GOD AS MAN
by Dr. Gerald B. Winrod
"His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God,
The Ever lasting Father and The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
The INCARNATION of the eternal Son, involving the virgin
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was a plan conceived in the mind
of the Infinite before the dawn of creation.
Think of Christ correctly. Take Him out of the man class.
Put Him in the God class. He never had a beginning. He is an
eternal being. Associate yourself with Him and you will become a
recipient of the same eternal life that we saw manifested in Him
during the days of His flesh. He was born into this life for a
purpose.
Long before the foundations of our earth were laid and
before the heavens were stretched forth like a scroll ... before
the valleys were scooped out or the mountains piled high ...
before a carpet of grass was unrolled for humans to walk upon, or
the earth was laced with babbling brooks and flowing streams...
before a furnace was placed in the sun or the wheels of our solar
system started turning!
Back there, in the undated past called eternity, before the
sons of God shouted for joy it was foreordained that the WORD
should become flesh and dwell among men on this planet.
What we saw at Bethlehem was the consummation of that plan,
the materialization of the original conception in the mind of the
Infinite.
Jesus Christ did not come to reform but to transform. Not to
repair but to replace. Not to save us from wrong-doing but to
save us from wrong-being.
He came to bring life. The natural man is dead in trespasses
and sin. He said: "I am come that they might have life, and that
they might have it more abundantly."
The personality of Jesus Christ is the hub, the great
central fact of all Scripture. Both the Old and New Testaments
are woven around His majestic personality. In order to understand
Him and to cooperate with Him for the accomplishment of divine
purposes in our lives, we must take Him out of the man class and
put Him in the God class.
Who had glory with God in the eons of eternity before the
worlds were framed? Jesus Christ.
Who is mentioned more than three hundred times in the Old
Testament? Jesus Christ.
Who is referred to in every book of the Bible? Jesus Christ.
Who was supernaturally born? Who was conceived by the Holy
Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary? Jesus Christ.
Who lived a sinless life? Who lived in sin and yet without
sin? Jesus Christ.
Who tasted death for every man and entered into an atonement
great enough to include the last sinner who walks the dirt roads
of earth? Jesus Christ.
Who conquered Hades? Who came out of the new tomb of Joseph
of Arimathea in triumphant resurrection? Who tasted death for
every man? Who broke the power of death over redeemed souls?
Jesus Christ.
On top of the mountain whose body became all aglow with the
glory of God? Who transcended gravity and was lifted up and out
of sight in the ascension? Who ascended into heaven? Jesus
Christ.
Then two witnesses appear dressed in white raiment. They
inquire, "Men of Galilee why these tears? Do you not know that
this same Jesus will come again as He has departed now?" Who is
coming again, King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Jesus Christ.
He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a
Virgin. He left the ivory palaces, came down to this earth and
put on humanity that we might put on divinity.
He became the Son of Man that we might become the sons of
God. He came from heaven where rivers never freeze, winds never
blow, frosts never chill, flowers never fade, no one is ever sick
and no one ever dies. He stooped low to our level, that we might
be given a foretaste of heaven and see God in a human body. Jesus
lived the human life of God.
As the magnifying glass brings out the hidden beauties of
the rose, so also He displays before us the hidden beauties of
deity.
He was born in a supernatural way. He lived in poverty. He
grew up in obscurity. He had no wealth. He attended no college.
Yet the profoundest wisdom of men has never equaled His
discourses. The record says: "Never man spake like this man."
His relatives were inconspicuous folk living in a rural
community. In infancy He frightened a king. In boyhood, He
puzzled doctors of the law. At the age of twelve He possessed
greater wisdom than theologians. He was taught of God. In manhood
He ruled the elements. He defied the law of gravitation by the
walking on water. Winds obeyed His voice. He spoke peace to a
raging sea. He healed multitudes without medicine and made no
charge for His services. He never wrote a book. Yet many
libraries would be required to accommodate the books that have
been written about Him.
He never wrote a song. Yet He has furnished the theme of
more songs than all the song writers combined. He never
founded a college, and yet all the schools in the world put
together cannot boast the number of students who studied under
Him. He healed broken hearts. He blessed little children. He
healed the sick. He cleansed the leper. He raised the dead. He
went about doing good. He was the Man of Mercy.
He associated with sinners. He ate with publicans. In fact,
one had to be a sinner to attract His attention. He said: "The
Son of man is come to seek, and to save, that which was lost. He
has power to transform human lives. He specializes in making bad
people good. That is the greatest of all miracles, transforming
sinners into saints.
He never mobilized an army, or drafted a soldier, or fired a
gun. Yet no military leader has ever enlisted as many volunteers
as those who take orders from Him.
You do not need to be an astronomer to understand that He is
the Day Star of Eternal Hope. You do not need to be a geologist
to understand that He is the Rock of Ages. You do not need to be
a zoologist to understand that He is the Lamb of God slain from
the foundation of the world. You do not need to be a botanist to
understand that He is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the
Valley. You do not need to be a musician to understand that He is
the great Harmonizer of all discords. You do not need to be a
doctor to understand that He is the Healer of human ills.
Great men have come and gone. He lives on. Herod could not
kill Him. People at a religious service could not stone Him.
Satan could not tempt Him. Death could not destroy Him. The grave
could not contain Him. Demons obeyed Him.
He fed a hungry multitude with the lunch of a small boy. He
broke up funerals. He gave life back to those who were dead. He
said: "I am the resurrection and the life."
He laid aside His Royal robe for the gown of a peasant. He
was rich but for our sakes became poor. Yet wise men brought Him
costly gifts at the time of His birth.
He slept in the manger of a stranger. He sailed on a lake in
a borrowed boat. He road into Jerusalem on a borrowed beast. He
was buried in a borrowed tomb.
He conquered death. He rose on the third day as He had
previously announced. He ascended into heaven. He sits at the
right hand of the Majesty on High.
He will come again. He will judge the nations in
righteousness. Every knee shall bow to Him. Every tongue shall
confess Him as Lord. His friends will gladly make this
confession. His enemies will make the same confession while
trying to hide from His face.
He is the perfect One. He is the Chief among ten thousands.
He alone can satisfy the soul and give everlasting life to those
who will accept. He is altogether lovely.
Jesus attended three funerals in the days of His flesh and
in each instance destroyed the last enemy which is death. I
repeat, He attended three funerals and He broke up all of them.
He specializes in breaking up funerals!
A boy had died. His mother was weeping. Jesus touched the
casket and the young man rose from the dead. The daughter of
Jairus had died of a fever. Jesus put the doubters out of the
room. He took the maid's hand and said, "Arise." Life was
restored. His friend Lazarus had died. Jesus commanded the stone
to be rolled away. He said: "Lazarus come forth." Life was
restored.
Not long ago I made a trip from Washington, D.C., down the
Potomac to Mount Vernon. I visited the tomb of George Washington
and that is a sacred spot. The British have their Westminster
Abbey where they bury their noble dead. A great building in India
marks the place where the mortal remains of Buddha were laid to
rest. But as Christians we rejoice, not in some beautifully
decorated tomb under oriental skies. We rejoice in an empty tomb.
HE IS THE CHRIST TRIUMPHANT!
..................
This article courtesy of Kingdom Treasure Ministries, Owasso, OK
www.truth inhistory.org
Taken from "Thy Kingdom Come" - August 2008, a publication of The
Association of the Covenant People, Burnaby, B.C. Canada
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