His Life And Birth

by TERRELL, J.D. | Category: Time For Christ | Feb 2008

A time to be born

In the previous article in the series Peter Hickling touched on some of the mysteries of time and eternity. Certainly it is evident that in God's eternal purposes time was necessary for the regulation of human life on this earth. And it was in what Scripture calls ‘the fullness of the time’ that God ‘sent forth His Son’ (Gal. 4:4) Furthermore, let it be noted that the person whom God sent forth from heaven was His Son; not a being taking that status at birth or baptism, but in truth the Word who was and is God. However many deep divine purposes underlay the moment of choice for the advent of God's Son into the world, its historical timeliness, in terms of human factors, is itself striking. The stability of the Roman Empire permitted God's massive intervention of grace; Roman roads facilitated the movement of His earliest evangelists; and the common Greek language made His Word understood throughout the civilized world.

Prophetic words

Similarly important, and hugely impressive, is the fulfilment of a host of Old Testament prophecies in the events of the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Son of God. To point to but a few of these, we have the anticipation by Moses of the coming of ‘… a Prophet like me from your midst … Him you shall hear’ (Deut. 18:15). From Micah (5:2) came the precision foretelling of the Bethlehem nativity. ‘But you Bethlehem Ephrathah … out of you shall come forth to Me … the One ... Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting’. Then, outstanding among the many remarkable Messianic prophecies of Isaiah, we have the clear and pointed promise, ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel’ (7:14). And so to its dramatic fulfilment, ‘Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you ... you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS’ (Luke 1:28-31).

The Lord from heaven

From the pen of Paul the apostle we have by divine inspiration the words of Philippians 2:5-8; ‘... Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God ... made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men ... humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross’. Profound theology indeed of the incarnation of the Son of God and His sacrificial, atoning death.

Among men - God with us

Between that miraculous divine invasion of human history and the redemptive work of Christ at Calvary (of which more in our next issue) came ‘the days of His flesh’ (Heb. 5:7). The Father had mapped out a ministry of approximately three years in which His Son would leave an indelible mark on human history, enabling the beloved disciple John to write, ‘... we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14). This testimony encompassed, and was illuminated by, words; works; wisdom; and supremely, by love.

In John 8:40 we have the Master's uncompromising claim to unbelieving Jews to be ‘a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God’; and an unexpected witness to the unique power of Christ's words came from astonished listeners when, ‘He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes’ (Mat. 7:29). Then, in the Nazareth synagogue, all ‘marvelled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth’ (Luke 4:22). Truth; authority; and grace – the same characteristics which undergirded the miraculous works of the Son of God; whether His gracious compassion for a desolate widowed mother at Nain, or a sightless beggar at Jericho's gate. What wisdom, but that of God incarnate could confound the tempters who challenged the Lord about tribute to Caesar, and were met by, ‘Render … to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's’ (Mat. 22:21)? And above all, what love, 'love divine, all loves excelling' – truly, ‘love to the uttermost’ (John 13:1 RVM). Which leads our reverent footsteps on to the way of the cross ...

Bible quotes from NKJV

TERRELL, J.D. | Feb 2008
Time For Christ