Solus Christus: God With Us

We’ve seen in past devotions that God’s promise of redemption, which first showed itself in Ge. 3:15, has taken many forms in the Old Testament but most often it took the form of prophecy. In God’s promise of redemption, He’s told us many things about the Messiah—that He would be a prophet, priest, king, judge, shepherd, suffering servant, and much more. God even went so far as to tell us how the Messiah would come into the world and who the Messiah would be at the very core of His being. In today’s meditation we’re going to see this in a prophecy God gave to King Ahaz through Isaiah:

¹⁰ Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” ¹³ And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Is. 7:10-14)

Nearly seven hundred years before Christ, God promised that His Redeemer would be born into mankind from a virgin, and He promised that at the very core of His being the Messiah would be God Himself with us. Then, at the turn of the eon, when Joseph needed assurance that Mary had not been unfaithful to him, an angel appeared to him in a dream and said:

²⁰ ”...Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Mt. 1:20-23)

The Messiah is God Himself with us. Jesus is God Himself with us. The baby boy conceived in Mary’s womb is God with us. This is, of course, what we celebrate at Christmas and what we prepare to celebrate in Advent. The second person of the Godhead became man to save us from our sins. God not only promised redemption but God Himself came to accomplish it. Jesus is God with us, born of a virgin, and it was prophesied seven hundred years before it happened.

On this day of Advent remember that God not only planned to redeem His people but that He planned to redeem His people Himself. Remember that He didn’t just sit on His throne in heaven and provide some impersonal, distant way of redemption but that He sent His only Son—the second person of the Trinity—to accomplish it personally. Advent reminds us that the God we worship isn’t some remote, divine dictator who rules His universe from a distance. He’s the God who came into the dirty, sinful world personally to save His people through the second person of the Trinity and now personally makes His residence in His people through third person of the Trinity. He’s also the God who will one day create a completely new heaven and new earth for His people where He “himself will be with them as their God.” Praise Him on this day of Advent for His glorious, personal presence with you. Ask Him to speed the day of Christ’s return so we can be with Him personally for all eternity in the new heavens and the new earth. Perhaps today could be the day.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Solus Christus: The Suffering Servant

Yesterday we saw that Jesus is the good Shepherd who is so good and who loved His sheep so much that He laid down His life for them. This was God’s plan for Him from foundation of the world (cf. Re. 13:8). That means that many of God’s prophecies about Jesus are not going to be happy prophecies because they will tell of His death. One of the saddest tells us that the Servant—the Messiah—will be a suffering servant:

¹ Who has believed what he has heard from us?
    And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
² For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by men;
    a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
⁶ 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.
⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked
    and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
¹¹ Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Is. 53:1-12)

He was despised, rejected, pierced, bruised, and God laid on Him our iniquities. Indeed, it was “the will of the Lord to crush him.” That was the plan for the incarnation of Jesus. It was the plan when God the Father commissioned God the Son to take on the work of redemption (cf. Is. 49), and Jesus willingly took on that responsibility. He willingly came into the world knowing that God the Father’s wrath against the sin of believers would only be satisfied by the “anguish of his soul.”

The Westminster Shorter Catechism calls this the “humiliation” of Christ. It asks in question #27, “Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?” and it answers, “Christ’s humiliation consisted in His being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.” Even becoming man was part of this suffering that Jesus was commissioned by God to take. Coming into this world was how he was “numbered with the transgressors” even though He Himself was perfect. The incarnation, the glorious event that we celebrate at Christmas, was a humiliation for Jesus, but it was one that He willingly accepted for the sake of His people. Paul tells us that Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” He willingly gave up the glorious riches of heaven and became one of us. Indeed, not just one of us but a servant for us. He voluntarily subjected Himself to the miseries of this life by leaving the perfection of heaven and being born of Mary. Paul also calls this the grace of Jesus: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.” This is the true meaning of Christmas—that Jesus became poor and suffered so we, by His poverty and suffering, might become rich.

Today let Advent remind you of the suffering Jesus endured so that “we might become the righteousness of God.” Remember that even becoming human was a humiliation for Him and part of His suffering. Let Advent remind you of the intensity of and depth of the love that led Jesus to do this for His people. When you celebrate Christmas, do rejoice in the fact that our Lord became man, but also remember that in order to do so the King of the universe had to “[empty] himself, by taking the form of a servant.” Never forget that Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer in this world. (Indeed, He suffered in ways we could never imagine.) Never forget that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Ask Him to work these truths into your heart so that you want to show Him how thankful you are with every part of your life.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Solus Christus: Where Does It All Begin?

