December 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B c s i n e s s
S36
GOD ON A CRADLE OF HAY I ... By R. E. NEIGHBOUR,* Los Angeles, Calif.
He who was Lord of all became servant of all. The dis ciples worshiped Him, yet He girded Himself and washed their feet. He it was before whom the seraphims continually cried, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts” ; and yet, it was He who, “being found in fashion as a man, . . . . humbled himself, and became obedient unto deatli, even the death of the cross.” As a babe, as a youth, and as a man fulfilling His min istry, He was always God, yet He was always straitened. He said with His own lips, “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be ac complished.” Christ was life arid the giver of life, and yet He tasted the cup of death for every man. , ", J , Christ was the author of peace. He sa.id, “My peace I give unto you,” arid yet, three times we read that He was troubled. He who was the “good shepherd” and the “great shep herd” and the “chief shepherd” became, for opr sakes, the “lamb,” voluntarily led to the slaughter, Man the “sheep,” who before His shearers stood dumb. He was the Glory of the Father, and yet Jlis face was covered with shame and spitting. , -, h : ; - He was the destined King of kings and Lòrd óf lords, and yet He .was crowned with thorns, and He dipd with transgressors, His kingship defamed. - Surely the “swaddling clothes” tha£:wrapped the .Babe bore a prophecy of deepest meaning. u- ....... , HI. With cattle He slept, while vigil was kept ' By angels who hovered about: He was God, yet was God from whom men turned away. He was God, but was God on a cradle of hay, Men gave Him no welcome, no shout. The story of Christ’s birth is a prophecy òf His life. At His birth, there was “no room for him in the inn.” We pass down through thirty years. Was there room for Him in Nazareth? room in His Father’s house?'room upon the earth? Although the Nazarites at first marveled at the gracious wopds that proceeded out of His mouth, they soon led Him to the brow of the hill on which the city was built, intending to cast Him down. There was no room for Him in' Nazareth. He entered the temple to drive out the money changers and the sellers of doves. He said, “My house shall be called the house of prayer ; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” There was nó room for Him in His Father’s house. Among men, He soon became the “despised and re jected.” He moved among the populace, doing good. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead. It was not long, however, until the surging crowds learned to cry out against Him, saying, “Let him be cruci fied.” There was no room for Him on the earth.
1 From God up above, 'from heaven in love, The Lord of all glory came down; He.was God, yét an Infant ,iti weakness He lay, He was God, but was God on a cradle of hay; He wore neither signet riot crown. ow strik ing are the words, “And she brought forth her firstborn son .; . and laid.him in a manger” ! . Tie was son of ' a virgin, and yet, withal, He was trie Son of God. This is the message of the whole Bible : “Great is the mystery . . . God was manifest in the flesh.” The prophet of old had written, “Behold a vir gin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Christ wás indeed Son of God, and God the Son. He was “God with us.” Jesus Christ was, according to the flesh, of the seed of David, a son of Abraham, made of a woman, made under the law. Jesus Christ was, according to the Spirit, “the true God, and eternal life.” Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Ghost. Mary knew that, according to nature, she could not bring forth a son; therefore, she said to the angel, Gabriel, “How can this be, seeing I know riot a man ?” The angel quickly replied, “The Holy Ghost shall come Upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also thát holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” No other child in the history of the world was ever con ceived as this Child was conceived. He received His body, made of a woman; yet He was born, Son of God. It is no marvel, then, that His name was called “Wonderful, Coun sellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” j ; Christ truly, could say, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am-not of this world.” Christ w;as God in the ages past; therefore, in the flesh, He was God made manifest, God incarnate. He knew from whence He came, for He said, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world.” He came to show us the Father, to declare Him, to interpret H im; therefore, He could say, “He that.hath seen me hath seen trie Father.” II. They wrapped Him around, with swaddling clothes bound— A ship that was tied to its pier; He was God, but was straitened, dfCurhscribed, yea, He was God, but was God on a cradle of hay, While sorrows were hovering near. . It is difficult for us to fathom the mystery of God made flesh; but it is more difficult for us to think of God as swaddled, bound, and hemmed in. He who created man, became man; that is, the Creator hecame the creature. He who gave to man “richly all things to enjoy” be-, came man, with nowhere to lay His head; that is. He, by whom and for whom are all tilings, became poor, that we “through his poverty might be rich,” *Pastor, Gospel Tabernacle, Los Angeles, Calif.
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