No. 820
“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)
Can we implicitly believe in this message sent by the angels? If so, it is surely “good tidings” – a message of “peace on earth and good will to men.” Such a momentous change from current conditions seems inconceivable, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” (Rom. 8:22) But the words of the Prophet indeed assure us, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psa. 30:5)
While darkness now covers the earth and gross darkness the people, in the “morning” of the New Dispensation the light of divine glory will arise. In the meantime, the Lord’s faithful must walk by faith and not by sight, and the Father’s word of promise must light their footsteps. (2 Pet. 1:19) Our Lord Himself is referred to as the “Sun of righteousness,” who will arise with healing (restitution) in His wings. (Mal. 4:2) His Church will also be with Him: “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matt. 13:43)
The results will be the scattering of the ignorance, superstition, and darkness of sin which now prevails, and the enlightenment of all mankind. One of the first works of our Lord in the establishment of His Kingdom will be the binding of Satan: “And he laid hold on . . . Satan, and bound him a thousand years . . . that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled.” (Rev. 20:2-3)
God’s Word assures us that every detail of that glorious plan has been worked out, and that nothing will fail: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. . . . So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isa. 55:9-11)
Our Lord said: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” (Matt. 5:4) The great majority of mankind have experienced much mourning and sorrow under the reign of sin and death, but there is comfort in the thought that the same large majority will be comforted and will receive joy during the promised “times of restitution of all things.” (Acts 3:21) All except the Church will share in that glorious restitution blessing, the faithful of the Church having before then received their richer blessing through the change of nature from human to divine.
The restitution work will begin following the great time of trouble which will usher in the Millennium. As soon as order and blessing are established under that glorious Kingdom, invisible to men except through its agents or channels, the awakening of the sleeping millions will gradually begin. They will be brought to an accurate knowledge of the Truth, and if they are rightly exercised in obedience to Christ, the great Mediator between God and men, they will gradually regain the perfection lost through original sin. If they become careless, they will receive “stripes,” that by these judgments of the Lord they may finally regain all that was lost. Their joys will be increasing with every step taken on the return journey back from sin and death to perfection of life. This opportunity for restitution is a message of joy unto all people, yet there is the indication that some will reject the divine favor and be “destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:23) Thus enlightened by the divine message, let our hearts be drawn nearer to the fountain of all grace.
(Based on a sermon given by Pastor Russell in 1908 and published in “Harvest Gleanings.”)
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“WE SEE JESUS”
It is once again the time of year when we consider the birth of Jesus. However, at the outset we would say that nowhere in the Bible are we told to remember His birth, although He emphatically told us to remember His death when He said, “This do in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19)
Most of our readers know that December 25 is not the correct date for Jesus’ birth. This date has been plucked out of thin air; the Atonement Day type and other Scriptures inform us that He was born on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, Tishri, Tishri being approximately our October. But we would not haggle about the exact date. We are persuaded that the Christian world does receive some moral uplift and spiritual encouragement through the observance of His birth, and we readily join with others in the observance. Many in Christendom reveal a milder and more pleasant spirit at that time.
If we were to ask many believers if they see Jesus – that is, do they understand Him – many would give a ready answer: “Of course, we do!” But how do we “see” Jesus? The Apostle Paul, referencing the Psalmist, had this commentary: “But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Heb. 2:6-9; Psa. 8:3-9)
To present a proper foundation for our analysis, we quote from the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was a god. This was in a beginning with the God. Through it everything was done; and without it not even one thing was done, which has been done. In it was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shown in the darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not. . . . The Logos became flesh, and dwelt among us – and we beheld his glory, a glory as of an Only-begotten from a Father – full of favor and truth.” (John 1:1-5, 14, Diaglott) This is quoted from the Emphatic Diaglott translation, and the following is a footnote from that same translation: “This term [the Logos] should be left untranslated for the very same reasons why the names Jesus and Christ are left untranslated. As every appellative of the Savior of the world was descriptive of some excellence in his person, nature, or work, so the epithet Logos, which signified a word spoken, speech, eloquence, doctrine, reason, or the faculty of reasoning, is very properly applied to him.” (See also 1 John 1:1)
We also quote from Philippians: “Christ Jesus, though being in God’s form, yet did not meditate a usurpation to be like God, but divested [emptied] himself, taking a bond-man’s form, having been made in the likeness of men; and being in condition as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil. 2:6-8, Diaglott) Here is clear Scriptural proof that Jesus was a man – “made flesh” – “a little lower than the angels.”
