All Praise to Him

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

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Last night, our church had our annual Christmas program called, “O, Come Let Us Adore.” It involved choral singing, instrumentation, narration and signing for the deaf of one song. It was a beautifully rendered evening, complete with a full strings section, percussion and piano. It was very uplifting and worshipful.

My wife had been asked to participate in the event since she has a Masters in Deaf Ed Communication and knows sign language for the deaf (ASL). Even though there are no deaf people at our church, they still asked her to participate. I have to admit that as I watched my wife sign to the song All Praise to Thee, I was nearly brought to tears. I had not seen my wife use her sign language for a number of decades and to watch her last night as she gave “voice” to the words using sign language, I realized just how much my wife loves our Lord. I was so proud of her and I am proud to be married to someone who loves the Lord (probably more than I do!). It became clear to me as I watched my wife of nearly 40 years that she truly loves Him, that she so much appreciates what He means to her and what He has accomplished for her.

I am so grateful that God brought my wife into my life; that He brought us together. I am blessed because of what God has done and the road we have traveled together for nearly four decades. As you watch the video linked below, I’m sure you’ll see just how much she loves the Lord as well.[1]

Numerous people commented to her how much they appreciated what she did because of friends or relatives who are deaf or who are studying ASL language for the deaf. Certainly, the evening was not about my wife, but it is nice to know that what my wife did as she stood in front of the congregation last night, touched people and directed their hearts to our Lord.

God in Christ is absolutely worthy of our praise. In fact, as the song says, He is worthy of all our praise. He controls all that we can and cannot see and He does so for His glory. I still have difficulty appreciating what life will be like when I am there with Him. It is difficult for my mind to see because I’m not there yet. There is so much in this life that seeks our attention and desires to be enthroned in our hearts. This is the difficulty of living in sin-laden bodies in a world that is cursed. In spite of our salvation, we remain destined to die because of the corruption of our flesh. Yet, that is also a blessing in disguise because death will free us from everything that seeks to destroy us.

I sometimes think about how “light” I will feel when I walk into His eternal Presence after leaving this life. Here and now, we are fallen, weighted down by the destruction of sin all around us. Even if we are not actively or knowingly sinning, we still live in a sinful world, over which God has placed His “curse.” Though that curse will one day be lifted, it continues for now and affects every aspect of life, including our outlook, demeanor and even our health.

Last night, there were probably 350 to 400 people in attendance, including some friends we have not seen for a few years and who came to our church for the occasion. They said they are very much interested in coming back. I wonder if some of that had to do with our pastor’s simple, yet powerful message he presented? Our pastor has the ability to come alongside the average person and is able to relate to them. He preaches expositionally (verse-by-verse), and endeavors to make his messages applicable to people, where they live. Last night was certainly no different.

While it’s easy to get caught up in the whole Christmas “business,” of buying gifts, etc., I firmly believe it is a very good time to be reminded of the actual reason for the season. Sure, we can debate about when Jesus was actually born. We can argue over the fact that many Christian holidays seem to be borrowed from pagan celebrations, but in my view, that is not the point at all. While Jesus was not necessarily born on December 25, it is good to set aside a day that remembers His birth. Had He not been born into this world clothed as a man (while remaining God), none of us would have the opportunity to receive the new birth He made available through His sinless life, His death and His resurrection. That is totally worth celebrating publicly!

Some Christians argue that having a Christmas tree inside the home is really participating in a pagan worship festival. This is based on Jeremiah 10:1-5. During Jeremiah’s day, it is clear that bringing a “tree” inside the home and decorating it was done for the sole purpose of bowing down to that tree in worship. At the same time, Christmas as a holiday or tradition was not even in existence and wasn’t on the horizon then either. To argue that having a tree inside your home equals worshiping that tree as a god in a pagan festival makes no sense to me at all. I know that we do not worship that tree anymore than I than having photos of family members on my wall means I worship them or pledging allegiance to the flag of the United States means I worship this country.

