It is that time of year for many to make New Year’s resolutions. It may surprise

you to know that the tradition goes all the way back to before the time of Christ. Janus

was the name of a mythical king of early Rome whose face was placed at the head of the

calendar. With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future.

The New Year has not always begun on January 1. In fact, the New Year doesn’t

begin on that date everywhere even today. The Chinese New Year is one example. But

January 1 is the first day of the new year for those of us in the West. This goes back to

Julius Caesar who developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons

than previous calendars had.

Most of the resolutions we make today have to do with our health. For example,

some of the most popular resolutions are: (1) to lose weight, (2) to get fit, and (3) to eat

right. So it is not surprising that membership in weight watchers and fitness clubs jump

dramatically in the month of January.

Some resolutions are to stop doing things that are harmful to our body. They

include: (1) drink less alcohol and (2) quit smoking now. If our body is the temple of the

Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), then these would also be very good resolutions.

Other resolutions deal with finances, like paying off debt, and saving money.

Those would certainly be appropriate resolutions considering what most Americans just

spend for Christmas. Still other resolutions are about self-improvement. Some of these

are such things as: (1) get a better job and (2) get a better education.

What I found absent from most of these resolutions was anything that involved

spiritual growth or even outreach to others. There was one resolution at the bottom of the

list of most popular and it was to “volunteer to help others.” At least this resolution in

this list dealt with reaching out to others, but the others had to do with fitness, diet, or

self-improvement.

Why don’t we all make a resolution to be more Godly and to live the Christian

life more consistently before the watching world? I think that would be a great resolution

for the coming year.

As we come to the end of the year and look back at the many news items, it worth

asking some important questions. One question that Joel Rosenberg has been asking is

this: Is America in a Jonah moment or a Nahum moment? Let me explain.

When Jonah preached to the city of Ninevah (the capital of the Assyrian empire),

they repented. The king arose from his throne, removed his robe, and covered himself in

sackcloth and sat in ashes (Jonah 3:6). He then sent out a decree to the people, and God

spared the city from the impending disaster (Jonah 3:10).

That generation of Ninevites listened and turned from their sins toward the Lord.

Following generations did the same until 150 years later when another generation of

Ninevites refused to listen to the Word of God.

Nahum then pronounces a woe upon Nineveh. “Woe to the bloody city, all full of

lies and plunder—no end to the prey! The crack of the whip, and the rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse and bounding chariot! Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering

spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over

bodies!” This is the vivid description of the destruction that was to come to Nineveh in

612 B.C.

Is America in a Jonah moment? Or are we in a Nahum moment? More than

a million abortions are performed unabated. More states have sanctioned same-sex

marriage. Politicians in Washington add more than a trillion dollars of national debt every

year. We are shocked at the violence in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and in an

elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Most of us recognize that if we as a people and a country continue to turn away

from God, the problems in our society will grow worse. Are we ready to repent, or

will we be like the people Paul talked about who were “holding to a form of godliness,

although they have denied its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).

Joel Rosenberg asks a good question. I suspect that what happens next year will

give us an answer.

Debate about Abraham Lincoln continues to this day. For some, he is the Great

Emancipator, who helped end slavery, and a president that held the union together. To

others, the 16th

the reason for the vast expansion of the national government.

It is not surprising, therefore, that there has also been endless debate about

Lincoln’s faith. Stephen Mansfield enters into this debate with his book, Lincoln’s Battle

with God: A President’s Struggle with Faith and What it Meant for America. He was on

my radio program recently to talk about his research and the book.

There are many phases to Lincoln’s spiritual life. At one point, while a young

man in New Salem, Illinois, he was effectively the village atheist having read some of the

rationalistic works of Tom Paine and the Enlightenment work, The Ruins of Empires. But

he also read a book of Christian apologetics (The Christian Defense) by James D. Smith.

He attended services at his church and spent hours discussing issues of faith with the

pastor. Over time, Lincoln became convinced that God exists. He also became convinced

that the principles in the Bible were true.

