Epiphany of the New Creation

 

“At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”. Mk1:9-11

The Epiphany or manifest, is one of the oldest of Christian observances of the Liturgical Calendar of the Church and is generally observed on January sixth. In times past the Epiphany has been a time to reflect on three primary events in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Magi, Baptism, Wine and Epiphany

The three events of which the Epiphany commemorate are, the coming of the Magi, the Baptism of Jesus and the first recorded miracle at Cana when Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding supper. Each of these moments in the life of Jesus are themselves Epiphanies of who Jesus is.

Over the years some Churches tended to focus more upon the coming of the Magi to honor the promised Messiah with their gifts, however many Churches of eastern traditions have looked more to the Baptism of Jesus at the Jordan.

However, Churches of western tradition have begun to look more closely at the Baptism of Jesus and commemorate his baptism on  January sixth.

Many Churches,  in recent history are finding deeper meaning in the baptism of Jesus, they are seeing, not just an event, which led to Jesus’ sojourn into the Judean Wilderness to be tempted, but rather, they are seeing the whole scope of his salvation work as being on display and his place as the Messiah of us all.

John Upon the Jordan

John the Baptist stood on the banks of the Jordan river and declared that a New Day was about to dawn, not just for the people of Israel, but people for all nations. This transformation, this new day would be brought about through the coming of Israel’s Messiah.

This New Day of transformed lives would be brought about through the power of the Holy Spirit of God. This long-awaited Messiah could and would do what no other could, he would change all things forever.

The out-ward evidence in the lives of the people of this Messiah’s coming was the Sacrament of Baptism which John ministered to the people who responded to the Baptist’s message. 

 “John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Mk: 1:6-8

Jesus Baptized

It is here, upon the banks of that Jordan that Jesus comes forth from among the crowd of people and request the Sacrament of Baptism from John.

“At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan” (9a)

John ministers to Jesus, and as Jesus arises from the baptism waters of that Jordan the Heavens themselves confirm to John and to all present, that the one who brings the dawn of a new day for humanity was now here present with them.

This divine confirmation from Heaven is given as a glorious Epiphany to all assembled at the Jordan and to all who witness it through the pages of the Holy Word of God.

This Epiphany, there upon that Jordan, is manifested in the very Heavens themselves opening and the Holy Spirit’s descent upon Jesus in the bodily form of a dove, and the Heavenly voice declaring Jesus as the very Son of the living God.

Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”. (9-11)

This divine confirmation of who Jesus is was not lost upon the Baptist John and many who stood by as witnesses would have grasped the highly symbolic moment, for what was being presented there through the Baptism of Jesus, utilized symbols out of the racial memory and written Holy Scripture of the nation of Israel.

All who were gathered there witnessing Jesus' baptism, and we who read the Scared Writings, are bearing witness of what we read of in the creation account of Genesis inspired by the Holy Spirit and recorded by Moses.

The Dark World 

The creation as a whole had throughout the centuries lay in darkness longing for the true light of God to break through and shine forth into the lives of all humanity and reveal the true Creator God that he might be known and that humanity might see him.

As the opening words of the Genesis account declares, and establishes in the readers minds that it is the Creator God of all things who is brought into our view. These verses of creation however are to give us a glimpse into the divine intent and purpose of God, which is to have Heaven and Earth together, joined and united as one, in one. This is an Apocalyptic declaration, an Epiphany there upon the banks of that Jordan and through the pages of the Holy Word of God.

“In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth” Gen: 1:1

Yet all creation resided in darkness and shapelessness awaiting the voice of God to bring order and light.

“the Earth was without form and empty and darkness covered the surface of the watery deep” (2a)

This dark and empty state of the creation of the physical world only prefigure the state of humanity, which as a whole, lay in darkness and empty and void of a clear revelation of the true God, the God which they had not truly known, the very God whom they in erroneous ways sought after and, in some cases, had forsaken and rejected.

