Well, let’s take our Bibles and turn to First Timothy 3. I invite you to stand as we read God’s word. First Timothy Chapter 3 in verse 14, we’ll read to the end of the chapter. I want to speak this morning on the subject, kind of a mystery. That’s what the incarnation is. That’s what the birth of Jesus is. It’s kind of a mystery and I’ll explain that as we go along. First Timothy three verse 14, “These things says Paul to Timothy, I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly, but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God,” which is the church of the living God. The pillar and ground of truth.
And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. So reads God’s word and you may be seated. In one sense, Christmas is a mystery. It’s something that challenges our comprehension. It’s something that defies our imagination. God in human flesh. In fact, Paul calls it a great mystery here in First Timothy 3 verse 16. Think about it. Think about the implications of the advent and their significance and their importance and their greatness.
The uncreated God appearing as a man within creation. The invisible God made visible, the eternal God born in time, he who was larger than the creation became an embryo. He who was the source of life became subject to death. He who upheld all things by the word of his power needed holding in the arms of a young girl from being loved to being hated, from glory to shame, from a throne to a cross. From a ruler to being ruled, from power to frailty. That’s the story of Christmas. That’s the implications of advent. In one sense, Christmas is a mystery. It’s staggering. It’s stupefying. To quote the words of Charles Wesley in that Christmas Carol, “Our God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man.” Amazing.
See, Christmas for Christians is not a sentiment. It’s more than holiday break. It’s the world’s greatest surprise. The Creator now a creature. The sovereign, now a servant. The infinite, now infant. That is the incarnation. Whoever said the theology was dull. How exciting, how exhilarating. How staggering, how stupefying is that? In the words of Dorothy Sayers, the English writer from the beginning of time until nigh, it is the only thing which has ever really happened. We may call this doctrine exhilarating or we may call it devastating. We may call it revelation or we may call it rubbish, but if we call it dull, then what in heaven’s name is worthy to be called excited?
The incarnation is a mystery, staggering and stupefying in its proportion, but in another sense, it’s only a kind of a mystery. The miracle that brought the incarnation about the, virgin birth of Jesus through virgin conception, that is a mystery that is beyond the bounds of scientific fact. It has no historical parallel. In that sense, the incarnation is a mystery, but in another sense, it’s only a kind of a mystery. We know the purpose through which Jesus was born. That question we can answer. High, he was conceived in the womb of a virgin. That’s a question I can’t answer. Why? He was conceived in the womb of a virgin. That’s a question we can answer. See, when Paul calls the incarnation a great mystery here in First Timothy 3 verse 16, he’s using the word mystery in the sense of something hidden now revealed.
See the coming of the Lord Jesus Christmas as we find it recorded in the gospels. That was a promise. That was an expectation, that wasn’t a secret. As far back as Genesis 3:15, “The seed of the woman who would bring redemption to the world was talked about.” The coming of Christ was on the lips of Moses and King David and out of the mouth of prophets and sages. It was a promise. It was an expectation. And when we get to the New Testament, it was a promise kept and it was an expectation fulfilled and in that sense, there’s no mystery to it. It’s only a kind of a mystery. High? That’s a tough question. Why? Not so tough and why would I want to do is take you on a little bit of a topical journey through the New Testament.
And look at several reasons that help us understand the coming of Christ. Help us see the relevance of Christmas, the importance of the doctrine of the incarnation. So if you’re taking notes, here’s the first thing I want you to think about along with me. The incarnation of Christ declares God. The incarnation of Christ declares God. That’s the first thing. Christmas is about a fuller revelation of God to man. You want to understand where I get that thought? Turn in your Bible to John chapter one, the prologue of John’s gospel. He talks about the pre-existence of Christ.
He talks about the fact that Christ was the agent of creation. Then he talks about the marvel of the fact that the word who made all things was himself made flesh, dwelt among us. We beheld the glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse 14, I scroll down to verse 18. No one has seen God at any time. In fact, if you go back into the writings of Moses, Moses says, “No one has seen God and lived.” No one has seen God at any time, the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. There’s one of the significant statements concerning the incarnation. Jesus Christ came to declare God. God’s providence can be charted throughout human history with the rise and fall of kings and kingdoms.
