Eyewitnesses of his Majesty Luke 2:40C

Luke 2:40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

The favor of God (or the grace of God) was upon the boy Jesus.

Evangelicals tend to think of grace in terms of forgiveness. We are sinners and we are forgiven and given eternal life (even though we don't deserve it) because of God's grace. Jesus' death on the cross purchased God's grace for us.

This concept of the grace of God is true, and it is beautiful. It gives us hope. We deserve the wrath of God not his favor and the good news that Jesus died so that we can be forgiven is indeed amazing.

Yet God's grace can not be limited to just the one aspect of forgiving sinners. God's grace is far greater than that. Jesus had no need whatsoever for forgiveness, and yet the grace of God was upon him. The Father was pleased with Jesus, he favored him, as we can see in his pronouncement, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

When we look at Psalm 90 we can get a good picture of the favor of God.

Psalm 90:13-17
13 Return, O Lord! How long?Have pity on your servants!

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,and for as many years as we have seen evil.

16 Let your work be shown to your servants,and your glorious power to their children.

17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,and establish the work of our hands upon us;yes, establish the work of our hands!

Moses the man of God wrote this psalm to entreat the Lord's favor. It was written at a time when the Israelites were afflicted by God. Maybe in the trying days prior to the Exodus or in the long years in the dessert Moses called out to God.

We can see what the Favor of God is by seeing what Moses asked for. There are three aspects to what Moses wanted for his people: To have joy in God, to see God's powerful work, and to have their own labor be established by God.

We can see each of these aspects significantly in the life of the Lord Jesus.

1. Joy in God

Luke 10:21

21 In that same hour he [Jesus] rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

2. See God's powerful work

Romans 1:4

4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

3. His labor was established

John 19:30

30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus finished work on the cross was for us. The work of his hands which was established was him saving all of us who have trusted in him through the centuries and into the future. He rejoiced at God's will to save us, and God's power was displayed in the act which saved us.

The favor of God was upon Jesus. He experienced that favor in his life death and resurrection.

He brought the good news that the favor of God was also upon us who believe. He came to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor had come (Luke 4:19). And it has come for us who believe because of what he has done.

We should have the same hope and experience because the favor of God is upon us: We will rejoice in him, we will see his power, and our work will be established.

Psalm 22:27-31
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord,and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,and he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.30 Posterity shall serve him;it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,that he has done it.

On Psalm 46 and the "End of the World"

The word end doesn't always mean the same thing. I mean there the end that means finished like "The End" that pops up on the screen right before the credits, and there is the end like "means to an end". The latter kind of end is synonymous with purpose. With the world (as is often the case) the former kind of end is closely related to the latter kind of end, but I will be posting mostly about the 2nd kind (the purpose kind).

In Psalm 46:2 we are told that we will not fear. Even though all of these scary things happen i.e. the earth gives way, the mountains fall in the ocean, the waters roar.

Now why would we not fear if mountains start falling?
Mountains are large and if they don't stay still the outcome wil be disastrous.

The reason God's people shouldn't fear is that there is something more powerful and more invincible than shifting continents, falling mountains, and roaring oceans. And that great and powerful force is ironically enough a river.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,the holy habitation of the Most High.

Because of this river the City of God, the holy habitation of the Most High (That means us. That means Christians. That means the Church) shall not be moved.

This river is the same river that causes us the tree of life to bear fruit and grow. To grow leaves for the healing of the nations (Rev 22:2). This river causes us to bear fruit and grow. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

You see the river is a person Vs. 4 There is a river. Vs 5 God is in the midst of her. God is the river.

It is remarkable that in this passage (Psalm 46) the hope of God's people is in something that makes us glad. Our gladness in the Spirit. Our joy in our wonderful Lord and how good he is to us. That is why we can't be moved and cannot fail though the unimaginable enemies are arrayed against us. Because God is still with us, and he makes us glad.

And because the Joy of the Lord is our strength and the Lord is with us. His purpose for us and the world will be accomplished. The "end" of the World will come.

He will make wars to cease to the end of the earth, he will break the bow and shatter the spear, he will burn the chariots with fire.

He will be exalted among the nations.

This hasn't happened yet. Wars have not ceased. The Lord has not been fully exalted in the nations. The great Commission has not been completed (and I don't think it will be by 2012).

So we like the Psalmist don't need to fear that the end is coming every time we hear about an earthquake or a snow storm. His end will come. He will be exalted. His purpose in history through the Church will come. There is no maybe with God. What he wills is certain His purpose isn't dependant on whether we kick out enough Democrats in the mid terms.

