WHAT UES CHRIST'S BIRTH MEAN?
aad NCE each year the civilized
¥ 78 § world is reminded of the birth of
g Christ. Around this the thoughts
and customs of millions move in
an ever-enlarging circle. Why should such
an event so atfect human thought and life?
Others have been born in circumstances of
much greater promise than was He. There
was no room at any inn, so His birthplace
was In an unusually unprepared place, the
manger of a common stable in the some-
what obscure village of Bethlehem.
Holy men of old prophesied this event in
remarkable detail before it took place;
but when His birth actually occurred, it
seemed strangely overlooked by those who
should have understood the time, and
eagerly watched for His coming. However,
with a small group of shepherds, tending
their flocks by night on the hills of Judea,
the coming Redeemer was frequently a
topic of conversation. To these simple
men was given an understanding of old-
time prophecies, and in their day they
hoped to see the Messiah.
(God responded to their faith and hope,
and a company of angels heralded His
birth. These shepherds knew that Bethle-
hem was to be the place, for had not the
prophet Micah declared, seven hundred
years before, ‘‘ But thou Bethlehem Ephra-
tah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall
He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler
in Israel.” Micah 5: 2.
They knew that He was to be the first-
born son—born of a virgin—for Isaiah had
said: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and
bear a son, and shall call His name Imman-
uel.” Isaiah 7: 14.
®
They understood something of the time,
for Jacob had prophesied nearly two thou-
sand years before, “The scepter shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from be-
tween his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto
Him shall the gathering of the people
be.” Genesis 49: 10.
Not only did prophets announce the
place, the nature, and the time, but the
company of angels, who suddenly appeared,
lightening with their glory the darkness of
the Judean night, said to the shepherds.
“Unto you 1s born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which 1s Christ the
Lord.”
By W. Gb. Turner
When the vision of the angel chorus had
faded, and the glory of their brightness
ranished, the shepherds said one to an-
other, "Let us go now even unto Bethle-
hem, and see this thing which has come to
pass, which the Lord hath made known to
us.” In Bethlehem they found Mary and
her Child, even as the prophets and angels
had declared, and the shepherds returned
to their flocks praising and glorifying God.
To them the birth of Christ meant much.
What does 1t mean tous? In the first place
it means that God loves humanity with so
deep a love as to give His only-begotten
Son, born in Bethlehem, to be a Saviour
and later to die for sinners. The story oft
Bethlehem 1s an exhaustless one. In it are
hidden the “depths of the riches both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God.”
Christ, in order to come to earth as a help-
less babe, exchanged the throne of heaven
for a manger, and the companionship of
adoring angels for the beasts of the stall.
As one writer says:
“Human pride and self-sufficiency stand
rebuked in His presence. Yet this was but
the beginning of His wonderful conde-
scension. It would have been an almost
infinite humiliation for the Son of God to
take man’s nature, even when Adam stood
in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus ac-
cepted humanity when the race had been
weakened by four thousand years of sin.
Like every child of Adam He accepted the
results of the working of the great law of
heredity. What these results were is shown
in the history of His earthly ancestors. He
came with such a heredity to share our
sorrows and temptations, and to give us
the example of a sinless life. . . . Into the
world where Satan claimed dominion God
permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe,
subject to the weakness of humanity. He
permitted Him to meet life's peril in com-
mon with every human soul, to fight the
battle as every child of humanity must
fight 1t, at the risk of failure and eternal
loss.
“The heart of the human father yearns
over his son. He looks into the face of his
little child, and trembles at the thought of
Vol. LI
lite’s peril. He longs to shield his dear one
from Satan's power, to hold him back from
temptation and conflict. To meet a bitterer
conflict and a more fearful risk, God gave
His onlv-begotten Son, that the path of life
might be made sure for our little ones.
‘Herein 1s love.” Wonder, O heavens! and
be astonished, O earth.’ Desire of Ages,”
Pp. 48, 49.
Not only did the birth of Christ reveal
God's love, but His birth made possible the
way for the sinner to escape from the bond-
age and enslavement of sin. At the time of
His birth this counsel was given concerning
Christ: “Thou shalt call His name JESUS,
for He shall save His people from their
sins.” Matthew 1: 21.
The Apostle Paul also wrote: ** When the
fulness of the time was come, God sent
forth His Son, . to redeem them that
were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons.” Galatians 4:4, 5.
To Adam and Eve He was the promised
seed. Sin had left its curse, and death was
revealed in each falling leaf and in every
withering flower. With increasing force the
sad truth impressed the human heart that
“the wages of sin 1s death.” Romans 6:
23. But in the dark picture there was the
gleam of hope of a coming One who should
save the people from their sins through His
own life, death, and resurrection. He was
to redeem, or re-buy, those who foolishly
had sold themselves to Satan for naught.
He was to do this by becoming a man hke
other men, being “made of a woman, made
under the law.” Galatians 4: 4.
His birth and ministry made possible
salvation for all who will accept Him as a
Saviour from sin. The relationship 1s a
distinctly personal one. While as a child
He was born into the world, and lived and
died for the world, only those who willingly
accept the provision God has so lovingly
made in Christ may find salvation. It 1s
not sufficient for men to accede to the mere
fact of Hix birth as a historical event.
They must recognize it and accept 1t as ¢
personal provision for their own release
from sin and death. Jesus’ birth contrib-
utes to our salvation. He was born, He
lived and grew as a child, He developed
into manhood, died on Calvary, and rose
again from the dead, and He now lives to
make intercession for us. Had He not been
tn. Watchman.
FrBRUAR Y ? 19.12 - Nao. 2
JAMES EARL SHULTZ, Editor
h4
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