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The Glorious Proclamation
--DECEMBER 19.--LUKE
2:1-20.--
THE ANGELIC MESSAGE OF THE FIRST
CHRISTMAS DAY--"GOOD
TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY"--TO BE ACCOMPLISHED DURING
THE MILLENNIUM--THE BLESSING TO COME FIRST TO
THE CHURCH AND THEN TO THE WORLD--THEN "PEACE ON
EARTH, GOOD WILL TO MEN" FOREVERMORE--"GLORY TO
GOD IN THE HIGHEST!"
"For unto you is born this day in the City of
David a
Savior, who is Christ the Lord."--Verse
11.
THE
Message of the angels to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem becomes more and more precious to
each child of God in proportion as he grows in grace and knowledge. As his ears
and eyes of understanding open more widely to the lengths and breadths of God's
great Plan of the Ages, that prophetic Message is the more highly esteemed as
an epitome of the entire Gospel. Nor can our attention be called too frequently
to the great event which lies at the foundation of that Message--the Savior's
birth.
It
matters not that December 25th is not the real anniversary of the Savior's
birth, but probably the anniversary of the annunciation by the angel Gabriel,
the anniversary of the Virgin Mary's conception, our Lord being born nine
months later on the calendar, or about October 1. One so great, whose birth,
death and resurrection from the dead mean so much to the human family, may be
remembered and celebrated any day, every day, by all who appreciate what He has
done for our race. Since, then, the majority of Christian people have become
habituated to the celebration of December 25th as our Lord's birthday, we need
make no protest, but join with all in celebrating that day with rejoicing of
heart, giving gifts and remembrances one to another, thus copying Divine favor,
which gave to mankind the Son of God as a gift of mercy and love for our
redemption.
For
more than four thousand years the promises of God, clothed in more or less
obscurity, had been given to mankind, intimating that ultimately the great
curse of sin and death that had come upon the world through Father Adam's
disobedience in Eden would be rolled away, and instead of a curse, a blight,
would come a blessing of the Lord with life-giving refreshment. In various
types, figures and shadowy promises this lesson had come down through the ages
to the time of our Lord's birth, especially amongst the Jews, who were the
Divinely favored and covenanted people.
Since
the Jews were a people of commercial spirit, many of them were to be found in
all parts of the civilized world. Thus amongst every people the faith in the
one God and the hope of Israel through a Messiah were more or less made known,
so that at the time of our Savior's birth, we read, "all men were in
expectation" of a coming Messiah. Doubtless this expectation was based
upon the interpretation of Daniel's prophecy, which we now see clearly marked
the year of our Lord's majority, when He was thirty years of age and made His
consecration to His work and received the begetting of the Holy Spirit, His
anointing as the great antitypical Priest and as the great antitypical King
over Israel and the world.--Daniel
9:24-27.
FROM
BETHLEHEM TO NAZARETH
In
olden times there were honorable cities and mean cities. Nazareth
was generally recognized as one of the latter, while Bethlehem
was distinctly one of the former --the City of David,
Israel's
beloved king. The Scriptures explain that Mary, our Lord's mother, and her
husband Joseph were both of the lineage of David, and [R5819
: page 377] that
in a seemingly accidental manner the prophecy was fulfilled which foretold that
Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.--Micah 5:2.
At
that time the Roman Empire bore rule over the
whole world, the Jews being subject to it, but waiting expectantly, restlessly,
for the coming Messiah, who would deliver them from being a subject people and
make of them the ruling caste in His Kingdom, which would have dominion over the
whole world. The great Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus was in power at this time,
and had sent forth his decree for a polling or census, of the whole world for
the purpose of taxation, etc.
St.
Luke informs us that it was in response to this royal decree that Joseph and
Mary went up to their native city to be enrolled; that thus it was that Jesus
was born in Bethlehem; that on account of the great concourse of people at the
same time and for the same purpose, accommodations were scarce and the stable
of the khan or inn, was used by some as a lodging; and that Joseph and Mary,
being late comers, were forced to occupy these humble quarters. Thus it was
that the King of Glory, whose Kingdom is by and by to rule the world, was in
the time of His flesh born in a stable and cradled in a manger.