Where does it all begin? Where do the story of redemption and the road to Christmas and Advent begin? Our second meditation of Advent begins long before Jesus’ incarnation. It all begins at the very beginning with the creation of man:

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.
²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Ge. 1:26-31)

We must begin with God creating man, for we would not, of course, need redemption and the incarnation wouldn’t be necessary if we didn’t exist in the first place. We also need to remember that God the Father was not there in the beginning alone. John tells us in his gospel that Jesus, as the second person in the Godhead and coeternal with the Father, was there too at the beginning:

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (Jn. 1:1-4)

Furthermore, not only was Jesus present at creation but Paul reminds us that Jesus was the member of the Godhead who actually did the act of creating (the Father commanded, the Son created, and the Spirit brought it to completion and sustained it):

¹⁶ For by him [i.e. Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col. 1:16-17)

That is where the story of Advent begins. Our Lord and Savior—the second person of the Trinity—created the human race long before He became one of us. Indeed, since He is sovereign and omniscient, He created humanity knowing He would, at the fullness of time, have to become human like us and die for His people to accomplish their redemption. Of course, this was all for the glory of God, but it was also for the “joy set before Him,” and that joy was the redemption of His people whom He loves intensely. Think about that: Jesus created the world knowing all along that we would rebel and that He would have to become one of us, suffer, die, and be raised to save His people. How deep, rich, and intense is such love! That is the love with which He has loved His people like you and me.

Dwell on that this day of Advent. Ask God to make that intense love so real to you that you can’t help but go out into the world and live a life overflowing with thankfulness to Him. Ask Him to make that love so real this Christmas season that no material thing can draw your heart away from it.

By His Grace,

Taylor

Solus Christus: The First Sunday of Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. For this opening reading, it’s good for us to start out with a Scripture that encapsulates what Christmas is all about and launches us into the Advent season. Isaiah 9:6-7 followed by Luke 1:68 will do just that for us:

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people...

That’s what we celebrate during Christmas time. Christmas is not about greater kindness, bringing happiness to others, learning to walk in others shoes, empathy, spreading joy, or giving.  Those are all good things, but they are not the point of Christmas—they are not what Christmas is all about. It’s about the good news of a child being born—a child whose name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. That child is the second person of the Godhead who became man, so He could redeem His people. Indeed, God Himself has visited and redeemed His people.

Also notice that it was the “zeal of the LORD of hosts” that did this—that sent Jesus. It was not God’s begrudging decision to redeem His people. It was not His last resort after He had exhausted all other means. God was zealous to bring about our redemption through Christ. It was part of His sovereign, immutable, eternal will from before there was time, and He zealously sent His Son to accomplish it.

On this day of Advent, meditate on those Scriptures for a little while. Remember that God zealously (not half-heartedly, apathetically, or begrudgingly) sought our redemption—that He eagerly sought your redemption. You are that loved. Thank Jesus for coming to accomplish your redemption and for being your Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. On this first Sunday of Advent, ask Him to give you the power to follow Him—to reform you into His likeness by the Holy Spirit—so that you might be able to be salt and light this Christmas season. Ask Him to prepare your heart for celebrating His incarnation and to build the anticipation so high that no part of culture’s consumerism can occlude it. Ask Him to make you hopeful and eager for His second coming (second advent), and ask God to speed that day. Perhaps it could be today. 

By His Grace,
Taylor

Solus Christus: Why Advent?

“The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity—hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory—because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.” ~ J. I. Packer, Knowing God

The Advent season starts tomorrow, and over the next few weeks, I will post a short Scripture reading and devotional each day. But, before that, we must ask ourselves, “Why do I want to observe Advent? What is its purpose?” Since it wasn’t commanded by Christ and taught to us by His apostles, we can’t insist that anyone observe the Advent season. If someone tries to convince you that you must observe Advent because you are a Christian, ask them where that is commanded in Scripture, and then humbly remind them that our Lord Himself taught us not to teach “as doctrines the commandments of men.” So, if Advent isn’t a commanded season of preparation, why would I spend time writing Advent devotionals—a tool to use in the observation of Advent? Well, we’ll get to that in a moment.

First, it would be helpful to talk briefly about the history of Advent. Why did it arise as a Church tradition in the first place? When the Church emerged from almost three centuries of persecution, a Church year—a cycle of regularly occurring annual Christian festivals—began to form. Now, a religious year wasn’t a new idea in the fourth century, for there was a religious year in Old Testament worship, and even several pagan religions observed a religious year. However, the distinctiveness of the Church year is that it centers on a particular person and His Work, i.e. Jesus Christ and His work of redemption. This focus on Christ and His work for annual Christian festivals naturally formed three primary festivals: Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. These festivals center our attention on the three major events of the Christian gospel: Christ’s incarnation, His death and resurrection, and His outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church. The great Church historian, Philip Schaff, states concerning this cycle, “The church year is, so to speak, a chronological confession of faith; a moving panorama of the great events of salvation; a dramatic exhibition of the gospel for the Christian people.”

