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Veiled in Flesh the Godhead See (By Prophet Bards Foretold #4)

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INTRODUCTION

We have emphasized in the past that the gospel consists of two aspects—the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first has to do with who He is, and the second aspect concerns what He has done. Regarding the person of Christ we confess that He is YHWH come in the flesh, Jehovah Incarnate. With regard to His work, we are talking about His life of sinless obedience, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead. What did the Messiah do? He became one of us, only without sin, and He was crucified, buried, resurrected and crowned in Heaven. And who was it that did this thing? It was Emmanuel—God with us. 

This incarnate reality is closely connected with various Old Testament prophecies concerning the Lord’s nativity. Let’s consider some of them now. 

THE TEXT

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6–7). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Remember that this passage is just a few verses down from our earlier text, the one that predicted that a virgin would conceive. That prophecy received a double fulfillment—first when Isaiah’s wife gave King Ahaz a sign, and the second coming to pass when Gabriel to Mary with his message. All of that took us into Isaiah 8. Here in Isaiah 9, we see that Galiee of the Gentiles will see a great light (vv. 1-2). And then a few verses below that, the prophet Isaiah opens up and starts delivering stupefying truths.

We need to take this whole passage in together. Taken together, you have something that requires the tight theology hammered out at Chalcedon. This is why we hail “the Incarnate Deity.” We are talking about incarnation—true humanity. But we are also talking about the eternal God being the one who becomes incarnate.

First, the humanity—a child is born (v. 6), a son is given (v. 6). He will be named (v. 6). He will sit on the throne of David, meaning He is descended from David (v. 7).

But what names are included? He will be called “mighty God” (v. 6). He will be called “everlasting Father” (v. 6). He will rule on His throne “forever” (v. 7). This is a man, but no ordinary man. 

“Mighty God” is a title that is assigned to the Lord Himself. See the next chapter (Is. 10:20-21). Consider Deuteronomy 10:17. The Lord your God is the mighty God. God is the great, the mighty, the awesome God (Neh. 9:32). The great and mighty God is the one whose name is the Lord of hosts (Jer. 32:18).

Everlasting Father: This is not a Trinitarian reference, where the Second Person is being confused with the First Person. But it is an ascription of Deity. Whatever else it is, He is everlasting. The image is one of a benevolent protector and provider (Is. 22:21; Job 29:16), which describes the behavior of an ideal king. Fathers provide and fathers protect. The Christ, when He comes, will be that for His people (Is. 63:16; 62:8; Ps. 103:13). Christ is going to be this way for us, and He is going to be this way in an everlasting fashion. In short, He is able to save “to the uttermost.”

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25). 

FROM BETHLEHEM, FROM EVERLASTING

We considered Micah’ prophecy earlier, but it pays to revisit it. He is making the same point. The Christ is going to be a man, but not just a man. Where is this man from? We use that word from in two ways. He is from Bethlehem, and He is from everlasting. What does it mean to be from everlasting? This can mean nothing short of Deity. 

“But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, 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; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).  

WHAT WE MUST NOT SAY

In all of this, recall what we are confessing when we recite the Definition of Chalcedon together. In this Incarnation, there is a union of two distinct natures—human nature and divine nature. This is a complete mystery to us because we do not understanding how finitude can be united with infinitude. But it united, and the point of union is known by us as Jesus of Nazareth. 

And what can be predicated of one nature can certainly be predicated of the person. And what is predicated of the other nature can also be predicated of the person. We do this when we say that the Creator of the galaxies was laid in a manger. We say that this particular man child was circumcised on the eighth day. But what is predicated of one nature cannot be predicated of the other nature. Thus, for example, it would be incoherent to say that Christ’s body, which was, say, six feet tall, was also omnipresent. 

WHAT HE WAS BORN TO DO

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4–5).

Collapse that phrase. “Born of a woman . . . to redeem.” God did this at just the right time, when the fulness of time was complete. God sent His Son into the world in order to accomplish a full and complete redemption for His people. And because all of this is true, and true in every respect, it is possible for Him to come to us, and in that coming, save to the uttermost.

