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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Man and God

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Charles Stanley

Matthew 22:41-46

The Pharisees hated that so many people believed the man standing before them was the Messiah. This Galilean commoner had no pedigree. Sure, he might astound people with inexplicable wisdom, but surely he was not the returning king—for what would that make them?

Not only did they have the wrong answer; they asked the wrong question. They thought Christ’s rise to prominence merely raised the possibility that He was the long-awaited Messiah. But Christ pointed them to a deeper truth, on which depended the salvation of man. “What do you think about the Christ,” He asked them. “Whose son is He?” (Matt. 22:42)

They knew the answer, just as they knew the rumors about this distant descendant of David. But David had many descendants. The Christ would be, they replied, “the son of David.” “Then how,” Christ asked, “does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet'”?” (vv. 43-44).

He referred to Psalm 110, in which the Holy Spirit speaks through David to illuminate Christ’s divinity. The Pharisees thought this debate was about whether Christ was the Messiah. In an instant, Christ raised the stakes.

His interlocutors were stubborn but clever. They recognized the implication of His question. Of course, David would not have called some great-great-grandchild “Lord.” A king would give that honor only to the living God.

Christ was pointing them—and us—to the startling truth: He is king, and He is Savior, and He is God.

It was a scandal, and it was the only path to salvation. God took on flesh, bore it sinlessly into death, and raised it to life eternal, thereby breaking the hold of sin and death over mankind. God became man so that man might return to God.

This upends the world, and it terrified the self-regarding Pharisees. So they were silent, “nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.” (v. 46)

God forgive us when we are likewise silent. Christ is the risen God. Tell it to the world.

–Tony Woodlief

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The Son Is Given

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Our Daily Bread

Luke 1:26-33

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. —Isaiah 9:6

One of my favorite portions of Handel’s Messiah is the joyous movement “For unto us a Child is born,” from the first part of the oratorio. I especially love how the chorus rises to the phrase, “Unto us a Son is given.” Those words, of course, are taken from Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.” Handel’s majestic music soars with adoration for the Son who came to us in human flesh that first Christmas.

The New Testament clarifies even further who this Son is. In Luke 1, the angelic messenger appeared to Mary and identified the Christ-child in four ways. He would be the son of Mary, making Him fully human (1:31). He would be the Son of the Highest, which made Him fully divine (1:32). He would also be the Son of David, giving Him royal lineage (1:32). And He would bear the title of Son of God (1:35), giving Him equality with the Father in all things. All of the roles the Messiah was called to fill are made possible in these distinct expressions of His Sonship.

As we worship Him this Christmas, may our celebrations be filled with joy and wonder at the fullness of what it means. Our heavenly Father has given us His perfect, sufficient Son. O come, let us adore Him! —Bill Crowder

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning,

Jesus, to Thee be all glory given;

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;

O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. —Wade

God’s love became incarnate at Bethlehem.

Bible in a year: Jonah 1-4; Revelation 10