The miraculous prophecies of the Old Testament now wonderfully fulfilled in the New Testament prove that the Bible is what it claims to be - the very Word of God. They prove, also, that Jesus is what He claims to be, God in human form, the virgin-born, bodily-resurrected Saviour, the God-man. - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 117-118]
Jesus, the Son of God, through all eternity, has now become "the Son of man." And that is the title He used of Himself most often on earth. He became a man, was tempted in all points like as we are. Adam, the first head of the race, sinned and lost for all his descendants the inherent purity in which he was created. Now Jesus will buy the race back to God. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (I Cor. 15:22). Since Jesus was born as a baby and later died for the sins of the world, every baby born is exonerated from the guilt of Adam, in the records of God, and every little child, though tainted by inherited sin, is thus kept safe until he becomes a deliberate sinner, a conscious sinner. No one ever goes to Hell for Adam's sin. Jesus paid for all that. Now if a conscious deliberate sinner will turn to Christ for mercy, his owns sins, too, are blotted out. Jesus became a model man, the Son of man, the God-man. - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 120]
Jesus was the Son of Mary. He was also the Son of the Jewish race. Revelation, chapter 12, pictures Israel as a woman, and Christ, the man-child, as Israel's Son. But He is also the Son of the whole human race. The Gospel of Matthew pictures Jesus as the Son of David and the Son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1). But the Gospel of Luke pictures Him as the Son of Adam (Luke 3:38).
So, at Christmastime, every person in the human race can say gladly, "Unto us a child is born." Jesus was born the Son of the human race, has entered into human sorrows, has met and defeated human weakness, and stands for us a new responsible Head of the human race. - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 120-121]
How sweet it is that this Son is given unto us. "UNTO US a child is born, UNTO US a son is given" [Is. 9:6]. Jesus is given to the Jewish nation. Jesus is given to the whole human race. Jesus is given to any poor sinner who will have Him. Better yet, Jesus is given to ME, and He is offered as MY SAVIOUR!
Oh, Christmas will have a sorry flavor for those who think of a Saviour but do not know Him as their own Saviour! Christmas will fall short of the proper joys and blessings intended if we do not make this blessed Son of man our own!
It is a wonderful Saviour who is given, and thank God, He is freely given to us. - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 124]
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote the Gospels, the brief biographical sketches of the life and death of Jesus in the New Testament. But Isaiah wrote a Gospel of the Old Testament. With the divine Spirit of God upon him in mighty power, Isaiah was led to break into holy exalted prophecy, "And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." What wonderful names and what a wonderful character our Saviour has! - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 130-131]
One who would read the Gospels and try to explain away the miracles so plainly written therein is a fool. He is a wicked, calloused, perverse-hearted, unbelieving fool! And here I speak in the language which Jesus Himself used of such unbelief. He said to those who did not believe He had risen from the dead, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." Those who do not believe in His bodily resurrection are fools, because such such a Saviour must inevitably rise from the dead. Those who do not believe in His virgin birth are fools because such a Saviour had come into this world untainted by the carnal and accursed inheritance of normal men and women. Oh, the Scripture rightly says that "his name shall be called Wonderful"! - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 131]
May the joyful message of the angels given at the first Christmas ring in your heart, ". . . a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord"! Shepherds, wise men, the holy family - you may be as happy as any of them, and I pray that you may be, at this glad season. . . .
In His dear name, happy Christmas! - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 3]
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