Abraham Lincoln faced a great deal of sadness. Beset with depression, he nearly

committed suicide on a number of occasions. He lost two sons. One died at the age of

three. The other died at the age of eleven while Lincoln was president and at time when

the Civil War was at a low point. His wife (who probably was bipolar) was a difficult

woman to live with. Through these trials, Mansfield argues, Lincoln relied on his

Christian faith.

Of course, it is hard to number Lincoln among the saints. He never joined a

church, and he tended to poke fun at religion and false piety. People in his day and

secular historians today greet his religious statements with skepticism. Yet you cannot

read his Second Inaugural Address without feeling that Lincoln did indeed possess

genuine faith. I encourage you to read the book and learn more about the faith of

Abraham Lincoln.

president was a man who suppressed dissent, was a law unto himself, and

On the day after Christmas, I would to ask you a question. How much did you

spend on Christmas? If you are like most Americans, you probably would answer that

you spent more than you planned to spend.

Dave Ramsey estimates that half of all Christmas shoppers will spend more

than they planned and will go further into debt. It is understandable. Advertisers started

promoting Christmas long before Thanksgiving. It wasn’t uncommon to see some

Christmas decorations and ads alongside Halloween displays. Consumer groups estimate

that credit card companies alone spent more than $150 million on advertising and

promotions. It is easy to see why so many Americans get caught up in the consumerist

mentality during the Christmas season.

In my book, Making the Most of Your Money in Tough Times, I devote a chapter

to materialism and consumerism. We live in a culture that encourages us to spend and not

to save. It seduces us into thinking that we need all sorts of products and services to be

The more we buy, the more indebted we become. The Bible warns about this.

Proverbs 21:17 says, “He who loves pleasure will become a poor man; He who loves

wine and oil will not become rich.”

In our lifetime we have lots of money that flows through our hands, and we need

to make wiser choices. Consider that a person who makes just $25,000 a year will have

(in his lifetime) a million dollars pass through his hands. The median family income in

America is twice that. That means that two million dollars will pass through the average

American family’s hands.

The more we buy, the less happy we are. Once again, the Bible warns us about

this. Haggai 1:5-6 says, “Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Consider your

ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be

satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no

one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.’”

If you are feeling the post-holiday blues because of your spending, I recommend

you make a resolution to change your spending behavior.

On this Christmas day, I think it would be good to reflect for just a moment on

the Incarnation. God became man and took on human flesh. This is a great theological

wonder and mystery.

Malcolm Muggeridge wrote this to describe the importance of the birth of Christ.

“Thanks to the great mercy and marvel of the Incarnation, the cosmic scene is resolved

into a human drama. A human drama in which God reached down to relate Himself to

man and man reaches up to relate himself to God. Time looks into eternity and eternity

into time, making now always and always now. Everything is transformed by this

sublime drama of the Incarnation, God’s special parable for man in a fallen world”

God reached down to us by sending the second person of the Trinity to earth to

become part of the human drama and human dilemma. God stepped out of eternity into

time to become part of the human community. What an incredible act of love and mercy.

C.S. Lewis explains that God had to come down that He might lift us up. “In the

Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down; down from the heights of

absolute being into time and space, down into humanity. . . . But he goes down to come

up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him.”

God did not just come to dwell among us and comfort us. He came that He might

raise us up through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Although we

celebrate the birth of Christ today, we also look to the death and resurrection of Christ

that we celebrate at Easter. Romans 5:8 proclaims: “God shows his love for us in that

while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 1 Peter 2:24 says that Christ “bore our

sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for

righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.”

One this Christmas day, we should pause to reflect on why Christ came to earth

and what He did for us on the cross.

On the day before Christmas, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on the

coming of the Messiah. The Old Testament contains hundreds of prophecies that give

specific detail about the “anointed one” who is the Messiah. The prophets proclaimed

that He would come to save the people.

The Bible is unique in many ways, especially when it comes to fulfilled prophecy.

At the time when it was written, 27 percent (1800 verses) of the Bible was prophetic.

Large portions of those prophecies have been fulfilled, and that is a powerful argument

for the inspiration of the Bible.