Christmas and Advent were comparatively late additions to the Church calendar with Easter and Pentecost developing early in the second century, Christmas developing in the fourth, and Advent near the end of the sixth century. It was inevitable that Christmas be added to the Church year, for it celebrates the groundwork for all other festivals—the coming of Christ. John Chrysostom (bishop of Constantinople in the fourth century) defended the addition of Christmas to the Church calendar by reminding his congregation that “without the birth of Christ there were also no baptism, passion, resurrection, or ascension and no outpouring of the Holy Spirit….” That is, without a celebration of Christ’s birth there is no foundation for the celebration of Easter, Pentecost, or any other festival based on His work in this world. By the end of the sixth century, seasons of preparation for these key celebrations had been added, and thus Advent became a traditional part of the Church year. It was designed to anticipate and prepare the Church for the celebration of Christ’s birth by reminding us of the yearning for the Messiah in the long ages before His incarnation, of our hope of redemption in Him alone, of our continual need of Him, and of our future hope in His second coming. It is the anticipation and preparation for our celebration of the coming of the “hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory,” which came through Christ alone.

“How long is the Advent season?” might be a question on your mind. Well, the Advent season begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, which means it’s a season that varies in length depending on day on which Christmas falls. It can be as short as 22 days (if Christmas falls on a Monday) or as long as 28 days (if Christmas falls on a Sunday).

But, we need to get back to the original question, "Why observe Advent?" Why anticipate and prepare for a celebration, even one as important as Christmas? Well, I can’t tell you why you should observe Advent because it’s not a God-given command, and therefore neither I nor anyone else can demand you observe Advent as if it were a command. Rather, I’m going to tell you why I observe Advent, and then leave your reasons between you and the Lord.

Now, let’s be honest, most believers get caught up in the consumerism and materialism of the Christmas season just like the rest of our culture. I’m no exception to that statement. During this season I find myself getting frustrated by our culture’s views on Christmas, mostly because I find those views affecting me just as much as others, and I don’t like that. At times I’ve been called a “Christmas scrooge” because I’m pretty cynical about Christmas traditions and generally don’t have much “Christmas spirit.” Therefore, I need to have my cynical, wayward heart drawn away from the consumerism and materialism of cultural Christmas and back towards Jesus and the glorious truth of His incarnation in this world. That’s why I need to observe Advent and perhaps why it might be helpful for you as well.

Observing Advent doesn’t have some special spiritual power, and the Advent Sundays are no more holy than any other Lord’s Day in the rest of the year. What it does do is give me a daily pause and reminder of what this time of year means to the Christian faith and why we celebrate the birth of Christ in the first place. It provides me with a much-needed corrective for everything else I hear and see from the world during the Christmas season. In this sense, it helps me reset myself from anticipating presents, stockings, decorations, or Christmas traditions, and it focuses me back on celebrating the incarnation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Observing Advent gets my mind back on the fact that our Lord has come, that He has accomplished complete redemption for His people, and that He is coming again one day to usher in the new heavens and new earth. That’s why I like observing Advent and why I think it might be helpful for you as well. If you find that reason compelling or perhaps it brings to your mind another good reason for you to observe Advent, then come back each day and keep reading.

A few words need to be said about the title of this post (and the subsequent posts). From where did I get “Solus Christus”? “Sola” is the Latin word for “alone” or “only,” and during the Reformation, five Latin sola-statements (commonly called the “Five Solas”) emerged. These were intended to summarize the Reformers’ basic theological principles and distinctions from Roman Catholic theology. The Five Solas are sola fide (“by faith alone”), sola scriptura (“by Scripture alone”), sola gratia (“by grace alone”), soli deo gloria (“glory to God alone”), and, finally, solus Christus (“through Christ alone”). Since Advent focuses our hearts and minds on the coming of Christ and the hope of redemption through Him alone, I thought it a fitting title for a set of Advent meditations.

In the following days leading up to Christmas, you will find a daily Scripture reading and some reflection (from a Reformed perspective) on what it tells us about the incarnation of Jesus and His glorious work of redemption. My prayer is that they will magnify the glory of Christ in your daily devotional time and that they will reset your focus away from cultural Christmas norms and back on “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”

Advent starts tomorrow, so check back here for the first devotional.

