The King’s Sacrifice
Catechism Doctrine • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
Christ’s humiliation consisted in His being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross, in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.
Main Proposition:
Statement of Doctrine or Application:
King’s do not give up their crown to live with the peasants
Intro:
Statement of proposition
In the secular world we don’t live in a place where a king or a leader of a group will willingly leave his throne and choose to live with the peasants below him. We just wont see that happen. Can you imagine Napoleon Bonaparte just give up his crown, his power, authority, stature, life of sophistication? Absolutely not, but here we have the greatest king of all who gave up everything because he knew it was the only way to save his people. All of these leaders today say they want the best for us, would do anything for us, but we all know that is a lie. Christ gave up EVERYTHING for us and today we are going to flush out the different areas in which he had to face that humiliation. We don’t see King Charles over in England saying I want to give up the crown to live like us “normal” people. Jesus voluntarily gave up the privileges that go with being fully God by adding a fully human nature to his divine nature, subjecting himself to the agony of crucifixion in obedience to the Father’s will.
Jesus Christ who knew no sin became sin on our behalf. That is what humiliation of Christ consists of.
The supreme reason that for Christ’s coming to earth was not to teach or to be an example but “to give his life a ransom for many”
28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The sacrifice of the king of kings.
Other texts that support
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Why does this matter?
This is important because we have to realize what exactly Christ gave up in order to save God’s elect.
People get upset when they go from varsity to junior varsity in sports.
Christ came to fulfill what we couldn’t. Christ’s only mission was to save God’s elect.
Because Christ was successful His righteousness was imputed onto the people that have saving faith in Him.
This shows us how much he truly loves us. How much God truly loves us. As we are about to talk about he did not have to send his Son to save us. He could have just washed his hands with us and said he’s done. Nobody done there is capable of doing what needs to be done, but he didn’t. God in the flesh is born into a fallen world. the ultimate act of humility. There is nothing that will come close to this
Main Point #1: Christ had to face the physical nature of human life
Statement
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Here we have the King of Kings who has taken on our human flesh
Since the fall in the Garden of Eden, temptation has been a constant and unrelenting part of human life.
As much as we would like no person has ever found a place or a circumstance that can make him safe from temptation.
Prove:
A. Christ’s Physical Attributes
“Flesh” we are talking about our weakness, futility and inability to produce the life of God’s kingdom
John Calvin: “He intended to show to what a mean and despicable condition the Son of God, on our account, descended from the height of his heavenly glory.”
Not meaning corrupt nature, but for the mortal man
The question I want to ask is: Was it necessary?
There was no necessity placed on God to send his son, but if God were to save sinful men, then God’s son had to offer the sacrifice required by God’s law for their sins and being them to God’s glory.
It was not absolutely necessary that God save sinners, but because of his wilfulness to save them, it was absolutely necessary that the Son become incarnate and die.
Although the Bible gives us no physical descriptions of Christ’s human appearance, it clearly states that he has a human body (Reference above)
During his earthly life Jesus broke bread, ate, drank, wept tears, washed people’s feet, slept etc.
Jesus was not just a spirit that appears human, but has flesh and bones that can be grasped, felt, hurt.
39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
His body was local meaning that he was constrained to time and space.
If he was in Jerusalem he wasn’t in Galilee at the same time. He had to travel just like us.
Christ’s body was mortal meaning in is state of humiliation, he was physically able to die, feel pain and he did all of those things on the way to and on the cross.
Just like us his humanity extends beyond his body and includes a fully human “soul” or “spirit”.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah even said that people will reject Him.
Imagine the Son of God coming to earth yet man as a collective rejected him.
To even say that aloud hurts my heart.
B. Christ’s Temptations of being man
On top of having a physical body that could feel pain, he also faced temptation just like any of us.
We know that God is not the agent of temptation, God does not tempt people, but as we can read in the book of Job, God can use Satanic temptation to serve his sovereign purpose.
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
As we see in Matthew 4:1-11
We know that God is not the agent of temptation, God does not tempt people, but as we can read in the book of Job, God can use Satanic temptation to serve his sovereign purpose.
Matthew has two primary purposes in presenting Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness:
First, Jesus’ victory over these temptations shows us his divine kingship
Second, demonstrates the pattern found in Jesus’ human victory over sin. When we are facing temptation in the same way that our Lord did, we too can be victorious over any attempts to corrupt us and to take the Lord’s rightful place in our lives.
When Christ was tempted he kept God as first place in his heart.
When we sin we are putting our desires and wants above God. We are in that time minimizing God in our lives and it doesn’t matter what that sin is.
In this passage we can see that Christ was tempted 3 times:
“Lust of the flesh” in verse 2-3
2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
Christs response in Matthew 4:4
4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
Everything that is presented to us in this world is temporary. We can gorge ourselves and a few hours later we will be hungry again.
Giving into impure thoughts and ideas will give you a sense of temporary happiness, but that will wear away and the result is that you compromised yourself.
Here Christ knows what the ramifications are to his actions. He spent 40 days in the desert and was tempted with food. Here he is 100% human. He is hungry, but what are the ramifications if he gives into this earthly temptation. Humanity will lose their chance for salvation.
“The Pride of Life” in verse 5-6
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
Here we are looking at a 400ft temple. Kind of high in my opinion.
