I remember how I as a 19-year-old, visited a few villages in Rajasthan as part of an assignment from work. It was my first visit to Rajasthan, let alone the villages there. The experience was unlike anything I had done before. To be with people who lived very simple lives, walking long distances, travelling on dusty roads, living with little or no electricity, bathing and washing with cold water and eating simple food. It was an eye-opening experience, and I was grateful for all the comforts that I had when I returned home.
This story does not even begin to compare to all that Christ gave up and endured in His incarnation.
Philippians 2:6 tells us that the Lord Jesus, who eternally existed in the form of God, willingly gave up all His divine rights and privileges as the King of kings, in His incarnation. He emptied Himself into the “form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form…” (Philippians 2:6 – 8).
The incarnation of the Lord Jesus is the most astounding expression of love and sacrifice. And while it was on the one hand a humiliation for the divine Son of God, it also meant that He raised our humanity to the heights of glory. John Duncan, a 19th century Scottish theologian said, “the dust of the earth is on the throne of the Majesty on High.”
Jonathan Edwards reflecting on the incarnation of Christ writes, “Everything that is lovely in God is in Christ, and everything that is or can be lovely in any man is in Him: for He is man as well as God, and He is the holiest, meekest, most humble, and every way the most excellent man that ever was.”
The incarnation meant that Christ took on our humanity in its fullness, except that He was without sin. He then took that humanity to the cross, paid for sin, and then raised that humanity from death and the grave, to an indestructible glory. Praise be God!
Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we give thanks to You for the gift of Your Son, our Saviour, the Lord Jesus. We thank You Lord, that you willingly came down to and for us; to raise us up from sin and death to an eternal indestructible glory. Help us now to live the new life we have in You. Amen.
Thank you Pastor for this message. Sometimes w celebrat Christmas without Christ in us. Thank you for reminding me that He came for me leaving all the comfort.