God’s glory and power can be measured and deduced from the beauty and vastness of the heavens. The heavens declare the glory of God. The visible planets declare something of his invisible power. God’s holiness and his law and righteousness has been written on the human heart. But in a very real sense, no man has seen God. He has made himself known, but no man has seen God, but in Jesus Christ, John tells us, “We beheld his glory,” the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of truth and grace. And you’ll notice that Jesus Christ came. Jesus Christ was born. The incarnation happened to declare him. That word declares an interest in Word.
It gives us our English word exegesis. The Lord Jesus Christ, exegetes God for us. What’s exegesis? Preachers exegete the Bible. They give a critical explanation of the text. They let the text speak, they expose its meaning. They study the literal language. They try to get into the world of the original author. They try to understand the author’s intent and the theological import of the text. They allow the text to speak, they seek to expose its meaning rather than impose a meaning on it. And that word is now used of the Lord Jesus Christ, the living word. And Jesus Christ came in his works and in his words to unfold, expose, reveal the character, will and purposes of God. Isn’t that a wonderful thing?
And in that sense, the incarnation is a kind of a mystery. What we do know about the incarnation is this, Jesus Christ came to declare God, to take the guessing out of what God is like. Have you ever wondered what God is like? Wonder no longer. Think no further. Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Eternal Word has declared him. Exegeted him. Revealed him. Jesus is God spelled out in language we understand. Isn’t that marvelous? So a couple of implications by the way, if you are seeking God, look no further than Jesus. If you’re seeking an experience of God. You want to touch the divine. You want to enter the world of the transcendent and the spiritual.
If you’re seeking God, look no further than the historical figure of Jesus Christ. A study of Jesus Christ will make you less idolatrous. See, the Bible warns us not to make images of God because they’re always going to do God an injustice. They’ll fall short of his glory and we do. We make images of God out of metal and stone and we make images of God in our mind. And sometimes our image of God is informed by our negative experiences. But you know what? You don’t need to make a mental image of God. You don’t need to make a mental image of God. If you want to know what God is like, if you want to see God, if you want to touch him in that sense, look no further than the Lord Jesus, because he has declared him.
If you think that God reveals himself in all and other religions, don’t. God doesn’t reveal himself in religions including Christianity. God reveals himself in Jesus Christ, a person who certainly is the subject of Christianity. And my friend, Jesus alone is the embodiment of life. Jesus alone is the truth that comes from God. Jesus alone is the path to God. And if you’re wondering what God is like, look no further than the Lord Jesus. Is God compassionate? Can’t you see Jesus crying? Is God righteous? Don’t you see him sending the money changers out of the temple? Is God forgiving? Look at Jesus, dealing with the woman caught in adultery. We could go on. What is God like? We see what God is like in the words and responses and miracles and kindnesses and righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
The story is told by Robert Coleman of a little girl whose father was serving overseas and one day she looked at his photograph and burst out in a sense of longing, “Oh daddy, I wish you could come out of the frame and talk to me.” For centuries, people wondered what God was like behind the clouds of the sky and beyond the stars of the evening. But God has come to us and we have heard his voice and we have felt his touch and we have known his heart. There’s a scene in the movie, Love and Death where there’s a character played by the American comedian, Woody Allen, and at one point an exasperation, this character expresses which many human hearts have expressed.
“If God would only speak to me just once, if he would only cough, if I could just see a miracle, if I could see a burning bush or seize part or my uncle Sasha pick up the bill.” My friend, if you want to see God look into the face of Jesus Christ. If you’re seeking God, look no further than Christ. If you think that God has revealed himself then all religions don’t. If you’re wondering what God is like, you don’t need to guess. You can measure what God is like in the figure and words and works of Jesus Christ. Number two, the Lord Jesus Christ not only came to declare God, the Lord Jesus Christ came to deliver man.
See, we’re trying to understand the incarnation and its implication and its importance. My friend, here this morning, Christmas is not some innocuous holiday. That’s not how Christians understand it. That’s not how the Bible teaches it. You’ve only got two options. Walk away and laugh at the notion or investigate it, and if you consider it true, nothing else matters. It should change your life. It should define your days on planet earth, because Jesus came to declare God and Jesus came to deliver man. Yeah, he came to provide a revelation, but he also came to provide redemption. Matthew 1:21, the gospel narrative, the Christmas story, the parents of Jesus were told, you will call his name Jesus, for he shall see his people from their sins, not from their ignorance, not from their poverty, not from a sense of meaninglessness.
