To all my friends and family, I hope you have a wonderful, joyous Christmas. For some the last year has been a wonderful year, for others I know the year has been full of pain and loss. Either way, Id like to take a moment to reflect what we remember today, Christ Jesus Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men...(Philippians 2:5c-7) Sometimes I think we get the misperception that Jesus mission began in the manger and for many of us, the story has become cliche. We dont really take the time to think about who it was that lay in that manger 2,000 years ago or what the implications of this really are. The verses I quoted above are a quote from a very early Christian song (The Song of Christ) that dates anywhere from months to a few years from the crucifixion. You see, Jesus didnt start out as a helpless baby in a manger. Before He humbled Himself and entered humanity, He existed eternally at the Fathers side, the Son of God, the recipient of the Fathers love no adoration for all eternity, before creation ever came about. In John 12:38-41, John tells us it was Jesus that Isaiah saw when Isaiah was called into the throne room of God 800 years before Christs birth into humanity: In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts! Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here I am! Send me.And he said, Go, and say to this people: Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. It was this same Son of God who didnt view this position as something to be grasped but humbled Himself and entered humanity. This wasnt a mere joy ride though, there was a very specific purpose. Since the fall of humanity following creation humanity had a problem. The penalty for sin was death and each and every one of us has sinned. We like to minimize it or justify it by comparing ourselves to others and their worse sins. The reality is though when compared with God who Isaiah saw on the throne we are al, guilty and deserving of damnation. Go doesnt desire this, which is why He sent His Son. In that same passage of John, he also point us to the song of the suffering servant who Isaiah wrote about again, about 800 years before the time of Christ: Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 52:13-53:12 ESV) It was Gods plan to have His Son enter humanity and put an end to sin and death. This has been promised since the fall: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 ESV) The womans offspring came on that night in Bethlehem to the young virgin just as Isaiah had prophesied. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14 ESV) Immanuel means God with us. Isaiah tells us more about Him: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV) This is the child who lay in the manger that night. This is the Son who obediently humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross. Rejected and despised by those He created so that through His sacrificial death our sins could be healed and we could be reconciled to God. I encourage you, if youve gotten distracted by the business, woes, or even pleasures of life this season to take a few moments to consider what happened in that small town of Bethlehem and also what happened a few miles away a few decades later. Fix your eyes upon the One who sits in that throne, and turn from your rebellious ways and trust in Him. Gods desire is that none would perish but all would come to repentance and we are told this is why He tarries. We are also promised that He will return (1Co15) and He has staked this promise on the infinite value of His Sons sacrifice. Those who are not in Christ remain under the wrath of God (John 3:36). Be wise, be watching and be prepared for His return!
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 00:51:23 +0000
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