By His Grace,
Taylor

The Incarnation

Over the Christmas break, I had the privilege of preaching a short series of sermons before my home church. It was a brief, three-part series on a few of the results of the incarnation of Jesus into this world. They are posted on my sermons page, and you can also access them below:

The Incarnation (Advent Series 2013)
Date:	Title:	Scripture:	Recording:	Transcript:
Dec. 29, 2013	The Incarnation: Unshakable Hope	Ro. 5:1-5	MP3	PDF
Dec. 22, 2013	The Incarnation: A Merciful Priest	He. 2:14-18	MP3	PDF
Dec. 15, 2013	The Incarnation: Victorious Light	Jn. 1:1-14	MP3	PDF

I pray that God will use them to magnify His glory in your heart and encourage you.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Solus Christus: God With Us

We’ve seen in past devotions that God’s promise of redemption, which first showed itself in Ge. 3:15, has taken many forms in the Old Testament but most often it took the form of prophecy. In God’s promise of redemption, He’s told us many things about the Messiah—that He would be a prophet, priest, king, judge, shepherd, suffering servant, and much more. God even went so far as to tell us how the Messiah would come into the world and who the Messiah would be at the very core of His being. In today’s meditation we’re going to see this in a prophecy God gave to King Ahaz through Isaiah:

¹⁰ Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” ¹³ And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Is. 7:10-14)

Nearly seven hundred years before Christ, God promised that His Redeemer would be born into mankind from a virgin, and He promised that at the very core of His being the Messiah would be God Himself with us. Then, at the turn of the eon, when Joseph needed assurance that Mary had not been unfaithful to him, an angel appeared to him in a dream and said:

²⁰ ”...Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Mt. 1:20-23)

The Messiah is God Himself with us. Jesus is God Himself with us. The baby boy conceived in Mary’s womb is God with us. This is, of course, what we celebrate at Christmas and what we prepare to celebrate in Advent. The second person of the Godhead became man to save us from our sins. God not only promised redemption but God Himself came to accomplish it. Jesus is God with us, born of a virgin, and it was prophesied seven hundred years before it happened.

On this day of Advent remember that God not only planned to redeem His people but that He planned to redeem His people Himself. Remember that He didn’t just sit on His throne in heaven and provide some impersonal, distant way of redemption but that He sent His only Son—the second person of the Trinity—to accomplish it personally. Advent reminds us that the God we worship isn’t some remote, divine dictator who rules His universe from a distance. He’s the God who came into the dirty, sinful world personally to save His people through the second person of the Trinity and now personally makes His residence in His people through third person of the Trinity. He’s also the God who will one day create a completely new heaven and new earth for His people where He “himself will be with them as their God.” Praise Him on this day of Advent for His glorious, personal presence with you. Ask Him to speed the day of Christ’s return so we can be with Him personally for all eternity in the new heavens and the new earth. Perhaps today could be the day.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Solus Christus: The Suffering Servant

Yesterday we saw that Jesus is the good Shepherd who is so good and who loved His sheep so much that He laid down His life for them. This was God’s plan for Him from foundation of the world (cf. Re. 13:8). That means that many of God’s prophecies about Jesus are not going to be happy prophecies because they will tell of His death. One of the saddest tells us that the Servant—the Messiah—will be a suffering servant:

¹ Who has believed what he has heard from us?
    And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
² For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by men;
    a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
⁶ 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.
⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked
    and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
¹¹ Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Is. 53:1-12)

He was despised, rejected, pierced, bruised, and God laid on Him our iniquities. Indeed, it was “the will of the Lord to crush him.” That was the plan for the incarnation of Jesus. It was the plan when God the Father commissioned God the Son to take on the work of redemption (cf. Is. 49), and Jesus willingly took on that responsibility. He willingly came into the world knowing that God the Father’s wrath against the sin of believers would only be satisfied by the “anguish of his soul.”

The Westminster Shorter Catechism calls this the “humiliation” of Christ. It asks in question #27, “Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?” and it answers, “Christ’s humiliation consisted in His being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.” Even becoming man was part of this suffering that Jesus was commissioned by God to take. Coming into this world was how he was “numbered with the transgressors” even though He Himself was perfect. The incarnation, the glorious event that we celebrate at Christmas, was a humiliation for Jesus, but it was one that He willingly accepted for the sake of His people. Paul tells us that Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” He willingly gave up the glorious riches of heaven and became one of us. Indeed, not just one of us but a servant for us. He voluntarily subjected Himself to the miseries of this life by leaving the perfection of heaven and being born of Mary. Paul also calls this the grace of Jesus: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.” This is the true meaning of Christmas—that Jesus became poor and suffered so we, by His poverty and suffering, might become rich.

Today let Advent remind you of the suffering Jesus endured so that “we might become the righteousness of God.” Remember that even becoming human was a humiliation for Him and part of His suffering. Let Advent remind you of the intensity of and depth of the love that led Jesus to do this for His people. When you celebrate Christmas, do rejoice in the fact that our Lord became man, but also remember that in order to do so the King of the universe had to “[empty] himself, by taking the form of a servant.” Never forget that Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer in this world. (Indeed, He suffered in ways we could never imagine.) Never forget that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Ask Him to work these truths into your heart so that you want to show Him how thankful you are with every part of your life.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Solus Christus: Where Does It All Begin?

