December 2008

Dear Friend,

Like everyone else at this time of the year, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals also has a Christmas wish list. Our true heart’s desire is the spread of faith in Jesus and of faithfulness to Him by those who would serve Him.

Christmas is a time for stories. When I was a boy, our family would gather on Christmas Eve by the fire’s warmth and hear the story of Santa’s coming with toys: “Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house / not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” I always liked that story, because I got its message: the sooner I got to bed the sooner I would be opening presents!  

The Santa Claus story endures because its point is simple and attractive: be a good girl or boy and get ready for great toys on Christmas morning!

Christians tell a far better story and receive a better gift. But is the basic story clear and simple in our minds? For all its profound and glorious depths, Christmas is the story of God fulfilling his promise to send a Savior from heaven to earth. Mary sang, “[The Lord] has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever” (Lk. 1:54-55). The story was clear in her mind: A faithful God’s most precious gift, a Savior who came from heaven to earth.  

Theologian Michael Williams has written of the importance of those last words, “from heaven to earth.” He urges us to remember “the general trajectory of relationship between God and his people. From heaven to earth, rather than from earth to heaven, is the flow of movement and energy, the direction of travel that we see in Scripture. The biblical hope is not one of man going to God. It is not the story of the ascent of man. Rather, it is the story of God coming to man, in man’s createdness, redeeming both man and the creation.”

This really is a simple message, but the implications are revolutionary! All other religions work from earth to heaven. They are all attempts at “the ascent of man.” In glorious contrast, the Christian gospel teaches the descent of God with saving grace. From heaven to earth! This is the simple story of Christmas. This gospel is also the message that Christians are sent by God to tell the world. But first Christians must ground themselves in the message of Jesus. What is true of the Christmas story is also true of the gospel work in our world: we look to God for blessing, not from earthly powers, and so we carry forth His message as God has revealed it to us in His Word.

It is the work of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals to call the Church back to God and to His Word, for this very reason: that Christians in our generation would know God’s Word and would carry on God’s work as He has given it to us to do.

We pray that just as God came from heaven to earth in the coming of His Son, God’s Spirit would come from heaven to bring life and power to His people here on earth. This is our chief Christmas wish.

We conclude 2008 with sincere thanks to God for the way He has provided for our work through the support of friends just like you. We thank God for the growth of our broadcast Bible teaching ministries and for our wonderful annual Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology. We are grateful for the prayers, partnership, and financial support that make it all possible.

Like everyone else at this time of the year, we also have a Christmas wish list. Our true heart’s desire is the spread of faith in Jesus and of faithfulness to Him by those who would serve Him.  We pray for God’s blessing on those ministries He has entrusted to us and for the means to continue and grow them. Won’t you join us in this wish, support the ministry, and make our joint Christmas wish come true?

Please May God give you all of His joy in this holy season of the year and bless you, from heaven to earth, with the full measure of His grace in the gospel.

In Christ’s Love,

Richard Phillips

Bible Teacher, God’s Living Word

P.S. To help fulfill the Alliance' Christmas wish list, click here.