George MacDonald, in his poem entitled “That Holy Thing,” speaking about the coming of Jesus Christ and the expectation of the world at the time of His coming, wrote: “They were all looking for a king to slay their foes and lift them high; Thou cam’st—a little baby thing that made a woman cry.”
And, as another Christmas draws nigh, our hearts are drawn again to that scene of long ago when the Creator became a creature, when the Babe was born and God became man.
There’s a question that ought to haunt the human race—especially now, as never before—when thought is given to the birth of Him whose birthday the world is now commemorating.
It’s a question the answer to which will not be found in all the volumes of the world’s great libraries.
The learned professors and philosophers in the most notable universities, apart from divine revelation, will not discover the answer to this question.
But it is a question that warrants the utmost consideration. The question, simply stated, is: “Why would a holy and sovereign God send His only begotten Son to a sin-ladened planet such as ours?” The answer can only be found in God’s book to mankind, the Bible.
First, God sent His Son, His only begotten Son, because of sin. Christ came to put away sin, to be an offering for sin, and to be the propitiation for sin. Hebrews 9:26 affirms that “now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” The blood of bulls and goats could never avail for the putting away of sin (Hebs. 10:4), thus it was needful for Christ to do what no Old Testament priest or offering could ever do: “And they truly were many priests…But this man, because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens.” (Hebs. 7:23ff.)
Christ came as the lamb of God to offer Himself, spotless, an offering for sin. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Thus, He became the accepted propitiation (covering) “for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.” (I John 2:2)
Man’s problem therefore is not sins, but sin! When our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned, sin entered into humanity. All of us were born with “bad blood,” for all have sinned. “The collective soul of the human race is scarred and marred by sin; like an avalanche of the ages, sins rolls century after century gathering weight, speed and force.” (Copied, unknown). Only the spotless blood of the Lamb of God could take away the sin of world, and God sent His only begotten, sinless Son, to once and for all deal with the problem of sin. He at once put it away by offering Himself as the sacrifice well pleasing unto God and propitiation, acceptable as that which would not only “cover” sin from one atonement day to the next, but fully remove it forever!
So, God sent His Son to earth because of sin, and He also sent His Son to earth because of salvation: “That the world through Him might be saved.” (I John 3:17) Jesus came to be the savior of the hopeless, hapless, helpless world—the whole of which was lost in the darkness of sin. “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” (I John 4:14) “Man of sorrows, what a name; for the Son of Man who came! Ruined sinners to reclaim, Hallelujah! What a Savior!” He was a great teacher, a prophet, a healer, a counsellor, but He came that first Christmas to “save His people from their sins!” He is God’s Savior, presenting God’s gift to mankind: eternal life!
So, God sent Jesus to this earth because of sin, because of salvation, and also because of sinners: “For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matt.9:13); “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10); “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.” (I Tim.1:15)
Finally, God sent His only begotten Son from Heaven’s glories to earth’s sinful cesspool because of Satan. Satan, the deceiver and murderer, was the devil that became the vehicle through which sin and death made its ugly entrance into God’s wonderful world. Satan had to be dealt with, and only one person could do that: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same, that He might destroy him that had the power of death; that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:15) Jesus came to destroy death and triumph over it (the resurrection) and to dispel darkness: “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” (John 12:46)
Because God sent His Son Jesus to this earth one Christmas morn to deal with sin, salvation, sinners, and Satan, we can live in “hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began.” (Tit. 1:2) Eternal life with Him in a place where there will be no more crime, no disease nor death, no funerals, no “adult” book stores; no war, famine, divorce courts; no cancer clinics, penitentiaries, reform schools, cemeteries, sexual deviants, crooked politicians, church splits, hungry and abused children, beaten wives, drunkards, or hell-holes!
Aren’t you glad that God sent His only begotten Son to this world? I am, too! Merry Christmas!
“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!” (John 3:16)
YOU and GOD 