Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Incarnation of God in Christ

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa. 9:6)

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (God is with us). (Isa. 7:14)

…Being made in the likeness of men…the Word became flesh…(Phil. 2:7; John 1:14)

The best case for the deity of Jesus Christ is that the character and attributes which scripture gives to God Almighty in the Old Testament, are given to Christ in the New.

Creator:
Isa. 40:28 -- Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

Col. 1:16 -- For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
John 1:3 -- All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Savior:
Isa. 43:11 -- I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.
Isa. 45:21-22 -- Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved,all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

John 4:42 -- They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."
Titus 2:13-- …waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ

Judge:
Gen 18:25 -- Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"
John 5:27 -- And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

Glory of God:
Ps. 24:7, 10 -- Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in…Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!
Isa. 48:11-- For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

I Cor. 2:7-8 -- But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Heb. 1:3 -- He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

King and Lord:
Ps. 5:2 -- Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.

I Tim. 6:14-15 -- …to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Shepherd:
Ps. 23:1 -- The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

John 10:11 – “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd(B) lays down his life for the sheep.”

First and Last:
Isa. 41:4; 44:6 -- Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he…Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”

Rev. 1:8 -- "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Rev. 1:17-18 -- When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
Rev. 2:8 -- And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: “The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.”

Light:
Isa. 60:19-20 -- The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.

John 8:12 -- Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
I John 1:5 -- This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

“I AM”:
Ex. 3:14 -- God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

John 8:58 -- Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."

Raises the dead:
I Sam. 2:6 -- The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.

John 5:21-- For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
John 11:25-26, 43-44 -- Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"… When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Redeemer:
Hosea 13:14 -- Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Gal. 3:13 -- Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree."
Rev. 5:9 -- And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

Forgiver of sins:
Jer. 31:34 -- And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

Mark 2:7, 10 -- Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"… But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he said to the paralytic— "I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home."

Humiliation:
Isa. 50:6 -- I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.

Matt. 26:67; 27:30 -- Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him…And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.

Purpose of the incarnation

II Cor. 8:9 – For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Gal 4:4-5 – 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.

Luke 19:10 – For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.

I John 3:5 – You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

Rom 8:3-4 – 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, 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.

Heb. 2:14, 16-17 – 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.

What was manifested through Christ’s life?

John 1:18 – No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

John 4:34 – Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

John 7:16 – So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.”

John 8:28 – So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”

John 10:30-38 – “I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

John 11:38-44 – Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

John 14:8-9 – Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Conclusion:
Jesus’ union with the Father was the source of his teaching, work, and personality. While he was God incarnate, as man he surrendered his prerogative to act as God, enabling God the Father to work through him. Through Jesus, the Father made himself known, by the things people saw in Jesus. What was the purpose of the Son’s incarnation? It was twofold: To seek and save that which was lost; and secondly, to show his followers that it is possible to manifest the life of God through the obedience of faith.

What is manifested through our life? We also have a union with God in Christ. We cannot imitate Christ in his position as God, but we can imitate Christ in his dependence upon the Father to manifest himself through him. Who or what is the source of our words, works, and personality?

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