Tree Trimming #15: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

"Do not say, 'Why is it that the former days were better than these?'  For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

Ecclesiastes 7:10

Okay, so it is clear that when it comes to me asking about older songs, I'm not wise at all.

Honestly, one of the saddest things about my love of Christmas carols is the discovery of how far (generally speaking) the church has fallen from heavy, scripture-saturated, lyrical content in music.  Most of the Christmas hymns that I like fall in this category.  But I think there's an argument to be made that O Come, O Come, Emmanuel might rank #1 in this category.  I'll offer brief commentary on my favorite verses from the song:

O Come O Come Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel

Shall come to thee O Israel.

I think that there's a double-entendre here.  There's a historical re-telling of Israel's bondage in Babylon where it was hard to sing the songs of Zion.  But after returning to the land, the Son of God appeared.  At the same time, there's a very rich sense where "the Israel of God", both Gentile and Jewish sons of Abraham according to faith in Christ are held in exile.  1st Peter 2:11-12 declare believers are merely "pilgrims passing through".  As aliens and strangers to this world system, we too cry out "O Come O Come Emmanuel"!  Advent goes both ways.

O Come Thou Rod of Jesse Free

Thine own from Satan's tyranny

From depths of hell thy people save

And give them victory o'er the grave!

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel

Shall Come to thee O Israel

Isaiah 11:1-2 tells us the shocking news that though Jesse's tree became a mere stump, a rod or shoot would come jutting out of it.  Beyond that, a branch from it's roots would come forth and bear fruit.  Jesus is that shoot since the Davidic line of kings was virtually destroyed by Babylonians, and then trampled upon further by Greeks and Romans.  And yet, from a descendant of Jesse (the father of King David) Jesus stands out as a very different kind of king.  His ultimate victory isn't over Philistines or Amorites, but over hell and death itself.

O Come Adonai, Lord of Might

Who to Thy tribes on Sinai's height

Didst give to thy people the law

In cloud and majesty, and awe

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel

Shall Come to thee O Israel.

It is hard to say for sure, but I wonder if the author of this carol is saying that the giver of the law itself is the pre-incarnate Christ?  I wonder.  The imagery of this stanza brings to mind Hebrews 12:18-24 where the contrast is made between the "shock and awe" of Mt. Sinai and the joyous celebration in Mt. Zion.  For indeed the law was given with numerous warnings and in such a way that the people would have fled if not for terror that God would overtake and deal with them even  more severely.

But the coming of Emmanuel is enhanced because of how the law shakes us at our core.  We are aware of our horrible standing before the tribunal of God's holiness.  As Sinai shook under the presence of God, so our souls are naked and ashamed due to the awful weight of sin's folly.  Therefore, when the Spirit makes the sweetness of God's grace towards us in Christ evident to us, we rejoice at the coming of Emmanuel.  God with us is not a terror, but makes us merry.  We are clothed in Christ's garments and not our feeble fig leaves.  He brings security in peace and not enmity.  We are invited to the most lavish meal where Christ drinks from the fruit of the vine anew in His Father's kingdom.  And His banner over us is love.

Even if the former days are better than these days, it is for certain that the future days are better than them all.  O Come O Come Emmanuel!

Tree Trimmings #11: God With Us (Part 1)

"So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us.'"

Matthew 1:22-23

When we say Jesus in the flesh was, "God with us", what does that mean?  We simply must look at the way Jesus had previously been revealed prior to His birth to understand better what His incarnation meant.  To begin our quest, we look briefly at John 1:18 as the Rosetta Stone to interpret for us how we should understand the various appearances of God in the Holy Scriptures:

"No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."

Whew!  That's worth re-reading.  I'll insert brackets to assist:

"No one has seen God at any time [if you're not Trinitarian, you're in trouble]; the only begotten God [neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit are ever described as having been "begotten" so, that leaves You Know Who] who is in the bosom of the Father [hmm... we have God with God and God at the side of God... sounds a lot like John 1:1-2 here], He [Jesus is the Son of God which logically makes Him "the only begotten God"] has explained [revealed] Him [the Father]."

