Amen Brother Beacon and Pastor Sean! Wonder O heavens and be astonished O Earth!!! Christ came to this Earth to reveal the character of God. What more do we need to see!! Man is saved by grace. What is grace? Who is Jesus and who is our heavenly Father? Where are we to go to learn of them? Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing what? If we want to trust God with all we are and all we have, how can we learn this trust? We must first know the character of the One in whom we shall place our lives and every thing we have. In today's reading is revealed the character of God. It is grace, for it is undeserved favor bestowed upon sinners and saints. How can it be grace for saints? It is indeed grace for the unfallen worlds, for our heavenly Father allowed His innocent Son to come to this dark spot in the universe where Satan claimed dominion in fallen flesh, not just to give us an example of what we might become through Him. He came to reveal His character that the entire universe might be protected from sin for eternity!! He came a helpless babe subject to our weakness to fight the battle of life as we must fight it at the risk of failure and eternal loss!! Eternal loss? What is that?
If Jesus had sinned He would have been separated from His Father for eternity. Think about that. Think about the risk our Father took when He allowed Jesus to become our Savior. Satan did all he could with the evil angels to assault Jesus when a baby, in His childhood, His youth, and as a man. It was not easy for our heavenly Father to allow this. He wanted to protect His Son as we want to protect our children. Jesus came to His Father and asked to become our Intercessor and Savior, to stand between the sinner and death. But, His father did not consent, even though they had agreed before the foundation of the Earth. Jesus came a second time and His Father did not agree. It was the third time Jesus sought permision to come as a helpless babe to our fallen world that our Father gave Him permission. It was not easy! And His Father suffered so very much all of those years watching His innocent Son suffer! Herein is grace! It is more than a Word, it is the power that transforms sinners into saints. Yes, wonder O heavens and be astonished O Earth!! What a God we serve!!
How many times have I shared this truth? Go back and see how many times I have in this forum. And, as long as I live, I will continue to repeat the very same thing. For it is by beholding this love, that we are transformed into saints. We need grace daily and I have never seen such a revelation of grace as this truth. I testify that it is by remembering this love that I am lifted above the suffering and sorrow in this world. God does not take away my trials, but empowers me to think of Him and what He has done for me. This is the power that keeps us from sin. I pray that as you read this, the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see what I have seen. The unfathomable love of God for us when we were yet sinners and even love that He has for all of His creation when we all are not!
The story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. In it is hidden "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God." Romans 11:33. We marvel at the Saviour's sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the manger, and the companionship of adoring angels for the beasts of the stall. Human pride and self-sufficiency stand rebuked in His presence. Yet this was but the beginning of His wonderful condescension. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.
Satan in heaven had hated Christ for His position in the courts of God. He hated Him the more when he himself was dethroned. He hated Him who pledged Himself to redeem a race of sinners. Yet into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to meet life's peril in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss.
The heart of the human father yearns over his son. He looks into the face of his little child, and trembles at the thought of life's peril. He longs to shield his dear one from Satan's power, to hold him back from temptation and conflict. To meet a bitterer conflict and a more fearful risk, God gave His only-begotten Son, that the path of life might be made sure for our little ones. "Herein is love." Wonder, O heavens! and be astonished, O earth!