Christmas Eve Service

The Incarnation: Pt. 2 (No audio available)

"The Power Of The Incarnation"  •  12.24.11  •  Christmas Eve Service, Calvary Christian Fellowship

Intro.

- The incarnation is the fulfilment of a promise. God, being faithful, would not leave His people without a champion worthy of the redemption He desires to furnish them with.

- We know well the need from our side. We who are Christians are well aware of our need to be rescued spiritually. What we cannot comprehend is what it is like to be God.

- What is it like to be unlimited in any conceiveable way and then to agree to be limited in every conceiveable way? It's unimaginable, but thankfully we are not left to imagine.

- Scripture lets us in on the secret council of eternity and gives us a glimse into the true power of the incarnation. Please turn with me in your Bibles to Philippians 2.

- We learn first that in order for Jesus to be our incarnate Christ, He had to leave perfect privilege.

Text

•  Philippians 2:5,6 : "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God," : In the book of Philippians, Paul has been encouraging the church to walk worthy of the Lord, to hold on to Christ and one another and to think of others interests above our own.

- How is that possible? What example can the Apostle point them to? He points them to Christ.

- Paul tells them let this mind be in you. "Direct your mind to think this way." "See things from this angle." The NLT translates verse 5, "You must have the same attitude that Jesus had."

- You cannot live out any tenet of Christianity by thinking in a natural, me-first way. This is why we must adapt our minds to Christ. The call of Christ compels us to think as He did.

- We will act what we think, therefore, Paul tells the Philippians to measure their thinking against the objective standard of the mind of Christ.

- The Lord's approach to human life eminated from the act of the incarnation that He experienced. He lived in that mindset. Paul tells us that Jesus laid no claim to His rights.

- Jesus, being in the "form of God" referring to the intrinsic characteristics of being. No matter what happens to you externally, there is no change to your essential characteristics.

- No matter what you do to your hair or how many pounds you shed, you are always going to be a human being. In the same way, Jesus, in every way possible, is God.

- He is and always will be God because that is what He is! Being God, Jesus did not consider it roberry to be equal with God. What does that mean?

- The word "robbery" speaks to the act of seizing something. Other translations bear this out with words like "clinged to" or "grasped."

- The idea is that Jesus, knowing what His essential being was, did not attempt to hold onto something or keep his place by grabbing onto His rights to be recognized as a co equal!

- He didn't hold on to a position because it was His. He didn't need to control it or grab on to it.

- Jesus in the act of incarnation, never felt a moment of fear or insecurity for what He was about to do. He left a place of perfect privilege.

- Second, having left a place of perfect privilege, Jesus came and lived a perfect pattern.

•  Philippians 2:7  :  "but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men." : Instead of holding onto His rightful place, He emptied Himself. The word would be used to describe a vessel that is left without content.

- Whatever had been in the vessel was now completely removed from it.

- Remember how important that word "form" is. Jesus cannot change what He is. That being the case, He cannot stop being God, but in emptying Himself, He gave up the privileges of Godhood.

- Where He was once unlimited by time or space, He became limited to a body. As God, He could be everywhere at once. As a man, He was limited to whatever local He found Himself in.

- Jesus never employed the power that He had for His own need. When Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus would not even make bread for Himself!

- Whatever power He would use would be for others. In eternity, whatever Jesus desired would be HIs, for His delight without limit.

- The choice to empty Himself was for our sakes. He would fight the battle that Adam lost with only that which was available to Adam!

- Through and through, Jesus left every privilege of royalty and became a bondservant. The word "bondservant" meaning a slave. From the throne room to the slave's quarters.

- Here is something phenomenol: The word "form" here is exactly the same as it is in verse 5.

- He became a willing servant in essence and personhood. He did not simply play a part or act as though He were a servant. He became one, taking on the necessary mindset.

- Jesus came from heaven to earth to serve as a willing slave of God, taking on the appearance of man. This alone refers to the external characteristics.

- He had a real body, which grew and changed, just as any human body does. Though the Bible speaks minimally regarding His appearance, Isaiah tells us the He was nothing special.

- People were not drawn to Him because He was especially handsome. They were drawn to the power of the Spirit of God within Him. When they found Him, He was normal looking.

- Jesus did not come to impress people with what He looked like externally. He came to impress upon them, you and I, the life that was theirs for the taking.

•  Philippians 2:8  :  "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." : Jesus was all man. Everything that makes a man, He had. God became a full blooded man!

- Notice what it does not say: And being found in appearance as a Super human. A Greek god!

- He was a normal looking, average man in appearance.

- There is no way we can relate to this condescension. We might think that it's a somewhat honorable position. He did become a human after all!?