No, fundamentally, Jesus Christ has come to address the heart of the problem, which is the problem of the heart, the human heart and I disconnected from its creator, the human heart, rising up against its creator. The human heart in its lawlessness and rebellion against the glory, holiness and law of God. Jesus Christ came to address that because that’s the fundamental issue. That’s what brings sorrow to human lives. That’s what scars history with all its hurt and wounds and that’s what produces death. And you need to understand Jesus Christ came to address that. Again, Matthew 20:28, you wonder what Christmas is about. Let me tell you in the words of Matthew, which is the word of God, he didn’t come to be served but to serve.
And give his life a ransom for many. That’s why he came, to give his life a ransom. When did he do that? Where did he do that? He did it on a Friday on a hell outside the city of Jerusalem. When he substituted his life for your life, he took the just wrath of God upon him that should have fell on you. That’s the gospel. That’s the Christmas story. Yeah, he came to show us what God is like, but he also came to see of us, by a display of what God is like, God is love. And God is merciful and gracious. You see, Jesus Christ was God and man. John 1 tells us he pre-existed. In the beginning was the word. The word was uncreated. Jesus Christ pre-existed. Everything that exists. In fact, he created it all, but at a point in history, he’s made flesh.
He adds humanity to his deity, what we call the hypostatic union, where Jesus added humanity to his deity. He didn’t cease to be God, but he came more than he ever was but never ceased to be what he’d always been. That means he’s the God-man. He’s both God and man. Jesus had two natures as one person. Without corruption, without confusion, without change. You say, is that important? Yes, as God and man, he’s perfectly fitted. He’s uniquely qualified to bridge the gulf between God and man. You’re following me? See, because of sin and because of man’s rebellion, a great gap and a great gulf was created between God and man, the creation and the creator, heaven and earth.
And the Christmas story is all about fixing that, bridging that gulf between God in his holiness and man in his sinfulness. God needs to be satisfied, his justice needs to be assuaged, but how can a man do that? How can a finite man ever do enough to satisfy an infinitely holy God? He can’t. So we’re lost. Well, that could have been true, but the amazing thing about Christmas is God won’t let that be true and God came in the person of Jesus Christ and added humanity to his deity, so that Christ, the one mediator between God and man can bridge the gulf between God and man, because he’s God and man. As God, he can save us. As man, he can die for us. That’s exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did.
Isn’t that a beautiful thing? The deity and humanity of Christ allows him to bridge a gulf between God and man from both ends. As God, he can save us and as a man he can die for us. See, man’s greatest need is not better education, not better economics, not better environments, but a perfect expiation before a holy God regarding the sin we have committed before him, which he must justly punish. And that’s the marvel of the incarnation, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. That’s Second Corinthians 5:19. That’s a theological description of the historic event. There lies the baby. The product of a miracle, a unique child.
What a wonderful child. We were just singing about it and Paul wants us to understand, do you understand that’s God in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, building the bridge between God and man as the God-man. I quoted Dorothy Sayers earlier. I’ll quote her once again. She says this God chose to make man as he is, limited and suffering and subject to death, but God had the honesty and the courage to take his own medicine. It’s a famous quote and the point of the quote is that God allowed a world to come into existence where rebellion would take place and as a result of that rebellion, sin would take place and death would come and suffering would ensue, but God took his own medicine.
He was willing to suffer for the world that brought suffering to his holiness and rose up against his kingdom. That’s love, isn’t it? But Jesus not only came to declare God, Jesus not only came to deliver, man, Jesus came to destroy Satan. Remember the incarnation is a mystery but only a kind of a mystery. The Bible is very clear on why Jesus came and what Jesus came to do for this. We’re going to First John chapter three in verse eight. Listen to what the biblical text says. “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the son of God was manifest, hold the presses.”
