December 24,
2004
Therefore,
when He came into the world, He said:
"Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
Then I said, "Behold, I have come--
In the volume of the book it is written of Me--
To do Your will, O God."' ( Heb 10:5-7 )
How wonderful the heavens must have felt at the hearing of
that conversation
between the Father and the Son. God, the Eternal Father, overflowing
with mercy for us, had consented His Son, the Eternal Word
to be incarnated in the lowly form of a man, with a body being prepared
in the Virgin's womb. That by His coming, the Son might take upon
Himself the wrath of the Righteous Judge, whose anger is as the heaping
of coals upon the wicked, whose fire is being rekindled every moment,
being prepared for the sons of wrath. The smoke of the offerings
is no longer a pleasant incense to God. It has become a poisonous
fume, irritable and despicable. The worthless creation that did
not fulfill his role intended by his Creator deserves no other but
annihilation. "Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as
God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their
foolish hearts were darkened".
He whose counsel is His own will ( for if He were to choose
by us, who
then can be saved? ), chose to bear with us and show us mercy. He whose
words stand forever ( for if He were to be like us, idle in words
and actions, who then can have hope? ) has promised us acceptance
rather than destruction.
How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I set you like Zeboiim?
My heart churns within Me;
My sympathy is stirred.
I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man,
The Holy One in your midst;
And I will not come with terror. ( Hosea 11:8-9 )
And thus the Son said," A body You have prepared for
Me" and " I have come to do Your will". This
coming of the Son, as the divine discourse showed, is the
deliberate works of the Father ( You have prepared for Me ) and the
Son ( I have come ) to fulfill that promise, the promise of not
to harm us but that we might prosper. For the writer of Hebrews who
cited the dialogue went on to say "He takes away the
first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all." The Third Person of the Godhead became the witnessing seal to
this divine work, being the Co-Participant, He had prepared the way
in the hearts of man, revealing to the saints about Christ "in the
volume of the book it is written of [Him]". May God forever be praised
as we observe this night before Christmas.
The nites before Christmas
The heav'nly hosts did await
Expecting with joy unknown to us
The Creator coming as the Babe
The nites before Christmas
The Eternal Father did prepare
A joy unknown to us
A Body He made with care
The nites before Christmas
The Eternal Son did say
With joy unknown to us
"Thy will I shalt obey"
The nites before Christmas
The Holy Spirit did proclaim
In joy unknown to us
"The Saviour came! The Saviour came!"
Gloria In Excelsis Deo!