"He Shall Be Great"
Luke 1:32
When
the angel of God announced to Mary that she had been chosen and favored of God
to be the woman through whose womb the Son of God would come into the world, he
said, “Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and
shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of
the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father
David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom
there shall be no end.” The angel's prophecy has come to pass. The Lord
Jesus Christ, our Savior, truly is great.
In His Person
Christ
is great in his magnificent person. Here is God and man in one person, fully
God and fully man, yet completely one! There is none like him. He is the great
God, the great Man, the great King, the great Mediator between God and man, our
Great High Priest, and our great Savior. God took man into union with himself
in Christ, because there was no other way for God to save us from our sins. God
could not suffer, and man could not satisfy; but the God-man both suffered and
satisfied all that was required for the salvation of God's elect.
In His Propitiation
Our
blessed Savior is great in his propitiation. Having brought in an everlasting
righteousness for us, the Son of God suffered the wrath of God as our
Substitute. When he was made to be sin, God drew forth the sword of his justice
and buried it in his Son! Now, there is no wrath left in God to be propitiated
for us. He says, “Fury is not in me!” Having punished our sins to the
full satisfaction of justice for us, God will never charge his elect with sin
(Rom. 4:8; 8:1, 34; 1 John 2:12).
In His Pre-eminence
Our mighty Redeemer is great in his
pre-eminence. God has made his Son to be Head over all things and has given him
pre-eminence over all things. Christ has all power, all dominion, all
authority, and all honor. He is to have all the praise of all his people for
all things. The Lamb upon the throne is worthy of praise from all who are about
the throne. The triune God has so arranged the affairs of the universe that
Christ shall be praised forever by all things. All creation shall praise him as
Creator (Rev. 4:11). All rational creatures shall praise him as their rightful
Lord (Phil. 2:9-11). All angels and men, both righteous and wicked, shall
render praise to Christ the Judge in the last day (Acts 17:31). And all God's
elect shall praise Christ alone for the whole of their salvation forever (1
Cor. 1:30-31). Yes, Jesus Christ is the great God and our great Savior.