The Son of God Who Came According to the Prophecies

There is a verse in the Bible that is most touching and joyful to mankind, which is Matthew 1:21, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins”.

Just because this word has been fulfilled already, some people regard it as merely a past event or they are not really moved by it. However for us, it is unimaginable what it would be like if it wasn’t fulfilled. This word has already been realized and everything has changed for us as a result.

This word did not come about suddenly before Jesus came. Prophecies concerning Him were echoing long before He came. For example, God said to Abraham who walked with Him, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son” (Gen 18:10). In the English ASV, this is written as, “I will certainly return unto thee when the season cometh round”, and in the RSV, “I will surely return to you in the spring”. Through Abraham, God had spoken in advance of a spring time. Although spring is not visible in itself, we know that spring has come when we see the flowers bloom. There was the word of prophecy saying, “If the impossible happens so that you have a son, you will know that I have returned to your household,” which was actually fulfilled.

The fact that a son was born to Abraham at the age of a hundred through Sarah carries two meanings. From Abraham’s perspective, it means spring has come to his household. And from God’s perspective, it means His will has been fulfilled on earth according to His dispensation. In other words for Abraham’s family, it was the fulfillment of a small part of God’s promise given to him, whereas for mankind, the advent of spring was foretold.

For the Son of God to come to the earth according to the prophecies, much interference was encountered. There were such great difficulties that even the survival of Israel as a nation was uncertain. There were critical moments that cast doubt on whether God’s plan could actually be fulfilled. Nevertheless, the promise of God was eventually fulfilled on earth through the passage that started from Abraham and continued down to Joseph.

People often say that Christmas is the day the Son of God was born. But strictly speaking, that is incorrect. Jesus referred to Himself as “Son of Man”, which denotes God who came as man. The one who was born is the Son of Man, not the Son of God. Jesus Christ is God’s Son and the Son of Man. He was born as the Son of Man; however He was not born as the Son of God but had simply come.

When the Jews asked Jesus, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (Jn 8:57-58). Again, when the disciples said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”  Jesus said, “What if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before?” (Jn 6:60-62).

Jesus was together with God from eternity past. He became the Son of Man when He was born into the earth at Bethlehem. Spring had arrived for Abraham when he had Isaac in his old age, and consequently kings came forth out of his descendants. God set such faith of Abraham as a model and the descendants of his faith finally came to meet the King of kings.

Salvation Perfected with Immanuel

The Son of God came as Christ with the name Jesus. He became flesh in order to pay the price of sin which the sinners were supposed to bear. He is originally the Word that was in God’s bosom, meaning He is spirit. The reason He came in the flesh was to die. By His death on the cross, He received the eternal punishment that mankind had to receive, and gave them eternal life by shedding His blood. We have thus been saved because the Word that was with God came in the flesh, tore His flesh and gave it to us.

It is still too early to rest easy even though we have been saved. Our hope is that the Lord will return and take us to Heaven. Before then what we must undergo is the resurrection. As the flesh came from dust, it returns to it upon death. It is not the flesh that will be brought back to life when the Lord returns. Upon His return, the souls resting in Paradise will all of a sudden be transformed in a flash into an imperishable body and meet the Lord. Those who are on the earth will meet the Lord after their perishable body is changed into a spiritual body in a flash.

Of course for that to happen, the Lord has to take them up to the air. Even if one is saved, he cannot be transformed and go up to the air on his own. It is impossible unless the Lord calls him. Nobody knows when the Lord might return. Therefore we must never be apart from the Lord even for a second. Immanuel! Immanuel is what we need.

Immanuel was never realized prior to the coming of Jesus, the salvation. Although the Old Testament believers walked with God, God did not have an obligation to do so. Strictly speaking, though people can be said to have walked with God at that time, they cannot be said to have been together with God. Plus it was only a very small number of people that had the chance to walk with God. Of them were Enoch, Noah and Abraham. Though they had great faith, their relationship with God was only as those who “walked with” Him. At that time, even if man followed God, they could not keep hold of Him. No matter how much they yearned for God, they could always slip away from God.

Before Jesus came, nobody was saved regardless of how great their faith was. Some people had to wait thousands of years until their faith was realized. For them, it was a luxury to even dream of a hopeful future. If Jesus had not died on the cross, the people of the past would have had nothing to do with salvation. They kept their faith to the end in the hope that faith’s reality will one day be revealed. A person like Abraham even sacrificed a son born to him at the age of a hundred in order not to lose his faith. The moment Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross ad died, salvation finally arrived also for those people of the past. They had succeeded after struggling all those years.

Strictly speaking, the salvation of the Old Testament people is not as perfect as that of the New Testament people. Salvation for the people in the New Testament times is made perfect because the Lord is with them. There was faith during the Old Testament times but no salvation. However, there is both faith and salvation in the New Testament times. Faith is connected to the idea of ‘walking with God’, while salvation is related to the idea of ‘God being with us’. Through faith we may walk with God. However, salvation is perfected by God being with us.

Unlike the Old Testament where the expression that man walked with God is commonly found, the New Testament says that God is with us. Matthew 1:23 says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Matthew 28:20 says, “Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” John 14:16-17 says, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

We cannot be with God at our own will. All we can do is follow after God. He must abide in us for our salvation to be made complete. This is very important. Why is that? The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead must dwell in us so that He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in us (Rom 8:11).

