Morning, December 26 Go To Evening Reading
“The last Adam.”
—1 Corinthians 15:45
Jesus is the federal head of his elect. As in Adam, every heir of flesh and blood has a personal interest because he is the covenant head and representative of the race as considered under the law of works; so under the direction of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since he is the Second Adam, the Sponsor, and Substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love. The apostle Paul declares that Levi was in the loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met him: it is an inevitable truth that the believer was in the loins of Jesus Christ, the Mediator, when in old eternity the covenant settlements of grace were decreed, ratified, and made sure forever. Thus, whatever Christ hath done, he hath wrought for the whole body of his Church. We were crucified in him and buried with him (read Col. 2:10–13), and to make it still more remarkable, we are risen with him and even ascended with him to the seats on high (Eph. 2:6). It is thus that the Church has fulfilled the law, and is “accepted in the beloved.” Therefore, she is regarded with complacency by the just Jehovah, for he views her in Jesus and does not look upon her as separate from her covenant head. As the Anointed Redeemer of Israel, Christ Jesus has nothing distinct from his Church, but all he has he holds for her. Adam’s righteousness was ours so long as he maintained it, and his sin was ours the moment that he committed it; in the same manner, all that the Second Adam is or does, is ours as well as his, seeing that he is our representative. Here is the foundation of the covenant of grace. This gracious system of representation and substitution moved Justin Martyr to cry out, “O blessed change, O sweet permutation!” this is the very groundwork of the gospel of our salvation and is to be received with strong faith and rapturous joy.
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
Go To Morning Reading Evening, December 26
“Lo, I am with you alway.”
—Matthew 28:20
The Lord Jesus is in the midst of his church; he walketh among the golden candlesticks; his promise is, “Lo, I am with you alway.” He is as indeed with us now as he was with the disciples at the lake when they saw coals of fire and fish laid thereon and bread. Not carnally, but still, in absolute truth, Jesus is with us. And a blessed truth is that love becomes inflamed where Jesus is. Of all the things in the world that can set the heart burning, there is nothing like the presence of Jesus! A glimpse of him so overcomes us that we are ready to say, “Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.” Even the smell of the aloes, the myrrh, and the cassia, which drop from his perfumed garments, causes the sick and the faint to grow strong. Let there be but a moment’s leaning of the head upon that generous bosom and reception of his divine love into our poor cold hearts, and we are hard no longer but glow like seraphs, equal to every labor and capable of every suffering. If we know that Jesus is with us, every power will be developed, and every grace will be strengthened, and we shall cast ourselves into the Lord’s service with heart, soul, and strength; therefore, the presence of Christ is to be desired above all things. His presence will be most realized by those who are most like him. If you want to see Christ, you must grow in conformity to him. Bring yourself, by the power of the Spirit, into union with Christ’s desires, motives, and plans of action, and you are likely to be favored with his company. Remember, his presence may be had. His promise is as accurate as ever. He delights to be with us. If he does not come, we hinder him by our indifference. He will reveal himself to our earnest prayers and graciously suffer to be detained by our entreaties and tears, for these are the golden chains that bind Jesus to his people.
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
December 26: Community
Jeremiah 50:1–46; Romans 12:9–13:7; Proverbs 27:1–27
She might be the one we tend to avoid—the member of a small group who always states the obvious or brings up topics unrelated to the discussion. I’m always impatient for her to finish speaking so that others can offer more insightful comments, but generally, her remarks are followed by only awkward pauses. Or, he’s the person we’re attempting to avoid after church and small group because he constantly repeats the story about his grandkids that we’ve heard more than just a few times. I hope someone else will be there for him. If I’m feeling extra congenial, I might chat with him—always good to earn some kindness points.
I might approach the community this way, but reading Romans 12:9–16 convicts me. The list of instructions on building up the community quickly reveals the selfish bent of my motives. Paul, who has just finished explaining that each member has specific spiritual gifts, shows what living in a loving community is supposed to look like: “Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; be attached to what is good, be devoted to one another in brotherly love; esteeming one another more highly in honor, not lagging in diligence; being enthusiastic in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, enduring in affliction, being devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality. Bless those who persecute, bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Think the same thing toward one another; do not think arrogantly, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own sight” (Rom 12:9–16).
I’m not meant to approach my small group study as a support group to help me solve my problems. Faith communities are familial settings where my gifts are meant to be developed and worked out for the good of others. It’s where I’m called to serve people around me—even, especially, people who are lonely or a little different than me. I can only do that with a heart devoted to others, highly esteems them, and looks out for their needs. When I humbly serve, I learn things I didn’t know in passing—the death of her husband and her difficulty finding the right words to convey her ideas and experiences. There, I learn that his kids barely call, and he’s reciting the same information from the yearly Christmas card. It’s where I help when I can, and pray when I can’t. And along the way, through my service, I may learn a thing or two from people who have gifts I have yet to discover.
Are you involved in a community? If you are, are you actually involved? How can you use your gifts to build up the people around you?
Rebecca Van Noord
Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012. Print.
December 26th
Placed in the light
If we walk in the light, as He is in the morning, … the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:7.
To mistake conscious freedom from sin for deliverance by the Atonement is a significant error. No man knows what sin is until he is born again. Sin is what Jesus Christ faced on Calvary. The evidence that I am delivered from sin is that I know the fundamental nature of sin in me. It takes the last reach of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the impartation of His absolute perfection, to make a man know what sin is.
The Holy Spirit applies the Atonement to us in the unconscious realm as well as in the realm of which we are conscious. Only when we grasp the unrivaled power of the Spirit in us can we understand the meaning of 1 John 1:7, “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” This does not refer to conscious sin only, but to the tremendously profound understanding of sin which only the Holy Ghost in me realizes.
If I walk in the light as God is in the morning, not in the light of my conscience, but in the light of God—if I walk there, with nothing folded up, then there comes the amazing revelation—the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin so that God Almighty can see nothing to censure in me. In my consciousness, it works with a keen poignant knowledge of what sin is. The love of God at work in me makes me hate with the hatred of the Holy Ghost all that is not in keeping with God’s holiness. Walking in the light means that everything in the darkness drives me closer into the centre of the morning.
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.
December 26
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
Gal. 6:14
The cross is the great center of God’s moral universe! God ever pointed to this center, faith and the eye of looked forward, until the Saviour came. And now we must ever turn to that cross as the center of all our blessing and the basis of all our worship, both on earth and in Heaven—in time and throughout all eternity.
D. L. M.
Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.
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