Incarnation

‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ Advent is about Jesus’ incarnation. While the word, ‘incarnation’, is familiar enough, taking even a moment to ponder what it means brings us into mystery and awe. The infinite God took on a very finite human body. I suspect that we will never really grasp what’s involved in that. But still, it’s good for us to do what we can to understand whatever we can about the Incarnation. To do that we’re going to use something Paul wrote as he explained and then applied the doctrine of Jesus’ Incarnation. Listen.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2.5-11 [NASV]

You’ll notice that the word ‘incarnation’ does not appear here. And yet, it’s obvious that this is what Paul is writing about when we read,

and being made in the likeness of men…

God, the Son, was made in the likeness of men. God, the Son, took on a human body.

So, how does Paul explain what’s involved in His doing that?  Here’s a part of it.

He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself … 

Jesus not only took on flesh, but He also left something behind when He came to this world. As Paul explains it, He emptied Himself. The question to ask at this point is clear. Emptied Himself of what? There have been those who have thought that Jesus emptied Himself of His deity. At one point, there was quite the debate about that. But we know that that’s not what Paul is talking about. Read through the Gospels, and it will be clear that Jesus was God in flesh.

So, this emptying is not about that. But what is it about? Jesus emptied Himself of what? This is one of those places where the King James can be so helpful. What you’ll find there instead of ‘He emptied Himself’ is ‘He made Himself of no reputation’. To be sure, it’s a bit more interpretation than just translation, but it’s a helpful interpretation.

When God came down to Israel on Mt. Sinai there was no mistaking what was going on. The thunder and lightning, the thick cloud on the mountain, the very loud trumpet blast, the fire and smoke – all of that made it abundantly clear who had arrived. God was among the people of Israel. But when Jesus walks from village to village, there is no thunder or lightning or any of the rest that highlighted the glory of God. It was precisely that glory that Jesus set aside. That’s what He left behind.

This fits with what Isaiah wrote.

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. Isaiah 53.2

There was no outward grandeur in Jesus. There was no divine glory. To all appearances, He was just another peasant. Jesus made Himself of no reputation. He emptied Himself.

All of that was working to answer, at least in part, the what question. What is this Incarnation? Now, we’re ready for the why question. Why did God, the Son, do all of this? Why did He empty Himself of His divine glory? Why take on human flesh? Why bother? And Paul tells us.

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

God, the Son, did not become a man so that He could teach people truth, though He did that and did it quite well. He did not become a man so that He could heal people, though He did that too, and there were many who were very grateful that He did. God, the Son, became man so that He could suffer and die in obedience to the Father’s plan to rescue us. The point of the Incarnation was the Cross. The Son came to die for sin. And that is something that we need to keep central. Paul is clear.  Jesus has come to deal with our sin problem. That’s the reason for the Incarnation. That’s the answer to the why question.

However, the Cross is not the end of the story. You might call this the ‘therefore-what’ question. What’s the result of the Incarnation? What happens at the end of the story? According to Paul, at the end of the story the Father responds to Jesus’ obedience.

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

At the end of the story Jesus will be praised. He will be praised first by the Father who highly exalted Him. And then, in keeping with the Father’s intention, the rest of creation will also praise Him. Now, be careful. It’s not that God, the Son was highly exalted. No, that’s not what Paul wrote. It’s the man whom the Son became who is exalted. It’s Jesus who is praised. The Incarnation continues.

Now, all of that is a quick discussion of the Incarnation as Paul has explained it. We’ve touched on the what question and the why question and the therefore-what question. And all that now leads to the so-what question. What are we to do with this? Paul doesn’t leave us on our own to answer this question. Let’s go back to where he started.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus …

Paul’s goal was not simply to teach some theology. His goal in explaining this theology was quite practical. In fact, that’s always the goal in explaining theology. It’s always about how we are to live. Paul went through all of that about the Incarnation to teach those Philippian saints how to live. The reason for Paul’s explanation of all this theology is that we who are saints are to imitate Jesus’ Incarnation.

So, what does this mean for us? How are we to imitate Him? We do not imitate Jesus’ Incarnation by taking on something like He did. But we do imitate Him by leaving off something. We are to empty ourselves.

We do not have any divine glory. But we do have some very human glory. Unfortunately, much of that is a false glory. This false glory is all the times that we think of ourselves more highly than we ought. It’s our arrogance and it’s obvious that that has to go. But there is a kind of glory that we have that is true and valid. We have good reputations, rooted in some good character qualities. These are the things that make us look good and rightly so.

