In
order to accomplish his purpose God had to deal with the sin in the lives of
human beings so they might be able to fellowship with him. God’s plan to redeem a people for himself
began with his choosing of Abraham to be the father of his people. He made a covenant with Abraham promising
that through his descendants all the nations on earth would be blessed (Genesis
12:3) Jesus was that descendant of
Abraham whom God would use to bring the blessing of salvation to all the
nations of the earth. The birth of Jesus
in Bethlehem reveals the majesty of the wisdom of God.
First,
Jesus was born to a virgin girl. This is
the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
This was to be a sign for God’s faithful that the Promised Savior was
born. Jesus was born to a virgin. The son was created in the womb of a woman by
the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, he
was both the Son of God and the Son of Man.
Second,
Jesus’ mother was betrothed to be married to Joseph. When the time for the census arrived Mary
accompanied her new husband to his family town, Bethlehem in Judea. In this way God fulfilled another prophecy;
that prophecy found in Micah 5:2, “But
you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming
forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
This is yet another sign to the faithful that the Savior King was born!
Third,
Jesus was born into a family in which both parents were descendants of King
David. The prophecy to David was
fulfilled! “When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise
up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his
kingdom. He shall build a house for me,
and I will establish his throne forever.
I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him,
as I took it from his who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house
and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever” (1
Chronicles 17:11-14). The son of
Mary would be the legal and rightful king of Israel. This would be the Promised Son, the Son of
God, whose kingdom God would establish forever!
The
birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is a point in history where we can stand and look
back over all human history to observe the wisdom of God! Think of the countless events which took
place in history where God was working in his wisdom to bring about his own
purpose!
The
birth of Jesus was not the ultimate purpose of God! The redemption and eternal salvation of his
people was his purpose! The birth of
Jesus fulfilled God’s promise but it was only the first event in the life of
the man who would redeem God’s people!
God had revealed his law of substitutionary atonement at Mount Sinai and
God would accomplish eternal salvation in the same way. As the Son of God, Jesus was born without the
curse of a sin nature. He was born
sinless, innocent, the perfect man. As
the Son of Man he could represent mankind as the perfect substitute. As the Son of God he was capable of doing the
infinite. He was capable of removing all
the sins of his people. As the Son of
God his infinite sacrifice would be sufficient
to pay for all the sins of all God’s people. As the Son of God his infinite power would
make his sacrifice effectual to
actually save all of God’s people!
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