THE BECOMING ONE

THE BECOMING ONE

"It is He that shall save His people from their sins" Matt. 1:21

 

The whole value of this statement is found by placing the emphasis upon the "HE." The name which the angel commanded Joseph to give to Mary's Child was one that was common at the time. It had a wonderful history. It had been made by Moses for his im­mediate successor, by the weaving to­gether of his name, Hoshea, which meant Salvation, with some of the let­ters of the Divine name Jehovah, so that its full significance was "The Salvation of Jehovah." Thus the Name Jesus, is equivalent to the Jehovah of the Old Testament, combined with the revelation of the ultimate meaning of that name, that of Salvation, in all the completeness of the great fact. As Je­hovah—or Yahweh—meant, "The Be­coming One," or "The One Who becomes,"—that is, THE GOD OF GRACE, WHO BECOMES TO HIS PEOPLE WHATEVER THEY NEED, SO, WHEN IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME, HE, IN HIS SON, "became flesh," the Name given to Him signified the ultimate in this mighty, but condescend­ing Grace. This is indeed then the Name which is above every name. The hope expressed in the Name was about to be fulfilled. Through the One Who Was now to bear it, salvation from sin was to be made possible.

This contrastive value abides. Still there is none other name which stands for that possibility. Infinite are the glories of Him Who received that Name anew when He was exalted to the right hand of God, but among them all, for us who are sinning men and women, this is central and supreme. This we should ever remember for our personal comfort, and in all our service. As we are perpetually engaged in the struggle against sin, it is for us to fight in the assurance that He is able to deliver us, not only from the penalties of wrong­doing, but from the power of evil in every form. That also must ever con­dition our service. However varied the claims of our Lord may be, and how­ever wide the area over which it is our business to insist upon His Lordship, everything begins, continues, and ends, in this glorious fact that He deals with sin, forgiving its penalty, cleansing from its pollution, and destroying its power.