But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
When the appointed moment determined in heaven arrived, God sent His own Son into the world to save rather than destroy it. The One sent was the eternal Son, equal with God and Creator, who took real humanity, born as a babe of humble parentage and living in sinless flesh. Born under the law, He placed Himself under its authority and gave it perfect obedience to uphold God's government. He came to redeem those held captive under the law by bearing their death penalty as Substitute and Surety, so that they might receive adoption as sons and daughters of God. He came when evil had nearly mastered the world and spiritual darkness covered the people, yet providence had prepared the nations with one government and one widespread language, and His gift poured out the whole treasure of heaven so completely that no more could be given.
Appointed Time Arrived
The fullness of the time is the appointed time determined in heaven in the counsels of heaven, and when it came God sent forth His Son into the world to save it rather than destroy it. His purposes were neither rushed nor delayed, and His healing grace continues until the plan of salvation is fulfilled. The One sent was equal with God yet took human nature by being born of a woman and coming under the law, to redeem those under the law so they might receive adoption as children and have hope of eternal life rather than condemnation, Himself bearing the retribution for sin in self-giving love. The promises of His coming sustained hope through the generations, though many died without seeing them fulfilled. God did not reveal the exact time at first; Daniel's prophecy later made it known, but many failed to understand it, and as faith weakened some thought the visions had failed.
His coming was part of the plan of salvation formed ages and thousands of years before, established before the world was made. Christ was appointed as humanity's Mediator, substitute and surety, with divinity enshrouded in humanity, and the infinite sacrifice came thousands of years after the plan was formed, God manifested in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and purchasing the whole world by giving His own life as a ransom. The appointed full time was the culminating point of the plan of redemption, which began with the gospel given to Adam and Eve in Eden after the apostasy and unfolded through prophetic history with fresh and increased evidence until Christ made His advent into the world. He came then as the great Instructor in divine philosophy, without display, without outward glory to stir mere admiration, and without earthly riches, born as a babe in Bethlehem.
When the full appointed time came the windows of heaven were opened and a flood of heavenly grace was poured upon the world in God's wonderful gift of His only begotten Son. In that one gift He poured forth the whole treasure of heaven to save a fallen race, revealing a love for man that defies all computation. To reveal the abundance of His grace He could give no less than the fullness, and it was not possible for Him to give more. The sacrifice was so complete that the inhabitants of other worlds could never say God could have done more to show His love. Christ Jesus was thus prepared as the suitable channel through whom the streams of heavenly grace could be poured into the world through every hour and all ages.
Ancient believers were saved by faith in the coming Saviour typified by sacrifices and offerings and had their faith strengthened by revelations of the Sun of Righteousness from time to time. Pious Jews looked, believed, and earnestly prayed for the coming of the Messiah, trusting God would not leave His people to be a reproach to the heathen, since in past distress when they called upon Him He had raised them a deliverer. From the predictions of the prophets they understood the appointed time had arrived. The sending was God's love giving His only begotten Son so believers should not perish but have everlasting life, to purify to Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works who grow in capability as workers. That sending would bring a clear revelation of the divine will, free their doctrines from traditions and needless ceremonies that had confused faith, and dispel ignorance and bigotry, which aged pious Jews waited for day and night, praying to see the Saviour before they died.
Darkness Before His Coming
He came when evil had gained almost complete control and the agency of evil seemed to have given the world wholly into the enemy's control, after ages when Satan seemed to control the world and humanity grown more degraded through ages of transgression had sunk into suffering, misery, corruption, murder and loss and called for the coming of the Redeemer. Men had chosen Satan as leader and were chained as his captives, moving in a gloomy procession toward eternal ruin and hopeless death without morning. Bodies made to house God had become homes for demons, with senses, nerves, passions and organs driven by supernatural evil into vilest lust and faces stamped with the expression of evil legions, a sight grievous to infinite purity beheld with pity and compassion.
The gulf between earth and heaven had been made deep and impassable by Satan through falsehoods that emboldened men in sin, with the purpose to wear out the forbearance of God and extinguish His love for man so He would abandon the world to Satanic rule, to shut out a knowledge of God from men, to turn them from the temple of God, and to establish his own kingdom in a strife for supremacy that had seemed almost wholly successful. Even then in every generation God had His agencies, even among the heathen men through whom Christ was working to uplift people from sin and degradation, but these men were despised and hated and many suffered violent death, while the dark shadow Satan had cast over the world grew deeper and deeper.
The fullness of the time was the time of Christ's birth, when the Jewish nation was chafing under foreign masters and racked with internal strife. The Jews kept the form of a separate government but were under the Roman yoke, with Rome claiming the right to appoint and remove the high priest, so the office was often secured by fraud, bribery and even murder and the priesthood became corrupt and used its great power for selfish and mercenary ends. The people suffered merciless priestly demands and heavy Roman taxes, producing widespread discontent, frequent popular outbreaks, and greed, violence, distrust and spiritual apathy eating out the heart of the nation. Hatred of the Romans and national and spiritual pride kept rigorous forms of worship, with priests guarding a reputation for sanctity by scrupulous ceremony, while people in darkness and oppression and rulers thirsting for power longed for One who would vanquish their enemies and restore the kingdom to Israel.
