The Incarnation: Pt. 1 (Click title for audio access)
"The Promise Of The Incarnation" •
12.18.11 • Sunday Morning Service, Calvary
Christian Fellowship
Intro.
- The word
"Incarnation" is a word shrouded in mystery, even when one fully
understands it!
- The
scriptures assert that Jesus Christ, God, entered into the world through the
virgin womb of a young girl named Mary, having been conceived of the Holy
Spirit
- God, omnipotent
and omnipresent confined Himself, condescending to dwell in the form of a human
baby later to become the Man of all men!
- That's one
way to explaing it or perhaps you will enjoy the way one Pastor defined it for
me at the Bible college: "Christo con carne!" This doctrine is not
the easiest one to wrap our minds around.
- We shouldn't
feel too bad, as it took hundreds of years and a council of men to effect it.
- Years after
the last books of the Bible were penned, the church struggled with the best way
to consisely present the biblical data given regarding this essential doctrine.
- It wasn't
until 451 A.D. that the Council of Chalcedon succeeded in codifying the
biblical information and the incarnation was best defined.
- I've left the
full definition in my notes for your perusal later, but will highlight the most
important words for us as we consider this today. They agreed that Jesus was:
˚ "We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach
men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect
in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a
reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial
[coessential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with
us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without
sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in
these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the
Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord,
Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two
natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the
distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved and
concurring in one Person and
one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same
Son, and only begotten, God, the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the
prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning him, and the Lord Jesus
Christ himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has been handed
down to us."[i]
- The same
nature as the Father at the same time experiencing the same nature as us,
without sin, without diluting or taking away from either nature. Even with an
explanation, great is the mystery!
- You might ask
yourself why this was the case? Why incarnate? Perhaps we'll gain a fully orbed
answer at the end of these three sermons.
- Today, in our
introductory sermon, we'll let it be sufficient to say that God made promises
that He had to keep. There are three people in the Old Testament that God
promised children to.
- Turn with me
to Genesis 3 and let's begin with Adam and Eve, picking it up after our
first two parents had fallen into sin, Eve having been deceived by the Serpent.
Text
• Genesis
3:14,15 : "So the Lord
God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, You are cursed more than
all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go,
and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between
your seed and her Seed; He shall
bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." : The serpent, the animal that Satan embodied, would become the
natural enemy of man, the perfect representative.
- There is an
intrinsic fear that all men have of reptiles, even when they are captive pets.
It's the way that they move, the blank expression on their faces, their forked
tongue.
- Nothing about
serpents is naturally friendly. From this day in history forward, the serpent
would not easily again have discourse with the woman as he had in the Garden.
Their bond was over.
- God tells
Satan that He would put enmity between them. The word speaks to hostility, ill
will, or bitter hatred. That
antagonism would continue well beyond the lifetime of the Woman.
- In fact, this
hostility would continue between the serpent's seed and her Seed. This will be
a perpetual state of affairs. The emphasis here is on that tension that will
exist.
- In one
respect, Eve's offspring, her "seed," humanity as a whole, will be
pitted against a foe from the moment they are brought into the world.
- Every day of
your life, you have lived in a world dominated by the enemy of your souls. You
have constantly been dogged by all of Satan's ploys, stumbling your steps along
the way.
- You and I are
helpless against Him, but that is the best part about this passage. God does
not leave things this way. The war between the Serpent and Eve's offspring will
end.
- God here
speaks to the singular "Seed" who will eventually be her deliverer.
- This battle
began on that day, but from this day forward, there is a promise that there
will be a final victory. The seed of the serpent will be prevailed against.
Look again at verse 15.
- The best rendering
of Genesis 3:15, called the
"Proto-Evangelium" comes from the NIV. "He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
- The enemy's
best efforts would bruise the Lord's heel, but Christ's effort will soon crush
His head. One will be a momentary setback, the other a crushing and final
defeat!
- God's
proclamation sets the tone of anticipation for the rest of the Bible. The
offspring of the Woman would be the victor over Satan. He would then, by
necessity, have to be a human being.
- This brings
us to Genesis 4 and one of the great
highlights in Eve's life that doesn't turn out quite as she expected.
• Genesis
4:1 : "Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived
and bore Cain, and said, 'I have acquired a man from the Lord.'" :
The world was literally not the same one that they entered into. The world
suffered under the curse of sin, as Romans
8:20ff tells us, creation literally groans under the weight of sin.
- Additionally,
Adam and Eve were different people as well, now fully infected with sin. The
fall of their nature into sin would have also brought great tension into their
relationship.
- All this
aside, the worst consequence was the loss of consistent, face to face relationship
with the Lord. Sin isolates and brings a divide between God and man, something
Satan doesn't advertise.
- There is no
doubt that they sought quickly to bring a child into the world, perhaps
believing that her offspring would bring the victory that would restore things
to their proper way.
- When Eve bore
Cain, she said, "I have acquired a man from the Lord." The force of
Eve's comment may sound more like this to our ears: "I've got him!" In
fact, Cain's name means "acquired."
- It's not hard
to believe that they viewed Cain as their Savior. Talk about pressure and talk
about disappointment! In the span of just a few verses, Cain goes from
potential Savior to fugitive!
- When God
received Abel's offering and rejected Cain's, that really showed his true
heart. Disappointment turned into severe, murderous rage that was all over
Cain's face.
- As we know,
this episode led to the premeditated 1st degree murder of Abel.
- Cain far from
being the victor over Satan, had succumbed to Satan's way. He was not the
champion that Adam and Eve were expecting. Another would have to stand in the
gap.
