The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 2002

' . ' • .~ t . ·~ • . . . . - • .. • . . .. .~ - lo i.. • l ... • .. • • • • ll, • : ' • • ' ,;, • • ' ...:__ I • • . \. . - ~ . . ~ - . ·~· , ·- . TheNewsletterPrornotinglnterdependenceAmongTheObioAssociatio,zofRegular&iptistCburches Vol. 75 No. 6 December 2002 CHRIST ur Lord wa born in a time of terror. uch a tatement doe not ju ti fy the terrible acts of iolence that ha e been done aero our world o er the la t e eral month . But it can put them in perspecti e for u . Our Lord was bon1 in a tirne o f terror because Hi bi rth brought into sharp relief Herod's wicked agenda. You do knovv about 1-lerod don ' t yo u? Herod had hi own agenda- the pre er ation of hi own power and po ition . Herod brooked no ri vals - among hi fa mily, hi ser ants. or his subj ects. When new came to Herod of a Jewish "king" born in Bethlehem hi ing le in tent wa to de troy him. In atten1pting to do so he terrorized the entire di trict around that sma ll town, killing c ery baby under l\\' O year of age . At first he tried to masquerade a a de oted v.orshipperofthi ncv\ king. l~c gave the\.\ i~c men the imprc sion that he intended lo bo\\ the knee to th i~ Ii ttl e one if only he kncv.' vvherc to find l lirn . Thankfully. an angel fro rn the Lord ..clued in" the v. i~c n1cn to I lcrod'~ true dc~1gn~ and they returned to thc ir land by another routc. r lcrc is the 131blc's account or I lcrod'~ act'> of tcrror,..,111 '• \ 1 0\1 \\ hen the, (the \\, \e n1e11) luul eleJJlll feel, hello/el till angel of the I.ore/ e1J>JJee11 eel 111 .lu\e/J/1 111 a ti! e,11n, \lll 'ing. · 1r1\ e lttA( tl,e l t11111g C '/11/cl a11cl I /1 \ 1110/hc, . fie<! to I .Jf..\ JJI ,111,I ''''l the, e 111111/ / In 111}.! l 011 \\ <JI cl /01 I lei otl \\ 1// o,e,A the ,01111g C /11/cl to tlc>,tro, !fun '" (.\1otthc" ] . 13). " / 'he11 I leroel, \\ hen he \ti\\ 1h,11 he "c1~ ,lec:eivecl bv the ll'i.\e 111e11. \\ ,,, e\ce clin,f!,I\ ,111."::1:v: a11c/ he ,en/ forth t11ul put lo dec,th a/I the 1nc1/e chilclren 'vt 'ho l-t'ere in Be1h/ehe111 and in all ils clistricts. f 1'"01n t1vo ; ·ear ofcl and uncler. ltccording to the tin1e 1vhich he hc,d deter,nined from t /1e ,vise ,nen" (Matthew 2: 16). He rod wa a te rrori t - con urned wi th hi 1n e lf and hi own inful agenda. We know from oth er criptu re that he was in league w ith atan hin1 ·e lf in thi attempt to de troy ou r Lord (Re e lati on 12: l -6). It i hard to believe the orrow he caused a a re ult of hi e lfi h, infuL decepti ve, and atani c ac ti on . cripturc te ll u , '"A voice lras hearcl in Rcunah, lun1entc1lio11, H'<!<!JJing, and grec,t n1ourning. Rc,chel 11 ·eeJJi11g .for her children, re_/itsing lo be C01J?f(>rtell. bec:(1use the ,· c1re nv n1ore" . (Matthe\\, 2: l ). Innocent peop le ended up deepIy hurt over unbelic able los . The unthinkab le had happened in and around Bcthlchcn1 . Yc , ou r Lord ,va born in a tin1c or terror. I l is birth ac tu all y spa,, nee.I an as~au ll of terror,, ith it · rc~ultant sorro,,. And ,,c still li,e in a da 1 \\hen c, ii n1cn fo lio,, the ir ~inf'ul and ~c l!i~h agenda~ . Deception and c.l e~truclion arc their chief' \\capon~ and . utan hin1~c lfis "t ill at ,, ork behind the ~ccnc-... It n1a 1 ~ccn1 thul nothing ha~ cha nged in 2000) car"> . Yet the n1c\~agc or ( ' hr1"tn1a .... changed C\\.!rything. It brought hope. \\ ' 1th (iod '" d1, 1ne 1nter, l.!t1l1on, I le bc~an thl' linal ..... \ho,, do,, n lo pro, c that llL'tlhcr ,, 1cl-.ed n1en 110 1 Satan are ult11natcl) 111 ch:.ugL' (.)I tht \ ,, orld (J(ld o, crruled all opplHlt:nt-.. ,, hen I le -..en t 111 -., ~on into the ,, u1 Id (Jod prt:">l!t\l'd 11 1" ~on lro111 I letc.H.I'..., , 1c1ou\ attack on thttt Iii .... t ( h1 , ..., t,11.1 ..., L'\L' tlhclt: .... ..,, lllll lord in 111 -.. 1,r~:tlllll' '\:ndu1ed thL' hu .... t1l1t) ol ...,1 nne1 .... dg.1111-.,t Jl11n ....l'll"(l leb1l'\\-,. I , 1) .\nd \\L llt.1, ~RROR have to experience on,e or lhc ·amc. Y c l, even , hen 1nen had done their,, or ·t to 11 irn on the cro , Chri t foil ed their plan · I le ro c victoriou ly o, er death . e ither atan nor ,vickcd rncn could th ,va rt rl i graciou~ pu11)0 ·c in pro\ id in g a I, at ion for a 11 ,, ho ,, ou Id believe. In fact, the on l} pla .. cd right into rl i hand: and ended up acco rnpli ·hing ,vhat He had detcrn1incd in th e (ir "t pl ace ( ct , 4 :'">7- '( ). ( ' hri . t vo luntaril 1 laid do,, n l l is life. took n1an' · ~in upon 11 in1 ·c I I'. and then look I Ii life back up again de ·pite the iron ja,, or death itscl r. Tcrrori ·ts ha, c con1c and gone in the ..... hi tory or the ,,·orld . But (jod': plan rc n1ain . con ·tant (Ephe. ian 1. 11 ). Jcsu~ surprised the tcrrl)ri~t~ \\ hen I le can1e the fir~t lin1e . I le,, ill surpr,~c the terrori sts,, hen I le con1c~ aga in ~ ,, hoe, er the} 1na) he at the ti n1c. R.c.... t assured! ·'\\' hen the rullne"" oft1n1c 1-.. con1c." I le intcr,cnc~. 111~ \\ill,, ill be done on earth . C. ' hri-..1n1a-.. rc1ni11d~ u" that ,od rule~ thi~ ,, t)rld . (,nd tran~cend .... tcrrnr1-..t"1 Notl1nghan1 sl flff ell 75th OARBC' Conference Thc1nl\s for c1 grec1l JOb 1 See pages 6-7 for 111ore 75th OARBC Conference photos.