Now, it just might be that God will call you to empty yourself. It just might be that God will call you to set aside your glory in order to do something that He wants you to do, something that others will think very foolish or even very wrong. It just may be that you will need to make yourself of no reputation in the opinion of others so that you can be obedient to the call of God.

I’m thinking that doing something like that doesn’t sound very appealing. And it actually shouldn’t. But it’s just a fact that, like Jesus, you will be called to suffer. Now, there is no cross waiting for you to be nailed to it. But Jesus did use the imagery of a cross to define what it means to be His disciple. Suffering for the sake of God’s calling is part of following Jesus. We are to imitate our Master in this.

And what might this look like? Let’s talk about Lisa. Why do you think she is facing the troubles that she is these days? Is this just one of those things? Is it that she was just unlucky? No. It’s Christian suffering. You may be surprised to hear me describe it in that way. After all, she wasn’t preaching the Gospel to her colleagues.  She wasn’t handing out pamphlets explaining the Gospel to her students. She wasn’t hijacking conversations to talk about sin and repentance. She wasn’t doing any of those sorts of things. But persecution as a Christian isn’t limited to those sorts of situations.

So, what was she doing? She was living according to her understanding of right living. So, there is what is right, and there is what is wrong. And it’s important to do the one and avoid the other, and to want others to do the same. There is working hard for the sake of the students and wanting others to do that also. There is being honest even when it might hurt.

Now, you just might be thinking that doing those sorts of things is just being a decent person. And I know why you might think that. It wasn’t all that long ago that this was, in fact, how most people thought and lived. These sorts of qualities used to be included in what it meant to be a decent person.

And there was good reason why most people thought and lived in that way. It was the result of Gospel influence in our culture. It’s not automatic for a culture to acknowledge and live by things like the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. Most of us grew up in a culture that did. That’s because of the influence of the Gospel. However, bit by bit that kind of influence is being replaced by something more self-serving, something more evil.

What happened with Lisa was that one person who was acting according to principles that have their roots in the Bible was confronted by someone who was acting according to principles that don’t. And because that second person has some power, Lisa is suffering. She is suffering for doing what is right. And quite frankly, this is something that the Spirit, who is active in Lisa’s life, has brought about. Christian suffering.

It’s important that you see why I call all of that ‘Christian suffering’. It’s so that you will understand what is going on when it happens to you. The pressure you will likely feel - if you haven’t already - will not be about your explanation of some Christian doctrine. It won’t be about evangelistic statements that you will make. It will be about things like telling the truth or putting in a full day’s work or standing up for someone whom the group wants to trash or just saying that what someone wants to do is wrong. It will be about expressing Christian principles about right living in situations where the others no longer care about such things.

Christian suffering is not limited to people who are talking about Jesus. It’s about living out Christian principles among people who have rejected those principles. You need to get ready to experience more of this because more is coming.

All right. You need to get ready. What does that mean? How do you do that? At the heart of getting ready is prayer. How will this kind of pressure show up in your life? What form will it take? What will be the particular issue that will be the point of contention? You don’t know. Lisa didn’t. So, how do you prepare? You pray.

But no generic prayers. You pray that the Father will give you the ability to see what’s really going on when you feel the pressure. And you pray that He will give you the ability to stand when the temptation to compromise is strong. And you pray that you might be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves when you are confronted. This is not something that you are able to deal with on your own. Remember, we really are helpless. But there is grace for the helpless who seek it from the Father.

Now, one more thing. It just may be that those who confront us will, to all appearances, win. It just might be, for example, that Lisa will not be able to return to her profession, something that she loves. But this is where we all need to remember that we’re not at the end of the story.

There is still the part of the story where the Father exalts. There will be a reward for living as a Christian in a world that doesn’t like you doing that. But bear in mind that the reward is not in this life. Just like with Jesus, it will be in the age to come. Oh, there will certainly be benefits that you can experience now. The Father will respond to your faithfulness, and He will do you good. And He will do that now, in this life. But there will still be a reward after all of this is over. I’m not sure what it will be, but I am sure that it will be a reward worth suffering for. And I know that because that’s what Jesus thought.

This Advent, as you celebrate the Incarnation, remind yourself that it is something that is mysterious and awe-inspiring as well as something to be imitated.