From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today on From His Heart with Pastor.

Speaker 2

Jeff Shreve, let's look at the miracle of the Incarnation. And the question is, have you considered it and considered it deeply because it is the foundation for Christmas.

It's the foundation for Christianity. You take out the Incarnation and there is no Christianity and there is no salvation and there's nothing for you and for me except to be lost forever and ever, ever and ever.

From his heart.

Speaker 1

Have you ever really considered the Incarnation of Christ? What is it and what does that really mean? The Incarnation of Christ refers to the central Christian belief that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God and second Person of the Trinity, took on human flesh and became fully human while remaining fully divine. The Scriptures clearly tell us in John chapter 1, verse 14, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Today, Pastor Jeff Shreve will explore the depth and importance of fully understanding this doctrine and what it means to us this Christmas. This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, and the lesson today is the miracle of the Incarnation. It's the first of three in a brand new Christmas series we're airing now called the Miracles of Christmas. If you miss any of these up and through Christmas next week, you can listen online anytime once it's aired at fromhishheart.org.

There, you can also find out about a brand new year-long devotional book for next year that Pastor Jeff helped write, called the Heart Is God's Home. It's our gift of thanks to you for your support this month of any amount. Again, go to fromhishheart.org and make that gift to get your copy today. You will be blessed.

Right now, open your Bible to Philippians chapter two. Here again is Pastor Jeff to explain the significance of the miracle of the Incarnation.

Speaker 2

We're starting a series today called the Miracles of Christmas. The first one is the one that is the biggest miracle of all. It's the miracle of the Incarnation. Now that's a big word, a big theological word. People are like, yeah, hear that in church. Sometimes they talk about the Incarnation. I'm not really sure what that means.

Well, let me ask you, have you ever eaten chili con carne? You know, there's chili and then there's chili con carne. That's chili with meat. The Incarnation is God with flesh. That's what that means, incarnation with flesh. That God came to earth in the flesh. And it is a great mystery. It blew the minds of the people in the first century. They didn't. They were waiting for their Messiah who was going to be the Son of David. He was going to be a prophet like Moses, as it says in the book of the Law. But they didn't know he was going to be God. And that just blew them away that this Messiah is God.

In First Timothy, Chapter 3, Verse 16, we read these words, and without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. So let's look at the miracle of the Incarnation. And the question is, have you considered it? And considered it deeply, because it is the foundation for Christmas. It's the foundation for Christianity. You take out the Incarnation and there is no Christianity, and there is no salvation. And there's nothing for you and for me except to be lost forever and ever and ever.

Philippians, chapter two, beginning in verse five, 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 bondservant, a doulos, a slave. 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. 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, of God the Father, 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. Have this attitude in yourselves, which is also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed, existed in the form of God. The word form morphe in the Greek, it's only used three times. In the New Testament, it's used twice. Here in Philippians, chapter two, it's used twice. And then it's also used in the Gospel of Mark, 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.

Warren Wiersbe says that word morphe means the outward expression of the inner nature. And he existed as God. He's always been God, as it says in the book of Psalms, from everlasting to everlasting. You are God now. Hebrews chapter one and verse three puts it this way, speaking of Jesus. And he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power, that is Jesus.

Now, when you start with Jesus, you don't start with Mary. 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.

Now, it's interesting in the Gospels. When you read in the Gospels, you'll find that the gospel writers. We have four gospels, three of them we call the synoptic Gospels. Synoptic means seeing the same. And Matthew, Mark and Luke are very similar. When you read those, they talk about similar events in the life of Jesus. They can be a little bit different, but mostly it's hitting the same thing. John is way different. John is not seeing the same, and it has to do with the emphasis of the gospel.

So Matthew is writing a Jewish gospel and he's showing to his readers that Jesus is the king of the Jews. That's why Matthew's the only one that has the story of the magi. Why? Because they're the ones that say to Herod, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. None of the other gospel writers talk about the magi, but Matthew does, because the thrust of his gospel is to show that Jesus is the king and he is the son of David. And that's why his genealogy starts from Abraham and goes to David. And then it shows how Jesus is related to David.