Jewish teaching had eclipsed the revelation of God and weakened virtue and purity through self-sufficiency and pride, while faith was clouded by departure from God and by leaders enforcing their own traditions as the commandments of God, so that God could not manifest His glory and power through a corrupt priesthood. Those who loved God longed for direct enlightenment from heaven. Pious Jews were looking, believing and earnestly praying for the coming of the Messiah, trusting God would not leave His people to be a reproach to the heathen, since in past distress He had raised them a deliverer when they called upon Him.
The world was ripe for the Deliverer because providence had directed the movements of nations and the tide of human impulse and influence to prepare that moment. That ripeness meant the nations were united under one government, one language was widely spoken and everywhere recognized as the language of literature, and Jews of the dispersion gathered from all lands to Jerusalem for the annual feasts so that when they returned to the places where they lived they could spread throughout the world the tidings of the Messiah's coming. He came when spiritual darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people and darkness appeared universal and complete so that God's image could not be discerned, and God again said Let there be light by sending Jesus the light of the world to bring truth and to shine. Satan threw his shadow across the pathway of men to keep them from knowing God and the future world, and men sat in the shadow of death in a world darkened by apostasy and spiritual wickedness whose only hope was for the gloom to be lifted, because man's necessities could be met in no other way and God could reveal Himself in no other way.
Son Born Under Law
The One sent is no less than the Son of the Infinite God, the eternal Word from the bosom of the Father, the Creator of the world, the Majesty of Heaven and King of glory equal with God. By decision in consultation between the Father and the Son He volunteered to come forth from the Father to this world, leaving the royal courts and His high command, honor, glory, throne, royal robe and kingly crown fully prepared. He came as the Messenger of the covenant, the Sun of Righteousness, the appointed Instructor and divine Teacher, sent to redeem those under the law so they might receive adoption as sons. His coming manifested God's love and offered eternal life to believers, gathering the penalty resting on the sinful race into His own pure, sinless soul as substitute, surety and ransom, and He alone was sufficient to accomplish redemption while revealing the immutability of God's law.
Made of a woman means He took humanity and was made flesh dwelling among men, mysteriously allied to human nature and walking this earth in flesh. He was born as a babe in Bethlehem of humble parentage, brought up in obscurity at Nazareth in poverty without worldly rank, beginning His work without outward honor or display. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, encircling the human race with His human arm while grasping the throne of the Infinite with His divine arm, and His union of humanity with divinity made possible redemption through the sacrifice of His life. By that union God appointed Him head over all things, with saving provision embracing every person, church and sphere of life.
He took human nature but not the sinfulness of man in order to assume the position of head of humanity, taking sinless humanity with its infirmities and living a life unmarred by any spot or stain of sin. He hated every kind of sin with His whole being, and His purity reproved the proud and sensual generation among whom He lived, who hated Him until they crucified Him. Made under the law means He came under the law and became subject to the law, giving it implicit obedience and honoring it because the object of His atonement was that the divine law and government might be maintained. Obedient to all of God's requirements, He stands at the head of humanity as substitute and surety and example for all who will follow, so that man may become like his Master, obedient to the Father and engaged in the service God requires.
He did not come with outward display, power, rank, earthly riches or the glory He had with the Father, for His object would not then have been accomplished and people could not have lived in His presence. To meet the necessities of humanity He veiled divinity with humanity and came as a helpless babe and as God and the elder brother of the human race in human flesh to dwell among people and touch humanity. He clothed His divinity with humanity to reveal what God designed humanity to be had sin never existed and to begin the work of recreating humanity whose likeness to God had been obliterated by sin. Showing the union that may exist between the human and the divine and in that union resisting all assaults of the foe, He brought with Him all grace, all healing, all efficiency and the bread of life which received is to man as the tree of life, so men and women may become partakers of the divine nature and the moral image of God be restored in all who receive Him.
Though in reality the Son of the infinite God, He disguised His holy mission by assuming the likeness of a man and stepping down to meet and be subjected to all the evil tendencies to which man is heir. He lived the full human life from childhood to manhood bearing human trials, tried and tempted as men are tried and tempted yet living a sinless life. Making it possible to be buffeted by human agencies inspired by Satan, He came to shine in the darkness and dispel it by His presence, to show human beings what they may and should become and give in Himself an example of what they can become, and to know by experience how to help them in struggles with sin so that men can live His life through His power and under His instruction. In this He exemplified what humanity must do and be to overcome the enemy and sit with the Father upon His throne.
Redemption and Sonship Secured
God sent His Son to redeem those under the law, to dispute Satan's authority and free those held under the law as captives bound to Satan, to counteract the work of the destroyer, to subdue the stubborn, obdurate heart and win human confidence, and to bring them into His family as sons with recovery and salvation. He came at the appointed time after ages when Satan seemed to control the world and humanity had sunk into suffering, misery, corruption, murder and loss, having chosen Satan as leader and being chained as his captives moving in a gloomy procession toward eternal ruin and hopeless death without morning. Bodies made to house God had become homes for demons, with senses, nerves, passions and organs driven by supernatural evil into vilest lust and faces stamped with the expression of evil legions, a sight grievous to infinite purity yet beheld with pity and compassion. He came when spiritual darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people, when darkness appeared universal and complete so that God's image could not be discerned, and God again said, Let there be light, by sending Jesus as the light of the world to bring truth and to shine. He came as a human being, no less than the only begotten Son, the Creator and Eternal Word, with mercy and benevolence dwelling on earth to reveal God in human flesh, divinity veiled by humanity so He could touch humanity, taking human nature and becoming flesh to live among people in a world corrupted by sin, to teach in language they could understand, to make God's moral government and the plan of redemption clear and set out the lessons of the Old Testament, to become one with us as example and Pattern for all humanity and to restore the moral image of God in all who would receive Him, a surprise of grace to all the heavenly host.
