CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE ADVENT OF THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

My wife and I went to a Christmas Eve service at a local church – the type where it is easier to find a leprechaun than a pew Bible. The church was packed and we watched them as they took Communion, wondering whether they believed that they were singing about the Savior of the world.

However, it wasn’t this way for the shepherds in the field on what seemed to be a very ordinary night. Suddenly the boredom was shattered by the presence of an angelic messenger and the glory of the Lord.

The lowly shepherds, who had been living with their sheep in the fields, were perhaps by now, covered with dew. Instead of filling them with excitement, this divine appearance filled them with terror. Why? This was always how people experienced the presence of God. At the manifestation of God upon Mt. Sinai, the Israelites were so terrified that they thought they would die. The entire Mosaic sacrificial system informed Israel that they could not approach God without being struck dead. After all, they were still in their sins – they were under a curse – and their holy and righteous God had not yet been satisfied. Instead, He was breathing wrath.

·       But the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

They would no longer have to fear the presence of the Lord because the promised Messiah had already come, and it was time to celebrate. He would save them from their sins, something that the Law had been unable to do. The marriage between God and His people had begun. They would now be enabled to approach their Savior.

·       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 among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:13-14)

Peace? Yes! What kind of peace? Between God and His people! The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) had finally arrived in the most unlikely way – in a smelly manger, swaddled with strips of cloth meant to wrap the dead. The symbolism was unmistakable to the shepherds – a Child born to die, just as the sacrificial sheep, which they had been shepherding.

It was now grabbing my heart.  He is also my Savior. I hadn’t been waiting for Him, but He had been waiting for me to come to the end of my hope. I knew that I was an utter failure and felt deeply ashamed of myself. It was so tormented that it was hard for me to come into the presence of others, let alone the presence of God. I so hated myself that I was sure that others hated me.

However, this suffering, this consuming shame, this insecurity has been eradicated by the advent of this Child who became sin for me. Consequently, He is precious to me. He must have also been to the lowly shepherds who had been invited into His presence to celebrate His advent.

What He has done for us is very tangible:

·       Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22)

Consequently, we need no longer dread the presence of God. We can stand tall, even in the face of persecution. We know who we are, and no one can take that away.

I wondered whether the congregants of this church were just going through the motions. Did they understand what they were doing here and who they were singing about? I wanted to scream out, “Do you realize who this Child is,” but I didn’t.

God’s Greatest Secret and why He Hides it

It should not be surprising that God’s greatest secret was hidden away within the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle. It was the place where only the high priest could enter, and only once a year, on the Day of Atonement.

It was so secret that it wasn’t enough that it was sequestered away from the people. It was in its own room, covering the Ark of the Covenant, and itself covered by the massive wings of two gold cherubim. It couldn’t be seen. So protected was this “object” that its seclusion within its own private room, obscured by the cherubim, was not enough. When the high priest entered during that holiest day, he had to enter with great plumes of smoke generated by his incense censor. This was the one “object” – the only “object” - upon which he could not look without being struck dead (Lev. 16:2):

• "Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover [“mercy seat;” KJV] above the Testimony [the Ten Commandments which had been placed in the Ark], so that he will not die.” (Leviticus 16:11-13)

This provokes many questions. Why should the atonement cover – the mercy seat – be so carefully concealed, and why should seeing it result in death? The Bible presents us with no other object that will cause death if it is seen! Meanwhile, there are many verses that had informed Israel that they couldn’t see God without dying (Exodus 33:20). In essence, a mere object had been elevated to the status of God Himself by this threat.

The mercy seat, resting squarely upon the Ark, had been designated as the place where God would meet Israel (Exod. 30:6). It was there that Israel would inquire of the Lord and would seek His mercy. Before the completion of the Jerusalem Temple, the Ark along with its mercy seat covering – and both of these were covered - were brought into battle with Israel. It represented the presence of God.

However, it was the mercy seat upon which no one could look, and not the Ark itself. Why the distinction. The Law had already been revealed; mercy – the fullness of the mercy of God – hadn’t.

