God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 4

 Day 4 Luke Chapter 4

 The manuscript of the prophet Isaiah is one of my favorite Old Testament books. Much of it is dedicated to the coming Messiah, who will redeem God’s people. Chapter 61 begins with the Exaltation of the Afflicted. Jesus, the Word, appears in the synagogue at Nazareth to read this passage from Isaiah.   

This was not a coincidence for this particular passage to be the reading of the day. The synagogue tradition was to have seven readers each sabbath to read portions of the Scripture. The first orator was the priest, the second a Levite, and the following five were Israelites from the congregation. Though many times in Scripture we read of Jesus visiting synagogues, the one in Nazareth was the first to mention that He taught there; hence, this was the passage to be read that day, and the lot fell to Him.

He reads this Messianic passage from the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah the prophet:   

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord… today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk. 4 18-19,20).

 

                                                           Jesus of Nazareth (1977)

Jesus came in the Spirit of the Lord. All the grace and giftings of the Holy Spirit were bestowed on Him in full (Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary). Prophets before Jesus had the Holy Spirit in measure and for appointed times and events. Jesus was commissioned by the Spirit of the Lord to preach this Word in what seems to be the chronos—the liturgy of the regular sabbath reading—but this was a kairos moment, the right time for Christ to appear. The New Testament Greek Lexicon defines Kairos as a fixed and definite time when the conditions are right for accomplishing a crucial action, the decisive epoch waited for.

 “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” (Gal. 4: 4-5 ESV emphasis mine).

 Jesus came to set the captives free. He is our priest, prophet, king, deliverer, Savior, and healer. After proclaiming that He, the Messiah, had arrived to set free the captives, He immediately cast out demons and healed the sick, setting the captives free. Though the people of the synagogue attempted to stone Him, He went about doing what He proclaimed He was here for. 

He came to let the world know that the Holy God whom we have offended is willing to be reconciled to us. He came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord; today, now—is the day of salvation.

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God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 3

 Day 3 Luke Chapter 3

“John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Lk. 3: 16 NASB). 

John the Baptist was the voice of one calling in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. Isaiah the prophet spoke so prophetically of the coming of the forerunner who would prepare God’s people for the coming of the Messiah. John heralded that the kingdom of God was at hand and that the Messiah would soon come. John preached repentance to the people so they would be aware of their sin and unworthiness, their fallenness displaying their deep need for the Messiah. They must prepare for the coming of the Messiah by repenting. Though John was baptizing in water, only Christ would lead people to the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit overshadows and brings one into the New Covenant of grace, light, and power to become new creatures in Christ.

John was preaching and bringing the Old Covenant to its fulfillment when Christ, the Messiah, would arrive on the scene—carrying His great power to baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire. This could only be done by the Creator of the universe, for John, though a great prophet, was but a man. He indeed baptized them in water and urged them to repent and prepare for the coming of the Messiah. That, however, is the scope of his power. They must now seek the Messiah, the One whose way he was sent to prepare. John readily admits that the Messiah is more excellent than he. John says he is not even worthy to touch the laces of His shoes, yet John was a prophet more so than any of the Old Testament prophets. The One—Christ is still a prophet above John.

John’s baptism in water made people ready by purifying and cleansing themselves, but only Christ can and will baptize them with the Holy Ghost. He will give the Spirit to cleanse and purify the heart. The ultimate fulfillment of the baptizing work of the Spirit was seen at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4). Being baptized in the fire of the Holy Ghost is being purified and filled with power to complete the calling of the King for the kingdom.

It is hard on this side of the crèche, that wonderous baby in the manger, to set our minds on waiting for someone who has already arrived. I believe this is one reason why we have lost some of the mystery surrounding the blessed birth. It is imperative to remember that the One is coming again, a time we must still prepare. A time for which we must be ready. Let us prepare for the coming of Christmas, a time to celebrate that because of God’s love, He came and dwelt among us and reconciled us to the Father. All things will culminate in His second coming, and rather than reconciliation, He will present us—the Bride—to the Father. Let’s reflect and rejoice in the unfailing Love of God.

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God Was In Christ: An Advent Reading Of Luke 2

 Day Two Luke Chapter 2

The Incarnation was the greatest event this world has ever seen and one of the greatest mysteries. I will write a post on the theological implications of the incarnation this week or perhaps next, but for now, I want to focus on the verse that grabbed my attention as I read Luke’s second chapter today:

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:10-11 NASB). 

There is that word again—JOY. The arrival of the Christ child was indeed a joyful occasion. The arrival is good news that brings great joy for all mankind. The angels believed it to be joyous even though they could not grasp or understand salvation. They received no salvific benefit. Christ left heaven to come to earth; they understood the magnitude of the event. The prophets sought; the angels desired; humanity benefited.

