From Heaven to Manger By Harry A . Ironside The whole Christian system begins with the Incarnation. God, who existed from eternity in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, desiring to make Himself known to men, to take upon Himself man’s sin and iniquity, and to make full atonement for them, stooped in grace in the Person of the Son to identify Himself with humanity, and be came Incarnate by taking upon Himself flesh and blood. But, remember, it was God who did that. The Babe in Bethle hem was not merely a remarkable child who was born with a great religious instinct, but that Babe was God the Son, who stooped in grace to tenant the vir gin’s womb, and was born into this world as man, but did not cease for one moment to be God. “ Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” Not that Jesus Christ began to be when He was born into the world, but that He came. Came from where? From Heaven. This is the Incarnation. You were born into the world; you had no existence before you were born. You began here on earth; you came into existence when you were born of your parents. But that blessed One did not begin to be when He was born in the stable and cradled in the manger; He came from Heaven’s highest glory down into this world to be the Saviour of the world. He, who was higher than all the angels, He, their Creator, became a little lower than these glorious beings in order that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for every man. Men profess to honor Jesus while recognizing Him as the mightiest among the mighty, the greatest of all the great men of the world, the most marvelous of all its ethical teachers, but in reality they are but degrading Him unless they acknowledge Him as God over all, God blessed forever, Jesus the Anointed, come in the flesh. To think of Jesus as any one else than God the Creator, become Man for our redemption, is to deny the truth con cerning Him revealed in the Bible and is the spirit of the antichrist. When we speak of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, we mean a great deal more than simply accepting a dogma regarding Jesus Christ as God. To believe in Him is to trust Him. Intelli gently you may believe what is recorded about Jesus Christ, you may accept the full scriptural declaration about Him, but unless you trust yourself to Him, He will never be your Saviour and Redeem er. When you trust Him you come into God’s family and are one of His children. What a wonderful thing it is to realize that He has come so close to us. He, the infinite holy One whom these poor finite minds of ours could not comprehend, has become Man, that we might see in Him God fully revealed. Shall we not praise Him and adore Him? Used by permission of American Tract Co., New York , N. Y. T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
perance, by riot too many will revive the works of the devil, which the Son of God was manifested to destroy.
was His chamber. A manger was His cradle. There was not room for Him at the inn. But whose birth was ever so glorious? Ye gods of the earth, bring forth your firstborn, but no new star sparkles over him. No wise men come miraculously from the east to worship him. No angel descends. No heavenly choir sings his birth. No command is given, “ Yea, let all men worship him” ; no spirit of prophecy breathes this in spiration. No Simeon waits for Him as the consolation of Israel. No Anna speaks of Him to those who look for re demption. But in the Son of God we also see a prodigy of benevolence. Everything about Him says, “ Behold a love that passeth knowledge.” Think of His for mer condition. He was rich, and became poor. Think of His independence and choice. He was not constrained to enter such a state. “ Lo! I come,” He an nounces. He gave His life a ransom for us. The principle that moved Him was not our desert, but His own mercy. He came into the world to save sinners. He died for the ungodly. In His love and pity He redeemed us. He did not wait for our supplication, arising from a sense of need for Him. He engaged in this work for us, in full recognition of all the degree and extent of the suffer ing He was to endure. He travailed through the whole without repenting of any part of the costly undertaking; His accomplishment was His delight. Here, also, we see an example for our imitation. He despised worldly dis tinctions. Shall we admire them? Shall we seek great things for ourselves? As Christians let us stand by the side of the lowly manger. “ Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content.” Shall we find it difficult to stoop to men of low estate, to exercise self-denial in doing good? “ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:5-7). He stooped so low, suffered so much for us, shall we not then be willing to endure any privations, any sacrifices, for our brethren? “ Be ye therefore fol lowers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Eph. 5:2). Infinitely great as this thing is which has come to pass, there are too many of you who still refuse to take a step to see it. Even at the very Christmas sea son, which is the commemoration of the event, there are too many who will be found anywhere rather than at Bethle hem. They will be attracted to every thing, rather than to that sight, for which the shepherds left their flocks, and made haste to see the transaction which drew all heaven down to earth. America may observe the day by free dom from labor, but they will neglect, even insult, the subject of it. By intem
Let us call off our attention from the petty, the debasing, the vexing, the de filing things of the world. Let us return to the Infant of Bethlehem, the desire of all nations. Let us give Him the glory which is due unto His holy name. Let us say, “ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the govern ment shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Coun sellor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Let us behold, and rejoice as we behold in Him provision made for our recovery, the most suitable to our wants, the most adequate to our release, placed so en tirely within our reach. Let us embrace Him. Let us exclaim, “ Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isa. 25:9). Let our zeal and gratitude be equal to our joy. Let us follow the shepherds not only in our going, but in our return. “And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child . . . And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things which they had heard and seen.” There are so many, so heartbreakingly many, espe cially of those according to the flesh, of the kin of the Lord Jesus Christ, His blood kin, who have never been to Beth lehem, who are still lost in their sins, who are still on the road to perdition. The Messiah loves them. The desperate need of “His own according to the flesh,” introduces more of His love per haps toward them than toward any other people. He is dependent upon us to reach them with the gospel. What do you say, my beloved friends? Shall we make this Christmas season a time of giving to the Redeemer, as well as of giving to each other! For every gift we give to others, let us match it with a gift to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us bring our gifts to Bethlehem, our very best! Reprinted from Salvation. Used by permission.
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