When Santa Learned The Gospel

Everyone is on the naughty list until they receive God's perfect gift.

Video: When Santa Learned The Gospel

Follow Santa's journey in this unique Christmas fable as he learns about Jesus' message of grace and discovers what it means for both the naughty and the nice.

This video sits alongside the book, written by Simon Camilleri and published by 10Publishing.

(No compensation for any links.)

From Naughty

Romans 3:10-12 As the Scriptures say, "No one is righteous- not even one. 11 No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one."

Ephesians 2:12 NLT In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.

All around the world the message has been told that trying to be good enough is good enough. That's the message that we are told in the story of Santa, it's the best that Santa could hope for, if people were good enough then he would get to keep his job.

According to God's standards, no matter how well you do at being nice and keeping the rules, you are still on the naughty list. God's requirement for us is to be righteous, a word that we over use in our culture, so we fail to realize that the standard of righteousness is defined by God's holiness.

Holiness sounds like a crazy goal for anyone to be required to obtain, even God's people in the church neglect this principle so that we can be more acceptable to the world and not be seen as strange. But when you dig into God's word you will find out that the Bible has over 900 references to the holiness of God and it also tells us that we are required to be holy.

To Nice

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

1 Peter 1:21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

We need a rescue from our sin nature but we had no way to get away from the consequences that we deserved. Our situation was just like God's chosen people in Egypt, enslaved to the kingdom of darkness, we didn't have any hope of getting out unless God sent a rescuer.

The good news of the gospel is the only way that we can get on God's list that he will check. When he opens the Book of Life my name will be on his list because of his forgiveness that I could have only received from him by accepting Jesus work on the cross.

RELATED ARTICLES

Why Do I Need A Savior? (thebonhoefferproject.com)

Jesus Didn't Call Us To Be Nice (relevantmagazine.com)

Why Do We Need A Savior? (gotquestions.org)

God's Wise Men

Wise men know that anything that is not eternal will soon be out of date.

Matthew 2:1-3 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” 3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.

1 Corinthians 1:20-21 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.

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Throughout history wise men have always been very difficult to find, it can be so challenging for us to be wise that God gave us an entire book of the Bible dedicated to teaching us about wisdom. Wise men are so rare that when the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon she had to take a road trip to check it out.

The most famous wise men are the ones that came to meet baby Jesus, they just suddenly show up in the Christmas story without an introduction but if you are a student of the Bible you will realize how they knew about Jesus. These guys didn't get a grand and glorious announcement from a bunch of angels, they didn't need all of that, they already knew what was going on when they saw the star.

The wise men probably learned about the Hebrew faith and the arrival of the Messiah while the Jews were living in captivity. The persecution in the New Testament isn't the first time that God was glorified as a result of his people being scattered around the world. 

Israel didn't realize that their exile was really a mission trip and what looked like a bad thing in their day we now know was being used by God to spread the good news of the gospel around the world.

Since God is the source of wisdom we need to study the truth about wisdom found in his word so that we will be truly wise.

Simple Truths About Wisdom

The Wisdom Of The World Is Dated

Wise men from every age have had their wisdom questioned by the next generation. So much of the wisdom from my grandparents generation is seen as foolishness by my generation and the next. Pick a topic and do some research and you will find that today's experts disagree with the past and a lot of things that were supposed to be true are laughed at today. Each generation thinks that their experts are the ones that are better than the previous ones.

If you monkey with the classic Christian faith and change it so it is up to date you will create for yourself a faith that soon will be laughable and obsolete.

-Timothy Keller

Christianity is the same way, today's experts have decided that the old ways are out of date and that we need to change our theology to fit with the times. Too many people act like we should know better than to believe those ancient words found in the Bible.

The Wisdom Of The World Is Shallow and Inadequate

The world has many theories about how to make myself a better version of me but none of their teaching takes care of my sin problem. The world's answers are shallow and inadequate when it comes to restoring my relationship with God. 

I know that no matter how good I am I will never measure up to the level of goodness that is required to stand before a holy God. Without an intervention I would never find peace with God on my own.

The Wisdom Of The World Is Narrow And Exclusive

The gospel is usually seen as narrow and exclusive from those on the outside but really it is the world's wisdom that is. The world tells you that you need to be pretty and have power and possessions in order to matter but the gospel is for everyone, the rich wise man and the poor unclean shepherds are on the same level in their need for a savior.

God's wisdom chooses to use the lowly and despised to accomplish his work, even the choice of Mary to be Jesus mother. A poor, uneducated, unmarried pregnant girl that would lose any status she could have had before she became pregnant.

The hope of Christmas is still available to those that put aside man's wisdom. We need to be prepared like those men that heard the teaching about the savior that would come hundreds of years later. When they saw the star they knew that the savior had arrived and they couldn't wait to worship him.

Based on a sermon by Timothy Keller "Jesus, Our God"

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God Says Go - Don't Stay With The Crowd

The one who scattered us will bring us all back together for his glory.

