The birth and childhood of Jesus were the beginning of His great
sacrifice, as well as the preparation for it. The spirit of Bethlehem and
the spirit of Calvary are one. He was born for others that He might die
for others. The mystery of God in the Babe was the beginning of the
mystery of God on the cross. The one was a part of the other. If they had
not "laid Him in a manger" for us, they could never have laid Him in the
tomb, that He might "taste death for every man." And it was because "He
grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and increased in wisdom, and the grace
of God was upon Him" in those early years, that He was able afterwards to
tread the winepress alone, to work out a perfect example of manhood, to
wrestle with Death and the Grave, and finally to stand forth for us as the
great Victorious One, conqueror of all our foes.
And is it not in this same fashion and for this same purpose that Christ
is to be formed in us? "_He grew_." Progress is the law of happiness,
the law of holiness, the law of life. To stand still is to die. It was not
enough for the fulfilment of His great mission that He should be born,
that He should live--He must grow.
Let us take that lesson to our hearts, in this superficial, painted,
rushing generation. Let us beware of resting our hope to satisfy the
eternal claims of God upon some great event in our spiritual history of
long ago. It is not enough to have been converted. It is not enough to
have had the adoption of the Father. It is not enough to have entered the
spiritual family of Christ. It is not enough that even Jesus revealed
Himself in us. Thousands of false hopes are built on these past events,
which, divinely wrought as they may have been, have ceased to possess any
vital connexion with the life and character of to-day. Such a religion is
a religion of memory, destined to be turned in the presence of the Throne
to unmixed remorse.
But how, and in what, are we to grow? In manner and in substance like our
Lord. Jesus grew in strength and stature, in wisdom and in grace--the
grace of God was upon Him.
_In spiritual strength and stature_; that is, from the timid babe to
the bold and valiant soldier; in the power to do the things we ought to
do, in the ability to obey the inward voice. It is by the exercise of the
muscles and tendons of the babe that the bodily frame is fitted for the
rush and struggle of life. It is by the A B C of the infant class that the
mind is fitted to comprehend and appreciate the duties and obligations of
political, social, physical, and family relationships. It is by the humble
wail of the penitent, and the daily acts of loving help, that the soul
learns to soar on eagles' wings, and shout the truth that God is gracious,
and to brave difficulty and danger in His service. They go from strength
to strength. Are you so journeying?
_In wisdom_. Wisdom is a thing of the heart more than of the brain,
and the wisdom of God is really a revelation of the love of God. To be
"wise unto salvation" is to learn the lesson of love. To be "wise to win
souls" is first to love souls. To feel that "it is more blessed to give
than to receive," is the fruit of love. How different this from the
calculating wisdom of this world!
Dear comrade and friend, are you taking care that the Divine Life in you
shall grow after this Christ-like fashion? When I hear Christian people
say: "Oh, I have so little love, so little faith, so little joy," I
generally find that it is so because they stifle and quench the blessed
yearnings of the Divine Spirit to seek the souls of others; because they
leave unanswered the urgings and promptings of duty which God in their
conscience is demanding; because they neglect prayer, and self-denial, and
heart-searching, and the Word of God; because, in short, they starve the
Child. What wonder if love and faith are feeble, and joy is like to die!
"And the grace of God was upon Him." Here was the promise of that entire
sacrifice for men which culminated when a man cried out to Him on the
cross: "_He saved others; Himself He cannot save_." It is ever thus
that God repeats Himself. When we are ready to be offered up for the
blessing and saving of others, then grace will come upon us for the
struggle as it came upon Him. When Christ formed in us finds free course
for all His mind and all His passion; when our eyes are opened to the
great purposes of His life in the salvation of the whole world; and when
we hear, through Him, the cry of those for whom He was born, and for whom
He died, God will pour out on us grace to send us forth--grace sufficient,
grace abundant, grace triumphant. Have you come to this? Can you say He is
thus dwelling in you, and working in you, to will and to do of His good
pleasure?
Do not turn away with the paralysing fear that it cannot be; that the life
of Jesus can never be lived out again in flesh and blood. Remember, He is
"_the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever_." All He was in
Bethlehem, to Mary and Joseph; all He was to His work-mates at Nazareth;
all He was in the wilderness, fighting with fiends, in the deserts feeding
the hungry, or among the multitude--healing the sick, blessing the little
children, casting out devils, and preaching the Kingdom; all He was in
Bethany, weeping over Lazarus, and crying, "Lazarus, come forth"; in the
garden of His agony, in the darkness of His cross, in the hour of His
Resurrection, all this--all--all--all--He is to-day. _He belongs to the
everlasting Now_. All He was to the martyrs who died for His Name, all
He has been to our fathers, He is to us, and will be to our children, for
with Him is no variableness nor shadow of turning. Yes! This unchanging
Christ "_is in us, except we be reprobate_," the Life and Image of
God, and the Hope of Glory.