Now, we’re back at Christmas. For this purpose was the son of man manifest. Why was God contracted to a span incomprehensibly man? Why was the word made flesh? Why did Christmas take place? Well, according to this text, it’s so that the son of God might destroy the works of the devil. Amen to that. Amen to that. Christmas was earth’s D-Day. I’ve had the privilege of standing on the cliffs of Normandy and imagining all that went into that day and the 6th of June when allied forces landed at several points along the Normandy coast and began the push towards Berlin so then they topple that maniac and demonic figure we call Hitler.
And just as that event is an historical fact, Christmas is earth’s D-Day. As Jesus began the mission to take back planet earth. See, the big picture is the world has fallen into the wrong hands. The Bible says in First John 5:19, just a couple of chapters later, “The world lies in the lap of the wicked one.” Satan tempted Adam and eve, they fail for the temptation. Sin entered the world and death thereby. And Satan has been the pied piper of sin throughout human history. He’s a wrecker. He’s God’s arch enemy and he opposes everything about God in the world and in the human heart. He’s called the adversary. That’s who he is.
He’s against God. He’s against anyone that stands for God. He’s against anything that brings glory to God. He’s a benevolent force and you better believe it, he’s at work in the world today. He causes nations to war. He causes man to sin. He causes women to weep. He causes children to hurt. He causes death to reign. And the Bible tells me his days are numbered and his reign is coming to an end. And Jesus came into the world to achieve that. Now for many, maybe even you this morning, the devil may be a laughing matter. You say, “Pastor, you don’t believe in a red-coated figure with a teal and a pitchfork.” No, I don’t actually, but I believe in the real devil, not a caricature, who’s benevolent and hateful.
He’s a liar. He’s a deceiver, he’s a murderer and he’s at work, pouring fuel on the fire of our own sin, stirring the pot of rebellion against God. He’s trying to establish his own kingdom. Someday he will bring about his own Christ, the Antichrist, in a last fling we could go on, you get the point. Well, my friend Jesus came to deal with him. He is no laughing matter. He’s a source of much unhappiness and you may not believe in him, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist. You may not believe in him, that doesn’t mean he’s going to go away. I’ve always appreciated the story of the boxer in relation to this question of Satan’s existence. After a few rounds staggered back into the corner of the ring, bruised and beaten and bleeding.
He’d had a bad round and the trainer splashed some cold water on his head and rubbed some Vaseline under his eyes and stuck some smelling salts under his nostrils and said to him, “Rocky, you’re doing great.” Your opponent hasn’t laid a glove on you. Happiest boxer looks up and says, “Well, if it’s not my opponent, keep an eye on the referee because somebody’s knocking the living daylights out of me.” My friend, if the devil isn’t real, somebody, someone is continuing to assault the human heart within history, explain the demonic and the barbarous. Now he’s real, but Jesus is real. The devil is a liar. Christ is the truth. The devil is a murderer, but Christ is the life. The devil is a deceiver who leads people away from God, but Christ is the way to God.
Christ is the antithesis of Satan and came at Christmas to destroy his works. Jesus wants to stop Satan molesting you and your family and bullying your neighborhood. Christ defeated him in the wilderness during his temptation with the word of God. Christ defeated him on the cross, thwarting the plans of Satan and using his evil plot for good and he triumphed over principalities and powers. Christ defeated him in death and according to Hebrews 2:14, Satan has used death as a weapon of terror to hold man captive in fear and Jesus Christ has destroyed that power. Christ will defeat him at his coming, which according to Romans 16 in verse 20, is soon, when he’ll put Satan under his feet.
I think Jack Hayford said once, and I’ve never forgotten it. If Satan reminds you of your past, you remind him of his future. It’s good. His future is not a good one. After Waterloo while in exile on St. Helena, it is said that Napoleon the great French general, an emperor was pouring over a map of Europe which had the British Isles outlined in red, and he reportedly pointed to it and said, if it was not for that red spot, I would’ve conquered the world. I think that’s a little window into the end of history. When Jesus Christ, according to the book of Revelation, has returned, defeated the forces of evil, put down earth’s rebellion against God has exalted the righteous and punished the unrighteous, and it says, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire forever.
