Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them…. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” Luke 2:8-10.

Angels behold the weary travelers, Joseph and Mary, making their way to the city of David to be taxed, according to the decree of Caesar Augustus. Here, in the providence of God, Joseph and Mary had been brought, for this was the place prophecy had predicted that Christ should be born. They seek a place of rest at the inn, but are turned away because there is no room. The wealthy and honorable have been welcomed and find refreshment and room, while these weary travelers are compelled to seek refuge in a coarse building which shelters the dumb beasts.

Here the Savior of the world is born. The Majesty of glory, who filled all heaven with admiration and splendor, is humiliated to a bed in a manger. In heaven He was surrounded by holy angels, but now His companions are the beasts of the stall. What humiliation is this! …

As there are none among the children of humanity to herald the advent of the Messiah, angels must now do that work which it was the honored privilege of human beings to do….

Humble shepherds, who are guarding their flocks by night, are the ones who joyfully receive their testimony…. They do not at first discern the myriads of angels that are congregated in the heavens. The brightness and glory from the heavenly host illuminate and glorify the entire plain….

The shepherds are filled with joy, and as the bright glory disappears and the angels return to heaven, they are all aglow with the glad tidings and hasten in search of the Savior. They find the infant Redeemer, as the celestial messengers had testified, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the narrow confines of a manger.

The events which had but just transpired have made indelible impressions upon their minds and hearts, and they are filled with amazement, love, and gratitude for the great condescension of God to the human family in sending His Son into the world.—The Review and Herald, December 17, 1872.

From From the Heart

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Matthew 1:21.

The Jewish nation had corrupted their religion by useless ceremonies and customs…. They were also under bondage to the Romans and required to pay tribute to them. The Jews were unreconciled to their bondage and looked forward to the triumph of their nation through the Messiah, the powerful deliverer foretold in prophecy…. They thought the Coming One would, at His appearing, assume kingly honors and by force of arms subdue their oppressors and take the throne of David. Had they, with humble minds and spiritual discernment, studied the prophecies, they would not have been found in so great error as to overlook the prophecies which pointed to His first advent in humility, and misapply those which spoke of His second coming with power and great glory…. They could not distinguish between those prophecies which pointed to the first advent of Christ and those that described His second, glorious appearing. The power and glory described by the prophets as attending His second advent, they looked for at His first advent….

When the time was fulfilled, Christ was born in a stable and cradled in a manger, surrounded by the beasts of the stall…. His divine glory and majesty were veiled by humanity, and angels heralded His advent. The tidings of His birth were borne with joy to the heavenly courts, while the great men of the earth knew it not…. They looked for a mighty prince who should reign upon David’s throne and whose kingdom should endure forever. Their proud and lofty ideas of the coming of the Messiah were not in accordance with the prophecies which they professed to be able to expound to the people….

In heaven it was understood that the time had come for the advent of Christ to the world, and angels leave glory to witness His reception by those He came to bless and save. They had witnessed His glory in heaven, and they anticipate that He will be received with honor in accordance with His character and the dignity of His mission…. The angels from heaven behold with astonishment the indifference of the people and their ignorance in regard to the advent of the Prince of life.—The Review and Herald, December 17, 1872.

From From the Heart

Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. Philippians 2:6.

The divine Son of God was the only sacrifice of sufficient value to fully satisfy the claims of God’s perfect law. The angels were sinless but of less value than the law of God. They were amenable to law…. They were created beings and probationers. Upon Christ no requirements were laid. He had power to lay down His life and to take it again. No obligation was laid upon Him to undertake the work of atonement. It was a voluntary sacrifice that He made. His life was of sufficient value to rescue sinners from their fallen condition….

The sacrificial offerings and the priesthood of the Jewish system were instituted to represent the death and mediatorial work of Christ. All those ceremonies had no meaning and no virtue, only as they related to Christ, who was Himself the foundation of, and who brought into existence, the entire system. The Lord had made known to Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and the ancient worthies, especially Moses, that the ceremonial system of sacrifices and the priesthood, of themselves, were not sufficient to secure the salvation of one soul.