THE
ANGELS AND THE SHEPHERDS
Noble
shepherds those must have been to whom the Almighty sent the angelic Message
respecting the birth of Jesus, the Messiah--the Message which has rung down the
ages and reached our ears, the Message which thrills us the more in proportion
as we are able to grasp its meaning. First, an angel appeared to the shepherds
and allayed their fears, saying, "Fear not; behold, I bring you good
tidings." It would appear that fear is one of the dominating impulses of
the human mind, especially in conjunction with Divine revelations.
Men
realize--even the best of the race--that they are imperfect, and that the
Almighty and His laws are perfect. Instinctively the world seems to realize
that a curse, or condemnation of the Almighty, rests upon it; and instinctively
it fears a further curse, a further condemnation, realizing its continual and
increasing sinfulness. The same is true today with all except the comparatively
few who are well informed respecting the Divine Plan. Thus the subject is
generally obnoxious to the world--a subject which they prefer to avoid, because
of a feeling of guilt and a dread of further knowledge and condemnation.
It
is for the true children of God today, as it was for the angels at that time,
to assure the world that God is better than all their fears--that God so loved
the world as to redeem mankind from the just sentence of death, the curse that
came upon all as inheritors of Adam's imperfection and sentence.
"Good
tidings" is another translation of our word Gospel. How beautiful is the
thought that the Gospel is really and truly good tidings! Alas, for the
misrepresentations of God's Plan, because of which so many of His professed
people misrepresent His character and His Word, and apply the term Gospel to
their various messages from the Dark Ages, teaching purgatory and eternal
torment as the portion of the race!
Let
us get away from this false thought and get the truth that the Gospel is good
tidings. The angel elaborated, saying that his Message was "good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people." Ah, thank God, His Plan is
wider, deeper, higher and grander than anything which we had ever conceived! The
Gospel Message is not merely to be good tidings to the comparatively few that
now have ears to hear and eyes to see its beauties, but in God's due time it is
to be good tidings of great joy to all people the world over.
As
every member of Adam's race shared in his fall and in the curse of death which
came upon him as a result of his disobedience, so every member of the race was
included in the great redemptive sacrifice which our Lord Jesus offered and
which was finished at Calvary. God's Plan in
Christ, as it is being worked out and shall ultimately be accomplished, will
mean great joy for all people; and the tidings of this fact were given at the
very moment of our Lord's birth, because He was the One through whom all the
glorious things of the Divine Purpose and Plan shall ultimately be
accomplished.
THE
LOGIC OF THE MESSAGE
The
Message took cognizance of the fact that it was to reasonable people, who would
wish to know why the unchangeable God, who had once pronounced a curse upon the
race, should at any time so amend and alter matters as to supplant the curse
with a blessing. The messenger stated the philosophy of the Divine Plan--
"Unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ
[Messiah] the Lord." There we have the key to the entire Gospel statement
of how God could be just and yet be the Justifier of sinners who accept Jesus.
--Romans
3:26.
The
word Savior here signifies Life-giver. How beautiful is the thought that as
death is the wage of sin, the curse upon the race, this Messiah who was born is
to be the One who will rescue the race from the sentence by giving them life
again! The explanation of how He would give them life was not made, nor was it
necessary at that time. But now, in the light of the developments and with the
explanations furnished through the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, we see
that our Lord's voluntary sacrifice of His life, dying "the Just for the
unjust," settles the claims of Divine Justice against Adam, and thus
incidentally against all who share his death sentence, namely, all mankind.
Truly,
the more we see of the Divine Plan for our salvation, which began to take shape
in the birth of Jesus, the more we feel like shouting with the angelic choir
praises to the God of Heaven, thankfulness for His mercy to the children of
men! It mattered not that the babe born in Bethlehem was the Savior only in prospect,
that He could not even be anointed to do His work until He reached manhood's
estate thirty years later. It mattered not that even then it would be necessary
for Him to lay down His life gradually during the three and a half years of His
earthly ministry, to be finished at Calvary. Nor
did it matter that His resurrection was still three days after His death, and
His ascension forty days later; and that the blessing in general would be
deferred for nearly nineteen centuries thereafter. As the angels could sing and
rejoice at the first budding of the Divine Plan of Salvation, so also can all
who have faith in the ultimate outcome rejoice with joy unspeakable and give
praise to God in the highest and to His Son our Lord.
"SAVED
BY HOPE"
Although
nearly nineteen centuries have rolled away since that angelic Message was
delivered, it has not yet been fulfilled except in a limited measure by faith
to those who have the eye and the ear of faith--in all, a "little flock."