Yet in spite of this darkness which covered the hearts of humanity, as the waters covered the Earth. The Holy Spirit was active in the darkness of the world and was preparing the way, as he was hovering over the dark primordial seas at the dawn of creation, and was moving in history in preparation to bring forth all that the Creator God had decreed and intended.

“and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters” (2b)

These verses speak to us regarding the Holy Spirit’s work in a dark shapeless world; hovering as would a dove above its nest to prepare for the emergence of the light of God in the midst of the dark shapelessness waters of human history. It is the divine preparation for the Apocalyptic moment there upon the Jordan, the Epiphany of God’s self-disclosure to humanity to bring the light of revelation as to who the Creator God is.

The Voice of God’s Intent

It is then in the Creation Epic of Genesis that the voice of God speaks.

“and God said let there be light” (3a) 

This is more than a description of the creation of the celestial bodies of sun, moon and stars. It speaks deeper than that of God’s divine intent toward and for humanity. It is the decree that God would give us the self-disclosure, an Epiphany, and shines the light of Holy truth into the darkness of history and light the way to knowing our God; this has and is God’s intent for humanity even from the depth of eternity.

Out of the Waters

Moses brings us in his narrative to the third day of the Creation Epic, and tells us that out from beneath the ancient dark waters arises the land upon which life will arise and on which life will be lived.

“let the dry land appear” (9b)

The New Creation

The Creation Epic of Genesis filled with its deep and powerful symbols speaks to us about what we see transpiring there at upon the banks of that Jordan. John has come forth amidst the dark world full of ever shifting and shapeless beliefs about the Creator God. The Holy Spirit has been hovering over human history to prepare for the light of God to shine forth in that moment of God’s fullest and most power Epiphany and revelation of his self. “let there be light”.

Jesus comes to John and emerges from among those gathered there, and he is baptized. As Jesus comes forth up out of Jordan’s waters the Heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends as the hovering dove upon Jesus, and the voice of God, the same voice which spoke the decree “let there be light” at creation, speaks again, about Jesus, who arises out of Jordan’s waters as the land arose from the ancient of depths, showing us the God’s intent of self-revelation, his Epiphany to us is an act of new creation as it has been brought about in the person Jesus.

“At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”. Mk1:9-11

We bare witness of this new creation in the written account of the St. John’s Gospel. Jesus is the very realized light spoken of at creation’s dawn. We are told through Scriptural witness that Jesus is the embodiment of the divine light of the One True Creator God.

St. John records in his account of this light coming into the dark world of humanity.

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”. Jhn: 1:1-5

This light which enters into the world does not do so in an ambiguous theoretical or conceptual means, this divine light, rather, enters into history through the incarnation of God himself in the person of Jesus fulfilling God’s divine intent of “Heaven and the Earth” coming together as one in one, it is an Epiphany of who God is.

“and the Word became flesh” (14)

This is the same divine light which is spoke of and shined forth in the darkness at creation. St. Paul tells us, that Jesus, as the subject of the Gospel message and his entrance into history and the hearts of humanity through hearing the Gospel, is the same self-revelation and Epiphany of God as seen in the creation epic of Genesis bringing the light of creation once again.

 “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.” 2Cor:4:6

What St. Paul is telling us, is that in hearing the message of God’s self-revelation through Jesus Christ and when we come to receive and embrace that message, we then experience the new creation which our God has always intended for us to be, and we have a whole new life which is then lived out the truth of being new creations in Christ as the Creator God has always intended for us from out of the depths of eternity.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2Cor:5:17

 My Son

All this is being presented to us in the baptism of Jesus there on at that Jordan. What we are witnessing in the baptism of Jesus is that through his incarnation Jesus has brought all humanity, in his own humanity, to the waters of Jordan, and through his own self presents us all to his Father in Heaven so that we can experience that new creation by receiving the truth of the Gospel so that we can be that new creation all to the approval of his Heavenly Father.

