Advent24 - Day 6
Friday – December 6
Read: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)
Reflect
Christmas According to the Apostle Paul
by R. Fowler White
One of the most beloved carols that Christians sing during the Christmas season is that of William C. Dix, What Child is This? As few other carols do, the lyrics of this selection prompt us to contemplate the identity, the person and work, of the Babe in the manger. In fact, the carol politely but persistently presses us to answer the question: is this Child truly a holy infant or a mere holiday infant?
The Apostle Paul tells us six extraordinary things about Christ as he tells his answers to the question that the carol poses to us.
The Child for Whom all of Time Has Waited
First of all, notice that, according to the Apostle, Jesus is the Child for whom all of time had waited. Paul’s words prompt us to reflect on the timing of Christ’s appearance in the world: “when the fullness of time had come.” The time at which Jesus came is said to have been time at its fullest point, a unique occasion when all the parts of history that had to occur had, in fact, occurred. Each and every detail that had to take place was now in place.
In his phrase, “when the fullness of time had come,” the Apostle Paul points us to the truth that, politically, economically, culturally, and religiously speaking, history had been orchestrated by the one true God. In particular, by His singular sovereignty and providence, the histories of Rome and Jerusalem, both of which figured so prominently in our Lord’s sojourn on earth, had converged. The appointed date for the debut of the Son of the Father arrived right on schedule.
The Child “Born of a Woman”
Second, the Apostle’s words in Gal 4:4-5 tell us what Child this is when he says that Jesus is the Child who was “born of a woman.” With these words, Paul begins to reflect on the circumstances of His birth, which in turn directs our attention to the humiliation of the glorious eternal Son. In accord with prophecies such as Gen 3:15 and Isa 7:14, the Son was born of a woman. He was, thus, fully human as well as fully divine, the one and only God-man. The Son of God was sent to be one with us in our humanity.
He was born of her flesh and blood; of these He took part. Such is the first circumstance of His birth to which the Apostle calls our attention as he reflects on the low estate and great humiliation of the Son of the Father.
The Child Born Under the Law
Paul also says, He is the Child who was “born under the law.”
From His circumcision eight days after His birth, to His celebration of Passover with His disciples just before His death, every detail of Jesus’ life was under the direction of the law. As a son of Abraham, the Son-born-servant lived under the pedagogy of the ceremonial law. For His sake the ritual ordinances and shadows of the law were instituted, and their principal end and fulfillment were found in Him.
The Son was also born under the moral law and the civil law. As a servant of the Lord, He was subject to all the precepts of the law and to its rewards and penalties. And the law demanded a righteous man, a man who kept the commandments of His God and Father.
The Son, says Paul, the One born of a woman, was just such a man. He was born under the law both as a man and as the surety of His people.
The Child Sent to Redeem Us
As the Apostle continues to discuss the first advent of Jesus, he provides a fourth part of his answer to the question before us. The Babe in the manger, he tells us, is the Child who was born “to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal 4:4). Here our focus shifts from the circumstances of Jesus’ coming to the purpose of His coming.
We need to pay special attention to the meaning and background of the Apostle’s words here. By “redeem,” Paul has in mind the act of rescuing, releasing, delivering from slavery by the payment of a price. The story of Israel’s redemption provides the backdrop here. The price paid for the nation’s deliverance from Egypt was profound: it was the death of the firstborn. Through Moses Israel learned of God’s penal substitute for their firstborn, and thus Israel offered the Passover lamb and saw their redemption from slavery in Pharaoh’s kingdom to liberty under the Lord their God.
Truly this Child was not merely a holiday infant: He was and remains the Eternal Son sent forth by His Father to be born as that holy infant who would fulfill the Greatest Commission of all, that of redeeming us from our sins and making us heirs of God with Him.
There is, thankfully, a redemption greater than that of Moses. Israel’s deliverance from Egypt exemplified the gospel fully revealed in Jesus Christ. He came as the true Israel and the greater Passover Lamb (1 Cor 5:7; 1 Pet 1:19; John 1:29). He poured Himself out in death for His people (Isa 53:12; Heb 2:10-13; Rev 5:6-9) and thereby brought about the new and true exodus from spiritual slavery in Satan’s kingdom of sin and death (Luke 9:31; Matt 1:21). So great was the redemption wrought by Christ that He brought a benefit that Moses could not provide, namely, the forgiveness of sins, the sinner’s release from legal liability to endure the punishment that sin and its guilt required.
The Child Born to Make Us Heirs of His Father
What Child, then, is this in the manger? According to Gal 4:5, He is the Child who was born to make us heirs of God. As the Apostle puts it, He came “so that we might receive adoption as sons,” that is, as heirs with full rights and privileges (Gal 4:5). In these words we learn the ultimate goal of the Son’s coming.