Christ bore the punishment for sin as humanity's Substitute and Surety, accepting full responsibility for sin and giving Himself as an atoning sacrifice, offering, substitute, surety and ransom. Adam's disobedience had brought the human family under the death penalty, and Christ took the penalty of Adam's transgression upon Himself, dying in behalf of the human family. He gathered the penalty resting on the sinful race into His own pure, sinless soul and offered Himself as a sacrifice for the fallen race, taking the penalty of human sin upon Himself. This was in keeping with the covenant made before the world began and the plan of salvation established before the world was made, in which He was appointed as humanity's Mediator. His coming revealed God's love and benevolence and self-giving love, and offered believers hope of eternal life rather than condemnation, with all heaven interested in His coming to give evidence of the love of God by dying for the fallen race.
His work reveals both the love of God and the immutability of God's law, which could not be changed by one jot or tittle to meet man in his fallen condition. The law stands immutable and eternal as God's throne, holy, just, good and complete, and cannot be weakened, repealed or changed. The Son was made under the law, giving it implicit obedience and honoring it, because the object of His atonement was that the divine law and government might be maintained. God in love gave His only begotten Son when probation was granted to bear all the guilt of transgression, yet the law remains unchanged.
That sending was to redeem those under the law so they might receive the adoption of sons. Those who receive Him are brought back through His merits to the place of sons and daughters of God, made members of the royal family and heirs with heirship with Jesus Christ, and made partakers of the divine nature. Redemption, regeneration and adoption were ordained by sovereign grace so everything is owed to grace. At the appointed fullness of time He came as the rising star of hope and brought hope to the world, as a willing sacrifice stooping from His high command in heaven, giving up His honor and glory and tasting the bitterness of death to rescue men and women from the slavery of sin, coming through human birth and placed under the law. His brightness and that hope increased as He increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
His union of humanity with divinity made possible the redemption of the human race through the sacrifice of His life, for being born of a woman He shared humanity while divinity was enshrouded in humanity. God appointed Him head over all things, and His saving provision embraces every person, church and sphere of life. Those who receive Him as Saviour are freely pardoned and forgiven and granted pardon through repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and made members of the royal family. While those who refuse the offering and will not keep His commandments in gratitude and love can receive no more.
Promise and Prophecy Fulfilled
The promise of a Saviour began in Eden and was repeated through patriarchs and prophets, keeping hope alive across generations even though the first hearers died before seeing its fulfilment. The long delay did not mean the promise had failed, for Christ was born in Bethlehem when heaven's appointed hour arrived. His coming was the distinguished arrival long announced in the scroll of prophecy and long foretold in the Scriptures, with the prophets making Him their earliest and latest theme. Moses predicted the prophet to be raised up with God's words in his mouth whose supreme authority must be obeyed, and Isaiah predicted His anointing by the Spirit to preach good tidings, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty, comfort mourners, and bring forth judgment to the Gentiles in meekness until judgment is set in the earth, together with the promise of the messenger of the covenant yet to come and the Sun of Righteousness yet to arise.
Inspired prophecy had long foretold His coming and described how He would be received, and He came at the right point in history so that Christians could look back on the fulfilled prophecies and have their faith developed and strengthened. That sending was to Israel, the chosen nation He had redeemed from Egyptian bondage and entrusted with His oracles, after they had left their allegiance and joined Satan's forces. The Son came in flesh and dwelt among His own people to save them, yet those He came to save would have none of Him, rejected the Messiah under Satan's control and sought opportunity to put Him to death. He came exactly as the prophets testified He would come, yet the people He had peculiarly favored refused Him because He came in a manner that did not gratify their pride.
They had expected Him to come as a King with power and great glory, which belongs to His second appearing in the clouds of heaven; instead He came as a babe of poor parentage without worldly honor or outward display. Since the human family is alike in every age, the churches in this age would reject Him in the same manner as the Jews did. Though Scripture had specified how the promised Saviour would come, the Jewish priests and teachers failed to recognize Him because they prized human traditions over God's commandments and read Scripture through their own maxims rather than letting it interpret itself. They studied the prophecies without spiritual insight, overlooking the scriptures pointing to the humiliation of Christ's first advent and misapplying those speaking of the glory of His second coming, because pride obscured their vision and they interpreted prophecy according to selfish desires.
His sending would bring a clear revelation of the divine will, free their doctrines from traditions and needless ceremonies that had confused faith, and dispel ignorance and bigotry. Aged pious Jews waited for this day and night, praying to see the Saviour before they died.
