has become so mainstream that it can mean any number of things. It can be a facet of describing your culture or your region of the world. It can mean that you were confirmed in a particular church or are simply a believer in God who attends church every so often (even if it is just Easter or Christmas). This term is so widely used that if the religious affiliation question was generalised on our the census questionnaire to three or four classifications on being just “Christian”, I think it very well could be the number one ticked box in Australia. Why? Because so many different religions would describe themselves as “Christian”.

As we enter the Year of our Lord 2,020, I declare that what Australia needs and what this world needs in the coming decades if our Lord should wait, is not more groups that describe themselves as Christian, but people, individuals, believers who live in accordance with their membership as members of the party of Christ.

Enjoy as John shares a wonderful challenge of how the Gospel should be lived out. We should be expressing the Gospel.

Away in a manger was Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)

Who was this Anointed One whom the wise men earnestly awaited and diligently sought? Why was He deserving of their worship? The costly gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, given by these men, showed they believed this baby was worthy of their homage.

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11)

The message of Christ found in the manger is that He is the Servant-King. The great Mediator between God and man. (See 1 Timothy 2:5)

You don’t need to become the Grinch of Christmas because of Who and what is away in a manger. Will you open your heart to Him? Will you trust in the hope He gives? Will you bask in the love He provides? Will you learn to rest the peace and joy He brings?

Today we see the Shepherds meeting Joseph, and the messages of peace and joy found in the manger.

This season we come together and celebrate not only who but what was “Away in a Manger”. We will take a glimpse at various people connected with the Christmas story and see the messages they communicate through the little part they played in God’s great gift to man.

Today we find Isaiah meeting Mary, and the messages of hope and love that was found Away in a Manger.

Isaiah: The Message of Hope

If you were to scan through the message of Isaiah you would find that though he was called to preach of the coming judgement upon Israel for their unfaithfulness, he was, borrowing a title from Roy Hession, “A Good News Preacher”. He did not sugar-coat the truth, exile was coming. Israel and Judah would no longer be able to enjoy the blessings of the promised land. They were on the cusp of very dark times. Yet with almost every bleak message you will find Isaiah breaking forth with the message of hope. Seven hundred years later this Hope arrived, through the virgin Mary.

Mary: The Message of Love

As you read the account recorded in Luke 2 you can’t help but see the love in Mary’s eyes and heart for this amazing child she has just given birth too. Yet away in this manger was not just the jewel of a mother’s eye, but the revelation of God’s love for humanity. This child born, was the Son given. His name was Jesus (Yeshua, “God is Salvation”). Away in this manger was what God’s love provided for what His holiness demanded.

Father and son, Robert and Matthew Ewers, share about the importance of being on guard.

When we make the choice from the heart to believe that Jesus Christ is God and that through His death, burial, and resurrection we can be brought into a right relationship with the thrice-holy Creator God of the universe, we are eternally adopted into the wealthiest family in the universe and throughout all time. (See Romans 10:9-10)

We, who were destitute orphans by birth, have become adopted and this adoption is sealed forever by God the Holy Spirit. (See Ephesians 1:13-14)

As the now adopted children of God, we have wealth beyond measure. We are part of a family whose Father owns a cattle on one thousand hills, as God reveals through the Psalmist:

For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. (Psalm 50:10)

Yet if you want to see the blessings and live in these blessings now, you must look past the physical and set your heart upon the spiritual. Our wealth as the children of God is found in the spiritual, not physical. It is lovely to enjoy good physical health and be abundantly blessed financially, but to be consumed with the physical will deprive you of the real wealth you have as a child of God.

A fight or an argument can test our relationships, but if we put everything we have discussed to practice through this series, we will be able to navigate through those tumultuous times of life. Yet the struggle we will face is the pull of the old life and those old ways of doing things that do nothing for healthy relationships. The ways of the old life are self-serving, they are only focused on one’s own happiness. They are consumed with vanity and self-gratification.

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Ephesians 4:17–19)

Within the philosophy of the old life, there is no communicating heart, there is no sacrifice or discipline, there is no listening ear, and there is no disciplined tongue. When you begin to feel the tension due to the slowing down of the flow of information, you will feel a tremendous pull to revert to these old self-serving and self-satisfying ways. The flesh does not want to fight fair. It craves destruction. It has only one desire, to win, and see the others gravel at its feet. But as the family of God, we should be better than this. We should be able to fight fair. The fair fight entails using every facet we have examined through this series, which are only accomplished by two very simple things.

In application, after application, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, James calls us to a different kind of life (See James 1:27). Wisdom governed life. (See James 1:5)

This kind of life sees trials differently. (See James 1:2-3)

This kind of life views lusts differently. (See James 1:14–15)

This kind of life views people differently. (See James 2:8-9)

This kind of life views its actions differently. (See James 2:18)

And in connection to our series, we have seen a few times now that the life governed by wisdom views communication differently. It recognises that communication is a two-way street. The one whose life is guided by wisdom accepts that there is a responsibility of the receiver of information; but also, a responsibility of the sender of that information.

Today, we see that it is wise to have a disciplined tongue. The wise accept the responsibility with how the information is sent to ensure it can be appropriately received.

Nothing gets us into more trouble than our tongue. By the tongue, we can either build up or tear down. Yet this should not be so. Our speech should be consistent as a sweet and steady stream that nourishes the soul. (See James 3:8-12)

If we want the information to flow so we can have strong and healthy relationships, not only must we have the listening ear, but we must have the disciplined tongue. The listening ear provides a terminal for the proper reception of the information, but the disciplined tongue provides the appropriate path to that terminal.