A Son is Given

Every year in December as the world celebrates Christmas, they repeat the words of Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” While the world appreciates the promise and applies it to Jesus, they grasp neither the depth nor the enormity of what was given or what it will accomplish.

John 3:16 tells us what was given: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just as God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac (Gen. 22:1-18), God gave His only begotten Son Jesus to take Adam’s place under the penalty of death. God did not spare His only son (Rom. 8:32). Instead, He demonstrated what true, unselfish love was as John expressed it in 1 John 4:9 (NASB): “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.”

Jesus, in his pre-human existence was the only direct creation of God. Called the “Word” in John 1:1-3, he was in the beginning with God as a “master workman” using the Creator’s power and direction to create the heavens and the earth (Prov. 8:22-31 NASB). “All things came into being through Him [Jesus], and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3 NASB). As the apostle Paul explains it, God and His son together created all things, both spiritual and terrestrial. “There is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him” (1 Cor. 8:6 NASB).

When sin entered the world and a perfect human being was required to redeem Adam and all his descendants, our Lord volunteered to be made flesh and suffer the penalty of death. “But emptied Himself [Jesus], taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:7-8 NASB). Jesus humbled himself twice, first being made flesh giving up the spiritual for the earthly and then humbled himself again, dying on the cross.

Because of his faithfulness unto death, “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11 NASB). God performed this exaltation “when He [God] raised Him [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20 NASB).

Paul also speaks of this exaltation in Hebrews 5:8-10 (Phillips): “Son [Jesus] though

he was, he had to prove the meaning of obedience through all that he suffered. Then, when he had been proved the perfect Son, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who should obey him, being now recognised by God himself as High Priest ‘after the order of Melchizedek.’”

As a high priest (and king) after the order of Melchizedek, the risen Jesus has been given all power in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18) and then fulfills through his earthly kingdom, the four titles prophetically mentioned in Isaiah 9:6. He will be a “wonderful counselor” or teacher, teaching the human family righteousness (Isa. 26:9). He will be “a light to the Gentiles; To open blind eyes and … make darkness light before them [mankind], and crooked things straight” (Isa. 42:6,7,16).  He will be a mighty God using his power to bind Satan for 1,000 years so that he can deceive the nations no more (Rev. 20:2-3), dashing the nations into pieces to establish his earthly kingdom (Psa. 2:9)  and then permitting nothing to hurt nor destroy in his earthly kingdom (Isa. 11:9). He will be an everlasting Father calling forth all of mankind from the grave (John 5:28-29) and giving everyone an opportunity to walk up the way of holiness to become righteous and receive everlasting life here upon the earth (Isa. 35:8-10; Isa. 62:10).  He will heal mankind of all their diseases (Isa. 35:5,6).  “No inhabitant will say, ‘I am sick’; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity” (Isa. 30:24).  Finally, he will become the Prince of Peace by bringing mankind back into peace with God through the blood of his cross (Eph. 2:13-17). He will speak peace to the nations and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks (Isa. 2:4).

The only begotten Son Jesus was made flesh and then gave up his human life in sacrifice so that he might re-gather the rebellious, human sons of God (Adam and his descendants) back into harmony with God. “For it was the Father’s good pleasure … through Him [Jesus] to reconcile all things to Himself [God], having made peace through the blood of His [Jesus] cross; through Him [Jesus], I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Col. 1:19-20 NASB).

Adam and Eve

Genesis is a book of beginnings: the beginning of the heavens and the earth, of plant and animal life, and as in the case of our lesson, human life. We know from the Bible that there were six creative days which ended when “on the seventh day God ended his work, … and he rested” (Gen. 2:2). The creation of man occurred toward the close of the sixth creative day. In this wonderful book as we see demonstrations of God’s power and wisdom, we come to this most important event recorded in Genesis 1:26: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, … and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

The creation account continues in Genesis 2:7, “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.” In the marginal translation of Genesis 1:30, the expression “living soul,” is applied to the lower forms of earthly creatures. The expression does not mean an immortal soul, but simply means a living creature. We know that man was a perfect creation of God (1 Cor. 15:45,47). God also knew that it was “not good that the man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18). So God created Eve to be Adam’s “help meet” (Gen. 2:20). God’s method of accomplishing this was unique.  He used a portion of Adam’s own body (rib) to form Eve. This was done for the special purpose of propagating of the human race, and for companionship (Gen. 2:21-24).