Teacher Example and Response
God in heaven knew man's deep need for a divine teacher, and in pity and sympathy for fallen humanity bound to Satan and to his chariot-car sent forth His Son when the fullness of time appointed in the counsels of heaven had come. The sending was God's rich benevolence, goodness and love, a surprise of grace to the world and an astonishment to the heavenly host, calling heaven to hear and earth to be astonished. The One sent is no less than the Creator of the world, the Son of the Infinite God, the only begotten Son, the Eternal Word, mercy and benevolence dwelling on earth to reveal God in human flesh. Fully prepared, He left the royal courts of heaven and came to a world marred and polluted with sin as man's instructor, taking human nature upon Him to meet the necessities of humanity, mysteriously allying Himself to it with divinity veiled by humanity so He could touch humanity, and walking this earth in flesh. He came when spiritual darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people and darkness appeared universal and complete so that God's image could not be discerned, and God again said Let there be light by sending Jesus the light of the world to bring truth and to shine, to counteract the work of the destroyer, to subdue the stubborn obdurate heart and win the heart and mind of man, to become one with men as example and Pattern for all humanity, and to restore the moral image of God in all who would receive Him.
The long-looked-for Instructor is the heaven-appointed Teacher who is no less than the Son of God Himself, sent of God and one with the Father, the great Instructor in divine philosophy, the Messenger of the covenant and Sun of Righteousness. His coming was the distinguished arrival long foretold in the Scriptures from the beginning of the prophetic era, where the prophets made Him their earliest and latest theme, foretelling an inspired Teacher whose words would demand universal attention and whose power would overcome Satan. Therefore His words carry supreme authority and invincible power and must not be disregarded, and in Him mercy and truth met together and righteousness and peace kissed each other. He did not come with outward display, power, rank, outward glory to stir mere admiration, or earthly riches, for His object would not then have been accomplished, but clothed His divinity with humanity to reveal what God designed humanity to be had sin never existed, taking sinless humanity with its infirmities to place men on vantage ground with God, showing the union that may exist between the human and the divine and in that union resisting all assaults of the foe so men and women may become partakers of the divine nature.
He came as a human being to teach people in language they could understand, to make God's moral government and the plan of redemption clear and to set out the lessons of the Old Testament. He came to shed abroad the bright beams of truth that men might gain a fitness for heaven and to reveal the character of the Father that men might worship Him in spirit and in truth, sweeping away the thick darkness with which Satan had enshrouded the throne of the Deity and again manifesting the Father to men as the Light of life. His coming reveals God to the world as a God of love, mercy, tenderness and compassion, and that He might stand at the head of humanity He took upon Himself human nature, encircling the human race with His human arm while grasping the throne of the Infinite with His divine arm, born of humble parentage and brought up in obscurity at Nazareth in poverty and without worldly rank, not coming in His glory heralded by the heavenly host but in a life of humiliation and suffering. He came as humanity's Redeemer to win human confidence and bring recovery and salvation, taking the penalty of human sin upon Himself, because humanity's need demanded help without delay and because of their pitiable condition.
His death gives men a probation with opportunity to see the evil of sin and to choose as leader either the apostate expelled from heaven or the Prince of Life so all might return to loyalty. His coming gives everyone a second probation, another chance to choose God as Leader, making earth a trial ground and school where they are educated, disciplined and trained for the higher life and fitted for heaven, with every provision for an experimental knowledge of the character and work of the Redeemer. This sending was part of the plan by which after the Fall Christ acted in God's stead toward humanity as mediator and instructor, saving the race from immediate death and giving Adam and Eve and all their posterity a probation in which to return to allegiance. He came as a willing sacrifice, stooping from His high command in heaven, giving up His honor and glory and tasting the bitterness of death to rescue men and women from the slavery of sin, coming through human birth and placed under the law to redeem those under the law so they might receive the adoption of sons and become partakers of the divine nature.
He came to shine in the darkness and dispel it by His presence, to show human beings what they may and should become and to give in Himself an example of what they can become, knowing by experience how to help them in their struggles with sin, so that men can live His life through His power and under His instruction and overcome the enemy. As substitute and surety standing at the head of humanity, obedient to all of God's requirements, He is the example for all who will follow Him, so that man may become like his Master, obedient to the Father in heaven and not to the enemy of God, and may engage in the service God requires of each of His obedient children. Though in reality the Son of the infinite God, He disguised His holy mission by assuming the likeness of a man, stepping down from His throne of highest command, laying aside His royal robe and kingly crown and clothing His divinity with humanity, volunteering by decision in consultation between the Father and the Son to leave heaven and come forth from the Father to this world as a babe. He lived the full human life from childhood to manhood, bearing human trials, tried and tempted as men are tried and tempted yet living a sinless life, coming as a man to meet and be subjected to all the evil tendencies to which man is heir, making it possible to be buffeted by human agencies inspired by Satan, and to exemplify what humanity must do and be in order to overcome the enemy and to sit with the Father upon His throne.
When believers catch a glimpse of what Christ suffered for them to make them children of God by adoption, they are no longer satisfied with worldly pride and self-love, they no longer worship self, and God becomes the object of their supreme regard. This standing as sons adopted into God's family calls for obedient lives shaped by Jesus' love. The sending was God's love giving His only begotten Son so believers should not perish but have everlasting life, after ancient believers had been saved by faith in the coming Saviour typified by sacrifices and offerings with faith strengthened by revelations of the Sun of Righteousness from time to time, to purify to Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works who grow in capability as workers. Redemption, regeneration and adoption to heirship with Jesus Christ were ordained by sovereign grace, so everything is owed to grace, and that grace received is to be revealed to others, with His coming bringing hope to the world and that hope growing as He increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
When the appointed moment determined in heaven arrived, God sent His own Son into the world to save rather than destroy it. The One sent was the eternal Son, equal with God and Creator, who took real humanity, born as a babe of humble parentage and living in sinless flesh. Born under the law, He placed Himself under its authority and gave it perfect obedience to uphold God's government. He came to redeem those held captive under the law by bearing their death penalty as Substitute and Surety, so that they might receive adoption as sons and daughters of God. He came when evil had nearly mastered the world and spiritual darkness covered the people, yet providence had prepared the nations with one government and one widespread language, and His gift poured out the whole treasure of heaven so completely that no more could be given.