But the bad tidings of great misery for nearly all people have been spread
abroad in the name of Christ, much to the discredit of the Divine Plan and to
the dishonor of the Divine character. Instead of [R5819 : page 378] carrying joy, the message
has very generally carried grief and sorrow, especially to the kind-hearted and
more generously disposed. Indeed we may say that no message of the Lord Jesus
has ever reached all people. Even today, after nineteen centuries of
propaganda, only a comparatively small portion of the human family have ever
heard of the only name given under Heaven and amongst men whereby we must be
saved--"nor is there salvation in any other."--Acts 4:12.
What,
then, shall we say of the salvation which has come to those who have truly
accepted Christ as their Savior, who are today rejoicing in Him as such, and
who by faith are seeing the salvation of God begun in their own hearts and yet
to be fully accomplished under the whole heavens? This the Apostle calls the
salvation by hope. His words are, "We are saved by hope."-- Romans 8:24.
We
are not saved actually; we are still surrounded by sin, pain, sighing, crying
and dying; the curse is not yet rolled away. All that the best of the Lord's
people have yet received is salvation by hope, by faith. Yet this anticipation
of the future salvation, of the resurrection from the dead, of a participation
in the glory, honor and immortality of the Divine nature promised to the
faithful, is so strong, so clear, that those who possess it are enabled to
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, even in the midst of trials,
difficulties, weaknesses and unfavorable conditions incident to the curse which
still rests upon the world of mankind.
A
PROPHECY OF GOOD THINGS
The
angelic Message was a prophecy of good things to be accomplished for the Church
and the world during the Millennial Age. The Church is to have the first
blessing. The First Resurrection is to be composed only of the blessed and holy
who shall live and reign with Christ during the thousand years. Then Satan
shall be bound, and the good influences of truth and righteousness shall
enlighten the whole earth. (Revelation
20:1-6.) The declaration of the Scriptures is that the deliverance of
the Church will come early in the morning of the Millennial Day. As the prophet
declares, "God will help her early in the morning."--Psalm 46:5,
margin.
But
much as we rejoice in the glorious hopes of the Gospel set before us who now
see, who now rejoice with joy unspeakable, we are glad that the Divine mercy
and love are of such lengths and breadths and heights and depths as to
encompass the whole world of mankind, and to provide a blessing for every
member of Adam's race through Him who loved us and bought us with His own precious
blood.
During
the Millennium this prophecy will have fulfilment. The great Savior who has
already redeemed us by His sacrifice will stand forth as the King, the
glorified Messiah, and establish His dominion of righteousness in the world for
the blessing and uplifting of every member of the race. In harmony with the
words of the Apostle, those will be Times of Refreshing, "Times of
Restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since
the world began." (Acts
3:19-21.) If the Lord had based the hope of the world upon some works
of merit or righteousness of the world's doing, then indeed we might have
feared--indeed, the more we know of the world, the less hope we would have. But,
on the contrary, the Lord has based the entire proposition for the future
blessing, not upon our worthiness, but upon the worthiness and sacrifice of His
Son. To you is born a Life-giver, which is Messiah the Lord.
How
it adds to our enjoyment of the blessings of the coming Age to know that the
trials and difficulties of the present Gospel Age are subject to the Divine
supervision in the interest of the Little Flock that is now being gathered in
advance from amongst men--the Elect, the Church! We see how the present trials
and difficulties are the chiselings and polishings necessary to our development
in the fruits and graces of the Holy Spirit in character-likeness of God's dear
Son, our Lord, our Hope, our Bridegroom. How joyful the thought that soon the
elect number called from the world to be "the Bride, the Lamb's
Wife," will be completed and enter into her glory! How precious the
thought that then they shall be privileged with their Lord and Master to extend
the Divine favor of blessing and uplift to the world! What higher honor or
privilege or blessing could possibly come to any one?
THE ANGELS' SONG
It
was after the giving of the Message of good tidings of great joy by the
Heavenly one that a host of angels appeared to the shepherds, saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men." This,
too, is a prophecy. It is not yet true, but will be fulfilled in every
particular in God's due time, which we believe is now nigh, even at the door. Not
yet does God receive glory in the highest. Not yet is there peace amongst men. Quite
to the contrary. God's name is blasphemed, not only by those who vulgarly and
in ribald jest take the Divine name in vain, not merely by the heathen who
worship devils and think that these are gods, but even by Christian people. Every
day God's name is blasphemed by those who profess to be His people, who profess
to uphold the Holy Name.
