Love Came Down

Good morning, everyone! If I use the term "leave of absence" what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of a teacher who wants to further his education. So he approaches his principal or board of education for permission to return to university for a year or two of study with the understanding that tis job will be there for him when he completes his studies. Or you may think of an engineering graduate who had decided that he wants to transition into management, so he requests time off from work to pursue a Master of Business Administration degree. Both he and his employer agree that he will return to the company in a couple of years after the studies have been completed. You may think of other examples, perhaps in the field of medicine. But regardless of the field of work the idea of a leave of absence or LOA as it is sometimes called, we are all familiar with the term and the common elements. There is the person requesting the LOA, there is also a governing authority that grants the LOA, and finally there is agreement between the requestor and the grantor that the LOA will have a positive outcome. But my question for you is: What was the most important leave of absence in all of human history? Now, since today is the fourth Sunday of Advent with the theme of Love, that should give you a clue to the answer to my question. But just in case the answer is not immediately apparent, let's look at a verse from the apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians. Philippians 2:5-8 (HCSB) 5 Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. 7 Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, 8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death-even to death on a cross. Of course Paul did not use the term "leave of absence" but rather he states the fact that "He (Jesus) emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men". In other words Jesus who was enthroned in heaven with the Father and Holy Spirit took a leave of absence from this exalted position to be born to a poor Jewish family. Like a humanly conceived leave of absence the three elements of a LOA were there. First, there was the key person-in this case the Son of God or Jesus the Christ. Second, there was agreement in the Trinity that this had to be done-that the Son's mission on earth would accomplish what had been planned before the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8 (NIV) 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast-all whose names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. Indeed Jesus' leave of absence from the heavenly realms would accomplish incredible good for all humanity. In the next several minutes I would like to focus on the last aspect of this divine leave of absence-exactly what was accomplished when Love came down from heaven and entered the human realm for approximately 33 years nearly two millennia ago. 1. Establish the church Matthew 16:18 (NIV) 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades (hell) will not overcome it. In this verse Matthew records Jesus' powerful statement that includes two promises. First, he will build his church. Secondly, the church that he builds will prevail. It will not be destroyed. That promise was made nearly 2000 years ago. Today, where does Christianity stand in the world's population? There are approximately 2.5 billion Christians in a worldwide population of 8 billion people. Consider those figures in the light of how many people were followers of Jesus at the time of his death and resurrection-perhaps only a few hundred. Sometimes we wring our hands at the secular trends in our society. We are concerned about the trends to a post-Christian world particularly in the West, but Jesus promised that he would establish his church and it would not die out. It has not died out and it will not die out. That does not mean that the greatest concentration of Christians will always remain in the West. That may well change over time. Will the centre of Christian faith shift to China or perhaps to Africa? We don't know for certain but the location of the majority of Christians is no longer in the Middle East where it originated. Let me share one example of how Christianity has had a profound effect on a world ruling empire. This is found in the history of the Roman empire. I found this example in Andy Stanley's book, Irresistible, which has been the basis for our Life Groups for the past few months. In his book Andy Stanley tells of visiting the Emperor's gate in Rome and being impressed by the presence of a cross at the gate. The significance of the presence of the cross is breath taking when one considers that at the height of the Roman empire this venue was the place where Christians were actually slaughtered to entertain the Roman emperor and his entourage. At that time who would have anticipated that the faith that these courageous martyrs demonstrated as they were fed to ravenous beasts would prevail. Over time, the Christian church and faith grew more organized. In 313 AD, the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which accepted Christianity: 10 years later, it had become the official religion of the Roman Empire. What a dramatic change from three centuries earlier when followers of The Way were fodder for wild animals in front of the emperor's gate. Yes, Lord Jesus, you established the church and the gates of Hell have not prevailed against it! 2. Train the apostles A key part of establishing the church was providing the leadership that would guide the church after Jesus' ascension. Jesus accomplished this in two ways. First, during his three-year ministry he called, worked with, and trained 12 apostles. After the death of Judas Iscariot by suicide Matthias was chosen to replace him (Acts 1:26). Later Jesus personally selected Paul, previously called Saul of Tarsus. Paul became the apostle to the Gentiles in the early New Testament church. Next to Luke he was the most prolific writer of the New Testament and is credited with writing about a quarter of the New Testament. But to just look at the statistics about the volume of Paul's writing would do a disservice to the content of his writing. Throughout his epistles we find deep theological insights combined with practical admonitions for our daily walk with Christ. Some scholars have praised Paul as the outstanding contributor to Western thought in the last two millennia. Now that is quite an accolade. Of course, the men whom Jesus personally taught and worked with eventually died. But Jesus did not stop working with church leaders after their passing. Ephesians 4:10-15 (NIV) 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. The church is the body of Christ and his body needs leadership. In these verses the apostle Paul asserts that Christ himself has placed human leaders in the various offices of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the purpose of preparing us for works of service, strengthening the church and helping us to grow in maturity as we become more and more like our Saviour. 