There’s a song in the air! There’s a star in the sky!
There’s a mother’s deep prayer and a baby’s low cry!
And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king!*
One of greatest scenes in all of history is the one of the most silent scenes in all of history. A babe lay in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Perhaps ignorance caused the world to be silent. The angels knew who the child was, and they rejoiced. The world, however, knew not the child, and remained silent.
Though He were a stranger to the world at His birth, it has since been revealed to the world the reason Jesus Christ, the babe in the manger, came to this world. I rejoice when I think of how He came from glory into this wicked world. But, why the fuss? Why do the angels rejoice at His coming into this world? Why do we sing with jubilant voices to celebrate the time when God came to us in the flesh? The rejoicing is done and the fuss is made about the babe in the manger because of who the babe is, and what He has come to do. I wish to focus, in this post, on what the babe in the manger has come to do.
He Came to Seek and to Save that which is Lost
Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.”
Amazing to me is how so many churches emphasize everything under the sun, except the salvation of the lost. This is supreme purpose for which Christ came. Christ did not come to baptize; He came to seek and to save. According to John 4:2, Jesus Himself did not baptize. Yet, so many churches believe and teach that baptism is what saves the soul from sin. If Jesus did not baptize, why do so many emphasize baptism as they do? Even Paul, according to I Corinthians 1, baptized very few. He declares, “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel!” There are churches today that emphasize not merely baptism, but they emphasize what the preacher says before he puts you under the water! How sad. Christ did not come to initiate communion, to baptize, or to wash feet. Christ came to perform an extensive search for the wayward soul, and bring that soul into the fold!
Christ did not come to start a soup-kitchen, though feeding the hungry is something that Christians should do. Christ did not come to make men comfortable in this life. Christ did not come to establish an organization, association, or denomination. If anyone tells you that you must be a part of their denomination to be saved, RUN! Christ did come, however, to save men and women from sin and its penalty, and place them into His church. So many churches today focus on everything except the salvation of the lost. Some churches emphasize building programs, gymnasiums, youth activities, but very little actual outreach to the lost. They attempt to defeat the very purpose of the babe in the manger.
Luke 5:32 – “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
John 3:17 – “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
John 12:47 – “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”
I Timothy 1:15 – “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”
He Came to Take Away Sins
It is often emphasized that Christ came to save men from hell. That is a correct statement, but it is not a complete statement. Christ did not come merely to save men from hell; Christ came to save men from sin. An angel told Joseph what to name the child, and why. Matthew 1:21 states, “…thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” It is not the will of God that His children be in bondage. His blood has power to deliver; the Holy Ghost has power to set free; the anointing has the ability to destroy every yoke of bondage. Be it the filth of cigarettes, the bondage of homosexuality, the scarlet sin of adultery, the forces of pornography, the curse of abortion, the muck and the mire of drugs and alcohol, Jesus did not come to save men and women, only to leave them in such ungodly conditions! The Son of God came to deliver and set men free!
John 1:29 – “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
I John 3:5 – “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.”
He Was Born to Die
We say often of great singers, “They were born to sing;” or of great preachers, “He was born to preach.” While some, because of their great talent, were born to do this, or born to do that, Jesus Christ was literally born to die. His mission in life was simply – to die. Of course, to fulfil the plan of God, Christ had to be buried and rise again, but His death had to occur first. In dying, He paid off the account of our offences; in rising again, He justified us, declaring us to be innocent! He was wrapped in swaddling clothes by Joseph at His birth that He might be wrapped in grave clothes by another Joseph at His death! Jesus came to die!
Matthew 20:28 – “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
He Came to Give Life
It is the devil that destroys life; it is Christ that restores life. Jesus said, “The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; but I am come that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly.” It is the devil that drags homosexual men down the death-awaiting path to HIV and AIDS; it is Christ who has all power to set them free from that lifestyle of death. It is the devil who drags young women down a path of guilt and immense depression, telling them that abortion is best; it is Christ, however, who can forgive such murderers and give them peace in their hearts. It is the devil who lures young men to pornography, leading them to a life of separation from their families; it is Christ, on the other hand, who can deliver from pornography, and restore families. It is the devil who convinces a man to spend his last five dollars on something to drink, letting his children go to bed hungry; Christ came to set the drunkard free! Christ came to give us life!
I John 3:8 – “…for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
I John 4:9 – “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
He Came to Be a Propitiation for Our Sins
Stated plainly, our sins make God angry. Many in our churches today have such a lax view of sin. But with God, sin is no laughing matter. Because of our sin, the Father required that the only way to pay for sin is death. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” “The wages of sin is death.” But in His love toward us, God sent His Son into the world to bear the wrath of God upon Himself. Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, never sinned in word, in thought, or in deed. He never apologized for anything, for it was never necessary.
Because of His sinlessness, and His substitutionary death (that is; He died for our sins, because He did not have to die for His own), the wrath of God is appeased in the work of Jesus Christ. At this point, if you go to hell now, you will go, not merely because of your sins, for they are paid in full. The individual who goes to hell now goes because He has rejected the work of Christ, the work with which the Father is satisfied. For this cause, Jesus said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” God was angry with mankind because of his sins. But the babe in the manger was sent from heaven to take those sins upon Himself, and die for them! This pleased the Father. His wrath was finally quieted. Because of this, those who trust Christ’s work completely are reconciled with the Father. There is no tension between the Father and me, because the cross of Christ silenced the wrath of God. Should you try to appease God’s wrath any other way than the cross of Christ; whether by good living, or by keeping commandments, or by going to church, or by giving in the offering, or anything else; God is still angry with you. The only work that cools his seething anger is the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross. The baby asleep on the hay is there with a mission – to calm the Father’s wrath and reconcile us back to God.
Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”**
*Josiah G. Holland
**Charles Wesley
There’s a mother’s deep prayer and a baby’s low cry!
And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king!*
One of greatest scenes in all of history is the one of the most silent scenes in all of history. A babe lay in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Perhaps ignorance caused the world to be silent. The angels knew who the child was, and they rejoiced. The world, however, knew not the child, and remained silent.
Though He were a stranger to the world at His birth, it has since been revealed to the world the reason Jesus Christ, the babe in the manger, came to this world. I rejoice when I think of how He came from glory into this wicked world. But, why the fuss? Why do the angels rejoice at His coming into this world? Why do we sing with jubilant voices to celebrate the time when God came to us in the flesh? The rejoicing is done and the fuss is made about the babe in the manger because of who the babe is, and what He has come to do. I wish to focus, in this post, on what the babe in the manger has come to do.
He Came to Seek and to Save that which is Lost
Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.”
Amazing to me is how so many churches emphasize everything under the sun, except the salvation of the lost. This is supreme purpose for which Christ came. Christ did not come to baptize; He came to seek and to save. According to John 4:2, Jesus Himself did not baptize. Yet, so many churches believe and teach that baptism is what saves the soul from sin. If Jesus did not baptize, why do so many emphasize baptism as they do? Even Paul, according to I Corinthians 1, baptized very few. He declares, “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel!” There are churches today that emphasize not merely baptism, but they emphasize what the preacher says before he puts you under the water! How sad. Christ did not come to initiate communion, to baptize, or to wash feet. Christ came to perform an extensive search for the wayward soul, and bring that soul into the fold!
Christ did not come to start a soup-kitchen, though feeding the hungry is something that Christians should do. Christ did not come to make men comfortable in this life. Christ did not come to establish an organization, association, or denomination. If anyone tells you that you must be a part of their denomination to be saved, RUN! Christ did come, however, to save men and women from sin and its penalty, and place them into His church. So many churches today focus on everything except the salvation of the lost. Some churches emphasize building programs, gymnasiums, youth activities, but very little actual outreach to the lost. They attempt to defeat the very purpose of the babe in the manger.
Luke 5:32 – “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
John 3:17 – “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
John 12:47 – “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”
I Timothy 1:15 – “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”
He Came to Take Away Sins
It is often emphasized that Christ came to save men from hell. That is a correct statement, but it is not a complete statement. Christ did not come merely to save men from hell; Christ came to save men from sin. An angel told Joseph what to name the child, and why. Matthew 1:21 states, “…thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” It is not the will of God that His children be in bondage. His blood has power to deliver; the Holy Ghost has power to set free; the anointing has the ability to destroy every yoke of bondage. Be it the filth of cigarettes, the bondage of homosexuality, the scarlet sin of adultery, the forces of pornography, the curse of abortion, the muck and the mire of drugs and alcohol, Jesus did not come to save men and women, only to leave them in such ungodly conditions! The Son of God came to deliver and set men free!
John 1:29 – “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
I John 3:5 – “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.”
He Was Born to Die
We say often of great singers, “They were born to sing;” or of great preachers, “He was born to preach.” While some, because of their great talent, were born to do this, or born to do that, Jesus Christ was literally born to die. His mission in life was simply – to die. Of course, to fulfil the plan of God, Christ had to be buried and rise again, but His death had to occur first. In dying, He paid off the account of our offences; in rising again, He justified us, declaring us to be innocent! He was wrapped in swaddling clothes by Joseph at His birth that He might be wrapped in grave clothes by another Joseph at His death! Jesus came to die!
Matthew 20:28 – “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
He Came to Give Life
It is the devil that destroys life; it is Christ that restores life. Jesus said, “The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; but I am come that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly.” It is the devil that drags homosexual men down the death-awaiting path to HIV and AIDS; it is Christ who has all power to set them free from that lifestyle of death. It is the devil who drags young women down a path of guilt and immense depression, telling them that abortion is best; it is Christ, however, who can forgive such murderers and give them peace in their hearts. It is the devil who lures young men to pornography, leading them to a life of separation from their families; it is Christ, on the other hand, who can deliver from pornography, and restore families. It is the devil who convinces a man to spend his last five dollars on something to drink, letting his children go to bed hungry; Christ came to set the drunkard free! Christ came to give us life!
I John 3:8 – “…for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
I John 4:9 – “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
He Came to Be a Propitiation for Our Sins
Stated plainly, our sins make God angry. Many in our churches today have such a lax view of sin. But with God, sin is no laughing matter. Because of our sin, the Father required that the only way to pay for sin is death. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” “The wages of sin is death.” But in His love toward us, God sent His Son into the world to bear the wrath of God upon Himself. Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, never sinned in word, in thought, or in deed. He never apologized for anything, for it was never necessary.
Because of His sinlessness, and His substitutionary death (that is; He died for our sins, because He did not have to die for His own), the wrath of God is appeased in the work of Jesus Christ. At this point, if you go to hell now, you will go, not merely because of your sins, for they are paid in full. The individual who goes to hell now goes because He has rejected the work of Christ, the work with which the Father is satisfied. For this cause, Jesus said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” God was angry with mankind because of his sins. But the babe in the manger was sent from heaven to take those sins upon Himself, and die for them! This pleased the Father. His wrath was finally quieted. Because of this, those who trust Christ’s work completely are reconciled with the Father. There is no tension between the Father and me, because the cross of Christ silenced the wrath of God. Should you try to appease God’s wrath any other way than the cross of Christ; whether by good living, or by keeping commandments, or by going to church, or by giving in the offering, or anything else; God is still angry with you. The only work that cools his seething anger is the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross. The baby asleep on the hay is there with a mission – to calm the Father’s wrath and reconcile us back to God.
Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”**
*Josiah G. Holland
**Charles Wesley
