Blessings of the Incarnation

There is a story of a man who struggled to save enough money to take a ship from Europe to America. As he boarded, he met a fellow traveler in line. After a friendly conversation, they both went to their designated rooms. At the end of the multiple-day journey, they saw each other as they got off the ship. The man who struggled to save money offered the second man some food he had brought for the trip. “You must be hungry, but I knew the journey was long, so I brought some cheese and bread to eat while I enjoyed the trip in my room. You can have some if you like.” To which the other man responded, “Didn’t you know your ticket included more than just a trip? It included food and so much more!”

Imagine the shock of finding out you did not know that your trip included so much more.

Learning about the doctrine of the incarnation may be like this story. We know it has something to do with our destination, but we may not realize its impact on our journey and daily walk. We can learn and appreciate the blessings of the gospel because Jesus Christ took on flesh for you and me. Let’s look at three blessings in the gospel: Freedom from Old Laws, Life in the Spirit, and A New Pattern and Identity.

Romans 8:1–17 ESV

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Paul wrote the letter to the Roman church to explain the gospel to a people he had yet to visit. In the previous verses, Paul described the need for all people to come to terms with their need to have peace with the Creator. It may have appeared that those of Jewish descent had a privilege ahead of others, but they too were in the same situation. All have sinned and are distant from God. But the Gospel, or Good News, is that Jesus has made the way for us to be forgiven and restored to God. And he offers this privilege of grace only through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Problem of the Struggle and Laws

In chapter 7, Paul describes the problem with two laws with which he and all humans struggle.

#1 - The Law of Reality - He wants to do things that please God and lead to blessed living but ends up doing the exact opposite.

Human League - Human

#2 - The Law of God - The commands from God in scripture that direct us how we are to live and shows us how this world was intended to function.

The problem is that we may want to follow God's law, but we remain stuck in the laws. The first is our own inability to be perfect in the law. And the second law pointed out our sin without helping us conquer our sin. So how do we fix our problem of sin? We need a way out, and Jesus Christ is the One who frees us. It is absurd to think you can make people more law-abiding by making more laws. Ask yourself this, “Does having more laws make people better drivers?”. That seems to be what Paul is telling us about the law, "weakened by the flesh, could not do". But the incarnation was part of the plan to defeat sin “in the flesh”.

Incarnation: The act of grace whereby Jesus came to earth and took on a human nature into union with his diving nature becoming “God incarnate” for the purpose of our salvation.

“Christ took precisely the same fallen nature that we ourselves have, and that he remained sinless because he constantly overcame a proclivity to sin.”

Mounce, Robert H. Romans. Vol. 27. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995. Print. The New American Commentary.

The incarnation unites two unchanging truths: first, that only God can save, and secondly, that humanity is subject to God's law and unable to fully be righteous. The necessity to fulfill the law and be saved from consequences come together in Jesus Christ, the God-Man.

The Law of the Spirit

The solution is a new law, the Law of the Spirit (the gospel). Through Christ, the Law of the Spirit surpasses the first two laws. Paul continues to talk about this as being “in the Spirit.” “Life in the Spirit” is synonymous with being “in Christ”. So, what does it mean to be “in Christ”? To be "in Christ" means we have accepted His sacrifice as for our sins through faith. It involves us recognizing our need for help and our inability to solve the sin problem. We are only human, and apart from a Savior, we are stuck. But in Christ, we have the righteousness of God fulfilled in us by the one Christ who fulfilled the law of God.

And how does one get “in the Spirit”? Is this only for those who have gone through a process of learning or special training? Is it only for the religious elite? No, it is available to all who believe in Christ. To believe in Christ is to not only agree with what Christ taught and did for us, it includes entrusting our life to Him as King.

And if you are in Christ, you have been made right with God, and the good news continues because we have God's Holy Spirit residing in you. It's a sobering thought because we recognize our human challenges even after being positionally right with God. He still abides with us as people that are still growing up in Christ. This is called sanctification. Positionally, we are made right with Christ (Saved). But we are maturing, becoming more sanctified (setting ourselves apart in commitment to God).

And the Holy Spirit within us serves as a kind of spiritual compass as He reveals truth in the Bible for us. He corrects us through feelings as well. He meets with us in prayer and intercedes for us. He guides us. In Christ we can be different.

A Pattern for Life

God, in His grace, gives us salvation through faith. And by His grace, He gives the opportunity to live differently. The law of struggle and the law of God give way to the Law of the Spirit. But how do we go forward in this new life?

Paul reminds us that we do not owe our past life of sin anything.

If you were sick with the flu and Would you think of flu as a dear friend that was with you for a short time. And now that the flu is gone, you wish for one more night with it? Of course not, and Paul reminds us we don't owe sin, the devil, nor our natural sinful desires any of our sentiment, feelings, time, or energy.

In fact, we are to treat those things as deeds that need to be put to death. Is sin really that bad? Is sin over emphasized in Christianity? Shouldn’t we focus on social issues rather than this sin issues? It is impossible to read the Bible without confronting the issue of God’s commands and the human struggle to obey. Sin is any deviation from God’s divinely revealed will.

is sin really that bad - sin vs covid fear

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If we are not debtors to the flesh, then what is our current state in Christ? We are children of God. And as we cooperate with the Spirit of God in obedience, we show that we have come into a new relationship with God. We are no longer enemies, no longer slaves to sin, but people who have been adopted.

In adoption all previous relationships are severed. The new father exercises authority over the new son, and the new son enters into the privileges and responsibilities of the natural son.

Mounce, Robert H. Romans. Vol. 27. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995. Print. The New American Commentary.

Paul continues with a sobering but encouraging thought. We may experience varying degrees of suffering for our faith, we may suffer the loss associated with leaving our past sinful lives and affiliations, we may be rejected by those who do not see things as we do or have animosity against the Bible or following Christ, but the temporary suffering will become a glory just as Christ was glorified.

Application

The Incarnation is God's pivotal point that leads to blessings in Christ. It is not simply enough to say that Jesus took on flesh. We must recognize the overflowing nature of grace. In the Law of the Spirit, we find so much. We find life as God intends for us. It is not found in being successful, rich, or anything else that we could gather in this world. It is found being in Christ. We also see our pattern for life. God has freed us to become something different and so radically changed that the Bible calls it New Creation. All the efforts of our world systems are looking for this hope even though many fail to believe it. This is the hope you have because of God’s grace.

If we go back to our first story of the two men, we see one who fully appreciated all available to him. The second failed to learn about what was part of his new reality. But we should consider a possible third person in the story. This person stands at the dock and has yet to decide to get on board. Out of all three, which one are you?

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