Songs of Salvation: The Birth of Christ

We continue now with our study of the work of Christ. In our first lecture we looked at the beginning of that work being rooted all the way back in eternity in the covenant of redemption, and we saw that in the incarnation Jesus willingly subjected Himself to humiliation, making Himself of no reputation. [00:00:15]

Now, in Luke's gospel we have as part of the record, the account of three songs that are given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and I think that's a very significant aspect that's often overlooked with respect to the work of Christ. For centuries in the Old Testament tradition whenever God would perform a particularly significant work of deliverance or rescue of redemption, that action of God in behalf of His people would be celebrated in song. [00:01:22]

Now, let's start with the song of Mary, perhaps the most famous of the three. And by the way, these songs in our tradition are known by the first word of the song in Latin. And so the first opening words of Mary's song in Latin are the words Magnificat, where she says, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit doth rejoice in God my Savior." [00:03:12]

Now, why is she magnifying God? Well, the first thing she says is this, "For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant." You can sense how Mary is overwhelmed that of all of the women in the history of the world, this peasant girl has been selected by God to be the mother of the Messiah, and it's like she's saying, "I can't get over this. He's noticed me. He has regarded me in my low estate." [00:04:02]

"And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm. He scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly." I think of a table where all the weapons of world are placed in opposition to God, and God with the strength of His right arm just simply sweeps them away with one gesture. [00:06:32]

When the New Testament speaks of Jesus' birth, it speaks of His being born in the pleroma, and that is a Greek word that, excuse the pun, is filled with meaning. The pleroma refers and is translated by the statement "the fullness of time," that the incarnation of Christ into this world was not an afterthought or an impulse that God had, and had Him born de novo like Athena out of the head of Zeus. [00:08:19]

There are similar themes found in the prophecy of Zacharias, who was the father of John the Baptist, when he was filled with the Holy Spirit and sang and the Benedictus. Listen to the words of the Benedictus. "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel for He has visited and redeemed His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began." [00:11:32]

The New Testament later refers to Jesus as the Bishop of our souls, that He is our supervisor. He looks or envisions in a super way at all that is taking place in the midst of His people. And so the Jews longed for the day of the Lord when the Lord Himself would visit this planet. They feared that the visit could be a day of darkness if He came and His people weren't ready and the time of crisis and a time of judgment, but there was also the hope of the visit of God to His people to redeem them. [00:14:45]

And then he speaks of John the Baptist, "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest. You will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins." Now, we're getting a clue as to how this work of salvation is going to be accomplished, that whatever else it involves, it will include a remission of sins, a sending of our sins away from us, a removing our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west. [00:17:54]

According to the text, this venerable man, Simeon, had been promised by the Holy Ghost that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Anointed. He would not die until he personally viewed the Christ who would come. And we don't know how he lived out his days in and about the Temple, but I suspect that he came every day looking for the Messiah, but the promise was unfulfilled day in, day out, week in, week out, month, year by year. [00:19:29]

Simeon lifted up the baby, and can you imagine Joseph and Mary coming into the Temple, and they see Simeon, this old man, and he comes over and takes their baby out of their hands. And he starts to sing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost the Nunc Dimittis, "Now let thy servant depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel." [00:21:43]

Israel had groaned in pain and in war and in strife and in subjection, and they looked to God for their consolation. And the consolation that God had prepared for His people was the Messiah, and this is another title for Jesus, the Consolation of Israel, the one who will bring peace, the one who will bring in His own work the tender mercy of God, that all of the hopes, all the dreams, all of the promises that had been to and through the prophets would meet in Him, a tremendous celebration. [00:23:43]