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Larry King was once asked: "If you could select any one person across all of history to interview, who would it be?"
Mr. King's answer was that he would like to interview Jesus Christ.
When the questioner followed with, "And what would you like to ask him?"
King replied, "I would like to ask him if he was indeed virgin-born.
The answer to that question would define history for me."
He so loved us that, for our sake,
He was made man in time,
although through him all times were made.
He was made man, who made man.
He was created of a mother whom he created.
He was carried by hands that he formed.
He cried in the manger in wordless infancy, he the Word,
without whom all human eloquence is mute.
—Augustine, Sermon 188, 2
The Prince: Soren Kierkegaard the Danish theologian tells a story about a certain kingdom with a handsome prince.
Now the prince was searching for a woman worthy enough to become his wife and to rule the land with him.
But no one in the royal court could be found to please him.
One day as he was running an errand for his father he glanced out the window of his golden-carriage and he happened to see a beautifully stunning maiden working in the fields.
He was instantly struck.
And so he decided to pursue her.
He had a choice: he could show up at her village with his splendid uniform and six-horse carriage, and his entourage of attendants.
But then how would he know if she truly loved him?
She could just agree because she was overwhelmed by his power, of out of fear of punishment, or even out of greed.
And so he chose an alternate plan: he endeavored to remove his royal garments (no more crown, nor scepter, nor purple robes) and don the ragged clothing of a peasant—tattered pants, worn shoes.
Next he moved into the village and took a job as a common laborer.
He worked his way into her life, placing himself in her path.
And his wooing worked The fairy tale ends as all fairy tales do.
It’s the kind of story Disney would make a movie out of, or fathers would tell their daughters.
As a parable, it has its flaws.
Yet Kierkegaard saw a much deeper reality than a children’s story—the truth of the incarnation of Christ.
There is nothing in fact or in fiction in the history of man which matches the mystery of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Humanly speaking, no one anticipated God’s intervention into human history by the birth of a child, born in a manger.
Not even Judaism was looking for Messiah to come in this way.
Furthermore, we have become so accustomed to the biblical narratives of the birth of our Lord and the credal formulations of the doctrines involved that we have often ceased to appreciate the mystery of the incarnation.
If we are to properly appreciate the mystery of the incarnation, we must first come to recognize the importance of the coming of our Lord as God incarnate.
For this reason I have chosen to devote this first message on the incarnation to the subject of the importance of the incarnation.
Let us consider the reasons why it the doctrine of the incarnation is vital to every one of us.
MAN’S MAKER BECAME TO REVEAL GOD TO MEN.
In the past, God had revealed Himself through His works (as recorded in the Scriptures), His world (Psalm 19:1-6), and His word (Ps.
19:7-14).
In the coming of Christ, God was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ:
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him
Our Lord can therefore say without any hesitation,
And not only does the Lord Jesus reveal the Father to men, He also reveals men for what they are in God’s sight:
In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it . . . .
There was a true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him
Before, God had revealed His standard of righteousness in precept and in principle, but in Christ that standard was revealed in person.
The Lord clearly claimed to be the very One whom the apostles represented as the incarnate Son of God (John 1:1; 6:38; II Cor.
8:9; Phil.
2:6,7; Gal.
4:4-5).
To refuse to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as God incarnate is therefore to reject all of God’s divine revelation, be that the Old or the New Testament Scriptures (cf.
John 5:39-40; 6:45, 68; 8:26, 31-32, 42-47; Matt.
22:29).
It is little wonder, then, that those who reject the biblical teaching of the incarnation also reject the authority of the Scriptures which so emphatically teach this doctrine.
MAN’S MAKER BECAME MAN TO REDEEM FALLEN MAN
Nothing could be more clearly documented in the Scriptures than the fact that the principle purpose of the incarnation was to save men from their sins:
If there is no incarnation there is no salvation.
Communion reminds us that salvation is achieved by the shedding of blood
The Bread represents His body which was without sin and the cup symbolizes the blood of our Lord.
Blood cannot be shed apart from a human body.
Therefore, salvation is dependent upon the incarnation.
The entire matter of man’s eternal salvation hinges upon the argument which is found in Romans 5.
The question underlying this chapter has to do with how the righteousness of one man, Jesus Christ, is able to save many.
The answer is
The solution to sin is the incarnation of the “second Adam” whose righteousness will save all who are in Him by faith
If man’s maker did not become a man no of us can become children of God.
MAN’S MAKER BECAME MAN AS A REQUISITE FOR HIS CURRENT MINISTRY.
Our salvation, accomplished in the past by the death of Christ on the cross and fully realized in His second coming and reign is contingent upon His humanity.
In between the past and the future there is yet another ministry which our Lord carries on as man:
At the present time, while the Son waits for the Father’s word to return to the earth and subdue His enemies (cf.
I Cor.
15:20-28; Rev. 5).
In this present time the Lord Jesus is our advocate with the Father (I John 2:1).
His present high priestly role has special relevance to us because He has come to the earth as man, making Him a compassionate and understanding advocate and source of strength and encouragement:
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