The Greatest Covert Operation in the History of Mankind

As some of you know, I had the privilege to serve in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.  I loved it.  I loved the mission, the men I got to serve with and the way they did business.  I love stories of covert operations, espionage, and brave men willing to go behind enemy lines (and even sacrifice themselves if necessary) to complete a mission.  A few years ago I heard a wise man tell this story and I would like to share it with you.  It is a story that you’ve heard before but probably not told like this.

 

The operation started one night, a little over two thousand years ago, in a little town in the middle east.  Before I get into the details of the operation, I feel I should give you a little bit of background on what led up to this situation.  

 

The war started with a rebellion.  Lucifer wanted to be like God and convinced a third of the angels in heaven to follow him.  A war broke out and Lucifer and his angels were defeated and cast out of heaven onto the earth.  Lucifer hated God and His creation and wanted to do whatever he could to thwart God’s plan.  Meanwhile, back in the garden, God created Adam and gave him authority, power, and dominion over the earth.  Along with that dominion God gave Adam a command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or the tree of life.  Now Satan had an idea to get back at God.  If he could deceive Adam and get him disobey God, he could steal that dominion from man and therefore have authority over God’s creation.  We all know how that story went.  Adam sinned and gave his authority away.  Because of Adam’s sin all of his descendants were born into sin as well.  Satan thought he had it in the bag, since every son of Adam was born into sin, no one could take that authority and dominion away from him.  But God had a plan!!  (I love this part)  God even told Satan what his plan was, but Satan didn’t understand it.  “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” 

 

So now the stage is set for Christmas, the greatest covert operation in the history of mankind.  Under the cover of darkness, in the town of Bethlehem, God infiltrated a world under the dominion of the enemy.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, set aside his divinity, disguised himself as a human baby, and went bravely behind enemy lines.  He risked everything to rescue the world from the tyranny of sin and death.  There was no backup plan, no plan B.  This was it.  God ‘put all the chips on the table’ for this shot at winning the war once and for all.  This was sending in the cavalry, if this failed there wasn’t someone else waiting to come in for the rescue. 

 

Now Satan had been right, that no son of Adam could take the authority back from him, so Christ was born of a virgin.  Because Christ was not a descendant of Adam he was not born with sin.  Just like God had told Satan back in Genesis that it would be the offspring of the woman (not Adam) that would crush his head. 

 

So now that Christ, a sinless man, had infiltrated Satan’s dominion, Satan was worried that he might lose the authority he stole from Adam.  Luckily Satan wasn’t very bright, so he tried the same tactics against Christ that he used against Adam (tempting him to question God’s word).  Fortunately, Christ was prepared for the battle and was able to defend against Satan’s attacks.  Satan became desperate since he couldn’t trick Christ, so he worked through men to try to kill him.  Little did Satan know that he was playing right into God’s plan.  In His death, the sinless Christ took on the sins of the world and descended into hell.  Satan thought he’d won.  Three days later Christ re-emerged from the grave, victorious over death, and took back the authority, power and dominion that Adam had given up.  Satan struck Christ’s heel and Christ crushed Satan’s head. 

 

Now the story gets even better.  The war has been won, but battles still rage.  Christ knew that we would still need to fight these battles of counterinsurgency, so he gave us the same power that allowed Him to defeat Satan.  “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, nothing will harm you.”  Luke 10:19.  We as Christ’s descendants will crush the heads of the serpents we face. 

 

This December the 25^th, as you celebrate Christmas I hope you don’t just think of Christ as a baby, but as a brave warrior who went undercover in the war of wars, to take back what the enemy had stolen, and free us from the tyranny of sin and death.  May the phrase Merry Christmas, be a battle cry that gives you the courage to engage the enemy and claim the victory that has been given to you. 

 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

Our Great High Priest

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” – Hebrews 4: 14-16

 

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the second part of this verse quoted.  “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  However when I was reading in Hebrews this week the context of that verse grabbed my attention.  We can approach the throne of grace with confidence, but in this verse the context is in our time of need.  That time of need is not when I ‘need’ a parking spot or when I ‘need’ a traffic light to change.  It’s not when I ‘need’ a certain object or ‘need’ a certain situation to change.  The need that this passage is referring to is when we are tempted and weak.  The author of Hebrews is telling us that when we are tempted we can approach the throne of grace with confidence.  We can do this because our great high priest, Jesus Christ, the person we are approaching, can sympathize with us because he’s been there.  Not only has he been there, but he has victoriously come through the situation.  How cool is that?!?! 

 

If I was taking a class and needed help I wouldn’t go to someone who hadn’t taken that class.  I wouldn’t go to someone who had taken it and flunked, I’d go to someone who had taken it and aced it.  In the same way, if I was suffering the loss of a loved one I wouldn’t go to a friend (no matter how great) who hadn’t been through the same situation.  They just wouldn’t understand or know how to comfort and help me.  I’d find a friend who had been through it because they’d be able to relate to what I was feeling and know how to comfort me. 

 

When I’m tempted and weak, I can have confidence in going to Christ because he’s been there and he can help me through.  He is the only one that’s been there and found victory every time.  He won’t judge me or say “Sorry, can’t help you with that one.”  He knows the path and will lead us through with mercy and grace.  That is so Awesome!!!  If that thought doesn’t get you excited and get your heart pumping you might need to go to the doctor, because something is wrong.  Praise God that we have a great high priest who can sympathize with us, who knows the path to victory, and who will give us mercy and lead us in grace.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

“I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.  God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.”

Philippians 1: 3 – 11

 

When I read this prayer of Paul’s a couple of weeks ago I was amazed at how accurately it described my feelings towards all of you that support RMH.  I do thank God for you.  I do pray with joy because of the partnership that we have in advancing the gospel, specifically in the military community.  I am confident that we are all part of a bigger picture that God will carry on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Each and every one of you has an opportunity to impact the lives of those around you.  That ripple effect will keep growing and growing from generation to generation and you will not ever know the extent of that good work.  So my prayer for you is that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.  I pray that you come to an understanding of Christ’s love that moves beyond knowledge and into experience.  Then you will be able to discern what is best and live a life that is covered in the blood of Jesus Christ, so that you will be found pure and blameless and  filled with the fruit that only comes through Jesus Christ. 

 

I am thankful for you.  Thankful for the support you have shown me and this program, and thankful for what each of you are doing to impact this world for Christ.

 

 – to the glory and praise of God