It Meant Leaving Heaven
Notes
Transcript
It Meant Leaving Heaven
It Meant Leaving Heaven
I remember a few times working as a counselor at Summer Camp that there were parents who would come more prepared then others for what they sent their kids with for a week away from home. Some, you could tell the kids had packed their own suitcase and had forgotten enough clean underwear, or a toothbrush.
I had other parents enter the cabins marveling that we had A/C and had mattresses at all. When they sent their kids to camp, the hope was that their kids would learn to rough it a little bit.
Then there were the parents who would send their kids with their entire bedroom. The one I’ll never forget was the little boy walked into my cabin followed by his mom with 3 bags and his dad carrying his mattress that they used at home. His mom told her boy just would never be able to sleep on another mattress. I’m not sure that family had ever camped before, because that week when we spent one of the nights sleeping outside on a tarp next to the lake, their boy had a great time and slept very well. I think the reality was this boys parents, in particular the mother, wanted her boy to have all the comforts of home, while he was away at camp.
When Christ came as a child it meant leaving all the comforts of heaven behind.
This side of heaven, we can’t begin to imagine all that Christ gave up to clothe himself in flesh.
He who was rich in every way imaginable, chose to become poor. He chose to have less, to be a nobody so that we could have the opportunity to have heaven… to have forever with Him.
Forever… with no tears, no sickness, no heartache, and no more broken lives.
And if I’m real honest, I’m convicted when I look at this example... that Christ has set for me to follow.
How often am I willing to take less so that someone else can have more? How often am I willing to give up the seat, to give up the right, to forego that item so money could be spent helping someone instead? How often am I willing to lay my life down in love for someone else? To have less so that others can have more?
In this self centered world that I live in, I know I need to stop and ponder how Jesus chose to come to me, and maybe this morning we all do, too.
Before we go further lets take a moment to pray.
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He came in the stillness of the night. To a young couple with no prestige, no privilege, and no fancy color coordinating nursery. Of all the towns in the world He chose Bethlehem, and of all places to make his entrance he chose a stable, not a stage.
He came to do one thing… the will of His Father.
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” – John 6:38
And out of God’s great love for us, He sent Jesus. And out of Jesus’ love for God and us, He obeyed… to the point of dying a painful death on the cross.
We cannot miss this truth. Out of God’s great love, it was His will for Jesus to leave heaven, to live a humble life, and to die for our sins.
I honestly don’t think we consider enough what Jesus left behind in order to come to this sinful planet.
Heaven, being a place, where descriptions and imagination do not do it justice. Those of us picturing a luxury exotic tropical resort location are probably off, because we are picturing a vacation. I think often when you are on vacation you will find yourself eventually missing home. The Heaven we’re going to and transitioning to a New Earth IS home.
Its a place where we will not miss the Earth we remember.
It is a place of peace without the experience of pain. It is a place unlike the world we know now.
Look closely at this promise described for those who endure tribulation before His 2nd coming. change slide
“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Jesus left behind this place all the while under the plan to bring us to this place. But what a cost and what a journey. Was it worth it Lord? Was your endurance and pain worth it so that we could know the goodness of your presence in the Heavenly spaces?
Make no mistake Jesus entry into our Earthly universe as a baby was an action he would one day preach about. Our fallen world of sin was as of a sheep that had wandered into dangerous territory.
Jesus would share to his listeners the value God sees even in those with the propensity to sin. Our value in God’s eyes is as the preciousness we look into the eyes of our own children and see. change slide
Matthew 18:10–14 (ESV)
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Leaving the throne, Leaving the safety of the golden streets was a part of the mission, a part of the calling of the Shepherd. The character developed in King David when he was a shepherd, originated from the grooming from Heaven.
I am the type of person, if I have 100 dollars and I lose 1 dollar. I am not going to fret, and scour my home, vehicle, or office for that missing dollar. God’s character is to do what is necessary to locate and retrieve what is His. Our value is beyond dollars or livestock. We are what is most precious to Heaven.
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Jesus arrival as a baby should be likened to that of the shepherd David ready to do battle with a lion or bear for His sheep.
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The story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. In it is hidden “the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.” Romans 11:33. We marvel at the Savior’s sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the manger, and the companionship of adoring angels for the beasts of the stall.
The Desire of Ages (Vol. 3, pp. 48–49).
Christ’s coming to this Earth in adherence with the plan of Heaven and salvation is the most selfless action that has ever taken place in the history of the cosmic universe. It was through unmerited favor would Earth’s people have their King come in such meager beginnings. It the example and precedent he has set for his people to follow as well.
It was the example of Christ which would mark the ministry of Paul following his conversion on the road to Damascus. Listen to his words to the believers at Philippi. change slide
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Is this not the practiced lived experience of Jesus’ life as a testament to the disciples and apostles of Jesus? Those who had been expecting a savior were looking for this glorious triumphant entry of a king, but with nationalistic implications. Christ had not come to redeem the remnants of Israel. He had come to redeem humanity and offer himself as a living sacrifice.
One of the great benefits of observing Christmas are these reminders!
While we are on that subject, each year the observance of the Christmas holiday always seems to come up and if its origins make celebrating it somehow wrong. The realities, in my view, is I won’t push the day or holiday of Christmas on anyone who feels uncomfortable with it. However, being that we are a 7th day Adventist church church, I will unapologetically share all things Advent in nature, the first Advent of Jesus being our subject, whether we are in December, April, July, or otherwise.
The Adventist Theological Society recently released a document study from Gerhard Phandl. His document examines the historical presence of the Christmas holiday in its origins and how it evolved from pagan traditions to becoming a holiday synonymous with Christians, as well as looking at Mrs. White’s balanced counsel on the subject. I’d be happy to share the published peer reviewed document with anyone, in fact you can follow the Adventist Theological society on social media on facebook and even instagram. But without reading the full document I’ll just share a couple conclusions it makes.
