Though I know the story, though I have pondered the texts, I simply cannot grasp the full significance of the Incarnation. How does the One who has always been and who always will be become a baby born at a given time, to die at the appointed hour; how does the One who created mankind, the Heavens, and the earth become a man to walk on His created earth; how does the One whose Home is Heaven be born in the animals' barn?
Everything seems backwards. The Messiah does not come in strength and power but in lowliness and humility. The King of Kings is not born in a palace but in a cattle stall. He is not raised as a king's son, but as the son of a poor young couple of Nazareth.
As a man, the Messiah was subject to the same temptations, hunger, cold, thirst that we know. He entered - willingly - into every aspect of what it means to be human. It is God who came and fully entered the human condition. Isaiah foretold that this child, this baby born of Mary, shall be called Emmanuel: God with us.
God comes to dwell with us; it is inconceivable mystery.
"Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold him come, Offspring of the virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel."
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by Charles Wesley
Monday, December 17, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Advent - The Coming of the Messiah, the Promised One
Since the fall of man, all creation has been restlessly waiting for the Promised One. God foretells of this Promised One when He declares to Adam and Eve the punishment for their sin. God says that One will come who will save His people from their sin. Since then, this expectation and hope has echoed through the pages of Scripture.
"As for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me." (Micah 7:7)
But generations were born and generations died - yet the promised Messiah had not yet come. God’s people “died in faith, without receiving the promises, but have seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)
As years turned into decades and decades into centuries, both the world and the prophets cried out, “How long, O Lord?” Men see the pain in the world and in their hearts, and they cry with Habakkuk and David
“How long, O Lord, will I call for help, And Thou wilt not hear? I cry out to Thee, ‘Violence!’ Yet Thou dost not save.” (Habakkuk 1:2) “How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me forever? How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?” (Psalm 13:1)
But God did not forget; God was not delaying. The time had not yet come. To encourage His people, He gave the promise through His prophet Isaiah, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
Though the Messiah had not yet come, the hope remained burning within the hearts of the people. “We have waited for Thee eagerly; Thy name, even Thy memory, is the desire of our souls.” (Isaiah 26:8)
The pages of history fly by. The Promise is not forgotten amidst the pain and suffering on earth. Several millennia come and go since the Savior was promised. But then, in the darkness of the night, in a humble stable, in the small town of Bethlehem, Mary, a willing servant of the Most High God, delivers a child.
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.” (Galatians 4:4)
The Heavens shout out, “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14)
The world sleeps, unaware of the momentous event that has just occurred. It is not just a baby who was born that night; it was the Son of God Himself, coming to fulfill the promise made long ago - coming to deliver the people from their sins!
The Promise is fulfilled! Immanuel has come.
"As for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me." (Micah 7:7)
But generations were born and generations died - yet the promised Messiah had not yet come. God’s people “died in faith, without receiving the promises, but have seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)
As years turned into decades and decades into centuries, both the world and the prophets cried out, “How long, O Lord?” Men see the pain in the world and in their hearts, and they cry with Habakkuk and David
“How long, O Lord, will I call for help, And Thou wilt not hear? I cry out to Thee, ‘Violence!’ Yet Thou dost not save.” (Habakkuk 1:2) “How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me forever? How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?” (Psalm 13:1)
But God did not forget; God was not delaying. The time had not yet come. To encourage His people, He gave the promise through His prophet Isaiah, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
Though the Messiah had not yet come, the hope remained burning within the hearts of the people. “We have waited for Thee eagerly; Thy name, even Thy memory, is the desire of our souls.” (Isaiah 26:8)
The pages of history fly by. The Promise is not forgotten amidst the pain and suffering on earth. Several millennia come and go since the Savior was promised. But then, in the darkness of the night, in a humble stable, in the small town of Bethlehem, Mary, a willing servant of the Most High God, delivers a child.
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.” (Galatians 4:4)
The Heavens shout out, “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14)
The world sleeps, unaware of the momentous event that has just occurred. It is not just a baby who was born that night; it was the Son of God Himself, coming to fulfill the promise made long ago - coming to deliver the people from their sins!
The Promise is fulfilled! Immanuel has come.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Our Days are Numbered
Our days are numbered before we are born. And just as one hair of our head doesn't fall to the ground unnoticed by our God, neither does one day pass without His sustaining us. But eventually, for each of us there is that day, when God calls us Home. For the one going Home, it is as if life has just begun. Paradoxically, for us that remain, it is as if our life has just ended. Our hearts are torn apart by our enemy death. Life as we have known it has suddenly taken a new, unwelcomed direction.
Death is hard to understand. When faced with death, our souls scream out that it is not right. We are made for living, not for dying. Recently a friend with four children died of cancer at the age of 37 years. My mind races with all kinds of questions: who will take care of the children when they are sick, who will listen to the stories of their day, who will cook their dinner? But God deemed it good for her to go Home. Her days were numbered.
Within a couple of days of her death, I learn of another's friend whose granddaughter is killed in an auto accident; she is 16. Surely, there are many more things for her to learn, ways to serve God, life to be experienced. But God deemed it good for her to go Home. Her days, too, were numbered - just as they are for each of us.
I have to fight the notion within myself that these women's lives were cut short. It looks to me as if they had so much living ahead of them. But this is not God's perspective. Just as one hair doesn't fall to the ground unnoticed by Him, neither does one saint die without His knowing. Even in death, God is about His good purposes; He is accomplishing His plans. Through the pain of death, we can also rejoice – for one of those purposes is to abolish death!
Death is hard to understand. When faced with death, our souls scream out that it is not right. We are made for living, not for dying. Recently a friend with four children died of cancer at the age of 37 years. My mind races with all kinds of questions: who will take care of the children when they are sick, who will listen to the stories of their day, who will cook their dinner? But God deemed it good for her to go Home. Her days were numbered.
Within a couple of days of her death, I learn of another's friend whose granddaughter is killed in an auto accident; she is 16. Surely, there are many more things for her to learn, ways to serve God, life to be experienced. But God deemed it good for her to go Home. Her days, too, were numbered - just as they are for each of us.
I have to fight the notion within myself that these women's lives were cut short. It looks to me as if they had so much living ahead of them. But this is not God's perspective. Just as one hair doesn't fall to the ground unnoticed by Him, neither does one saint die without His knowing. Even in death, God is about His good purposes; He is accomplishing His plans. Through the pain of death, we can also rejoice – for one of those purposes is to abolish death!
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