by Reuven and Mary Lou Doron
Dec 24, 2008

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5

In the eternal council of God, the Lamb was slain before the foundations of the world were set in place. From the beginning, the truth about sin and its consequences was known, and the battle plan was drawn in the heart of Heaven. Sin will be neutralized, its power nullified, the accuser defanged and redemption secured.

However, the price for redeeming and liberating the children of God was high. The highest price there is. It called for the surrender of the very life of God Himself. The Son accepted the yoke, the decree was made, and the plan was set into motion. The Son’s new title will be MESSIAH, the ANOINTED ONE in the Hebrew language; One who is immersed and saturated with the very essence, nature and purpose of God as He walks among mankind.

From that point of eternity past, the historic account began to unfold as the Father set the stage and painted the backdrop for the greatest work of love, sacrifice, and courage ever to be accomplished.

The Promised Savior

In the very first prophecy of the Bible, “…the LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life; and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel’” (Genesis 3:14-15).

From the dawn of recorded Biblical history, the preparations for the Messiah’s mission began to take shape. Not surprisingly then, the opening prophecy in the entire body of Scriptures pointed to the nature, scope and purpose of His coming. As God addressed the enemy directly and laid out the battle lines, this earliest Messianic prophecy established a number of essential foundational truths:

1) A Savior will come. 2) He will not be an angel or a spirit being, rather uniquely born of the seed of a woman (a biological impossibility). 3) His coming will be for conflict. 4) He will suffer and be bruised. 5) The enemy will suffer a greater blow and be defeated. Thus, in this focused and compact decree that only God can convey, the entire story of our salvation was told. In broad and bold strokes God told all who care to hear how this tale will play out, leaving the details to future prophecies.

Salvation has been secured! The rest of the story, as they say, is history. A history that has been predicted and proclaimed by the One whose Word is unchangeable and irrevocable for all eternity.

The Word promises that a unique life will manifest on earth - God’s life; fully human, fully holy, able to defeat evil, willing to be poured out as the supreme sacrifice. Death would touch the divine life for a brief moment, and then be undone forever. The abyss will imprison the Son of God Himself, only to be vanquished and unlocked from within, releasing its captives forever.

The Word secured the grand finale as it describes the end of the enemy’s career, saying, “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever…Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:10, 14).

The Search Has Begun

From that very day when the first prophetic word was spoken by God in the Garden of Eden, a beacon of hope was set ablaze for the human family. That Word of promise would shine brightly through the dark and terrible centuries which were to follow as the troubled and tormented humans were slipping into the long night of sin and death. As the light shined in the encroaching darkness, the search for the promised Savior began.

From that day on, starting with Eve, every godly mother in every successive generation would wonder and hope, deep in her heart, whether her child is the promised One. “Am I the blessed one chosen to give birth to the life of God so that He can lay it down again? Is my womb His holy shelter during the journey from Heaven to earth?”

“Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, ‘I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD’” (Genesis 4:1). What was the burning hope in Eve’s heart when she held her first-born child in her arms? What did she see in his future? God’s promise was alive in her soul, “A Savior is to come, a seed of a woman…Can Cain be the one?”

Cain was not the one, and neither was Abel. Much more had to unfold before the Savior would arrive. The flood had to wash the earth clean; the patriarchs had to be called out; the Law had to be given at Sinai; the nation of Israel had to be formed in the wilderness; the Land of Canaan had to be conquered; the Temple had to be built and destroyed; and then the exile, the mourning, the return, and the long wait. From century to century, the Jewish people who knew the Word and cherished it, held on to God’s promise as they waited for His Savior.

No, Cain was not the one. Rather, to Eve’s horror and despair, Cain became the first murderer and Eve the first mother weeping over her slain son. The first in a long history of pain, sorrow and misery which was to plague the human family for thousands of years to come. And the search went on.

The Baby Everybody Wanted

Neither was Seth the one, nor Enosh, Enoch, or even righteous Noah. The entire world was drowning in the flood’s judgment, yet the Savior did not come. A new beginning dawned on the reborn creation as civilization was planted afresh on Mount Ararat. Will He come now to save His people before a new cycle of evil consumes the earth? No, not yet, and the search went on.

Isaac was a close candidate as his life was offered on Mt. Moriah’s altar, foreshadowing the great sacrifice to come, but he was not the one. Moses’ birth and childhood, so supernatural and divinely protected, set him apart in his generation. Could he be the one?

No, Moses was not the one, rather he himself prophesied of the future Savior. Speaking by God’s Spirit, he said, “I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And it shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:18-19). Moses was not the one, and the mothers continued to whisper in their tents, speaking softly of that blessed womb that will bear the Savior of the world day.

Balaam saw Him in a vision on the distant horizon as he prophesied, saying, “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall crush through the forehead of Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth” (Numbers 24:17). “The Savior will surely come,” announced the prophet, but not until the time was right. Until then, the mothers will continue to wait in hope against hope, trusting in the God who spoke.

Rahab, the former Canaanite harlot, heard of the promised Savior and pondered His mystery as she conceived a child with Zalmon, a Judean prince who married her after the fall of Jericho. But Boaz was not the one. Ruth the Moabitess, who also joined Israel from the nations, carried that same hope in her generation, but neither was Obed the one. These sons, though mighty in their own generations and great in the purpose of God, merely foreshadowed the Savior’s character and mission, preparing the way of the Lord.

Hannah whispered of Him in the back of the tent while carrying Samuel in her womb, as did the mothers of David, Solomon and Hezekiah, but the Savior was not yet ready to be born in human flesh. How long will the suffering go on? How many more pregnant mothers will wait, hoping, longing to give birth to the Promise?

