Resources by Topic: Christ

I love this article from David Mathis (executive editor for DesiringGod.org, and author of Habits of Grace) on the first thirty years of Jesus’ life. As you read his reflections this Christmas season, contemplate what amazing grace God showed to us by inhabiting space and time as a human being.

In our culture, most humor is based on joke telling, verbal ambiguities, and physical comedy. Jewish humor often employed witty hyperbole—clever, startling, over-the-top statements—to get a laugh. Though some comedians today do this and we laugh, when we see Jesus use the technique in the Gospels, we usually don’t get it.

What does Scripture mean by saying that Christ “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped”? And what does it mean for Christ to empty Himself?

In April 2016, Randy Alcorn spoke at his home church, Good Shepherd Community Church, in Boring, Oregon, on the subject of happiness. In this clip, Randy talks about happiness playing a role in his coming to know Christ. For more information, check out Randy's Happiness book. 

My wife led a women’s Bible study group in discussing a lesson she’d written about the happiness of Jesus. One woman who’d grown up as a churchgoer was startled. She shared how horrified she’d once been to see a picture of Jesus smiling. Why? Because she believed it was blasphemous to make Jesus appear happy!

It’s common to hear people focus solely on the compassion and love of Jesus, and neglect the other parts of His character, including His holiness and wrath, sovereignty and lordship. Jesus was indeed a friend of sinners, but He was crucified for much more than that.

Read Luke 1 and 2, and marvel at the sovereign work of our Father, sending His Son, our Savior, into this world. He did it for us, to be our Redeemer.

The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of redemption—both for mankind and for the earth. 

My prayer is that people would understand that Jesus is the person they were made by and made for. 

On the cross Jesus suffered the worst pain in history. Yet that event will forever remain at the center of our worship and wonder. 

The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of redemption—both for mankind and for the earth.

Artist Ron DiCianni is a good friend who I first met at the Christian Bookseller’s Convention (now called ICRS), probably twenty years ago. 

In Fall 2013, Randy Alcorn was interviewed by the Lighthouse Report about his Eternity Graphic Novel. 

One of the things I love most about Christmas is that it’s all about giving—with the ultimate gifts being Christ’s incarnation and His atonement.