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The sheer magnitude of what was taking place on that night is so overwhelming and awesome. This was God in the flesh. He had entered into His own creation in the most indescribable act of selfless love ever. This was the long planned arrival of the Son of God…. the Savior of the world!
The promise of a Savior had been given in the Garden. Who this person would be was being revealed piece by piece in the Old Testament. The seed of the woman would be descended from Abraham, Jacob, Judah, of the root of Jesse, and of the line of David. It had also been revealed He would sit on the throne of his father David forever. Now we come to the most incredible part of the Messiah's genealogy. The Messiah was the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, entering into His creation as a human babe. It would be the Son of God Who would empty Himself of His glory and majesty and come to redeem us from sin and death and give us eternal life through Him if only we accept Him.
Here are just a few of the glimpses God gives us in the Old Testament of the perfect plan for the Son of God to enter into the Creation and be our Lord and Savior. Below each Old Testament verse is a New Testament verse that confirms or fulfills it….
I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son: This day have I begotten Thee. Psalm 2:7
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from THE WAY, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. Psalm 2:11-12
Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but through Me.”John 14:6
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:17
“I, even I, am the LORD (Yehovah), and besides Me there is no savior.” Isaiah 43:11
We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the World. 1 John 4:14
Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His Son’s name? Surely you know! Proverbs 30:4
"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." Luke 1:30-32
Jesus coming in the flesh was not just some prophet or great teacher arriving on the scene to fulfill a special purpose. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it was the Son of God entering His creation in human flesh with the express purpose of being offered as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. This was the Son of God coming to be the atonement for sin that only He could be for man. God is a just and righteous God. Sin must be judged. But, God being a loving and compassionate God did not want anyone to perish. So, He who has existed forever, the eternal God, came down. He set aside His glory and majesty to be a humble servant in order to lay down His life for us. When He came, He was not part human and part God. He was fully human and fully God.
I love this verse where Isaiah describes seeing our Savior on His throne before He left heaven for us:
".........I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple." [Isaiah 6:1b]
And John writing about who it was Isaiah had seen:
These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. John 12:41
I truly do no think we will fully grasp the enormity of the sacrifice He made for us until we are standing in the glory of His presence. I do not think we can begin to fathom what taking on the sins of the world and receiving them upon Himself means. I do not think we can understand what the punishment for those sins cost our precious Savior. And I really do not think we can begin to comprehend the anguish or understand the horrific sorrow experienced by the Son when His Father had to turn His back on Him and forsake Him for the first time in all of eternity as He became sin for us on the cross. I think in the instant when we see His nail scarred hands and feet, the scars in His forehead from the crown of thorns, ….and don’t forget the pure love and joy shining from His eyes upon seeing us entering His presence…only then will the veil be lifted from our eyes of what was undertaken for us before the first word was spoken on Day One of Creation.
Jesus was willing to leave heaven, become a man, become that helpless babe lying in a feeding trough, so that he could lay down His life and conquer death that we might live...because He LOVES us!!! I know we will be filled to overflowing with the praise and thankfulness for a Savior Who loves us so much.
We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us...1 John 3:16a
...but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. [Phl 2:7 NASB]
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 1 John 4:9
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. First Corinthians 13:12
“I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” Psalm 2:7
May the Lord richly bless you and yours this Christmas. I pray we continue to keep the focus on Jesus this Christmas season. Merry Christmas!!
May the Lord richly bless you and yours this Christmas. I pray we continue to keep the focus on Jesus this Christmas season. Merry Christmas!!
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