Christ Came to Save Sinners

If it pleases the Lord to spare us, the time will soon be here again when we hope to listen to the joyous tiding that Christ came into the world to save sinners. Most of us have heard from our early youth, not only the story of Christ’s birth, but also the meaning of this great fact. What, then, does Christmas Day mean to us?

It is that God from eternity was moved in Himself to open a way to save sinners in and through Christ, not only without violating His attributes, but indeed, by glorifying them all the more. Who can fathom the thoughts of God? David cried out concerning them, “How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17).

They concern the counsel of God, of which we read, “With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and shewed to Him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:14). “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations” (Psalm 33:11). They also concern His will, “Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself” (Ephesians 1:9). And they concern His good pleasure, “...and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). Indeed, they concern the love of God, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Truly, this way has not been thought out by men, but is the result of the eternal wisdom of God, whom Jude calls “the only wise God our Saviour” (verse 25). This way is a high way; it is an adorable way by which He made possible what we have made impossible. That which we have torn asunder, He brings together again. The church cries out, “O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!...For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Romans 11:33,36). Eternity will be needed to marvel at this marvel.

We read in the well-known story in Luke, “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.” They returned to God with this Son that had been given them and with this Child that had been born unto them. It was God the Father who had found a way of reconciliation and of salvation. In the Old Testament this Savior had been promised and announced. And in the fullness of time “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).

A greater miracle has never been seen in the world than when God was manifested in the flesh. Christ came into this world as the Servant of the Father in order to accomplish the work of the Father. Whereas we have dishonored the attributes of God by our sin, Christ by His passive and active obedience has glorified them again. He came to satisfy the justice of God and to quench His wrath, so that, according to Psalm 85:10, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Christ came to fulfill the law, to abolish death, and to bring life and immortality to light through the gospel. He came to bruise Satan’s head and to destroy his works. He came to obtain satisfaction by reconciliation and to bring in everlasting righteousness. Indeed, we read in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.”

Christ came not only to obtain salvation, but also to apply it. Oh, the glory of His person and the mystery of His two natures, the divine and the human, that He might be a perfect Savior for all those who come to God through Him! Often we can do no more than look at Him and see no form or comeliness in Him. But when it pleases Him to reveal the treasures that are in the darkness and the hidden riches, then this land of Immanuel is broad and wide! Then God’s children sing, “Here my soul lingers with an admiring and adoring eye!” To you, then, who believe, He is precious. He is precious in His person, in His mission, in His natures, in His states, in His offices, and in His benefits. When He becomes that precious to His people, then they will exalt Him to the highest heavens, although they are utterly miserable, guilty, hell-worthy, and lost in themselves.

Christ was not born in a palace, but in a manger, in a lowly stable. The marvel of it can never be fathomed or expressed. When we experience a little of it, words fail us. I think that most of the time when we start talking about it, the true life has already gone out of it, our proud ego takes over, and we spoil it by calling attention to ourselves. This tender life is like the snow. When it first falls from heaven, it is pure and white, but the first step we place on it makes it black.

Christ was born that we could be born again. He was born in a stable to make place for Himself in the stable of our hearts. He descended into hell to accomplish His salvation in the hell of our hearts and to manifest His grace. He was born under these miserable conditions to descend and enter into the unspeakable poverty into which we had gotten ourselves. How comforting it is for His people to know, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Truly, a soul for whom it may become Christmas abhors all the pagan doings of our day, and not because God’s children think themselves better than the rest; the Lord knows the heart. But their eyes and hearts have been opened for something better than the vanity and folly of the world. Those people have been made to see what they are lacking, what they have lost, and what they cannot do without. They must have Christ, the Son of God, in their hearts and lives! For without Him they can have no reconciliation with God. Only in His blood is there redemption for them. They must have that Person who alone can save them! There is a voice in the hearts of such guilty, miserable sinners which says, “Give me Jesus, else I die.” Without Him they are miserable, lonely, and dejected. Life without Him is dark, oppressive, and restless. A promising God is not as yet a fulfilling God.

It was night when the shepherds received the message. The same is true in the life of God’s expectant people. They can no longer see things in their true perspective. And when things have become impossible on their side, they become possible on God’s side, and it is then that they take place! What a joy that is!

But the message itself is not the fulfillment. For that the shepherds had to go to Bethlehem. And in order to make them realize their want, the angels returned to heaven. Then the shepherds went with haste to the city of David. It was there that they found and received the Child! There they found, to the great joy of their hearts, that which they had earlier missed, “For whoso findeth Me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord” (Proverbs 8:35).

The Spirit of God had made room in their hearts, not only for the promise, but also for the Child. Everything was the work of God Himself. What a blessing it is to be brought and kept under the influence of this blessed Spirit! It is the Spirit who quickens; it is the Spirit who convinces; it is the same Spirit who glorifies Christ. To know Christ is life eternal. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And through Him alone we have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

We can summarize this subject by saying, “His Name shall endure for ever: His Name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him blessed” (Psalm 72:17). Christmas Day is not a feast day for the world. Neither has it any significance for self-righteous Pharisees and scribes. Its true significance is hidden from the wise and prudent, but it is revealed unto babes. Mary had become such a babe, for in her song she said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden” (Luke 1:46-48).

May all of us learn to celebrate Christmas in this way, for that is necessary for each and every one of us on our way to eternity. It is a blessing that we may still hear this message. But that is not enough. Words must become facts for us. We must personally become the recipients of this message. It must be experientially known by us. For us, too, it is necessary for the Holy Spirit to come upon us, and the power of the Highest to overshadow us, that Christ will be born in our hearts and we by faith will be united with Him. Less than that will not suffice.

Mary was privileged to bring this Child into the world; Joseph was allowed to see Him lie in the manger; Simeon was favored to take Him into his arms while Anna witnessed it. These are all mysteries and blessings which the Lord reserves for those who keep His covenant and testimonies and who fear His Name. May our hearts and lives be filled with Him who is God and greatly to be praised eternally, and who is “fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into Thy lips” (Psalm 45:2). Then it would be truly Christmas. May the Lord grant this out of grace for His own sake to His dejected people, to His wanderers, to those who are ready to die from their youth up, to those who languish in spiritual prisons, and to the glory of His Name and attributes! Amen.

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