every new Christian needs to be made aware of this truth. If he does not know that the battle line has been drawn, he may become disillusioned and des pondent when he finally comes to the realization that the world is not sympathetic to Christ and the Gos pel. Let the believer read John 15:18-25; James 4:4, and I John 2:15-17.
suffering notice that, although it is intense, yet it is not fatal — it is a heel-wound. He died, yes, but He rose again! He suffered the pains of death, it is true— but they were pains of travail and through them He has brought many sons into glory (Isa. 53:11; Heb. 2:10 ). We do not, dare not, and cannot minimize the sufferings of the Saviour (Isa. 53; Psalm 22). But He came “ through the valley of the shadow of death” and is now exalted with a “ name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9-11).
It may seem strange to anticipate the Cross in con nection with Christmas, but this must be done. The climax of the conflict suggested by Gen. 3:15 came at Calvary. Christ came into the world for the express purpose of dying (John 1:29; I Peter 1:19-20). He became the “ seed” of the woman (the Virgin Mary) in order that He might become the Saviour of men. The cradle means nothing without the Cross. W ill you note how carefully the Holy Spirit pro tects the virgin birth of Christ by referring to the “ seed” of the woman! God did not say the seed of Adam, or the seed of Man, but the seed of the woman. The Bible is fully consistent in this as in every other matter. The Bible guards the virgin birth of Christ because upon this truth hinges Christ’s redemptive work. His virgin birth enabled Him to have a true humanity yet uncontaminated with human sin (II Cor. 5:21; Hebrews 7:26). If the Lord Jesus had been bom exactly as every man is bom, He would have needed a Saviour, too. But He was bom of the Virgin, conceived in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit and brought forth by her without sin. This blessed Sinless Christ then went to Calvary, the spotless substitute for sinners, the only one qualified to assume man’s guilt and sin and to provide an acceptable sacrifice. Thus by faith in Him and His finished work all who believe are freely for given, justified for ever, and enter into peace with God (Rom. 3:21-31; 5:1; 8:31-39; Gal. 3:10-13). Thus the Cradle and the Cross must both loom large before the eyes of us all . . . We dare not think of the one without the other. The Cradle and the Cross both speak o f the failure of man. The first Adam failed in obedience and in devotion as the representative man; the Lord Jesus as the “ last Adam” (I Cor. 15:45- 49) perfectly fulfilled the will of God from His heart, and stands as the victorious Representative of God’s elect (Romans 5:12-21). The Cradle and the Cross speak of the plan and purpose of God in salvation■ The very first promise in the Old Testament (Gen. 3:15) include both the virgin birth and the vicarious suffering. W ith regard to the DECEMBER, 1961
The wonderful text that we have been studying (Gen. 3:15) speaks forcibly of the conflict and of the cross, but it also speaks of the crown. The Holy Spirit through Moses writes: “ . . . it (the seed of the wom an — Christ) shall bruise thy head . . .” This means that although the serpent’s attack on Christ will re sult in a “ heel-wound,” the Saviour’s attack on Satan will result in a “ head-wound” ! At Calvary Christ was wounded and at Calvary Satan was slain. The devil was put to death at Calvary, rendered helpless as far as the elect of God are concerned (John 10:28- 29), and prophetically Calvary speaks of the coming judgment of Satan with his ultimate consignment to the eternal flames of hell (Rev. 19-20). The “ heel-wound” of Christ was healed three short days and nights after it was inflicted. The Cross of Christ became a signpost pointing to the empty tomb. Forty days after the Resurrection the Saviour re turned to Glory (Acts 1:3-11). There He was set at God’s right hand in the heavenly places, “ far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:20-21). In Phil. 2:5-11, the Apostle Paul describes the same chronology: Christmas is the revelation of the Sav iour’s voluntary humility in the Incarnation; then comes the death of the Cross; then comes the Crown; “ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” How wonderful that in the Providence of God His children know the meaning of Christmas and praise Him now, gratefully, volitionally, and lovingly. This is the true Christmas spirit. ii
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