Don’t you think that to some degree, Satan at the end, will point to Bethlehem? And the coming of the Lord Jesus, he will point to the region of Galilee where Jesus showed his power and miracles over disease and death and demons. And he will point to a hell outside Jerusalem called Calvary, where Jesus Christ defeated death and the forces of darkness and triumphed over them making an open show of them. Won’t he say if it wasn’t for Bethlehem, if it wasn’t for Galilee, if it wasn’t for Jerusalem, I would’ve conquered the world? Here’s a fourth thought. The incarnation is a mystery, but in another sense it’s not. It’s a promise kept. It’s an expectation fulfilled and Jesus came and he revealed God, he declared God, he delivered man.
He destroyed Satan and he defines life. Christ as the perfect man shows us what it’s like to be truly human. The image of God has been defaced in the sons of Adam. People keep talking even in the gender debate. You know what? We’re all made in the image of God. Not really. We’re made in the image of Adam, and the image of God is being defaced by sin and rebellion and man is not what he ought to be and he doesn’t look anything like God created him to be and Jesus Christ came to restore that image. In the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been given a mirror to look into, to see a reflection of what we ought to be like.
Let me quote a British author, Michael Lloyd in a book called Cafe Theology. “If Jesus is both divine and human, then he not only shows us what God is like, he shows us what human beings are meant to be like.” What we are intended to be like, what we could be like. What one day by the gracious craft of the Holy Spirit, we shall be like. If Jesus Christ is God living a human life, then we have in him the designer’s blueprint for how human beings are meant to live. Your passion and my passion ought to be, I want to be like Jesus because Jesus shows us God, but he shows us what ought to be our true selves. In fact, Michael Lloyd quotes a professor John Webster who put it this way.
I think this is a memorable quote. “If Christmas is a protest against idolatrous pictures of God, it is no less a protest against inhumane pictures of mom.” Jesus came to define life. He’s the giver of life. All things are created by him and for him and must be related to him. Jesus teaches us to love our neighbor this Christmas. Jesus teaches us to obey our parents this Christmas. Jesus teaches us to embrace the every day this Christmas. For 30 years, the assumption is that he lived in Nazareth and worked out of his father Joseph’s carpenter shop. You need to imagine Jesus with a tool belt, with a few cuts and scrapes from all the construction he did.
His hands would’ve been a little leathery. He embraced the everyday he lived for 30 years in the everyday. He teaches us to respect marriage. A lot of debate today about defining marriage. Can I define it as Jesus define it between one man and one woman for life and what God has joined, let no man or society pull us under. You respect Jesus, you need to respect his definition of marriage. He teaches us to give thanks, keep Sabbath to appreciate small things, the bird of the air, the lily of the field, a cup of water given to someone that’s thirsty. Jesus teaches us to treasure children. He’s too busy. Guys, stop it. Let the little ones come to me, for such as the kingdom of heaven.
He teaches us to forgive our enemies, to look for the overlooked and to value life. Ours is increasingly a society that discards life, that’s youth and age are old. Let’s give an option of death to the disabled. Let’s kill the children in the womb because they’re just a blob of cells. Whoa, that’s so far removed from the teaching of Jesus, who’s the perfect human, who came to define life for us. Listen to what Michael Lloyd says again. If someone not only sets up a company but also, invests all they have in it, then you know that they believe in it. And if God not only created human beings but also became one, then we may know he believes in us and values us.
Does God believe in life? Does God value life? Yes. The incarnation tells you that. He’s all in on us. He values us. He sees a dignity to life and the creation that is now being defaced and he wants to restore it. God becoming a man is the massive affirmation of the project of creation in general and the value of humanity in particular. Now, can I go in two directions with that just for a few minutes? Hang with me now. I’ve got one more thought. The incarnation of Jesus teaches us that there’s no division in life between the sacred and the secular. See, that’s one of the implications of what we call the hypostatic union. Let’s go back to what we said. The incarnation is Jesus Christ, the eternal God, the pre-existent one, adding a new nature to all already existing nature, without corruption, without change.
He always was God. He never was a man, but he became a man, but he never ceased to remain God. And so in Jesus Christ, you’ve got this wonderful balance between the divine and the human, the secular and the sacred, the religious and the ordinary, the supernatural and the natural, and they coexist in wonderful harmony, in the one person. So I just want to remind you, you don’t get to divvy up life. You don’t get to be one thing on a Sunday and another thing on a Monday. You don’t get to say that teaching children at the Sunday School at Kindred on Sunday morning is something of value, but teaching your class of students, switching on your lathe in the factory.