3. Show us what God is really like Have you ever wondered what God is really like? Jesus' first followers had that same question. John 14:7-9 (NIV) 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." 8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Jesus made it clear that anyone who has seen him in action had a clear revelation of the character of God the Father. When Jesus walked the dusty roads of Galilee what idea of God did his fellow Jews have of God? Did they remember the story of Moses on Mt. Sinai where God engraved the Ten Commandments onto stone tablets? Or did they think of him as a pillar of fire and or a column of cloud that guided the Israelites during their 40 years in the wilderness? Did they remember the story of Noah and worldwide flood that wiped out all of humanity except for the four men and four women who were on the ark? Did they think of the God who allowed Job to endure incredible loss and suffering at the hand of the devil? Whatever ideas they may have had about God, Jesus demonstrated time after time by his personal life that God is a caring compassionate being who is immutable in his character but also can be entreated. For example, consider the first miracle that Jesus ever performed-turning water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana. John 2:1-10 (NIV) On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."4 "Woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My hour has not yet come."5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." This is a familiar story so just a brief comment. Jesus understood his mother's hint that he could "fix" this social faux pas for the hosts of the wedding. His initial reaction was to tell her that the time for performing miracles that would give evidence of who he truly was not then-i.e., it would be premature to perform a miracle to fix this problem. However, he did honor her request and turned several gallons or plain water into a first-rate wine that saved the day for the wedding host and his guests. By doing so Jesus showed that, although God is immutable in character, he is also a God who hears our requests and can be entreated to help us in our need. But this is not the only example of Jesus clearly demonstrating what God the Father is like. If we follow Jesus in his three-year ministry, we see a compassionate, caring, individual who was sensitive to people and their deep despair in life. * Healed a leper and touched him (Mat. 8:3) * Healed the centurion's servant from a distance (Mat. 8:13) * Healed Peter's mother-in-law (Mat 8:15) * Calmed a violent sea (Mat. 8:26) * Healed a paralytic (Mat. 9:6-7) * Healed a woman who had been sick for twelve years (Mat. 9:22) * Raised a young girl from the dead (Mat. 9:25) * Drove out an evil spirit (Mark 1:25) * Healed a demon-possessed man in a Gerasenes cemetery (Mark 5:15) * Healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years (John 5:9) * Raised the dead son of the widow from Nain (John 7:11-16) * Forgave the Roman soldiers who crucified him and cast lots for his clothing (John 23:24) So, to answer Philip's question, "Show us the Father", we look at how Jesus lived and loved people during his short stay on this earth. Jesus by his actions showed that God is a God of love who cares for us more than we can fully comprehend. Indeed, we see that most clearly in Jesus' sacrifice of his own life. 4. Redeemed all mankind by his death on the cross. Romans 5:6-8 (NIV) 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. I wonder if we fully grasp what Christ did for us when he died for us in a tortuous death on the cross. We can read these words, but I believe that it takes time and meditation to appreciate the love of God that compelled the triune God to agree that Jesus would become incarnate on this earth and the arms that stretched out to create the universe would stretch out on a Roman cross for all mankind. That included Judas who betrayed him and the Jewish religious leaders who falsely accused him. It included the Roman soldiers who scourged him and nailed his hands and feet to the cross. But it also included every human being from Adam and Eve to you who are listening to this message. We were all sinners at some point. And we were hopeless in our sins. Wouldn't you be stunned to learn that someone was willing to lay down his life for you? Of course, that would be astounding. Paul reminds that very rarely will someone die for a righteous person, but it is possible that someone might die for a good person. But God makes his love for us unmistakable when Christ died for sinners. That means you and me! We know that Christ died to redeem us from the death sentence due us for our sins. But consider that by his death that he also redeemed us from the poisonous mental state that accompanies being dead in our sins. Romans 8:1 (NIV) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, As you read these beautiful words stop and think for a minute what past sins the Holy Spirit brings to mind - theft, lying, blasphemy, drunkenness, fornication, adultery, coveting. Whatever comes to mind, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal saviour, the sin slate has been wiped clean. There is now no more condemnation for you are in Christ Jesus. As followers of Christ we know only too well that although our orientation has changed there are times when we fall into another sin. Jesus has not only redeemed us from past sins but also sins that continues to plague us. Praise God for his remarkable, awe inspiring, and humbling grace! What a God! What a Saviour! 