(Reprinted from A Word in Season, Vol. 4 [Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 2012], 139.)
There was a time in the modern era when it was illegal in much of Europe for churches to include Mary’s Magnificat, Luke 1:46–55, in church services. The monarchs of Europe regarded it as subversive. In this song, Mary declares that the birth of her Son means the overturning of the powers of this world. God declares war through His Son against the mighty rulers and peoples of a fallen creation, through Jesus Christ to all who fear Him, and who hunger and thirst after God’s righteousness. The Magnificat is thus both a declaration of war and of peace.
We therefore who are the redeemed of Christ need to rejoice with Mary, declaring, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”
The birth of our Lord is bad news for the mighty ones of a fallen and apostate world. It is the reminder of God’s unceasing warfare against all sin and evil, and the certainty of His victory.
For us, Christ’s birth is the assurance of salvation and victory, the certainty that our Lord is on the throne. He rules the universe, and He is making all things work together for good for us in Him.
Make Mary’s song yours also. It is the song of victory.
- R. J. Rushdoony
Rev. R.J. Rushdoony (1916–2001), was a leading theologian, church/state expert, and author of numerous works on the application of Biblical law to society. He started the Chalcedon Foundation in 1965. His Institutes of Biblical Law (1973) began the contemporary theonomy movement which posits the validity of Biblical law as God’s standard of obedience for all. He therefore saw God’s law as the basis of the modern Christian response to the cultural decline, one he attributed to the church’s false view of God’s law being opposed to His grace. This broad Christian response he described as “Christian Reconstruction.” He is credited with igniting the modern Christian school and homeschooling movements in the mid to late 20th century. He also traveled extensively lecturing and serving as an expert witness in numerous court cases regarding religious liberty. Many ministry and educational efforts that continue today, took their philosophical and Biblical roots from his lectures and books.