“THE DUST OF THE GROUND”
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7) When Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, He began to partake of the foods common to man, and grew into a man of thirty years of age – the exact duplicate of Adam. He presented Himself to John in the River Jordan on the day He was thirty, the age at which the Jews reasoned, with Scriptural authority, that their males reached full manhood.
Analyzing this a little further, we know that vegetation grows from the earth – the dust of the ground – and is consumed by man as well as by flesh-producing animals, which are in turn eaten by man. We are all formed from “the dust of the ground,” even as Jesus was; and the record is clear: “For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3:19) Thus, at the age of thirty Jesus was in every detail an exact duplicate of Adam when God breathed the “breath of life” into him.
We do not infer from this that God was thirty years in producing Adam, but the moment he was animated, Adam was the exact image of Jesus when He was thirty. Jesus told the disciples that He came “to give himself a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:28) The word “ransom” here is from the Greek lytron anti, which means an exact duplicate, or something in place of. Therefore, Jesus had to be an exact duplicate of Adam – no more, no less – so that He could provide the ransom for Adam, which no other human being was able to do. “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” (Psa. 49:6-7)
“That disciple whom Jesus loved” (Jesus loved all but for some He had a special love) reveals the intimate acquaintance and understanding that the Apostles had of Jesus: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life [the Logos]; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal [aionian, ‘age-lasting’] life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.)” (l John 1:1-2) In the words “our hands have handled,” the Apostle reveals the intimate relationship he had with our Lord when He was on earth – a comradeship of the closest nature.
“CALL HIS NAME JESUS”
We stress that the Apostle did not say, “We see Jesus Christ,” and there is good reason for this. When the angel was speaking to Joseph, the instruction was given: “Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21) The name Jesus means “savior” or “God’s salvation.” From His birth to His baptism by John in Jordan, our Lord was known by the single appellation Jesus, and not Jesus Christ. Christ means anointed, and He did not become the “anointed” Savior until He received the Holy Spirit without measure at His baptism in Jordan.
Therefore, it was not Jesus Christ who was made “a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death”; because the Christ, the Anointed, was not sacrificed on the cross, but merely Jesus, the perfect man. Had Jesus the Christ been nailed to the cross, He would have offered much beyond what the man Adam had, because Adam was never anointed with the Holy Spirit; he was simply “a living soul” – a man from any viewpoint. Christ was not lower than the angels, and, when He said on the cross, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46), He was referring to the spiritual life that had begun in Him at Jordan, which was raised from the tomb three days later: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11) “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12: 2)
HIS POSITIONS AND TITLES
During His existence our Lord has held three positions in relationship to God, and these positions are indicated by three names:
Logos: Before His First Advent to the earth, He was known as the Logos – the Word. As the Word of God, He was the principal agent of God’s creation; He was second to God, but above every other creature in Heaven or earth. As the Bible tells us, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3) As the Logos, He was a spirit being not subject to being described with our limited knowledge.
Jesus Christ: St. Paul vividly described the situation when the Logos came to earth and became Christ Jesus: “Christ Jesus . . . made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men . . . and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8) “In the likeness of men” means He had the appearance of a man, although it was a most unusual likeness of men – so much so that Pilate exclaimed in admiration, “Ecce homo” – “Behold the man!” (John 19:5) St. Paul wrote of Him: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb. 4:15) Although Pilate saw the excellent features of a most unusual man, he could not see that Jesus was “without sin.” Yet Jesus’ sinlessness had set Him apart from all men. Like David, we may all say, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psa. 51:5)
Express Image of God’s Person: Jesus now and forever will occupy a third position, described by the Apostle: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” (Heb. 1:3-4) In our earlier text, we learned that Jesus “was made a little lower than the angels” at His First Advent, but here we learn that He is now “so much better than the angels.”
