A S P E C T S - a monthly devotional journal For subscription information on receiving Aspects every month via e-mail, or the laser-printed edition by mail, see NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION near the end of this file. Aspects is written by David S. Lampel. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Issue #37, December 1993 (Internet Edition) M Y E Y E S H A V E S E E N T H Y S A L V A T I O N ----------------------------------------------------------------- In this issue: Perspective 1 - "Who Are You?" His Deity Perspective 2 - "What Are You?" His Humanity Perspective 3 - "What Are We To Do With You?" Our Response ----------------------------------------------------------------- In the beginning God . . . So there He was, the Son of God, one-third of the fellowship of God,(1) agent of Creation. If God is spirit,(2) then surely so was the pre-incarnate Son. And there they were, the three personalities of God--before man, before time, before history, before anything else was: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. There they were, three Spirits indwelling One, standing in the mandala of eternity, gazing upon the condition of man. And God the Father--who had known since eternity past that this would be necessary--spoke to God the Son and said, "Now." And God the Son left the crystalline purity of heaven--left the sweet fellowship of the Godhead--to become human flesh. His flesh began as any other flesh: male seed and female egg joined and nurtured in the human womb. But God the Son required the purity of a sinless birth. So the seed was from the Holy Spirit, and the egg was from a virgin. The two came together and became a baby. And the baby was named Jesus. _________________________ Come with me. Come, let us adore Him. Crouch down as we slip into the dark cave, crouch down so you won't bump your head on the low, roughly weathered entrance. And watch your step; it is, after all, a shelter for animals. The cramped space is thick with the dusty mix of hay and ancient rock. What little oxygen there is, is heavy with the acrid aroma of manure and urine. The bleeting of lambs and the baritone lowing of cattle are in marked contrast to the stillness of the Bethlehem night outside. Over in the corner, before a mounded bed of hay, a man kneels next to his wife--who is struggling through the pains of childbirth. Before we turn away, to permit them their privacy, we see that the wife is young, and this is surely her first child. It will be hard for her, the labor will be long and intense. Before she delivers and forgets the pain, it will be great. She cries out. Her husband mutters comfort and encouragement. There is no midwife, and we haven't one with us; all we can do is pray that the child will be healthy and that the mother will survive the birth. Finally, after long hours of labor, the young woman delivers a fine boy-child with healthy lungs. He gurgles and gasps for breath, then releases that breath again in quavering, rhythmic wails that bring weary smiles to the faces of his parents. As the husband lifts the child up and places him to the mother's breast, we silently approach and stare with reverent wonder. Who is this child? Why have we been drawn to his place of birth, to kneel before him at the moment of his first breath? He appears to be a perfectly normal baby--still wet and bloody from the placenta, eyes still shut and mouth clamped onto the nipple; what is there about this one that brings us to our knees? Why do we worship Him? Who are you, child? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective 1: " W H O A R E Y O U ? " ------------- "Edmund P. Clowney, the former president of Westminster Theological Seminary, had been speaking about Christ to some individual. The person said, 'The problem I have with Christianity is that it all happened so long ago. You're talking about something that happened two thousand years ago. If Christ had only been born, say, a hundred years ago, it would be different.' Dr. Clowney's response was the correct one. He said, 'Those events that happened so long ago have not ceased to be current. Rather, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came then, comes again and again through the person of His Holy Spirit to bring the accomplishment of His salvation to the individual.'"(3) _________________________ Sometime, somewhere, every person has been asked, "Who are you?" When someone makes that inquiry, what do we do? Usually, during a period of a few brief seconds, we wonder to ourselves, "What does this person really want to know? My profession? My name? Where I live? Am I married or single? Have I made a name for myself?" Then we begin sifting back through our life to dredge up the appropriate information with which to answer the question. Have you ever noticed that when you search back through your life for a description of who you are, you never go back prior to your birth? You may even answer the question posed with a description of your birth place or hometown--but you never go back further than the moment of your birth. You always answer the question, "Who are you?" with things that transpired after your birth. Question: Who is Jesus? Answer: Jesus is the Son of God. Question: When was Jesus the Son of God? Answer: Yes. Some people say Jesus became a god. Some people go so far as to say Jesus became God. Both have it backwards. God became Jesus. The Son part of God became flesh for a little while to walk among men, and He took the name Jesus. The English language doesn't really have a very good one-word description for the transcendant eternalness of the Son of God. We usually have to expand the concept into "He was, and is, and evermore shall be."