Here we can see how smart and cunning satan is. He use scripture to try and back up what he says. Even though the context in which he used is incorrect he still shows that he knows how to manipulate people.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
He completely twisted the meaning of this passage, He is trying to use this passage about trusting God to justify testing him.
“I can do all things through a verse taken out of context”- my keychain
We all know people that try to misuse scripture passages to justify their sins. In your mind you may have justified it, but in your heart where only God can see knows what is right and wrong.
We see the big 3: John 3:16, John 14:6 and Philippians 4:13 as the big examples of passages used out of context.
“The lust of the eyes” in verse 8-9
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Power is a very tough and enticing tool for sinful humans to give up or walk away from. Why? Because power usually leads to status, money, etc.
How many people are willing to give up their morals, their faith in Christ, their character for power in the world today. Everybody has a price?
It is one thing to say in this safe place of a room I would never compromise my morals, my relationship with God if it meant that I could get ahead, get more money, more, power, more authority, more fame. What is your price? It is completely different in the real world and when somebody offers you the “world” like Satan did to Jesus at this time.
For an unbeliever or a professing believer this could be easier to give into.
For a true believer, Satan can’t steal you away from God, but he can make your life a lot harder and tougher.
Christ’s response Matthew 4:10
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”
Flowers in texts
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Illustrations:
Movie Jumper: People that could go from place to place by just looking at a picture or a memory.
Instantly.
Main Point #2: Christ had to face the cross
Statement
Part of his humiliation is facing death on the cross.
Prove
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Part of Christ’s humiliation was his death on the cross.
Yes, he was 100% willing to sacrifice his life for God’s people, but HE did not deserve that death.
He wasn’t humbled by just becoming human even though yeah that is humbling for sure, it wasn’t enough for him to be a servant, but it was the humiliation of death. This was the ultimate act of obedience.
It was the father’s will. So he willingly did it.
We talked about this about a month ago, but it wasn’t like he lived on earth, did his ministry thing until he was 89-90 years old and died of old age surrounded by all of his apostle’s and disciples in a warm bed with blankets and pillows.
He died the most humiliating type of death. I would argue from the time of creation to today being crucified was the most embarrassing, painful, humiliating type of death.
In his stepping downward, Jesus was willing to suffer humiliation and degradation even to becoming obedient to the point of death.
We have talked about it before. This type of death was the kind that the lowest of the low suffered.
This was the most painful, humiliating, cruel kind of death that we can imagine.
No dignified person would ever be put on a cross, only the most vile criminals, the lowest of the low would be put to death this way.
Christ went through this pain, this horror, embarrassment and on top of that the wrath of God for us (God’s elect).
Christ knew the will of The Father. There was no way around it. It had to be done this way. Each of us deserved that kind of death.
It was only because the obedience of Christ to the Father that this was accomplished. He was obedient because he knew that none of us could.
Christ’s humiliation also serves as a model for the humility that should characterize the Christian life today.
As a believer do you live a life of humility or a life that is prideful?
It is because of this humiliation,
19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Even in agony, as he implored God in the garden, “My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me
He acknowledged that avoiding crucifixion was not possible within the fathers’ will. Because it was the fathers’ will it was also his will.
The father did not force death upon his son. It was the fathers’ will, but it was the son’s will to perfectly obey the father. He had a free choice. If he had not had a choice then it would not have been called “obedience”
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Illustrations
Frederick Farrar author of The Life of Christ describes crucifixion as follows:
“A death by crucifixion seems to include all the pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly- dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation.”
“The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins, crushed tendons throbbed with anguish”
Apply or Confront
Main Point #3: Christ had to face the wrath of God
Statement
The wrath of God is not a very popular concept in the world today. It is either ignored, denied, or just radically reinterpreted.
Prove
It is important not to equate or compare God’s anger with our sinful human anger. God does not have mood swings and does not “fly off the handle.”
God’s wrath is his indignation at sin, his revulsion to evil and all that opposes him, his displeasure at it and the venting of that displeasure.
For any of us to deserve the wrath of God I get it, we have all broken the law of God, we have been disobedient to God, but for Jesus to withstand God’s wrath on our behalf. We have talked exhaustively about how Christ is perfectly obedient to God, from the time of conception onward. The only person who should have gotten a pass on God’s wrath yet he didn’t.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”
It was at this time that God was separated by God
Jesus was crying out in anguish because of the separation He now experienced rom His heavenly Father for the first and only time in all eternity.
Because the son had taken sin upon himself, the father turned his back on him.
Can you imagine that?
It is important for us to realize that Jesus did not die as a martyr to a righteous cause or simply as an innocent man wrongly accused and condemned.
He also didn’t die as a heroic gesture against man’s inhumanity to man. The father could have looked favorably on such selfless deaths as those. BUT because Jesus died as a substitute sacrifice for sins of the world, the righteous heavenly Father had to judge Him according to that sin.
The father forsook the son because the son took upon himself “our transgressions and iniquities.”
In this instance Christ did not cease to exist as God or as a member of the Trinity, But for that time did not know the intimacy of fellowship with his heavenly father.
Flowers in texts
44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Illustrations
Apply or Confront
*Confront culture of False Teaching
Application Points:
How much are you willing to give up for Christ?
2. As believers we must willing to face wordly humiliation in order to stand with Christ at the end
3. Be thankful that we have someone that was willing to take the wrath of God for us
a.Pray on that daily, think on that daily