Since we know that everything that God created was perfect, it follows that he would place “our first parents” in a perfect home. “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden: and there he put the man whom he had formed” (Gen. 2:8).  God desired that they would  “multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28 NASB). In these words we can see that although evil was permitted to come upon the human family for a time, one day all evil will be removed and mankind will fill the earth. Then, God’s creation, which He originally pronounced as being good when first created, would be brought back to perfection (Isa. 35:1-10). For God has promised, “the earth abideth forever” (Eccl. 1:4; Psa. 104:5) and “he [God] created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited” (Isa. 45:18).

Coats of Skin

In Genesis 3:21, we are told the Lord God made for Adam and Eve coats of skin. Why did God make them coats of skin since they had already (vs. 7) made themselves garments from fig leaves? Adam and Eve were created perfect, by God, with the ability to live forever.  He put them in the Garden of Eden, with perfect food and they had the ability to discern between right and wrong.  However, God commanded them not to eat the fruit of one particular tree in the Garden, and if they disobeyed, death would be the penalty (Gen. 2:17).

One day Satan convinced Eve by telling her the first lie that she would not die, but become wiser, if she ate of that tree.  After taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, she gave it to Adam, and, he also ate of it, willingly disobeying God’s command (1 Tim. 2:14).    Immediately, their eyes were opened, and they realized that they were naked.

They were used to communion and fellowship with God in the “cool of the day.”  What were they to do now?  With fear and shame, they dreaded to meet God.  Their righteous position with God began to decline, so they decided to sew fig-leaf garments to maintain virtue and self-respect before their Creator.  In the “cool of the day,” the voice of God called to them, and they hid themselves among the trees — the natural impulse of guilt.

In place of the fig-leaf garments, God made them “coats of skin,” which required the shedding of blood and death. This suggested that a future covering for man’s guilt would provided by the death of a Redeemer.  God’s law of Justice required a perfect human man to redeem Adam (Ex. 21:23).  When Adam transgressed God’s command, he lost his perfection, and became a sinner. Thus, all of  Adam’s descendants, who were born after the fall, were born in sin (Psa. 51:5) and because of their imperfection, none of them could redeem Adam (Psa. 49:7).

Therefore, God so loved the human family, that He gave His only begotten son to redeem Adam and all mankind (John 3:16; 1 Cor. 15:21-22).   Jesus was born a perfect human being, (Matt. 3:17) and in due time, gave himself a ransom, and died for all mankind (1 Tim 2:5,6; 1 Cor. 15:3; Eph. 1:7).

In Genesis 3:21, we are told the Lord God made for Adam and Eve coats of skin. Why did God make them coats of skin since they had already (vs. 7) made themselves garments from fig leaves? Adam and Eve were created perfect, by God, with the ability to live forever.  He put them in the Garden of Eden, with perfect food and they had the ability to discern between right and wrong.  However, God commanded them not to eat the fruit of one particular tree in the Garden, and if they disobeyed, death would be the penalty (Gen. 2:17).

One day Satan convinced Eve by telling her the first lie that she would not die, but become wiser, if she ate of that tree.  After taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, she gave it to Adam, and, he also ate of it, willingly disobeying God’s command (1 Tim. 2:14).    Immediately, their eyes were opened, and they realized that they were naked.

They were used to communion and fellowship with God in the “cool of the day.”  What were they to do now?  With fear and shame, they dreaded to meet God.  Their righteous position with God began to decline, so they decided to sew fig-leaf garments to maintain virtue and self-respect before their Creator.  In the “cool of the day,” the voice of God called to them, and they hid themselves among the trees — the natural impulse of guilt.

In place of the fig-leaf garments, God made them “coats of skin,” which required the shedding of blood and death. This suggested that a future covering for man’s guilt would provided by the death of a Redeemer.  God’s law of Justice required a perfect human man to redeem Adam (Ex. 21:23).  When Adam transgressed God’s command, he lost his perfection, and became a sinner. Thus, all of  Adam’s descendants, who were born after the fall, were born in sin (Psa. 51:5) and because of their imperfection, none of them could redeem Adam (Psa. 49:7).

Therefore, God so loved the human family, that He gave His only begotten son to redeem Adam and all mankind (John 3:16; 1 Cor. 15:21-22).   Jesus was born a perfect human being, (Matt. 3:17) and in due time, gave himself a ransom, and died for all mankind (1 Tim 2:5,6; 1 Cor. 15:3; Eph. 1:7).