“As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look” (1Pet. 1: 10-12 NASB).

Contemplate the coming of God in Jesus, who is not half-human and half-divine, rather, He is Theanthropos, the God-man, and how He chose to love and reconcile us rather than leave us fallen and alone. Let us not take for granted the birth of Christ. The prophets searched for the day—the time—when He would come, and the very angels of God desired to see this great mystery. The prophets only glimpsed what this wonderful incarnation would mean to the world. The Word says they understood they were serving us when they prophesied His coming. Then, finally, what the prophets longed for came about: 

 “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son” (Gal. 4:4a).

Though this great event took place over two thousand years ago, we can look with great anticipation at the coming of Christmas—the arrival of Christ—with the same amazement and wonder. 

“Who is the baby called by angels, ‘Christ the Lord,’ and why should we, like the shepherds of Bethlehem and the Wise Men, seek Him and adore Him? The answer goes back to the very beginning of the world…In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (Jn. 1:1-3 NIV).[1]

[1] Bodie and Brock Thoene, Why A Manger? (Vista, California: (Outreach, 2006). 4-5.

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God Was In Christ: The Doctrine Of The Incarnation, An Advent Journal Part One

 A true Christology will bring God in at the beginning, realizing that in the life of Jesus from the start there was no independence of God.[1]

For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God entered our world. In one sense, indeed, He was not far from it before, for no part of creation had ever been without Him Who, while ever abiding with the Father, yet fills all things that are. But now He entered the world in a new way, stooping to our level in His love and Self-revealing to us.[2] 

The Deity And humanity, in One Glorious Person, is a concept that I cannot grasp or understand. Though, if I could, I suppose He would not be God. For how can one fathom God? How can one understand Him? The Advent season the time we await the Christ child, the one born in a manger in the quiet of the wee hours of the night in a cave for livestock in Bethlehem many moons ago, while the world slept. A few sleepy shepherds. A multitude of angels. The God of the universe left the glorious position of heaven to become a man for the world which He loved so much. He did not appear in glorious triumph, but in the lowly human coat of flesh and bones like those He came to save.

God is not ashamed of human lowliness.

He enters right into it. He chooses a human being to be his instrument

And works his wonders where they are least expected.

Where else are we to seek mercy

For all our betrayals, all our weak faith, all our failures,

But in the lowliness of God in the manger? ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

John’s Gospel account eloquently describes the mysterious incarnation,

“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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it…And the Word [God the Son] became flesh [incarnate], and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:1-5, 14 NASB emphasis added).

Jesus of Nazareth was—and is— the Son of God, who while remaining fully divine, took on human nature so that He could redeem the world. How did this once and for all union of God and man happen? Can the divine nature and human nature coexist within one person? How can our glorious Lord Jesus be both God and man at once? First, Scripture tells us that Jesus is God and that He has all the divine attributes of God:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Col. 1:15-20).

This union of the divine and human natures (the hypostatic union) have the personal subsistence in the Godhead, as distinguished from their common essence or substance (ousia) as God.[3] The hypostatic union is not a conflation or a mixture of two people. Jesus is not part human and part divine. The biblical teaching on the full deity and full humanity of Christ has been believed from the earliest times in the history of the church.[4]

Both the Old and New Testaments, present Jesus Christ as having the divine nature and human nature in a single undivided personality (John 1:1–18; 9:48–59).[5] The Apostle Paul rightly taught that “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9 NIV). This means that the divine nature penetrates and perfects every aspect of the human, and the human is permeated by the divine. In the Son, the divine participated in the human and the human in the divine without blurring or confusing either. The idea of Jesus being both fully human and fully divine is not a concept that can be understood logically, because it is an event that can only be performed by a transcendent God who exists outside of time and space. The Incarnation is truly a mystery that our human, finite mind cannot grasp. This mystery of true divine nature and true human nature is the very heart of our faith. It is definitely the heart of my faith, which without, I would be very lost.  

“In Christ, something has taken place which is so new that it is related to our ordinary knowledge only at its extreme edges; if it is to be apprehended by us it must be apprehended from outside the limits of our ordinary human experience and thought.” [6]

Any theology or ideology that diminishes His humanity or His divinity is denying the Incarnation of Christ. For thus is the Incarnation of the Word of God—that He took on flesh yet with all His divine attributes of God.

The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, which is uncreated, eternal, came into Nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing Nature up with Him.

 ~ C.S. Lewis, The Grand Miracle

 

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[1] D.M. Baillie, God Was In Christ (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948), 93.

[2] Athanasius, On The Incarnation (Yonkers: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press., 2011), 33.

[3] Thomas C. Oden, Classic Christianity (New York: HarperOne, 1992), 306.

[4] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 553.

[5] Ibid., 302. 

[6] Thomas F. Torrance, Incarnation: The Person And Life Of Christ (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008), 83.