Through the Heavens

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

Christmas Eve

Hebrews 4:14-16 – Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The International Space Station passes through the skies over Glacier National Park, Montana on August 13^th, 2012.

Though this passage from Hebrews is not one typically associated with Christmas, I find it rather fitting on December 24^th to reflect on the two natures of Christ that these verses illustrate. First, there is his divine nature. He is the “great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.” And yet, despite his divinity he took on a second, human nature. He became a man, born into the humblest of circumstances. Because of his humanity, we have a “high priest” who is able “to sympathize with our weaknesses” and “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

We have in Christ a Savior who is both fully God and fully man, Creator of the universe, yet also the babe in a manger. By his divinity he was able to be a perfect sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, and yet, because of his humanity, he was able to be a substitute qualified to die in our place. He humbled himself to come down and dwell with us so that we could be reconciled to God through his life, death, and resurrection.

On this Christmas Eve we do well to remember Christ’s dual nature, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). – Matthew 1:23

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Splendor and Majesty Are Before Him

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

Psalm 96:1-6 – Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!
² Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. ³ Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! ⁴ For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. ⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. ⁶ Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

God’s splendor and majesty on display in an alpine meadow filled with summer wildflowers along the trail to Iceberg Lake. Glacier National Park, Montana.

Many in our post-modern culture who hear the word idol immediately think of carved images of wood or stone, or statues cast in bronze, silver, or gold. They see idols as nothing more than quaint artifacts from ages past when superstition and ignorance kept mankind from truly understanding the world around him.

To the modern-minded individual, science has solved countless problems and provided so many answers to how the earth, its creatures, and even the universe, function that there is really no further need for gods or religion. “Maybe we don’t have all the answers,” they would say, “but we have already explained so much and are certainly on the road to discovering the rest if we can just have a little more time and money to do the research.”

Someone with a fairly basic science education seeing these alpine wildflowers could likely explain the general principles of photosynthesis and pollination. And, with a more advanced education one could even explain the minutest details of the cellular structures and even the genetic makeup of each of these plants.

But, for most people looking at this scene, I suspect, their mind does not immediately turn to such dry, academic ponderings. I believe that most people coming upon this scene would marvel at the splendor and majesty of the mountains, the vivid colors of the wildflowers, the green of the trees and grass, and the sheer magnificence of it all. You see, one thing science cannot explain is beauty, nor can it explain why we have such feelings of awe and wonder when we are blessed to gaze upon such beauty as this.

“Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” These words from Romans 1:22-23 capture well the essence of idolatry. Quite simply it is the elevation of anything to the level of God. Our modern idols may not be carved images of wood or stone, but they are idols just the same. We have made an idol out of science, foolishly believing that there is no need for God since science has now explained it all. We have even made an idol out of nature itself.

If you feel a sense of awe and wonder when you gaze upon the incredible world around you, it is a good thing. You see, creation was designed with that purpose in mind, to point us to the one true God, our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. He is calling out to you, if you would only pick up his Word and listen to his voice.

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The Bear Shall Graze

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

Isaiah 11:6-7 – ⁶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Grizzly bear along the trail to Iceberg Lake. Glacier National Park, Montana.

(Not my best photography, I’ll admit, but when you are thirty yards from a grizzly bear in the wild, you tend to forget about swapping lenses and adjusting camera settings)

Today’s passage from Isaiah sounds rather absurd to anyone who has hiked in grizzly country, even to those who have not, for that matter. I suspect that a fear of large predators keeps many people from venturing very far into the wilderness of places like Glacier National Park. This fear is not totally irrational, just read some of the precautions that hikers and backcountry campers are told to follow.

As beautiful as God’s creation and creatures are, most people understand that there are risks in the outdoors. And, whether or not a person is aware of the Judeo-Christian concept of the fall, I think everyone will at least acknowledge there are dangers, suffering, and even death in our world. We live in a fallen world, where everything is corrupted by sin. As Romans 8:22 tells us, “we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

Faced with an understanding of the effects of the fall, the scenario described by Isaiah seems strange to us in two ways. First, there is the very unusual behavior of the animals, not something you typically see on nature programs. And, second there is this seemingly odd notion that “a little child shall lead them.” Even for Christians it all sounds rather foreign, because we, too, know well the realities of life here on earth. But, as Christians we are blessed to know who this little child is. It is the same child, the predicted Messiah, written about in yesterday’s passage from Isaiah 9.

It is the Messiah whose coming we celebrate on Christmas, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is only through his birth, perfect life, and undeserved death on the cross that these impossible sounding things become possible. It is only through his innocent blood shed on the cross that we will some-day be able to experience what we read about in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

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Consider the Lilies of the Field

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

Matthew 6:28-30 – And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Glacier lilies along the trail to Iceberg Lake. Glacier National Park, Montana.

In yesterday’s post I focused on our need to take our concerns to God in prayer and to seek him through his word. Continuing in the sixth chapter of Matthew for today’s passage, Jesus goes on to tell us why it is we have anxiety in the first place, “O you of little faith.”

Now faith is a gift from God; we cannot will ourselves to have faith, nor can we work harder to earn more faith. As we are reminded in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Even though our faith is not earned, we still have a responsibility to care for this precious gift we have been given through Christ. Without water and sunshine the lilies will not grow, neither will our faith without proper nurturing. One way our faith grows is through diligent study of God’s word. Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” So, not only can God relieve our worries through the assurances provided in his word, he also uses it as a means to mature our faith, which is our best armor against anxiety.

Look at how magnificently these glacier lilies proclaim the glory of God. He has provided the rain and sunshine needed for them to blossom. How much more will our faith blossom and glorify him if we avail ourselves regularly of the great gift of his word?

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