The Christmas season is often a time for nostalgia and looking back to our past holiday experiences. Some are wonderful to remember. Some can be painful. Can we remember the future as well as the past at Christmas time?

As we remember the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ just over 2000 years ago, we find that old Christmas carols point us forward in time to the return of Christ. In our memories of Christmas past, we have memories of a future time.

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This episode looks at the Lord Jesus’ declaration “I am the Light of The World” in John 8:12. It examines how this declaration, made by Christ at the Feast of Booths fulfills the type of the pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud by day as found in the book of Exodus.

This episode examines the priorities in prayer of the Apostle Paul as found in his New Testament letters. While praying for earthly needs, we should also pray with eternal perspectives in mind. We use a brief review of Ephesians 1:16-17 as a sample lesson in praying with Paul’s priorities.

My observations were derived from a book by Dr. D.A. Carson
“A Call To Spiritual Reformation; Priorities From Paul And His Prayers”

Thumbnail – https://pixabay.com/photos/bible-bible-study-reading-christian-7092020/
Image by Steve Haselden

This episode explores John 17:24 and further explores what Christian theologians have called the Beatific Vision. This is the sight of Christ in glory by His people. 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 1 John 3:2 are also introduced as they give us the sense that beholding Christ in glory doesn’t start in the next life but begins here. To begin beholding the glory of the Lord here and now gives us “a running start” to prepare for this in eternity.

The Beatific Vision is not a recent theological innovation. It has been pondered and written on in Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant circles for centuries.

The essay quoted from in this episode is from Dr. Suzanne McDonald of Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, U.S.A. The essay is entitled ‘John Owen on the Beatific Vision – Historic Reformed “Spirituality” in Action’.

It appears online at https://www.theologymatters.com/articles/theology/2023/john-owen-on-the-beatific-vision-historic-reformed-spirituality-in-action/

Thumbnail Photo

https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-jumping-on-the-river-4035826/
Photo by Mohamed Hamdi

This episode is a follow up on Thomas Manton’s counsel about biblical meditation to (1) Read/Listen (2) Meditate/Reflect (3) Pray.

Psalm 1:1-2 is reviewed to use as an example of applying Manton’s advice.

Thumbnail taken from the New England Primer.

Two verses from Psalm 119 point to a supernatural, spiritual light from the Bible. Verse 130 is examined in detail using a technique from the 17th century British minister Thomas Manton.

We will learn to take in Scripture (by reading or listening), meditate/reflect on it and offer these up in prayer for others and ourselves.

Painting of Thomas Manton By Gustavus Ellinthorpe Sintzenich – Art UK, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28585150

Data visualization created by Chris Harrison that displays the 63,779 cross-references in the Bible – Photograph: Christoph Römhild and Chris Harrison.

Thumbnail provided by heartlite.org https://www.heartlight.org/gallery/1961.html

This episode looks at the prophecy of a Moses-like prophet (The Prophet) who would emerge in Israel’s history and how the Lord Jesus Christ fulfills being THE King, THE Priest and THE Prophet.

There is also an examination of two main factors for why Christ was not recognized in His time and also not recognized in ours today…spiritual blindness and misinformed expectations.

Scripture texts used are Deuteronomy 18:14-15, John 1:19-21, John 5:39-40, Acts 3:22-23, 2 Corinthians 3:14-16, Romans 8:28.

Also used was a portion of the Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 8 Section 1.

Photo Credits: pexels.com George Milton https://thestarman.pcministry.com/bible/qa/Psalm119sn.html

Where can we see the light of Christ’s glory?

The Apostle Paul compares the first light spoken by God (“Let there be light”) with the light spoken into believers in Christ. Believers are a microcosm of the universe. It started in darkness; So did we; For a believer in Christ, Christ’s light of glory is spoken into us. The episode explores the themes of Christ, light and glory.

Photo by https://stockcake.com/ child-holding-lightbulb

In this episode, we explore three categories of angels as found in the Bible.

Whether found in the Hebrew of the Old Testament or the Greek of the New Testament, the word means “messenger”. It can be a God-created spirit (what we usually think of when we hear the word “angel”), a human messenger or the Angel of the Lord.

Sample texts are presented, especially Genesis 48:15-16, where Jacob makes the case for the Angel of the Lord being divine.

Photo Credit – unsplash.com Julian Gentile

Where do you find Christ in the Old Testament? He tells us He is there (Luke 24:25-27). But where? Look for Christ as predicted, patterned and present. The discussion explores these points and provides sample biblical passages which make the case including thoughts about Christ as the Old Testament Angel of the Lord.

Thumbnail Credit – unsplash.com Bethany Laird .