MORE THAN A BABY 

by, Jim Wies

More Than a Baby – King of an Inexorable Kingdom

* Inexorable = not to be persuaded, moved, or stopped

On the First Christmas Day, God Stepped into the Stream of Humanity - Without Protocol and Without Pretension

The rough ride to Bethlehem certainly contributed to the onset of labor. The young Jewish girl and her betrothed husband were desperate for accommodations, as they entered the small hamlet for the Roman census. Bethlehem was swollen with travelers and the inn was packed. Fortunately the innkeeper saw the dilemma and in a show of compassion made accommodations in the stable for the young couple. The stench of the stable full of animals was pungent, but Mary was grateful, simply to get off the donkey, as she fought back another contraction. She leaned against the wall, back aching, feet swollen and contractions growing stronger and stronger.

Joseph quickly sprung into action. Not a minute to lose. A manger would work for the crib. Blankets? Ah, this robe will do. And these rags hung out to dry would help. Joseph runs out to find a bucket for water.

Mary gasped in pain as Joseph returned with a bucket of water. The birth was not easy, for the mother or the child. Though once clothed in glory, this infant laid down His royal privileges at conception. The top of the baby's head had already pushed its way into the world. Mary began to push with all her strength almost as if the God of the universe refused to be born without her help. With a final push and a long sigh, her labor was over. The Messiah had arrived.

With elongated head from the trip though the birth canal, amniotic fluid and mucus in his ears and nostrils, the Son of God was umbilically tied to a lowly Jewish girl. Mary and Joseph stare in awe at the baby Jesus, whose heavy eyelids begin to close. It has been a difficult journey. The King is tired.

And so, with hardly a notice, God stepped into the stream of humanity - without protocol and without pretension. Where you would have expected angels, there were only flies. Where you would have expected heads of state, there were only donkeys, a few haltered cows, some sheep, and a scurry of curious barn mice.

Yes, there were angels announcing the Savior's arrival----but only to a band of blue-collar shepherds. And yes, a magnificent star shone in the sky to mark his birthplace----but only three wise men bothered to look up and follow it.

It had been planned from the foundation of the world. With amazing detail, the event had been prophesied throughout the sacred Scriptures. The prophet Isaiah saw it and spoke of His arrival: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever." Isaiah 9:6-7 A fundamental premise is that, for there to be a kingdom, there must be a king. The historic fact is that 2,000 years ago that King was born. And this almost unnoticed beginning marked a shift of dispensational proportions. The King of the Kingdom had arrived!

This King's kingdom is also spoken of in Isaiah chapter 2 to show the eventual, total dominion of the Kingdom of God over all other kingdoms and dominions at the end of the age. "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; he will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." Isa 2:2-3

Daniel saw this kingdom as well. "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever." Dan 2:44-45

Daniel went on to describe it again like this: "I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." Dan 7:13-14

We then find Jesus introduced as Lord and referred to as Lord close to 3,000 times in the New Testament. Jesus demonstrated his Lordship - His rulership over creation - by turning water to wine; through bread and fish multiplied; even through His authority over the elements. He commanded the wind and waves; He exerted authority over demons and the domain of darkness; sickness and disease, etc.

Yet the Lordship of Jesus Christ is apparently one of the most neglected or least understood aspects of Jesus. Scripture points to the fact that a belief about Jesus as Savior is not the same as a surrender to Jesus as Lord. In fact, one very grave problem within western Christianity has become an "easy believism" that is void of repentance and Lordship. That is, "faith" without repentance; "salvation" without sanctification; "mental assent" without life changing surrender. It gives rise to a church without even mention of a Kingdom. 

So in our zeal to be theologically proper regarding the grand theme of grace, modern Christianity has often been guilty of presenting a "gospel" of faith without Lordship, a cheap "grace" that's not really grace but licentiousness.*

*(licentiousness = absence of restraint, indecency, wantonness - note Jude 1:4 "For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.")

This "grace" is justification of sin without repentance on the part of the sinner. It is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. It is Church membership without Church discipline; communion without confession, faith without action. It gives us a church without even mention of a Kingdom. It is wanting Jesus as Savior but not as Lord - wanting Him to save us but not to rule over our lives. Costly "grace" recognizes the call to discipleship that Jesus expects in light of our redemption.

Christ gave all for us and expects nothing less in return. Our relationship with Him is the "treasure in a field" for which a man sells all he has to purchase; or the costly pearl a man gives all to acquire. It is the call of Jesus for which a disciple leaves his nets, forsakes all and follows. Such Gospel demands total surrender. It says "If you receive me as Lord, I will save you". It is costly because it costs us our life, but is redemption because in exchange we gain that which is true life, that which is eternal.

This final dimension of His lordship is clearly stated in Acts 2:36: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (see also Phil. 2:5-11) 

This final clarification of Jesus as Lord by the Father, gives the conclusion of the matter. He is Lord and His kingdom is an inexorable kingdom and an everlasting kingdom and of its increase there shall be no end! God has declared He WILL have a glorious end-time Church in the earth. God WILL have a latter "house" that will be more glorious than the former. God WILL cause His glory to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. God WILL raise up the fallen tabernacle of David and cause the ends of the earth to come to the glory of its rising. Great boldness, faith and optimism will arise in the hearts of believers when we realize we have inherited a grand prophetic mission in our generation, according to the Scriptures and in accordance with God\'s inexorable purposes.

Although there are those who only see gloom and despair for the future, we are living in a most incredible season of spiritual history. World wide church growth statistics show that the global Christian Church is witnessing a harvest of souls of historic proportion. And new we have recently broken through the 7 billion population mark on planet earth. Due to population growth as well as the current increase of Christianity world wide, there are actually more Christians alive today in the earth than in the cumulative total of the previous 2,000 years. We are living in a season of great harvest.

And the Scriptures clearly indicate an unprecedented global revival will proceed the second coming of Christ. "And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: "After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things' Known to God from eternity are all His works." Acts 15:13-18.

Since God is the one who knows the end from the beginning, it is easy to understand how He could speak to his prophets about what would happen at the end of time. Scripture says it this way: "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,' Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it." Isa 46:9-11

Two thousand years ago a baby was born - but He is much more than a baby, he is THE KING of an ETERNAL, INEXORABLE KINGDOM.