Scores of additional names and titles are used in the Bible in discussing Jesus, but we shall offer just a few of them here: “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending . . . the Almighty.” (Rev. 1:8) “The bright and morning star.” (Rev. 22:16) “Arm of the Lord.” (Isa. 51:9) “Rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.” (Song 2:1) “The chiefest among ten thousand.” (Song 5:10) “The light of the world . . . the light of life.” (John 8:12) “The dayspring from on high.” (Luke 1:78) “The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.” (1 Tim. 6:15) “That great shepherd of the sheep.” (Heb. 13:20)
FOUR GREAT OFFICES
The risen Lord is now the possessor of four great offices, in which He is to do a certain work for the human race. There are many subdivisions of these four, but we will not go into that detail. These offices are presently operative only in a very limited way; but He will come into the full glory of them all when He establishes His reign on earth – “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10) These offices are Biblically referred to as prophet, judge, priest, and king, and each is closely related to one of God’s four great attributes of wisdom, justice, love, and power. We will comment briefly on each of these descriptive pairs:
Prophet – Wisdom: “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.” (Acts 3:22) The word prophet here is from the Greek prophetes, from which the English word prophet is derived, and it has the meaning of public expounder, or teacher. To be a good teacher, one must be endowed with wisdom, thus the Lord’s office of Prophet is readily linked with the divine attribute of Wisdom. In making this statement we should be alert not to confuse wisdom with knowledge, because wisdom is the proper application of knowledge. It is well stated, “Knowledge is power”; but this is true only if we know what to do with knowledge. Also, it is a sound observation that “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” Knowledge in inexperienced hands often causes great disaster – in the laboratory, in construction, in the operation of intricate machinery, etc. But we have strong Bible assurance that our risen Lord will know perfectly what to do on every occasion, and how to do it. Thus, it is properly foretold of Him: “The government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor [able to advise and counsel in every situation].” (Isa. 9:6)
He who discerns clearly teaches clearly. Of the Teacher it is recorded: “And [Jesus] needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” (John 2:25) And His crushing answers to all the tricky questions of the Scribes and Pharisees offer ample proof that Jesus did know what was in man. “For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” (Matt. 7:29) Concerning the Jews, St. Paul said: “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” (Rom. 10:2) Quite a contrast to the knowledge that Jesus had! “By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many.” (Isa. 53:11) And the Apostles stressed this point concerning the true followers of Jesus: “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments . . . And hereby we know that we are of the truth” (1 John 2:3; l John 3:19) However, we know, “When thy judgments are in the earth [when the Great Teacher supervises the teaching] the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9)
Judge – Justice: “The Lord . . . cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.” (Psa. 96:13) “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation . . . Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.” (Isa. 28:16-17) To be a good judge requires a keen sense of justice, making the divine attribute of Justice the fitting counterpart of the office of Judge.