- Imagine however, if somehow you were able to be what you are, but incarnate as a worm. You have no arms or legs, no ability to move quickly, no discernible defenses.

- Now, we have just the smallest hint of what it was like for God to become like one of us.

- Jesus held dual natures, but was just as vulnerable as a man as any man has ever been.

- He has already humbled Himself. When Jesus came into the world, He came into a world that didn't have room for HIm. He is the only real royal figure that has ever been and nobody recognized it!

- Mary brought Jesus into the world and the first smell was of a bunch of animals!

- There were no cameras, no paparazzi no fanfare. There was no impressive suite or leading, reputable hospital. His family was a poor one and they lived in the hood!

- For most of His life, men around Him would question His parentage and look down upon Him.

- Jesus came and lived a life of humility, for He came in a humble way to then show you and I a humble example.

- We would never know the humility that He revealed in His Godlikeness. We cannot relate, but we can relate to Him allowing His very life to be sacrificed on behalf of His people!

- And if that death was not enough, it was the most humiliating, shameful death of the Cross.

- We have no equivalent. The Cross was the most brutal, torturous death of the time. Family members who were crucified were never spoken of again, as it was considered a curse.

- When Jesus came as a baby, He was immediately living in a timeline that would lead Him to the cross. There was no other road to take. His whole life was defined by this act.

- His coming was specifically to die on behalf of all who would ever live and believe upon Him.

- I imagine that at this point, you might wonder: How could He have lived this way? When your life is lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, you will live in the same way.

- Remember, Paul has told them to let this mind, a mind of self emptying and self sacrifice, be the mind that they desire to live in.

- Jesus left a place of perfect privilege, He lived a perfect pattern of servanthood and sacrifice. Finally, the incarnation lifted Him to His proper place! Look at verse 9.

•  Philippians 2:9-11  :  "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."  :  Because Jesus did all of this. Because of His servanthood. Because of His ignominous, vicarious, sacrificial death, God raised Jesus to the greatest prominence.

- Now, understand something here: The world that you and I live in has the opposite scheme to live by. Grab onto promotion, step on whoever you can and lift yourself as high as possible!

- Do that and the world will honor you! You'll be a legend and there will be statues raised in prominent places.

- Paul is telling the Philippians that the true way up is the way down! Jesus in His incarnation, went further and further, deeper and deeper to the places where men would not look for honor.

- Would men look at Joseph and Mary, poor, insignificant people, living in an insignificant town? Would men look to a stable, where animals would be kept?

- And yet, because it was God the Father's design, because the Holy Spirit was governing at every turn, Christ's life could not have been more exalted!

- The world would not even look at people like Mary and Joseph, but God would choose them!

- The world would not look at a stable, but God would allow His presence to shine above it!

- The world would not look at Jesus, the average human being, but the Father would honor Him above every other living man who has every lived!

- Literally, God raised Jesus to the highest rank possible. You could even say that God raised Him beyond rank. There is not a title high enough, except for His own name!

- The name Jesus is now the highest rank that there is. Only a person with that designation can claim to be the greatest!

- It's the greatest name because it will define eternities. The name of Jesus represents the substance of someone's belief about their own righteousness.

- For those who would reject any notion of their own and receive the righteousness represented in the name of Jesus, those will find an eternity with Christ.

- On the other hand,  It's the name that will receive universal submission, as one day, all men and women, wherever they are, will bow in acknowledgment of the greatness of Jesus Christ.

- Every knee and every tongue! Every tongue will confess. The word means to publically agree or concur. There will be no doubt and there will be no skeptics.

- There will be no question, as the Bible says that this will be definitively answered.

 - For the only time the history of God's revelation as far as men are concerned, every man everywhere will agree on one thing: Jesus Christ is Lord!

- Some will confess this from an exalted position. Today, if you have believed upon Christ, you will publically add your voice to the worship that comes from the throng of other believers in heaven.

- If you are saying it joyfully now, then your joy will be made full when you say it in His presence! Yours will be worship to the glory of God.

- However, there are others who will acknowledge this from a place of humiliation. They will be forced to say it, but they will not say it joyfully. Their confession will damn them forever then!

- Some with joyfully agree, while other will agree through tears of regret. They will say this of Jesus, but even then, it will be adding to the glory of the Father.

Conclusion

- The power of the incarnation is the power of true humility. Jesus left a privileged position. He did not grab onto power for His own sake. He left it for ours. Let this mind be in you...

- Jesus lived a perfect pattern, serving completely the will of the Father, even unto His own death on the cross. Let this mind be in you...

- Because of Christ's humble obedience, God the Father lifted Christ to His proper place, where His own name would be synonymous with greatness forever.

- The incarnation tells us, the Christmas story informs us, that the only way up is down! Let this mind be in you!