SIGN OF INCARNATION Part 4

The wisdom of the fathers

SIGNS OF INCARNATION Part 4

The Incarnate Christ is God’s sign in another sense namely, as revealing the hearts of men. This was what the angel said about Him when the annunciation came to Mary, “This Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign that shall be spoken against that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed.” Human character and destiny are revealed by contact with Jesus Christ. Men are not saved or lost merely by moral character, but by their attitude toward the Son of God. As of old He hung on Calvary between two men that represented at once both heaven and hell, so still it is true that the cross of Jesus is the dividing line between lost and saved men. “On either side one and Jesus in the midst.” Dear reader, on which side are you? Your present character and eternal destiny are to be decided by your attitude toward Him.

Jesus Christ is a sign in the sense that He is the condition and guarantee of all God’s promises and covenants. “All the promises of God in Him are yes and in Him amen.” He is the Surety and Guarantor of every claim we have upon God. Just as the endorsement of the bank officials passes your draft, so every petition we present in the high court of heaven must bear the sign of His name. We are chosen in Him. We are made accepted in Him. We are complete in Him. The Father sees us only in Him. In His name we pray and receive the answer to our prayers. People often want to ask a sign from God that their prayers are heard and some important petition granted. We need no other sign than Christ Himself. His smile, His manifested Presence, His loving acceptance, guarantee every other blessing and, having Him, we may well add, “He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.”

(by A.B. Simpson)