In the book of Isaiah we find one of the classic Scriptures describing Jesus as Judge, administering quick and perfect Justice: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” (Isa. 11:1-5)
The most just and well-intentioned of our courts today must judge according to the seeing of the eyes and the hearing of the ears. Thus, some who are guilty go free, and some who are innocent are convicted. That is the best we have today, but that will not be so when the Great Judge administers Justice. We have “the sure word of prophecy” to verify this conclusion: “Because he hath appointed a day [the thousand-year Millennial Day], in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)
Indeed, “For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7) Often do our judges favor the strong, and burden the weak, and our judgment is often based on the “outward appearance.” Consider the case of Pilate: He admired the fine physical features of Jesus; thus, he said to the Jews: “I find in him no fault at all.” (John 18:38 – repeated in John 19:4) But the “envy” of the Jews was so pronounced and clamorous that they prevailed. Thus, the law is often decided through prejudice, trickery, oratory or brute force. And the doctrine “Might is right” often prevails
Priest – Love: “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” (Heb. 5:6) The office of a Priest is to forgive and bless. Therefore, we are counseled: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy [forgiveness of sins], and find grace [blessing] to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16) All of this is clearly an operation of love, therefore, we pair the office of Priest with the divine attribute of Love. The great love-work that Jesus will accomplish is well expressed by the Prophet Hosea: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” (Hos. 13:14)
Of Melchisedec it is recorded that he was a Priest upon his throne; that is, he was not subservient to any earthly power, which is an excellent description of our High Priest Jesus. Melchisedec was the King of Salem (probably Jerusalem) and “priest of the most high God.” (Heb. 7:1) The name “Salem” is derived from the Hebrew word for peace, shalom, thus identifying it as a place of peace and safety. We are also told: “In Salem also is his [God’s] tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.” (Psa. 76:2)
The Apostle describes Melchisedec this way: “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” (Heb. 7:3) This means he did not inherit his priestly office from his father or mother, and he had no children in this priesthood, typifying Christ whose priesthood was not inherited, and who has no successors. Melchisedec’s lineage and death are not recorded; his priesthood was without beginning or ending, typifying Christ whose office as priest of the Millennial Kingdom is not a limited one.
It is a sad record that most movements, religious, governmental, or political, have been relatively pure at the outset, but almost all of them have followed a very fixed pattern as the years have come and gone. Regarding religious movements, they have gone through three stages: Priest-hood, Priest-craft and Priest-graft. The pristine purity of the early Christian Church under the leadership of the Apostles was a thing of beauty, earnestly striving for the welfare of its adherents. But the Apostle Paul said of his day, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work . . . whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2 Thes. 2:7-10)
Much the same could be said for the Jewish Church. When it was organized under Moses at Sinai, Aaron was the ideal priest. “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” (Heb. 5:4) But by the time Jesus arrived, the noble ideals of Aaron had disappeared; the priesthood had degraded to the bottom of the dirty barrel – priest-graft. He said to the Scribes and the Pharisees, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” (Matt. 21:13)
King – Power: “But thou, Bethlehem . . . out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2) “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.” (Isa. 9:7) The rulership of this kingdom is a display of power, and so the office of King is coupled with the divine attribute of Power, which Jesus will exercise as King over all the earth.
Since the time that historical records began to be kept, men have striven to improve their living conditions; and while some progress has been made in certain respects, yet the overall picture is well described by the Prophet: “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.” (Isa. 1:6)
It is a wise observation that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and the Bible emphasizes this in classic and emphatic fashion. The Prophet Daniel described King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him this way: “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.” (Dan. 2:31) He went on to describe the head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, and legs of iron. This describes the four great universal Gentile empires, and from the viewpoint of Nebuchadnezzar and the world in general, they appear “great” and “excellent.” He then told King Nebuchadnezzar: “Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory . . . Thou art this head of gold.” (Dan. 2:37-38)
But these same kingdoms, regarded by the world as glorious, are portrayed to Daniel in the seventh chapter of the same book as four beasts: a lion, a bear, a leopard, and “a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly.” (Dan. 7:7) In both instances the four universal empires are described – Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. We are later given this terse summarization of them all: “The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” (Dan. 4:17)
When we consider Nero, Ivan the Terrible, the Pharaohs of Egypt, the emperors of Rome, etc., along with more recent rulers, we recognize the truth of this statement. They may be the conquering heroes in their time, but they do not appear at all favorably when compared to The Prince of Peace!
“We see Jesus” with the eyes of our understanding; and we can join with St. Paul in his superb exclamation, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” (2 Cor. 9:15)
With this comes our warm wishes to all for a blessed Holiday observance.
(Written by Brother John J. Hoefle, and first published in 1980. Reprinted with modifications.)
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