The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 1966

a \ J \.' '"' 1 111 all ht'-illll'\ ll.l" l1c~n , ·rl ll l\.lL'tl \ \ it ll "'-' lllllCh Ill) \lei\ , 1"l ~I 1\ .t, \l.\t\. the 111t)thcr l)I ... lc,ta, 1' t",r~ 11d1ct1IL,tt , clat111\ h,1, c l'~t"ll 111,l tc f,)1 l1cr th.ln ,lt1\011c cl\c. .,~ 1 11 ..lalc"I ''" 1l1c ()tt1.:!c11 ot Hca, en. It ,, -- 1.,i111~tl th1.tl ,he '"a · b r11 \\ 1tl1- t)ttl ,, 111t"t1l 11,1turc. that 'he lived ti 111lc, l1lc. and tl1at her bod\. \.\,l'> .. c c1, ed tip l het1, en after her death. \\ h, 1, th, \\ 111an that 'he hould ccc,, c ti h un qualed attention'! \\ h,tt JL1 \\ e actut1lly kno\>. about her'! :.\ nd 1110 t 1111p rlant ol ,tll , ,, hal \>.- a i\l,tr~ ·~ relat1 n hip to Chri ·t? Her Tremendous Privilege \!ctr\' i') t/1e 111l>tl1er <Jf Jejtts (Luke 1::1. 35, 2:6-7). 1ar) wa elected b) G d to fulfill the n10 t unique 111i ion e, er gi" en to a human being. he became the mother of the in– arnated on of God. The Lord of Hea\en took hi human form fron1 her fle h and blood. It was her great privilege to give birth to His human life. and to nouri h and love Him a her O\i\ n on. That thi was the great– e t of human privileges no right thinking hri tian will deny. l n thi · re pect. he i ·ureJy ' ble ed among \>. 0111en... (Luke l :28. 42, 48 ) }vf ar) 1 is 1101 the 111other of Got!. . II that i true about her till doe<:> not n1a~e her the HMother of God" as he i acclaimed by many. hri t already exi ted as God throughout eternity . long before Mary was born. 11ar} 1 is only the mother of the man Chr1 t J e us. through a pecia] miracle be~to\>. ed upon her b, the Hol y pirit of God (Luke J: 35). The Scripture ne\ er refer to Mary as the n1other of God. but it i ignificant that they al" a) s call her the •'mother of Jesus.' ' or imply ··H is mother." J e u him elf tor ·eeing the great error oi Mariol– atry that v.1ould con1e later. never called her ··mother" in public as far a the Bible records. Publ iclv Je us ., addre') ed ary as l~v., oman" ( 1 ohn 2:3-4: 19:25-26). -which is the equi, 1 alent of our use of ··Lady' ' when pea 1 ' ing to ,l \VOn1an \.\ ho i~ re– pected. DECEMBER, 1966 ~A(,E 4 T/1, JJ1ot/1,er of By Re v . Gl e n E. Crabb Kent , Ohio \\hl.!11 ,,c loo~ ,ll H i~ wo1k ()1 ">tll , ,tlHJn ,t11tl H t\ ~~)1r1lL1al kingllo111 . we \CC th ,tt Mar'v app,trcnlly 111eant n<.) 111l1re to hr1~t than a11yo11c elese Vi'h<.) hcca111c a 111c1 1hcr of H1 king<.1011 h, t ,tith. He dc111011\ lrateu th1 when " He Via t lc.i that H t '-l 1 1other w,tnted ll) ·ee H i111 on 011c ,tcca ·ion. otc H ic., re111ark,1ble answer: "'Who i n1y 111othcr? n<l who are 11y brethren? . . . Who oever haJl do the wi ll of rn v Father which i in heaven, the ., an1e i my brother. and si ter, and 111other. ' (Matt. l 2 : 47- 5 0) . Wou J cl you talk to your 1nother th i way? . of cour e you wouldn t. This re– n1ark can't be explained or even re– \ pected except in the ligh t of H i heavenl y cal ling. l n H i earthly hu– man relatio n hip she was H is mother. But a , H i heavenly mis ion as the aviour of man, he wa ju t another per on who needed to be aved. Her Great Need Mar.\' l1 'US a fl V J'JllUL l1Lllllll l l bei11u. he wa a sinner who needed a Savior: though we recognize her a a woman of high n1oral and pi.. ·t.Ual qualitie . \A.e cannot accept the i<lea that he wa born 'A ithout a ~inft1l nature or Jived a inles · life. I [ she could be 1·11e attfllor of tlzis artic·le. R ei1 . G Len .c. C'rabb /1tlj rece11tl_v re– jigned <.ts pastor of t/1e Grace BafJ– tist Cht1rcl1 in Ke11t , Ohio . He 1-vil/, as of Ja1ii1c1r}' 2, 1967 enter a,i eigl1t H, eek i1lstruction period at tlt e C/1aJJlain's Trainirig Center in Prov– iderice, Rhode Island. U po11 c·o,,z– pletion cJf his lA.'Ork there. both l1 e a11cl lzis fc1111il}· lvill be servi11g at 1/1e Mc1rine Air S'tatio11 i11 Cl1errv • P<Ji11t. N ort/1 Caroli11a. We reuret losi11.~ ultr brotl1er frv1 11 oilr 0 14 RBC' fe l/0}1 1 sl1ip /J tlt tire confide11t l1e lvi /1 be greatly 1secl of t/1e L vrcl i11 t/1is 11e~v e11- cleavor. U'e salt1te ) 'Ol l Lt. JG Glen Crahb! esus l1t)tll \\Jll1t)Ul it :,,1 11ILal 11,ttttrc <>I a h ti 111 ,t11 l ,ll he 1 • l hc11 there was 11() nccll that Chri)t be born of ,t virgi n! If t ar} (or ,tny other hu1 1an being) C<.)tt ld li ve a c.,111lc · life, then there wa<i no nccc..l for ' hr1 t lo c.Ji e Jor si n! 1 he cw e t,11 1enl reveal th ut 1ary ca llecJ Goc.J her "Savior" ( Luke I :46-47) ... av1or" fro111 whal if she wa) sinle ':l'? Further1 1ore, neither tll Pentcco l nor at any other time do we hear her prea.ching or teaching pLtblicly. ol one verse in Act or in a ll the Epi t le even h ints of any , pecial honor that was accorded her by the Apo ·ties in the EarJy ( ' hLtrch. The Significance of it All In thi · Chri ·t1nas sea~o1 what i · ~1ary·'i ·,gnificance to u? We n1u remember that he believed God'~ promi e. (Luke 1 : 3 8). T he promi e mu ·t have ounded unbelievable, but ·ince it came from God, she believed. I n this she is a n1arvelous example Lo u . It plea e!) God when we simply tru t H im and H i word. even though we do not fttlly under tand or see how thing!) can po ibly work ot1t in our case. Furthern1ore Mary yielded to God' I will. (Luke l: 38). We cannot reall) ay that any part of H i plan is most , in1portant. God mu t have wi lling people who are ready to be used as Hi instrun1ents, and Mary was will- I ing. God planted the eed in he1 body, and he became the channe1 through which God sent the Savior. The Lord has al o called u · into partnership with Hin1 in His great work of redemption. He has a job aLi a place for each of tts. If our place ·een1s Jc~ important than that oi 011eonc el e let ll not fret but yielc to the weet will of God. The big que tion i : Are we ready and wil l· ing for the Lord to live and work through us a H e choo e ? We de not know the how and why, but i· I nece ary that we be yielded t< H i will. Thi i ~ the great need 01 the hour. l HE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST