2020-12-13 John 1:14 The Incarnation (2): Why God?

THE INCARNATION (2): WHY GOD? (John 1:14) December 13, 2020 Read John 1:14-18 – Dad was showing his 5-year-old son around Grandpa’s farm, pointing out the work and skill it took to farm the land. In the barn, Dad pointed to the ladder leading to the loft and explained that was where Grandpa kept the hay to feed the cows. The boy seemed to get it -- until he commented, “I bet it was hard for those cows to climb that ladder.” Impossible, actually. Just as impossible as for us to climb the ladder to the riches of heaven. So, instead, God came down. The Son of God took on human flesh. Became Immanuel – God with us. And by His death and resurrection we are forgiven, ransomed, redeemed. But why the God-man? Last week we saw why a man had to be part of that equation. It took a man to save men – a perfect man. But if a perfect sacrifice was required, why not just use a virgin birth to create a perfect man? Why add God in? Why add a fully human nature to a fully divine nature in an unthinkable act of grace to save us? Why God? Many reasons could be given to answer that question, but let’s consider 4 this morning? Why did God involve Himself personally in order to make this amazing act of redemption work? Why did He become God with us? I. To Reveal Ultimate Truth At his trial, Jesus made an astounding claim: Jn 18:37b: “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world (incarnation! Why?) to bear witness to the truth.” Sounds like an egomaniac, doesn’t it? Pilate just fobbed it off – “What is truth?” He’s 21st century postmodern before his time. But if you believe in Jesus, you’ve got to see what He’s saying. Whereas the world now says there is no objective ultimate truth, Jesus says there is “the truth” – and that’s why I came. To reveal it to anyone who will listen. Often in His life, Jesus says He came from God – from above. To insure no confusion: Jn 8:23: “He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.” He’s different. He’s come, but this is not where He originates. He came from above where He existed with the Father and the Spirit in a triune eternal existence without beginning. He came to give us “the truth” – a truth which He knows in total, because He is “the truth.” Ultimate reality – that’s Him as He came to show us. The truth! 1 What truth is that? Every word He ever spoke. It is the truth about life beyond the grave, about heaven, where He is preparing a place for believers. It’s the truth about hell which He spoke of more than anyone – describing it as a place of eternal torment, darkness and unbounded anger. It is the truth that we are the lost He have no way to God except thru Him. It is truth of Matt 7:13-14 where He ends His Sermon on the Mount urging: 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” It is truth we could never know if someone from there did not come to tell us. Know what it is? It is the truth about eternity. He alone could bring it bc that’s where he came from. If you wanted to know about NYC you could read a book, find some pictures – get some facts. But if you really want to know every nook and cranny of that city, you need someone who’s been there, someone who knows it inside and out. And I tell you, Beloved, since all of us are going to leave this life to enter eternity, doesn’t it make sense to listen to someone who is from there? That’s why God? He alone could deliver truth we could have in no other way. But the fullest revelation of truth? It came at the cross. Truth in spades there! We see the love of God for fallen humanity displayed in all its glory. We see the grace of God giving the life of His own Son to save undeserving sinners. But we also see in full horror of sin that it would require such sacrifice to pay our penalty. The price of redemption shows the depth of our lostness. The cancer patient at first feels nothing out of the ordinary, but beneath the surface the cells multiply out of control creating, when it surfaces, a pool of horror. That’s what the cross does; it shows how God sees us without Christ. And the cross reveals one more truth – the most important of all. It shows definitively there is no other way to the Father. No Father would send His Son to the horror of the cross if there was any other alternative. Christianity isn’t a religion of elevated speculations and feel-good rituals. It is a faith rooted and grounded in history whose founder paid the ultimate price for the salvation of humanity. And the cross makes clear – it’s the only way. An elderly Soviet woman was seen kissing the feet of a statue of Christ. A police officer queried, “Babushka, are you willing to kiss the feet of Stalin?” She replied, “Yes, if he gets crucified for me.” With that simple statement, she gave eloquent testimony to the ultimate truth of the cross – there’s only one way. The God-man had to be God so He could say in truth He was “the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 2 II. To Defeat the Forces of Evil There is another reason that Christ came. I Jn 3:8b: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” That He had the power to do that is evidenced in many encounters He had with demonic spirits. Perhaps the most powerful was the case of the man who could break chains and shackles put on to try to control him. He was a special case. Luke 8:30: “Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him.” This is demon-possession on steroids. So, here is Jesus, confronted with multiple demons, simultaneously. They immediately recognized He was more than mere man. Lu 8:28-29a: “When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.” The demons never had any problem recognizing Jesus as God. They could see what people could not. But all that did was increase their fear. They knew His authority. They knew they had to come out. No mere man could ever exercise such unquestioned authority, but Jesus could. He was fully in charge. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission.” Just like Satan himself had to ask permission before laying a hand on Job, so these demons had to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But Jesus didn’t come just to control them in a few isolated instances. He came to destroy them. That took more than a command. That demanded the death of death itself, and that takes us once more to the cross. Heb 2:14: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” Jesus resurrection guarantees the ultimate fate of all the forces of evil. They will be forever confined to “the eternal fir prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41c). Why are they not there yet? That answer is hidden in the mystery of God’s ways. But that end is coming. Did you see the Master’s golf tournament this year? Defending champion, Tiger Woods, was still somewhat in the running for at least a top 10 finish when he came to the 12th hole on the last day. Then – he put a shot in the water – then another, finally taking a 10 on the par 3 3 hole. He played on, actually making 5 birdies in his last 6 holes. But as soon as he carded that 10, he was done. So is Satan and his whole host of demons. They are a defeated foe; it only remains for God to say, “Enough.” No man could have done that. It’s another reason Jesus had to be God as well as man. III. To Atone for All Believers In John 11 Jesus raised Laz from the dead. Some who saw believed; others told the Pharisees who worried if Jesus kept doing these signs, everyone would believe in Him and the Romans would crack down. Then Jn 11:49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” Is it not amazing how God turns intentions of the wicked back on themselves?! Caiaphas had no more intention of prophesying an atoning death by Jesus. He merely meant, “Kill Jesus, and we save the whole nation.” But God made a prophet out of a reprobate. Jesus would atone for sin. That’s why He came: Mark 10:45: “For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” We all owe God a debt for sin that we could only pay by eternal separation from Him. Jesus came to settle that debt. Rom 5:10: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” We can be reconciled to God by faith in Christ’s death in our place. But to pay that price, He had to be God. Had Jesus been merely a man – even a perfect man – He could only have atoned for one other. One man paying the penalty for one other – that works, tho the price would be infinite separation. But one man paying for everyone – doesn’t work. Paying for all required an infinite person – and that’s why Jesus had to be God. As the God-man, He could “take away the sins of the world.” But never as merely man. Isa 53:6b: “and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Not just one of us – all of us. Isa 53:10 says “his soul makes an offering for guilt.” The issue is guilt! The guilt offering is described in detail in Lev 5:1-6:7. Alec Motyer comments: The heart of its distinctiveness is its insistence on minute exactness between sin and remedy. It could well be called the ‘satisfactionoffering.’” So this passage affirms Jesus suffered “exactly equivalent to what 4 needed to be done.” So consider this! If my sin deserves an eternity of separation from God, as does yours, as does everyones, that means Jesus suffered literally billions of eternities of separation from the Father in a moment of time in a way we can never begin to understand. When Paul says, “He made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,” it was no small thing! The inexpressible happened on Calvary – Father and Son acting in harmony to take our guilt. One becoming sin for us, the other turning away from that sin for us. No mortal, finite man could have made that atonement? Jesus had to be God-man to make a sacrifice of infinite value. Rom 6:10a: “For the death he died he died to sin, once for all.” Had to be God to do that. Thankfully, He was. In the first Superman movie, Lois Lane dies when her car is crushed under tons of debris. Superman is also crushed. But he finds a way. He circles the globe so fast that he reverses the earth’s rotation, turning time back until he can rescue Lois. What no man could ever have done, he did. That’s fairytale. This isn’t. What no man could do in paying for the sin of the world, Jesus as God-man was able to do. He had to be God to do it. And now the only proper response is one of faith: “Jesus, if you don’t catch me, I’m done. I’ve no other hope, no other Savior. Save me, Jesus, or I die.” He has, and He will. IV. To Reign in Justice Forever Where is this all headed? Listen to this description of the Jesus’ 2nd coming. Rev 19: 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. . . . 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” Mere man? No. This is the destiny of the God-man to rule and reign in justice forever. Conc – So, why a God-man? Wm Lane Craig uses a parable of 3 men who stand before God’s throne on Judgment Day. Each has a score to settle with God. One says, “I was hanged for a crime I didn’t commit.” The second: “I died from a disease that dragged on for months, leaving me in intense pain, broken in body and soul.” The 3rd: “My son was killed in the prime of life when some drunk driver jumped the curb and ran him down.” Each was 5 determined to give God a piece of his mind. But then the Judge arrived. They took one look at his nail-scarred hands and feet and wounded side – and each mouth was stopped as they realized what that what they had rejected all their lives was true. What they had suffered paled in comparison to what God had suffered for them. Each bowed to worship him, for the Bible says one day “every knee shall bow.” But for them – it was too late. While they now saw that Jesus really is Lord, it was too late for them to accept Him as their personal Lord. Heb 9:27: “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” There are no 2nd chances after death. But it’s not too late for you. If you haven’t seen and accepted Jesus for who He is – Lord and Savior – it’s not too late. It soon will be too late, but you have today. Take Him now. Don’t put it off. All He did, He did for you if you will just accept it. Let’s pray. 6