ANTICIPATION OF HIS BIRTH

 

Have you ever wondered how the Saviour felt in anticipation of His birth? In that sobering interchange between Job and Jehovah, Job was told that when the foundations of the earth were laid, ‘the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy’ (Job 38:4-7). My patriarchal blessing tells me I was one of those morning stars and that my voice was heard singing praises to our Heavenly Father that I was going to have a privilege of following in the footsteps of a Heavenly Mother. In other words, I was rather happy that my mortal experience was to be a reality.  I imagine all of us were equally happy….all because of one man. Now imagine this:

 

“If anticipation be pain, then in one sense the Saviour’s suffering did not commence with manhood, but eons before – in the premortal existence when He proclaimed these words, “Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27). The anticipation of His Atonement since premortal times did not replace the staggering reality of Gethsemane and the cross (which was beyond even His telescopic expectations), but certainly it must have added to the magnitude of pain he bore. In this sense, His suffering extended far beyond the confines of the Garden and the cross.” (Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, p. 154)

 

We experience a lot of joy every Christmas that comes around. It most certainly is a time for joy, for without the holy birth, there would have been no salvation. The Saviour’s mortal experience, however, was far from joyful. It was filled with pain, rejection, suffering and sorrow, and He started it all the day He willingly lay on the bed of straw to honour our individual worth by the irrevocable promise He made. May we connect with that purpose this Christmas day and honour the Christ, the Lord, the Saviour of us all.

 

Did You miss Your throne divine

When You crossed the threshold of the stable?

Or did You clutch my worth inside You

Stronger than the bonds of death,

That would make Your task so divinely able?

 

I heard the angels in the field

Sing praises to Your holy name;

And I sorrowed knowing, like holy water,

Your love would spill on sacrificial altar. 

 

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(ART: Submission by Dan Wilson)