THE WONDER OF THE INCARNATION (2)

The Mind of Christ

The Almighty Son of God did nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility He counted others as more significant than himself. He didn’t merely look out for His own interests, but also the interests of others. He saw us in our in our sinful condition. He knew every thought and intention of our heart was only evil continually. He would have been perfectly just and righteous to strike us down where we stood and cast us into hell for all eternity. But what does He do? He put our needs before His own and came on a divine rescue mission to save us from our sins.

The Emptying of Our Savior

What was the plan? How could our Savior save us from sin, death, and hell? He emptied Himself by taking on humans flesh. The eternal Son of God took on flesh and became man. Why did He have to do that? He was coming to be our substitute. He was coming to live the perfect life we have failed to live. He was coming to take the punishment that we so richly deserve. And He was coming to defeat sin, death, and hell by His resurrection from the dead. So why must He be man to do this? He must be man because if He is going to be our substitute, He must be like us. He must face the same things we face. He must face the temptations we face, yet not be conquered by them. As our substitute, He must perfectly obey the Father at every point.

Why must He be God? He must be God because we have an infinite sin debt that we are incapable of paying. If we have an infinite sin debt, we need a substitute of infinite worth. And there is only One who is of infinite worth. It is God Himself. So God humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. He took the punishment that we deserve. He drank from the cup of God’s wrath for us, and He drained that cup down to the dregs. Because He did that, He is able to offer free and complete forgiveness for all of our past, present, and future sins.

The Exaltation of Our Savior

Since He has done all of this, God has given Him the name above every name. So that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. He is exalted and seated at the right hand of God, and even now, He offers forgiveness of our sins and eternal life to everyone who would repent of their sins and trust in Christ as their only hope of salvation. Every knee is going to bow. We can do it willingly now, or unwillingly on the day of judgment. Why would we refuse the most precious gift we could be given? We have been offered the gift of God Himself. I pray that each person here has accepted that gift. And if there is anyone who has not, I pray that the will come to Christ in repentant faith. If you do that, He will never cast you out.