Appointed Time Arrived
The fullness of the time is the appointed time determined in heaven in the counsels of heaven, and when it came God sent forth His Son into the world to save it rather than destroy it. His purposes were neither rushed nor delayed, and His healing grace continues until the plan of salvation is fulfilled. The One sent was equal with God yet took human nature by being born of a woman and coming under the law, to redeem those under the law so they might receive adoption as children and have hope of eternal life rather than condemnation, Himself bearing the retribution for sin in self-giving love. The promises of His coming sustained hope through the generations, though many died without seeing them fulfilled. God did not reveal the exact time at first; Daniel's prophecy later made it known, but many failed to understand it, and as faith weakened some thought the visions had failed.
His coming was part of the plan of salvation formed ages and thousands of years before, established before the world was made. Christ was appointed as humanity's Mediator, substitute and surety, with divinity enshrouded in humanity, and the infinite sacrifice came thousands of years after the plan was formed, God manifested in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and purchasing the whole world by giving His own life as a ransom. The appointed full time was the culminating point of the plan of redemption, which began with the gospel given to Adam and Eve in Eden after the apostasy and unfolded through prophetic history with fresh and increased evidence until Christ made His advent into the world. He came then as the great Instructor in divine philosophy, without display, without outward glory to stir mere admiration, and without earthly riches, born as a babe in Bethlehem.
When the full appointed time came the windows of heaven were opened and a flood of heavenly grace was poured upon the world in God's wonderful gift of His only begotten Son. In that one gift He poured forth the whole treasure of heaven to save a fallen race, revealing a love for man that defies all computation. To reveal the abundance of His grace He could give no less than the fullness, and it was not possible for Him to give more. The sacrifice was so complete that the inhabitants of other worlds could never say God could have done more to show His love. Christ Jesus was thus prepared as the suitable channel through whom the streams of heavenly grace could be poured into the world through every hour and all ages.
Ancient believers were saved by faith in the coming Saviour typified by sacrifices and offerings and had their faith strengthened by revelations of the Sun of Righteousness from time to time. Pious Jews looked, believed, and earnestly prayed for the coming of the Messiah, trusting God would not leave His people to be a reproach to the heathen, since in past distress when they called upon Him He had raised them a deliverer. From the predictions of the prophets they understood the appointed time had arrived. The sending was God's love giving His only begotten Son so believers should not perish but have everlasting life, to purify to Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works who grow in capability as workers. That sending would bring a clear revelation of the divine will, free their doctrines from traditions and needless ceremonies that had confused faith, and dispel ignorance and bigotry, which aged pious Jews waited for day and night, praying to see the Saviour before they died.
Darkness Before His Coming
He came when evil had gained almost complete control and the agency of evil seemed to have given the world wholly into the enemy's control, after ages when Satan seemed to control the world and humanity grown more degraded through ages of transgression had sunk into suffering, misery, corruption, murder and loss and called for the coming of the Redeemer. Men had chosen Satan as leader and were chained as his captives, moving in a gloomy procession toward eternal ruin and hopeless death without morning. Bodies made to house God had become homes for demons, with senses, nerves, passions and organs driven by supernatural evil into vilest lust and faces stamped with the expression of evil legions, a sight grievous to infinite purity beheld with pity and compassion.
The gulf between earth and heaven had been made deep and impassable by Satan through falsehoods that emboldened men in sin, with the purpose to wear out the forbearance of God and extinguish His love for man so He would abandon the world to Satanic rule, to shut out a knowledge of God from men, to turn them from the temple of God, and to establish his own kingdom in a strife for supremacy that had seemed almost wholly successful. Even then in every generation God had His agencies, even among the heathen men through whom Christ was working to uplift people from sin and degradation, but these men were despised and hated and many suffered violent death, while the dark shadow Satan had cast over the world grew deeper and deeper.
The fullness of the time was the time of Christ's birth, when the Jewish nation was chafing under foreign masters and racked with internal strife. The Jews kept the form of a separate government but were under the Roman yoke, with Rome claiming the right to appoint and remove the high priest, so the office was often secured by fraud, bribery and even murder and the priesthood became corrupt and used its great power for selfish and mercenary ends. The people suffered merciless priestly demands and heavy Roman taxes, producing widespread discontent, frequent popular outbreaks, and greed, violence, distrust and spiritual apathy eating out the heart of the nation. Hatred of the Romans and national and spiritual pride kept rigorous forms of worship, with priests guarding a reputation for sanctity by scrupulous ceremony, while people in darkness and oppression and rulers thirsting for power longed for One who would vanquish their enemies and restore the kingdom to Israel.
