(Friends, this is Part 3 of a seven part series devoted to the Lord's entrance into the world. Today's message involves the wonder of our Savior's united Divinity and humanity. Thanks, Glen)
Christmas 2017
-3-
"The Mysterious and the Miraculous"
Upon His conception in the virgin womb of Mary, the Lord Jesus Christ became the God who is man, and the man who remains God.
"Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16).
"Unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, o God, is forever and ever" (Hebrews 1:8).
The incarnation of "the Word… made flesh" constitutes the greatest of mysteries (John 1:14). In the Lord Jesus, the Infinite resides in the finite, the Eternal in the temporal, the Almighty in the dependent, and the Creator in His creation. No amount of reading, study, or contemplation allows for the complete understanding of such an enigma. The Holy Spirit Himself, through Paul, acknowledges "Great is the mystery of godliness." Of course, God understands how such a thing can be, but we likely never will. Nor will the need ever arise that we completely comprehend the wonder of our blessed Savior. It is enough to know that His very existence involves the miracle of God dwelling in and a human being for the purpose of revealing Himself to us, and redeeming us by His life, death, resurrection, and redemption. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" (II Corinthians 5:19).
The mystery and the miracle should greatly encourage our hearts. We would not want to worship, love, trust, or obey a God not infinitely greater than ourselves, to the degree of being profoundly inexplicable. Certainly we can understand much about Him, as revealed by the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, the church, and God's working in our hearts and in the world (John 5:39; 16:13; Philippians 2:15; Romans 1:20). We should grow in such illumination and walk in its blessed light. However, every ray of glory not only informs us with knowledge, but also reveals how more can be known. Christ is a mystery to be considered, discovered, and then considered and discovered over and over again. His very existence proclaims this hope and challenge to our hearts. Moreover, the fact that His being constitutes an ongoing and eternal miracle - the Infinite dwelling in the finite - bears witness to us that regardless of the challenges we face in life, the Lord Jesus provides definitive assurance that God can and will work in us "to supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). Yes, if the Lord Jesus can exist by the miraculous working of God, He can provide for us any and everything we will ever require.
Christ Himself - the great mystery and miracle of God. The more we know of Him, the more the Holy Spirit beckons us to greater discovery, insight, and devoted response. In Heaven and earth, there is no one like the Lord Jesus. Long ago, our Heavenly Father filled a manger with the Light of the world that shines not only with illumination, but with the blessed assurance of how much we do not know. Both realities should thrill our hearts as we rejoice in the Christ we know, and the same glorious One who exists as an eternal wonder of the Mysterious and the Miraculous.
"Our Lord Jesus Christ, which in His times He shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no can can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen."
(I Timothy 6:14-16)
Weekly Memory Verse
And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:10-11)
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