Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8An unusual approach
When we think of passages of Scripture most often used in Christmas sermons, we probably think of early chapters from the gospels which focus on the miracles surrounding Christ’s conception and birth. How many of us, however, have ever viewed these words from Philippians 2:5-8 as a foundation for a Christmas sermon?
We should; for Paul’s words form one of the most significant statements regarding the incarnation found in the Bible. Philippians 2:5-8 takes our focus off the baby lying in a manger and puts it where it belongs: on the Son of God Who, before time began, humbly chose to forgo the rights and privileges of heaven in order to enter into human history – to live, to suffer, and to die an excruciating death – in order to redeem His sin-and-death bound people (Romans 5).
With my finite mind, I try to imagine that pre-Genesis 1 conversation between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as they came up with their plan to create the world and all that is in it (Psalm 24:1), knowing full well that the pinnacle of their creation – mankind – would fall into sin, and knowing that one day the Son would need to enter the world in order to save it. I wonder why the Son of God chose to come save us when God the Father could have simply killed Adam and Eve and begun anew. Why would He willingly endure so much suffering in order to fix what we broke?
Jesus, of course, gives us the answer in John 3:16: He did it because God loves us that much.
Steadfast love expressed As we turn to Scripture to follow the outworking of that love, we see God’s steadfast love and faithfulness reflected in the names He calls Himself; in the promises He repeatedly made (and kept) to send us a Savior; in His gracious and merciful actions on behalf of His (usually) ungrateful people; and in what Jesus said about His purpose in coming during His earthly sojourn (John 10:14-18):
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. … For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
The reasons for Christ’s coming are revealed in the Word to anyone who will take the time to discover Him in every book of the Bible, as He Himself revealed to the disciples on the road to Emmaus: And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27).
The answer So why did Jesus come? He came to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We may be able to put a man on the moon, explore the deepest recesses of the oceans, climb the highest mountain, create machines which can communicate across millions of miles of space, and find cures for terrible diseases; but we can't solve our sin problem and we can’t solve our death problem. Only an impossible-busting God can fix what is wrong with us; and rather than a holy God wiping out sinful humanity and starting over, His solution involved the Son being sent to earth to die.
Those words – sent to earth to die – should resonate strongly in us, both during Advent and Easter. When we watch the Christmas story acted out in some holiday drama, and as we ponder the baby Jesus lying in a lowly manger, we must never forget that Christ was a child destined to die – and not just any death, but a unique death that would bring salvation to all who would believe in Him (Acts 16:30-31). Thinking about the helpless baby Jesus should remind us of our willingly helpless Savior who chose to endure the Cross rather than calling 12 legions of angels to His defense (Matthew 26:53) – all because He loves us that much.
A worthwhile choiceIronically, the English writer, and astute Christian, Dorothy Sayers once reflected on the question of why Christ came in her book Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World by side-stepping the question and focusing on this humbling truth instead:
“For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is – limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death – he had the honesty and courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from us that he has not exacted from himself. He has himself gone through the whole human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death. When he was man, he played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it all worthwhile.”
Or, as Paul expressed it, “…though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Yes, at Christmas time, we need to read the gospel accounts of Christ’s miraculous conception and birth: there’s no better time to study those particular passages of Scripture. However, we must not stop there. We need to let Paul’s words take us into a richer understanding of why Jesus came.. http://www.colsoncenter.org/the-center/columns/worldview/20982-why-he-came-a-christmas-meditation-
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