Christ Came
into the World to Save Sinners
HE IS TO BE LOVED, OBEYED AND HONORED
The time is here again to observe
the birthday of Jesus Christ. While no one knows the date of the birth of our
Lord, December 25 has been set as His birthday and we feel it is good to
celebrate on this day in some appropriate way in commemoration of that time
when He came into the world a little baby in fulfillment of prophecy and the
word of the angel. Even if the date is not known, we know He came into the
world to save sinners. We know, too, that there is salvation in none other
because there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we shall be
saved. We know, also, that He is to be loved, obeyed and honored by those who
accept Him as their Saviour, because our God has exalted Him and given Him a
name that is above every name and the time will come that at the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow of things in heaven and in earth and every tongue shall
confess that our Saviour is Lord.
Many of us
know the Christmas story well. It has been a part of us all of our lives
because we can’t remember when we first heard it. But it is so beautiful that
it seems to belong to every Christmas message, because without this true story
there would be no Christmas. There has never been a story like it and there
will never be another. Only our Christ was born of a virgin. Only our Christ
was conceived of the Holy Ghost. Only Mary was visited by the angel to
announce the fact that she would bear a son and His name should be called
Jesus.
Many true stories have been written
and told but none like the wonderful story of the birth of Jesus. No other
baby had a special star to lead the wise men to the place where He was. It is
written of Jesus only, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we
have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” When the wise
men learned that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem, they started on their way
and the star went before them until it came and stood over where Jesus was.
How happy those men were and they rejoiced with exceeding great joy when they
knew their search was ended and they would soon see the Christ of God. They
came to the house where He was and they worshipped Him and presented Him with
gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
This part of the story concerning the birth of Jesus
is truly wonderful, but this is not all. When the time came for Jesus to be
born Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, the very place where He should be born
according to the Scriptures. There was no room for them in the inn, so Jesus
was born in a stable and laid in a manger. The news of His birth was not
carried to the king or other men of high rank, but there were some shepherds
out in the field keeping watch over their flocks that night, and an angel of
the Lord came to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were
frightened because of this unusual happening, and the angel said, “Fear
not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-12). After the angel had delivered this message, these
shepherds were allowed to behold one of the most beautiful scenes ever looked
upon by human eyes. All of a sudden there appeared a multitude of the heavenly
host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).
The keenest imaginative mind
could not picture a scene to compare with the one that the shepherds saw. This
was God’s way of announcing the birth of His own Son. When we meditate upon the
many happenings surrounding the birth of Jesus, we feel like saying with Mary,
“My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Saviour” (Luke 1:46, 47).
This Jesus
who is called Christ came into the world to save sinners. When the angel
appeared to Joseph before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he said, “And she
shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save
his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Jesus Himself said, “For God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him
might be saved” (John 3:16, 17). The Apostle Paul said to Timothy, “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” (1 Tim. 1:15). John the
beloved said, “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins;
and in him is no sin” (1 John 3:5). The writer of Hebrews referred to Jesus
as a high priest “who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,
and made higher than the heavens” (Heb. 7:26). Then he said of Him, “Wherefore
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25).
This Christ
whose birth we celebrate is our Saviour. Through Him we are heirs of God and
joint-heirs with Himself. John said, “Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John
3:1). Then he said, “Now are we the sons of God” (v.2).Through God’s
great love, right now at this moment we are members of His family, and this
kinship with Him came about through the gift of Jesus to be the Saviour of the
world. He gave Himself for us and made it possible for us to be equal with Him.
We don’t know what we shall be but we do know that when He appears we shall be
like Him. If we had received our just dues, we should have died, but He took
our place. We who by nature are the children of wrath have eternal life abiding
in us through the Christ of Bethlehem, and He who came to this earth as a
little babe is now at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us.
It is a wonderful consolation to us to know He is interceding in our behalf.
Since it is through Jesus that we
have eternal life, it is only reasonable that we should love, obey and honor
Him. Who would not love one that has done so much for the eternal welfare of
the soul? Surely we do love Him and He requires that we prove our love by being
obedient and doing the things He has commanded. When Jesus had asked Peter the
third time of he loved Him, he said, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou
knowest that I love thee” (John 21:17). So it is today, Jesus knows when
we love Him. He told Peter to feed His lambs and sheep. There was something for
Peter to do, and he worked faithfully because he loved the Lord. There is
something for each of us to do and we must not fail in our service to the
Master. Jesus said, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it
is that loveth me” (John 14:21). Then He said, “If a man love me, he
will keep my words” (v. 23). And again, “He that loveth me not keepeth
not my sayings” (v. 24).
These words of Jesus show that
love for Him and obedience to His Word go together. We do not love Him if we do
not obey Him. If we do love Him, we will be obedient to Him. That means we will
obey His Word when He said, “This is my commandment, That ye love one
another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). It also means that we will obey
His last words before He ascended back to the Father, “Go ye therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you...” (Matt. 28:19, 20). It is only reasonable to believe that
we will certainly have to know and do all of the commandments of the Lord
ourselves before we are able to teach others to observe them. And it is necessary
that we obey the command to let our light shine and put in practice all of the
words of Jesus if we are to do the work that Jesus left for us to do. By doing
these things we show we love Him.
Our Christ is worthy of all of
the honor that we can give Him. He is due honor along with the Father who sent
Him into the world. He said, “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath
committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even
as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the
Father which hath sent him” (John 5:22, 23). Then Paul commanded Timothy to
fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life and he charged him
to keep this commandment unto the appearing of Jesus Christ, “Which in his
times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings,
and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no
man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour
and power everlasting” (1 Tim. 6:15, 16).
We hold certain people in esteem because of
their positions but none can be as worthy as our Lord. None but Jesus can save.
None but Jesus can do what He has done for us and what He will do in the
future. No earthly position can equal His. Even though He came to this earth a
little baby the first time, yet the day will come when He will return riding
upon a white horse and upon His vesture will be written KING OF KINGS, AND LORD
OF LORDS. He will be the mighty conqueror. Even now He is all powerful and we
should always think of Him as having all power over all the power of the enemy.
And He is able to give those who serve Him overcoming power. Before He ascended
to heaven He said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt.
28:18). Shouldn’t we love, obey and honor the One who came into the world to
save sinners? I am sure we should, so at this season let us be careful to
celebrate His birth in a manner that will be pleasing to Him. Let us show our
love to Him by loving others. Let us obey Him by giving as He commanded. We
can follow the example of the wise men by giving to the cause of Christ and to
those less fortunate than ourselves. Let us honor Him and magnify His name
throughout the Christmas season. Our Christ means more than all the world to
us, so let us exalt Him in our lives, our words, our actions and our deeds that
others may see Him in us and help us glorify God for sending a Saviour into the
world to give Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and
purify unto Himself a peculiar people.
(Our message this month is a reprint from the WWM, December 17th, 1960, by M. A. Tomlinson)
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