"And His name shall be called Wonderful." (Isaiah 9:6)
That is the name of the Child that is born to us, and the Son that is given to us. How wonderful He is, it will take all eternity to unfold.
Jesus is the ladder that reaches from earth to heaven, the bridge over the gulf between man and God, the bond that makes the two one.
The strength and joy and blessing of the Gospel have been lost to thousands of earnest seekers after rest in God, because they, through Pagan and Papal teaching in the professed church of Christ, have regarded the bridge which God himself has provided, as an impassable gulf, and the ladder as unapproachable.
Let us learn by Him to draw near to God, that we may realize our rightful place as sons of God, loved in equal measure with Him, "whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity." (Micah 5:2)
Strange as it at first appears to most people, Christ is never truly reverenced until He is recognized as one with us. Every form and act of worship which does not proceed from a knowledge of Christ as one with humanity, in all things like unto His brethren, and of "God with us" in Him, is but some grade of idolatry.
He is our Brother, and although "[He] is passed into the heavens," (Hebrews 4:14) it is only as "the Forerunner," (Hebrews 6:20) the member of the family, who has gone before to prove our claim, and to demonstrate the right of human beings to the inheritance of the everlasting kingdom of God--to a place on the throne of the Lord, among the princes of His people. "He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the dunghill; That He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people." (Psalm 113:7-8)
The title by which Christ always makes himself known is "the Son of man." (Matthew 8:20 and others) "God sent forth His Son, born of a woman." (Galatians 4:4)
Remember that Christ did not come to this earth to inaugurate some new order of things, but to reveal "that which was from the beginning." (1 John 1:1) "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." (Isaiah 9:6)
His name is called Wonderful, because childhood is itself wonderful, and is a reality only in Him. Do not be frightened, thinking that we are dishonoring Christ, in applying the name
"Wonderful" to all children. Although "[He is] made higher than the heavens," (Hebrews 7:26)
He is still "the firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8:29)
And though the Government be upon His shoulder, He shares the burden with all His brethren. He is a Kingly Priest, "after the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 5:10)
But we also are created to be "a royal priesthood." (1 Peter 2:9)
It is not with the advent of Jesus in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago, that childhood became wonderful; that was only that men might clearly see, and learn to appreciate, the wonder. Christ was manifest in the flesh, in order that mankind might learn the worth of humanity, and not merely of humanity in general, but of every individual human soul.
From the beginning some souls had received clearness of vision to enable them to see into the innermost sanctuary,--God's worship,--and grasp the eternal mystery. One of these was David, who in words that every person ought to be able to use as his own, said: "You have formed my reins; You have knit me together in my mother's womb. I will give thanks unto You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works; and that my soul knows right well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes did see my unperfect substance, and in your book were all my members written, which day by day were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:13-16,RV,margin)
Even though the child have not the inestimable privilege of being well born, the birth is none the less wonderful, and the human infant is the most wonderful of all the marvelous works which God has made, through which to make known "His everlasting power and Divinity." (Romans 1:20,RV)
Whatever the disadvantages of birth, they are all overcome in the new birth; and whatever the failure of the parents before the birth of the child, it is their privilege and duty to cooperate with the Holy Spirit's work of begetting him anew, by "bringing him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4)
The Firstborn
According to that which is "written in the law of the Lord," Jesus was formally presented and dedicated to the Lord at the age of six weeks. "As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord." (Luke 2:23)
By Moses God had said, "The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me." (Exodus 22:29) "For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast; on the day that I smote every firstborn in Egypt I sanctified them for myself." (Numbers 8:17)
It is not, however, the firstborn only that belong to the Lord.
