This
week we are looking at the fourth statement that comprises our doctrinal
statement as a church. This fourth statement addresses what we believe as a
church about Jesus. This statement summarizes the answer to the question “Who
is Jesus?” This fourth statement of our doctrinal statement states:
We believe that Jesus Christ is
God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures.
Jesus-Israel’s promised Messiah-was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born
of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius
Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right
hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
Yesterday, we unpacked the phrase
“We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one
Person in two natures.” We looked at the reality that when we say that Jesus
Christ is God incarnate, what we are saying is that Jesus Christ is God-in-a
bod. We are saying that Jesus Christ is God who came to earth and became a man
without ceasing to be God.
We believe that Jesus was 100%
God and 100% man in one body. We then looked at a letter in the New Testament
of our Bible called the book of Colossians, where we discovered that Jesus has
a special status and position in relationship to all creation in that He
existed before creation. Everything was created through Jesus and everything
was created for Jesus.
But not
only were we created by Jesus and for Jesus; we talked about the reality that
right now, at this moment, Jesus is holding all things together. He holds the
earth in its orbit; He holds the laws of gravity in place; He gives us every
breath that we take.
In
addition Jesus Christ has the special position or status as being the head of
the church. Jesus Christ has the special status as being the one who came from
God and entered into humanity in order to found the new community of believers
called the church through His life, death and resurrection. And it is in Jesus
resurrection, as the first, which began the process which we achieve victory over
selfishness sin and death and enter into the eternal relationship with God that
we were created for by believing, trusting and following Jesus Christ as our
Lord and leader.
And as
God in a bod, Jesus did what only He could do. Jesus reconciled all things to
Himself. Paul’s point here is that God chose to give humanity the gift of His
son Jesus in order to reconcile, or reunite, all of creation that had been
separated from God due to our selfishness, rebellion and sin, back into proper
relationship with Himself
You
see, only God is big enough to pay for the sins of all of humanity, past,
present and future. And only another human could represent humanity on the
cross. A dog, or a cow, could not represent me. Jesus, as God in a bod, did
only what He could do. The cross provides reconciliation for all of God’s
creation and will bring all of creation, regardless of location, back into
proper relationship with God.
We see
this reality communicated in the last sentence of our doctrinal statement,
which says “He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose
bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God
the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.” The Apostle Paul further unpacks
the truths that make us this section of the doctrinal statement in a section of
a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the
book of Philippians. So let’s look at that section together, beginning in
Philippians 2:5:
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ
Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality
with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a
bond-servant, and being made in
the likeness of men.
Paul
begins this section of his letter by commanding the members of the church at
Philippi, and us here today, to have this attitude in yourselves which was also
in Christ Jesus. If Paul was giving us this command in the language we use
today, the command would sound something like this; be dominated by the same
kind of thinking that dominated Jesus; have the same focused mindset that Jesus
had. But what kind of focused mindset did Jesus have?
Paul
answers that question for us in verse six, when he states that although He
existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be
grasped. In other words, although Jesus existed from all eternity as God, He
did not consider and regard His high position as God as something that needed
to be held onto or asserted in order to achieve personal advantage or prestige.
Jesus never played the “God card”. Although He had every right to do so as the
Creator of the universe, Jesus never played that God card. Jesus never used who
He was in order to achieve personal advantage or prestige.
Instead
of playing the God card, Paul explains to us in verse seven that Jesus emptied
Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant. But what does Paul mean when He
says that Jesus emptied Himself? What
Paul is communicating here is that Jesus laid or set aside His divine
prerogatives and privileges.
Instead
of playing the God card, Paul states that Jesus laid aside His Divine prestige
and prerogatives in order to engage and enter into our world by taking the form
of a bond servant, made in the likeness of men. While Jesus could have kept a firm
grasp on His Divine status and privilege, Jesus chose to let go of that status
and instead chose to enter humanity to grasp and embrace the form of a
condemned slave. Jesus abandoned His entitlement so that He could embrace humanity. But why would Jesus do that?
Paul
answers this question with two powerful points. First, Paul explains that Jesus
entered into humanity and took on human nature so that He could not only be
truly Divine; Jesus entered humanity and grasped and embraced the form of a
condemned slave so that He could experience the human condition and the most
profound and humbling manner. Paul then gives us the second powerful point in
Philippians 2:8. Let’s look at it together:
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by
becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
In
verse 8, Paul explains that Jesus purposefully laid aside His Divine status and
the divine prerogatives so as to be able to die. You see, God created us for a
relationship with Him and one another so that we could each play a small role
in His huge story. But instead of entering into the relationship with God and
each other that we were created for, we selfishly chose to reject the
relationship with God and the role in His story so that we could create our own
story, where the story is all about us and where we are the star.
And
God’s response to our selfish rejection and rebellion, which the Bible calls
sin was this: “I’ll show you. I’m going to send my one and only Son. And I’m
going to send my one and only Son to make things right and to deal with your
selfishness. And He is going to deal with your selfishness and sin by dying for
you. My Son, who created the universe is going to come to you and humble
Himself, and die, for you, and for me”.
But
Jesus did not enter into humanity to die just any death. Jesus entered humanity
to die on a cross. Crucifixion, which is the form of death that awaited Jesus
at the end of His life on earth, was the most humiliating form of punishment
ever devised.
Now a
natural question that comes to mind is “why would Jesus do that? Why would
Jesus allow Himself to suffer the most humiliating death imaginable? And why
would God send His Son to endure so much pain and rejection?” Great
questions. We see Paul provide the
answer to those questions in Philippians 2:9-11. Let’s look at it together.
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name
which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of
those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue
will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In
these verses, Paul reveals the reality that because Jesus abandoned His
entitlement so that He could embrace humanity, God highly exalted Him and
bestowed on Him the name that is above every name. Paul’s point here is that
because Jesus willingly chose to let go of His divine status and prerogatives
and instead chose to enter humanity to grasp and embrace the form of a
condemned slave, God responded by raising Him to the highest of heights.
Paul
continues by stating that God did this by giving Jesus the title that is above
every other title. Paul explains that our response to Jesus will be that at the
name of Jesus every knee will bow and that every tongue will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. At the title that God gave Jesus, every being and power will
submit to His prestige and preeminence; whether the beings and powers reside in
the Heavenly places, whether the beings and powers reside on earth, or whether
the beings or powers reside under the earth.
There
is no place in existence that will not submit to the title that God gives His
Son Jesus as our High Priest and as our Advocate. Now right about now you are
thinking to yourself “But Dave, you skipped over a sentence.” Yes, I did skip
and sentence and it is that sentence that we are going to look at next, which
states “Jesus-Israel’s promised Messiah-was conceived through the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.”
We will
look at that sentence on Friday…
No comments:
Post a Comment