THE DESIRE OF AGES
Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of the Living God,
The Saviour of the world is the Desire of Ages;
He left the riches, glory and splendor of Heaven
To come to this earth as foretold by holy sages.
"His name shall be called Immanuel...God with us."
He was one with the Father from the days of eternity;
He came to our world to manifest the Father's glory
For He was the image of His greatness and majesty.
"When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
His Son to redeem them that were under the Law,
That we might receive the adoption of sons." Gal 4:4,5.
Jesus was born precisely as the Bible tells us so.
Not much was revealed about Jesus as a young child,
But we know that He learned obedience at His mother's knee;
He studied the Scriptures well under her tutorship,
And also studied and learned from Nature and its beauty.
He went to the temple when He was twelve years old.
When Mary and Joseph left for home, He tarried behind;
He reasoned with the doctors and rabbis who were amazed
At the depth of knowledge stored in this young child's mind.
When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John,
The heavens were opened and a dove lit upon His head;
God said: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,"
And through His Son, we are accepted in the Beloved.
The Spirit of God led Jesus Christ into the wilderness
There He was sorely tempted by Satan the Devil.
But Jesus didn't yield to any of Satan's temptations
For He used Scripture weapons to keep Him from evil.
Christ's ministry started without fanfare--
And not with the great and learned men of the time,
But in a humble household in Cana near Nazareth
He miraculously turned the water into wine.
He went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover
What He saw at the temple court filled Him with grief--
Animals bleating and noises of business transactions
Transformed the House of God into a den of thieves.
When He cast out the dealers and unconsecrated priests,
The temple once again became quiet with a holy reverence
Permeating the place by the Presence of the Holy One
Who inspired Habakkuk to write: Before Me, keep silence.
A rich and learned rabbi came to Jesus one night.
He wanted to know what he must do to be saved;
Jesus' response to Him we, too, should pay heed
"Ye must be born again" to enter His Kingdom of Grace.
Immortal words flowed from the lips of Jesus:
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."
He ordained twelve of His disciples to proclaim
The good news of the Kingdom of Heaven;
He taught them how to be colaborers with Him
That they might win the hearts of the heathen.
He stood before the multitude and preached
What we know today as the Sermon on the Mount;
We are blessed if we carry out these principles
For they came from the Source, from the Fount.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfil. For verily
I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
In the Upper Room Jesus and His disciples met
To celebrate the Passover as the law of Moses had asked;
No servants were present to wash their soiled feet,
And not one of the twelve dared to do this humble task.
The Lord Jesus waited to see what they would do,
One to another they were filled with strife and enmity;
Grieved in heart, Jesus girded Himself with a towel
And washed their feet teaching them a lesson in humility.
The service of humility was a type of higher cleansing;
They were now cleansed and prepared to partake worthily
Of the Communion in the Upper Room with Jesus;
To remember our Lord we partake of this Supper regularly.
In the light of the Passover moon Jesus and the twelve
Made their way slowly to the Garden of Gethsemane;
He who always walked in the light of God's presence
Now seemed alone to trod the winepress, His destiny.
The weight of the sins of the whole world He must bear.
His humanity felt the wrath of God against transgressors;
His soul was sorrowful unto death - "Watch with me" He asked
But the Son of man didn't have a single intercessor.
The moment had come to decide the destiny of the world,
In the balance trembled the fate of perishing humanity;
Christ might even now refuse to drink the cup meant for man
And go to His Father leaving him doomed in his iniquity.
But the history of the race, man's helplessness, the power of sin,
The woes and lamentations of a doomed world before Him rise;
His decision is made, He will save man at any cost to Himself,
He must not shrink from the last crowning sacrifice.
"If this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it,
Thy will be done," was the prayer of the Redeemer of souls
As He fell prostrate on the ground in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Gabriel was sent to strengthen the Savior of the world.
And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary,
there they crucified Him - That He might sanctify the people
with His own blood - Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us. - God's love unsurpassed, unequalled.
Tho Christ's death was not fully comprehended by unfallen beings,
They knew it meant that the redemption of Adam's race was sure,
That the adversary of souls and sin would be destroyed and
That the universe for God's children was made eternally secure.
The Lord is risen! The Lord is risen! This is the greatest message
Given to the world--a message of glad tidings for the human family,
A message that God so loved the world He gave His only Son that
those who believe in Him should not perish but live for all eternity.
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
door; And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle! Lift up your
heads, O ye gates; Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the
King of Glory shall come in. The Lord of hosts; He is the King of glory."
Copyrighted © Lydia Haga 2004
"It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross." --The Desire of Ages, Page 83.
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