Basic HTML Version
28
From Heaven With Love
Oh that today the human family could recognize that song! The
note then struck will swell to the close of time, and resound to the
ends of the earth.
As the angels disappeared, the shadows of night once more fell
on the hills of Bethlehem. But the brightest picture ever beheld by
human eyes remained in the memory of the shepherds. They “said
to one another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this
thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto
us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the
babe lying in a manger.”
Departing with great joy, they made known the things they had
seen and heard. “And all they that heard it wondered at those things
which were told them by the shepherds.”
Heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when shepherds
listened to the angels’ song. Angels from the courts above will
attend the steps of those in the common walks of life.
In the story of Bethlehem is hidden “the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and knowledge of God.”
Romans 11:33
. We marvel
at the Saviour’s sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the
manger. Human pride stands rebuked in His presence.
[28]
Yet this was but the beginning of His condescension! It would
have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take
man’s nature even when Adam stood in innocence in Eden. But
Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by 4000
years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of
the working of the law of heredity. These results were shown in the
history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to
share our temptations and give us the example of a sinless life.
Satan hated Christ. He hated Him who pledged Himself to
redeem sinners. Yet into the world where Satan claimed dominion,
God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the
weakness of humanity, to meet life’s peril in common with every
soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it—at
the risk of failure and eternal loss.
The heart of the human father looks into the face of his little
child and trembles at the thought of life’s peril. He longs to shield
him from temptation and conflict. To meet a bitterer conflict and
more fearful risk, God gave His only-begotten Son.