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The Seed Royale (Shadows of Bethlehem #4) (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

The Psalmist said that the wicked dig a pit for capturing the righteous, but they fall into it themselves. Wicked men and godless kings have hounded God’s people, persecuted the righteous, and done the bidding of the Dragon in trying to stop God’s redemptive purposes. But all their schemes miscarry. All their plots are foiled. All their dreams are disappointed. The birth of Christ is the moment when the tide of redemption turned. Christ’s dawn meant that the darkness of despair was driven back. Evil’s doom had come.

THE TEXT

And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and shewed them the king’s son. […]

2Kings 11:1-21

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

King Jehoram of Judah killed all his brothers (2 Chron. 21:4); he was married to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab & Jezebel  (2 Ki. 8:18); all of Jehoram’s sons were killed in a raid by the Arabians, except Ahaziah, the youngest (2 Chron. 22:1). Elijah had prophesied of the downfall of Ahab’s kingdom and line (1 Ki. 21:21-29). Several years later, Elisha anointed Jehu king of Israel, then tasked him with wiping out Ahab’s line, in accordance with Elijah’s prophecy. When Jehu hunted down King Joram––Ahab’s son, and current king of Israel––Ahaziah happened to be chumming around with Joram (his  brother-in-law); so Jehu assassinated both of them (2 Ki. 9:23-27).

Athaliah’s reign is introduced in such a way as to make the reader feel like everything is all out of whack. It doesn’t follow the expected pattern for the introduction of a new ruler for Israel or Judah. After her son’s death, the annihilation of her father’s dynasty, and the execution of her extended family she asserts herself as ruler of Judah, likely an attempt to preserve her father’s legacy. Her power grab begins by destroying all the royal seed (11:1). David’s line was in grave danger and would have been destroyed had not Jehosheba––the wife of Jehoiada the high priest––stolen the youngest son of Ahaziah, Joash, and raised him in the temple for six years (11:2-3).

When Joash was seven, Jehoiada hatches a plan to restore the rightful king to David’s throne. He conscripts a band of trustworthy leaders, swears them to secrecy, and then shows them the king’s son (11:4). His plan to protect young King Joash while overthrowing the usurping Athaliah involved forming a barricade of bodyguards to surround the temple on a Sabbath day (11:5-8). This scheme was put into action; David’s weaponry was brought out of the treasury; Jehoiada crowned Joash, gave him a copy of the covenant, anointed him, and they all made a noticeable ruckus (11:9-12). Athaliah hears the cries of “God save the king,” rushes to the scene (unfortunately for her, without any bodyguards), sees her grandson, rends her clothes, and cries, “Treason (11:13-14)!” Jehoiada commanded she be executed (outside the temple), along with any that tried to defend her, and his orders were followed (11:15-16). Then a covenant renewal ceremony takes place between the Lord, the king, and the people, followed by a purge of all the Baal paraphernalia (11:17-18). Joash is then seated on David’s throne, and the people rejoice (11:19-20). The narrative then returns to the expected way of introducing a new ruler (11:21).

THE LORD HAS SWORN

Psalm 132:11 promises, “The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.” So, when you read through this soap opera of a Bible story, you might think, “Boy, I hope God has an insurance policy on this promise of His!” Athaliah went about to destroy the seed which God had promised would forever sit upon the throne of David. Further, this threatened the even more ancient promise to Eve. Here was a little baby, about to be slaughtered, upon whom hung Israel’s only hope for the promised Messiah. Sound familiar?

God had sworn to David that his seed would sit on the throne forever, so when Athaliah comes to power that promise seems like a long shot. It’s precisely at the moment when faith seems most improbable and inadequate that God delights to introduce a new character to the story. Out of nowhere comes the woman, Jehosheba. If Bunyan had been tasked with naming the characters of this story, he couldn’t have done any better: Jehosheba means, “Jehovah has sworn.”