To appreciate the stunning reality of our placement as heirs in the household of God, remember how God viewed us before our adoption. Apart from the grace of adoption, we were not “children of God” but “children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2); we were “by nature” not “children of God” but “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3)! The point is, in adoption, the Father gives the full rights and privileges that belong to His own Son to those who were neither His children nor His heirs by nature and birth.
By adoption, those of us whom God has justified have the same name, the same inheritance, the same standing, and the same rights as the one who is the Son of God.
The Child Who is the Eternal Son Sent Forth by His Father
Finally, in reflecting on the first coming of Christ in Galatians 4:4-5, What Child is this? The Child is the Son sent forth by His Father. These simple words take us into the background to the Son’s coming: they point us to His pre-existence. He existed before He was sent, and He existed as a person. The Child in the manger was the pre-existent Son of the Father, miraculously begotten as to His human nature by the Holy Spirit and miraculously preserved from defilement from the womb of Mary, one person with two natures.
According to Paul, then, the Babe in the manger is God with God, who has permanently taken to Himself human nature and flesh. He was not always man; He has always been God. Jesus Christ was not first a man upon whom divinity descended. He was first God who took upon Himself humanity. After the Incarnation He is now and will forever be one person with two natures, human and divine.
Conclusion
What Child is this in the manger, then? He is the Child who is the Son sent forth by His Father, the Son who is now and will henceforth always be both God and man.
We have reflected on the Apostle Paul’s answers to the question politely but persistently posed for us in the Christmas carol by William C. Dix, What Child is This? For all the merit of the answers found in the carol, we need to make sure that we believe what the Scriptures teach about the Babe in the manger. According to the Apostle, He is the Child for whom all of time had waited. He is the Child who was born of a woman and born under the law. Truly this Child was not merely a holiday infant: He was and remains the Eternal Son sent forth by His Father to be born as that holy infant who would fulfill the Greatest Commission of all, that of redeeming us from our sins and making us heirs of God with Him.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/christmas-according-apostle-paul?srsltid=AfmBOopsRYoiq-kEKVND9bgjwwNYK6PxW07Vfm2xZtmuNZg0QdI7F2ER
Respond
How would you answer the question, “What Child is this?” What do your words and actions communicate about what Child this is? How might you more boldly proclaim through your beliefs, word, and actions the Person and Work of this Child?
Rejoice
What Child Is This
What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary's lap, is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While the good shepherds watch are keeping?
Chorus:
This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary
So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh
Come peasant, king to own Him
The King of kings salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone Him
Raise, raise, the song on high
His mother sings her lullaby
Joy, joy, for Christ is born
The Babe, the Son of Mary
Read: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)
Reflect
Christmas According to the Apostle Paul
by R. Fowler White
One of the most beloved carols that Christians sing during the Christmas season is that of William C. Dix, What Child is This? As few other carols do, the lyrics of this selection prompt us to contemplate the identity, the person and work, of the Babe in the manger. In fact, the carol politely but persistently presses us to answer the question: is this Child truly a holy infant or a mere holiday infant?
The Apostle Paul tells us six extraordinary things about Christ as he tells his answers to the question that the carol poses to us.
The Child for Whom all of Time Has Waited
First of all, notice that, according to the Apostle, Jesus is the Child for whom all of time had waited. Paul’s words prompt us to reflect on the timing of Christ’s appearance in the world: “when the fullness of time had come.” The time at which Jesus came is said to have been time at its fullest point, a unique occasion when all the parts of history that had to occur had, in fact, occurred. Each and every detail that had to take place was now in place.
In his phrase, “when the fullness of time had come,” the Apostle Paul points us to the truth that, politically, economically, culturally, and religiously speaking, history had been orchestrated by the one true God. In particular, by His singular sovereignty and providence, the histories of Rome and Jerusalem, both of which figured so prominently in our Lord’s sojourn on earth, had converged. The appointed date for the debut of the Son of the Father arrived right on schedule.
The Child “Born of a Woman”
Second, the Apostle’s words in Gal 4:4-5 tell us what Child this is when he says that Jesus is the Child who was “born of a woman.” With these words, Paul begins to reflect on the circumstances of His birth, which in turn directs our attention to the humiliation of the glorious eternal Son. In accord with prophecies such as Gen 3:15 and Isa 7:14, the Son was born of a woman. He was, thus, fully human as well as fully divine, the one and only God-man. The Son of God was sent to be one with us in our humanity.
He was born of her flesh and blood; of these He took part. Such is the first circumstance of His birth to which the Apostle calls our attention as he reflects on the low estate and great humiliation of the Son of the Father.
The Child Born Under the Law
Paul also says, He is the Child who was “born under the law.”
From His circumcision eight days after His birth, to His celebration of Passover with His disciples just before His death, every detail of Jesus’ life was under the direction of the law. As a son of Abraham, the Son-born-servant lived under the pedagogy of the ceremonial law. For His sake the ritual ordinances and shadows of the law were instituted, and their principal end and fulfillment were found in Him.
