Wade's Weekly Word

“If you are not firmly rooted in the gospel and have not learned to preach it to yourself every day, you will soon become discouraged and will slack off in your pursuit of holiness.” - Jerry Bridges

I am in agreement with Professor Charles Hodge as he wrote that on the basis of God’s electing grace: “We have reason to believe that the number of the finally lost in comparison with the whole number of the saved will be very inconsiderable. Our blessed Lord, when surrounded by the innumerable company of the redeemed, will be hailed as the Savior of Men, as the Lamb that bore the sins of the world.”

Mormonism and Christianity are not the same. Far from it. Though the language sounds similar at times, the beliefs are quite distinct. Mormons do not understand history, God, man, salvation, heaven, hell, the cross, Jesus, or the Trinity as the canonical Scriptures teach, nor do they agree with the basic, fundamental doctrine taught by the one, holy, universal, apostolic church over the last two thousand years.

“The present age, for us as Christians, is Easter time, it begins with the resurrection of the Redeemer, and ends with the resurrection of the redeemed.

There are moments in history when a single sentence changes everything. But no words have ever carried more weight than the words spoken by Jesus from the cross on that dark Friday, as Jesus declared - not in defeat - but in triumph - “It is finished!”

Trevin Wax defines sin as “disordered love” - misdirected desire that aims for God and yet boomerangs back to the self in ways that stifle our love for others and squelch our fruitful capacities. Same-sex sexual behavior is just one example of taking an act designed to draw us out of ourselves toward a great mystery and curving back inward toward the repetition and redundancy of sameness.”

Joy to the world still remains God's goal. The Westminster Catechism asks the question: “What is the chief end of man?” Answer: “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” (And I add, enjoying Him beginning Now and not just finally in in Heaven!). Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:17c, ".... he gives us richly all things to enjoy." We will one day fully and finally “enter into the joys of the Lord.”

The Old Testament, beginning in Genesis 5:1, contains the book of the generations of Adam and ends with a curse in Malachi 4:6. But the New Testament begins in Matthew 1:1 with the account of the book of the generations of Jesus Christ and ends with no curse in Revelation 22:3. Jesus birth is the Second Genesis, a new beginning, a new creation.

As we approach Christmas, we need to remember that it was actually a 33-Year event (33 is believed to be the age of Jesus’ death, burial resurrection, ands ascension). When there is a true celebration of the historical event of Christ’s birth, we should tell the four-part story of a complete Christmas. The baby in a crib, a man on a cross, a body in a tomb, and a King on the throne

The Protestant Reformation stands as the most far-reaching, world-changing display of God’s grace since the birth and early expansion of the church. It was not a single act, nor was it led by one man. This history-altering movement played out on different stages over many decades. Its cumulative impact, however, was enormous.