For
be it known that blasphemy is any dishonorable misrepresentation of another. God
be merciful to us! for at some time or other doubtless every one of us has
blasphemed His holy name in this manner--by misrepresenting the Divine
character and the Divine Plan, by picturing the God of Love, of Mercy, of
Justice and of Truth as the originator, the planner, the perpetrator of the
eternal torment of the great mass of His human creatures, born in sin,
misshapen in iniquity, prone to sin as the sparks to fly upward!
But
the Lord had mercy upon us because we did it ignorantly. Therefore we should
have compassion upon others who still ignorantly misrepresent our God; and our
energies should be continually bent to their assistance, that the eyes of their
understanding might open more widely to perceive the lengths and breadths and
heights and depths, and to know the love of God, which passeth understanding.
Noting
that peace on earth and good will to men have not followed the Savior's birth
thus far, and not discerning that this is a prophecy of what is to be
accomplished during the Millennium, many have been inclined to change the
translation of this verse so as to have it read, "On earth peace amongst
men in whom He is well pleased." However, by this change the statement
would not be true; for even the Lord's people have no peace upon earth. Whatever
peace they have is in their hearts, and is based upon their faith in God and in
the glorious things which He has promised. Our Lord Himself and the Apostles
testified to this, assuring us that whosoever in this present time would live
godly should suffer persecution, and that a man's foes should be they of his
own household.--2
Timothy 3:12; Matthew
10:36.
Let
us not confuse ourselves nor abridge the testimony of the Word, but with the
eye of faith look forward to the Day of Christ, in which all these glorious [R5819
: page 379] prophecies
will have their fulfilment, in which peace shall indeed fill the whole earth
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, bringing Divine favor and rolling
away the curse from the entire groaning creation, as pointed out by the
Apostle.--Romans
8:22.
FULFILLED IN GOD'S DUE TIME
Not
even with the inauguration of the Millennium will this prophecy be fulfilled. Not
until its close, when the human family shall have been lifted by the Kingdom
regulations out of sin, sickness, pain, sorrow and death, up, up to all that
was lost in Adam--not until then will there indeed be glory to God in the
highest, not until then will there be peace amongst men. Nor are we to
understand that the entire race will be appreciative of the Divine love and
favor even after they have fully seen the righteousness of God in Christ manifested.
On the contrary, the Scriptures seem to teach clearly that there will be a
class who will then prove unfit for life eternal, unappreciative of the Divine
favor. And it is with satisfaction that we learn that all such shall be
destroyed from amongst the people in the Second Death.
Thus
eventually, by the close of the Millennium, Satan and all wilful wrongdoers
having been destroyed, the time will come, as declared in the Scriptures, when
all voices in Heaven and in earth and under the earth shall be heard praising
God and the Lamb forever. Hosanna! Glory to God in the highest! Peace and good
will to men! This will be the final shout of a redeemed race when the great
Plan of Salvation shall have been fully outworked according to the Divine
Purpose from the beginning, as set forth in the Scriptures.
FROM
GLORY TO A MANGER
The
time of our Lord's birth is quite clearly fixed. In STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES,
Vol. II., we have gone into the subject in detail, and will not here repeat our
deductions. The notable census made by order of Caesar Augustus included the
civilized world of that day; and according to Jewish custom each family and
tribe had their names enrolled therein.
Both
Joseph and Mary, being of the Davidic line, went to the City of David--Bethlehem--to
be enrolled. The city is a small one, located on a hillside. The inns or hotels
of that land are very different from ours. They are neither hotels nor drinking
saloons, but are entered from a court-yard. Various large, unfurnished rooms
are at the service of the traveler, who carries with him his wraps, in which he
sleeps, and also his food and utensils for such light housekeeping as he may
choose to do. Stalls for horses, camels, etc., are provided on the ground
floor; and in the event of a crowd, as on such an occasion, it is no uncommon
thing for people, finding the upper rooms crowded full, to make themselves
nearly as comfortable in the stabling department.
Thus
it came that our Savior was ushered in a most humble manner into the world which,
as the Logos, He had made. (John
1:10.) It was there in the stable of the overcrowded inn that the
shepherds found the babe, as predicted by the angels, and went forth
proclaiming the fact. Mary made no boasts, however, but waited for God's due
time.
W.T. R-5819 a : page 376 – 1915 r.