(4) The best word we have to cover all the bases seems to be the simple word "is." We should never speak of God's Son in the past tense; He never was; He always is. We can accurately speak of the actions and behavior of the earthly Jesus in the past tense, since he was a person who physically walked the earth during our history--and He no longer physically walks the earth. But the God who indwelt that human form always is. No matter who it is posing the question at any time in all of mankind's history, be it Abraham, Moses, Alexander the Great, Julius Casear, Peter, Paul, Theodore Roosevelt, Joseph P. Kennedy, Gerald Ford or Bill Clinton . . . No matter when the question is posed, the answer is eternally the same: Question: Who was Jesus? Answer: Jesus is the Son of God. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."(5) Into the Word ------------- "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." -Luke 1:31-33 Isaiah 7:14 ___________________________________ Matthew 1:23 ___________________________________ Matthew 4:1-11 ___________________________________ Matthew 8:28-29 ___________________________________ Matthew 26:63-64 ___________________________________ Matthew 27:39-43 ___________________________________ Matthew 27:54 ___________________________________ Mark 3:9-11 ___________________________________ Luke 4:40-41 ___________________________________ Luke 22:67-71 ___________________________________ John 1:32-34 ___________________________________ John 5:24-27 ___________________________________ John 11:25-27 ___________________________________ John 19:6-11 ___________________________________ John 20:30-31 ___________________________________ Romans 1:1-4 ___________________________________ Romans 9:5 ___________________________________ Hebrews 1:8-12 ___________________________________ Hebrews 4:14 ___________________________________ Hebrews 7:1-3 ___________________________________ 1 John 5:20 ___________________________________ Rev 2:18 ___________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Digging Deeper--Moving Higher ----------------------------- Of the Father's Love Begotten Of the Father's love begotten, ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the Ending He, Of the things that are, that have been, and that future years shall see, Evermore and evermore! O ye heights of heav'n adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing; Pow'rs, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King; Let no tongue on earth be silent, ev'ry voice in concert ring, Evermore and evermore! Christ, to Thee with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee, Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving and unwearied praises be: Honor, glory, and dominion, and eternal victory, Evermore and evermore! (6) Making it Personal ------------------ Who are you? Who are you to God? The table shown below may help you organize your thoughts on the differences (and similarities) between Jesus (God in flesh) and the eternal Son of God. Fill in the blanks, using Scripture to back up your answers.(7) Son of God Earthly Jesus Scripture --------------------------------------------------------- Name Time of Birth Place of Birth Parents Occupation Time of Death Place of Death Into the Word ------------- The question is often asked: If the Son of God existed with God prior to becoming the baby Jesus (and He did), then what wisdom came "pre-packaged" with Him? Put another way, what did Jesus know at birth? Did He know He was God? Did He know the wisdom of the ages that would have already been known by the Son of God? Or was this holy wisdom acquired slowly, in a more human manner, as He physically matured? Can this question be answered from Scripture? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective 2: " W H A T A R E Y O U ? " ------------- "In becoming man Christ took upon him a nature that was capable of dying. This the angels were not; and in this respect he was, for a season, made lower than they." "Jesus is God spelling himself out in a language that man can understand." "He who was the Son by nature willingly took the form of a servant so that we who were by nature the servants of sin might become sons by the adoption of grace!"(8) _________________________ The baby Jesus was real. No china doll, He burped and spit up and filled His diapers like every other baby before or since. He was human--flesh and blood. When pricked, He would bleed and probably fill the airwaves with screaming. He cooed and drooled and grinned stupidly with affection when held by His mother (when held by His dad, it was gas). If the Flood was the supreme demonstration of God's wrath, then the Incarnation was the supreme demonstration of His love. The Son of God became flesh because only as flesh could He die--and mankind could only be saved if He did. Let's pretend. Let's pretend that we know what God looks like. We do know He is spirit, so let's imagine spiritual beings--in a traditional Hollywood way--as amorphous globules of radiant energy. So here they are, the Trinity: three hovering pools of light. Let's also pretend that God the Father decided to send God the Son down to be the Savior for mankind--but in His native form. So the Son of God--as a floating pool of light--comes down to earth, lives among humans for awhile, then is executed by the Jews and Romans. Mysteriously, the death is only temporary, and forty days later the globule of light returns to heaven. Big deal, huh. After the initial shock of His appearance had worn off, we wouldn't be surprised by anything He could do--after all, He's just radiant energy. You can't kill radiant energy! But Jesus did not present Himself as radiant energy. He presented Himself as a rather normal human being. He was born of a woman, grew and slowly matured as a typical child, and did not even present Himself as Deity until he had been on earth around thirty years. The Son of God had to become human so we would see His death and resurrection as a miracle--so we would know that, even though packaged in typical, normal flesh, He was truly, the Son of God. Question: What is Jesus? Answer: Jesus is the Lamb of God. _________________________ But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.