"We maintain that the two conditions described by the prophets about Christ
signify the same number of advents. The first one was to be in lowliness, He
was born to be led as a sheep to be slain as a victim...Now these indications
of humility fit His First Coming. But the aspects of His majesty belong to
His Second Advent." (Tertullian c.207)
The Old Testament prophets foretold that the Word of God would become like
us, take a body like ours, and unite Himself unto us in a way beyond human
comprehension. These prophecies were to come to pass as the "First Coming"
or the Glorious Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Holy Book of Isaiah 9:6:
"For unto us a Boy is born. Unto us a Son is given. And the rule is upon His
shoulder. And His name is called Wonderful Counselor."
The Lord Jesus Christ was born a boy, a son to the Virgin St. Mary. He was
called a boy and a son because He took perfect humanity like ours. A host of
heavenly angels bore good tidings of this glorious birth to the shepherds,
proclaiming a Savior had been born. The birth of our Lord was heralded by a
star, in fact the entire Heavens pointed unto His Holy birth. The Magi came
from afar to worship the infant Lord Jesus. It was through this miraculous
birth the Heavenly Father would come to give us all everlasting "peace and
good will." It was through this birth the Father was pleased to save man,
and through this Boy, and within this Son to reconcile the world to Him.
In the Holy Book of Psalm 132:3-5:
"I will not go upon my bed. I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to
my eyelids or rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a
tabernacle for the God of Jacob."
David the Prophet and King desired to know more about the First Coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He desired to foreknow the place of the Lord's birth.
Imparted by the Spirit and then knowing of the place in which the Lord Jesus
Christ would be born of the Only Begotten to the flesh he said,
"We heard of it at Ephratah. We found in the fields of the wood. (Psalm
132:6)
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The Prophet David is referring to Bethlehem when speaking of Ephratah, as
confirmed by the Prophet Micah "And you Bethlehem, house of Ephratah."
(Micah 5:2) It was prophesied it would be in Bethlehem that the holy Virgin
would give birth to the Lord Jesus Christ. A further implication from this
verse is if the "God of Jacob" is born of woman then the holy Virgin is
indisputably the "Mother of God."
In the Holy Book of Habakkuk 3:2 Sept.:
"O, Lord I have heard Your hearing and feared. In the midst of the two
living creatures You shall be revealed, in the coming near of the time shall
You be shown, while my soul was troubled shall You in anger remember mercy.
God shall come from Teman, and the Holy one from Mount Paran."
The prophet Daniel prophesied that God shall come from Teman which is
interpreted meaning "South," for the Lord Jesus Christ was born in Southern
Judea, where Bethlehem was located. The two living creatures in this verse
are according to Origen, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, "In the
midst of the two living things or of the two lives you will be known."
Origen explains, "For all knowledge of the Father is obtained by revelation
of the Son through the Holy Spirit, so that both of these beings which,
according to the prophet, are called either "living things" or "lives" exist
as the grounds of the knowledge of God the Father. For it is said of the Son
that 'no one knows the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will
reveal him.' The same also is said by the apostle of the Holy Spirit when he
declares, 'God has revealed them to us by His Holy Spirit; for the Spirit
searches all things, even the deep things of God"(Origen, On First
Principles 1.3.4; ANF 4:253).
Athanasius, c. 300 taught, "He became man that we might be made God; and He
manifested Himself in the flesh, so that we might grasp the idea of the
unseen Father; and He endured the insolence of men, so that we might receive
the inheritance of immortality."
Tertullian, c. 197 writes, "In Zechariah...Christ is described in a twofold
garment, which prefigures His advents. First, He was clad in 'sordid attire'
which represents the lowliness of changeable and mortal flesh...Next the
sordid garments were removed, and he was adorned with a robe down to his
feet, along with a turban and a clean miter. This represents the Second
Advent."
Not only is the First Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ heralded by the Church
but the anticipation of the Second Coming is a true belief as well. The
Orthodox Creed (in the Agpeya Prayers) and St. Basil's Divine Liturgy in
compliance with the New Testament teachings, both confirm the Second Coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Early Church Fathers often wrote that the First
Coming was indeed preparation for the Second Coming.
In the Institution Narrative in the Divine Liturgy we pray, "Therefore, as
we commemorate His Holy Passion, His Resurrection from the dead, His
Ascension into the Heavens, His sitting at Your right hand O Father, and His
Second Coming from the Heavens, awesome and full of glory we offer unto You
Your gifts from what is Yours, for everything, concerning everything, and in
everything."
In the Agpeya we recite the Orthodox Creed whose ending states, "We look for
the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the coming age." We are
confessing the return of the Lord Jesus Christ which could not have been
made possible with His First Coming.
Just as the Old Testament predicted the First Coming would be followed by
the Second Coming, the New Testament documents the Glorious Nativity and
confirms the future occurrence of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The New Testament specifically teaches us preparation not prediction
for the Second Coming.
Hippolytus, c.200 writes, "The Scriptures indicate there will be two advents
of our Lord and Savior. The one is His first advent in the flesh, which took
place without honor...However; His second advent is foretold as being
glorious, when He will come from Heaven with the host of angels."
In the Holy Book of Titus 2:12-14, St. Paul wrote:
"...denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and
glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave
Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed, and purify
for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." (Titus 2:12-14)
In the Holy Book of Revelation 1:7
"Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and they also
who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him."
Tertullian, c. 197 writes, "Jesus is still sitting there at the right hand
of the Father. He is man, yet also God. He is the last Adam; yet, He is also
the primary Word. He is flesh and blood, yet purer than ours, and He will
'descend in like manner as He ascended into Heaven.' That is, He will be the
same both in substance and in form (as the angels affirmed). For He will
even be recognized by those who pierced Him."
The conception of the Lord Jesus Christ not only fulfilled the birth of the
Word and His dwelling among us, but also earmarked for all of history His
First Coming in which the Lord Jesus Christ affirmed His mission which was
to prepare us for His Second Coming.
As members of the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ we must steadfastly prepare
for the Bridegroom.
May the Glorious Feast of the Nativity bring peace and good will to all and
renew the hope of restoration through the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
H.G. Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
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