He says: "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine." (Ezekiel 18:4)
The firstborn were specially set apart to Him at the departure from Egypt, because on that night all the firstborn in Egypt were destroyed, except those of the families that had the blood of the Passover lamb sprinkled on the doorposts. That was a representation of the destruction of all the wicked, and a lesson to the effect that only those who are covered by the life of "Christ our Passover" can be saved. "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." (1 Corinthians 5:7)
On that occasion the firstborn stood for all. They alone were destroyed on that night, but all the children of Egypt perished in the Red Sea a few days later, even as all who do not repent will perish; and not only the first born, but all the children of Israel who trusted in the Lord were saved, even as "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21; Joel 2:32)
Of the time when all the wicked shall be destroyed, we read, "At the same time, says the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. The Lord has appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you." (Jeremiah 31:1-3)
All Firstborn in Christ
Further, the Levites were chosen and set apart to take the place of the firstborn, in the service of the temple. "Thus shall you separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine. And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them for an offering. For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel." (Numbers 8:14-18)
But all whom Christ looses from their sins in His own blood, are made not only priests, but kings: "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, And has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (Revelation 1:5-6)
God's choice among His people is not one single family or tribe; but to all He says: "You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people [a people for God's own possession]; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9)
So the infant Jesus was dedicated to the service of God, not alone to show that all children, last-born as well as firstborn, should be devoted to God, but to make such sanctification possible. "You are complete in Him." (Colossians 2:10)
But this dedication of the child to the Lord, which should be done in its earliest infancy, is not the work of but a single hour. The human house, God's temple, complete though it be at the very beginning when first dedicated, is constantly growing, and therefore needs a new consecration every day, indeed every hour.
The adult can dedicate himself to God, even though it has never been done for him by his parents; and he can renew his consecration day by day; but the parents must devote the child, and on them devolves the duty of keeping the dedication complete; and to the extent that they fail in this is the way made more difficult for him in after life.
The Possibilities of Childhood
How few parents appreciate the wondrous trust committed to them, and the grave responsibilities resting on them with the little child. Leaving out the question of those who regard it as an unwelcome intruder come to rob them of selfish pleasure and self-gratification, it is a fact that most of those who welcome the advent of the new-born babe with joy, regard it for months of its life more as a plaything than as a sacred gift from God, to be given to God. How few there are who think that the serious education of the child should begin with the first days of its life, and never end.
People are most astonishingly blind concerning the receptiveness of their own children. They would feel deeply affronted if anyone should intimate that their child was lacking in intelligence, yet they themselves will not give it credit for having as much quickness of perception as the family dog. All sorts of nonsense is talked to it, and in fact it scarcely ever hears anything else.
Then all its winning little ways are noted and freely commented upon in its presence, and it is constantly being stimulated to show them off, especially before company. All this is done in seeming total unconsciousness that not only are valuable opportunities being neglected; but impressions are being made that can be effaced only at the expense of much effort, and which may cause lifelong pain and sorrow to the innocent victim of the vanity and ignorance of its parents.
Now it is a fact that not only no other creature, but no adult human being, has so clear perceptive faculties or so vast a power of comprehension as a child. At no other period of one's life does one learn so much as in the first two years. Within that period, or by the end of the third year, at most, the child learns a language, and in many cases two, or even three, without any difficulty, besides accumulating by observation a great store of facts.
No naturalist ever observes so closely, or to so good purpose, as a little child. The deep things of God, which are hid from the wise and prudent, are revealed unto babes: "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes." (Matthew 11:25)
Yet most parents seem to think that it is impossible to make any religious impressions on the mind of a child under three or four years of age, or that its whole life may be permanently shaped before that age. Indeed, very few give it a thought.
We do not of course mean that a child of tender years should be drilled in theological dogma; for that is not necessarily religious teaching even for an adult; but the parents who know the Lord as a personal Friend, and who have learned to recognize the Life, as it is manifested, and who also appreciate the almost infinite possibilities in the soul committed to their keeping, will learn of the God who has entrusted His child to their care, how to order the child, and what they shall do to it.
In Christ all things are possible, for He is set forth as "the Man" "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5), the example for all other lives, the measure of their possibilities, and the means for their fulfillment.--Present Truth, January 3, 1901--Timeline: I-4 (The Presentation at the Temple)--Luke 2:23.