Where does it all begin? Where do the story of redemption and the road to Christmas and Advent begin? Our second meditation of Advent begins long before Jesus’ incarnation. It all begins at the very beginning with the creation of man:

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.
²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Ge. 1:26-31)

We must begin with God creating man, for we would not, of course, need redemption and the incarnation wouldn’t be necessary if we didn’t exist in the first place. We also need to remember that God the Father was not there in the beginning alone. John tells us in his gospel that Jesus, as the second person in the Godhead and coeternal with the Father, was there too at the beginning:

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (Jn. 1:1-4)

Furthermore, not only was Jesus present at creation but Paul reminds us that Jesus was the member of the Godhead who actually did the act of creating (the Father commanded, the Son created, and the Spirit brought it to completion and sustained it):

¹⁶ For by him [i.e. Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col. 1:16-17)

That is where the story of Advent begins. Our Lord and Savior—the second person of the Trinity—created the human race long before He became one of us. Indeed, since He is sovereign and omniscient, He created humanity knowing He would, at the fullness of time, have to become human like us and die for His people to accomplish their redemption. Of course, this was all for the glory of God, but it was also for the “joy set before Him,” and that joy was the redemption of His people whom He loves intensely. Think about that: Jesus created the world knowing all along that we would rebel and that He would have to become one of us, suffer, die, and be raised to save His people. How deep, rich, and intense is such love! That is the love with which He has loved His people like you and me.

Dwell on that this day of Advent. Ask God to make that intense love so real to you that you can’t help but go out into the world and live a life overflowing with thankfulness to Him. Ask Him to make that love so real this Christmas season that no material thing can draw your heart away from it.

By His Grace,

Taylor

Solus Christus: The First Sunday of Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. For this opening reading, it’s good for us to start out with a Scripture that encapsulates what Christmas is all about and launches us into the Advent season. Isaiah 9:6-7 followed by Luke 1:68 will do just that for us:

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people...

That’s what we celebrate during Christmas time. Christmas is not about greater kindness, bringing happiness to others, learning to walk in others shoes, empathy, spreading joy, or giving.  Those are all good things, but they are not the point of Christmas—they are not what Christmas is all about. It’s about the good news of a child being born—a child whose name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. That child is the second person of the Godhead who became man, so He could redeem His people. Indeed, God Himself has visited and redeemed His people.

Also notice that it was the “zeal of the LORD of hosts” that did this—that sent Jesus. It was not God’s begrudging decision to redeem His people. It was not His last resort after He had exhausted all other means. God was zealous to bring about our redemption through Christ. It was part of His sovereign, immutable, eternal will from before there was time, and He zealously sent His Son to accomplish it.

On this day of Advent, meditate on those Scriptures for a little while. Remember that God zealously (not half-heartedly, apathetically, or begrudgingly) sought our redemption—that He eagerly sought your redemption. You are that loved. Thank Jesus for coming to accomplish your redemption and for being your Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. On this first Sunday of Advent, ask Him to give you the power to follow Him—to reform you into His likeness by the Holy Spirit—so that you might be able to be salt and light this Christmas season. Ask Him to prepare your heart for celebrating His incarnation and to build the anticipation so high that no part of culture’s consumerism can occlude it. Ask Him to make you hopeful and eager for His second coming (second advent), and ask God to speed that day. Perhaps it could be today. 

By His Grace,
Taylor

Solus Christus: Why Advent?

“The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity—hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory—because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.” ~ J. I. Packer, Knowing God

The Advent season starts tomorrow, and over the next few weeks, I will post a short Scripture reading and devotional each day. But, before that, we must ask ourselves, “Why do I want to observe Advent? What is its purpose?” Since it wasn’t commanded by Christ and taught to us by His apostles, we can’t insist that anyone observe the Advent season. If someone tries to convince you that you must observe Advent because you are a Christian, ask them where that is commanded in Scripture, and then humbly remind them that our Lord Himself taught us not to teach “as doctrines the commandments of men.” So, if Advent isn’t a commanded season of preparation, why would I spend time writing Advent devotionals—a tool to use in the observation of Advent? Well, we’ll get to that in a moment.

First, it would be helpful to talk briefly about the history of Advent. Why did it arise as a Church tradition in the first place? When the Church emerged from almost three centuries of persecution, a Church year—a cycle of regularly occurring annual Christian festivals—began to form. Now, a religious year wasn’t a new idea in the fourth century, for there was a religious year in Old Testament worship, and even several pagan religions observed a religious year. However, the distinctiveness of the Church year is that it centers on a particular person and His Work, i.e. Jesus Christ and His work of redemption. This focus on Christ and His work for annual Christian festivals naturally formed three primary festivals: Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. These festivals center our attention on the three major events of the Christian gospel: Christ’s incarnation, His death and resurrection, and His outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church. The great Church historian, Philip Schaff, states concerning this cycle, “The church year is, so to speak, a chronological confession of faith; a moving panorama of the great events of salvation; a dramatic exhibition of the gospel for the Christian people.”