What is the probability that these Messianic prophecies could be fulfilled in the

life of one person by chance? Peter Stoner, in his book Science Speaks, calculated the

probability of just eight Messianic prophecies being fulfilled by chance. These included

the prophecy in Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Another was

Malachi 3:1 that predicted that a messenger would prepare the way for the Messiah. Four

of the prophecies were from Zechariah. They predicted that the Messiah would be

betrayed, by a friend, for 30 pieces of silver, and it would be used to buy a potter’s field.

Another prophecy said that the Messiah would die by being pierced (crucified).

Multiplying all of these probabilities together, Peter Stoner produced a number of

10 to the 28th

lived since the time of the prophecies and came up with a number of 10 to the 17th

In other words, the chance that just eight prophecies could be fulfilled by chance is one in

one hundred quadrillion. In order to illustrate this, he says imagine we could fill the state

of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep. Put a red mark on one and then ask a

blindfolded person to travel anywhere in the state. The chance that he would pick up the

marked silver dollar on the first try would be one in one hundred quadrillion.

The conclusion is simple. Jesus is indeed the Messiah predicted by the prophets.

power. He then divided this number by the number of people who have

power.

During this Christmas week, I have taken the time to discuss the theology of some

of the Christmas hymns and carols that we sing. Today I would like to talk about “Joy to

the World.”

This hymn was written by Isaac Watts and originally titled “The Messiah’s

Coming and Kingdom” when it first appeared in his hymnal of 1719. The original title

illustrates why there is no reference to angels, shepherds, or wise men. It is really about

Christ’s second coming, but we of course sing it at Christmas time about his first coming.

“Joy to the World” is essentially a paraphrase of Psalm 98. It says: “Make a joyful

noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praise.” It then

answers why: “for He [the Lord] comes to judge the earth; He will judge the world with

righteousness, and the people with equity.”

The hymn proclaims that the earth should “receive her King” and every heart

should “prepare Him room.” That has not happened yet, but there will be a time when as

the hymn says “the Savior reigns.”

“Joy to the World” continues: “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns

infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found.” This

refers back to the Fall in Genesis 3:18 where God says there will be thorns and thistles

that will spring forth from the ground. In the New Heaven and New Earth, the curse

currently on the Earth will be gone.

Christ will also come as Judge. The hymn proclaims that: “He rules the world

with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and

wonders of His love.”

The first coming of Christ was an occasion of joy. The angel said to the

shepherds: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). But

this hymn also reminds us of the great joy the world will experience when Christ returns.

We should look forward to it with expectation.

During this Christmas week, I have taken the time to discuss the theology of some of the Christmas hymns and carols that we sing. Today I would like to talk about The First Noel. It is an English song dating back to the sixteenth century. Some people believe that the First Noel was French because of the French spelling of Noel, but it is actually an English song. The French word Noël does mean “Christmas” and it relevant to the lyrics of the song. The First Noel was first published in 1833 when it appeared in the work, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern.

The first line of the song suggests a December date for the birth of Christ: “The first Noel, the angels did say; Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;

In fields where they lay keeping their sheep, On a cold winter’s night that was so deep.” Although many doubt that Jesus was born in December, there are some theologians (such as the author of the Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ) who believes that a December date is possible.

Whatever the case may be about the date of the birth of Jesus, the song continues: “Born is the King of Israel!” It reminds us that a king was born that night. Yet few understood the significance of a birth in Bethlehem.

Even the wise men from the East did not completely understand the significance of His birth, but they were guided to Him by a star. “For all to see there was a star;

Shining in the east, beyond them far; And to the earth it gave great light, And so it continued both day and night.”

The song goes on to say that “three wise men came from country far.” The Bible does not tell us how many wise men there were. We know there were three kinds of gifts

(gold, frankincense, and myrrh), but we don’t know how many wise men there were. Some church fathers says there were twelve, other traditions name three: Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar. But the Bible does not say how many wise men there were.

What the Bible clearly teaches, however, is that Jesus was born and that He is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).