Magnificat

 



"Visitation",Ghirlandaio,1491

There are many religious groups that have opinions about Jesus. Some say that they recognize Him as a prophet only. Like the religious leaders of Jesus' day, some religions suggest that it is blasphemous to suggest that God might have a Son, like an ordinary man. This is why those first century religious leaders threatened to stone Jesus and pulled out His beard, accusing Him of blasphemy.
Some groups say that they indeed recognize Jesus as the Son of God, who was sacrificed to atone for our sins, and because of this, they consider Him Savior, but they do not believe that He is God, or part of what is referred to as the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They believe that there is only Jehovah Who is God alone.
Is it necessary to believe in the deity of Jesus Christ to be saved? I am no theologian, but to me personally, YES, it is profoundly necessary for my salvation to believe that Christ is part of the Trinity, part of the God-head, and scripture very much affirms my belief, which we will see. To me, if I deny the deity of Christ, I am also denying a most deep and vital understanding of the character and purpose of God, the part of God that would give anything and everything to save man, to save me, whom He created and whom He loves with an abounding love. In Jesus, I see the sacrificial nature of the Father. God is an invisible spirit Whom we can "see" only through His wondrous works. However, He has made another way by which we can see Him: by and in a love greater than our human understanding can perceive, He gave and sent the most precious Person of Himself to become flesh and visible to us (Col. 1:15-17), to die in our place, in order to save us. Jesus said that when we see Him, we see the Father, and Jesus is disappointed in us when we don't know that (Jn. 14:9). Paul explained the connection of the deity of Christ and His sacrifice in this manner also:
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."   Phil. 2:5-11
It is to the glory of God, not His diminishment, when we recognize the deity of His Son as stated in the verse above. God sent the Person of Himself who manifests the invisible into substance: His Word. His Word, Who was with Him and in Him from the beginning even before the foundation of the world, created all things. Nothing was made that wasn't made by His Word. His Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn. 1:1-3, 14, Col. 1:15-17). It is written in the Psalms, "He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." (Ps. 107:20). The word in Hebrew translated "sent" in the above verse is shalach שָׁלַח. The pictographic letters that make up that word are:
shin- teeth, destroy, devour, the name of God: El Shaddai
lamed- a staff, a rod (of a shepherd)
cheth- to separate, cut off from, to protect, an inner room or chamber
Even God's verbs embody and testify of His Son! (Jn. 5:39). We can see the Person of the Son, His purpose and His deity, in the meaning of these composing letters, and the protection found in Him, our God and Shepherd, Who "destroys destruction".  He, as God, chews it up and swallows it (1 Cor. 15:54).
For those who accept Jesus as the Son of God, but deny His identity as God, are contradicted by the language and traditions of the Hebrews, as I understand this. In Hebrew tradition and language, a son is the continuation of his father, and his name also contains the name of his father, using the connecting word "Bar" or "Ben", which means "son of", tying the son's identity directly to the father before him. Example: Simon Bar Jonah (Mt. 16:17, see also Jn. 5:43). In scripture, a son always existed in the loins of his father's father's (etc....) father (Heb. 7:9-10). There is no separation between them in fact.  Experts may disagree with my simplistic understanding, but this is another reason why I cannot separate Jesus from His Father and the Holy Spirit in character, name, power, glory, honor, love. 
The prophet Isaiah wrote that belief in the deity of Christ, and His "Oneship" with God's identity and Person is a truth proclaimed and prophesied by God, Himself, approximately 750 years before the birth of Christ, when this was written:
"For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government (misrah- to exert oneself, to contend with, to persevere, rule, dominion)
will be upon His shoulder (shekem- laid on him as a load to bear, the member upon which blows are inflicted, the place of burdens).
And His name will be called
Wonderful (pele-a miracle, root: extraordinary, separate by distinguishing action,
to separate (as an offering),
Counselor (ya'ats-devise, plan, command, deliberate),
Mighty God (El Gibbor-powerful, champion, a mighty king, giant, to prevail, a name of God),
Everlasting Father (Ad-Ab: eternal, continuous, old, world without end- Patriarch, producer/generator of benevolence and protection),
Prince of Peace (Sar-Shalom: ruler, general, commander, governor, have dominion and rule over -peace, welfare, safety, prosperity, completeness, covenant of peace, to be finished, restoration, compensation).
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." Isa. 9:6-7 (listen from Handel's "Messiah")