The Son of a Virgin

Many centuries passed until Isaiah offered a clearer revelation when he prophesied, saying, “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). A virgin, said the prophet, an unmarried young maiden will bear the child. For the first time, in clear language, a direct line is drawn all the way back to the earliest and original prophecy in the Garden of Eden concerning the seed of the woman. A deeper truth yet was revealed. The words of Isaiah narrowed the field, signifying that not any woman could bear this child, but she will have to be unmarried, and a virgin.

Not only that, but His name was to be called IMMANUEL - God with us. This name is too awesome for even the mightiest of prophets or the greatest of apostles. Who could this child be with such a name? Can God so humble Himself and come dressed in human flesh? Can He really live among us in this contaminated world? Incredible prospects, yet so very necessary if the ancient promise is true. Truly, if God is a person, then He will make Himself known. If He is Love, then nothing will stop Him from coming to His own. And in order to reveal His love, He must come to us as one of us.

King of a Kingdom

Revelation continued to pour out through Isaiah when he proclaimed, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Upon this Savior’s shoulders, and upon none other, will the government of God rest. This Kingdom is not primarily about territory, economy, or political power. Rather, it is a Kingdom of justice and righteousness and peace. The divine titles all point to the Savior’s nature and attributes.

He alone is Wonderful; He is the Counselor who has the keys to the mystery of our lives; He is the Mighty God; and simultaneously He is our Eternal Father who can calm our deepest cry, and the only Prince of Peace who can bring an end to all strife and conflict. This is the One promised to us from the beginning, the one every Jewish generation sought for. But for now, the mothers will continue to hope and whisper quietly in the women’s tents, wondering when, where and to whom that blessed child is to be born.

The Place

Years passed, and Micah prophesied revealing the exact location of His birth. “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Micah 5:2).

This was a very well-known prophecy among the Israelites of old, as the birthplace of the Savior was now pinpointed to the very hamlet, in the very region and country of the Father’s choice. Still, more centuries passed, Micah was long gone, and heaviness clouded Israel’s hopes as hardships and turmoil found them on every side. Will the Messiah ever come? Will the promise ever be fulfilled?

The Time

God would not leave His people without a living word, and Daniel, by the visitation of the angel Gabriel, prophesied of the timing of the Savior’s arrival.

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.” Daniel 9:24-25

Daniel declared that from the decree of King Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem (issued in 444 BC, according to Nehemiah 2), there would pass sixty-nine weeks of years (69 x 7 = 483) till redemption is accomplished. In other words, 483 Biblical years (360 days in a lunar/Biblical year) would pass from the command to restore Israel from the Babylonian exile until the Messiah’s life will be poured out to finish His great work of atonement and deliverance. This count, translated to our Gregorian/solar calendar years, brings us to the Spring of 33 AD, the time of the Passover sacrifice in Judea. The search was almost over for the Promised One.

The Miracle

In the fullness of time, at God’s perfect moment, the angel Gabriel came again to earth, this time to a virgin in Nazareth. God, who always desired to reveal Himself to His children, was now ready to make Himself known to mankind. But how will He do it? Only through an angelic display in the heavens? A heavenly visitor to earth? No, this was the time for the real advent. This time God came in the person of His own Son, as the very image and substance of the Father was interwoven into the frailty of human frame.

“And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His Kingdom will have no end.’” Luke 1:30-33

In the Jewish virgin’s womb, in a rustic Galilean village tucked away in a backwaters region of a conquered small nation, God planted His holy seed. The size of the divine package which would deliver the world was microscopic; one fertilized egg in the virgin’s sealed womb was the hope of the world. On that day in Nazareth, the ancient promise of Genesis 3 was finally fulfilled. The Word spoken at the dawn of time became flesh in the humblest of circumstances, far away from the courts of power and the glitz of fame. In fact, so humble was the reception and so hidden the miracle that hardly anybody noticed that God was at last conceived on earth.

The baby whom every godly mother wanted was finally among us. Thousands of years had passed since the promise was first spoken. The stage was now set, Israel was in place, and the world was ready. In the fullness of time, in the least desirable surroundings and circumstances, God took on human flesh and entered His creation. Helpless, defenseless, and utterly vulnerable to the predator spirits of this age, the long-awaited Messiah was born.

A Life to Share

Bethlehem was His entry point, but He was raised in the dry heat of Egypt and matured among the rugged Galilean mountains. In the synagogues of Israel He learned of His Heavenly Father; in life He perfected obedience; and in all that He did and said He offered perfect service and sacrifice. From His birth He was preparing for His death.

The Lamb, which was slain before the foundation of the world, was finally at hand and said, “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour” (John 12:27).

Not denying His humanity or earthly frailty, the Son of God, nevertheless, kept His eyes on the Father’s will and on His mission. The baby that everybody wanted was born, grew up, suffered, died, and rose to life again within a hundred miles of His birthplace. He never wrote a book, never was elected to public office, and never started a political movement. Yet, His life was so pleasing to the Father that this perfect sacrifice was accepted as payment for the transgressions of us all as the fate of the entire human race rested upon His shoulders.

Sin was undone, the sting of death canceled, and the enemy was defeated. Let the gift of His birth, death and resurrection life be planted deeply in your heart this Christmas and Hanukah season as you keep your eyes on Him.

“Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Revelation 1:17-18

Reuven and Mary Lou Doron
One New Man Call
Email: OneNewManMail@aol.com

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