Wonder of Grace

What I want us to do today is dive into not as much the “who” of the incarnation, who is Jesus, but I want us to look at the “why”. Why is the incarnation important? Why did the incarnation happen?

What belief, if any, separates Christianity apart from other world religions? Is there anything that is completely and totally unique to Christianity? That was the subject of debates and discussion at a British conference years ago on comparative religions, and they were discussing whether there is anything that really makes Christianity unique. And while they were in their heated discussion all these experts and religious scholars, a guy named C.S. Lewis wanders in, and he says “what’s the fuss all about?” And they say well we’re debating, trying to figure out if there’s anything unique about Christianity, and he responded immediately, “Oh that’s an easy one, one word: grace.”

And that’s the word I want us to think about. It’s the why of the incarnation. It is incomprehensible to think about Christ becoming a man without considering the purpose for which He came. And so I want us to dive into that and I pray that we’ll be a people today who even as we talk about some things that most of us have heard before and most of us are familiar with, that we would not yawn in the face of grace, that we would not ever cease to be a people who are amazed by grace.

Incomprehensible Grace...

So I want us to see in Philippians 2:8, three moves, so to speak, that Christ makes to help give us a picture of incomprehensible grace.

Philippians 2:8 NKJV

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

I. From exaltation to humiliation so that we might be exalted

That’s the picture we’re seeing here in Philippians 2:8 from exaltation to humiliation so that we might be exalted.

Now it says in this verse that Christ humbled Himself. Notice that this is an action He took; it didn’t happen to Him, He wasn’t humbled. There are a lot of things in our lives that humble us. There are things we go through in life that humble us, I want you to see that Christ was not humbled. No one humbled Christ, He humbled Himself.

I want you to hold your place here and go back to John 10, this is really important for us to realize. I want you to see that what happened to Christ when He was on earth, the humiliation that He experienced was not an accident, it was not an unfortunate turn of events, “oh no, looks like they’re going to falsely accuse Him, and they’re going to try Him, oh no they’re going to crucify Him, look what’s happening to Him.” Instead, He was doing these things.

John 10:17–18 NKJV

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

Do you hear what Jesus is saying there? No one can take my life from me, I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. So He wasn’t humbled, He was humbling Himself.

Now what does it mean for Christ, God in flesh, to humble Himself? Well we’ve seen part of that over the last couple weeks. He took on a human form, He took on the nature of a servant, of a slave, but I want you to think about it even deeper than that—even deeper than just becoming human. Because even once He was human, He humbled Himself even further. This is a picture going from the highest exaltation to the lowest humiliation. Think about it on two levels.

He was subject to His creation

Here is the creator of the world who is not even recognized by His creation. Here’s the One whose glory is known throughout all the universe. His glory is displayed throughout the whole world, and yet He’s standing there and He’s found in appearance as a man—they perceived Him as just a man. This guy is not any different than anybody else. Matthew 13, when He goes back to His hometown, they say, “Well why is this guy saying these thing? He’s normal like us.” And they even took offense that He was making some of the claims that He made.

The creator of the world, who’s glory is known throughout the whole earth, now unknown in front of His people. Think about how that affected His relationships with people around Him? He was subject to His creation—He obeyed His parents. Now we all know as children we’re supposed to obey our parents, but isn’t that kind of weird to obey your parents when you’re the One that created your parents?

His creation mistreated Him, yet He still humbled Himself by subjecting Himself to them. On another level though I think we see His humility, not only subject to His creation, but...

He was submissive to the Father

I want you to see Jesus as God the Son over and over and over again and how He had been sent by God the Father, how He was submissive to God the Father to do His will. Let me show you some examples. You might underline them in your Bible and just put the submission of Christ, the submission of God the Son out to the side. Look at John 3:17,

John 3:17 NKJV

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

So God sent Him. Look over in the same chapter, look at verse 34.

John 3:34 NKJV

For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

So who sent Jesus to the world? God the Father. Who's calling the shots here? God the Father is. We see it even clearer in chapter 5.

John 5:19 NKJV

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

So the Son is showing He is completely dependent on the Father. Let's go to chapter 6.

John 6:38 NKJV

For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

Same thing here. In fact, there's 30 different times in the book of John where Jesus talks about how He was sent by God the Father. With that we get a picture that Jesus was God in the flesh was ultimately doing everything according to the will of the Father.

So we see God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit all working together to bring us salvation, to draw us closer to Christ, to make us in the image of Christ. That’s part of the picture we need to see in the incarnation.

