As I continue to press on in my walk with Christ towards my Heavenly Father for my everlasting enjoyment I start to see God as my all-satisfying Treasure that I desprately want everyone to have which John Piper calls Holy Greediness in Desiring God! And now that I have seen the all-satisfying beauty of God, I can now fully understand the ugliness of idolatry that happens in the world because you reject God as your satisfaction and embrace some other false god to fill up your heart. Jeremiah describes it as exchanging a full cistern for a broken one that cannot hold any water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13) And the Apostle Paul describes it as exchanging the glory of the IMMORTAL God for the glory of man and reptiles and four-footed animals. (Romans 1:18-25) This is a sad tragedy that breaks God's heart.
And now as I move into Christmas season I have come to realize that false gods have been worshiped in place of God and the gift of Jesus Christ which is divine love and grace and mercy INCARNATE! (John 1:14) Now people worship Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and especially Santa Claus. To tell you the truth Santa Claus has been attributed many attributes of God. These days people deem Santa Claus as omnipotent and sovereign and omnipresent because he can get to every house in the world and get down every chimney without effort. And people seen him as eternal and immortal because he never changes and never dies. He is the same yesterday today and tomorrow. But there is one crucial thing that Santa lacks and Jesus has..... unconditional love grace and mercy!
Santa Claus comes to town and you better be good because otherwise if you make the naughty list you will not get a present. Does this not represent a works-righteousness salvation in Christianity. You get a "present" based on your deserving it. This is not biblical Christianity for the following reasons.....
1. Santa never sacrificially loved anybody as enemies. However, Paul says that Jesus died for us while we were yet SINNERS! (Romans 5:6-8)
2. What Jesus came to give is a FREE GIFT! (Romans 6:23) We do not deserve this free gift because if we did it would not be a free gift. But there are two better foundations for God's free offer and extension of grace than our "merits". The first is that God is unwaveringly and ultimately committed to glorifying (showing off) His splendor and majesty! This is the very definition of righteousness. And the second foundation (which is not properly distinct from the first) is that God is unwaveringly committed to the unbeliever's enjoyment of the eternal God which is consummated and put to the max in God's showing off His splendor and majesty through Him! And as Piper and Louie Giglio have helped me to see, these two foundations are the very ground and warrant of our salvation and not some silly "merit and deserving" in us. So why worship a false god called Santa Claus who gives "gifts" based on our "goodness" when we can receive the best GIFT of God in Christ (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus says that those who come to Him will NEVER be cast out! (John 6:37) So come let us adore Him who applies His unfailing mercy to ALL to come to Him!
I will close with these quotes from Louie Giglio!
"God says check this out..... It's grace, it's mercy, it's kindness, it's forgiveness! It's God saying I LOVE YOU! (Psalm 103:8)"
"If you know you are the most beautiful Being in the universe and you allow people that you claim you love to turn their hearts affections away from you than you in that moment are not loving anymore"
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