Today we had our first South Carolina doctor’s visit. It’s time to have our prescriptions repeated and the only way to do it is to have a doctor’s appointment where they gather as much information about you as possible, together with taking your vitals, weight, height and complete copious forms before getting to see the doctor.
Something struck me. Everyone was friendly, caring and helpful … from the front desk to the lady doing the vitals to the nurse who did our 5th COVID and flu jab to the doctor himself. At one point I asked the lady doing the vitals … “I see you are wearing a Cross around your neck, are you a Christian?” She said “yes … the whole practice is built on Christian principles and the doctor you will see gathers us together for prayer before we start each day.” I rejoiced that in His grace, God took us to the right medical practice. Although there were no Christmas decorations, the atmosphere was totally Christian. Remember we are answering the question … “Where did the real Christmas start?” We have considered:
(i) Tragedy,
(ii) Promise and
(iii) Method.
Today we shall consider “Person”. In following the flow, we have seen Adam’s tragedy of falling into sin, effecting and influencing the whole race. We are fallen creatures … fallen to sinful depravity. Then we observed God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob where He created a People (Israel) in Egypt, relocated them to a Place (Canaan), to live under His reign (Rule) under His Word, led by prophets, priests and kings. We realized that this prefigured God in Jesus Christ creating a People (followers of Jesus), for a Place (Heaven), under the reign (Rule) of King Jesus.
Yesterday we needed to identify the method God would use to accomplish “People, Place and Rule” and saw He had a specific method which was a virgin giving birth to a baby son. This was God Incarnate who through the “Virgin Birth” took on flesh without being affected by the sinful nature because there was no human father.
In these three Daily Notes we saw God protecting His promise in Genesis 3:15. The promise was a Messiah and although we are skimming the Scriptures we can see that as we progress through it, God reveals more and more information about Messiah. Now we know Messiah will appear on the stage of human history as God Incarnate because only God can deal effectively with man’s sin problem.
But who is this Messiah, this Person … this God who will be God Incarnate … the Godman? Please read:
Isa 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
1) The Messiah is pre-existent. The child is born but the Son is given. The Incarnation implies a pregnancy and birth enabling the child to be born … that is God taking on the flesh. But the Son is eternal … that is why He is given! This is the miracle of the Incarnation through the Virgin Birth. God the Son took flesh and never ceased to be God the Son. He limited His divinity for the purpose of experiencing everything the race experiences but was always divine and always sinless.
2) God Incarnate is King. A King reigns … so we read … the government will be on his shoulders. Where the Lord Jesus is King over all the earth, He is the ruling head of every nation, the planet and all creation. He is Lord! Yet this points directly to Him being King over His Eternal Kingdom which comprising of Kingdom Citizens on earth as they come to faith in Him, as well as those already in heaven.
3) He is Wonderful. There are two dimensions here …
(a) He is wonderful in an awe inspiring way.
(b) He is wonderful in everything He does.
Consider by yourself, the wonder of His love, grace, mercy, kindness, discipline, forgiveness and protection. Are you able to think of any other who is as wonderful as our Lord?
4) He is Counselor. This point, together with the next three causes us to remember that Messiah is God as Trinity. In referring to the Holy Spirit Jesus says
Jn 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Where Jesus promises the Holy Spirit as Counselor, He says He will … not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. The shows us that although there are distinct persons in God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, they are one God. As Counselor He speaks, teaches, gives guidance, rebukes, corrects, disciplines … all through the Word as He applies it to His Children by His Divine Power.
5) He is Mighty God. When I think Jesus I think God and when I think God I think Jesus … Jesus is God! Never have a division in your mind that there are two or three Gods. There is one God!
6) He is Everlasting Father. Here again we see Messiah as God exercising a Fatherly role. True Christians are His children! His family! He is the head of the family. He is Father and as Father He cares, loves, provides … yet also guides, rebukes, corrects and disciplines as He grows us up into the likeness and image of Himself.
7) He is Prince of Peace. This Kingdom He has created knows no war, friction, fighting, unhappiness, bitterness or turmoil. There is absolute peace because Messiah is Prince of Peace. He brings about peace with God through His sacrifice.
8) His passion for a Kingdom within Paradise which ends the Garden of Eden curse accomplishes and eternal government (Kingship, Rule and Lordship) based upon the sinless environment of justice and righteousness. David’s kingdom prefigured it. Messiah’s Kingdom achieves it.
Lord, how we look forward to the final state of Your Kingdom where we Your people will be with You in Glory forever. Thank You, Jesus, for whom You are. Amen.