The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1920, Sheet 91

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuBLISHED BY THE EvaNGeLicaL LUTHERAN SyNopIcAL CoNFERENCE oF NorTH AMERICA.

REV. F. J. LANKENAU, EDITOR.

Published monthly by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louls, Mo.

Entered as second-cla

Subscription price, 50 cts, per annum, pay: able strictly In advance.

s matter at the Post Office at St. Louls, Mo., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Acceptance for mail!ng at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3

. 1917, authorized on July 5, 1918,

Vol. XLII.

ST. LOUIS, Mo., DECEMBER, 1920.

No. 12.

Christmas.

Since those ill-fated hours

When man offended first

And was expelled from Eden’s bowers,
This earth has been accurst.

We mortals went astray;

But Christ o’ercame our foe;
He took the curse of sin away,
And freed the world from woe.

On Christmas He appeared

His blessings to impart,

And now a throne for Him is reared
In every Christian heart.

H. OstTenritus.
Foie TE

“The Son of God Is Come.’’
1 Joun 5, 183—21.

“Phe melancholy days are come, the saddest of
the year,” sings the poet. The glories of spring,
summer, and autumn have vanished. But in the
dreary months, when days are shortest and nature
dead, our spiritual joys rise to the greatest height.
The church-year opens with the Advent season,
which is followed by Christmas. ‘That quaint old
squire in Irving’s Sketch Book was right in having
his household at church on Christmas morning, con-
sidering it a day of pouring out of thanks and re-
joicing. —In this issue we are bringing our study
of John’s First Epistle to an end. We view the
closing verses in the rays of the blessed light that
comes to us from the little town of Bethlehem.
Hence we have chosen the words of v. 20 for our
heading: “The Son of God is come.”

The days of natural man are indeed “melan-
choly.” The ungodly world lies in wickedness
(v.19). ‘his was our condition when we were born
into this world: We were idolaters (v. 21), ignorant
of the true God, estranged from Him. The Wicked
One had “touched,” mortally wounded, our souls
(v.18), making all men his wretched slaves. By
nature-we were dead in sin and subject to damna-
tion. But listen to the glad tidings of Christmas,
which cause us believers to rejoice forever and ever:
“The Son of God is come” (v.20)! “When the
fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to
redeem them that were under the Law, that we
might receive the adoption of sons.” “The Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and, we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth.”

The Word is made incarnate,
Descending from on high;

And cherubim sing anthems
To shepherds, from the sky. —

A mere man could not have saved us, but Christ
is also “the true God and eternal life” (v.20). As
our divine Savior He has appeased God’s wrath,
overcome the foes of our salvation, and thus re-
deemed us.— He has also enlightened us by His
Spirit, giving us a correct “understanding” of these
spiritual things (v.20). We now “know Him” as ;
our faithful Savior (vy. 13.20). This knowledge
of Christ and hope of eternal life (v.13) we have
gained by faith in Him. Faith, however, comes
(and is increased) by preaching, whfch cometh by
God’s Word. Hence John writes in v.13: “These
things have I written unto you . - . that ye may