From His Heart

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Without the Incarnation of Christ, we have no Christianity. So what does the Incarnation mean? Here's Pastor Jeff Shreve.

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One of the things that happened when Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord said to Adam, cursed is the ground because of you. Thorns and thistles it shall yield. That was a sign of the curse, the thorns and the thistles.

When Jesus hung on that cross, they pierced his brow with a crown of thorns. It's a picture of the curse. And he died to take away the curse. For you and for me.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.

Speaker 1

Today, on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, he'll impart some foundational and critical information about the Incarnation of Christ. Because without it, there is no Christianity, there is no salvation. There's really nothing for you and for me, except to be lost forever and ever.

The word Incarnation literally means to take on flesh. And for Christians, this signifies that God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. But he didn't stop being God; he added a real human nature to himself, becoming the one person who is both truly God and truly man. It's a fascinating study that all Christians should really understand and share with others.

Today, Pastor Jeff continues this new stimulating three-message series called the Miracles of Christmas. And today's lesson is the Miracle of the Incarnation. We're going to learn three profound discoveries regarding the birth of Jesus. Today's the Miracle of the Incarnation, part two.

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So let's look at the miracle of the Incarnation of Jesus. Three discoveries that I want to share with you from this passage. Very simple, but very profound.

**Number one discovery.** Number one. Jesus has always been God. He has always been God. Verse 6 states, "Have this attitude in yourselves, which is also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God." It doesn't mean size or shape; it means essence. It means nature. Jesus has always been God. Jesus didn't come into being in Luke when the angel said to Mary, "You're going to give birth to a son." And all of a sudden, there's the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and then Jesus came into being. No, Jesus has always been God. He is eternal, the eternal God. That is the Lord Jesus. He's always been God. He's the eternal God.

John shows that Jesus Christ is the eternal God. He was in the beginning with God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He was in the beginning with God. He is the eternal God, and he is the Creator God. He made all things. It says in Colossians chapter one, speaking of Jesus, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." Now, that doesn't mean he was created. Firstborn means preeminent one. He's preeminent over 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 or by him, and for him." Hebrews 1:8 states, "God the Father himself says, but of the Son, he says, 'You, throne, O God, is forever and ever.'" Now, if God the Father calls you God, guess what? You're God. Jesus Christ is God. He has always been God, co-equal, co-eternal with God the Father.

**Second discovery.** Jesus humbled himself to become a man. He became man when he came to this earth. Although, verse 6 states, "he existed in the form of God," he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant, a doulos, a slave, and being made in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man. So this is the great God of the universe who becomes a man.

What did he do? He let go of that. His equality with God didn't mean he let go of being God. That's who he is; that's his nature. But he lets go of all the things that accompany being God. He emptied himself. And they say, "Well, what did he empty himself of?" Well, several things that we can say. He doesn't empty himself of his divinity because he's God, but he was willing. With this emptying of Jesus, it means that he was willing to leave the throne of heaven. He was willing to step away from that. He was willing to lay aside his privileges as God. He doesn't lay aside his divinity; he lays aside the privileges of his divinity.

He was willing to take on the nature of man, the nature of humanity. We sing that song, "Hark, the herald angels sing." There's a line in that Christmas song: "Hark, the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see; Hail incarnate deity." God became a man, and Jesus was born just like any other baby was born. He took on human flesh. He experienced the same things that you and I experience because he's human. But now he's different because he is human and he's divine. You and I are just human; we're not divine. He's human and divine.

Jesus had an earthly mother; he didn't have an earthly father. When you think about it, Leviticus chapter seven shows that God always required a blood sacrifice. Why is that? Because Leviticus 17 says, "The life of the flesh is in the blood." And it's the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement for our sins. How does sin travel from Adam and Eve to their sons and daughters? It comes from Adam; it comes from the husband; it comes from the man. Jesus is born of a virgin. God was the father of Jesus and is the father of Jesus. So Jesus is human; he took on a human nature, but he doesn't have a sin nature. That is critical because if he has a sin nature, he can't be the Savior.

**Thirdly,** he humbled himself to become our Savior. It says in verse 8, "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross." The humiliation of Jesus is really the point of this passage in Philippians chapter two. It's the humbling of Jesus. "Have this attitude in yourselves, which is also in Christ Jesus, who although 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, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Now, Jesus stepped down when he left the throne of heaven to come to earth. He stepped down, but he didn't step down into some palace somewhere. He stepped into the family of a carpenter with his wife. They were very poor. We know they were poor because when they presented Jesus on the eighth day in the temple, if you were poor, you gave two turtle doves as a sacrifice. That's all they could give. They were poor. So he steps down from heaven to earth, stepping into a family with very little income. He's laid in a manger, which is a feeding trough. There's no room for them in the inn, so he's born in a barn. This is the creator of the universe, and he humbled himself to do that.