(9) Into the Word ------------- Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. -Matthew 4:1-2 Matthew 1:1-17 ___________________________________ Matthew 8:18 ___________________________________ Matthew 13:53-58 ___________________________________ Matthew 14:13 ___________________________________ Matthew 26:36-46 ___________________________________ Matthew 27:27-31 ___________________________________ Matthew 27:50 ___________________________________ Mark 3:7-10 ___________________________________ Mark 6:30-32 ___________________________________ Mark 15:37 ___________________________________ Luke 2:1-52 ___________________________________ Luke 3:23-4:2 ___________________________________ Luke 19:41 ___________________________________ Rev 17:14 ___________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Digging Deeper--Moving Higher ----------------------------- Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown when Thou camest to earth for me; But in Bethlehem's home was there found no room for Thy holy nativity: Refrain O come to my heart, Lord Jesus! There is room in my heart for Thee. Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang, proclaiming Thy royal degree; But in lowly birth didst Thou come to earth, and in great humility: Thou camest, O Lord, with the living Word that should set Thy people free; But with mocking scorn, and with crown of thorn, they bore Thee to Calvary: When the heavens shall ring, and the angels sing, at Thy coming to victory, Let Thy voice call me home saying, "Yet there is room, there is room at My side for thee:" Refrain My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus! When Thou comest and callest for me.(10) Making it Personal ------------------ Pause for a moment and think back through your own history. Page back through your memories and recall how much living took place during your first thirty years. Remember childhood, the old neighborhood where you played with other children, tree houses, farm chores, mowing the lawn, learning how to cook; grade school, Junior High, Senior High, college; going to Sunday School and church, Vacation Bible School; displeased parents, discipline and spanking, sibling quarrels, fights and wrestling matches; first job, military service, post-graduate school, gaining friends, losing friends, gainful employment . . .Look back at all you experienced during those first thirty years. Now remember that Jesus, too, experienced this much life before He even began publicly ministering as the Son of God. What does it mean to you, personally, that God the Son voluntarily chose to inhabit the flesh of mankind? What should this same fact (the humanity of Christ) mean to someone who is not a Christian? Should it help persuade toward or dissuade from a belief in Christ? Which carries more weight: that the man Jesus was Deity, or that God the Son became man? Into the Word ------------- There are 76 references in the gospels to the "Son of Man" and 23 references to the "Son of God." Interestingly, with only one exception, Jesus always chose the phrase "Son of Man" over "Son of God" when speaking of Himself (that's not to say He didn't use other titles). Almost all of the references for "Son of Man" in the gospels were spoken by Jesus, whereas all but one of the references for "Son of God" were spoken by others. Why did Jesus prefer this title? What does it mean? How does it differ in meaning from "Son of God?" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective 3: "W H A T A R E W E T O D O W I T H Y O U ?" ------------- "If Socrates would enter the room, we should rise and do him honour. But if Jesus Christ came into the room, we should fall down on our knees and worship Him."(11) _________________________ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.(12) After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.(13) _________________________ What lessons can we learn from the actions of those who were first and early witnesses to the child? First, the shepherds came to Jesus. They learned of His birth and deity in the only way they could--a proclamation from heaven. At that time, no one outside of the small family huddled in a cave had any idea that this would be the night of the Messiah's arrival. But when the angelic word was given, what did they do? "Listen, we're a little booked right now--but check with us next week and we'll fit this `Savior' thing into our schedule." No, Scripture tells us they hurried off; these simple sheep herders wasted no time in going to see their new Savior. Second, the shepherds told of Jesus. They became the first evangelists of the Christian age and spread the word. They could not contain the wonder of this good news, but had to share it with others. Then there were the wise men, the magi. These un-numbered people were of mysterious origin and subsequent destiny; they certainly came to Jesus later than the shepherds--possibly years hence, since they came to a "house." But what they did when they arrived can stand as an important example for us all. When the magi arrived, they first worshiped Jesus--they bowed down and worshiped him. They didn't chat awhile with the parents, discuss the vagaries of the weather, or expect some special treatment from these commoners because of their elevated status. No, they first worshiped this little King. The second thing these wise men did upon seeing the Christ child was give to Jesus--they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts. Actually, these expensive items were the second gifts brought; the first was their adoration. Question: What do we do with Jesus? Answer: We give our lives to Him. Into the Word ------------- They came . . . "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28 Matthew 11:28-30 ___________________________________ Matthew 19:13-15 ___________________________________ Mark 1:16-20 ___________________________________ Luke 5:27-28 ___________________________________ Luke 9:57-62 ___________________________________ John 1:35-51 ___________________________________ John 5:39-40 ___________________________________ John 6:37-44 ___________________________________ John 7:37 ___________________________________ John 10:1-18 ___________________________________ They told . . . Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" -John 4:28-29 John 4:7-42 ___________________________________ They worshiped . . . . . . and they fell down and worshiped Him. -Matthew 2:11 NASB Matthew 2:1-12 ___________________________________ Matthew 28:16-17 ___________________________________ Romans 11:33-12:1 ___________________________________ Hebrews 1:5-9 ___________________________________ Rev 14:6-7 ___________________________________ Rev 15:1-4 ___________________________________ They gave . . . The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." -Matthew 25:40 Matthew 6:1-4 ___________________________________ Matthew 25:34-46 ___________________________________ 1 Cor 16:2 ___________________________________ 2 Cor 8:11-12 ___________________________________ 2 Cor 8:14 ___________________________________ 2 Cor 9:6-7 ___________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Digging Deeper--Moving Higher ----------------------------- O Come, All Ye Faithful O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem! Come and behold Him, born the King of angels; O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation! O sing, all ye bright hosts of heaven above; Glory to God, all glory in the highest; O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning, Jesus, to Thee be all glory given; Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing; O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.(14) Making it Personal ------------------ We live in a time when everyone is asking "What's in it for me?" Have you noticed at least one thing that is common to the four actions taken by the shepherds and wise men? Here they are again: They came to Jesus They told others of Jesus They worshiped Jesus They brought gifts to Jesus What do these have in common? They are all directed toward Jesus. Even the second one--which physically took the shepherds in a different direction--has the result that it directed others toward Jesus. Use the list above to take an inventory of your actions. How do you compare with the shepherds and the wise men in these four areas? ======================================================================== NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Notes ----- 1 "In His essential life God is a fellowship. This is perhaps the supreme revelation of God given in the Scriptures: it is that God's life is eternally within Himself a fellowship of three equal and distinct persons, Father Son and Spirit, and that in His relationship to His moral creation God was extending to them the fellowship that was essentially His own." (R.A.F., in New Bible Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Tyndale, 1984), p.428.). 2 John 4:24. 3 As told by James Montgomery Boice in his book The Christ of Christmas (Moody Press, 1983), p.17. 4 Revelation 1:8. 5 Ibid. 6 Aurelius C. Prudentius (4th Century); translated by John M. Neale and Henry W. Baker. 7 Please forgive me for working so hard with semantics here, but I think it is important to understand the complete, rich panoply of the Trinity. Yes, while in flesh on earth Jesus remained completely God (the Son of God); likewise, it is not inaccurate to refer to the heavenly, eternal Son of God as Jesus (especially after His Ascension). But for the purpose of sorting out the sometimes subtle--sometimes dramatic--differences between the two, I am using the name Jesus here to refer specifically to the earthly incarnation and the name Son of God to refer to the pre-existent and eternal second member of the Trinity. 8 A.W. Pink, S.D. Gordon, and Geoffrey B. Wilson in More Gathered Gold (Evangelical Press, 1988), p.171f. 9 Hebrews 2:9-10,14-15. 10 Emily E.S. Elliott (1836-1897). 11 Napoleon Bonaparte, in More Gathered Gold (Evangelical Press, 1988), p.172. 12 Luke 2:8-17. 13 Matthew 2:1-2,10-11. 14 Latin hymn (18th Century); translated by Frederick Oakeley (1802-1880). Copyright Information --------------------- All original material in Aspects is Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel. This data file is the sole property of David S. Lampel. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel."). This data file may not be used without the permission of David S. Lampel for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content. Brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words may be used, with the appropriate copyright notice, to enhance or supplement personal or church devotions, newsletters, journals, or spoken messages. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the New International Version. NIV quotations are from the Holy Bible: New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission. NASB quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Subscription Information ------------------------ Aspects is published monthly. There are two preferred methods of receiving it on a regular basis: 1) You may subscribe to the laser-printed (hard copy) edition, which is sent out via regular mail. This edition is different from this file you are reading in the following ways: - a "typeset" look, with italics, larger titles and headings, etc. - Scripture text and quotations are more obviously set apart - lines printed for your notes after each question - arrives pre-punched for a 3-ring binder - generally looks better 2) You may subscribe to the e-mail edition, which will be "mailed" to you directly each month. This edition will be formatted just like this file you are now reading--which still contains all the text of the printed edition. There is no charge for either option. 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Endnote reference numbers are enclosed in parentheses (); quotations are enclosed by quotation marks " ", and are further set apart from original text by indentation and the presence of a following endnote reference; Scripture references are indented and cite the reference in the first line. If you would prefer reading Aspects in its more native, printed form, we would encourage you to subscribe to the edition that is mailed out every month. ---------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/aspects: asp-037.txt