Epiphanies in 2019

Each year, twelve days after the celebration of Christ’s birth, many Christians celebrate Epiphany. The word means “manifestation” or ‘revelation’, and in the context Christianity, Epiphany celebrates the ‘revealing’ of Almighty God to the world in the person of Jesus. As St. Paul tells us: 

“He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17)

Christians believe God revealed Himself to the world in the person of Jesus Christ. But His epiphanies did not cease with the birth, death, and resurrection of His Son. God STILL reveals Himself – now through the Scriptures.

Which brings us to 2019.

Our world is in great darkness. You cannot watch the news with spiritual eyes or listen with spiritual ears to people around you without recognizing something is desperately wrong in our culture. We live in a time as described by God: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; [Woe to those] Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21)

Isaiah’s prophecy might remind you of Paul’s lament about the dark world in which he lived. Here is what he wrote in Romans 1:21-32:

“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools . . . Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them . . .”

"For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”

“And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

As I said, the world of 2019 is steeped in darkness – surely as dark as Paul wrote about in his letter to the Christians at Rome. The darkness is so great – and ever increasing – that it might cause some of us to hide in our rooms and pull the covers over our heads. And yes, I have found myself at times giving in to fear, and then anger, and then fear again, and back to anger.

Then I read again Psalm 27. It will be my ‘go-to’ text to live by in 2019: "The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? . . . Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident." (Psalm 27:1-3)

The LORD is our light and our salvation. But – and this is important for all of us – if we spend as much time as many of us do with following the newscasts, we are feeding our spirits with a poisonous darkness that WILL eat like a cancer at our souls.

I’ll say that again for the emphasis it deserves: If we spend so much time with the daily news media, we are filling our hearts with lethal doses of ruinous negativity and darkness.

But listen to what God’s word says about it all: “Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales . . . All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.” (Isaiah 40:15-17)

And this text, also from Isaiah: “You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ in regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, and you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. “It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread. “Then He shall become a sanctuary.” (Isaiah 8:12-14)

Do you want a sanctuary in 2019? A place of refuge? Then make God your Holy fear! Make God your Holy dread ! And the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding will KEEP you at peace when Christ becomes your only sanctuary.

But first we must stop feeding our spirits with the lies and the drama and anger and the hate and the vitriol that spews from the various news outlets.

It's the beginning of the new year. For starters, how about take a 30-day sabbatical from it all. Don’t watch, read, or listen to the news for the next 30 days. There won’t be any news so important that we won’t learn about it by some other way if that news is going to directly affect us. And I can guarantee our lives will be measurably more tranquil – so tranquil you will probably want to extend that 30 days to much longer.

If 30 days is too arduous, (many of us are addicted to the news) then do this: For every minute you spend listening to or watching the news, spend two minutes reading the Bible. So, if you spend 30 minutes a day with the news outlets, devote 60 minutes to reading the Bible.

If you want to experience an epiphany – even experience multiple revelations of the Holy Spirit working in your life – then spend more time with God's light than you do with the dark things of our culture.

It's something I've already begun to do. Please, join me.