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A son is given IF THERE is one essential, basic truth of the gospel, it is that God has come among us and acts in our midst through his Son. That is what Christmas is about: God with us, Immanuel. The central Gospel message is that God acts through his Son, through Jesus. And that message makes all the difference. God has given us a totally undeserved gift, and that gift is his one and only Son. John puts it like this in his gospel: God loved the world so much that he gave his unique Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. This is no message of condemnation and judgment. It is a message of rescue and recovery, it is a message of life for the dead. Christians, tell it again. Emphasise it over and over. God gave the greatest gift to the most depraved sinner. By his gift he will lift you from hell’s depths to heaven’s throne–room. As we saw last week, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Think how many people have made this discovery! Remember Paul, seized by the risen Lord while he journeyed to destroy believers. Think of Augustine, the immoral pagan who had rebelled against his mother’s faith and lifestyle ― but the word of God came to him, he took it; he read it; he found there the Lord who had bought him with his own precious blood. Think of Martin Niemöller, the German World War I U-Boat captain who initially supported Hitler, but found the way of Christ was the way of opposing tyrants, and could not go back. God doesn’t ask what you have done to deserve access to Jesus. God asks what you are going to let Jesus do in your heart, your mind, your will, your actions and your desires. Not, “Where have you been,” but, “Where are you going?” It is all wrapped tightly in the tale of the Son; the helpless baby who came to Bethlehem.
The God–revealing Son. We read in Hebrews 1: ...in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. No other religion can understand this. It distinguishes Christianity all other belief systems from Christianity. Other religions may have prophets who hear from God and pass the message on. Other religions may have human beings who have left their humanity to become gods, or gods who take on a human appearance. But Christianity alone sees the one and only God perfectly expressed in a human being. When Hebrews was written, there was no language of trinity, there were no common, agreed terms for how to describe Jesus as both man and God. But the gospel writers heaped illustration upon illustration to show a glimpse of what it meant. ...in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, This is more than a prophet. Christianity and Judaism before us, has never viewed prophets as perfect people. Most were short–tempered and intolerant. Some were prone to depression. Many were unpleasant characters. But they heard the LORD speak, and they delivered the message. But Jesus is God’s Son. He reflects the character and the qualities of his Father. I look at Luke and Joshua, my sons, and I see some of myself in both of them, though they are also quite different in many ways. Even if they had been taken from us at birth, people would still see them today and say, “There is something about you which reminds me of Peter Green in Marrickville.” And when we see Jesus, we see the character and quality of God. That means far more than merely hearing God’s message. But there are sons and there are sons. Jesus is the son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. This is the beloved Son with whom the Father is well–pleased. Everything that belongs to the Father also belongs to the Son. This is the Son and heir of God. When we are in Jesus by faith, we become co–inheritors ― but only because Jesus got there first. But God didn’t merely appoint Jesus. He is also the heir because it was through him that the entire universe was created. As John also wrote in his Gospel, JN 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. The gospel links the spirit–world of God and the angels with the physical world of us humans through the Son of God who incorporates both in himself. But he also reflects God as the very outshining of God himself. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. It is as though Jesus were a mirror exactly reflecting the being and glory of God, or a God–shaped window, filtering the blaze of God’s light down to a level that mere humans can tolerate. This is true: when you see Jesus, you see God. And what you see is the One who upholds the entire creation by his powerful word. Just like God who spoke, saying, “Let there be light!” so Jesus, by a mere word, sustains and nurtures the entire creation. Celebrate Christmas, but never be seduced by the baby in the manger. This helpless, red, squawking bundle is the creator of the universe, squeezed into a baby–sized package. Never forget it! Never fall into the trap of sentimentalising the baby, of going all gooey and weak in the knees and the mind at the thought of the holy infant so tender and mild. That is not the point. God has compressed himself into that form, ready to grow and develop as a human being. Who can explain the incarnation? God didn’t leave heaven unattended for 30 years as some falsely accuse us of saying. We believe that God exists in three persons, in three distinct aspects, and that the second became human, the one who exists in total harmony with the person of the Father and with the person of the Spirit. The God–revealing Son has come among us, full of grace, full of truth, full of the qualities of God himself.
