The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 1960

I Cl:Cn1 l)cr, 1 960 \lf Middle Man .... A Christma · Sermon By Noel Smith l!itlit()l' () I 'l 'l lt' l1~t1) l 1sl l~i l>I ' ' f ' ril ) t tt l(' ( l lsc'c.1 l), 1)c1111is"H>1l ) ~ t '' For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is give n: and the gove rnment shall be upon hi s shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonderful , Counse llor, The mighty God, The eve rlasting Fo'hcr, The Prince of P=ace." Isaiah 9 :6 K-· ~ • 1 ll,ll1l)l'll t() l>t' ( ) llC <)f tll()S \\ l l(l -..t1ll ,,t,ll't)111t·~ tllt c.'tl1rtit1g <)f l1risl– rl1.t~ ,, 1tl1 ..111 tl1l' gl .. 1<.l ~t1,t1c111(1t1c>1 of 111, t•l11llll1 t><.)c.l. 1:c)r 1r1<.' ( l1ri t111;.1s )1a 11<.'' t 1 1) 't'<)lll<.' clt1ll ,t11cl c<.>111111011- l) l ,1(.'(.'. I ~till t t'l ... 1 • I f cl t tl1e fir.. t t i111e I t, er 11 .. 1rd tl1e ·tor\ of ,l1ri tma , • tl1(1t l1ri.:t111.1.. is proof a11d cl 11101 - .. tr.1t1<.l11 tl1t1 t c>111 tl1i11g trt1l}· , vo1 der– ft1l, ..1bidi11g c111cl p r111(11 e1 t , l1ap– l) 11 d to tl1e ,,. ar}, lo11el)' ,vorld on tlltlt t,1r- tt1dded J uclc:1e,11 1 ight ,vhen ki11gl> -faced 110 t filled the k)' and pot1red ot1t tl1eir golcle11 no tes upo1 the I11f,1n t a11cl H i bed of t ra \V. THE :\IIDDLE 11A I k110,,· of 10 i11gle , ,er e ii1 the Bible tht1t o completely et forth tl1e 11a tt1re of the a iour as the one I l1a, 1 e cho en a the ba i for thi Chri trna errno11. I kno,v this verse i a prophec)' of the birth of Christ becau e no child but the Child Jesus could be called "\'\ 1 onderful, Counsel– lor, The might)· God, the everlasting Father, The Pri11ce of Peace." I kno,v that thi prophec}' ,va fulfilled in the birth of Cl1ri t because of the Resur– rection, the co11version of aul of Tar us and the Cl1ristian Church and it i11flt1e11ce, have been absolutely e tabli b ed as facts of hi tory. In the first place, a child i b orn ." Tl1at i humanity. Th e aviou r is n1a11. H e i not man in a11y artificial, ab tract, mecha11ical, theological ,vay, a e,~en the best of us have a t endency to belie,,e. He is a ma11 by virtue of the fact that He ,,,as born. He was born a \\'e '"'ere born. He was bor1 of a huma11 mother, although con– ceived by the Holy Spirit. Let me emphasize it : the humanity of the aviour is as genuine as the humanitv of an\· man that ever lived . ., . He is man by ,rirtue of the fact that He ,vas born. But he is more than man. His name is "\\ 1 onderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The e\'erlasting F ather , The Prince of Peace." That is Deity. Humanity and Deity blend in the Person of the Saviour. And in some sublimely m 1 ·sterious way tha t a l<~gi<)11 c) f ,1rcl1clr)lg 1. cc>t1lcl 11 ~"' er c:01n– I)r l1e11cl ;.111cl 1111cl rslc.t11cl , tl1 . 11 11(1 (1. 1 alt1rull>' c.111cl g >11t1i11 l)' rts tl1 C()lor · tl1(1t f or111 tl1c r ,1i11b o,,. Tl1 a, ·iot1r i 11ot Goel. Tl1e a - iot1r i 1 ot 111a1 . I-le is Gocl-1na11. Tl1er ar 11ot t,\·o cliff re1 t p erson ; ther i b t1t one Person . Ther is but a i11gl P r or1. He is 11ot on of man i11 011e et of circum ta1 ces and on of God i11 another ; H e i 11ot J esu toda,.r a11d Chri t tomorro,v. He is • Je us hri t . Tl1is means that H e is ,vl1at Paul sa)'S He is-the Micldle Man. «F or there is one G 1 od and one mediator ben vee1 God and man , the man Christ J e l l S." • A med iator