True faith does not concern itself with circumstances, it concerns itself with the Lord of the covenant. What has God sword? Faith doesn’t look at the bleakness of the situation and conclude that apostasy is the right course. Faith clings to God’s eternal oath. This holds true for both our justification and our sanctification. God has promised to forgive every last one of your sins and to give you everlasting life. Believe His oath, and so be justified by His grace. But God also calls us in our sanctification to trust His promises, especially when it feels like they are hanging by a thread. Perhaps you’ve stumbled into sin, well return by faith to His promise to lead you in triumph over your sins (2 Cor. 2:14). Maybe you’ve grown timid & fearful in these perilous times, well lay hold of His promise to give to His children a Spirit of power (2 Tim. 1:7). Maybe you feel surrounded by enemies of sin, worldliness, or devilry, well then seize upon His promise to deliver you from all your enemies (Ps. 18:3).

THE PAYOFF

Now, there are a number of ways which this obscure but gripping OT story finds its “payoff” in the story of Christ’s advent. Most obvious is the similarity of Athaliah & Herod’s slaughtering of their rivals (Mt. 2:16-18); Joseph performs a similar role as Jehosheba and Jehoiada, hiding the rightful heir to David’s throne.

In Luke’s narrative Joseph and Mary bring Jesus into the temple (again like Jehosheba and Jehoiada); while there, Jesus is “revealed” to the faithful believers Simeon and Anna (Lk. 2:25-38), like Joash was revealed to the faithful. Luke doubles down on this theme in the story of Mary and Joseph looking for 12 year old Jesus, and they find him, once more, in the temple, surrounded by the Jewish teachers (guardians of the faith). Jesus informs his parents that He is doing His Father’s business.

CHRIST IS REVEALED

It is right for Jesus, as Israel’s the rightful king, to be revealed in the temple. Israel’s kings were at their best when they fostered true worship of Yahweh in the temple. Joash’s home from infancy was Yahweh’s temple. The text calls him “the king’s son (2 Kg. 11:4, 12);” this both establishes the rightful claim that Joash has to David’s throne, and that Joash is a true son of Yahweh, the true King of Israel. So then, Jesus’ early visits to the temple function in much the same way. Here is David’s heir whose dwelling place is Yahweh’s house and is also Yahweh’s son.

The Christ has been revealed. Jesus is the rightful king. He is the Son of the Father. He is king, and priest, and prophet. So, though the dragon raged against him, and though wicked men still scheme for the downfall of Christ’s empire, they will fail and fall into their own traps. Christ is King of Heaven and Earth, and there’s not a damn thing the powers of earth or hell can do about it. Merry Christmas!

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Deck Your Idols (Advent Grab Bag #3) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

There is great confusion in the modern church over the doctrine of repentance – over the fact that the good news of the gospel includes the command to turn from sin and idols. This command, just the like the command to “believe,” is a command in which Christ gives what He commands. And what He gives is Himself. Therefore, repentance is entirely grace, but it is a potent and powerful grace because precisely because it is primarily aimed at God’s glory.

The Text: “Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting…” (Mic. 5:1-15).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In the midst of calling Israel and Judah to repentance, Micah (a contemporary of Jeremiah, cf. Jer. 26:18), foretold the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:1-2, cf. Mt. 2:5-6). Not only that, but this is one of the texts that teaches that this Christ who was born of Mary was eternally begotten of the Father, “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Mic. 5:2). While there will be great travail in Israel, the Messiah will stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, bringing great peace and deliverance from their enemies (Mic. 5:3-6). A remnant of Jacob will be as dew and showers upon the grass and as a lion among the Gentiles, cutting off many enemies and strongholds (Mic. 5:7-11). And God will cut off all witchcrafts and graven images and idols with great vengeance (Mic. 5:12-15). 

THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF REPENTANCE

Jesus came preaching repentance (Mt. 4:17, 9:13, Mk. 1:15, 2:17, Lk. 5:32), and He continued with the same message to the churches after His ascension (Rev. 2:5, 16, 21, 22, 3:3, 19). This was also the message that the apostles preached (Mk. 6:12, Lk. 24:47, Acts 2:38, 3:19, 5:31, 17:30). Repentance means to turn around, to stop doing one thing and going in one direction, and begin doing something different and going in the other direction. Repentance means putting off childish folly and growing up into Christian maturity (Eph. 4:14-15). It means putting off the old man corrupted with deceitful lusts and putting on the new man which God is creating in us in righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:22-24). 