Genesis 10:4-9 Then they said, "Come, let's build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world." 5 But the LORD came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.

6 "Look!" He said. "The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let's go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won't be able to understand each other." 8 In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.

9 That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the LORD confused the people with different languages. In this way He scattered them all over the world.

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You have probably been warned more than once about the danger of following the crowd. Jesus warned us that his followers would have to choose to stop following the crowds and choose the straight and narrow road that few people were willing to take. (Matthew 7:14) In today's scripture we will see the dangers of unity and how God dispersed a crowd without using any physical effort.

The new beginning that Noah received from God wasn't perfect, the floods washed away sin from the earth but it didn't cleanse the heart of mankind, the eight people that got off the ark still had a sin nature and it didn't take long for it to affect their lives.

Noah's children and grandchildren were supposed to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth but they didn't want to scatter like the animals did. They chose to move to the East as a group, and when someone decided to stop, they all stopped. Following the crowd was already a popular idea.

It seems like Nimrod was the first man to rise to power after the flood, he was a great hunter and he also became the first to invest in real estate, he took after Cain and built the first great cities that are mentioned after the flood. (Cain, Genesis 4:16-17; Nimrod, Genesis 10:8-12)

No more than a hundred years after the flood, while Noah's children and grandchildren are still alive, the world population is ignoring what happened and doing what they want. Some of the people that got off the boat are still alive, they had all of the facts about God's judgment of sin that caused the flood, but they didn't care.

God’s will for human beings is not that we find our joy in being praised, but that we find our joy in knowing and praising him. His will is not that we find our security in cities but in God whom we gladly obey.

-John Piper

A great city with a famous landmark has been the dream of many people throughout history. The love of praise and the love of security are great motivations for the masses to stick together but this tower was also an attempt by Satan to get man to worship anything besides God.

This tower was probably a ziggurat, these towers were the center of religious activity that can still be seen around that area today. We saw that right after Noah got off the ark that he worshiped God properly but most his grandchildren followed the way of Cain and chose to do worship their way.

It may seem like a curse that we are all scattered around the world into so many different people groups with so many different languages and cultures but this diversity is actually a great tool that God created to prevent evil from going unchecked. One evil man is not likely to make much trouble but that can change quickly in the company of like minded friends.

The plans of evil world leaders are restrained through diversity, uniting the nations sounds like a great idea but think about all of the united efforts in world history that prove that human unity can also be extremely evil.

The unity of other countries was the only reason the Nazis were not successful at ruling the world with their evil schemes. The plans of the United Nations is right in line with Satan's desires for a one world, one government system under one ruler. The one who scattered us is the only one that has the authority to bring us all back together again and he is the only one that will bring us together without any evil intentions.

The next time the world is united it will be under the rule of the Antichrist, the world population will think it is an awesome idea to unite together but they won't realize that his unity will be for evil just the same as he did it at the tower that was built in Babylon.

Revelation 7:9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. 

Someday God's people will enjoy unity again, the effects of sin will be washed away permanently and the one who scattered us will bring us all back together for his glory. Until that day comes we must strive while we are still here on Earth to bring glory to God through the unity that we have as followers of Jesus.

Following the crowd doesn't have to be a bad thing if you are careful to follow the crowd that will bring glory to God for eternity.

In the next post we will see that the fame that the people sought to have at Babel was realized in Abram because of his obedience and willingness to go in faith to a place he didn't know.

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Satisfying Relationships

God's word reveals to us the importance of relationships.

Genesis 2:21-25 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and He brought her to the man.

23 "At last!" the man exclaimed. "This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken from 'man.'"

24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

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In The Beginning when God created the world he didn't set out to give us the details of how his work was accomplished. All that we really need to know is that God spoke everything into existence from out of nothing. The story of the Bible is so much bigger than knowing any more details about our world than what God told us.

The creation story ends and from this point on the focus of the Bible is about God's favorite subject, it's all about relationships, the relationship between God and man and also the need for mankind to have human relationships.

We cannot imagine how it must have been to be able to relate to God before sin. It must have been amazing to have him walk in the garden and have him talk directly to you, we don't know how long it lasted but I am sure Adam always longed for the good old days.

We cannot imagine how amazing it was to have a marriage that wasn't affected by sin. Have you ever been in a fight with someone and stopped to wonder if the thing that you think is important isn't really what you are fighting about? Probably not. I think that we are clueless about how far reaching the effects of sin are on our world and how much it has damaged our relationships.

Adam had a special relationship with God that the animals couldn't have but God knew that Adam needed more. It is difficult to understand that some religions believe that their clergy should be without a wife because it is supposed to be a more excellent way to live when God makes it clear that it isn't good for man to be alone. If God says that about sinless man living in the most awesome neighborhood ever then it must be way more true now that we are living outside of Eden.

God gave the first bride away to Adam to fulfill his need for a companion, Eve wasn't a subordinate or a slave, she was created in the image of God with equal status and she would have the same work and the same commands to follow.