Simple enough, right?

Well, it seems pretty straight forward from this verse of scripture, almost everything I used to think about God in the Old Testament was wrong.  I used to believe that every time God spoke/appeared or was otherwise revealed before Christ's birth, it had to be The Father.  It's so strange because if you had asked me whether I believed in Christ's existence before His birth, I would have said "yes".  But then, I'd go along making impositions on the Bible as if I denied it.  Anyways...

John 1:18 appears presents a problem when we consider texts like, Genesis 18:1; Exodus 24:9-11; Numbers 12:6-8.  How can it be that "no one has seen God" when these OT passages clearly speak of persons seeing God.  Plain and simple, the Bible says that Abraham saw Yahweh.  Up to and at least 70 elders of Israel saw Yahweh.  Then we find that Moses sees Yahweh's form.  This is especially confusing when Jesus tells us in John 4:24 that God is a Spirit (what form does a spirit have?) and 1st Timothy 6:16 says that seeing God hasn't happened nor CAN it happen.  How do we answer this question?

Well, like any kid who's ever been to Sunday School knows, when you can't answer the question, just say "Jesus".  And in this case, it's not just the trite thing to do, it's the most profound answer possible. 

As one who holds to the doctrine of the Trinity, I believe Jesus is God.  But I don't believe that Jesus is the Father.  In the OT, there weren't any obvious or plain distinctions between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps this is in part because God's first step in revealing Himself is was to impress the singularity of His being upon His people.  We can see that being essential because of the polytheistic systems of religion that had to be avoided and denied by Israel in order that they would be the Lord's people.  

But the revelation of Jesus requires a distinction between persons in the Godhead.  In NT talk, "God" is almost always a reference to the Father and "Son" is naturally a reference to Jesus.  So we find that Jesus is SENT by God although He is God (even OT passages hint to this kind of distinction, see the speaker in Zechariah 2:8-11).  

Therefore, when we see a passage like John 1:18, declaring that no one has ever seen God it says plainly that those who saw Yahweh didn't see the Father, but they saw the Son.  Jesus is the One Abraham, Moses and the 70 elders saw.  Jesus is the One Who has explained and revealed the Father, not only in the NT but in the OT as well.  .  John 1:18 has not introduced a contradiction, but a clarification.  

So all those times God appeared in the Old Testament, that was Jesus?  Yes.  All the judgement, all the fire, all the thunder-- that was Jesus?  Yes, yes, and yes.  Amazingly, "God with us" did not come to kill as many had feared (see Exodus 20:18-19).  Emmanuel came to save us.  

Tree Trimming #5 (or #4 Part II): Christ the Lord

"For unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:11

The most stunning aspect of the Savior's identity is that He isn't only the Advocate of the guilty but also the Judge of the condemned.  In the previous post from this series on Tree Trimmings, I stated that there was a much greater threat to non-believers than the Devil of hell could ever be or impose.  The greatest threat to the unrepentant sinner is God.  The fact that so many might bristle at the thought of this speaks to how poorly we have understood the extent of God's love demonstrated in Christ to save the undeserving.

In Genesis 18:25, just before God carried out sentencing on Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham called Him "the Judge of all the earth".  Psalm 1 is celebrated as a passage with an encouraging picture of the righteous.  However, that particular psalm has just as much to say about the wicked (Psalm 1:4-6).  In fact, Psalms is a book that many retreat to for comfort and "inspiration" because of the emotional and poetic expressions of highs and lows of this life.  But God's emotions are also on display-- see Psalm 7:11, Psalm 90:7-9, and Psalm 110:6.  The prophetic utterances in Jeremiah 11:11 and Zephaniah 3:8 have varied contexts but both express God's red-hot anger against sin and righteousness in judging those who despise and disobey His law.  This is not just an Old Testament thing.  