Now, Mark's gospel is all about Jesus being the suffering servant. And you know what you find in Mark's Gospel? No genealogy.

Speaker 1

Why?

Speaker 2

Well, what kind of. You don't have a genealogy for a servant, a slave. We don't care about his genealogy. He's a nothing. And so Jesus shows himself as the suffering servant in Mark's Gospel. So there is no genealogy. Luke shows Jesus as the universal savior and he's the savior of all men. He didn't just come for the Jews; he came to save everyone, to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke's genealogy goes all the way back to Adam, the very first man, because he's showing that Jesus is the savior of all men.

And John, John is showing us that Jesus Christ is God. That's the emphasis of his Gospel: that he is God the Son, the Son of God and God the Son. And so how does he start? In the beginning? He goes all the way back to the beginning, like Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And John says this: 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 by him. And apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being. And the Word, verse 14, became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

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, nothing came into being that has come into being apart from Jesus.

As John says, Jesus has always been God, who, although he existed in the form of God. Now it's very important when you understand the idea of the incarnation, to understand that Jesus Christ is God. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. And if you ever get in a conversation with somebody that's in a false cult, they'll try and tell you Jesus Christ is not co-equal with God the Father, but Hebrews 1:8. 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 was always God, has always been God, always will be God, but he hasn't always been man. He became man when he came to this earth, who, although verse 6, he existed in the form of God, 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 at a point in time; God became a man.

Now, two things that are very important here that we read about. He didn't think equality with God was something to be grasped, something to be seized, something to hold onto. And so 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. He exists in the form of God because he is God. So he doesn't let go of who he is, but he lets go of all the things that accompany being God. He let go of that and he emptied himself. Now, that's a Greek word, ko. And sometimes you'll read about Philippians 2. The theologians call this the kenosis passage, the emptying passage, where Jesus, the God of the universe, steps off the throne and empties himself.

And they say, well, what did he empty himself of? Well, several things that we can say 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 down to come to earth. And he was willing. When he took off his crown and took off his royal robe and laid down his scepter, he was willing to become a man and leave heaven and leave the worship of the angels, the 24/7 worship of the angels, where day and night they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory and the sights and the sounds of heaven and the worship in heaven and the comforts and joys and bliss of heaven. He was willing to step away from that.

And 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 lays aside the glory of his divinity. That's why he prayed in John 17, his great high priestly prayer. In verse 5, he said, Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. He laid aside his glory, and he was willing to do that, to lay aside those privileges. And 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 as the scripture says in Matthew 1, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. So that what was said in the Old Testament, a virgin shall give birth to a child. And you shall call his name Emmanuel, which translated means God with us. Now, they never called Jesus Emmanuel. They called the person in Isaiah when that prophecy was given, Immanuel. But Jesus didn't have the name Emmanuel; he was Emmanuel. He was God with us. God became a man. And you can understand why Paul said in First Timothy 3:16, Great is the mystery of godliness. God was revealed in the flesh.

How does the great eternal God become a man? Wow. He's in Mary's womb when he goes to visit Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother. John the Baptist is six months ahead of Jesus, and he leaps for joy in his mother's womb because the Christ is in his presence, the God of the universe. 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. And not only is he human and divine, he was not born the way you and I were born, in that you had an earthly mother and an earthly father. Jesus had an earthly mother. He didn't have an earthly father.

Why is that so important? You know, we have some liberals today, and they'll say, theological liberals, and they'll say, well, you know, the virgin birth. You don't have to believe in the virgin birth to become a Christian. Well, yeah, you do. Because if you don't believe in the virgin birth, you don't know who Jesus is. Jesus isn't just a guy like you in terms of his sin nature. He doesn't have a sin nature. He doesn't have a human father. Now, when you think about it, Leviticus, chapter seven, you know, 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. And 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. She had never known a man. That was her question. Remember Mary said to the angel Gabriel, how can this be? Since I'm a virgin, I've never known a man. How can I be pregnant? And it says, the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason, your offspring will be called holy. God was the father of Jesus and is the father of Jesus.

