God Became Human So That We Can Become Truly Human Again

God Became Human So That We Can Become Truly Human Again John 3:13–21 (NIV84) 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except THE ONE who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES in Him MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. 16 For God so loved the world that HE gave His one and only Son, that WHOEVER BELIEVES in Him shall not perish but HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” Philippians 3:8–4:1 (NIV84) 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But ONE THING I DO: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained. 17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. 1 Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! Friends, I have a confession to make: the past fortnight I reminisced a lot about what message to convey to you on this 4th Advent Sunday of 2019. I prayed more than usual seeking guidance about this matter; I’ve spent more time in solitude; I’ve delved into Scripture even more passionately that normal, seeking from God the message we all need to hear today. For us to understand Christmas, we need to begin at the beginning. Scripture tells us that God created the heavens and earth and everything in it and on it. And God saw it was good. And God created humankind in His image. Male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:15–17 (NIV84) Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” and of course you know what Eve said: “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” Genesis 3:1–3 (NIV84) And of course, you also know the outcome of this story: Satan deceived Adam and Eve. They fell for his deception and rebelled against God. And because of their sinful, rebellious disobedience, we all live under the curse of sin. After Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, the depravity of mankind escalated and became out of control. Cain killed Abel. We have the Nephilim incident that Genesis 6 talks about and the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. Genesis 6:5 (NIV84) So, God wanted to end it all. But He instructed Noah to build an ark, and He started anew with Noah’s family. He did that with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. Jacob became Israel; God’s anointed people through whom the rest of the world would come to faith. However, the depravity of man still continued to escalate and rebellion against God continued. Many centuries later, during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, God spoke to his prophet Isaiah. And its is what God said about Israel: “Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.” Isaiah 1:2–4 (NIV84) And He continues in Isaiah 1:10–20 (NIV84) 10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies. 14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; 16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. 18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Friends, this is what my project uncovered and what I believe God wants us to remember this Christmas: The birth of the Messiah creates people, new people who take their humanity seriously. We too are supposed to become new people. We are challenged to look up: “Look up, you whose gaze is fixed on this earth, who are spellbound by the minuscule events and changes on the face of the earth. Look up to these words, you who have turned away from heaven disappointed. Look up, you whose eyes are heavy with tears and who are heavy and who are crying over the fact that the earth has gracelessly torn us away. Look up, you who, burdened with guilt, cannot lift your eyes. Lookup; your redemption has drawn near in Christ Jesus. Something different from what you see daily happened. Be aware, be watchful, wait just another short moment. Something entirely new is busy breaking over you: God is coming to change you for eternity. Yes, this is the Christmas message: With the birth of Jesus, God Himself became human, really human. While we strive to grow out of our humanity, yes, while we dream about leaving our human nature behind us, the Christmas story reminds us that in Jesus God became human – truly, totally and utterly human for us to one day be able to leave our depraved human nature behind and be clothed with a restored humanity ready for eternity. And John reminds us that God did that purposefully. And God did that because He was motivated by love: “For God so loved the world that HE gave His one and only Son, that WHOEVER BELIEVES in Him shall not perish but HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” Friends, the Christmas story – the birth of the Messiah is not about the astonishing work of a strong man, and it is not of the bold discovery of a wise man, or the pious practice of a saint – This is the story of the birth of the child, who left heaven to be born on earth to change the history of humanity forever. John wants us to understand how unique this story is. There are not many stories like this one. This is the only one: “No one has ever gone into heaven except THE ONE who came from heaven—the Son of Man.” This ONE – the Son of Man is the ONE that John earlier introduced to us as: “1 In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with GOD, and the WORD was GOD. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:1–4 (NIV84) It is beyond all our understanding: that the birth of a child would bring about this significant change. It is really beyond our comprehension that a helpless baby would into the guilt of human beings. But this is the message that Scripture is giving us. God’s love for sinful humans is the cause of Christmas. “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” This is the message: Jesus was born to bring to all mankind salvation and deliverance. Yes, because of the birth of the Messiah, the Saviour, the Son of Man on Christmas day salvation and deliverance became a reality for ALL of mankind. But, look at our first reading again, and you will see that not all of humanity is saved. John 3:15 states clearly that: “EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.” And John 3:16 says that God: “gave His one and only Son, that WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM shall not perish but HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.” Did you pick it up? There is a condition attached to the salvation and deliverance of humankind – they have to believe in their Saviour: Everyone who believes in Him, whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life. Friends, this is the Christmas story: God’s real love for real people caused Jesus to come to earth. And all the people who accept that they are sinners desperately in need of a Saviour who find IN HIM their salvation hear that they shall not perish but have eternal life. This is the Christmas story: God’s love for real people leads to Jesus birth, into the fellowship of human guilt. Friends, Jesus did not come to pardon Himself from the sin in which the people He loves are living. A love that left people alone in their guilt would not have real people as its object. So, in vicarious responsibility for people and in His love for real human beings, Jesus becomes the one burdened by guilt—indeed, the one upon whom all human guilt ultimately falls and the one who does not turn it away but bears it humbly and in eternal love. As the One who came to act responsibly in the historical existence of humankind, as the Son of Man who has entered human reality, Jesus came to become guilty in our place. But because His historical presence, His birth, has its sole basis in God’s indescribable love for sinful human beings, it is this love of God that makes Jesus the guiltless to come to earth to become guilty. Out of selfless love for human beings, Jesus leaves His state as the ONE without sin and enters into the guilt of human beings. He takes it upon himself. This is what we celebrate on Christmas. There is another thing this Christmas story reminds us of: We must recognise that God wants us also to become human—really human. Friends, the Christmas message is that we become truly human again when the evil of the sinful rebellion that we inherited from Adam and Eve is nullified. Now, I’m sure we have all done things for which we are ashamed, and we live in the tension of what we have been and what we want to be. There are even people who believe that the bad that they’ve done in the past is terrible that even God cannot forgive them. What an impoverished view they have of the power of our God? The Christmas message is that when our hope is in Christ Jesus as our Saviour, we can let go of past guilt and look forward to what God will help us become – what Adam and Eve were before the fall. Therefore, don’t dwell on your past. Instead, grow in the knowledge of God and His grace by concentrating on your relationship with Him now because you believe IN HIM for your salvation. Realise that you are forgiven, and then move on to a life of faith and obedience. Look forward to a fuller and more meaningful life because of your hope in Christ. We distinguish between the godly and the godless, the good and the evil, the noble and the common, but God loves real human beings without distinction.… God takes the side of real human beings and the real world against all their accusers.… But it’s not enough to say that God takes care of human beings. This sentence rests on something infinitely more profound and more impenetrable, namely, that in the conception and birth of Jesus Christ, God took on humanity in bodily fashion. God raised His love for human beings above every reproach of falsehood and doubt and uncertainty by Himself entering into the life of human beings as a human being, by bodily taking upon Himself and bearing the nature, essence, guilt, and suffering of human beings. Out of love for human beings, God becomes a human being. He does not seek out the most perfect human being to unite with that person. Instead, He takes on human nature as it is. On Wednesday, when we meet again and when Ron leads us in worship, remember the child in the manger is none other than God himself. Nothing more significant can be said: God became a child. In the Jesus child of Mary lives the almighty God. Wait a minute! Don’t speak; stop thinking! Stand still before this statement! God became a child! Here He is, imperfect like us, miserable and helpless like us, a person of flesh and blood like us, our brother. And yet He is God; He is the Almighty. Where is the divinity, where is the strength of this child? In the divine love in which He became like us. His poverty in the manger is His Strength. In the power of His love, He overcomes the gap between God and humankind. He overcomes sin and death. He forgives sin and awakens us from the dead. Therefore we can kneel before this miserable manger, before this child of poor people, and repeat in faith the stammering words of the prophet: “Mighty God!” And He will be your God and your strength. But now it is true that in three days, Christmas will come once again. The great transformation will once again happen. God would have it so. Out of the waiting, hoping, longing world, a world will come in which the promise is given. Friends, with Christmas all crying is stilled. Because of Jesus, no tears shall flow. Yes, no lonely sorrow shall afflict us anymore, or threaten any longer although sin has dehumanised us. Christ, Jesus came to rehumanise us again. Yes, in three days, we celebrate Christmas. Let us make it a festival of Christ in our world.… It is not trivial to God if we celebrate Christmas every year and do not take it seriously. His Word holds and is certain. When He comes in His glory and power into the world in the manger, He will put down the mighty from their seats, unless ultimately, they repent. This is what we will celebrate coming Wednesday: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NIV84) Amen.