And hey, he had to learn how to do everything that you and I have to learn to do. He had to humble himself. This is the creator of the universe. Don't you know? The angels are just blown away. They're like, "What are you doing?"

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You're.

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You're the God who created everything. I don't understand this. They didn't understand. It didn't make sense to them. And when Jesus was brutalized at his arrest and was beaten and they spit in his face, don't you know the angels are like, "Give the word, Lord. We're going to come and wipe those guys out." Remember when Peter took off that guy's ear? Malchus, the servant of the high priest? He went after him, and I guess he was going to split him right in the middle. And the guy ducked and cut off his ear. And Jesus said, "Put your sword away, Peter." He said, "Don't you know that I can appeal to my Father? And he will at once bring to my aid 12 legions of angels, 72,000 angels to deliver him." Well, one angel in the Old Testament killed 185,000 Assyrians. Can you imagine? 72,000 of them, what they would do? I mean, Jesus, the angels don't understand what he is doing. He humbled himself to become our Savior.

Now remember this. He had to be a man in order to redeem humanity. God, as God, can't redeem us; he has to become a man in order to redeem us. You say, "Where do you get that in the Bible?" Well, 1 Corinthians 15 talks about the first Adam and the second Adam, the first Adam and the last Adam. In God's economy, there are really only two men who ever lived: Adam and Christ. In Adam, all die, and in Christ, all are made alive. Adam, who was given dominion in Genesis chapter one, gave it away in Genesis chapter three when he and Eve disobeyed God from the forbidden tree, ate of the fruit, and through one man sin came into the world. And death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all sinned. And so Adam lost, legally lost his dominion. It was lost by a man, and it had to be regained by a man. It was imperative that God would become a man in order to redeem.

This is what it says in Hebrews chapter 2, beginning in verse 14. "Therefore, since the children, that's you and me, share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who, through fear of death, were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly, he does not give his help to angels, but he gives help to the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, watch this. He had to be made like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation, satisfaction, covering for the sins of the people." He had to be made like us. He had to humble himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. He had to die in your place and my place. But not just death. Death on a cross. That's another step down. That's a whole other step down. Because death on the cross was horrible. It was so bad that it was unlawful and not permitted for a Roman to be crucified. They said, "That's too barbaric. That's too horrible."

And here's the God who created it all. He humbles himself to become a man. He humbles himself to be put into Joseph and Mary's family. He humbles himself to be laughed at and mocked and spit upon and beaten and nailed to a tree. That had to happen. He had to be made a man to redeem humanity. And he had to die on the cross to remove the curse. If he didn't die on the cross, he wouldn't remove the curse. It says in Galatians chapter three, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law." What's the curse of the law? The curse of the law says, "The soul that sins shall die." It says that you and I are on the highway to hell and there's no getting off. The law doesn't save anybody. The law just condemns. He redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree," in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit, that through faith he had to die on the cross so that he would take away the curse, so that you and I and anyone who believes on him would not perish but have everlasting life.

And when Jesus died on the cross and said, "It is finished. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit," the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. That thick, heavy veil that separated the people from God, that separated the holy place from the holy of holies. You can't come back there. You can't get in fellowship with God because you're sinners. But when Jesus died, he paid the price. "It is finished" doesn't mean "I am finished." It means "It is finished." Paid in full. "I paid for all your sins, and you can be forgiven." He had to die on the cross.

You know, isn't it interesting? One of the things that happened when Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord said to Adam, "Cursed is the ground because of you; thorns and thistles it shall yield." That was a sign of the curse, the thorns and the thistles. When Jesus hung on that cross, they pierced his brow with a crown of thorns. It's a picture of the curse. And he died to take away the curse. For you and for me. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.

And lastly, because he humbled himself, God exalted him. He was exalted by the Father, it says in verse nine. "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 every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." That Jesus Christ is Kurios, supreme authority. He humbles himself, and God exalts him. He goes down, down, down, down, down to the lowest rung that a person could possibly go to die the worst death that anybody could possibly die. Remember I told you in Isaiah's writings that he said he was marred more than any man, so much so that he didn't even look human; he was beaten so badly. And to die upon the cross and to take the sin of all the world upon himself. And he, being the infinite God, suffered in a way that our minds can't comprehend for all the sin of all the world. And God saw that. God the Father saw that. And because he did that, for this reason, God lifted him up and raised him up. Not only from the dead, but he lifted him up and gave him a name that is above every name.

And that at the name of Jesus, the name Jesus means Yahweh saves, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. Of those in heaven, obviously those in heaven confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Those on earth, believers on earth, we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And under the earth, every demon, Satan, and every demon and every Christ rejecter and every Christ neglector, they will one day bow the knee and declare that Jesus Christ is the supreme authority. He is Lord of all.

