“The Case for Christ - His importance” - (part 5)

Someone once wrote the following: (and, I think this was before he accepted Christ: at least I pray that is so).

In his disdain and rejection of Christ, he said: and, I quote,
‘It was my failure to see any need of Christ. The need for God I could accept and the need for religion; but, ultimately, I could not accept the need for redemption by a Savior.’ (unquote)

This brings us to the question we have been considering the last few weeks.

Why is Jesus Christ so important?  Why was He needful?

Simeon gave us the answer as he held Jesus in his arms there in the temple. 

Christ would be the occasion for many, either to ‘fall’ by refusing to accept and embrace His Light.
 
Or - He would be the occasion to ‘rise’ by the acceptance of Him as Light to spiritual Life.

His Light was for the purpose of the full explanation of the knowledge of God in God’s salvation history, to bring an understanding of God.

And, there would be only two reactions to His coming: either accept or reject.

It would be either judgment for rejecting this expanded Light of God.

Or - it would be salvation for accepting this Light.  

Thus - it is not surprising that Simeon explained this further in his prophecy by the two contrasting hearts of men that provokes these two reactions.

And - here, now - we come to the core for the importance of Christ’s coming.

For it is in this portion of the prophecy where we see the reason why and the weight God has placed upon it.

Simeon said further: ‘...[Christ] is a sign spoken against and - of thee also [thy]self the soul will go through a sword - so as - may be revealed of many hearts [the] thoughts.’ 

This is the Interlinear translation. 

From it, you will notice the prediction to Mary in the middle of it and - the way it is stated, indicates that she, too, will know of the sword’s work.

She, too, would share in the pain concerning Christ.

Before we go on, I would like to explain this briefly because it most certainly relates to what follows.

The reference to the sword is from Ezekiel 14:17, where the Lord warns of judgment by saying, ‘...let a sword pass through the land.’

The sword is a symbol of piercing pain and anguish as it cuts asunder.

Job 16:12-14, although there it uses the arrow as the example, gave some of the various effects of God’s dealings - effects which can be applied to the sword: that of being brokenhearted, of being shattered, dislodged, crushed, and shaken to pieces.

This all goes along with the theme of judgment in the last part of Simeon’s words.  

Keep this in mind as we go on.

Let us go back now to the first part of the prophecy: Christ would be a ‘sign’.

A sign for what?

Isaiah gave the purpose of signs in 8:18.

He said there: ‘Behold, I and the children which Jehovah hath given me for signs and types in Israel from Jehovah of hosts...’.

Isaiah, along with his children, had been given names that were figures and emblems of salvation, all of which refer to Christ. 

In the same way - the coming of Christ was a sign: it was a sign that salvation is here: the ‘sign’ has opened a way for salvation to come to fruition, to actualization. 

And that way would be through judgment.

As we examine the last part of Simeon’s prophecy, we see      two judgments connected with Christ’s coming. 

First, there is the divine judgment. I will come back to this later for we must see what it was that came under divine judgment.

But, let me just say right now, the moment of Christ’s  appearance was the sign of divine judgment falling.

Second, later on in His life, Jesus warned that just as a sign of Jonah announced judgment on Nineveh so He also was a sign of judgment on that generation. (Lu 11:29-30)

‘For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see, and they which see might be made blind’, He said in Jn 9:39.

A person’s openness to the further revelation of God in His Son was the issue here.

So this judgment of Christ’s Incarnation was the judgment upon men’s reaction to His coming.

His coming into the world as the Light became the moment of judgment, the moment of decision for all mankind.

So then, Christ’s coming was to be a sign of judgment, first by God, and, then, by man upon himself.

Besides the sign of judgment, there is another sign to consider.

The sign of Jonah, mentioned earlier, also was a call to repentance; it was the same sign Jesus gave to His contemporaries.

The very Presence of Jesus as the Incarnate Word in the world confronts the world with a decision to believe or not to believe with a call to repentance.

And - making that decision is the moment of judgment.

If one believes, and accepts the call to repentance, one is saved; if one does not, one condemns himself unwittingly -
judgment falls upon him.

Thus, Christ’s sign was a sign both for judgment and for a call to repentance.

And, then, Simeon went on to give the upshot of this ‘sign’, ‘...a sign spoken against’.

Listen to some of the translations concerning the effect of this ‘sign’.

He will be a sign that, (quote,) - ‘...will be rejected, ...hard words will be said of Him, ...He will be much debated, ...men will refuse to acknowledge Him.

...He will be a sign for man’s attack, a ...sign that will be opposed, ...a controversial figure, ...a standard which many shall attack, and ...to serve as a revelation which shall be disputed.’ (unquote).

This is not a highly impressive list of responses for the Messiah-king and the effect He would generate of many, is it?

But - there it is, as sad as it is!

And, then, Simeon went on: Christ would be a sign, spoken against, even as a sword (as he told Mary) ‘...so as, the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed’.

Our views and decisions are a mirror to the heart: they come from the very thoughts and conditions of the heart.

‘For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks’.
(Lu 6:45)

Christ would bring to light the kind of heart man has in either of the two responses. 

Every man would be judged by his thoughts concerning Christ and His coming.

He would reveal those inner thoughts, and thus expose the type of heart from which man is operating. 

Why is such deep scrutiny of man’s heart so needful?

Now we have come back to the sign of divine judgment at the moment of Christ’s appearing on the earth.