Christmas and Advent were comparatively late additions to the Church calendar with Easter and Pentecost developing early in the second century, Christmas developing in the fourth, and Advent near the end of the sixth century. It was inevitable that Christmas be added to the Church year, for it celebrates the groundwork for all other festivals—the coming of Christ. John Chrysostom (bishop of Constantinople in the fourth century) defended the addition of Christmas to the Church calendar by reminding his congregation that “without the birth of Christ there were also no baptism, passion, resurrection, or ascension and no outpouring of the Holy Spirit….” That is, without a celebration of Christ’s birth there is no foundation for the celebration of Easter, Pentecost, or any other festival based on His work in this world. By the end of the sixth century, seasons of preparation for these key celebrations had been added, and thus Advent became a traditional part of the Church year. It was designed to anticipate and prepare the Church for the celebration of Christ’s birth by reminding us of the yearning for the Messiah in the long ages before His incarnation, of our hope of redemption in Him alone, of our continual need of Him, and of our future hope in His second coming. It is the anticipation and preparation for our celebration of the coming of the “hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory,” which came through Christ alone.

“How long is the Advent season?” might be a question on your mind. Well, the Advent season begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, which means it’s a season that varies in length depending on day on which Christmas falls. It can be as short as 22 days (if Christmas falls on a Monday) or as long as 28 days (if Christmas falls on a Sunday).

But, we need to get back to the original question, "Why observe Advent?" Why anticipate and prepare for a celebration, even one as important as Christmas? Well, I can’t tell you why you should observe Advent because it’s not a God-given command, and therefore neither I nor anyone else can demand you observe Advent as if it were a command. Rather, I’m going to tell you why I observe Advent, and then leave your reasons between you and the Lord.

Now, let’s be honest, most believers get caught up in the consumerism and materialism of the Christmas season just like the rest of our culture. I’m no exception to that statement. During this season I find myself getting frustrated by our culture’s views on Christmas, mostly because I find those views affecting me just as much as others, and I don’t like that. At times I’ve been called a “Christmas scrooge” because I’m pretty cynical about Christmas traditions and generally don’t have much “Christmas spirit.” Therefore, I need to have my cynical, wayward heart drawn away from the consumerism and materialism of cultural Christmas and back towards Jesus and the glorious truth of His incarnation in this world. That’s why I need to observe Advent and perhaps why it might be helpful for you as well.

Observing Advent doesn’t have some special spiritual power, and the Advent Sundays are no more holy than any other Lord’s Day in the rest of the year. What it does do is give me a daily pause and reminder of what this time of year means to the Christian faith and why we celebrate the birth of Christ in the first place. It provides me with a much-needed corrective for everything else I hear and see from the world during the Christmas season. In this sense, it helps me reset myself from anticipating presents, stockings, decorations, or Christmas traditions, and it focuses me back on celebrating the incarnation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Observing Advent gets my mind back on the fact that our Lord has come, that He has accomplished complete redemption for His people, and that He is coming again one day to usher in the new heavens and new earth. That’s why I like observing Advent and why I think it might be helpful for you as well. If you find that reason compelling or perhaps it brings to your mind another good reason for you to observe Advent, then come back each day and keep reading.

A few words need to be said about the title of this post (and the subsequent posts). From where did I get “Solus Christus”? “Sola” is the Latin word for “alone” or “only,” and during the Reformation, five Latin sola-statements (commonly called the “Five Solas”) emerged. These were intended to summarize the Reformers’ basic theological principles and distinctions from Roman Catholic theology. The Five Solas are sola fide (“by faith alone”), sola scriptura (“by Scripture alone”), sola gratia (“by grace alone”), soli deo gloria (“glory to God alone”), and, finally, solus Christus (“through Christ alone”). Since Advent focuses our hearts and minds on the coming of Christ and the hope of redemption through Him alone, I thought it a fitting title for a set of Advent meditations.