Grabbing your tool belt and heading to the construction sheet, changing your little one’s diaper is any less valuable, any less pleasing to God. Isn’t that marvelous. Jesus shows that there’s no part of human life outside the rule of God. Jesus shows us there’s no part of human life beyond the transforming power and beautifying element of the life of God within history. And I’ll take that one step further. Jesus would warn us not to live in a state of religious fanaticism, where we downplay the human element side of life’s equation. See the fanatic, the super spiritual, for them, the divine is all that matters.
Sunday matters not Monday, God’s family, not your family, but that’s not true. Jesus taught us the balance between the divine and the human. He said to his disciples, “Hey, watch and pray.” There’s a balance, isn’t there? And I certainly pray to God and ask him for strength, but you need to watch. Jesus in his own temptation, knew the difference between trusting God and testing God. Jesus didn’t act like a fanatic and throw himself off the top of a building so that God could demonstrate his miraculous power. No, trusting God and testing God are two different things. Trusting God doesn’t alleviate you of your responsibility.
Our love for God and our seeking of His kingdom isn’t divorced from your daily work or raising your family or loving your neighbor. Your walk with God is not to be divorced from a walk along the beach. It’s all spiritual, it’s all sacred, it’s all valuable. Jesus warns us about our religious fanaticism that divorces the spiritual from the physical and the supernatural, from the natural. And yet, it’s with us today. Have you ever met any Christian or a person that says, “You know what, you don’t need to go to the doctors. Jesus will heal you.” Can Jesus heal? Absolutely. Can he heal you? Yes, but his miracles were rare and I think his miracles that they are also rare.
They had a purpose. They don’t exist just for our personal comfort. They existed to display his deity and glory. And Jesus in fact said, if you’re sick, go to a doctor. People will tell you, you don’t need to think through your decisions. God will ride it in the sky. There’ll be a bump in the night. There’ll be a feeling, a phone call will come out of the blue. Something out of the ordinary will invade the ordinary and you’ll know what you need to do. Well, God has done that in some cases, but most of the time God is going to direct you through a renewed mind according to Romans 12, where you can discern what the good and perfect will of God is.
You got to do some thinking. You got to do some … here’s the upside of that. Here’s the downside of that. People will tell me that you don’t have to prepare your sermons. Didn’t Jesus say he’ll give you what you need to say, when you need to say it? Yeah, he did, but that was to his apostles and that was when they stood before magistrates. That’s not a pastor in the pulpit before a people, because elsewhere the pastors told to be a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth and you get the point, you got to move on. None of that is true. The incarnation doesn’t show us that kind of living. It’s not fanatical.
It’s not divorce from everyday life on your human responsibility. The incarnation of Christ holds the human and the divine together in balance. You know the story a little hokey, but you know the story about the guy who was in his house and he was in a floodplain and the weather was bad and the flood was coming. He was told to evacuate and his neighbors were evacuating and he didn’t. And when they asked him, why are you not getting out? He said, “Well, you know what? I trust God. He’ll take care of me.” He’s the only guy left in the street. The flood comes halfway up the house. He’s on the second floor. A boat comes by with some rescue people.
And say, you want to hop in? He goes, no, I’m good. I’m trusting God. He’ll rescue me. The flood continues to rise. He’s on the roof. He’s hanging onto the chimney. A helicopter comes by, drops down a winch, invites him to be winched to safety, but he refuses it. You know what? I’m trusting God, he’ll deliver me, but he drowns, finds himself in the presence of God. He’s got a bit of an issue with God and ask God, well, “Why didn’t you rescue me? I put my trust in you,” to which God replied, I sent you a boat and a helicopter. Why didn’t you take the deliverance? I think you get the message, right? It’s not balance. Last thought. The incarnation disrupts suffering. It disrupts suffering through the incarnation of Christ.