In Jeremiah’s day, pagan worshipers would often cut down a tree and bring it to a craftsman. The craftsman would create some image that he would adorn with gold or silver. Then the image was attached firmly to a base to keep it from falling over. Finally, the worshiper would carry the image back to his home, where it would be placed somewhere inside the house as a shrine to the god it was supposed to represent.

This “god” could not speak and had to be carried everywhere because it could not transport itself. Probably the most ludicrous part of this is that the worshiper would cut down the tree, use part of it to be created into an idol and use the other part for the fire to cook food. Apparently, no one (or few), saw any irony with this at all.

The tree in our house is simply festive and reminds us of the reason for the season. The season is Jesus and without the tree or gifts it would still be Jesus. The Christmas holiday season allows us to recall for an extended period of time (several weeks), that Jesus entered this world as a sinless baby and remained sinless His entire life. Christmas, in my opinion, should be a time when Christians are incentivized to witness to the lost with vigor. Islam and others would like to take this holiday from us. They would like us to shut up about Jesus’ birth, His life, His death and His resurrection. They are offended by Christmas. All the more reason to use the Christmas season to celebrate openly our Lord’s birth and to remind people that without His birth, there is no salvation.

I also realize that some Christians simply don’t recognize Christmas for other reasons and that’s perfectly fine. I won’t judge them for that and I would hope they would not judge me (Colossians 2:16), for observing a time to remind myself publicly that Jesus was born into this earth for a specific purpose. Were it not for that purpose, I would still be dead in my sins. For more on this subject of should Christians celebrate Christmas, I’ve included a video from Pastor Michael Grant.[2]

Getting back to the last evening’s Christmas program, the entire O, Come Let Us Adore presentation was uplifting and, if I may say so, I believe fully pleasing to our Lord. I tend to think that God truly appreciates the efforts of His fallen-yet-saved children who adore Him because of who He is and what He has accomplished for us, when we turn our hearts to Him in worship. Consider the elect angels who have never fallen and never will. For them, they cannot make a mistake or sin. They cannot choose wrongly. They always seek to fulfill His will and they cannot call Him “Father.”

We, on the other hand, in spite of our frailties, our faults, our sin and the fact that we will die, do strive to live in a way that brings Him glory and honor as we call Him “Father.” Our imperfect lives here will one day turn into the perfect lives we can only dream of now. Then, we will bring Him glory in all we do – our thinking, our speech, our actions – all the time, which is certainly not the case now.

There is so much in this life that can keep us from remembering that Jesus came to this earth, why He came and what He accomplished. For me, it is good to have a season in which I remember His birth into this world as a tiny baby, who grew up among sinful people yet without sin Himself. He grew from a child into a man continuing to be dedicated to fulfilling His Father’s will, even though He knew it ultimately meant a horribly painful death on a cross just outside the city of Jerusalem. “… for the joy set before Him…” (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus did that. He died for the world, that all who believe in Him would receive eternal life, something that, once granted, cannot be removed. During this Christmas season, may your heart be filled with praise to God for His love for you. May it cause you to pause and once again, be inspired to love Him more, to dedicate yourself to living for Him and reaching out to those around you who are lost because they do not know Him.

One of the things I love about our church is the fact that there are so many people in it who are constantly reaching out to others in the community who need help. Many to most of these people do not even attend our church, but they have needs so people in the church do what they can to meet those needs. In doing so, the message of the Gospel is presented and people get to see Christians loving people as God loves us. I am amazed at the amount of reaching out that occurs. This happens all year long but especially during Christmas when the lack people face is often far more pronounced. People feel more alone and helpless. It is good and necessary to be His witnesses to those who are in need.

May you be blessed as you endeavor to reach out to those in need this season, to bring the Gospel to the lost and to provide aid to those who are in desperate need.

All praise to Him.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF5jAyjAwhk

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFAJssmHEjc

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Source: https://studygrowknowblog.com/2024/12/09/all-praise-to-him/