Proverbs tells us that our God conceals:

• It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. (Proverbs 25:2)

Moses informed Israel that the hidden things belong to God (Deut. 29:29) and there were many mysteries adjacent to the mercy seat that God hadn’t revealed. Although He ordained the Levites to make atonement for Israel’s sins, He also cryptically revealed that He will provide the ultimate atonement:

• Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people. (Deut. 32:43)

However, He consistently refused to disclose the redemption or atonement price:

• For this is what the Lord says: "You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed." (Isaiah 52:3)

Redemption always cost. What then would the atonement of God’s people cost? This disclosure is curiously absent. This takes us back to the question of the nature of the atonement cover resting upon the Ark and the Law it contained. Why the great mystery? Wasn’t the Law with its sacrificial system adequate? Evidently not! Lying on top of it was something additional - a secret guarded with cherubim, smoke and the threat of death.

Parallel with the mystery are the references to a “New Covenant,” signifying that the Mosaic was not sufficient. A New Covenant was also hinted at in other ways. Although God had been very explicit about the Mosaic Covenant, there was the allusion to another secret covenant that He’d reveal only to some - to those who “fear him”:

• The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. (Psalm 25:14)

Central to His purposes and even more hidden from sight was His Messiah who would initiate the New Covenant with His own blood (Isa. 42:6; 49:8):

• He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. (Isaiah 49:2; 51:16; 52:10; 53:1-3)

This brings us back to the mercy seat. Interestingly, the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) translates the corresponding Hebrew word “kapporeth” as “sacrifice of atonement” or “hilasterion” in the Greek. This same Greek word is translated as “propitiation” (KJV) in Romans 3:25:

• God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement [“propitiation,” KJV] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25-26)

Jesus had to die for us to demonstrate that God is just, and that His holy nature requires punishment for every sin. Jesus then is the mercy seat, the atonement covering. Jesus was the reason that the Father tolerated Israel’s sins. Even under the Mosaic Covenant, He was the secret source of grace. It was Jesus who lead Israel in the desert (Num. 20:16; Exo. 23:20-23; 14:19; 33:2-3, 14). It was Jesus who fed Israel (1 Cor. 10:4). It was Jesus who ultimately provided atonement for the sins of Israel (Heb. 9:14). But why couldn’t anyone look upon the mercy seat without dying? Why such a severe penalty for something – Someone – so glorious.

Clearly, the mercy seat represented the very heart of all history – the highest expression of God’s glory. Even though Jesus suffered greatly as the time of His crucifixion approached, He nevertheless talked about this event as the time of His glory:

• "Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.” (John 13:31-32)

But why should the Father have so carefully guarded this good news? Usually, we keep bad news a secret. My youngest brother became hospital-phobic at an early age. He had suffered at too many of them. Therefore, when my parents had to bring him in for additional treatments, they lied to him about going to the hospital.

However, having our sins forgiven and going to heaven would seem to be something to cry out rather than conceal. Why then did God so meticulously conceal this good news, even at the threat of death? I must confess that I can’t fully explain this. However, I will try to offer a partial answer. There is some knowledge that can destroy us if we are not ready for it. When I became a supervisor in the NYC Department of Probation, I determined to be as Christ-like as I possibly could. Foolishly, I thought that if I was totally transparent with my subordinates and demonstrated my commitment to justice and their welfare, they would reciprocate. However, they mistook kindness for weakness, and tried to get away with murder.

Consequently, I had to bring charges against them. Conclusion: They hated me and I hated them. I learned that many people are not prepared to receive total transparency. In fact, it will hurt them.

When Joseph’s brother came to him seeking grain during the great famine, he didn’t disclose to them his identity. Instead, he tested them in ways that appear cruel. In the end, he saw how they were willing to lay their lives down for their youngest and favored brother, Benjamin – the one they probably even envied as they had Joseph. At that very point, Joseph broke down and sent all of his Egyptian guards out of the room. They weren’t ready for his disclosure, but his brothers were (Gen. 42-45).

There is much – perhaps all - that our God wants to disclose to us, but we can’t handle it. However, John promises that there is coming a time when we will be able to understand:

• Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

The Blessing of Difficult Times and the New Covenant

These are difficult times. Discouragement has become our tutor. Therefore, it is necessary to remember how rich we are in Christ. Ironically, discouragement also serves as our search-engine, causing us to seek out comforting thoughts of hope that can only be found in our Savior.