God’s son, Christ the eternal word, acquired human nature, apart from sin, which allowed him to experience human suffering because of sin. See, that’s what Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:14 to 16 teaches us. Let me read those verses and apply this. Hebrews 2:18, “For in that he himself, that’s Jesus, has suffered.” Jesus suffered, experienced suffering because you see now, he’s in a human body. He’s a ground zero. He’s living our life and encountering our everyday experiences because he suffered being tempted. He is able to aid those who are tempted. That’s the purpose of Christmas. Jesus came so that today in your suffering, in the midst of your testing and temptation, he can come alongside and help you to destroy the works of the devil.
Help you live the life God created you to live. We go to Hebrews four, four to 16, “Seeing them, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus is son of God, let us hold fast. Our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.” Jesus came to sympathize, to identify with us, was tempted without sin. Then we can come to the throne of grace, not a throne of granite, a throne of grace, and obtain mercy and find grace and help in time of need. You need any help? Are you experiencing rejection, so did he. You’re suffering heart, so did he. Facing misunderstanding, feeling hatred, seeing violence, encountering temptation, battling betrayal, tasting thirst or hunger.
Experiencing depression absorbing injustice, living with death. So did he. God doesn’t shout it to us through a megaphone at a safe distance. God came to us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, experienced creation from within, lived among us and suffered with us so that indeed as the son of God, he might be mighty to save. And as the son of man mighty to feel. Can I say this little statement? In Christ, God gets us. There’s a world of theology in that. There’s a miracle that stands behind that. The incarnation explains that God gets us. You can’t say of God, he doesn’t understand, you can’t. You say, but he didn’t sin, he doesn’t understand that side. But no, he didn’t sin. He experienced temptation and battles beyond which you and I can’t imagine.
Where we stopped and give in, he went further and fought. He’s qualified to be a great merciful high priest. Someone said this, “Let us never imagine that God does not understand us.” God’s son took our nature. He entered our experience. He knows what physical pain is. He knows what emotional and spiritual pain is. He knows what the loss of God is. He stood in the outer darkness in the place where there was no comfort in the place of absolute why, where needing God is no man ever needed God. He cried and God was not there. Being a burden such as the world has never known and left comfortless bearing a burden. We never go beyond his pain. Our darkness is never more intense than His.
Our whys are never more bewildered. Sometimes when we ask why me, part of his answer is me too. That’s powerful. That’s why Corrie Ten Boom, came out of the concentration camp at Ravensbruck, at the end of the second World War, where she encountered unimaginable inhumanity and demonic activity. She lost her sister, but she came out of that and she said this to audiences all around the world, and I can finish with it. There is no pit so deep, that he is not deeper still. You cannot go beyond his pain, his suffering, his questioning. My friend this Christmas, while the coming of Jesus by means of a virgin conception and birth is a mystery to us beyond scientific fact.
It challenges our comprehension. It defies our imagination. The coming of Jesus in another sense is not a mystery. It’s a revelation. It’s an expectation fulfilled of the promise kept, and Jesus takes the guessing out of what God is like. Jesus came through. Build the bridge between God and man and reconnect us with the one who created us for his glory and purpose. Jesus wants to destroy and overturn the rule of Satan in your life and the havoc he’s wreaking. Jesus wants to show you how to live, defeat Satan and glorify God and enjoy the peace of God. Whatever you’re hurt, he wants to heal it. Whatever you need, he wants to help. Father, we just pause at the end of this sermon and this service to again, marvel. Our God, contracted to a Span, incomprehensibly man.
The love that stands behind that, the grace that underwrites that, the mercy that’s shown in that, we will spend all of eternity trying to comprehend. And in a sense, there’ll always be a mystery. Another level of understanding to what you did in Jesus Christ for us and what it meant to him so that God could get us. But Lord, we’ve understood the heart of the gospel. Jesus has revealed the love of God. Jesus is a sin bearing Savior. Jesus reminds us of how far we have fallen in our inhumanity to each other from the glory of God. Jesus promises us the defeat of Satan and his works, and Jesus stands ready to help us. Lord, we thank you for that.
For those who haven’t trusted him, may they. For those of us that have, may we more trust him and realize what a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry it all to God in prayer and what peace we often forfeit and what needless pain we bear. It’s because we don’t carry it all to him in prayer. And so Lord, we give you thanks. We thank you that you’ve made the way and the praise is yours, in Jesus’ name. Amen.