Who Has Believed?

"Silent Night" plays in the background on this Christmas Eve as I write.  I've been reading Isaiah 53 this week.  It wasn't a random choice but where I "happen" to be as I read the book of Isaiah.  But it's such a wonderful choice for this season.  For it is important for us as Christians to remember why Jesus came.  He came to die, to take on the sin of the world and pay the price required by a Holy God.

Isaiah gives a brief picture of man: sinner, sheep astray, turned our own way, transgressors, wicked.  Isaiah also gives a brief but amazing picture of Christ: tender shoot, silent to His accusers, Righteous One, Justifier, Intercessor, not violent, not deceitful.  I would say the contrast here is monumental!
And then the bulk of this chapter paints a picture of what coming into the world of man meant for Jesus.

He had no beauty in appearance or form, no majesty, a root out of parched ground, despised, forsaken, sorrowful, grief, no esteem given, smitten of God, afflicted, pierced, crushed, chastened, scourged, oppressed, slaughtered, judged, cut off from life, guilt offering, anguished soul, iniquities shouldered, poured out to death, numbered with transgressors.  "King of Kings"?  God with us?  "This, this is Christ the Lord"?  Where was His "peace on earth"?  I would say it was in His "good will toward man on whom His favor rests."  Peace for Him was the accomplishment of His purpose!

What this "coming" means for us is what should be the center of our celebrations!  Jesus bore our grief, carried our sorrow, healed us, paid the price for us, justified us, took away our sin, intercedes for us--all this for our well-being.  He IS the Prince of Peace as the beautiful "Messiah" sings in the background now.  For when we believe and bow down to Jesus, we are the recipients of all these wonderful gifts He has provided for us.

Isaiah 53 begins with "Who has believed our message?"  We must live out this message in thought, words and deeds not just at this time of year but every moment until Christ takes us home.  "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!" (Acts 16:31)   Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full."  (John 10:10)   Life, peace, happiness, fulfillment!  That's what we all want.  That's what we all seek.  That's what we all try to accomplish at this time of year we call Christmas.  But just like every other day of the year, these gifts are only had through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  Peace for us is the accomplishment of His purpose!!  Who has "heard" our message?  Isaiah proclaimed the message!  Let us do likewise!  "JOY! to the world, the LORD has come!"

King of Kings

A “king” is a hard concept for an American to grasp.  We are awed by the presence of some, for instance, the president or film & music personalities, but a king…it’s just not programmed for us.  As a Christian in America, I must dig deep to imagine the regal presence of a king.

This requires “double” meditation on my part to consider God the King.  The Creator of all in charge of all and ruling it all.  Creator, with no beginning, Who put it all in motion, everything working precisely, completely in charge, no mistakes, no wringing of His hands and not one thing escapes His understanding or control.  God, the King!!   “God is the King of all the earth.” 

Now, let’s consider another aspect of this thought.  Jesus, Creator with God from the beginning, came to this earth of which He ruled.  Christmas, supposedly, is the time we celebrate this coming, His first Advent.  He was born of flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit for what?   Pilate, who was knowledgeable about kings, asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews.  Jesus did not answer the question immediately but then Pilate asked again, “So You are a king”?  Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 

Here we are at Christmas: lights, cameras, action, food, friends, family, and gifts.  What about worship?  As Christians, do we do any better than the world?  Jesus, God the King, said He is born and come to tell us the truth.  Do we hear His voice?  Are we listening?  Are we preparing Him room daily?  Does He awe us as much as the glitz of Hollywood, New York, Washington D.C. or the decorations on our houses?   Are we awed  by the truth that He desired relationship restored so passionately that He became flesh?

Right after He told Pilate this profound information, Pilate sarcastically asked Jesus the question many are still asking:  “What is truth?”  Then he proceeded to have Jesus flogged, a punishment that revealed just how fleshy Jesus had become.  Pilate then presented the pitiful figure to the people, “Behold, the Man!”   Not long after that, Pilate then said, “Behold, your King!”

Behold, the Man!  Behold, your King!  Behold, your God!  “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the Incarnate Deity!  Pleased as Man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emamanuel.”  Man-King-God!  Emmanuel, God with us!  “Shout for joy, O heavens!  And rejoice, O earth!  Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains!  For the LORD has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted.”  We are all afflicted with sin!  And Jesus, the God-Man, the King, came to be the Solution to this affliction.  This is why we Christians can sing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.  Let earth receive her King!”  And this is why the Christian has hope in this ever-changing life:  Jesus will come again, His second Advent.  Rejoice, be prepared, proclaim the “Truth.”  “For “this” I have been born, for “this” I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.”

George Frideric Handel, upon reading God’s Word was so overcome by its power, that he began to write “Messiah”.  At one point in the weeks that followed, a servant testified that Handel burst out of his study with tears in his eyes, script in his hand and said, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself seated on His throne, with his Company of Angels.”

“For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, Hallelujah.  The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ.  King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

“O, come let us adore Him!  O COME, let us ADORE HIM!  O COME, LET US ADORE HIM!  Christ, the LORD!”   Bow down and adore the King of all the earth.  “Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down.”   “Let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!” 

Scripture References:  Psalm 47:7; John 18:33-37; Isaiah 49:13;  Isaiah 49:7; Psalm 95:6