Now here's the thing. This is something I prayed for family members. I would pray Philippians 2. I said, "Lord, I know that one day everyone is going to bow. Every unbeliever is going to bow. Satan is going to bow and say, 'You are Lord.' But I want it to happen in this life. I want it to happen when they make the decision because there's coming a day when everyone's going to do that. And the decision is going to be made for you. You will declare as an unbeliever, you will declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, and it's going to be to the glory of God the Father. But you don't want to be forced to do that. You want to do it because you recognize what he did for you, what he gave up for you, as the song says: 'And can it be that I should gain an interest in my Savior's love? Died he for me who caused him pain? For me to him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God, should die for me?'

Listen, no prideful person can become a Christian. It's impossible. You see a person filled with pride. Now a Christian can get filled with pride, and then, you know, pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling. God's opposed to the proud, gives grace to the humble. But if you're filled with pride and self-importance, you gotta empty yourself of that so that you can come to Christ. You gotta recognize you're a sinner and you're lost. You have nothing to commend yourself to God.

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You're.

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You know, we think we're. Bill Stafford used to say, you know, we think we're such big shots. He said, big shots, little shots, we all deserve to be shot. When you understand that, that I don't deserve anything from God, you fall on your face and you say, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me." You cry out to him in mercy and you recognize you are God and you give him all of your life.

Hey, has that ever happened? You know, becoming a Christian is not checking a box. It's giving your life to him. I told you before about that guy I went to visit years and years and years ago, and he said he was a believer and he wanted to join the church. And I said, "Have you ever been baptized?" He said, "No, I've never been baptized, but I don't want to be." And I said, "Well, to join the church, you have to be baptized through immersion."

And he said, "Will you make it more difficult to join the church than to become a Christian?" I said, "Really? I said, you know how you become a Christian?" He said, "How's that?" I said, "You give your whole life to Jesus Christ. Anything else? You're not going to become a Christian. You have to surrender all to Jesus. All to Jesus. I surrender all to him. I freely give."

I said, "We're not asking you to do that. We're asking you to give a testimony that you belong to Jesus before the world." That is the public testimony; it is baptism, buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in the newness. A lot of people have this idea that we become Christians just by whispering a prayer through the keyhole, just by doing it incognito.

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Just.

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Well, I can just quickly do this. I'll just fill this out. I'll just check this box. That's not what it is. It's recognizing that you're a sinner and you're lost, you're on the highway to hell, and Jesus Christ will save you. And you cry out to him, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me." And anybody that does that, he will save them.

And anyone who thinks that you can just say, with the Doobie Brothers, "Jesus is just all right with me," you're going to meet the devil in hell because Jesus is not interested in being all right with you. He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and until you bow your knee to him, you're never going to meet him.

So I want to ask you, have you done that? Have you bowed your knee to him? Have you said with blind Bartimaeus, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me"? If you confess with your mouth, Romans 10 says, if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus as Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord in repentance and faith, that person will be saved.

Hey, we're all going to bow one day. Every single person. The Lord made every single angel—the Lord made holy angels and fallen angels. All of us are going to bow one day and say, "Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." You have an opportunity to do it today and to surrender your life to him.

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How great.

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Behold, today is the day of salvation. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Today is the day of salvation.

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If this message touched your heart, please let us know. Click the Contact Us link online and share your thoughts. Pastor Jeff will be sure to get that from his heart. This month, we're closing out our 20th year of sharing the good news with the world. And our plan is to keep doing it as long as he'll let us.

We're able to do that when people like you, who listen and want to support this ministry, come alongside us with not only their prayers but also their financial gifts. You're on mission with us when you do that. Together, we passionately reach this generation for Christ. Why now? Because people everywhere are asking deeper questions about faith and purpose, identity and truth. They're scrolling their phones, their computers, their iPads, searching and yearning for something real. And we have that answer.

Your special year-end gift is so important to us this month. Pastor Jeff wants to thank you by sending you a very, very special resource that will encourage your walk with God each day throughout the coming year. It's a beautiful, high-quality daily devotional book called *The Heart Is God's Home*. This book was written by 39 pastors and church leaders, including Pastor Jeff. It'll help you draw closer to the Lord each and every day. Each devotion reminds you that God's presence is as near as your own heartbeat through a powerful scripture reading, uplifting insights, and a heartfelt prayer too. Just request your copy of *The Heart Is God's Home* when you go online to make a gift or give us a call at 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-24253).

Well, I'm Larry Nobles, and thank you for joining us today on *From His Heart* for part two of the lesson "The Miracle of the Incarnation" from the new series *The Miracles of Christmas*. Be sure to join us next time for the next lesson in this series for the message "The Miracle of Salvation," right here on *From His Heart*.

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There is tremendous truth There is bless There is hope that you always dream love. He can heal every scar. From his heart.

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From His Heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Find out more@fromisheart.org.