In the following days leading up to Christmas, you will find a daily Scripture reading and some reflection (from a Reformed perspective) on what it tells us about the incarnation of Jesus and His glorious work of redemption. My prayer is that they will magnify the glory of Christ in your daily devotional time and that they will reset your focus away from cultural Christmas norms and back on “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”

Advent starts tomorrow, so check back here for the first devotional.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Advent: Day 24

Merry Christmas! Today, we celebrate the birth of our King, God, Prophet, and Priest. This is what we have been preparing for in our meditations and devotions over the past twenty-three days. I know you are spending time with family today and that is a good thing, but take some time to dwell on this verse, which I believe sums up Christmas in a single sentence:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Co. 8:9)

I would like to end this Advent series with the words to my favorite Christmas hymn, "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" by Charles Wesley:

Hark! The herald angels sing,

"Glory to the newborn King;

Peace on earth, and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled!"

Joyful, all ye nations rise,

Join the triumph of the skies;

With th’angelic host proclaim,

"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

Refrain:

Hark! the herald angels sing,

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;

Christ the everlasting Lord;

Late in time, behold Him come,

Offspring of a virgin’s womb.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

Hail th’incarnate Deity,

Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,

Jesus our Emmanuel.

Refrain

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings,

Ris’n with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by,

Born that man no more may die.

Born to raise the sons of earth,

Born to give them second birth.

Refrain

Come, Desire of nations, come,

Fix in us Thy humble home;

Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,

Bruise in us the serpent’s head.

Now display Thy saving power,

Ruined nature now restore;

Now in mystic union join

Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.

Refrain

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,

Stamp Thine image in its place:

Second Adam from above,

Reinstate us in Thy love.

Let us Thee, though lost, regain,

Thee, the Life, the inner man:

O, to all Thyself impart,

Formed in each believing heart.

Refrain

By His Grace,
Taylor

Advent: Day 22

Today is the fourth and final Sunday of Advent. Last Sunday we started looking directly at the Christmas story itself, and we read from Mt. 1:18-25 and Lk. 2:1-7. Today we are going to continue to look at the Christmas story itself:

¹ Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, ² saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." ³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴ and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵ They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
⁶ "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.'"
⁷ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." ⁹ After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. (Mt. 2:1-12)

Before we move on to the second reading for today, I would like to talk about this one a little. R. C. Sproul once said, "In the tiny land of Palestine, two kings were alive at the same time and at the same place. One of the kings was about seventy years old; the other king was an infant. The big king was evil; the little king was pure. The big king was rich and powerful; the little king was stricken by poverty. The big king lived in an opulent palace; the little king lived in a stable. The little king's mother was a peasant girl; His adopted father was a carpenter." (Christ in Christmas Family) Of course, the "big king" to whom Sproul refers is Herod. He was the king of Judea at Christ's birth, yet he was only that because Rome made him so. He did not deserve to sit on that throne, the "little king" did. That is why Herod was troubled by the Magis' revelation that the prophesied King of the Jews had been born—he knew in his heart that he did not deserve the throne. As the story above goes on to say, when the Magi never returned to Herod, he went on a rampage killing all the infant boys in Bethlehem. We know, however, that the "big king" did not succeed in defeating the "little king." In fact, if it were not for the story of the "little king," the "big king" would have disappeared from history altogether. This story reminds us that even the most powerful cannot stop the plan of God. Herod had the power to slaughter many, yet he could not stop the plan of God. Nothing can.

⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
¹⁵ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." ¹⁶ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Lk. 2:8-20)

How should we celebrate Advent and Christmas? Well, from the story of the shepherds we can learn a few things. First, the angels proclaimed the good news to the shepherds. This is remarkable considering the reputation of shepherds during this time. They were a despised cast of people in society and so mistrusted that their testimony was not admissible in legal proceedings. Yet, the angels went to them to declare the birth of the Messiah. They did not come to the rich of Bethlehem or even King Herod. They went to the shepherds. A modern equivalent might be the angels going to the homeless of Midtown Atlanta and using them as witnesses to the affluent. As we saw last Sunday, God breaks the molds of this world in many ways with the advent of Jesus. Second, the shepherds became bold witnesses for Jesus. They knew their reputation in society but they did not care. They knew the people needed to hear the good news and they were going to tell them, even if no one listened or believed them. I doubt you and I are as mistrusted in society as shepherds were at the time of Christ, so why are we not as bold in sharing the good news as they? Third and finally, the shepherds glorified and praised God for what they had seen. They not only shared the news with others, they praised God for it. We should praise God for sending Jesus every day, but Christmas should especially remind us that He is worthy of our praise for He sent Jesus to become poor so we, by His poverty, might become rich (2. Co. 8:9).

