Humanly Impossible

How Jesus Came to earth is humanly impossible. 

And what He offers to us is also humanly impossible.

“In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.’” Luke 2:8-14

The Shepherds knew there was something there and that it was humanly impossible to conjure. The something was God, in human form, who would accomplish the humanly impossible: save humans from themselves and from each other. 

Jesus, born to humanity in such a way that scientists are still reeling because they cannot replicate it. 

Jesus, born to humanity in such a way that intellectuals smugly guffaw because their minds, as smart as they claim to be, cannot fathom it.

Jesus, born to humanity in such a way that artists and poets indeed imagine it, to the point that they never realize it. 

Jesus, born to humanity in such a way that humanity itself cannot humanly accept and know Him.

And that’s why Christianity is the absolute truth: there is nothing of man in it. 

Christ, in His entirety, is God in human form for 33 years on earth (John 10:30). His arrival and his leaving are not of this world, nor were His works that He did while here. 

“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19).

“I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:30).

“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

And He--unlike any human before or after Christ's time on earth during which Jesus performed miracles--died and rose again, and currently sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. 

I am thankful to God for this light--Christ--that He made shine out of darkness, continuing to this day, for all who are ready and ripe for His harvest, tended and empowered by God. 

I thank God that the Christ whose birth I honor at Christmas is not of human origin and not human (John 5:18). 

In that, I find hope: because He is not of humanity, but instead sent here for humanity—to break the curse of humanity that is humanity itself: fallen, blind, and walking in darkness (Isaiah 9:2).

When His light penetrates and we, in contrition and repentance, receive His good news of great joy, then we will know peace on earth: not a human peace, but His peace; a peace that says, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.”

Copyright Barb Harwood

Not Afraid to Mention Christ

My experience with Christianity during my early, formative years, was that nobody called themselves a Christian, but instead identified with their denomination: 

“I’m a Presbyterian” 

“I’m a Lutheran,”

 “I’m Catholic.” 

Sometimes people would only name the church they attended: the local Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian or Catholic Church. 

The only time I heard anyone referred to as a Christian was second-hand, and always disparagingly: 

“Oh, they’re Christians” (roll eyes); 

“She’s one of those crazy born-agains” (snicker snicker);

 “They’re Jesus freaks” (the index finger twirling in circles and pointing at the brain as if to say “Nuts!”).

In my family growing up, somehow church was a part of life, but Christ, God and the Bible were not. There was never any mention of Jesus, or the incorporation of God into life (except for the Christmas creche, thankfully), and the only Bible I saw was one given to me by my liberal church with the expectation that one never read it (because it was never expected we read it in church or Sunday school), and so we never did.

The Biblical Jesus was not preached, and so I never understood who Jesus is, why He came to earth, or why He died. 

Underlying this was the attitude that we are somehow more spiritual than the next person, or respectful to world peace than the next person, by keeping our Christianity (the more common term being “spirituality”) hush hush. 

I have com to conclude that this is a ruse to cover the fact that very little is known about Jesus—personally or Biblically—and that we are to find Him, if not embarrassing, then too controversial to discuss in public, or too much a “fairly tale or myth” to admit in any way that we adhere to His life and His being the Savior. 

What is actually going on here, I believe, is loyalty to “religion” (i.e. church attendance), as well as a belief in pluralism and not wanting be offensive by believing in Christ.

But where this all falls apart is that, people follow and pledge allegiance to all sorts of individuals, places and groups that are controversial and claim to be “the only way.” It doesn’t stop them in the least from talking about, boasting, praising and being actively and visibly involved with those people, places and groups. 

Just a list of a few that come to mind: The Republican, Libertarian, Democratic, and Socialist parties; pro-abortion, pro-marijuana, pro-assisted suicide, pro-women’s liberation ideologies—even pluralism claims to be the only way—pluralism itself is the claiming of an absolute truth (ironic, isn’t it, that many people of many faiths are indeed very offended by pluralism). 

I’ve heard many church-goers, who won’t say a word about Christ or God, ever, in a conversation, make numerous statements and repeated attempts to strike up a conversation involving the above dicey topics, without any fear of offending those they are speaking to (yet they claim to keep quiet about “faith” because it might offend someone).