“At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”. Mk1:9-11

Jesus is acting out that new creation. His own baptism recalls the creation epic of the Sacred Scriptures and reveals, through the word of God spoken out of the Heavens, that Jesus is the very Son of God who has come forth as light into the darkness and shapeless world of humanity and brings to humanity all the divine light which is spoken of at dawn of creation.

In the baptism of Jesus, a new day has now dawned as John had been declaring to those who came to him, we are being given the Epiphany wherein God himself declares that Jesus is the one, in who, and through whom, we might be that new creation which he has always purposed for us to be and come to know our God the very Creator of all things this is the Epiphany of the New Creation seen in the Baptism of Jesus.

Benediction: May we each and all have that moment of our God’s self-revelation and have that Epiphany that in and through Jesus we have been made new creations today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.

Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor

Topinabee Community Church

Topinabee Michigan

If You Would Like to Know More About or to Support the Ministry of Topinabee Community Church You Can go to Our Web Site.

https://topinabeechurch.org/index.html

You Can Follow Topinabee Community Church on Face Book 

https://www.facebook.com/Topinabeecommunitychurch

                       “If Its Not About Jesus, Its Not About Anything!”  

 

The Epiphany: Laying it All at Jesus' Feet

  The Epiphany: This is a traditional Christian observance on January 6th that speaks of the coming of the "wise men" to see Jesus Christ at Bethlehem.

The observance of the Epiphany is, aside from the commemoration of the resurrection, the oldest of Christian "feast". It is commonly found in more liturgical Christian bodies. The word Epiphany in the Koine Greek is ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, "manifestation", "appearance" . The Epiphany or sometimes referred to as the “Theophany”.

 In the Ancient Church the Epiphany commemorated three separate occurrences in the life of Jesus Christ. The visit of the Magi, The Baptism of Jesus and the Miracle at Cana. Over the years in the western church tradition the emphases has shifted more to the view toward the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem and their presentation of gifts and adoration. Each of these occurrences were a type of "Epiphany" of its own.

The Magi saw his star in the east and came to where Jesus was.

There has always been a lot of conjecture as to the events which took place at the birth of Jesus, and the time right after his birth. Most of those things are secondary or of no importance, what is important is that Jesus came to reveal God to us, and to be "God with us".

The early Apostolic Church understood that Jesus' coming was the appearance of God in the flesh to and for humanity. They understood that Jesus was not just a bringer of a new philosophy or religion but rather , Jesus was the very creator of all things having entered his own creation and joined us to himself in a relationship.      

 "and the Word became Flesh and lived among us" Jhn: 1:14

The Magi

Many often wonder who these visitors, the Magi, were and from whence did they come. It is also probable that their arrival was most likely up to two years after Jesus' actual birth. In many ways it does not matter, the real point was, and is, that they came when God got their attention, and drew them there to that place in Bethlehem where they had an encounter with the Lord Jesus.

 The Magi came bringing what they could to honor Jesus, they brought it all to him laying it all at Jesus' feet and worshiped him; the gifts were only symbolic of the  transformation that happens when they or we come to Jesus, when we have that personal Epiphany of who Jesus is and what his coming means to us all.

Jesus is the Real Point

 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Matt: 2:1-2

"where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”Matt:2:5-6

"they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." Matt: 2:9-11

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace":Isa:9:6

St. Matthew's account tells of the Magi's search for the "King of Jews". God had gotten their attention and they responded. What most do not realize is, that all of us are looking for Jesus, and in his providence, God will send us a star to get our attention.

Incarnation

God, in the person of His Son Jesus, took on our humanity. He became one of us, limited himself never using his deity for his own advantage though he retained it to the fullest.

In Jesus all of God is seen, that is, he is incarnate, this is what the Magi found, there, two thousand years ago, in that out-of-way place; and what we can still find today, is God in the flesh.

Our search for a life of meaning is ended when we come to Bethlehem, that is, that place where we find Jesus. Bethlehem is that place in all of our lives where we find our Lord Jesus. When we find Jesus and come to believe in Jesus for who he is, then our lives have accomplished everything that that a human life  was ever intended to accomplish for we were born to come to believe in Jesus, that is why you were born.