-Christmas can be observed to serve a good purpose.
-Minds can be directed Heavenward to Christ’s for sinful humanity.
-Christmas offerings should be given to the Lord’s work and service.
-Christmas should be celebrated in harmony with Christian principles.
-In providing for the poor and lonely, and by giving gifts to God’s work at Christmas we honor Christ.
-Above all we should take care not to lose sight of the fact that Christmas calls attention to Christ’s first advent.
-Children should be taught that, although the date of Christ’s birth is unknown we can celebrate the event intelligently and in proper taste.
Additionally, from the book, The Adventist Home, dedicated writings from Mrs. White shares with respect to Christmas celebration and Christmas ornamentals and decorations.
“As the twenty-fifth of December is observed to commemorate the birth of Christ, as the children have been instructed by precept and example that this was indeed a day of gladness and rejoicing, you will find it a difficult matter to pass over this period without giving it some attention. It can be made to serve a very good purpose." -AH 477 EGW
“There is no particular sin in selecting a fragrant evergreen and placing it in our churches, but the sin lies in the motive which prompts to action and the use which is made of the gifts placed upon the tree.
White, E. G. (1952). The Adventist Home (p. 482). Review and Herald Publishing Association.
If I could summarize even further and more simply with regard to this message. Our Christmas celebrations must be about Christ Jesus, and should be a reflection to the world through service and humility.
Shouldn’t we as Adventists be “going and telling it on the Mountain tops!” If not December 25 then when?? We’re not called to be the joy police, we are to be the ones proclaiming the joy we know, that Jesus Christ was born. The heroic shepherd and priest came as a baby.
In his coming as a baby human, he exposed further the lies of Satan. The devil once called Lucifer who sought to be equal as the Most High. Jesus lowered Himself in order to rescue humanity. By giving up the throne for a manger, Jesus demonstrated His worthiness to sit upon it.
What are we celebrating?
In this season, let us not underscore the significance of Jesus heroism by leaving the royalty of Heaven, Christ prioritized the Trinity’s love of the human race, lowering himself to become one.
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Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
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“did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.”
What a powerful example for leaders today to exemplify. I don’t know about you but I have always responded best to servant leaders.
In academy, when we had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Panama, I was taught the value of service, more so by our chaplain and chaperones who worked along side us bending rebar, mixing and pouring cement and shoveling gravel, then our preacher evangelist. No disrespect to our preacher. His work was vital to the effort we were doing there! But to my teenage self, it was those adults willing to labor with us who truly won our respect and whom today I still call spiritual mentors in my life.
This is the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan, really the theme of the entire Biblical record. Satan claims God is unjust, that His law is impossible and claims himself more worthy than the Son.
Desire of Ages puts it this way:
Satan in heaven had hated Christ for His position in the courts of God. He hated Him the more when he himself was dethroned. He hated Him who pledged Himself to redeem a race of sinners. Yet into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to meet life’s peril in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss.
White, E. G. (1898). The Desire of Ages (Vol. 3, p. 49). Pacific Press Publishing Association.
If Jesus had come by advantage and been allowed to live un-tempted how quickly would Satan cry foul against the integrity of the Godhead, (integrity by which Satan has none himself but would still attempt to cry hypocrisy on God over). A larger accusation than delivered to God about Job.
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Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Job 1:9–11). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
As God allowed Job to be tested, really beyond our understanding. Jesus as a human, was tempted and allowed to suffer even greater. In the desert, the garden, the cross. The disciples constant bickering and attempts to glorify themselves.
These were the risk factors. This was reason, no angel, not even Gabriel himself, could have taken the place of Jesus entering into this world as a human baby, marked under the same circumstance as humanity, dwelling in a dark world full of sin. Jesus was the only worthy sacrifice. He was the only one who could be counted as the Redeemer, and it Meant leaving Heaven.
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For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
The Father himself endured sacrifice Himself by allowing His Son to come and live and die for a people just to have the opportunity to choose salvation.
Jesus explained this to the priest Nicodemus. change slide
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Conclusions
This was the assignment, one that was volunteered for by Jesus. To leave the golden paved streets of Heaven for the Darkness of Earth.
To give up omnipotence and become, not as the humans, but become Human.
To give up adoration for mocking.
To trade a throne for a manger, a chariot for a donkey, and a golden crown for a crown.
This is our servant King who came as a baby who counted what He endured worth it for the sake of purchasing our freedom. Our freedom of choice. This is the integrity of God. With the power to wipe us all off the map. God gave us the choice to accept the sacrifice of His Son endured on our behalf.
When I say God takes no pleasure in watching us endure suffering of any kind I mean it. God has allowed the universe to see the effects of sin. We wonder how can he allow things to happen the way they do. It must take great self restraint. The fact that we are alive today is only because of what Jesus did by coming in the first advent.
It is the reason why James writes: change slide
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
Let Jesus entry into this world be a cause for celebration, like the angels, the shepherds, and the wisemen. Jesus came as a human to serve, and show us the example of as to how to live and serve our neighbors and those whom we come into contact with. May others who observe us see Christ in us, known for His love in us. May we always be reminded of His sacrifices made for us inspire us to live for Him beyond just Sabbath or the Christmas Season, may it stay with us always.
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His sacrifice meant Leaving Heaven, and the good news is. It means He will leave Heaven again! But this time, he wont arrive in a manger. When we see Him next! He will be in the clouds! Wearing a crown! accompanied by the angels! Every eye will see Him. It meant leaving Heaven, so that He could gather and bring us back with Him. What a God we serve!