Isaiah was not writing above about an ordinary child, born from an ordinary father. He was describing a male child born, Who is God. Tradition says that the wonderful prophet Isaiah was killed by people who did not like the prophecies that he brought. If that is the case, then the above verses regarding a child to be born who is God might have been one of the nails in his coffin, so to speak. However, Isaiah wrote without compromise, as he saw it and heard it from the LORD, and we are blessed and saved because of it.
By incorporating the belief of the deity of Jesus, I am not disrespecting or diminishing God, but magnifying Him even more greatly in my heart. There is no greater magnification that can be given by man than the acknowledgement, praise, love, and thanks for God's planned sacrifice of His Son, who is a part of Himself, for us, even when we didn't know Him, or love Him (1 Jn. 4:10, 19).
Mary was told by an angel that the child she would conceive by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit was holy. The child would be called the Son of the Highest. He would be a king of the throne of David, and His kingdom would be without end, forever (Lk. 1:30-35). The fact that the child that she carried in her womb was extraordinary was confirmed to Mary later during the salutation of her kinswoman, Elizabeth ("Oath of God", "My God has Sworn"). In this moment of revelation, Mary's soul magnified the LORD:
"My soul magnifies (deem or declare great, celebrate, to make conspicuous, to make great, to increase, to esteem highly) the LORD, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior."
                                                                                          Lk. 1:46-55 (excerpt)
Several denominations of the Church believe that Mary did not just declare these words, but under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, she sang them. Therefore some churches also sing her words in a song called "The Magnificat" (listen to one example).This is what I feel when I think about the deity of Christ and His sacrifice and resurrection: my soul begins to magnify God.
Many things that Jesus said points to this magnification of the Father through the deity of the Son. Jesus also spoke of the glory He had with His Father from the beginning. That same glory, He has given to us. If He didn't share with or eternally possess the glory of the Father, He couldn't give it to us, and we would still be naked and ashamed. Jesus said that He and the Father are one ("echad": a unity in plurality). Through this divine identity of Christ, we have also been reconciled and included in that oneness with our Father. If Jesus didn't possess that oneness of identity in God, then we are still separated and apart from our Creator (see Jn. 17:20-26, Col. 1:19-21). Paul wrote of Christ:
"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (in bodily form): and you are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power."  Col. 2:9-10
The deity of Christ directly affects me, according to the verse above. The fullness of the Godhead in Him, completes me as I accept Him as my Savior. If I rob Jesus of His divine identity, I am really robbing myself. This is one reason why my acceptance of Him as God is both precious and necessary to my salvation in my heart. To me, in order to believe Christ as Savior, while at the same time questioning or denying His deity, would require that I disregard both the Old and New Testaments, because this is the truth that our scriptures emphatically state.
We have designated a day, Christmas, to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This Christmas, take a moment to contemplate what you believe about Jesus. To you, was He a fable, a philosopher, a teacher, a founder of a religion, a troublemaker, a blasphemer, a good man, a prophet, a man who became a sacrifice, a sad victim, maybe a miracle worker?
This Christmas, consider this: God, the Creator, sent His most beloved part of Himself - His Son, to walk with you, to talk with you, to die for you, to save you from the destructions that were waiting for you, even death itself. God, the Creator and Father, even gave up His authority of judgment over you that was rightfully in His hands, and gave that authority to His Son (Jn. 5:21-30), because His Son is the embodiment of all grace and truth (Jn. 1:14, Jn. 14:6).
My salvation did not come through the death of a man, even a good man, but through the death, burial and resurrection of God. This is my song, my magnificat to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit of unending love, and of my salvation.

Our Father has glorified His Son.

