Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 January 1912 — BROOKLYN TABERNACLE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BROOKLYN TABERNACLE

A SAVIOR—A LIFE GIVER. Luke ii, 1-20—Jan. 21. "For unto you is'born thia day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord.” CODAY’S STUDY is a most interesting one, relating to the birth of Jesus. The Scriptures are most careful to point out to us that lie was not begotten after the usual manner, that He had no earthly father, but was begotten by the Holy Spirit. The necessity for this is manifest: The father is the lifeigiver, the mother is the nourisher of the offspring. If Jesus had received His life from a human father it would have been tainted, impaired, under condemnation of death, as is that of all others. This would have frustrated any work on His part as the world's Redeemer, because no Imperfect man could have Redeemed a perfect one. as the Psalmist declares. .(Psalm xlix. 7.) Again we read. “He was'holy, harmless, undefiled, separate

sinners.” And again, “A body hast Thou prepared Me.” for the suffering of death. It is not enough, then, that we rec-, ognize Jesus as good, well-inten-tioned in mind. We must see in Him human per-

section, sufiicie it as a sacrifice to

offset the forfeited life of the first perfect man, Adam. For Our Sakes He Became Poor. Few babes in all Judea or in all the world were born in a more humble place than Jesus. Joseph and Mary had gone to their native city, Betfaleh hem, for tax registration, under imperial edict. The little city was crowded with others on similar errand. And so it came that Jesus was born in a cattle stall, where Joseph and Mary had been compelled to lodge for the night. Ah! we cannot wonder that it is diffi cult for many to understand why our Heavenly Father sent forth His Son for our redemption under such igno-. minions conditions! Only those who have the spirit of the Divine Plan, through the begetting of the Holy Spirit, can see the wherefore. The Message of the angels was surely an inspired one, fully in harmony with God’s promise to Abraham—only an enlarged statement of the same—the same “all people” to be blessed—and it was still good tidings and it still meant great joy; but now, two thousand years later, the Message pointed out the very Individual Through whom the good tidings would have fulfilment—the Babe of Bethlehem. The Message declared that' a Savior had been born—the Anointed, the Lord. There is a special force or meaning in this word Savior—it signifies life-giver. The Syriac version is the one in which Savior is translated life-giver; and Syriac was likely the language spoken by Jesus and others of Palestine at that time. And is there not a special fitness or appropriateness ip this name life-giver f What had man lost and what would he wish to have back? The Scriptures answer that Adam lost life and came under the penalty, “Dying, thou shalf die.” He did not lose heaven, for he never possessed it. He ’lost earthly life, an Eden home, human perfection. And Jesus declared that He “came to seek and to recover that which was lost."— Matthew xvili, 11.

The Hallelujah Chorus, In verse 14 we have a kind of Hallelujah chorus or angelic response to the

Message of the angel already given. A heavenly host sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and bn earth peace, good will toward m e n.” How grand! How inspiring! But we see not yet this glorious condition achieved. The proper glory to God is not yet

rendered on earth as It is in heaven. Nor does peace yet wave her banner, even over so-called Christendom. What is the matter? Ah. said the Apostle, that is a secret, a mystery, hidden from past Ages and Dispensations! The mystery is that God not only intends to have Jesus for His Anointed One, to rule and bless the 1 world, but He has foreordained also a company of footstep followers to be with Him and share His work, and this entire Gospel- Age has been devoted to the work of selecting this class, variously edited the Body of Christ and .the “espoused virgin," which at the second coming of the Lord, is to become “the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife" and jointheir. It Is for this that the Apostle declares that the whole creation groans and travails in pain until now—waiting for the manifestation of the Sons of God—the revelation of Jesus and His Bride in the glory of the. Kingdom, for the blessing of natural Israel and all the families of the earth with knowledge and assistance, that the willing and obedient may be recovered to the image and likeness of God and to everlasting life. . ■

"For our sakes became poor.”

"Ye shall find the Babe lying in a manger."