The Incarnation: The Wonder of Christ's Glory

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

John 1:1‭-‬18 ESV

Rev. Charles Han

What's the best present that a child could receive for Christmas?

Their dad, in the flesh, present with them. That is what we celebrate at Christmas. In Christ, God came in the flesh and was present with us.

Grace, truth, and glory came. The son of God became flesh so that these things would not be just abstractions. They would be real, substantive, touchable and knowable in Christ.

John refers to Jesus as "the word." Out of all the things Jesus could've been called, John chooses this. Words reveal our character, dreams, personality. Jesus is God's intimate outreaching to us. God's ways are higher than ours. But God stooped down and spoke in human terms. Not only that, but he came down in human form. 

Jesus came to his people and was rejected. God, the father, who holds us up and sustains us... gets slapped in the face. The only reason that sinners can slap God is because he gets close enough for them to do so. Jesus is grace. Not some abstract thing, but He himself is grace.

In Jesus we see the full glory of God

Moses asked to see God's face. God turned him down, because that would've liked Moses. So instead Moses saw the back of God's glory... his face shown from that and long after he came back down from the mountain. Jesus is God's grace manifest. He is what Moses longed to see. We see it in full with eyes of faith.

We are innate glory seekers. But we fall short and play with little glories rather than the incomparable glory of Jesus. But what makes Jesus above all the others? Jesus is a combination of holiness & love, truth & grace, transcendent & immenent. He is a paradoxical meeting of seeming absolutes. God's glory is seen most in the shame and humility of the cross. Jesus is the truth that sets us free. Jesus is the grace who bought us life. 

The incarnation : The wonder of Christ's compassion

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, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 2:14‭-‬18, 4:14‭-‬16 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Jesus took on flesh to save

He came to save. Through death he came to deliver us from death and slavery to sin. Jesus saves us from the fear of death. Before the industrial revolution, death was immediate and direct. Now we can keep death at arm's length. We have modern medicine and vitamins. We have even outsourced to some extent with funeral homes and hospice care. Not only that, but we distract ourselves with entertainment. Inevitably, death awaits every one of us. The pursuit of legacy and achievements is trying to make our name outlast our lives. The vast majority of us will be forgotten in one or two generations. There is nothing that lasts without God. All our deeds will be forgotten. Death and sickness awaits us all.

But God sent his son. Man sinned and rejected God. Our punishment is deserved. But instead, Jesus came in the form of man to accept the punishment of men. But he was, in substance, God, so that he could take the full wreath of God and survive. So that we have grace for now and for the life to come. We can intellectually agree. But how about the here and now? Often we find life as a believer difficult and tough. 

Jesus took on flesh to fully sympathize with us

Jesus knows us. He had walked in our shoes. The priests of old offered up animal sacrifice. But Jesus came and offered his very life. He knew sickness. He knew the burden of serving others. He knew of slander, shame, betrayal, pain, sickness... He knew of sorrow and to weep over the death of a loved one. He knew what it was to be forsaken. He knew temptation and the pull of revenge, sexual temptation, and immediate gratification. He was sinless, but he knew temptation better than any one of us. Whatever hardship, struggle, or temptation, Jesus fully sympathize with us.

Jesus strengthens us

Jesus comes in compassion and gentleness. We find sympathy in Him. But more than that, He saves and delivers. Jesus saves. He invites us to come to Him. We can find strength and salvation in Jesus.

The incarnation: The wonder of Christ's Obedience

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 3:23‭- 4:‬7 ESV

What is this law that Christ came to obey?

This law is referred to as a guardian. Kind of like a governess or supervisor of the children of the household. In the time of the text, these guardians were often slaves. They kept the minors in check with the household code. This is different from the workplace or the courts. This was in the context of families. The law was not how one entered the household. It was because one is part of the household.

When the minors come of age, the supervisor is no longer over us. But we don't ignore the law, it is that we have become mature that we desire to follow the law. We not longer needed the guardrails. All those rules and things we were compelled to do should, now that we have matured, make sense and have value for us.

Why does His obedience matter?

Is there something significant to this? Jesus living the perfect life is insufficient. How do we know? Because of the cross. The law cannot give us life. Righteousness does not come from the law, it comes from faith. Being obedient to the law will not make God love you. God's love is unconditional. Jesus did not earn the Father's love. He just received God's love. 

God loves, even though we bring nothing to the deal. That is saving faith. Nothing to be earned in our salvation. The cross was necessary and sufficient for us. We are now heirs in the family of God. Christ's daily experience of obedience was the proving ground for the cross. His daily submission to God was pointing to His final submission to death on the cross. 

Small obedience leads to big Obedience. Jesus submitted to his parents. He knew more than his parents, but still obeyed. It's like a parent listening to their five year old. That is the radical humility of Jesus.

Are we practicing the small acts of obedience and submission to God? It begins today. The inverse is also true. Small rebellions will lead to greater sin. Great unfaithfulness comes from little disobedience day by day. We are called to daily die to ourselves and pick up our cross. This is not just some pithy saying. This is how we are changed, day by day.

Those who are in the family of God are concerned with what He is concerned about. Believers grieve when they sin because they know it hurts God. They cry for mercy, not as an employee to their boss, but a child crying to their parent. Repenting over sin is more than just not doing it again. It is seeing the life & goodness of the right way. Guilt should lead you somewhere, not hold you down. Self loathing will not save you. Jesus saves. God loves and no sin can separate us from Him. 

The law cannot bring us life. It cannot be used to please God. It can only reveal our relationship with God. We cannot come to God through the law. Our obedience does not bring us to God; it only reveals what is true about our relationship with God.

We need to put our faith in God.

We need to rest in God's provision for us. We need to let God love us. Stop earning and striving. We cannot argue our case because we are guilty. We cannot make God love us. We are not a slave in the house of God; we are heirs. There is nothing we can do to make salvation happen. God is good and loving. We can only take it by faith and come to Him.

The incarnation: the wonder of Christ's humility

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:5‭-‬11 ESV

Rev. Dan Whang

The wonder of Christ's humility

Jesus became one of us. This should impress us. But we live in a first world country, we live comfortable lives. But we need to consider the life of an Israelites under the rule of the Romans. It was not a pleasant life. 

Jesus' life is summarized in 3 parts. First Jesus was in the form of God. He was a separate person, but he was in the nature of God. He was in perfect communion with the Holy Trinity. Then, He became nothing. God is so far above us and so different from us in so many ways. But he became restrained by human limits. It is unfathomable to us. It is the greatest downgrade in lifestyle and everything else. He was born into obscurity, a blue collar family, no good looks to recommend him. Not only that, but he would die in the most painful and shameful way. We might be able to humble ourselves in some extent, but Jesus humbled himself beyond what we could by ourselves bare. He knew the awkwardness of teenage years. He knew betrayal, loneliness, frustration, ... All these things He experienced. He knew the pain of family infighting, lack of money, and all the human troubles large and small. Finally, he was exalted to the right hand of God, the Father. He came back to life after defeating the grave and death. He went from the humble King to the risen King. At his name, every knee would bow. 

Walking in Christ's humility

Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit and he wrote this passage for a reason. He was asking the church to be of one mind. There had been pride, quarreling, and infighting amount members of the church. Salvation does not mean all conflict will disappear. If our hearts are not filled with the love of Christ, we will seek to fill it with other things. Respect, pleasure, power, praise of men, a sense of control... If you are full, then other things will not have the same pull or temptation.