One poignant way to view our riches is from the perspective of the Hebrew Scriptures. We are so blessed compared to the Israelites. The Chosen People dreaded the presence of God. He terrified them. They thought they were going to die when they heard His voice from the foot of Mt. Sinai, and therefore requested Moses to:

• "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die." (Exodus 20:19)

 God’s righteous requirements had not yet been satisfied by the cross, and so true forgiveness was not yet a reality. God had merely “passed over the sins” committed under the Mosaic Covenant (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:15).

This fact weighed heavily upon Israelite believers. An impenetrable barrier stood between them and God. They couldn’t stand His presence and He couldn’t stand theirs, despite His love for them. This dysfunctional relationship was symbolized by the curtain of the Temple, separating Israel from her God.

We mistakenly think that the Prophets could come boldly before God. But this could only happen when special provisions had been made, like in the case of Moses and Isaiah (6:6-7). However, normally, intimacy with God was terrifying (Job 38-42), even life- threatening (Lev. 10), as long as His righteous requirement for justice hadn’t been satisfied.

The lives of the Prophets demonstrate this fact. The Prophet Micah confessed:

• I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness. (Micah 7:9; NASB)

 It is surprising to read that Micah – and I’m assuming that he had already confessed his sins – realized that he still bore the wrath or “indignation of the Lord.” He, therefore, could not come confidently and joyfully before the Lord. However, he was confident that this was only temporary, until “He pleads my case and executes justice for me.”

These words are very strange.  Israel was enabled to obtain a “forgiveness” through animal sacrifice. It is therefore puzzling that Micah had to wait for God, who “pleads my case and executes justice for me.” Evidently, he realized that animal sacrifice was insufficient.

We are also puzzled that Micah had to wait until “He pleads my case.” To whom would God make His plea? To Himself? Exactly! The blood of the Messiah will make the plea and “execute justice.” Through this payment for sin, Micah confesses that “I will see His righteousness.”

In chapter 5, Micah revealed the Agent of this “righteousness” – the Messiah born in Bethlehem but existing everlastingly. He closes his prophecy by declaring:

• And this One will be our peace. (Micah 5:5)

 Hosea doesn’t write that the Messiah will make peace, but rather that He would be peace – a peace offering between us and a wrathful God. And this peace offering would make peace. Paul explained what this means:

• For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him. (Col. 1:19-21)

 It is only through this peace that the provisions of the New Covenant could be realized. Our sins would never again be brought against us (Jer. 31:31-34). Consequently, we could now enjoy the most incredibly intimate relationship with our Savior:

• In that day I will make a covenant for them…Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord. (Hosea 2:18-20)

 Israel had “enjoyed” a distant relationship with their God, but under the New Covenant, He would draw near to them in the most intimate manner – like in a marriage. Through this relationship, all of our unrealized dreams of love and intimacy will find their fulfillment.

Micah wrote about a time when he would actually see “His righteousness,” and his most profound longings would be realized, and he would be vindicated before his enemies (Micah 7:10).

With our conscience cleansed from sin, we can now enter confidently and joyfully into the presence of God. God’s consuming fire is now a comforting glow - not a threat to our existence:

• Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22)

 The writer instructs us to “draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” This suggests that this joyful confidence might not come automatically. Instead, for most of us, we must grow into it, like growing into playing the piano. This might sound like an improper analogy. It likens learning a skill with having a confident, intimate relationship with God – two things that do not seem analogous. Therefore, let me try to explain.

I have been following the Lord for 35 years. For the first half of those years, I was tormented by doubts. I would confess my sins, but I would still feel guilty. I also read in the Bible that God loved me, but I was still controlled by feelings of self-contempt.

However, this torment drove me into His Word. Without any other hope, I meditated upon His Word day and night (Psalm 1; Joshua 1:8). Gradually, His Word became more real to me than my feelings and reactions. I learned that I could bank on it. Consequently, now, when I confess my sins and still feel guilty, I can simply dismiss it:

• “You’re just a feeling, a passing vapor. That’s all! You will soon pass, but the Word of God stands forever.”

 I am now thankful for the torment. It trained me in melodies of God’s Word (Psalm 119:71). Today’s worries will also train us in His Word, and the Word will sing a duet, reminding us of how blessed we are.