Jewish teaching had eclipsed the revelation of God and weakened virtue and purity through self-sufficiency and pride, while faith was clouded by departure from God and by leaders enforcing their own traditions as the commandments of God, so that God could not manifest His glory and power through a corrupt priesthood. Those who loved God longed for direct enlightenment from heaven. Pious Jews were looking, believing and earnestly praying for the coming of the Messiah, trusting God would not leave His people to be a reproach to the heathen, since in past distress He had raised them a deliverer when they called upon Him.
The world was ripe for the Deliverer because providence had directed the movements of nations and the tide of human impulse and influence to prepare that moment. That ripeness meant the nations were united under one government, one language was widely spoken and everywhere recognized as the language of literature, and Jews of the dispersion gathered from all lands to Jerusalem for the annual feasts so that when they returned to the places where they lived they could spread throughout the world the tidings of the Messiah's coming. He came when spiritual darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people and darkness appeared universal and complete so that God's image could not be discerned, and God again said Let there be light by sending Jesus the light of the world to bring truth and to shine. Satan threw his shadow across the pathway of men to keep them from knowing God and the future world, and men sat in the shadow of death in a world darkened by apostasy and spiritual wickedness whose only hope was for the gloom to be lifted, because man's necessities could be met in no other way and God could reveal Himself in no other way.
Son Born Under Law
The One sent is no less than the Son of the Infinite God, the eternal Word from the bosom of the Father, the Creator of the world, the Majesty of Heaven and King of glory equal with God. By decision in consultation between the Father and the Son He volunteered to come forth from the Father to this world, leaving the royal courts and His high command, honor, glory, throne, royal robe and kingly crown fully prepared. He came as the Messenger of the covenant, the Sun of Righteousness, the appointed Instructor and divine Teacher, sent to redeem those under the law so they might receive adoption as sons. His coming manifested God's love and offered eternal life to believers, gathering the penalty resting on the sinful race into His own pure, sinless soul as substitute, surety and ransom, and He alone was sufficient to accomplish redemption while revealing the immutability of God's law.
Made of a woman means He took humanity and was made flesh dwelling among men, mysteriously allied to human nature and walking this earth in flesh. He was born as a babe in Bethlehem of humble parentage, brought up in obscurity at Nazareth in poverty without worldly rank, beginning His work without outward honor or display. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, encircling the human race with His human arm while grasping the throne of the Infinite with His divine arm, and His union of humanity with divinity made possible redemption through the sacrifice of His life. By that union God appointed Him head over all things, with saving provision embracing every person, church and sphere of life.
He took human nature but not the sinfulness of man in order to assume the position of head of humanity, taking sinless humanity with its infirmities and living a life unmarred by any spot or stain of sin. He hated every kind of sin with His whole being, and His purity reproved the proud and sensual generation among whom He lived, who hated Him until they crucified Him. Made under the law means He came under the law and became subject to the law, giving it implicit obedience and honoring it because the object of His atonement was that the divine law and government might be maintained. Obedient to all of God's requirements, He stands at the head of humanity as substitute and surety and example for all who will follow, so that man may become like his Master, obedient to the Father and engaged in the service God requires.
He did not come with outward display, power, rank, earthly riches or the glory He had with the Father, for His object would not then have been accomplished and people could not have lived in His presence. To meet the necessities of humanity He veiled divinity with humanity and came as a helpless babe and as God and the elder brother of the human race in human flesh to dwell among people and touch humanity. He clothed His divinity with humanity to reveal what God designed humanity to be had sin never existed and to begin the work of recreating humanity whose likeness to God had been obliterated by sin. Showing the union that may exist between the human and the divine and in that union resisting all assaults of the foe, He brought with Him all grace, all healing, all efficiency and the bread of life which received is to man as the tree of life, so men and women may become partakers of the divine nature and the moral image of God be restored in all who receive Him.
Though in reality the Son of the infinite God, He disguised His holy mission by assuming the likeness of a man and stepping down to meet and be subjected to all the evil tendencies to which man is heir. He lived the full human life from childhood to manhood bearing human trials, tried and tempted as men are tried and tempted yet living a sinless life. Making it possible to be buffeted by human agencies inspired by Satan, He came to shine in the darkness and dispel it by His presence, to show human beings what they may and should become and give in Himself an example of what they can become, and to know by experience how to help them in struggles with sin so that men can live His life through His power and under His instruction. In this He exemplified what humanity must do and be to overcome the enemy and sit with the Father upon His throne.
Redemption and Sonship Secured
God sent His Son to redeem those under the law, to dispute Satan's authority and free those held under the law as captives bound to Satan, to counteract the work of the destroyer, to subdue the stubborn, obdurate heart and win human confidence, and to bring them into His family as sons with recovery and salvation. He came at the appointed time after ages when Satan seemed to control the world and humanity had sunk into suffering, misery, corruption, murder and loss, having chosen Satan as leader and being chained as his captives moving in a gloomy procession toward eternal ruin and hopeless death without morning. Bodies made to house God had become homes for demons, with senses, nerves, passions and organs driven by supernatural evil into vilest lust and faces stamped with the expression of evil legions, a sight grievous to infinite purity yet beheld with pity and compassion. He came when spiritual darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people, when darkness appeared universal and complete so that God's image could not be discerned, and God again said, Let there be light, by sending Jesus as the light of the world to bring truth and to shine. He came as a human being, no less than the only begotten Son, the Creator and Eternal Word, with mercy and benevolence dwelling on earth to reveal God in human flesh, divinity veiled by humanity so He could touch humanity, taking human nature and becoming flesh to live among people in a world corrupted by sin, to teach in language they could understand, to make God's moral government and the plan of redemption clear and set out the lessons of the Old Testament, to become one with us as example and Pattern for all humanity and to restore the moral image of God in all who would receive Him, a surprise of grace to all the heavenly host.
