The Angel of the Covenant, the one who made the Father known to the people from the Old Covenant has now made Himself known to the world.
This was the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, the one upon whom the Covenant with Abraham was dependent.
Hebrews 6:13, states that God swore upon Himself to uphold the Covenant. Therefore the success of the birth of the Messiah was not dependent upon the Israelites, instead, blessings were contingent upon their obedience.
It was by no surprise to God that the Israelites were disobedient, for all people were under the headship of Adam. Even man's nature reflects that of his first father, the Hebrew Word: 'Adam.
It was also this Adam, who was given the Dominion Mandate in Genesis which states:
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Genesis 1:28).
Yet in his failure, Adam was still expected to take dominion, though the fullness of his rule was limited by his fallen nature. The fullness of the dominion mandate could not occur, we needed Someone greater.
So God had made Himself known to the Israelites through the Prophets and Saints of Old in His Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:18), and He brought to fulfillment the Incarnation, in which all of history was bound up in, even through the failures of the sons of Adam.
However, upon God taking upon himself 'Adam, the nature of Man, we find a cosmic shift occur within the state of man and his fallen relationship with God.
It was Emmanuel - God with Us. |