Preparing For The Season – The Christ Child
There are five candles on an advent wreath. We have looked at the first four in each of the previous Bible studies. They are set around the wreath symbolizing hope, joy, peace and love or the prophets, angels, shepherds and wise men. The fifth candle is the centerpiece of the wreath. It is white and symbolizies the Christ child. When the Christ child candle is lit, the wreath is finally illuminated at it’s fullest with all five candles blazing brilliantly. And so, with this final advent bible study, we focus in on the Christ child who is the light of the world. In Him, all things are perfectly illuminated. Throughout this advent study, we have looked at the prophecies about the Messiah. We have walked through the story through the eyes of the messengers of the good news – the angels. We went to the meadow with the shepherds and rejoiced with them as they saw the Messiah at the manger. We traveled 2000 miles with the wise men to give extraordinary gifts to the King of kings. Now, as we focus on the centerpiece of the story – Christ himself, we will find out just who this child of the immaculate conception is. For this, we must go all the way back to the beginning and start in Genesis with the fall of man. We will then move through the law and prophets and finally arrive at the manger, where the Savior of the world came in flesh – the incarnate One.
Our first encounter with a coming Messiah begins at the end. The end of Eden that is. Adam and Eve have done the unthinkable – they have disobeyed God. Their sin ended everything and death now entered the world. They no longer had access to the beautiful garden God had created for them. they now had to toil for their food and pain became a reality. But our merciful God gives us hope even in the midst of these devastating consequences of their single act of sin. It was a word to the serpent who had forged the path to disobedience. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Here we find the tale of future grace. Yes, Satan will bruise the heel of Eve’s offspring, but that same offspring will crush the serpent’s head. And Satan did bruise Jesus’ heel through his “offspring” – those who reject God’s promise. But Jesus rose from the dead and crushed the head of Satan. Hosea says, “I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem[b] them from death. Death, where are your barbs? Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.” Sound kind of familiar? Well Paul reiterates it this way in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, “Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Yes, Jesus did crush the head of Satan and death’s sting is no more.
The next time we encounter the coming Messiah is with Abraham. Lot has been captured along with all his possessions and Abraham has gone to battle to rescue him. After coming back from defeating the enemy, Abraham meets a priest by the name of Melchizedek. We find from Genesis 14:17-20 that Melchizedek is the king of Salem. He brings wine and bread and blesses Abraham and then Abraham gives him a tenth of all the possessions he has captured in the battle. So, who is Melchizedek? Scripture does not elaborate too much on this subject but here is what we know. The name Melchizedek means King (Melech) of Righteousness (zedek). He is from Salem which means Peaceful and Complete or to have complete peace. The next time we find a mention of Melchizedek is Psalm 110:1-4. It is a Psalm by David about a priestly king. “This is the declaration of the Adonai to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool.” Adonai will extend Your mighty scepter from Zion. Rule over Your surrounding enemies. Your people will volunteer on Your day of battle. In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, the dew of Your youth belongs to You. Adonai has sworn an oath and will not take it back: “Forever, You are a priest like Melchizedek.” David was from the tribe of Judah – not the priestly tribe of Levi which was from the line of Aaron, so his descendants would not be priests. How then can Jesus be our high priest in the new covenant? Through a more righteous way. He is our priest in the order of Melchezedek. Hebrews 17 gives us an outline. The Aaronic priesthood was weak because it was made up of men who were in need of salvation who could not live forever. They could not keep the law any better than any of us. So Jesus is not a priest under the Aaronic priesthood. He is a priest in the order of Melchezedek – the King of Righteousness from the kingdom of complete peace. He is our priest who intercedes on our behalf before a perfect and holy God because He is a righteous priest. Through Jesus, we have salvation and can now enter into the very presence of God.
The next place we encounter the coming Messiah is in Leviticus – yes, I did say Leviticus. Our next study to begin the new year is Christ in the Festivals so I will not go into great detail in this blog. I will simply point out that the book of Leviticus, with it’s sacrifices and festivals, it’s kosher food laws and interesting mold laws etc., is a picture of the holiness that is required by God to enter into His presence. He is holy and righteous and we – well, we’re not. We have sinned and come short of God’s glory. So, there is a need for a Savior. One who came as the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God. He is the fulfillment of the law.
In an earlier study I pointed out several of the prophecies of the Messiah. I will only focus on one here. He is Emmanuel – God with us. And so we finally come to the nativity. A humble manger scene where the King of kings and Lord of lords comes to us as a tiny baby. For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government will be on His shoulders and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He will reign on David’s throne and His kingdom will not end. John 1:14 says, ”The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory,
the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” He took up residence among us. He is Emmanuel. It seems too incredible to comprehend that God, King and creator of the universe, would come to dwell with us and walk around amongst His own creation. What is even more amazing to me is that this same creation would not except Him and even put Him to death on a cross. Astounding! And still God says, “For I so loved the world that I gave my only Son and whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have life eternal. For I did not come into the world to condemn the world but so the world might be saved.” Emmanuel has come to save those who have been lost. He is the hope we long for. He comes to us in abundant joy. He is our Prince of peace beyond all understanding. And, He is the embodiment of absolute love. The four candles of advent come together in one perfect Christ child. That tiny babe in a manger. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel has come to thee oh Israel.
This babe in a manger, this tiny child, came to us to be the Savior of the world. So, as advent draws to a close we celebrate the coming of Christ. He is the one who has crushed the head of Satan. He is our high priest in the order of Melchezedek who intercedes on our behalf before the Father. He is the total fulfillment of the law and the perfect Lamb of God. He is Emmanuel, God with us. Hallelujah!
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