Now you've got the whole picture. So at this point we should ask, "What does all this mean?" Well, by implication it's basically this...

His incarnate position as the Son of Man makes possible our eternal privilege as sons of God

I want you to see how the incarnation is not just a cold doctrinal truth on a page. Because of His position in the incarnation, because He went from exaltation to humiliation, He enabled us to be exalted with the eternal privileges of being sons of God.

We see that some in Philippians 2, when you go back there and you see verse 9–11, we’re going to study next week—“God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name.” So we know that God exalted Jesus, but what we’re saying here is that He moved from exaltation to humiliation so that we might be exalted. Where do you see that? What do you mean we’re going to be exalted? We know Christ is going to be exalted; this baby in the manger is going to be exalted, but what about us? How are we included in that, and that’s the beauty of the gospel.

Because He went from exaltation to humiliation, you and I can sit here and know that because of His incarnation we have the eternal privileges of being called sons and daughters of the Most High God. 2 Timothy 2:11–12 says this...

2 Timothy 2:11–12 NKJV

This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

Romans 8:16–18 NKJV

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Think about it. Any suffering in this world cannot compare with the future glory that will be revealed in us. We are heirs with God and co-heirs with Christ, sharing in the sufferings, one day we’re going to share in His glory.

II. From life to death so that we might live

This is the second move He makes in His incarnation. Now we really get into the heart of the why of the incarnation. Now we remember in John 1, we studied the introduction of Jesus—“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” Okay that’s the picture, verse 4 “In him was life, and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4). The picture of life, this is who Christ is, He is life. Everything about Him is life, He is eternal life.

But then we get to Philippians 2:8, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to”—what? “to death.” Life was the light of men, but He became obedient to death. From death to life, why? So that we might live.

And this is where we’ve got to take a few steps into the Christmas story to really think about the implications here. When we think about this baby in a manger, when we think about the magnitude of Christmas, we think about how He came to reveal God to us. God with us; that was the picture. But His coming, His birth, that alone is not able to save any one of us.

In fact, the idea that He lived a sinless life His entire life, never once sinned, that alone has absolutely no redemptive force for us. That has no power to save us from our sins, just because He set the example perfectly.

He came to do a lot of things that don’t bring us salvation. He came to teach truth, He came to tell about His Father’s kingdom, He came to heal the sick, He came to cause the blind to see, He came to feed the hungry, He came to care for the outcasts and the people nobody else cared for. He did all these things, but ultimately, none of those get His purpose. Ultimately His purpose is this: Jesus Christ was born in a manger, so that one day He would die on a cross.

The reality: He was born to die

That is the reality at the heart of the incarnation. This baby was born to die. We’ve got to realize whenever we see these pictures like we do at this time of year and see this manager, when we see this baby in there; I want us to realize the magnitude of the purpose of His birth.

And it’s there from the very beginning of the Christmas story; let me show it to you. Go back to Matthew 2. I want us to look at, an account of the Christmas story that I’m guessing is familiar to most if not all of us, and I want you to see this truth that Jesus was born to die at the core of even the Christmas story. Look at Matthew 2, it’s talking about the wise men here, when they came to visit Jesus, these men, Magi from the East, and they came there, listen to what verse 9 says, we know the story but let’s read it again, let’s see if there’s something here that we can grab a hold onto that can help us understand how He went from life to death so that we might live.

Look at Matthew 2:9,

Matthew 2:9–11 NKJV

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

What are the gifts? -- gold, incense and myrrh. Now we could spend our entire message here in Matthew 2, but I want us to think about these 3 gifts.

Gold - represents nobility, royalty, a gift for a king. What an amazing picture . These guys bringing gold right into the middle of this stable. A gift for a King.

Frankincense - incense - and you look at the OT imagery and it gives you a picture of how the pries would burn incense before the holy of holies. This is a picture of the One who would intercede between us and God. Awesome picture.

Myrrh - Anybody here keep myrrh around the house? I didn't think so. That's because it was an ointment used in funeral preparations. What a weird gift to give to a baby. It's kind of like, "Here, you can use this when you die." Weird, huh? The embalming purpose of myrrh was used to mask the smell of the decaying body. Imagine these guys saying with a straight face, "Here, we have some gold for you. And some incense. Oh, and here's some embalming fluid." Imagine someone showing up at your baby shower with that kind of gift.

