So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him.
He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head.
Isaiah 59 16b-17a
Well, we all know by now that it’s Christmas time. It means so many different things to people seeking peace on earth and goodwill among men. But mostly it means wrapping presents. While we hope to find the space to remember the babe Mary wrapped in swaddling clothes so long, long ago, we tend to slip into the frantic routine of the season crashing in upon us.
But what if we spent a portion of this season recognizing that the baby we celebrate now came to earth and grew up to become a warrior. Jesus came to be a warrior to fight and defeat every man’s greatest enemy – death – and the cause of it – the rebelliousness of each person against God. A warrior is much harder to overlook than a baby. Isaiah speaks of this, and we should all listen.
Isaiah reminds us that sin was rampant everywhere, in every person, in every nation. God looked over all his people found none who would stand up and rescue the world oppressed by sin. So, God sent his Son.
He stepped in with his strong arm to rescue each person from their own sin and their own death. He did not come to deal with sin in general and death in general. He came to fight the battle of sin and death for each person. God determined that this was the right thing to do, to save us and to establish his justice among men. This was not going to be easy. Sin had its way for quite a while.
So, the warrior comes with the perfect purpose: to establish God’s justice and peace among men. He comes with the proper armor: righteousness and salvation. What is that? The expressed character and nature of God. God overcomes the realm of sinful man by defeating it and replacing it with the realm of the one true King. The babe in the manger is our Warrior King who has come to overcome and defeat the realm of men doomed in sin and death with the realm of God filled with his righteousness. And he has done it! We live in the Day of the Warrior King!
The victory over sin and death is secure in eternity for all people who give their lives over to serve the King who brought such a powerful, life-giving victory. Salvation is surrender to the warrior king. Surrender means serving the King and joining in the battle to defeat sin and death.
When he left earth to take his place at the right hand of the Father, he left us his armor. That means we still have battles to fight to fulfill the righteousness of God, to reveal the realm of God on earth as it is in heaven. Paul says that those who serve the King are dressed in the armor of faith and love and wear as our helmet the confidence of our salvation (1 Thess. 5:8). Let’s honor the birth of Jesus by fighting the good fight against sin our own lives and in the realm of men and establish the righteousness of God on earth as it is in heaven.