"For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" Col: 2:9

This divine self-disclose of the great God in Jesus, is ongoing it never comes to a conclusion. Jesus' humanity makes this possible, and allows us to have a relationship with the Great God.

They Respond

For those who see his star, and follow it to that place where Jesus is, their search is over.

When we come to believe in Jesus, we accomplish everything that our lives were ever intended to accomplish, we all were literally created and born to believe in Jesus. 

Remember the Magi came from afar off, they were willing to transverse even great distances to discover what God was leading them to. It was worth the journey, but this journey to Bethlehem would not have occurred had they not responded to the star that God had sent.

When the Magi arrived there at that place where the star had directed them, they came and presented to Him their gifts and worshiped Him. Matt: 2:9-11

Their Gifts

The gifts given are powerful symbols for us with great meaning.

Gold- The resources of their lives, all they had all which is valued for Jesus as our King.

Incenses- Their worship as their recognition of who Jesus is, the Great God incarnate and our High Priest.

Myrrh-The laying down of their lives, in recognition that Jesus would lay down his own life in death for all. , and embracing His death for us and the death of the old self.

Jesus Changed All Things Forever

"They knew that their lives could never be the same and that all human history would be changed"

Now that Jesus has come, the Magi knew that this young child would be the One who would change all things forever. So here they were "great men" and they knelt before this young child and gave gifts which represented more than time allows to expound upon

Jesus' Epiphany into our lives, demands a change, when the Lord is revealed to us, that is, when we have an Epiphany, when Jesus manifest himself to us, when we are called, are willing to make any journey which we are called to make no matter what the distance, are we willing to lay our lives at Jesus' feet?

No distance was too far to journey to find Jesus, the Magi saw his star in the east and came to where he was, because he came to where we are.

All Things at His Feet

None of us, who truly encounter Jesus, can remain the same, the One who has changed all things forever calls out to us, we need to forsake the old life and follow Him. If you are searching for meaning in life, then come to Bethlehem you will find our Lord is there.

There are many who hear the invitation to come to Christ, many to whom Jesus has been manifested, they metaphorically “see His star” and they now realize that he is present, but they hesitate.

Do we see “His star over a house”, that is where is Jesus working, do we worship? Do we acknowledge his rightful place?

His Epiphany, Our New Life

When Jesus is manifest to us, we have a chance to experience new life, which demands changes within us…an all-new life in him.

His Glory

Our God, in Jesus, is always manifesting Himself to us from Genesis to the nativity, or that Sunday Morning to the “Lord’s Day” in 90s AD on the Island of pathos to St. John-to us here today.

As we come to know him, when Jesus is manifest daily among us, and to us, we should be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be growing in the likeness of the Holy Son of God.

Every time we gaze upon him, come into his presences, we are transformed.

When his glory manifest. He calls upon us to to come to Jesus and, to lay all things before him, as did the Magi two thousand years ago. It will be worth the journey.

Benediction: May we each and all lay everything at the feet of Jesus when he has drawn us to himself, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.

Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor

Topinabee Community Church

Topinabee Michigan

If You Would Like to Know More About or to Support the Ministry of Topinabee Community Church You Can go to Our Web Site.

https://topinabeechurch.org/index.html

You Can Follow Topinabee Community Church on Face Book 

https://www.facebook.com/Topinabeecommunitychurch

                       “If Its Not About Jesus, Its Not About Anything!”  

Christmas: A Holy Contradiction

 

“'For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2Cor:8:9

St. Paul wrote to the Christians in the Greek city of Corinth, and to Christians throughout the ages, about the Holy contradiction that the Great God, the one who is Lord over all things, the one who St. Paul tells us “was rich” “became poor” all for our benefit and salvation.

This Holy contradiction was not done out of some judicial necessity but completely out of God’s divine love for us, that is, for all humanity if they will but freely receive it.