Zion





We know that Zion has to do with God's people, and His Kingdom.
If we study the word meaning of Zion, we discover a whole story of what Zion was, is, is becoming, and always will be.
The first mention of Zion in scripture pertains to its capture from the Jebusites (root meaning-tread, trample to pieces, polluted, loathe, reject, desecrate, trodden under foot as used regarding a corpse, who spoke to David, saying:
"You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you," thinking, "David cannot come in here." Nevertheless, David took the stronghold (meaning- net, prey, snare, hunted, capture, siege works, hunting implement, chase, lie in wait for),  of Zion, that is, The City of David...Then David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the City of David (meaning "Beloved, well-beloved, lover, friend"). And David built all around from the Millo (root meaning- to fill, be full, complete, abundance, consecrate, confirm, replenish, overflow, satisfy, to be accomplished, be ended) and inward (meaning- house, dwelling habitation, temple, household, family, descendants as an organized body). So David went on and became great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him."   2 Sam. 5:6-10 (excerpt)
Until David, the beloved, came and captured it, the place known as Zion was an enemy stronghold, a place of desecration and death, according to the meaning of the words used above. From the moment of its capture, David began a re-building of the city from the outward to the inward, becoming a consecrated place of overflowing satisfaction, a place of a holy household, a completed work.
We can see the same wonderful transformation process in the meaning of the word Zion, itself:
"dryness, desert, barren, parched", but also: "to be bright, to shine, enduring, preeminent, perpetual, superintendent or chief, to conquer, a clear voice, the virgin voice, pure, chaste, sincere, faithful, to be perfect, complete, perpetual, to lead in music, and in the service of the temple".
Zion is our story. Zion is the Gospel. We were entrapped, snared prey, spiritually blind and lame, desecrated by sin to be food for devils. We were as dead as corpses trampled under foot, until our Champion, our Deliverer, our Savior, the Beloved, Jesus Christ, stormed the stronghold of the enemy, and began to rebuild and replenish us, with Himself as the chief cornerstone (Mt. 21:42, Acts 4:11, 1 Pet. 2:7) of that rebuilding, until we became the temple service and the family of God. Songs of deliverance became our voice. We who were barren and parched became fruitful (Ps. 113:9, Lk. 1:36, 2 Pet. 1:8), shining and bright, called to be the light of the world, just as He is the Light of the world.
Even the pictographic Hebrew letters used to form the word Zion צִיּוֹן bring its meaning to us:
Tsadhe- hook, something inescapable, trouble, to hunt but can also mean to pull toward, desire, a harvest, righteous. As sin held us inescapable in death, Christ desired us and drew us to Himself, calling us a harvest of the righteous by His blood.
yod- hand closing upon, but also a finished work, a deed done, as Christ's work of atonement was finished on the cross, and we are finished or completed in Him.
vaw- a nail, a hook, becoming bound, can also mean joining and making secure together, as when Christ, nailed to the cross, joined us to Himself and to His Father as one.
nun- a fish (to be caught as food?), to continue, offspring, descendants also includes heir to the throne, and faithfulness. We were descendants of fallen man, to be hooked continually, but now, we are offspring, even joint heirs, with the Heir to the Throne of God, Jesus. Now, instead of fish as prey, our faith is symbolized by the fish that nourishes, and reminds us of Christ's miracles of multiplication. The fish reminds us that we have become "fishers of men" (Mt. 4:19).
We see in the above illustrated that what the enemy meant for evil, our Father turned for good by His Beloved Son. It is the transformation of Zion, from death to life.
Zion's purpose, according to the meaning of the word in Hebrew, is to be "a monumental guiding pillar, a marker, a sign post, a waymark in the sense of conspicuousness". We, as the inhabitants of Zion, constitute a living monument and signpost, by which all who see us are led to that City of David the Beloved, whose Builder and Maker is God (Heb. 11:8-10). Are we truly being Zion, as we are purposed to be: the waymark, for all others to come to the City of God?
The Book of Hebrews describes Zion, and ourselves this way:
"But you have come to Mt. Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you do not refuse Him who speaks..."  Heb. 12:22-25
Zion is the place of glory where we dwell. It is who we are. It is the place where, in the Name and Person of the Beloved to Whom we belong, those devils that hunt and take others as prey now have become prey themselves. It is the place where the desecrated is rebuilt into the consecrated. It is the place where replenishment, satisfaction, and overflowing abundance now exists where previously the dead had been trampled under foot. Those who were barren and parched, now bloom and bear fruit. We are the waymarkers for others to this place.
This time of year, especially the Christmas season, is calling us to Zion. As the song says, "Zion Is Calling Me". We must answer the call.