Repentance means putting away lying and telling the truth (Eph. 4:25). It means putting off fleshly anger and not letting the devil into your home by going to bed with a grudge or bitterness (Eph. 4:26). It means not stealing from anyone and instead working hard and paying your own bills, until you have extra to share with those in need (Eph. 4:28). It means refusing all corrupt communication, bitterness, foul language, and instead speaking what is edifying, kind, tenderhearted, and full of forgiveness (Eph. 4:29-32). The Bible describes this process as a kind of holy violence and warfare: plucking out eyes and cutting off hands to avoid Hell (Mt. 5:27-30), reckoning yourself dead to sin (Rom. 6:11), and putting to death sexual immorality and idolatry (Col. 3:5). This requires a holy hatred and vengeance against your sin and idols. 

REPENTANCE IS A GIFT

We see that repentance is a gift in the fact that ministers must patiently instruct those in disobedience with the hope that God will grant them repentance (2 Tim. 2:25). The Christians in Antioch rejoiced when they heard that God had given the Gentiles repentance (Acts 11:18). This is part of the work of the Holy Spirit of grace that allows sinners to see Christ pierced for their sins and mourn with deep bitterness for their sin, like one whose son has died (Zech. 12:10). 

One of the most remarkable things that the Bible teaches is that the gift of repentance isn’t primarily for our good, but rather it is for the benefit of others watching and the glory of God: “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loath yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways… Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord built the ruined places, and plant that which is desolate… and they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ez. 36:31-38). This may be one of the chief reasons for failure in this area: we want repentance because we want to feel better or be better, but God wants us to repent for His glory. 

APPLICATIONS

Let the violence of the Bible teach you what God wants you to do with your sin: drive a stake through its head like Jael did with Sisera (Jdg. 6:26), hack it to pieces like Samuel did to Agag (1 Sam. 15:33 ), chop off all their heads and put them in baskets at the gate of the city like the men of Samaria did with Ahab’s sons (2 Kgs. 10:8). Destroy the pagan altars, break down the images, cut down the sacred groves of trees, and burn the graven images with fire (Dt. 7:5). And of course, at the center of it all is Jesus Christ, “who bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live to righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Pet. 2:24). Don’t just say you’ll try to stop. Make real changes to your life in order to stop sinning because Christ is worthy. Plead with God to do whatever it takes and take action. 

Christ was born in Bethlehem in order to destroy all idols. You cannot celebrate Christmas and cling to any sin. Where is the altar to a false god in your life? What is that old idol you keep going back to? Worry? Envy? Lust? Anger? Bitterness? Drunkenness? Respectability? Israel was still worshipping Egyptian gods almost a hundred years after the Exodus (Josh. 24:14). Haven’t you seen the wonderful works of God? 

Our land is under a great curse because we refuse to destroy our idols. But we serve a jealous God and the more we celebrate the birth of Christ the Idol-Crusher, while continuing to serve our idols, we provoke the living God. As God judged Israel, He still judges the nations and His Church in particular (cf. Rev. 2-3). He will destroy all the idols, and the only question is whether we will be destroyed with them or whether we will turn from them and be saved. But Christ was born to save. So repent. And glory to God in the Highest. 

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By Prophet Bards Foretold Part 1: Places

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INTRODUCTION

What we are going to do in this season of Advent is take a closer look at a number of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the bith of the Messiah. We are going to look first at the geographical predictions. What places are involved? After that, we will take up other aspects of His nativity, week to week. Remember that all of God’s promises were wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in the manger.

THE TEXT

“But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, 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; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). 