The Lord of Host will bring it to pass. He will bring the nations in. He will make peace. Because the chief end of man, the chief end of the church, and the chief end of the world are all one in the same: to glorify God.

This Psalm speaks about world history, but it also speaks to me and to you. It also speaks to people who do fear everyday. And it gives us hope.

Real life is hard. Harder then we sometimes remember when we are speaking into someone else's life situation. Real life means Biblical principal (A) + Hard situation (B) doesn't always equal you can sleep at night. But there are at least two pieces of good news in this Psalm that you can remember.

1. There is a river. You may know this river already you may have been refreshed by its stream before. This river has a purpose in your life to make you glad.

2. God wins. No matter what happens in your life. No matter what you lose. Remember your Lord wins.

Be still, and know that I am God... The Lord of hosts is with us;the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Eyewitnesses of His Majesty Luke 2:40B

Luke 2:40 And the child [Jesus] grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.

As a child Jesus was filled with wisdom. In the following narrative, which I plan to write about soon, we will see how remarkably wise he was at such a tender age.

Jesus had wisdom beyond any other person in history. One of the blessings of having a perfect Lord and Savior and being able to meditate on his life is to see how he was perfect in every aspect. He was perfect in wisdom. Jesus being God was in his being wisdom. Jesus' wisdom was beyond that even of Solomon. Although God did give Solomon immense treasures of wisdom (by which we are still blessed) Solomon also demonstrated his compulsion to utter foolishness. The wisdom in Solomon's life was mixed with and contaminated by his foolishness and hypocrisy. Christs' wisdom was the wisdom from above that is pure (James 3:17). Jesus thoughts and actions were not corrupted by any sinful motive or desire. Oh that we could say the same about our own.

There are wise men and foolish men. There are men (and women of course) who are all over the spectrum of wisdom and foolishness.

The end of that spectrum, the greatest wisdom, the wisdom by which all other wisdoms aught to be judged is Jesus' wisdom. "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col 2:3).

When we think of wisdom we are thinking about the activity of the heart and the mind. We are thinking about what someone thinks and what someone chooses. When we examine decisions or thoughts they should be examined with this in mind how closely do they align to Jesus' thoughts and decisions.

Jesus was certainly filled with wisdom beyond any other man, but he obtained wisdom in the same way other men do. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov 9:10).

The fear of the Lord is a description of motivation. To fear the Lord is to live ones life in obedience to God's revealed will loving to please God and dreading to displease him. To fear the Lord is to treasure his commandments.

To live in this manner Jesus our Lord demonstrated perfectly.

We are to seek to follow our Lord's example. We are to seek and pray for the fear of the Lord. We are to love God's commandments as he did.

Jesus was filled with wisdom even as a child and let us behold the man he became and think about whose will we do:

John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Eyewitnesses of his Majesty Luke 2:40A

Luke 2:40 And the child [Jesus] grew and became strong,

Strange to think that my Lord had to grow. The one through whom all things were made had to grow.

He made the greater light to rule by day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made Adam a man, but he was a boy.

He had to do what I did and you did. He had to be small and too small to do anything. He had get taller year by year. He wore out clothes just like Samuel (1 Sam 1:18-19). He had to be dependent. He did not equality with the father a thing to be grasped, but grasped the weakness and powerlessness of a child.

He became strong. We also have gained strength at one point in our lives. But for what? With what goal? Even for the most successful of us. Maybe to impress for a short time with athletic feats. Maybe to fight. Maybe for a few of us (in this time and place) for useful labor producing for our families. Maybe, again for a few, to fight in wars. Are these the greatest ends our strength? Was our strength worth cultivating to impress, to wound, to kill, or to make bread?

His strength was worth cultivating. No other has ever made so great a use of strength. He fasted forty days and forty nights. He at times had no leisure even to eat, yet he taught and fed and healed out of his strength because he had compassion (Mark 6). Compassion requires strength. He endured criticism, hatred,and betrayal. Love endures all things (1 Cor13). Love requires strength. He took up his cross. Bearing a cross requires strength.

He spent all of his strength for us. He was poured out. As we think of how strong he was and is. We think how necessary and wonderful it is that he became strong as a child.

My child hood is past most of it was wasted. But I must also become strong. We must. More than physically of course. I'm not talking about push ups. Though physical strength is a part of it and has some usefulness. We must have strength with a purpose.

We are commanded to: Love your neighbor as yourself. Put on compassionate hearts. Take up your cross and follow me.

He gave all the strength he had and held nothing back in his life and his death. Now in his resurrection and exultation he has been given abundantly more strength to supply weak sinners. All power in heaven and earth have been given to him: him who was small and grew and became strong.

It is true that we are weak, but he is strong. And all our strength comes from him.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.