“‘You are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. … He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’”
Luke 1:31-33
British Baptist minister Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892:
“That new-born Child … has worked wonders long before now; that Infant slumbering in His mother’s arms is the Ancient of eternity …. Of old He went forth as our covenant Head in election, ‘according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.’ … It was from everlasting that … He signed the compact with His Father, that He would pay blood for blood, … agony for agony, and death for death, on behalf of His people.
“It was from everlasting that He gave Himself up, without a murmuring word, that … He might sweat blood, that He might be spit upon, pierced, mocked, torn asunder, suffer the pain of death and the agonies of the cross. His goings forth as our Surety were from everlasting.
“Pause, my soul, and wonder!… He knew what I would be…. He knew how badly I would act toward Him, and yet He has continued to love me…. [S]ince His goings forth were of old from everlasting, they will be ‘to everlasting.’… Trust Him, … and He will go forth to abide in your heart forever.”
“That new-born Child … has worked wonders long before now; that Infant slumbering in His mother’s arms is the Ancient of eternity …. Of old He went forth as our covenant Head in election, ‘according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.’ … It was from everlasting that … He signed the compact with His Father, that He would pay blood for blood, … agony for agony, and death for death, on behalf of His people.
“It was from everlasting that He gave Himself up, without a murmuring word, that … He might sweat blood, that He might be spit upon, pierced, mocked, torn asunder, suffer the pain of death and the agonies of the cross. His goings forth as our Surety were from everlasting.
“Pause, my soul, and wonder!… He knew what I would be…. He knew how badly I would act toward Him, and yet He has continued to love me…. [S]ince His goings forth were of old from everlasting, they will be ‘to everlasting.’… Trust Him, … and He will go forth to abide in your heart forever.”
Scripture Focus
Psalm 90
Insight
“As of old on earth He stood,/ Lord of lords in human vesture,/ in the body and the blood.” (ed. Gerard Moultrie, 1864)
Bible In A Year
- Hosea 9-11
- Proverbs 14
- 1 Peter 2-3