BETHLEHEM

Bethlehem was known as a little town (Micah 5:2). Nevertheless, despite the small size, it was a town that was going to produce a son that was to become a ruler in Israel (v. 2). This son is going to be from two apparently inconsistent places. He was going to be from Bethlehem, a small town in Judah. He was also going to be from of old, from everlasting. He was to be from Bethlehem without in any way being contained by Bethlehem. 

Bethlehem was a little town, but one that figured largely in the history of Israel. Rachel died there (Gen. 35:19; 48:7). In the book of Judges, we are told the story of a Levite from Bethlehem who became a compromised priest for some freebooting Danites (Judg. 18:20). The murdered concubine—whose death started the war that almost wiped out the tribe of Benjamin—was from Bethlehem (Judg. 19:1). Ruth, the Moabitess ancestor of David and Christ, followed her mother-in-law Naomi to settle in Bethlehem (Ruth 1:19). This is what anchored the ancestry of Christ to this particular town. Samuel anointed David as the future king there in Bethlehem (1 Sam. 16:13).

With regard to Bethlehem, we have something of an intersection of prophecies. Balaam prophesied that a star would arise out of Jacob and that a scepter would rise out of Israel (Num. 24:17). Remember that the wife of Jacob died at Bethlehem, and it was she who would not be comforted after the slaughter of the innocents (Matt. 2:18). The star that was predicted by Balaam, in combination with our text, led the wise men to Bethlehem. Balaam also mentioned a scepter, which should make us think of Jacob final blessing of his sons. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen. 49:10). 

Now we know from Scripture that Balaam was a wicked man (2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 11), but at the same time he was a true prophet—meaning he had a true prophetic gift. He would not curse Israel while using his prophetic gifts because he could not (Num. 24:13), but he was willing to give Balak some carnal and cynical advice on how to use the Moabite women to seduce the Israelite men (Num. 31:16; Rev. 2:14). Because of this, the Israelites killed Balaam with the sword (Josh. 13:22)

EGYPT

Joseph was warned in a dream about the murderous intent of Herod, and so he gathered up Mary and the baby, and they fled to Egypt. 

“And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Matthew 2:15). 

There are two lessons we can gather from this, and we can see in both of them how typology works. A type is an enacted prophecy, and the fulfillment of a type is called the antitype. Thus Adam is a type of Christ (Rom. 5:14), and Christ is the antitype of Adam (John 19:34). Noah’s ark was a type of Christian baptism, which made baptism the antitype (1 Pet. 3: 20-21).

The Exodus from Egypt was the type with two layers. God led the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. That was the type. But then when the baby Jesus was called out of Egypt, that was the prophesied antitype. “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” (Hosea 11:1). This is fulfilled in two directions. When Herod died, Joseph brought his family back, coming up out of Egypt. But when they fled in the first place, they were running from Herod, who had become a new Pharaoh, killing Jewish babies, and so Israel had become a new Egypt.  

But we must not forget the next layer. When Jesus communed with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, what were they talking about? In Luke 9:31, it says they were speaking of the Lord’s decease, but the word used there is exodos. His death was our spiritual Exodus from sin and bondage.  

GALILEE

When Nicodemus objected to the attitude of the Pharisees, their retort had to do with the place where Jesus had grown up. “They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet” (John 7:52).

But notice what these students of the law were doing. They were insulting Nicodemus over his lack of scriptural knowledge when their own obtuseness in this department was glaring and apparent  

“When at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isaiah 9:1–2). 

This is declared by Matthew to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Remember that Christ grew up in Galilee, and Matthew says that His return home (Galilee) and ministry in Capernaum (Zebulun and Naphtali) was the fulfillment of the words of Isaiah.

Isaiah tells us that this the place where the light dawned. But as the sun rises to its zenith, the thing to remember is that Christ is the light that shines on every man. “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). What then is our Christmas message?

“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Ephesians 5:14). 

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The Politics of Christmas (Advent Grab Bag #1) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION 

As is our custom, we began using the Definition of Chalcedon this morning for our Creed, which was adopted and published in 451 A.D. The purpose of the Definition was to further defend the full divinity and humanity of Christ from several heresies, while preserving the Creator-creature distinction. 