5. Defeated Satan Jesus did not mince his words when describing the character of Satan. John 8:44 (NIV) 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. We know the story of Jesus in the wilderness, fasting for 40 days and then facing the devil's temptations when he was on the verge of starvation. On that occasion the devil skulked away waiting for another opportunity to attack Jesus. And he found that niche in Judas Iscariot. Somehow, he was able to get into Judas' mind which led him to betray Jesus for a handful of coins. Satan may have thought he had won when Jesus was arrested, tried, scourged, and died at Calvary but his apparent victory was short lived. Sunday morning Jesus rose victorious from the grave. Not only had Jesus conquered death but he had decisively defeated Satan for all time. Do we need to fear the devil and his power? No, absolutely not. Consider what James, the brother of Jesus, wrote. James 4:7 (NIV) 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We do not have to fear the devil. Our Saviour has defeated him. We can resist him like Jesus did. We can quote scriptures that are accurate and contradict whatever negative thought or temptation that he will direct our way. He is the prince of the air, but we are led by the prince of peace. As we resist him, he will flee from us, like he did from Jesus in the wilderness. 6. Dispelled our fear of death It has been said that there are two universal fears in humanity-public speaking and death. And for some people the fear of public speaking is greater than the fear of death! Hebrews 2:14-15 (NIV) 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil- 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Jesus did not minimize the impact of death upon us. His heart went out to the widow from Nain who had lost her only son to a premature death. He raised the young man back to life. Before he raised Lazarus from the grave he wept. He recognized the pain of grief that his sisters, Mary and Martha, experienced when Lazarus died. Of course, the greatest resurrection of all was Jesus' resurrection from the grave. Someone can accurately predict their death if they are determined to commit suicide and have carefully planned their self-execution, but no mortal can predict that they will be alive again on the third day. And that is exactly what Jesus predicted and carried out. Anyone who can do that is in a unique category and is worth listening to. By his resurrection Jesus totally backed up who he claimed to be. By resurrecting others and himself Jesus has given us evidence that death is not the be all and end all that we may think. God is not stymied by our death. We have hope that there is a life after death. 7. Fulfilled the requirements of the Old Covenant Can you imagine what it must have been like to live a Jew under the old covenant when Jesus began his earthly ministry? There were over 600 commandments that a faithful Jew was required to follow. Also, there were the annual festivals that had to be kept including the Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, Last Great Day. Don't forget the dietary laws that forbad eating pork or fish without fins and scales. There were animal sacrifices and visits to the temple in Jerusalem. And the covenant was between God and his chosen people, the Jews, only. Good luck to your gentile neighbours! But when Jesus came to this earth, he ushered in a new covenant that replaced the covenant that God made at Mt. Sinai. The old covenant with its hundreds of regulations, dietary laws and narrow ethnic focus was made obsolete. The New Covenant was between God and all of humanity. No longer was there a need for the temple in Jerusalem which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. No longer was there a historical figure, Moses, who was the mediator of this covenant. Instead Jesus was the perfect mediator. The High Priest of Judaism was replaced by Jesus, the perfect eternal high priest. No longer do we have an interminably long list of commands that we must follow. Rather Jesus distilled down obedience to two commandments-love God with all our heart, mind, soul and being and love our neighbour as ourself. Jesus even refined that further on the night that he was betrayed and arrested. John 15:11-13 (NIV) 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. As Christians living in the 21st century we look at this command in the light of Jesus' death on the cross but when Jesus spoke these words his crucifixion had not occurred. Each of the 12 disciples could reflect back over the past three years that they were with Jesus. Matthew, the tax collector, could recall how he was shunned by his family and rejected by his fellow Jews, yet Jesus welcomed him into his inner circle of followers. Nathaniel with chagrin could recall his comment, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" and that Jesus chose to ignore his dismissive statement as he welcomed him into his team of disciples. Other disciples would remember the terror that they felt on the sea of Galilee as a storm threatened to sink their boat and to die drowning in the tempest. Jesus woke from his sleep and calmed the storm by a simple command. The apostle Peter would remember the time that he attempted to walk on water towards Jesus but started to sink when the looked at the raging storm around him. As he cried to Jesus for help Jesus grabbed him and saved him from drowning. But as each of them mulled over how Jesus had repeatedly loved them over the past three years their reverie was broken by Jesus' next words, "Greater love has no on than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." As they silently nodded in agreement to the truth in that statement, they did not realize that this was not some simple platitude, but that Jesus' somber statement would be fulfilled in less than 24 hours. He would die a wretched death on a Roman cross for them and for all humanity in the greatest possible sacrifice-his own life. Conclusion We have briefly examined what Jesus accomplished during his leave of absence from heaven. But like any leave of absence there will come a time when the leave is over. That leave for Jesus ended 40 days after his resurrection when he ascended to heaven. At this point I would like to stretch your imagination. What do you think happened in heaven when Jesus returned home? Now, the bible is not clear exactly what transpired at that heavenly reunion, but we can imagine what it must have been like. As masses of angels praised Jesus, the Father greeted him and said something like, "Welcome home, Son! You have accomplished everything that we planned millennia ago. You have: * Established the church * Trained the apostles * Showed by your life on earth what we are really like * Redeemed all of mankind * Defeated the devil * Dispelled the fear of death in human beings * Fulfilled the Old Covenant that we made at Mt. Sinai And in ten days the Holy Spirit will indwell your followers just as you promised. Well done, Jesus! Come and sit at my right hand!" Amen. *** final prayer *** Word count: 4100 Time: about 30 minutes Sermon Love Came Down0Page 1 of 1 (c) Keith M. Roberts0New Life Christian0December 20, 2020