James, the brother of Jesus makes it clear that as a judge, God both defends and destroys (James 4:12).  Peter writes the church to assure them that their accusers will have to answer to God for their sins against His people (1st Peter 4:5).  Luke's account of apostolic preaching is riddled with references to judgement (Acts 10:42, Acts 17:30-31, etc.).  Paul explains that God is not only judging the visible and vocal sins but the sinful expressions hidden from others within our thoughts, attitudes, and emotions (Romans 2:16).  For anyone so deceived to believe that their good deeds will outweigh their bad deeds on Judgement Day, the Apostle writes,

"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.  Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin."

Romans 3:19-20

At this point, someone will argue that I'm over-doing it.  Why go on and on about God as judge?  The title in this post isn't "Judge", after all.  I labor the point of judgement because at this time of year, maybe the last thing on even the Christian's mind is the judgement with which God could have righteously executed upon the earth at His first visit (Christmas).  But it is precisely because of the fact that the human race collectively and individually worthy of the God's guilty verdict (Romans 3:9) that Christ the Lord came to save.

The immensity of His work as Savior is directly proportional to the wrath which was due us.  Minimize one, and you've depreciated the other.  Omit one and the other is null and void.

Asking for one's opinion of who/what the "Messiah" or "Christ" would do/be carried almost as many conceptions as there were people to share them.  Political leader, teacher, arch-rebel against Rome, military genius... one's guess may have been as good as another.  But the celestial statement was probably more shocking than anything almost anyone could have expected, hoped for, or feared: this savior is Christ the Lord; God Himself.

To be sure, Israel has had many saviors and deliverers before Jesus.  A host of relatively unknown characters from the Old Testament were said to have saved/delivered Israel (Judges 3:9, Judges 3:31, Judges 8:22).  But this Savior is the one who saved the saviors.  And what's so awesome about Him is that, in a very real sense, He has saved all those who trust in Him unto Himself, from Himself.  When have you ever seen a judge take off his robe, relinquish gavel, and become the defense attorney for the guilty?  Who else but Christ the Lord!

Tree Trimming #4: Savior

For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord

Luke 2:11

It has been said that the entire message of the Bible can be summed up in one word: rescue.  It is a powerful thought and certainly one worth exploring.

The concept of rescue automatically implies the presence of a precarious predicament.  Who needs rescue from pleasant circumstances?  Rescue denotes deliverance from danger.  But the biblical narrative, what or who is the danger?  Well, that's where many well-meaning and otherwise sincere churchgoers make a mess of the gospel story.  Some of the most popular but ultimately wrong answers to the question:

"I'm saved from lack of purpose!"  Sorry, no cigar.  This is not only wrong but it was never the issue to begin with.  God doesn't make anything without a purpose so being saved from a purposeless existence is actually a slanderous accusation against the God Who according to Isaiah 46:8-11 and Ephesians 1:11 works everything for His purposes.  Romans 9:17 declares that even Pharaoh had a purpose--pretty sure he wasn't "saved" in any sense of the word.

"I'm saved from sickness and poverty in this life!"  Really?  Does this even deserve an explanation as to why such a thought is folly?  If you haven't seen any of Justin Peters' presentations on what is commonly called "Word of Faith" theology/movement, you should really invest the time to bless yourself or get equipped to bless others with the corrective power of God's word.

"I'm saved from sin!"  We're getting a little closer to the root issue but depending on what is meant by "sin", we could still be in left field.  If a professing believer tells me that they're saved from sin, I immediately ask, "Do you still sin?".  Invariably, the answer is "Yes, of course."  It's 1 in 5 who can explain how salvation from sin still provides for the presence of sin in their lives. After all, why would there be provisions made for confession and forgiveness in 1st John 1:9 if believers never sinned again?

"I'm saved from the Devil!"  Okay, so... authentic salvation does ultimately provide protection from Satan.  And while it is true that the name "Satan" means "adversary", he is the enemy of believers.  While he has no good intentions for the unbeliever, he's not the primary enemy of the unsaved (believe it or not!).  There is a much more dangerous "clear and present danger" than the Devil for the person who does not repent of sin and receive Jesus as the Lord of their life.