In addition, the idea that faith is private, and therefore, we keep it to ourselves, again doesn’t follow the logic and practice of what people actually do: For instance, the following are readily shared:

Health issues—the same folks who won’t mention Christ have no qualms about sharing intimate details of what’s going on with their bladder;

Grandchildren and pictures of grandchildren (especially on the internet where there is no control over privacy whatsoever) are flaunted and praised;

Complaints about interpersonal relations with a spouse, co-worker, boss or neighbor:

I hear details shared about spouses and one’s own children especially, in the normal flow of conversation, that amaze me in the personal nature of the sharing (in what is not a confidential exchange between people but amidst a group of ladies out to lunch, or guys meeting for breakfast). 

We share deeply personal sentiments and opinions all the time: to say that Christ is off-limits because He is somehow too special or personal….well, it just doesn’t hold water and sounds, to me, much more like an excuse.

In all of this, I am keenly aware that only God knows the heart. I do not claim to know the heart of any person. I know my heart was once just like those who thought they were superior to and above the whole “Jesus thing.” 

However, the Bible does say that we will know the followers of Christ by their fruit. And as much as, again, some church-goes would like to say that their kindness is how they live their faith, that isn’t a Biblical faith. And I’ve learned this first-hand in my own conversion (not to mention my pre-Christian “kindness” was very subjective and circumstantial!) 

Jesus, in His Word, says 

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:23b-26).

“Therefore they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent’” (John 6:28-29).

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.’” John 6:35-36

Charity is a work; it’s not the only work. 

Belief in God through His Son is also a work. 

That is a key element often missing from liberal, Unitarian, pluralistic belief systems. The relationship with Christ and the entirety of His teaching in His Word is missing, either due to being marked as irrelevant, less important, or downright “wrong.”

Those who believe that their charitable acts can leave Christ out, and who actually believe they are better than those folks whose works include proclaiming Christ as Lord of Lords and King of Kings, are only fooling themselves in their pride. 

They think they have the upper hand on spirituality over those “Jesus Freaks” and “Bible thumpers.” But that’s pretty gutsy, if not tragically risky, when one considers that the ultimate Jesus freaks were the apostles, who helped set the bar, and Jesus Christ, who is the bar. 

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who believes in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned” (John 15:4-6).

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led away from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). 

Jesus is thee Bible thumper, if you will, and so when those who read His Word and follow Him are mocked, Jesus Himself is mocked.

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me” (John 15:18-21).

If we don’t know Christ, we will rely on ourselves and other humans for our spirituality. We may do it even under the banner of a Christian denomination or a spiritual practice or church. But let’s be honest: who are we, really, following and believing in? Is it God, like we have convinced ourselves—God without the Bible, Holy Spirit and Christ? 

Paul’s words succinctly sum up the reality of that sorely misguided approach:

“You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you…?” (Galatians 3:1a).

copyright Barb Harwood

He Came to Free Us From Being Sure of Ourselves

Those of us born again in Christ (in the way explained to Nicodemus in John 3) often marvel at, if not recoil from, the ignorance we lived in before Christ.

I think back to my college years, attending a “Big Ten” university and my subsequent thinking that somehow that made me, of course, a Big Deal too—and certainly superior in worldview! 

I was so sure about so many things: 

*that drinking was cool; non-drinking was lame; 

*that poetry and literature were the highest art form and television (other than 60 Minutes, Northern Exposure, MTV and the Frugal Gourmet, of course) was for losers; 

*that open-mindedness toward other cultures made me an expert on those cultures; 

*and that, generally speaking, since I pretty much had the capability to have an opinion, I thus had earned the legitimacy to have that opinion (on just about anything and everything).

But in reality? Most of the time, I didn’t have a clue!

I knew nothing of other cultures. 

I never hung out with non-drinkers, so how could I “know” they were “lame?” 

And just because I had an opinion, didn’t mean it was an informed opinion.

I also was in denial in my belief that my television watching was sophisticated while other people’s television watching was not. 