What's that about? Well, this baby was born to die. Not like we're born to die, but born for the purpose of dying. The very nature of His birth was a picture of His death. And not just to die, Philippians 2:8 says He was destined to die on a criminal's cross. The reality of death on a cross is three things...

A shameful death

No Roman citizen would be crucified. It was reserved for the most rebellious slaves, traitors, or the worst criminals. It was so gruesome, you wouldn't even talk about it in polite company. The most shameful and ultimate in degradation. Not only a shameful death but a...

A painful death

It was one of the most painful deaths possible.

A cursed death

The OT, Deuteronomy 21:22-23 says anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse.

The result: we are born again to live

He was born to die so that you and I 2000 years later could be born again to live.Here’s the beauty of it, crucifixion designed to blot out the memory of somebody, and not only are we 2000 years later singing about His memory, but we are rejoicing in His mastery over death and over the cross, because through it we have life.

You and I don’t walk around captive to our sin, we don’t walk around slaves to our sin. We are freed and we are free to live. We are free to live now and for all of eternity. Don’t miss it.

His shame on the cross becomes our honor

All that is shameful about us, our sin, our wickedness, the things we think, the things we do, the things that nobody else in this room not even those who are closest to us, the things they don’t even know about. The things that would be exposed before God when we stand before Him are transferred to Him and His righteousness is transferred to us , and His beauty, and His holiness, and His redemption. His shame becomes our honor. Not only does His shame become our honor but...

His pain becomes our joy

He took our pain upon Himself and according to God's Word, by His stripes we are healed. We no longer have to fear the pain of death. Why? Because in His humanity He has taken our pain upon Himself so that we could have joy. His pain becomes our joy. His shame becomes our honor. And ultimately...

His curse becomes our blessing

Let's go to Galatians 3. We'll look at verses 13-14.

Galatians 3:13–14 NKJV

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Remember Deuteronomy 21? Where anyone hanging on a tree is under God's curse? It just so happens that Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy 21 in this verse. The blessing is ours because the curse was His. We don't stand before God cursed, because Jesus took our curse upon Himself. His curse becomes our blessing.

This is awesome! Let's never get bored or yawn at these truths. From exaltation to humiliation so that we might be exalted; from death to life so that we might live.

What are the implications for our lives? And what I want to do is I want us to see another picture of this grace, and I want us to go to another part of what Paul has written in 2 Corinthians to see how He helps us understand the incarnation’s implications for our lives.

III. From rich to poor so that we might become rich

Go with me to 2 Corinthians 8:8-9. Now here’s the context of this passage, just kind of give you a little background. Paul is writing this letter to the believers at Corinth, he is about to come to them and he’s on his way to Jerusalem and he’s taken an offering to the saints in Jerusalem. They were in great need, having a real tough time, and he had gone around to other churches, Gentile churches to gather offerings for the church in Jerusalem.

And so he’s writing to the church of Corinth, and the church of Corinth was much more affluent than the churches in Macedonia. And so he’s urging them to give. I want you to see what he said and how he uses the incarnation to encourage them to give.

2 Corinthians 8:8–9 NKJV

I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

And here’s how Paul uses the incarnation to compel them to give to the church in Jerusalem when they were in such need.

The creator of the world became homeless so that we might become rich. What was happening was the church at Corinth was hording their resources. They were living in their affluence and their abundance, and they were holding onto them. And Paul comes to them and says open your eyes and see the Savior that you’re worshipping, see who Christ is. He gave up all of His resources so that you might become rich. How can you claim to follow Him and yet horde your abundance? And grab on with a tight fist to all your resources? It doesn’t make sense.

Basically he’s saying, first of all...

See His poverty in the world

He did this by...

He gives up His rights

He took on the very nature of a servant, a slave with no rights. He gave up His rights, and second...

He gives up His resources

To whom did Christ give His resources? To us. Without Jesus we're spiritually bankrupt. But for those who trust Jesus as their Savior, everything that is His belongs to us. He gives us His resources.

Now, that’s Christ, see His poverty, He gave up His rights, and He gives us His resources. So what about those of us then who are followers of Christ? What about those of us who have Christ dwelling in our lives because we’ve trusted Him for salvation? How does this affect us?

Think about it. Not only see His poverty, but now we are His people in the world. See His poverty and then be His people in the world. Show His poverty. How do you do that?

Be His people in the world

Now, that’s Christ, see His poverty, He gave up His rights, and He gives us His resources. So what about those of us then who are followers of Christ? What about those of us who have Christ dwelling in our lives because we’ve trusted Him for salvation? How does this affect us?