Many people decide that God's design isn't good enough, some want to make slaves of the woman, make her a lesser being or they want to disregard God's original design by taking a partner for themselves of the same sex.

Ephesians 5:25-27 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

Throughout scripture marriage is a metaphor for the relationship of God with his chosen people and for Jesus relationship with the church. Marriage is supposed to be a picture of his covenant love for his people. Adam's bride and the bride of Christ both came from their side, from Adam's open side came Eve and from the side of Christ came the church.

The metaphor doesn't work with same sex marriages, two Adam's or two Eve's can never illustrate the holy union and symbolism that God intended earthly marriage to be. If the marriage has two husbands or two wives then who is the head of the marriage that lays down their life for the other? Which one is going to be submissive as to the Lord?

Revelation 19:7-9 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to Him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and His bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear." For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God's holy people. 9 And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." And he added, "These are true words that come from God."

The promised future restoration of our relationship with God is beautifully demonstrated in marriage. We will enjoy his presence again as we are united with him in a pure relationship that will never again be influenced by sin.

I have a peaceful relationship with God as his child because of Jesus but our relationship is still a struggle because I am still bound to this sinful world. Because of sin I cannot fully know him and relate to him as intimately as I will some day. I cannot love him or worship him as I will some day when all of the distractions of my carnal nature has been removed.

A husband and wife pursuing the gospel as their goal will grow closer than a husband and wife focused solely on their own happiness.

-Richard Coekin, Ephesians For You

Until that day, I need to show the world the love of God through my marriage, I need to pursue my relationship with my wife just as God pursued me and I need to love her sacrificially just as God has done for me.

My appreciation and gratitude for the grace that has been shown to me through the gospel needs to be lived out daily in a covenant relationship so that the world can see the love of God on display.

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The King Is Coming

The only way to be a citizen of this kingdom is to be born into it.

Isaiah 52:1, 7, 8, 13 Wake up, wake up, O Zion! Clothe yourself with strength. Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem, for unclean and godless people will enter your gates no longer.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!

The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for before their very eyes they see the LORD returning to Jerusalem.

See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted.

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Someday the beautiful state that the world was in at the end of the creation story will be restored. The beauty and peace and especially the access to God that Adam and Eve had will be restored to all of God's people from every corner of the earth.

The Bible is the story of the Kingdom of God being restored, first the Bible makes it clear that we are so bad, from the original sin to the first murder and then shortly there after the story of Noah. Our tendency has always been to reject God and embrace evil.

John 3:3 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."

The Bible lets us know that the day is coming when the king will restore his kingdom, the Book of Life will be opened and the citizens of the kingdom will be brought together to enjoy God's presence even more fully that it was in the garden.

The Book of Life is a list of all of the people that belong to God's kingdom. This country won't have any illegal immigration and there won't be any discrimination based on your color or the place of your first birth.

Have you become a citizen of God's eternal kingdom? Find out how you can have peace with God that starts now and last for eternity.

Rejoice!

My relationship with Jesus changes everything.

Romans 8:31-34 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one, for God himself has given us right standing with himself.

34 Who then will condemn us? No one, for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

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I'm the comeback kid, but it isn't because of anything good that I did, I have God on my side! I can never be good enough but I don't have to be! Think about it, God has the right to judge me and if He does then he will certainly find me guilty but instead He fixed our relationship so that I can call Him my Father.

Too many people don't have this joyful outlook, even followers of Jesus don't always remember how awesome their condition is with God's love and favor upon their life. I learned from Pastor Tim Keller that the opposite of joy is hopelessness and if you have hope in God then you should always have joy.

Before I became God's child I had one enemy and that was God. My enemy was good and wanted to help me even though I was at war with Him. Now that I have peace with God and he is no longer my enemy I have even more enemies than I had before and they are all evil.

My new enemies as a child of God are the world, the flesh and the devil. The world has a mindset that tries to sell you on the idea that you can find peace and joy somewhere else, your flesh is your old sin nature that wars against your good intentions and the devil is your accuser that judges without mercy.

All three of these enemies are very powerful and they are pretty good at stealing our peace and joy if we allow them to take our eyes off of the source of our hope. The fact that he is coming for me should dominate my thoughts and give me plenty of reason to be full of joy when my circumstances don't look good.

Philippians 4:4-7 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again--rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. 7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Instead of losing our joy we need to remember to pray about everything. Paul told the Philippian church that their prayers should be followed up immediately with thanksgiving. We usually like to wait and see the results of our prayers before we decide to say thanks, that's just how we are, we need to realize that what ever answer we get is ultimately for our good so we should thank him up front before we see the answer.

John 16:22 So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy

I have hope that the rest of the world is so desperately pursuing in all the wrong places. I need to share the hope that comes from the only Son of God, the only one that could take the punishment that I deserved, the only one that could secure me a home in heaven for eternity.