Christ bore the punishment for sin as humanity's Substitute and Surety, accepting full responsibility for sin and giving Himself as an atoning sacrifice, offering, substitute, surety and ransom. Adam's disobedience had brought the human family under the death penalty, and Christ took the penalty of Adam's transgression upon Himself, dying in behalf of the human family. He gathered the penalty resting on the sinful race into His own pure, sinless soul and offered Himself as a sacrifice for the fallen race, taking the penalty of human sin upon Himself. This was in keeping with the covenant made before the world began and the plan of salvation established before the world was made, in which He was appointed as humanity's Mediator. His coming revealed God's love and benevolence and self-giving love, and offered believers hope of eternal life rather than condemnation, with all heaven interested in His coming to give evidence of the love of God by dying for the fallen race.
His work reveals both the love of God and the immutability of God's law, which could not be changed by one jot or tittle to meet man in his fallen condition. The law stands immutable and eternal as God's throne, holy, just, good and complete, and cannot be weakened, repealed or changed. The Son was made under the law, giving it implicit obedience and honoring it, because the object of His atonement was that the divine law and government might be maintained. God in love gave His only begotten Son when probation was granted to bear all the guilt of transgression, yet the law remains unchanged.
That sending was to redeem those under the law so they might receive the adoption of sons. Those who receive Him are brought back through His merits to the place of sons and daughters of God, made members of the royal family and heirs with heirship with Jesus Christ, and made partakers of the divine nature. Redemption, regeneration and adoption were ordained by sovereign grace so everything is owed to grace. At the appointed fullness of time He came as the rising star of hope and brought hope to the world, as a willing sacrifice stooping from His high command in heaven, giving up His honor and glory and tasting the bitterness of death to rescue men and women from the slavery of sin, coming through human birth and placed under the law. His brightness and that hope increased as He increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
His union of humanity with divinity made possible the redemption of the human race through the sacrifice of His life, for being born of a woman He shared humanity while divinity was enshrouded in humanity. God appointed Him head over all things, and His saving provision embraces every person, church and sphere of life. Those who receive Him as Saviour are freely pardoned and forgiven and granted pardon through repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and made members of the royal family. While those who refuse the offering and will not keep His commandments in gratitude and love can receive no more.
Promise and Prophecy Fulfilled
The promise of a Saviour began in Eden and was repeated through patriarchs and prophets, keeping hope alive across generations even though the first hearers died before seeing its fulfilment. The long delay did not mean the promise had failed, for Christ was born in Bethlehem when heaven's appointed hour arrived. His coming was the distinguished arrival long announced in the scroll of prophecy and long foretold in the Scriptures, with the prophets making Him their earliest and latest theme. Moses predicted the prophet to be raised up with God's words in his mouth whose supreme authority must be obeyed, and Isaiah predicted His anointing by the Spirit to preach good tidings, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty, comfort mourners, and bring forth judgment to the Gentiles in meekness until judgment is set in the earth, together with the promise of the messenger of the covenant yet to come and the Sun of Righteousness yet to arise.
Inspired prophecy had long foretold His coming and described how He would be received, and He came at the right point in history so that Christians could look back on the fulfilled prophecies and have their faith developed and strengthened. That sending was to Israel, the chosen nation He had redeemed from Egyptian bondage and entrusted with His oracles, after they had left their allegiance and joined Satan's forces. The Son came in flesh and dwelt among His own people to save them, yet those He came to save would have none of Him, rejected the Messiah under Satan's control and sought opportunity to put Him to death. He came exactly as the prophets testified He would come, yet the people He had peculiarly favored refused Him because He came in a manner that did not gratify their pride.
They had expected Him to come as a King with power and great glory, which belongs to His second appearing in the clouds of heaven; instead He came as a babe of poor parentage without worldly honor or outward display. Since the human family is alike in every age, the churches in this age would reject Him in the same manner as the Jews did. Though Scripture had specified how the promised Saviour would come, the Jewish priests and teachers failed to recognize Him because they prized human traditions over God's commandments and read Scripture through their own maxims rather than letting it interpret itself. They studied the prophecies without spiritual insight, overlooking the scriptures pointing to the humiliation of Christ's first advent and misapplying those speaking of the glory of His second coming, because pride obscured their vision and they interpreted prophecy according to selfish desires.
His sending would bring a clear revelation of the divine will, free their doctrines from traditions and needless ceremonies that had confused faith, and dispel ignorance and bigotry. Aged pious Jews waited for this day and night, praying to see the Saviour before they died.