- Let's consider
next the story of Abraham and Isaac.
Their story rightly begins with the story of Abram and Sarai. There is one
sentence that really sums it all up.
• Genesis
11:30 : "But Sarai was barren; she had no child." : This provides the tension in their life just
by iteself, as in the ancient world, barreness was considered a curse!
- Add to that
tension the word of the Lord to Abram that he would be given a son and multiple
descendants, which the Lord announces in chapter 12, repeats it in chapter 15
and then again in 17.
- The key
element of that promise being that in Abram, all the families of the earth
would be blessed. That is what Abram came to believe.
- Almost 25
years elapse between chapter 12 and chapter 17. God changes Abram's name to
Abraham, from "exalted Father" to "Father of many nations!"
That was a little embarrassing!
- Abraham for
his part has tried to help the Lord out. He has gone the surrogate way and
brought Ishmael into the world through Hagar, an Egyptian slave.
- Turn with me
to Genesis 17. Ishmael is a teenager
when God again speaks to Abraham.
• Genesis 17:15-19 : "Then God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not
call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also
give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of
nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.' Then Abraham fell on his face and
laughed, and said in his heart, 'Shall a child be born to a man who is one
hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?' And
Abraham said to God, 'Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!' Then God said: 'No,
Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will
establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his
descendants after him." :
Sarah, a 90 year old woman, was going to have a child. Abraham couldn't
take it! He fell on his face in belly laughter. Don't think for a moment that
Abraham didn't believe.
- Romans 4:19-21 tells us that he did not
waver in unbelief. This is a laughter that speaks of the understanding of
something marvelous, a miracle that Abraham trusted would happen!
- His statement
is not a query, but a declaration! "Shall this take place? Of course it
shall!"
- Abraham
however, still offered Ishmael again to God. In essence, Abraham wonders if God
can't simply redeem his own effort. God says emphatically "no" and
His answer hasn't changed!
- This Son, who
God names laughter, will be the son that enters into His everlasting covenant!
- Finally, we
consider the story of David. Turn
over to II Samuel 7. David, once the
forgotten son of Jesse, was handpicked by God to be the KIng of Israel.
- After a long
and arduous road including, time spent as a fugitive, David ascends to the
throne. For the first time in many years, he senses that he is at home, so he
builds himself one!
- This got him
to thinking: I have this opulent home, but God only has a tent to dwell in! No
fair!
- David gets an
idea and runs it by Samuel. "I'm going to build God a house. No more tents
for Him!" Samuel can barely let him finish before telling him to do what
was in his heart.
- Unfortunately
for Samuel, he spoke too soon. In the middle of the night, God spoke to Samuel
and said that he had to tell David that he couldn't build him a house after
all.
- Imagine
Samuel's sad duty to tell the King that God had vetoed his well intentioned
plan! God however, gave Samuel something amazing to tell David.
• II
Samuel 7:8-11 : "Now therefore, thus shall you say to My
servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'I took you from the sheepfold,
from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. And I have
been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from
before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who
are on the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and
will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more;
nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, since the
time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you
to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord tells you that He will make you a
house." : At the end of the day, wherever David was, whether in the
field or sitting on his throne, he was God's servant.
- David's was a
real rags to riches story: From the Sheepfold, following the sheep. Literally,
following from the rear, in the background, in obscurity. That's where God
found Him!
- That's where
God tested His character and chose Him to be the ruler over His people! It
wasn't an easy road! David had had many close calls, but God was with him at
every turn.
- From
obscurity to front page news, David would now shepherd God's people in a
planted place, safe from oppressive enemies.
- And David,
you want to build me a house, but I will build you one instead! That's an
ironic piece, seeing that David had just finished his house. "See...it's
cedar!"
• II
Samuel 7:12-16 : 'When your days are fulfilled and you rest
with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your
body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and
I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and
he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of
men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from
him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and
your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be
established forever.'" : Notice that phrase from verse 12.
When your days are fulfilled and you rest. That's God's perspective.
- There are
days that you and I must fulfill and after that, as Christians, we rest! What a
wonderful truth that we live in. For David though, He could rest knowing that
God had plans for him.
- Once again,
God tells him that He will establish seed who will come from his own body and
He would be established as the King. They would have a deep relationship,
Father and Son.
- Notice those
words: If he commits iniquity, I won't leave him as I did Saul, but I will
discipline him. Solomon, the near fulfifllment of this promise sinned greatly
and God never left him.
- The key again
is that David's Kingdom would be ruled by His Seed, one from his own body that
would forever sit on the throne. Three people, three promises.
- Adam and Eve
were promised a Seed that would be victorious over the Serpent, destroying His
work forever. Abraham was promised a descendant through whom blessing would
come forever.
- FInally,
David was promised a King who would rule on His throne forever.
- The incarnation
is the event that reveals that God will always be faithful to His own Word!
Turn with me to Luke 3.
• Luke
3:23, 31 & 38 :
"Now Jesus Himself
began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the
son of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat...verse 31...the son of
David, verse 34... the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,
verse 38...the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God"
Conclusion
- Jesus came to
be the Son of Adam and Eve, who honored their God and lived above the ploys of
Satan. When Jesus went to the Cross, He accepted God's punishment and crushed
Satan!
- Jesus came to
be the Son of Abraham, who was the Lamb that God provided for the sake of the
world's redemption thus blessing every family believing in Him forever.
- Jesus came to
be the Son of David, who would sit on the throne given to Him after He had
submitted to the death of the Cross, God exalting His name above all names!
- The
incarnation made Jesus our champion against the devil, our greatest blessing in
life and eternity and our King forever!
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