The God–acknowledged Son We can look at Jesus from our human point of view. We can say, “I have viewed Jesus, and I give him my tick of approval.” But this is far from enough. In the end, it doesn’t really matter what you and I think about him; the real question is, “What does God think of him?” I knew a chap who managed to get promoted despite always being in trouble. He constantly did what he wanted to do without referring to what others expected. Yet he lead a charmed life. Someone who worked with him at his next job told me he only lasted three months before they got rid of him. Same problems. Maybe some of the people whom I worked with would gladly have had him back, but that counted for nothing. The other organisation didn’t want him, and that was what counted. And if all the world had rejected Jesus, the fact was that God appointed him for a specific task, and God wanted him for that reason. We read, After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 1:5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, Or again, 1:6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, Jesus fulfilled his task of providing purification for sin. It took more than the birth in Bethlehem. It took a sacrificial death. It took the torture, it took the blood, it took the agony of the cross to set you and me free. Jesus went that way, right to the end. And then he rose again, he ascended into heaven, he sits enthroned with God himself. He is far above all angels, far above all principalities and powers, exalted as God’s acknowledged Son.don’t fall into the trap of adoptionism. Don’t begin to think that God only adopted Jesus as his son after the crucifixion. The writer isn’t saying that God adopted him, but that God affirmed him. This is a proud and pleased father, saying, “Look at my boy: see what a great job he has done! That’s my son! If ever he was mine, he is mine today!”
The enthroned Son But there is far more to Jesus than even that. God affirms him, but God also exalts him. HEB 1:7 In speaking of the angels he says, HEB 1:8 But about the Son he says, Here we see Jesus sitting at the right hand of God the Father. Once we saw him on a cross, beaten and bruised, bleeding and dying. I, if I am lifted up, will draw all people to myself. ― said Jesus. But he had to be raised on a cross first, and to a throne next. And one day he will return to fill the final throne, as ruler of heaven and earth, unchallenged even by satan and his dark hordes. I read yesterday a reminder of what a difference this makes. The writer said that the devil is little, because he is small enough to fit under our feet, but Jesus is so great that the whole universe can’t contain him. The devil runs around on the earth because his time is short, Jesus is seated in the heavenly places to rule for all eternity. He is the God–exalted Son. He reigns enthroned above, Ancient of everlasting days, and God of love. After he died on the cross to provide the perfect solution to purify sins, here’s what the disciples saw: ...he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. ACTS 1:10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Conclusion God–revealing, God–affirmed, God–exalted. Three basic facts about Jesus our Saviour. But do you notice something special about those three terms? God–revealing, God–affirmed, God–exalted. Think about it. God–revealing: that’s what Jesus did through his entire life on earth. From heaven to the cross and back to heaven again: everything was a display, an outshining of the glory of God through a perfect man. God–affirmed: that’s what God the Father did for Jesus the son, in acknowledging him as his perfectly obedient child, and in recognising that his saving work has been completed. God–exalted: once again, that’s what God the Father did for Jesus the son, in raising him to the highest place in heaven and giving him a name above every other name, PHILIPPIANS 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, For his one, perfect, finished work, God affirmed Jesus as his beloved son in whom he is well pleased, and raised him to the highest place in all creation where He sits at the right hand of God the Father, Whatever Jesus did, it worked! God himself approved it and approved of it. The price is paid, In heaven he waits It is Christmas in two days. We think of that tiny baby, but we forget that he was born to die. ...Born to raise the sons of earth Yet he is God’s perfect gift, the only one capable of rescuing you and me from sin and death and hell. That is the basic reason why God affirmed him and exalted him to the highest place. What you and I could never do, he has already done. Five bleeding wounds he bears As Paul told the Galatians, 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. You can’t get a much better gift than that at Christmas. God came among us and has acted in our midst through his son. What better response can we make but turn from our rebellious ways, and receive that gift by faith? Come, adore him: he’s Christ the King! Emmanuel is come! Come to him now. AMEN
(i) Peter Green © 2007 untitled
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© Peter R. Green 2007. Permission is granted for quotation in full for non-commercial purposes provided that authorship is acknowledged and this copyright notice is displayed with the text. Portions also copyright The Bible, NIV (Zondervan Ltd.) |
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