An astounding realization is that God actually became a man. Not just an indwelling of a man, but He became one of us, but without the sin of Adam. “Oh yeah, okay, so what,” our casual Christian thinking responds. Look at this:

In John 1:1, we are told, “In the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” and then in verse 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Note again what it says, “and the Word became flesh.” The Word did not indwell flesh, it became flesh. There was an actual moment of conception by the Holy Spirit with the young virgin, Mary, and a man was born after the proper period of time. The angel Gabriel had answered Mary’s doubtful concerns of how it could happen, saying, “With God nothing will be impossible!” (Luke 1:37)

When did that event actually happen? We are coming upon the Christmas season, pointing to December 25, and commercial entities are already filling their advertisements and store displays with appropriate seasonal products. Is it not interesting how both Christmas and Easter are heavily attended by counteracting ideologies of Santa Claus and Easter eggs and the bunny rabbit? It is a devilish tactic to divert attention from the real Giver of gifts and then, to reproduction instead of resurrection.

Actually, the December 25 date to commemorate the birth of Jesus may well be, instead, the approximate date of His conception, and the actual date of His birth, on the date of the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, in that year of His birth. A search of various translations reveals that most render that part of John 1:14 as the Word “dwelt or lived among us.” However at least two versions translate it in this manner:

“And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us.” (Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)   

“And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” (Tree of Life Version (TLV)

(The first quote is in public domain and the latter is copyrighted in 2015 by the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.)

The point of this is that The Feast of Tabernacles, the final festival of seven given to Moses by God and made a part of the law in Leviticus 23, to be followed every year, is depicting the time when the Lord will be living among His people on earth during the future millennium of a thousand years, recorded in Revelation 20.

The medical profession tells us that the average period of gestation for the development of a baby in the womb is 280 days, yet when they calculate the expected date, only four per cent of the time are they on target to the day.

If you count the days from December 25 to the next date of the Feast of Tabernacles, the total will come out somewhere near that average time period. Because the Jewish calendar is based, generally, on the phases of the moon, the feast will not fall on the same Gregorian calendar date each year. For example, in 2016, it fell on October 17, and in 2017, it will be on October 5.

It is not unlikely that God would pinpoint such an event to that exact time, it seems to me, because He speaks of an “appointed time” several times in reference to the coming of prophetic events. Even so, it is generally recognized that December 25 is likely not the actual date of His birth. However, it is more workable to have a fixed date for that celebration. 

From heaven’s viewpoint, here is how it unfolded, as revealed in Philippians 2:6-11 by Paul:

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and thatevery tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

If that is a mystery to us, it was no less to the Apostle Paul, as he commented in 1 Timothy 3:16:

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.”

This is the complete story, going full circle, of His mysterious visit to earth and mankind, and that for only one purpose—redemption of lost humanity!

How narrow and precise is this way of salvation, God’s plan for the redemption of mankind! John 5:26 tells us an important truth: “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.”

We mortals got our life passed to us from our parents, but not Jesus, the Christ. He was the eternal Word from the beginning. Now, see how this narrows adown the source of redemption to Him and Him alone:

“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12).

There is no question but that the Scriptures repeatedly teach that Jesus is the only way of salvation.   

We are told, and we know, that God is a spirit, and we know that a spirit has no body. God is spirit, but now He has a body, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. When Stephen was dying after being stoned by the religious leaders, as reported at the end of Acts 7, he declared, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56).

The Scriptures tell us that man cannot look upon the face of God and live, and they do not tell us that it is different in heaven, even. But now, in heaven, we will see things this way:

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).

At Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2, the major transformation to the New Covenant was made when the Holy Spirit came to indwell the very lives of believers. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:17, “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him,” and goes on to write, in verse 19, “…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”

(It could be said, perhaps, that this body of Adam’s heritage compares to the outer court of the Jewish temple and the redeemed inner spirit/Spirit compares to that holy place behind the veil.)

We believers are indwelt by God. The man Jesus Christ was God, Himself, in the flesh!

So what does this mean to believers?

God provided a new man who never sinned, to take the punishment that was to fall upon those who inherited the sin according to Adam and its resulting death. Romans 5:18-19 sums up the situation:

“Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”

It remains, though, that such a result will not  become automatic to all mankind. For a gift to be applicable, it must be accepted. If it is not or is rejected, the purpose of the gift is not fulfilled. Therefore, the gift of Christ’s redemption for us must be individually accepted.

In Isaiah 53, that great chapter in Isaiah that has been so neglected and avoided by the Jews over the centuries, are these statements:

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (Verse 5)

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Verse 6)

This suffering that the coming Messiah was to endure came to pass during His trial prior to His crucifixion. His body was beaten without mercy, but that did not provide for our salvation. Had the process stopped with that, as Jesus struggled in His spirit in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He had lived on, He would still be alive in the body of flesh here on earth. He did not have the stamp of death that comes from Adam. However, as the Scriptures show, He did die on that cross at Calvary. These are the conclusive verses from Isaiah 53:

“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief when You make His soul an offering for sin….”(verse 10)

“By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” (Verse 11b)

Jesus died because His righteous, sinless body was the bearer of the sins of mankind, including that sin of Adam that brought death to all of us mortals. “By His knowledge,” in that last verse above points us to John 10:17-18 and 12:27:

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.”