By His Grace,
Taylor

Advent: Day 15

Today is the third Sunday of Advent, and it is time to start look at the Christmas story itself. We have looked at some of it in past posts in order to see how Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. This Sunday and next we will look at the story itself:

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
²³ "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).
²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. (Mt. 1:18-25)
¹ In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. ⁶ And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Lk. 2:1-7)

There are two things I would like to point out from these stories. First, I think it is amazing that Joseph was unwilling to put Mary to shame even before he knew the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The passage says this is because he was "a just man," but in Jewish culture at this time, justice would have meant stoning Mary, not protecting her. Right from the beginning, we see that the story of Jesus is going to break the molds of this world and that God is the God of grace. Joseph was declared "a just man" not because he was a stickler for (earthly) justice but because he showed grace and compassion to Mary. Second, I think it is incredible to see how God used the most powerful man in the world, Caesar Augustus, as a tool to fulfill a 400-year-old prophecy. In Mi. 5:2, the prophet Micah predicts that Bethlehem will be the birthplace of the "ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." Then Caesar decides to take a census and Joseph and Mary must go to Bethlehem right when she is about to give birth. Caesar may have thought he was ruling his empire but really he was just doing God's bidding (cf. Pro. 21:1).

Take some time today (especially since it is the Lord's Day, a day of rest) to meditate on God's grace and compassion to you, as well as His sovereignty over your life. And, do not forget to rest on your Sabbath.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Advent: Day 11

Yesterday we looked at the Great Commission given by the Father to the Son. In it, the Father commits the Son to die for His people and the Son takes that commission. That means that many of the prophecies about Jesus are not going to be happy prophecies. One of the saddest tells us that the Servant—the Messiah—will be a suffering servant:

¹ Who has believed what he has heard from us?
    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by men;
    a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
⁶ 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.
⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked
    and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
¹¹ Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Is. 53:1-12)

He was despised, rejected, pierced, bruised, and God laid on Him our iniquities. That was the plan for the incarnation of Jesus. It was the plan when God the Father commission God the Son (Is. 49), and Jesus willingly took on the responsibility.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism calls this the "humiliation" of Christ. It asks in question #27, "Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist?" and it answers, "Christ's humiliation consisted in His being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time." Even becoming man was part of this suffering that Jesus was commissioned by God to take. The incarnation, the glorious event that we celebrate at Christmas, was a humiliation for Jesus. Paul tells us that Jesus "emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." (Php. 2:5-11) He gave up the glorious riches of heaven and became one of us, and not just one of us but a servant for us. He voluntarily subjected Himself to the miseries of this life, leaving the perfection of heaven. Paul also calls this the grace of Jesus: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich." (2 Co. 8:9) This is the true meaning of Christmas—that Jesus became poor so we, by His poverty, might become rich.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Advent: Day 6

In God's promise of Redemption, He even told us how the Messiah would come and who the Messiah would be. In a prophecy given to King Ahaz, God said through Isaiah:

¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ¹¹ “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³ And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Is. 7:10-14)

Nearly seven hundred years before Christ, God promised that His Redeemer would be born into mankind but from a virgin and that He would be God with us. Then, at the turn of the era, when Joseph needed reassurance that Mary had not been unfaithful, an angel appeared to him in a dream saying:

²⁰ "...Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
²³ "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). (Mt. 1:20-23)

The Messiah is God with us. The baby boy conceived in Mary's womb is God with us. This is, of course, what we celebrate in Advent. The second person of the Godhead became man to save us from our sins. Jesus is God with us, born of a virgin, and it was prophesied seven hundred years before it happened.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Advent: Day 2

Where does it all begin? Our meditation on Advent begins long before Jesus' incarnation. It begins at the very beginning with the creation of man:

²⁶ Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.
²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." ²⁹ And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. ³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Ge. 1:26-31)

God created man. For we would not, of course, need redemption and the incarnation would not be necessary if we did not exist in the first place. Furthermore, we need to remember that God the Father was not there in the beginning alone. Jesus, as the second person in the Godhead and coeternal with the Father, was there at the beginning:

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (Jn. 1:1-4)

In addition to John, Paul too reminds us that Jesus was the member of the Godhead who actually did the act of creating:

¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col. 1:16-17)

That is where the story begins. Our Lord and Savior, the second person of the Trinity, created us long before He became one of us.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Advent: Day 1

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. A good reading for this morning (which we will be reading at my church today) is Isaiah 9:6-7 followed by Luke 1:68:

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace

there will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, 

for he has visited and redeemed his people...

That is what we celebrate at Christmas time. Christmas is not about greater kindness, bringing happiness to others, learning to walk in others shoes, empathy, spreading joy, or giving. It is about the good news that the second person of the Godhead became man, so He could redeem His people. It was the zeal of the LORD of hosts that did that.

Meditate on those Scriptures for a little while. Thank God for being your Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Ask Jesus to give you the power you to follow Him--to reform you into His likeness--so that you might be able to be salt and light this Christmas season. Ask Him to prepare your heart for celebrating His incarnation and build the anticipation so high that no part of culture's consumerism can occlude it. Ask Him to make you hopefully and eager for His second coming. And, ask Him to speed that day. Perhaps it could be today. 

By His Grace,
Taylor