In fact, that habit of denial was a facet of every aspect of my life. Why? Because denial is easy when you don’t have objective truth. Denial is easy when you live in relativism. Denial is mandatory when you make yourself the god of you!

Now, some of this I chalk up to simply being young, immature and inexperienced. 

Even if people are raised as a Christian, there is still a learning curve and a breaking down of patterns of denial and pride. 

But since I had no objective truth from which to begin or build upon, and since my only base line of morality and wisdom was that formed by a childhood reading of Aesop’s Fables, I was at liberty to just create my own moral, emotional and intellectual operating system. 

This tended to engender a wider sense of boldness that then allowed me to fashion opinions on the world without actually having experienced that world. 

The result is what we term “hot air:” I said a lot of things off the cuff, with no factual basis, first-hand knowledge or study. And I remember—boy do I remember!—feeling as though I was the “expert;” and even more, needing to be the expert.

And that’s how it was that, just because I thought something to be so, it was so.

How foolish I was!

But the chickens came home to roost! 

I don’t claim to know the specific steps God takes, or His exact timing and purpose, but I do know that He is always in the position of getting our attention for our own good and out of His love for us. And so God, as He has done with so many others, got my attention and brought the curtain down on the farce I was making of my life.

I once heard a man accuse Christianity of being “a fairy tale.” 

Yet, what would he call the “belief” system I, willy nilly, had carved out for me? It wasn’t based on anything historical; it wasn’t based on knowledge; it hadn’t the benefit of being tested and tried—at least, not yet.

That’s when God came into the picture for me: when my personal belief system did begin to hit the wall and was found empty.

And that’s where the subjectivity of me, myself and I, met the objectivity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Christ came to take away our sureness in ourselves — freeing us to comprehend, like Job, that we spoke of things too wonderful for us; things which we did not know…therefore we retract, and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42).

copyright Barb Harwood

How to Be

As I previously shared on this blog a few months ago, on August 28, my husband had a stroke, quite out of the blue.

A close friend, who has been walking through the trial of lung cancer with his girlfriend, visited my husband and me in the hospital. As we three sat and reflected on how quickly our health can change, and thus, life itself can change, and on how we try to navigate it the best we can, our friend sat back and pretty much summed it up with, 

“You don’t know how to be.” 

And he’s right: as the person who must care for and support my husband, and still take care of myself, I didn’t know how to be in this new curve ball life just threw at me. 

And my husband didn’t know how to be as he experienced emotions and limitations he has never before experienced.

The three of us agreed that we learn “how to be” as we go, and even then, the circumstances can change, and so the learning is a constant. 

This morning it occurred to me, as I ponder Christmas and Jesus’ coming to earth, that one of the blessings of Jesus’ coming is that He teaches us “how to be;” not just in crisis, but every day, all the time, in all circumstances. 

And the beauty of a crisis is that, if we haven’t learned it from Him already, we get to learn how to be when the rug is pulled out from underneath us. 

Now some might say they prefer to be ignorant in this. But most would agree that, at minimum, “people learn from their mistakes.” And that, generally, is perceived as a good thing.

The question is, what  do we learn? And if not from Christ, then from who, or what? 

The secular humanist mantra of picking one’s self up by one's boot straps: does that also inform on how to be before one is able to pick themselves up by their boot straps? And what if a person cannot? What if a person cannot pick themselves up?

For many years, I could “learn from my mistakes” by merely being young enough to recover from them! I wouldn’t say I “learned” all that much from my mistakes, which is why I often made the same mistake over and over again. Youth is quite forgiving in and of itself.

And then, as life got on, the mistakes finally caught up with me. And I began to slowly realize that I, in fact, did not know how to be, or how to pull myself up. And that is the best place to be because that has the potential to be the end of the self-perpetuated dead-end road.

If we harken to God’s call, God--who is the One who stands waiting for us at the end of that dead-end road--can walk us into a completely new direction. 

Some people will say that they got over all kinds of things without God. Or that they know people who got over all kinds of things without God. And I believe this is true. 

But again, this begs the question: how did they get over these things? In a functional, life-transforming way, or in a dysfunctional, life-staying-pretty-much the same or even becoming worse, way?