The Son was also born under the moral law and the civil law. As a servant of the Lord, He was subject to all the precepts of the law and to its rewards and penalties. And the law demanded a righteous man, a man who kept the commandments of His God and Father.
The Son, says Paul, the One born of a woman, was just such a man. He was born under the law both as a man and as the surety of His people.
The Child Sent to Redeem Us
As the Apostle continues to discuss the first advent of Jesus, he provides a fourth part of his answer to the question before us. The Babe in the manger, he tells us, is the Child who was born “to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal 4:4). Here our focus shifts from the circumstances of Jesus’ coming to the purpose of His coming.
We need to pay special attention to the meaning and background of the Apostle’s words here. By “redeem,” Paul has in mind the act of rescuing, releasing, delivering from slavery by the payment of a price. The story of Israel’s redemption provides the backdrop here. The price paid for the nation’s deliverance from Egypt was profound: it was the death of the firstborn. Through Moses Israel learned of God’s penal substitute for their firstborn, and thus Israel offered the Passover lamb and saw their redemption from slavery in Pharaoh’s kingdom to liberty under the Lord their God.
Truly this Child was not merely a holiday infant: He was and remains the Eternal Son sent forth by His Father to be born as that holy infant who would fulfill the Greatest Commission of all, that of redeeming us from our sins and making us heirs of God with Him.
There is, thankfully, a redemption greater than that of Moses. Israel’s deliverance from Egypt exemplified the gospel fully revealed in Jesus Christ. He came as the true Israel and the greater Passover Lamb (1 Cor 5:7; 1 Pet 1:19; John 1:29). He poured Himself out in death for His people (Isa 53:12; Heb 2:10-13; Rev 5:6-9) and thereby brought about the new and true exodus from spiritual slavery in Satan’s kingdom of sin and death (Luke 9:31; Matt 1:21). So great was the redemption wrought by Christ that He brought a benefit that Moses could not provide, namely, the forgiveness of sins, the sinner’s release from legal liability to endure the punishment that sin and its guilt required.
The Child Born to Make Us Heirs of His Father
What Child, then, is this in the manger? According to Gal 4:5, He is the Child who was born to make us heirs of God. As the Apostle puts it, He came “so that we might receive adoption as sons,” that is, as heirs with full rights and privileges (Gal 4:5). In these words we learn the ultimate goal of the Son’s coming.
To appreciate the stunning reality of our placement as heirs in the household of God, remember how God viewed us before our adoption. Apart from the grace of adoption, we were not “children of God” but “children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2); we were “by nature” not “children of God” but “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3)! The point is, in adoption, the Father gives the full rights and privileges that belong to His own Son to those who were neither His children nor His heirs by nature and birth.
By adoption, those of us whom God has justified have the same name, the same inheritance, the same standing, and the same rights as the one who is the Son of God.
The Child Who is the Eternal Son Sent Forth by His Father
Finally, in reflecting on the first coming of Christ in Galatians 4:4-5, What Child is this? The Child is the Son sent forth by His Father. These simple words take us into the background to the Son’s coming: they point us to His pre-existence. He existed before He was sent, and He existed as a person. The Child in the manger was the pre-existent Son of the Father, miraculously begotten as to His human nature by the Holy Spirit and miraculously preserved from defilement from the womb of Mary, one person with two natures.
According to Paul, then, the Babe in the manger is God with God, who has permanently taken to Himself human nature and flesh. He was not always man; He has always been God. Jesus Christ was not first a man upon whom divinity descended. He was first God who took upon Himself humanity. After the Incarnation He is now and will forever be one person with two natures, human and divine.
Conclusion
What Child is this in the manger, then? He is the Child who is the Son sent forth by His Father, the Son who is now and will henceforth always be both God and man.
We have reflected on the Apostle Paul’s answers to the question politely but persistently posed for us in the Christmas carol by William C. Dix, What Child is This? For all the merit of the answers found in the carol, we need to make sure that we believe what the Scriptures teach about the Babe in the manger. According to the Apostle, He is the Child for whom all of time had waited. He is the Child who was born of a woman and born under the law. Truly this Child was not merely a holiday infant: He was and remains the Eternal Son sent forth by His Father to be born as that holy infant who would fulfill the Greatest Commission of all, that of redeeming us from our sins and making us heirs of God with Him.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/christmas-according-apostle-paul?srsltid=AfmBOopsRYoiq-kEKVND9bgjwwNYK6PxW07Vfm2xZtmuNZg0QdI7F2ER
Respond
How would you answer the question, “What Child is this?” What do your words and actions communicate about what Child this is? How might you more boldly proclaim through your beliefs, word, and actions the Person and Work of this Child?
Rejoice
What Child Is This
What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary's lap, is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While the good shepherds watch are keeping?
Chorus:
This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud
The Babe, the Son of Mary
So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh
Come peasant, king to own Him
The King of kings salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone Him
Raise, raise, the song on high
His mother sings her lullaby
Joy, joy, for Christ is born
The Babe, the Son of Mary
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