Now, we know that a Savior is one who rescues or delivers another from trouble.  The interesting but sad thing about Christmas time is that we celebrate a Savior when most don't even know what or who He saves us from.  The answer may startle and surprise some while bring out reviling and revolting from others.  Either way, you'll have to see Tree Trimming #5 to get my argument for the biblical answer to the question, "Saved from what?"

Tree Trimming #3: Hark! The Herald Angels SING

So, I'm not expert on tree-trimming and ornaments.  I'm not even a regular at decorating trees at Christmas time.  Nana and I have been married since 2008 and this is our first tree together.  I admit, I am partially motivated by our eldest daughter, Jael, and her growing awareness of the Christmas season.  I fondly recall being enthralled by the glow of our Christmas tree growing up.  And while I want to help create beautiful memories for her sake as well as Noel, our second daughter, I'm not satisfied to merely create aesthetics.  I'm out for content as well.

That's why I was so excited when my wife told me about Adornaments and Adore-Hymns which she heard about via Family Life.  I was happy to discover EverThineHome and they will be featured prominently in this little series I'm attempting to write up for Advent/Christmas.  The first up is one of my favorite Christmas Carols: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.

Luke 2:8-12 gives us the Father's public service announcement, "It's a Boy, He's My Son, and He's your Savior".  When the PSA is supplemented by a few key tidbits to help identify the best Stranger ever to visit the planet,  Dr. Luke goes on to explain how,

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

Luke 2:12-13

I'm interested in the word "host" here because it reminds me of how older English translations of scripture have supplied us with, "The Lord God of Hosts", as a title for God.  This interests me because the word "host/hosts" was closely associated with the word "horde/hordes" or even "army/armies".  If this reading is correct, it gives me a very powerful image worth exploring on this day in particular.

What can we say about the Lord God Omnipotent Who sends His Only Begotten to earth--a world in 100% rebellion against Him--as a helpless baby?  He sends these angels almost as an imperial escort--a fantastic display of His strength and glory--but they only appear to shepherds on the fringes of society in a forgotten outpost in the backwoods of Judea.

Consider the power of a single angel who alone brought judgement upon the enemies of God's people in 2nd Kings 19:35.  Well, we have a whole army of such celestial beings.  What should they say to vile sinners?  What should they do to humans who have boldly shaken their fists collectively against their Maker?  No acts of retribution, no show of force, no quelling of rebellion, no police action.  Instead of these, singing.

Singing?!?  Yes, singing,

"Peace on Earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!"

I have been greatly troubled this evening and transfixed at my twitter feed regarding this whole Eric Garner case.  The protesters have moved me to tears, the apparent divide in some sectors of the church has left me dumbfounded, and watching the video footage all over again... Lord have mercy.  I've started and stopped this post more times than I can count.

I am grateful to God for the assurance which comes from the biblical portrait of how the same almighty arm with which He executes justice and power is also celebrated for mercy and restraint.  It couldn't be more different than the over-exertion of force and it's abusive mis-use which so many, including me, are lamenting today.  I'm amazed at how God, when He could have pronounced war, declared peace.  The Lord, before doing unto us what we deserved, prepared to do unto Himself what He could/should have done unto us.  That's why I long to see the government on HIS shoulders.  The peaceful use of power is for His glory and for our good.  

God's way of thinking and our ways are as far apart as the deepest valley and the highest heaven (Isaiah 55:8-9).  His ways are beyond searching out (Romans 11:33-34).  We don't know all the answers to each problem we seek answers for.  But by prayer we trust that in providence,  God-honoring justice will be served on earth as it is in heaven.  But one thing I am convinced of: the peace that men are seeking tonight in NYC and in Ferguson is ultimately rooted in the One born in Bethlehem of Whom the herald angels sang, "Glory to the Newborn King!"  And that King is the Prince of Peace, Jesus of Nazareth.