Immanuel means God is with us. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Here, the word with is in Greek, πρός (pros). This is not in the same meaning as when somebody calls their family overseas and says, “I’m always with you in heart.” When we consider the relationship between God and the Word, this word πρός (pros) cannot be used so lightly. And if we consider how this word is used to describe our relationship with God, we can imagine just how special our relationship is. If a person is carrying two buckets of water in each hand, the water contained in each bucket are going parallel to each other. But if one of them is poured into the other bucket, they become one and inseparable. They can never go back to their original state.

With the coming of Jesus Christ, the age of Immanuel has begun. The appointed time has come and springtime has thus begun. Jesus Christ died, resurrected and ascended into Heaven, asked the Father and has sent the Holy Spirit to us. By this, our salvation has been fulfilled. The salvation we received is so perfect that the people of the Old Testament envy us. Immanuel that was promised through the Prophets has finally been fulfilled in us.

The One Worthy to Receive Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

Jesus was born in a shabby and smelly horse stable in Bethlehem. While there were some trying to kill Him from birth, the Magi from the East travelled a long distance to worship Him who was born as King, and presented gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These three gifts each bear a significant meaning.

With gold, almost anything can be done in this world. Everything that people do on the earth is in fact for the pursuit of gold which in turn represents wealth. The reason people study so hard, work hard in the face all the difficulties, practice self-discipline in an effort to improve their lives, is to obtain gold in the end. Most crimes are also linked to people’s desire to have gold (wealth). The problem is, no matter how much gold people have, their desire for it will not disappear but only grow stronger. And as people pursue such desires, they lose sight of moral virtue, and even crush other people’s happiness in order to gain wealth. Gold is acting as the master in this world and people are slaves to it. From a long time ago, gold has been the exclusive property of kings. Hence it represents the authority of a king. The Magi from the East offered their gold not to King Herod but Jesus who was in the horse stable. They were putting down man’s wretched state as a slave to gold and instead laying their gold before the Lord confessing, “You are our King.”

Frankincense was a cultural good used by rich people at the time and is in its use similar to perfumes today. It was very useful during those times when proper sanitary systems like sewerage were not in place and stench would have been an issue. Frankincense was never left out in worshipping God and conducting ceremonies. It purifies the air, helps to clear the mind, increases oxygen supply to the brain and is even being used in aromatherapy for its pain relief properties. Frankincense symbolizes the pinnacle of culture. Offering frankincense to Jesus was the Magi confessing, “Jesus, You are our comfort. You are our peace. You are above all in our lives.”

In the past, myrrh was a panacea for all ailments. Myrrh is known for its antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and anti-aging properties. It was very valuable to the people in those times who wanted to live long without being sick. By offering the gift of myrrh, the Magi laid down man’s desperate desire to prolong his life on the earth even slightly and received in the Lord who is the everlasting life saying, “Only You can save us.”

Thus the Magi laid before the Lord the three most valued things in the world – man’s life, culture and splendor, and confessed, “We welcome You coming into this world!” This is the attitude that the church too must take on.

The Lives of Those to Whom Immanuel has been Fulfilled

The Lord came to the earth to be with us. Though He greatly suffered on the earth, He did not take revenge on those that afflicted Him but instead in the most agonizing moment He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). The Lord endured to the very end in order that He may dwell in each one of us. However He gave us a stern warning. “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matt 12:32). There is still forgiveness for anyone that disobeys the Lord who came as the Son of Man. However there is no forgiveness if anyone disobeys the Lord who has come within us.

It is possible for man to walk with God by faith. But the Lord must come within us and be with us in order for our salvation to be complete. Just as the Lord said in Matthew 8:20, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head,” there is no place for the Lord to dwell in this world. Let us not try to trace back past memories by going to the horse stable in Bethlehem or the grave in Jerusalem, but surely realize that the Lord is within us. We should not be satisfied at just walking with God but make sure that Immanuel is fully realized in us as prophesied in the Scriptures.

As we celebrate Christmas, our faith should not just be about rejoicing the birth of baby Jesus. He came into the world as King. Psalm 24:9 already hinted at the power of God’s kingdom where it says, “Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.” Now we must receive in the Lord that He may become King within us.

We were people utterly destitute in the beginning, but not anymore. Jesus has filled our deficiencies and become our glory. Now we need to forsake our old wicked habits and endeavor to live a life worthy of His grace. We must not slight this privilege of Immanuel given us by losing our hearts to the three great treasures of this world represented by gold, frankincense and myrrh. Our hearts should be filled with the hope of Heaven, and we must daily experience the testimonies of Immanuel while we are on the earth. Though life in this world is hard, we have to triumph over the world and be filled with the power of life to overcome sicknesses and our weaknesses. The evidence of Immanuel must greatly be displayed in our lives.

Serving the church is a rightful duty of anyone who acknowledges that Immanuel has been fulfilled. Every member of the church needs to make a united effort in giving offering and keep the church moving. And every saint should willingly serve the church. Everyone should make an effort, even if that is picking up a few pieces of rubbish in the church, instead of trying to avoid it by saying they are busy with their own work. And people should share the load of work with others so that they too may take part in serving the church. Even when opinions may clash between the saints, nobody should get upset. Rather, the strength of the church needs to be built up by everyone sacrificing himself. The church must be filled with the evidence of Immanuel.