Think about it. Not only see His poverty, but now we are His people in the world. See His poverty and then be His people in the world. Show His poverty. How do you do that?

We give up our rights

We are followers of Jesus Christ who became poor so that others might become rich. We have no rights, that’s the whole context of Philippians 2, it’s the whole context of 2 Corinthians 8.

Philippians 2, Paul had been telling them, start looking out for others interest’s instead of your own. Stop seeking after selfish ambition and then you can see, it’s not about you, it’s about you giving your life for the sake of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

Paul is saying, it’s time to look at the people around you and start sacrificing your rights for the rights of others around you. He’s telling them, don’t live for Corinthian prosperity anymore, you don’t live for success in Corinth, you don’t live for fame and notoriety in Corinth, you don’t live to make the most money, you don’t live to have the biggest house, you don’t live to have the Corinthian dream played out in your life, that’s not what you live for. You have sacrificed that, you now live to sacrifice your rights for the rights of those around you. And the message is the same for us today.

How can we ever show Christ if we do not give up our rights as He has given up His? And not only do we give up our rights, but...

We give others our resources

And this is where the incarnation gets extremely practical. Because Paul’s telling them in 2 Corinthians 8, there are needs in Jerusalem and you have resources. It’s time for you to rise up and surrender your resources to make the gospel known in Jerusalem, to strengthen the church there. There are needs there, you have resources, God’s entrusted to you, it’s time for you to become poor so that they might become rich. We give others our resources.

We are much like the church at Corinth. We live in a very affluent culture. All of us, without exception, are incredibly wealthy compared to the rest of the world. What do you mean? I don’t feel very wealthy. Well if you have running water, plumbing, a shelter over your head, then you have just surpassed the majority of people. We are incredibly wealthy, we have much.

The question before us is, are we going to be people who come in even at Christmas and sing and worship Christ and then walk out of here hording the resources that He has given us and the abundance He’s entrusted to us? God help us to see the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who became poor so that we might become rich. Help us to show His character in the world today by becoming poor so that others might become rich.

I know many of us are familiar with the author J. I. Packer. You may have even read his book, Knowing God. This is an excerpt from that book where he talks about the incarnation.

"We talk glibly of the Christmas spirit, rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But it ought to mean the reproducing in human life of the temper of Him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. In the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all year round. It is to our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians, the soundest the most orthodox go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levites, seeing human needs all around them. But after a pious wish and perhaps a prayer that God might meet those needs, avert their eyes and pass by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit. Nor is it the spirit of those Christians, alas they are many, who’s ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle class Christian home and making nice middle class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in a nice middle class Christian ways, and who leave the sub middle class sections of the community Christian and non Christians to get on by themselves. The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. The Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who like their master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor, spending and being spent to enrich their fellow humans. Giving time, trouble, care and concern to do good to others and not just their own friends in whatever way their sins need."

Let’s not fool ourselves today by rejoicing in the incarnation, and hording the resources God entrusted to us when there is so much need. That’s why we’re taking up our Happy Birthday Jesus offering this evening. That's why we're going to sacrifice. Half of this offering will go to one of our foreign missionaries, and the other half to ABC Crisis Pregnancy Center here in Lake Charles.

God has amazed us with His grace through the humility, sacrifice, and liberality of His Son

He went from exaltation to humiliation so that, praise God, one day we will be exalted. He went from life to death so that praise God we can celebrate we can live. And He went from being rich to being poor so that you and I could be in abundance spiritually, all of His resources given to us.

We see the humility sacrifice and liberality of His Son, but draw the connection here. God is not finished working and His plan has not changed.

God desires to amaze the nations with His grace through the humility, sacrifice, and liberality of His people

If you are Christ follower, if you have placed your faith in Christ then I want to invite you to reflect on His exaltation and humiliation, His life and His death, and His richness and His poverty. And if you’re spiritually bankrupt here today, then I pray that you would place your faith in Him today.

God we thank you for the magnitude of the incarnation and Lord Jesus we bow before you today and we praise you for your humiliation, for your death, and for your poverty that make us who we are and has given us a reason to sing and celebrate today. All glory be to your name. We pray that you would make us a people in turn who show that kind of glory to the world around us. Make us a people who see your grace and sacrifice just as you have, with all that you’ve entrusted to us, our rights and our resources in Jesus name we pray, Amen.