God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 14

Day 14 Luke Chapter 14

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple”

 {v. 27 NASB}.

Discipleship. It is the most important call Christians receive. The disciples have been following Jesus for some time now. Yet, He continues to speak to them in parables so that perhaps they will begin to understand what He has been teaching them—what He is teaching us—that we are to give God first place in our lives. The disciples are traveling with Him and are caught up in all the needs of the ministry, yet, Jesus still needs them to understand exactly what it means to be a disciple. To be a disciple is an act of obedience, not a declaration of faith. 

For the mighty ones, for the great ones of the world, there are only two places where their courage deserts them, which they fear in the depths of their souls, which they dodge and avoid; the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ.[1]

The Father gave us the most incredible gift that one could give—His only Son because of His love for us:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” {Jn. 3:16-17 NASB}.

The Father gave us a wonder beyond all comprehension to our finite understanding. He endured a long path to the cross to restore all that was lost. Can we not give Him back our best? Can we not follow Him with our whole hearts? Can we move beyond a confession of faith and follow Him in obedience? In this season, it is so easy to be caught up in the busyness of preparing for the holidays, just as the disciples were so busy with work that they—and we—forget about what Jesus is endeavoring to teach us; discipleship is the call, and it's going to cost us.

“Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of the adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous.”[2]

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[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Mystery Of Holy Night (New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1996), 16.

[2] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost Of Discipleship (New York: Touchstone, 1959), 58.

God Was In Christ: The Doctrine of the Incarnation, An Advent Journal Part Two

 Jesus Did Not Begin To Exist

The message of Christmas is that God became flesh and came in the form of the Holy Child in a humble stable in Bethlehem. The book of Luke describes the supernatural, prophecy-fulfilling birth of Jesus Christ; through His messengers, God sets forth the significance of this event.^[1]

The whole of the angelic hosts proclaimed to the shepherds that the Savior had been born (Lk. 2:11). This was God’s way of enacting His salvation plan. However, though He was born in Bethlehem, He preexisted the event. John 1:15 states, “John testified about Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me’” (NASB). His birth in Bethlehem does not mark the beginning of the Son of God, rather it is when He entered the world to dwell among His creatures. John Murray writes, “The doctrine of the incarnation is vitiated if it is conceived of as the beginning to be of the person of Christ. The incarnation means that he who never began to be in his specific identity as the Son of God, began to be what he eternally was not.”[2]

Jesus is the preexistent Second Person of the Godhead. He existed before time began, before there was any matter before anything had been made—before majestic mountain ranges, deep blue raging oceans—Jesus was. “In the beginning was the Word,” so, there at the beginning, when those things were brought into being, He was there already. 

“…Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” {Jn. 8:58 NASB}.

Christians rest their belief in the eternality of the Son in part in John 1:1-2: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”   

Christ was at the beginning with the Father, “And now You, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world existed” (Jn. 17: 5 NASB). His position was of One who transcends time and preeminent over all creation. Scripture speaks of the previous glory that He shared with the Father before time began. He left the majestic, beautiful, glory when He came to tabernacle among us.

  

The Lord Of The Ages Is God

When the prophet speaks these words,

The time of fulfillment is still 700 years away.

But so deeply is the prophet immersed

In God’s thoughts and decisions

That he speaks of the saving hour,

As if he has already stood in worship at the manger of Jesus.

“Unto us a child is born.”

We who don’t know what will happen next year, how are we to understand

Someone looking over the centuries?

This voice of a single person,

Gently ringing down through the ages

Joined now and then by another isolated voice of prophecy,

Chimes in at last with the shepherds’ midnight adorations

And cries out in jubilation:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.”

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Mystery of Holy Night

 

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[1] Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles, The Cradle, The Cross, And The Crown (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2009), 270.

[2] John Murray, John Frame, ed., Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 2013), 883. 

 

Advent: Seeking Christ Day 14

Day 14 Luke Chapter 14

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” {v. 27 NASB}.

Discipleship. It is the most important call we Christians receive. The disciples have been following Jesus for some time now. Yet, He continues to speak to them in parables so that perhaps they will begin to understand what He has been teaching them—what He is teaching us—that we are to give God the very best. The disciples are traveling with Him and are caught up in all the needs of the ministry, yet, Jesus still needs them to understand exactly what it means to be a disciple. To be a disciple is an act of obedience, not a declaration of faith.

For the mighty ones, for the great ones of the world, there are only two places where their courage deserts them, which they fear in the depths of their souls, which they dodge and avoid; the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ.[1]

The Father gave us the most incredible gift that one could give—His only Son because of His love for us:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” {Jn. 3:16-17 NASB}.

The Father gave us a wonder beyond all comprehension for our finite understanding. He endured a long path to the cross to complete everything for us. Can we not give Him back our best? Can we not follow Him with our whole hearts? Can we move beyond a confession of faith and follow Him in obedience? Can we move beyond a confession of faith and follow Him in obedience? In this season it so easy to be caught up in the busyness of preparing for the holidays, just as the disciples were so busy, that they—and we—forget about what Jesus is endeavoring to teach us; discipleship is the call and it's going to cost us.

Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of the adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous.[2]

Graciously consider subscribing to the blog?

---

[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Mystery Of Holy Night (New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1996), 16.

[2] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost Of Discipleship (New York: Touchstone, 1959), 58.