There are all sorts of worldly ways to “recover” from things (the most common being to delude ourselves and others that recovery has actually taken place!). 

And then there are God’s ways. 

And the people I know who were honestly transparent about their situation without losing hope, and who were transformed permanently by it, and who grew in grace after having experienced it, did it on the foundation of Christ and their God-given faith in Him. 

Sure, there are folks who put on a strong face and a stiff upper lip, a “can-do,” “positive” attitude, believing that the best example and help to themselves and the world is to be a pillar of feel-good affirmations. 

Or, there are those who shuffle through by being overtly depressed, down, and morose, relying heavily on the sympathies of others, rejecting all and any encouragement and hope.

And then there is the way Jesus’ provides for us, on a daily basis, within the normal ups and downs of life, and specifically, in a crisis: those times that throw us for a loop and we discover that, in this situation, we don’t really know how to be. So we don’t rely on and trust in our self, or worldly logic and advice, or cultural and psychological “shoulds."

Jesus says, 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

The thief comes to steal our health, to kill and destroy our joy, and to basically make life miserable in any way that he can. 

Jesus comes that we may have life, not only in spite of the thief, but in answer to and victory over the thief. 

I believe it is John MacArthur who said that if a person lives long enough, they will experience suffering. It is a given. 

Jesus, in His Word of Life and Spirit, informs as to how to be when suffering shows up on our doorstep, as it has, and it does, and it surely will. 

That is why He came. To be in us what we cannot know to be without Him, so that we may have life—even in sickness, even in tragedy, even in despair, even in turmoil, even in loneliness, even in death. 

He came that we—whether alive with Him or with Him in death—have life, and have “it to the full.”

Copyright Barb Harwood

He Came That We May Have Life

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be sharing some thoughts and quotes from other writings on the point and purpose of Jesus' coming to earth--making his entrance as a newborn baby on a night that was very much like any other night, to a people going about life very much like they always have.

The following is quoted from an essay written by Ajith Fernando titled, The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ, published in the book, Telling the Truth, edited by D.A. Carson:

     "The Bible has a fully developed and deeply meaningful understanding of spirituality. Much of it is given in the Old Testament, which was the Bible of the early church and therefore did not need to be reemphasized in the New Testament. Because many Christians do not assign sufficient significance to the Old Testament, they may not have fully grasped this emphasis. Essentially, biblical spirituality is founded on a personal relationship with God, who is both loving and holy. Deepening this relationship gives life's most fulfilling experience. David said, 'You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand' (Ps. 16:11). We believe that our relationship with God is most fulfilling because God is the creator of human spirituality and Jesus is God's answer to human need. Jesus himself said, 'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full' (John 10:10). Ajith Fernando, teaching director of Youth for Christ, Sri Lanka

Religion and Centrally Planned Socialism

The following quote provides an excellent assessment of Communism (and historical insight still relevant for us throughout the world today), bringing to my mind the words of the apostle Peter who warns of men who are "springs without water and mists driven by a storm...For they mouth empty, boastful words...They promise (people) freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him" (2 Peter 2:17;18; 19).


     "Perhaps the greatest example of an organized political system of intolerance that both religious and secular societies have had to endure was that of centrally planned socialism, but this should not surprise us. It is consistent for a regime which believes it can plan the entire economy, which means to dictate the economic decisions of every citizen, to find little room in society for religious freedom. By attempting to own and control private property and to suppress religious and political expression and the freedom of association, the totalitarian rulers of Central and Eastern Europe in the late 20th century hoped to produce a society sanitized of any reference to God, or at least a God which transcended the pronouncements of the political ruler. 
     Certainly, many factors went into the astounding and rapid demise of Communism, but it would be an oversight to neglect the role of religion--Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish--in finally undermining the illegitimate authority the state had claimed for itself. It would also be an oversight to neglect the role of religion in providing a secure moral foundation for freedom so that liberty may be used and defended in moral terms. The contributions of religion to the development of the free society and the further implications for our future understanding of political liberty have only begun to be explored."
Robert A. Sirico, in his essay, The Moral Basis for Economic Liberty, in the book, Rediscovering Political Economy