From the beginning of time, God always looked upon the heart.

‘...Man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart’, the Lord told Samuel in 1 Sam 16:7.

Why?  What is it that the Lord was always seeking to drive home?

First, we have to grasp the fact that God loved the world, humanity, with an overwhelming desire for fellowship with man.

He poured out His heart when He said: ‘...I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn you...’. (Jer 31:3)

‘I will betroth thee unto Me forever...’ was His mind. 
(Hos 2:19)

He did not start out wanting to always condemn man; it was not in His heart to banish man from His sight forever; and neither was it in His mind to expect man to walk on eggshells as the heathen did with their gods.

And He did not desire to coerce men into a relationship with Him.

No - He sought to enlist them of their own free will - to draw them.

He desired from the very beginning for man to have life, to eat from the tree of life.

His heart desired to be one with man’s heart - two hearts beating as one in constant, friendly intercourse.

But - it was the breakdown between God and humanity that showed no compatibility between His heart and man’s for real and lasting fellowship.

Tell me - as a parent, have you ever tried to deal with a rebellious child?

We can use this as an example since it is a familiar scene in our society today.

But - what is this rebellion - really?

Basically, is it not simply a breakdown between parent and child - a rejection of the love the parent wants to shower on the child and resistance of that love by the child?

And the rejection takes on an estrangement between the two - disharmony and disunity come.

The child’s heart of rebellion to do as he pleases is in conflict with the parent’s heart of love in wanting the best for the child.

The core of family has broken down into two sides of two opposing hearts battling each other.

This is how the prophets viewed the rebellion of the children of God against their God.

‘For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.’ 
(Rom 10:3)

Now - that is rebellion!

And the Old Testament is just showing things as they were under the dictatorship of the old heart of rebellion and rejection - that is all.

But the Lord went on to meet the challenge of man’s heart of rebellion.

That is why the prophets spoke often of the Lord’s intention to give His people a ‘new heart’, a different heart that would be like-minded, in tune, in harmony with Him.

Ezek 36:26-27: ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.’

Even though the headstrong and rebellious heart prevailed, God continued on in His divine plan to win men’s hearts.

‘A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you’ - ‘...a new heart to know Me, that I am the Lord.’ (Jer 24:7)

Now - here is where Christ has entered the activity of God upon the earth: in Him, salvation came and this was the moment when the coming of salvation opened the way for judgment to fall.

And the first judgment to fall was God’s judgment on the old heart - the old natural man - as being incapable and inadequate for a sustained relationship and fellowship with Him.

And how did He plan to make the change in man?

He sent His Son to give a new heart that would be the Source to support and continue this relationship.

So, through His Son, He brought in a whole new order of life. 

He brought in a new humankind that gives man a new heart compatible with God’s heart. 

And, here again, is why the impact of Christ’s coming is so needful: He reveals the type of heart man has.

It would be His Son Who would reveal which of the two hearts man has - just by the thoughts each has regarding His coming upon the earth to make this change in man.

Let us, again, take a further look at the rich, young man who came to Jesus with the intention to follow Him.

I only touched on it last week.

He was basically a good man, apparently, for he recounted all of the commandments that he faithfully kept.

And he had come to Jesus with the noble intention of following Him.

Was that not enough to reach God?

That looked like a ‘good’ heart that the Lord would accept.

He asked the question, ‘What am I yet lacking?’.

Why would he ask this?

Instinctively, he must have known that he still did not have what was needed to follow Jesus.

What did he need?

He needed to accept God’s judgment on the old heart by accepting Christ’s coming to replace it with the new!

But - and this is very sad - his heart registered a ‘NO - I will go my way!’ 

So he walked away under the power of the old heart and its dictatorship and, unwittingly, brought judgment upon himself.

This is what is at the core of Christ’s Incarnation; the importance of His coming lies here.

It is God’s judgment on the old heart, God’s provision of replacement with a new heart, and Christ’s revelation of them both - exposing even the thoughts coming from men’s hearts.

No human religious order can effect that and no human religious leader can perform that!

I repeat: (repeat)

Before we close tonight, let me briefly address the continuation of Christ’s dealing with the heart in those of us who believe. 

And here is where the sign of the call to repentance takes on the sustaining feature.

According to Heb 4:12, His work as Light of the revelation of the full knowledge of God goes onward.

And - this is how it goes onward.

‘For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’

Please do not think for one moment that any of us are beyond this continuing work of Christ within!

He is always - always - moving us onward - He is not static in us!

His revealing of the type of heart in either the acceptance or rejection of His coming is only the beginning part.

But the ‘moving onward’ has to do with His searching us out to make us realize how undone we are without Him.

‘Going on’ in Christ means His sword and His arrows to finish the work of perfecting our hearts to what His heart is.

And, please do not think this is an easy, short-term work in us.

Oh no - His sword goes on; it cuts asunder, it shatters, it dislodges, it shakes us to pieces sometimes as it sifts and refines even our very attitudes!

‘...For our weapons are...mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.’ (2 Cor 10:4-5)

And He shows us just how much we really do need Him!

He is God - He is God Who is beyond us in majesty - look at Him and treat Him as so - let God be God and believe with all your heart what His Word has shown us concerning the importance of His Son, Jesus Christ.

May the Lord grant us all that heart to follow Him all the way onward.

Let us pray.

[PRAY]  So be it!