is a go-between. A n1ediator is the middle man. '\Vho is Je u Cl1rist? H e is not God. H e is not man . H e is the rv1iddle Man. I submit to you that the world never kne,v the Middle /J an until He came on the scene there in Bethlehem's manger . The vVord existed from all et ernity; indeed He is the F ather of e ternity. Humanity h ad existed from the creation of Adam . But it vvas not until 11ary brou ght forth h er f irstborn So11 that the God-man , tl1e Middle Man, appeared in history. Something h appened i11 Bethleh em that h ad never before h appe1 ed in e ternity : the Middle Ma1 appeared . And I b elieve the Middle Man is here to stay, to stay throughout all eterni ty. It is suggested by some theologians tha t the time may co1ne ,,,,he1 the ~1iddle Man "\vill n o longer be the Middle Man . I don't believe it! I b elieve that , vhat h appened in Bethlehe1n 2000 years ago h appened for all eternity. I believe the Middle Man is "the same yesterday, and t o– day and for ever." Whe1 a child is b orn into this world tha t child be– comes a distinct entity and that en– tity remains distinct throughout all et ernity. I don' t belie\.'e that less can be said of Jesus Christ . And so again , Bethlehem means the appearance in bistory, and for the first time, of the Middle Man . REDEMPTIO The great central truth of Christmas 1s Il eclc 1 1111J tio11 . T11cl c>cl, the gre,tl ce1 tr,1l lrt1tl1 c>f tl1e RilJlc jc; Rcclemp– t io1 . 'T'l1e Miclclle Man ec1t1ales \Vi tl1 Reel 111p ti c>1 . R cle1n ption ec1t1a tcs '\vitl1 the Mid ell Ma11. Redemptior1 1s premised on the fac t of sin. The fac t of sin h as b een olJ– scured by the oversimplification of the se11time1 talists on the one hand, ancl by the shallo\V Modernists on the other . \ Vhat is sin? \Ve say the Devil brought in into the vvorld. Tha t isn't trt1e; sin brot1ght the Devil here. We say that drunkenness, murder , licen– tious11ess , and hate are sin. That isn't trl1e; they are the effects of sin. When ,,,e sp eak of sin we are all the time sp eaking of the effects of sin, not of the esse1 ce of sin . What i the essence of sin? vVhat is sin? \Ve don't kno,;v. But , ve know that in is a gh astly fact of such magnitude that the Incarnation and its conse– qu ences are premised upon it. The Incarnation is the only adequat e remecly for it. \ Ve know that sin is such a1 audacious thing that it does 1ot hesitate to attempt t o bribe the So1 of God to fall do, vn and worship the Devil! Think of that , \'\rill you ! Sin is st1ch a gh astly thing that it pulls the beard of the Son of God out by the roots, spits in His face, cro\vnS Him \vith thorns, ties His h ands be– hind His b ack , and scourges Him un– til He is a bleeding, quivering mass of fl esh so marred that He doe n' t resemble a man. Sin is such a gh astly thing that it crucifies God Incarnate to a Roman st ake. That 's sin! To deny the validity of the third chapter of Genesis is to s,veep a\vay the premise for the Incar11ation. If the third chapter of Genesis is not trt1e, there never "''as any reason for a Virgin-born Saviour, n ever any rea– son for an Atonement, never any rea– so11 for Resw·rection . If the thii·d chapter of Genesis is not bue, then the Gospel makes no sense t o any– b odv ,vith an,, se11se. And this is. exactly the r eason why the 1odernists reject the Incarnation. This is exactly the reason ,vhy the