When the Scripture says “all of our iniquities were laid on Him,” it must include the inherited sin of Adam, which brings this body to the grave in death, as well as all of the sinfulness that that body, the home, too, of that old nature we believers wrestle against for a lifetime. Paul confirms this in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Was it for that purpose that Jesus suffered the beatings and scourging’s, even the rejection of men, that on Him might be laid all the sufferings that man suffers in this fallen body and its ever-ready nature to commit sin? Yes, it must be so, for redemption is of the total person. Paul writes that we are “complete in Him  who is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2: 10).

 Contact email:  andwegetmercy@gmail.com

In his second epistle, Peter lists several character traits that he says will ensure a fruitful, successful Christian life. In that first chapter, after the customary addressing to the recipients, “those who have obtained like precious faith with [him],” he writes this:

“…as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” 92 Peter 1:3-4).

“Exceedingly great and precious promises” by which we may become partakers of the divine nature,” that is a declaration worthy of repeating anytime! By them we escape the corruption of this world and its lusts.

Something is lacking, however, and he lists the things that we must have in abundance that our lives may be spiritually successful.

So, “giving all diligence, add to your faith”:

Virtue – a quality of character having high moral standards. The very essence of being born again is that a person repents—turns from—his old life and character and claims a new life in Christ, as Paul illuminates that transformation in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

If virtue is not added to faith when a person “accepts Christ,” it may well be evidence that there has not been a born-again transaction. Jesus told Nicodemus, without mincing words, “you must be born again.” A “babe in Christ,” however is much like a physical baby—needing growth with proper nutrition. Paul pointed toward this when he wrote, in Romans 12:2, this:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Basically, it is a matter of changing our minds by changing what we think about, as Paul, again, tells us in Philippians 4:8:

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things arelovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

And Peter tells us where to find such things:  “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2).

Knowledge – add this to virtue, Peter writes, and the wisdom of Solomon brings a quality to it that lifts its meaning, in this context, to a lofty height:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).

The prophet Hosea says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6), but the psalmist declares, “The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130), and “simple” means “uncomplicated.”  Some of the doctrines that have been invented by those who apparently do not understand what “rightly dividing the Word of God” means have to go to some unbelievable lengths of complicated connections to support their deviations from the simple truths of the Word.

Self-control – or discipline, must be added to knowledge lest we lose a sense of direction and purpose that is keeping in line with the will of God. A western novelist of the early 1900’s, who wrote under the name of O. Henry, once pictured one of his characters “jumping on his horse and riding off in all directions.” Self-control also a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and waiting on the Lord is a major learning experience.  How often it is that we want to lunge ahead of the Lord’s pace! But how to know His timing is also a major learning experience. Perhaps this wisdom from Solomon, again, in Proverbs 3:5-6 will help, because it tells us that if we “acknowledge Him,” then the next step is in His hands:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Perseverance – steadfastness, the stay-with-it principle.  The Apostle Paul had his battles and was not reluctant to share them with us, notably in Romans 7 where he writes of his own struggle with his old nature from his Adam heritage, as we all have, and he cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:24-25).

He went on to say, later, in the letter to the Philippians, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

He believed his forgiveness from God and fixed his eyes on his future goal.

We are not to “grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9), yet I cannot recall how many times I have thought the challenges were more than I could handle, and I went, limping, to John 6:66-69, where Peter makes an astounding response to the inquiry of Jesus:

“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’

“But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”

It is Christ in us, the hope of glory, that enables us to persevere.

Godliness – showing the characteristics of Thrist-likeness. We often quote the first part of Romans 8:28-29, but leave the latter part off. It explains a lot of we must endure even if we do not understand it:

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Becoming conformed to the likeness of Christ–that is the goal God has for every believer. Most of us would think Paul had reached that goal, at least as close as any mortal could, but he did not think so. He was continuing to press toward that higher mark. One of my earliest mentors just turned 103 years old, and when I saw him again in early July, after 45 years, he was still pressing forward, too, desiring to share the gospel with as many as would listen—vibrant, alert, and looking forward!

Brotherly kindness – after one gets past his allotted threescore yeas and ten, even past a full eight decades, it begins to soak in that he is not the main feature in the drama of life. Others are also loved by God; they receive His mercy and forgiveness, too, and their obvious sinfulness is no more vivid than our own. And we begin to realize, after often reflecting on past experiences and encounters, that “except for the grace of God, there go I.”

Love – it is not surprising that this accumulating list of qualities of character would build up in intensity to this quality, love. Jesus responded to an inquiry as to what is the greatest commandment in the law, and quoted this:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And thesecond is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).

That is the law of God, and it should readily highlight a basic truth—it is impossible for mortal man, unredeemed, to keep any part of the law. Therefore, it is of great comfort to find out that the Apostle John discovered and reported to us the solution for our particular difficulty with this commandment: “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). God is love, John also writes, and if we have any love in us, we must get it from God.

Peter, writing of these things in what was almost like a final dying message to leave behind, wraps it up with this:

“For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins” (2 Peter 1:8-9).

As the times become more and more difficult, even if it is only that things we know as normal change and pass away, or even physical and mental hardship arises from evil forces, let’s not forget that Jesus “has the words of eternal life, and He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!

Contact email:  andwegetmercy@gmail.com