At that time the Emperor Augustus had issued an Imperial proclamation regarding census and taxation requiring those who lived in Palestine would return to their ancestral homes to register and be counted for the tax census.

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.” Lk: 2:1-3

It is due to this Imperial proclamation that Joseph and Mary travel to their ancestral home the town of Bethlehem.

Into an Humble Estate

Our God has come to us in the humblest and lowliest of estates, in a stable, bedded in a manger which is the feeding trough of animals.

Our God has come to us this way showing us his identification with us all.

The Great God, the eternal Son of God the second person of the Holy Trinity stepped out of the glory of eternity and joined us here upon the Earth. Our Lord did this not out of necessity but rather out of love for each and all. 

This is a Holy Contradiction, the highest come low as the words to an ancient creedal hymn sung in the early Church declared. And these divine lyrics are introduced by the posture of mind which Jesus displayed in the incarnation and that we are to emulate that of putting others first which is what Jesus has done for each and all.

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philp: 2:5-8

Jesus descended into that place of humiliation in that stable in the city of Bethlehem. 

It is likely that the Holy family of Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem after dark making it difficult to secure a guest room. All that could be found for the one who is deserving of the royal of accommodations was a place in a stable along with the livestock, a place which would have stank of dung, straw and animals, yet it is in such a place that our Lord came forth into the world.

“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”Lk: 2:4-7

There were no royal swaddling clothes of silk or satin blankets to place him in, only old linen clothes to wrap about him which prefigured the burial shroud he would be wrapped in thirty-three years from this moment.

The Glory Revealed

The Glory of the incarnation was announced to some of the who were the least esteemed in the society of that day. Shepherds who were in the country side tending their sheep. This announcement was made through the agency of an angelic messenger who proclaimed it as a message to dispel theirs’s and all humanities fears.

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (8-12)

This announcement was followed by the singing of the angelic host worshiping the great God.

“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (13-14)

At the departure of the angels the shepherds seek out the Messiah which the angelic messages proclaimed to them finding him in Bethlehem with Joseph and Mary. Here in the stable some of the lowest of Earth meet the highest of Heaven. It is not great kings who have sought him out this Holy night so long ago but rather the outcast and the lowly who have received the divine announcement delivered through the angel who have come.

“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” (15)

Having encountered their Messiah, the shepherds are compelled to tell others about his coming. His coming which should have been announced by Royal heralds receives rather the lowly voice of the lowly shepherds.  

“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Lk: 2:16-19

The Holy Contradiction

Jesus, the one who came that night two thousand years ago, disrobed himself for a time of the glory of his divinity, yet still retaining that divinity to its fullest extent, and took up the ragged mantle of our humanity, all for us that we might come to know our God and see his glory.

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.” John: 17:1b-6b

Jesus Exulted

Jesus the one who has come to us, none higher has come lower, even to the point of humiliating death only to be lifted high once again. Again, the words of the ancient Church hymn speak of this very truth.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. Philp:2:9-11

Our Lord Jesus condescended to our low estate all for us, not out of judicial necessity but only out of love, the rich became poor for us that we might share in his riches. St. Paul wrote of this very Holy contradiction.

“'For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2Cor:8:9

The one who held and possessed all riches and glorious power, the one who should have been received by the Royalty and the great of the Earth and who was worthy of the highest worship and adoration came in the lowliest and humblest of places on that Holy night long ago as we reckon time, all so that we might be made rich in him. This is the Holy Contradiction of Christmas.

Benediction: May we each and all ever bow our knees before that one who became poor so that we might become rich, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.

Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor

Topinabee Community Church

Topinabee Michigan

If You Would Like to Know More About or to Support the Ministry of Topinabee Community Church You Can go to Our Web Site.

https://topinabeechurch.org/index.html

You Can Follow Topinabee Community Church on Face Book 

https://www.facebook.com/Topinabeecommunitychurch

                       “If Its Not About Jesus, Its Not About Anything!”