The Fate of the Christmas Child
"Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no for or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not......
He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed......
because He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."
-Isaiah 53:2, 5, 12
It has become popular teaching in today's "church" culture to break from the Old Testament and deem it as irrelevant, old and out-of-step with the Gospel of the New Testament. This is a gross misrepresentation of the Old Testament and a sad malpractice in preaching/teaching!
If you were stuck with only 1 Old Testament book to share the Gospel with someone, what would you choose? Would you even know where to start? Sadly, many today don't have the slightest clue how the Old Testament connects with the New Testament, much less how it shares the Gospel. Isaiah 53 proclaims the Gospel so clearly, 700 years in fact before the first Gospel was written in the New Testament, that its overwhelming!
For the purposes of this writing, I would like to briefly consider Isaiah 53 in light of the Christmas season. The Christmas celebration for Christians should always be about Christ, first and foremost, and the gifts, food and family can come after that. Christ is the reason we have anything to celebrate as He is the greatest gift anyone could ever give! He gives the gift of eternal life with Him in the future Kingdom whose citizens have been eternally pardoned from the punishment due their many sins.
Isaiah 53 tells us centuries before the Messiah would come what He would be like, what His mission would be, and if He would accomplish that mission. Those of you who have kids, did you have everything planned out for your child before they were even born? Did you know what they would become? What their 'mission in life' would be? The truth is no, none of us knows what exactly our kids will become. We dream, we hope, and we pray that they are healthy, happy and successful, but that's about all we can do. None of us can see the future.
Consider that truth when thinking of the Child of Christmas - before Christ came to this earth, it was already predetermined who He would be. He would be an unremarkable, average-looking child (53:2), having the appearance and aura of a "young plant" and a "root out of dry ground." There was nothing special about this Child as He grew up. The older He got, the wisdom He displayed amazed many people, but even in His early adult years He was still considered by many in His hometown as simply "the son of Joseph the carpenter." Do we grasp this? The Almighty King, Creator, Eternal God of the cosmos predetermined that He would come to this earth and take on the form of an unremarkable, average human body. He would still be fully God, but He wouldn't come as a superhuman baby or child. He came humbly; nothing special to be considered.
As the Child of Christmas entered into human time and history, it was also predetermined what He would come to do. Before the Holy Spirit even placed the Seed of Christ in the virgin Mary's womb, it had been planned since before Creation in Genesis 1 that this Child would be born for a mission of death, renewal and establishing the Kingdom. His soul purpose in His human existence would be to perfectly keep the moral/civil Law of God for all mankind as well as keeping the ceremonial Law of God in being the sacrificial Lamb to end all sacrifices. On the cross, He would be "wounded for our transgressions" to "bring peace" between God and ourselves. Through sin, through our transgressions of the Law of God, we were left hopeless and set for judgment - until that Child of Christmas came.
The birth of Christ, whenever exactly it took place, was a moment in history that changed the world forever. The promised Messiah had finally come, a promise the Israelites had been waiting for for centuries. He came to "bear the sins of many." Those were your sins and my sins the Child of Christmas was born to take. He simply calls in response to this that we repent of our sins and turn to Him for forgiveness, renewal and adoption into His family. He calls us to turn our lives over to Him and follow Him as His disciple. Salvation, sanctification and eternal life with Him are the result.
As you consider the fate of the Child of Christmas, do you know Him and does He know you? Is there a relationship between the Messiah Jesus Christ and you through repentance and faith? If not, today is the day of salvation for you. This is why He came, to seek and to save the lost. Turn to Him while there's still time!
He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed......
because He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."
-Isaiah 53:2, 5, 12
It has become popular teaching in today's "church" culture to break from the Old Testament and deem it as irrelevant, old and out-of-step with the Gospel of the New Testament. This is a gross misrepresentation of the Old Testament and a sad malpractice in preaching/teaching!
If you were stuck with only 1 Old Testament book to share the Gospel with someone, what would you choose? Would you even know where to start? Sadly, many today don't have the slightest clue how the Old Testament connects with the New Testament, much less how it shares the Gospel. Isaiah 53 proclaims the Gospel so clearly, 700 years in fact before the first Gospel was written in the New Testament, that its overwhelming!
For the purposes of this writing, I would like to briefly consider Isaiah 53 in light of the Christmas season. The Christmas celebration for Christians should always be about Christ, first and foremost, and the gifts, food and family can come after that. Christ is the reason we have anything to celebrate as He is the greatest gift anyone could ever give! He gives the gift of eternal life with Him in the future Kingdom whose citizens have been eternally pardoned from the punishment due their many sins.
Isaiah 53 tells us centuries before the Messiah would come what He would be like, what His mission would be, and if He would accomplish that mission. Those of you who have kids, did you have everything planned out for your child before they were even born? Did you know what they would become? What their 'mission in life' would be? The truth is no, none of us knows what exactly our kids will become. We dream, we hope, and we pray that they are healthy, happy and successful, but that's about all we can do. None of us can see the future.
Consider that truth when thinking of the Child of Christmas - before Christ came to this earth, it was already predetermined who He would be. He would be an unremarkable, average-looking child (53:2), having the appearance and aura of a "young plant" and a "root out of dry ground." There was nothing special about this Child as He grew up. The older He got, the wisdom He displayed amazed many people, but even in His early adult years He was still considered by many in His hometown as simply "the son of Joseph the carpenter." Do we grasp this? The Almighty King, Creator, Eternal God of the cosmos predetermined that He would come to this earth and take on the form of an unremarkable, average human body. He would still be fully God, but He wouldn't come as a superhuman baby or child. He came humbly; nothing special to be considered.
As the Child of Christmas entered into human time and history, it was also predetermined what He would come to do. Before the Holy Spirit even placed the Seed of Christ in the virgin Mary's womb, it had been planned since before Creation in Genesis 1 that this Child would be born for a mission of death, renewal and establishing the Kingdom. His soul purpose in His human existence would be to perfectly keep the moral/civil Law of God for all mankind as well as keeping the ceremonial Law of God in being the sacrificial Lamb to end all sacrifices. On the cross, He would be "wounded for our transgressions" to "bring peace" between God and ourselves. Through sin, through our transgressions of the Law of God, we were left hopeless and set for judgment - until that Child of Christmas came.
The birth of Christ, whenever exactly it took place, was a moment in history that changed the world forever. The promised Messiah had finally come, a promise the Israelites had been waiting for for centuries. He came to "bear the sins of many." Those were your sins and my sins the Child of Christmas was born to take. He simply calls in response to this that we repent of our sins and turn to Him for forgiveness, renewal and adoption into His family. He calls us to turn our lives over to Him and follow Him as His disciple. Salvation, sanctification and eternal life with Him are the result.
As you consider the fate of the Child of Christmas, do you know Him and does He know you? Is there a relationship between the Messiah Jesus Christ and you through repentance and faith? If not, today is the day of salvation for you. This is why He came, to seek and to save the lost. Turn to Him while there's still time!
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