sage to sinners has been to believe on Jesus, who died for their justification. Strange though it may seem, nevertheless the truth remains, Jesus was born to die. He turned aside from the ivory palaces, not that He might become an Example for us to follow, but to die as the Sinless Substitute for Sinners. C. H. Spur geon, that prince of preachers, declared that his theology could be expressed in four words: “ Christ died for sin.” Jesus, then, clothed Him self with our humanity that He might take upon Himself the load and curse of our sin. Let it not be forgotten that He was born a Saviour, and that Mary herself recognized the stupendous truth when she said, “My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” The question for you to answer, my friend, is clearly evident. Is this Saviour, who entered into our world over 1900 years ago, your personal Saviour? Although He came as the Saviour of the world, such a fact will not avail on your behalf, unless He is your very own Saviour. He came to save from sin. Has He saved you? Born in Bethlehem’s manger, has He been born within your heart? Christ Came to Renew Fellowship Our Lord’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resur rection form a triad of truth our minds never tire of meditating upon. We have already indi cated the vital association between Christ’s birth and death. Let us now think of the union existing between His birth and resurrection. In the virgin womb of Mary, the human body of Jesus was fashioned. In the virgin tomb of Joseph, the glori fied body of Jesus was prepared. And the Holy Spirit was responsible for both miracles. By His broken body, Christ made possible our salvation. But had His body remained within the grave, we would have been of all men most miserable. The truth of the gospel, however, is that although delivered for our offences, He was raised again for our justification. As some of the early fathers were wont to explain it, the resurrection was God’s Receipt for Calvary. And how true this is ! Hallelujah, the debt has been paid! Further, Christ’s own resurrection was not only the evidence that the demands of God’s holy law had been fully met, and that, if he be in Christ, the sinner is justified; but that resurrec tion is also a pledge that one day believers shall be raised from the dead or changed “ in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” their bodies made like unto His glorious body, their natures capable of fellowship with God through eternity. My friend, have you this hope? Do you believe that the Christ whose birthday we recognize at Christmas, and who died and rose again, is to re turn before long? Some of us believe that His coming is at hand. This may be our last Christ mas. Who knows? Are you ready? If not, then why not fill the heart of Jesus with joy this Christ- mastide, by surrendering yourself unreservedly to Him? Give Him a Happy Christmas. Receive Him as your Saviour, and then at His coming He will receive you unto Himself.
A t t h i s TIME o f the year, when men’s thoughts i turn to the coming into the world of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is well for those who know and love Him to recall clearly just why our Saviour came to earth. What is the true significance of His birthday we celebrate at this season of the year? We know, of course, that He lived before He was b om : that by His birth we mean the beginning of His appearance in human form. Hundreds of years before the Incarnation, the Holy Spirit drew portraits of the coming Messiah, the Christ of God. And these inspired word pic tures, preserved for us in the Word o f God, em phasize the purpose of Christ’s birth according to the flesh. There are at least three truths wrapped up in the glorious truth of our Lord’s incarnation. Christ Came to Reveal God “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom o f the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1 :18). In Old Testa ment days, men knew something of God. The psalmist speaks of the heavens as declaring the glory of God and of the firmament as showing His handiwork. But there is more to be known o f God than can be grasped through this revelation in nature. And Jesus, as He walked among men, brought that fuller understanding. He said, in effect: “ I am God uncovered; I am God unveiled.” If one would know who God is, and understand something of His nature and work, he must study the four Gospels, for therein is Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, revealed as Immanuel, “God with us.” In the days of His flesh, Jesus could point to Himself and say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” If we want to know what God is like all that we have to do is to study the words, works, and ways of His Son. Let this truth, then, be uppermost in our minds at the Christmas season, namely, that Christ came as the culmination of the revelation of the Father. The very word incarnation means to embody in flesh. Christ, then, by His birth became God mani fest in the flesh. And it will not be forgotten that Jesus not only revealed and reflected God: He was God. Christ Came to Redeem Man He came to do a work of atonement, by means of which men alienated from God because of their sins, might live forever in His holy presence. To make possible this blessed relationship, Christ, the Sinless One, came into the world to die. He could say, as no man could ever say, “ I lay down my life. . . . No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:17, 18). Neverthe less, “The wages of sin is death,” and those wages must be paid. Justice must be satisfied. Penalties must be met. No mortal man could meet the re quirements of divine law, but the Lord Jesus Christ incarnate, became the sinner’s Substitute, and on the cross of Calvary the sin o f the world was rolled upon Him. Since that day, God’s mes
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