The system of sacrificial offerings pointed to Christ. Through these, the ancient worthies saw Christ and believed in Him. These were ordained of Heaven to keep before the people the fearful separation which sin had made between God and the human family, requiring a mediating ministry. Through Christ the communication which was cut off because of Adam’s transgression was opened between God and the ruined sinner….

The Jewish system was symbolical and was to continue until the perfect Offering should take the place of the figurative…. The people of God, from Adam’s day down to the time when the Jewish nation became a separate and distinct people from the world, had been instructed in regard to the Redeemer to come, which their sacrificial offerings represented. This Savior was to be a mediator, to stand between the Most High and His people. Through this provision, a way was opened whereby the guilty sinner might find access to God through the mediation of another…. Christ alone could open the way by making an offering equal to the demands of the divine law. He was perfect and undefiled by sin. He was without spot or blemish.—The Review and Herald, December 17, 1872.

From From the Heart

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son. Galatians 4:4.

Christ came to this world to reveal the Father, to give to humanity a true knowledge of God. He came to manifest the love of God. Without a knowledge of God, humanity would be eternally lost…. Life and power must be imparted by Him who made the world.

The promise made in Eden—the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head—was the promise of the Son of God, through whose power alone could the counsel of God be fulfilled and the knowledge of God be imparted.

God made the promise to Abraham, “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” To Abraham was unfolded God’s purpose for the redemption of the race…. Christ declared, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.”

Jacob declared, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”

To Moses God talked face to face, as one talks with a friend. On him shone the light regarding the Savior. He said to the people, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.”

The sacrifices and offerings told their story of the coming Savior, who was to be offered up for the sins of the world. They pointed forward to a better service than theirs, when God would be worshipped in spirit and truth and in the beauty of holiness.

In the Jewish service was typified the atonement demanded by the broken law. The victim, a lamb without spot or blemish, represented the world’s Redeemer, who is so holy and so efficient that He can take away the sin of the world.

To David was given the promise that Christ should reign forever and ever, and that of His kingdom there should be no end.

The Hebrews lived in an attitude of expectancy, looking for the promised Messiah. Many died in faith, not having received the promises; but having seen them afar off, they believed and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.—Youth’s Instuctor, September 13, 1900.

From From the Heart

You shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. Isaiah 58:12.

We have reason to rejoice that the world has not been left in solitary hopelessness. Jesus left the royal throne and His high command in heaven and became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. He took upon Himself our nature, that He might teach us how to live. In the steps which the sinner must take in conversion—repentance, faith, and baptism—He led the way. He did not repent for Himself, for He was sinless, but in behalf of sinners.

Jesus became “the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.” He became an exile to earth to bring back the one lost, straying sheep, the one world ruined by sin. In Him were combined the earthly and the heavenly, the human and the divine; otherwise, He could not be a Mediator whom the sinful could approach, and through whom they could be reconciled to their Maker. But now He encircles the race in arms of sympathy and love while He grasps the throne of the Infinite, thus uniting us in our weakness and helplessness with the Source of strength and power….

We are indebted to Jesus for all the blessings we enjoy. We should be deeply grateful that we are the subjects of His intercession. But Satan deceives men and women by presenting the service of Christ before them in a false light and making them think that it is a condescension on their part to accept Jesus as their Redeemer. If we viewed the Christian privilege in the right light, we should consider it the highest exaltation to be accounted a child of God, an heir of heaven, and we should rejoice that we can walk with Jesus in His humiliation….

Will you leave the dark abodes of sin and woe, and seek the mansions Jesus has gone to prepare for His followers? In His name we beseech you to plant your feet firmly on the ladder and climb upward. Forsake your sins, overcome your defects of character, and cling with all your powers to Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. We may every one of us succeed. None who shall persevere will fail of everlasting life. Those who believe on Christ shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of His hand.—Signs of the Times, July 31, 1884.

From From the Heart