And so Jesus is. He took on your human nature, but he doesn't have a sin nature. And that is critical because if he has a sin nature, he can't be the Savior. He can't save because he's a sinner. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Jesus was holy, holy, holy. And he took on, he was willing to take on the nature of man. Now this is critical because we've had people through the ages that they always attack. And the devil is going to constantly attack. He's going to attack the work of Christ, what he did on the cross, and tell you that's not sufficient. You need to add your good works to what he did on the cross in order to be saved. And you get saved by really your good works. It's a little bit of Jesus, but it's a lot of you; that's a lie. It's all of Jesus. It's none of you. You're not saved by works; you're not saved by your sweat. You're saved by his blood.

So he'll lie about the work of Christ, and he lies about the person of Christ. He tries to get you to be confused about who Jesus really is. And you know, the Mormons, I saw something with Glenn Beck, and to my knowledge, Glenn Beck is a Mormon. And he had David Barton, and they were talking back and forth, and he said, you know, David and David Barton, the great Christian historian, he said, David, you and I have a difference of opinion when it comes to Christian theology versus Mormon theology. But you know, it's kind of just a minor thing. Not a minor thing; it's a major thing. Jesus is God. And the Mormons say, well, no, he's not co-eternal, co-equal, co-creator with God. He's a lesser God. Well, that's not what the Bible teaches. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. Jesus Christ is God now. He will forever be the God-man.

And the only man-made thing in heaven are the scars that he'll have in his hands and his feet and his side. Because he said to Thomas, doubting Thomas, Thomas, you won't believe unless you put your finger in my hands and your hand in my side. Here I am, Thomas, put your finger there, feel the holes. And be not unbelieving but believing. And Thomas fell on his face and said, my Lord, and my God. Jesus Christ has always been God. He humbled himself to become a man.

And 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. That's really the point of this passage in Philippians chapter two. It's the humbling of Jesus. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was 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.

So he steps down from heaven to earth, steps into a family with very little income. He's laid in a manger that's 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.

Speaker 1

You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve today, and the message is "The Miracle of the Incarnation." It's from Pastor Jeff's new Christmas series, "The Miracles of Christmas." What a timely series as we approach Christmas, coming in just a few days.

Speaking of timely, this Christmas season is a time when we'll often give gifts of love to those we love. And the truth is, it's great to get gifts, but far greater to give gifts. When you support From His Heart, you are literally giving a gift to those who will listen to these programs in your town, around the nation, and around the world, providing them the gift of truth from God's Word proclaimed with integrity and clarity. That's a pretty substantial gift to those who hear and surrender to the Lord.

This month, for your support of this outreach from Pastor Jeff, we'll say thank you by sending you the new devotional book called "The Heart is God's Home," which he helped to write. It's a 365-day devotional book that is beautiful, quality-built, and packed with inspiring and encouraging devotions, scripture, and prayers to give you a boost each day next year.

This month is critical for From His Heart to help us meet a significant financial need to close out the year. So please pray about making an impactful gift from His Heart this month when you call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to fromhisheart.org and request the new year-long devotional book, "The Heart is God's Home." Together, let's keep giving the love of Jesus away and see what He can do with it in the hearts of people around the world.

Well, a big thank you for joining us today. I'm Larry Nobles, and we pray that your weekend will be a joyful one. Make plans to be right back here next time for part two of this insightful lesson called "The Miracle of the Incarnation." Join us again when Pastor Jeff Shreve will open up God's Word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from His heart.

Speaker 2

There is truth. That you always dream love. He can heal every scar.

Speaker 1

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.