Teacher Example and Response
God in heaven knew man's deep need for a divine teacher, and in pity and sympathy for fallen humanity bound to Satan and to his chariot-car sent forth His Son when the fullness of time appointed in the counsels of heaven had come. The sending was God's rich benevolence, goodness and love, a surprise of grace to the world and an astonishment to the heavenly host, calling heaven to hear and earth to be astonished. The One sent is no less than the Creator of the world, the Son of the Infinite God, the only begotten Son, the Eternal Word, mercy and benevolence dwelling on earth to reveal God in human flesh. Fully prepared, He left the royal courts of heaven and came to a world marred and polluted with sin as man's instructor, taking human nature upon Him to meet the necessities of humanity, mysteriously allying Himself to it with divinity veiled by humanity so He could touch humanity, and walking this earth in flesh. He came when spiritual darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people and darkness appeared universal and complete so that God's image could not be discerned, and God again said Let there be light by sending Jesus the light of the world to bring truth and to shine, to counteract the work of the destroyer, to subdue the stubborn obdurate heart and win the heart and mind of man, to become one with men as example and Pattern for all humanity, and to restore the moral image of God in all who would receive Him.
The long-looked-for Instructor is the heaven-appointed Teacher who is no less than the Son of God Himself, sent of God and one with the Father, the great Instructor in divine philosophy, the Messenger of the covenant and Sun of Righteousness. His coming was the distinguished arrival long foretold in the Scriptures from the beginning of the prophetic era, where the prophets made Him their earliest and latest theme, foretelling an inspired Teacher whose words would demand universal attention and whose power would overcome Satan. Therefore His words carry supreme authority and invincible power and must not be disregarded, and in Him mercy and truth met together and righteousness and peace kissed each other. He did not come with outward display, power, rank, outward glory to stir mere admiration, or earthly riches, for His object would not then have been accomplished, but clothed His divinity with humanity to reveal what God designed humanity to be had sin never existed, taking sinless humanity with its infirmities to place men on vantage ground with God, showing the union that may exist between the human and the divine and in that union resisting all assaults of the foe so men and women may become partakers of the divine nature.
He came as a human being to teach people in language they could understand, to make God's moral government and the plan of redemption clear and to set out the lessons of the Old Testament. He came to shed abroad the bright beams of truth that men might gain a fitness for heaven and to reveal the character of the Father that men might worship Him in spirit and in truth, sweeping away the thick darkness with which Satan had enshrouded the throne of the Deity and again manifesting the Father to men as the Light of life. His coming reveals God to the world as a God of love, mercy, tenderness and compassion, and that He might stand at the head of humanity He took upon Himself human nature, encircling the human race with His human arm while grasping the throne of the Infinite with His divine arm, born of humble parentage and brought up in obscurity at Nazareth in poverty and without worldly rank, not coming in His glory heralded by the heavenly host but in a life of humiliation and suffering. He came as humanity's Redeemer to win human confidence and bring recovery and salvation, taking the penalty of human sin upon Himself, because humanity's need demanded help without delay and because of their pitiable condition.
His death gives men a probation with opportunity to see the evil of sin and to choose as leader either the apostate expelled from heaven or the Prince of Life so all might return to loyalty. His coming gives everyone a second probation, another chance to choose God as Leader, making earth a trial ground and school where they are educated, disciplined and trained for the higher life and fitted for heaven, with every provision for an experimental knowledge of the character and work of the Redeemer. This sending was part of the plan by which after the Fall Christ acted in God's stead toward humanity as mediator and instructor, saving the race from immediate death and giving Adam and Eve and all their posterity a probation in which to return to allegiance. He came as a willing sacrifice, stooping from His high command in heaven, giving up His honor and glory and tasting the bitterness of death to rescue men and women from the slavery of sin, coming through human birth and placed under the law to redeem those under the law so they might receive the adoption of sons and become partakers of the divine nature.
He came to shine in the darkness and dispel it by His presence, to show human beings what they may and should become and to give in Himself an example of what they can become, knowing by experience how to help them in their struggles with sin, so that men can live His life through His power and under His instruction and overcome the enemy. As substitute and surety standing at the head of humanity, obedient to all of God's requirements, He is the example for all who will follow Him, so that man may become like his Master, obedient to the Father in heaven and not to the enemy of God, and may engage in the service God requires of each of His obedient children. Though in reality the Son of the infinite God, He disguised His holy mission by assuming the likeness of a man, stepping down from His throne of highest command, laying aside His royal robe and kingly crown and clothing His divinity with humanity, volunteering by decision in consultation between the Father and the Son to leave heaven and come forth from the Father to this world as a babe. He lived the full human life from childhood to manhood, bearing human trials, tried and tempted as men are tried and tempted yet living a sinless life, coming as a man to meet and be subjected to all the evil tendencies to which man is heir, making it possible to be buffeted by human agencies inspired by Satan, and to exemplify what humanity must do and be in order to overcome the enemy and to sit with the Father upon His throne.
When believers catch a glimpse of what Christ suffered for them to make them children of God by adoption, they are no longer satisfied with worldly pride and self-love, they no longer worship self, and God becomes the object of their supreme regard. This standing as sons adopted into God's family calls for obedient lives shaped by Jesus' love. The sending was God's love giving His only begotten Son so believers should not perish but have everlasting life, after ancient believers had been saved by faith in the coming Saviour typified by sacrifices and offerings with faith strengthened by revelations of the Sun of Righteousness from time to time, to purify to Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works who grow in capability as workers. Redemption, regeneration and adoption to heirship with Jesus Christ were ordained by sovereign grace, so everything is owed to grace, and that grace received is to be revealed to others, with His coming bringing hope to the world and that hope growing as He increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.