All non-Christian societies are fundamentally what Peter Jones calls “oneist.” Oneism teaches that everything is essentially one, part of the same basic substance, and therefore oneism is pantheistic. Christianity is the lone religion in the world that teaches “twoism,” that there are fundamentally two different realities: God and everything else. This has profound implications for all of life, including how we think about politics and power. 

The Texts: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things” (Rom. 1:21-23).

“Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end” (Ps. 102:25-27). 

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXTS

The center of human rebellion is the refusal to acknowledge God as He truly is and that is “uncorruptible” and utterly unlike anything in creation, all of which is “corruptible,” and refusing to be thankful for this reality, people become foolish idolaters (Rom. 1:21-23). Likewise, Psalm 102 describes God as the Creator of all things in heaven and on earth, and the difference between the Creator and His creation is that creation perishes, wears out, and changes, but the Creator endures, remains the same, and has no end (Ps. 102:25-27). Finally, the Bible says there is only one God and one mediator between God and man: Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). 

THE COUNCILS & HERESIES

Leading up to the Council of Nicaea in 325, a pastor named Arius taught that Jesus was not fully God, but rather was a man who was very much like God. Arius taught that there was “a time” (so to speak) when the Son was not. He said, the Son had a beginning. Athanasius and others argued that Christ was fully God and was therefore of the “same substance” with the Father (“homoousias”). The later Arians would say that Christ had a “similar substance” with the Father (“homoiousias”). This really is a watershed issue. If Jesus is merely the highest created being, the most exalted creature, right next to God, then the Creator-creature divide has collapsed. Instead of the infinite chasm between God and His creation that the Bible teaches, there is a ladder, a hierarchy or gradation of “being” that may ascend to Godhead. 

The Council of Nicaea concluded that Athanasius was correct and published the Nicene Creed which affirms that Christ is fully God and fully man, eternally begotten, “not made,” and of the same substance with the Father. The Council of Chalcedon came along in 451 and further nailed the coffin shut on Arianism (and other Christological heresies), insisting that the Divine and human natures come together in Christ “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.” While this might seem esoteric or pedantic, it really is glorious. It is saying that the Creator-creation distinction remains intact even in the one mediator between God and man. There is no hierarchy of being ascending and merging into God. There is only God and everything else, and Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and everything else, and in His person, those two natures are united “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation, the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union.”

CHALCEDONIAN POLITICS

The political ramifications for this are enormous. The tendency of all cultures dedicated to “oneism” is toward the Tower of Babel: consolidating global resources and power in an effort to ascend to Heaven, whether literally or simply by achieving heaven/utopia. This process always includes leaders claiming the authority of God/gods. In the ancient world, Pharaoh was the human representative of the sun god, Ra, and in Rome, Caesar was hailed as the divine “lord” and son of Jupiter. When the early Christians acclaimed Jesus as “Lord” and “Son of God,” this was in direct defiance of the emperor cult. Later, when the Roman Pope claimed to be the universal pontiff and exercised massive political power, it was somewhat based on the supposed authority to change bread and wine into the flesh and blood of God. Political power has often been exercised under the guise of unlimited divine power. But the Biblical religion has always insisted that all authority comes from God and is therefore “under God” and limited by God and His Word. While modern governments have not yet had the audacity to openly claim this divinity, this hasn’t stopped them from acting like it in their totalitarian claims on our property, income, children, and healthcare. 

APPLICATIONS

What we are celebrating at Christmas is not only our eternal salvation but also freedom from every kind of tyranny, beginning with death itself, but also sin, the Devil, and all Satanic manipulation, oppression, and power grabs. The state is not God, nor is it the mediator between God and man. And no one can ascend to God or Heaven. The One born in Bethlehem, He is the eternal Son of God, the Lord and only mediator between God and Man. All earthly authorities answer to Him. Christmas means limited government. 

And this is why the Kingdom goes forth as proclamation, baptism, communion, and worship. There is nothing that we can do to ascend to God in Heaven. There is no way for us to cross that chasm, and our sin only makes the distance greater. Only God can come to us, and so He has.

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