September 30, 2012 | Philippians 2:5-11: The Joy of Holy Condescension

After exhorting the Philippians to be unified and to be humble, Paul then turns to the perfect example of Christ who condescended Himself by becoming a man and a man who was put on a cross.  If we can grasp both the Incarnation and the Passion of Jesus, we would do ourselves some good. Christians, by name and nature, are called to imitate and to follow Christ. If we do that, we will find joy in the place called Unity and Humility and Obedience.

⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.




Notes
Audio


September 2, 2012 | Philippians 1:1-11 - The Joy of Thanksgiving & Prayer 
September 16, 2012 | Philippians 1:19-30 - The Joy of the Future
September 23, 2012 | Philippians 2:1-4: The Joy of Humility


For more:
Theology Sings: Thoughts on the Hymn of Philippians 2:5-11
Philippians 2:5-11 & Kenotic Theology
Book Recommendation: "Humility" by CJ Mahaney
Grudem on the Deity of Christ 
The Gospel Coalition on the Deity of Christ 
Mahaney on the Person and Work of Christ:  Christ Our Mediator  
Stomach Virus' and the Humanity of Christ:  Moore on the Suffering and Sick Servant
Sayers on the Incarnation of Christ  
If Jesus Were Born in Our Digital Age
December 26, 2010 - Jesus is Human
December 19, 2012 - Jesus is God
Basic Christianity: Daniel 4:29-37 - Humility Before God
Basic Christianity: James 4:1-10 - Humility Before Others

The God Who Became Man: Millard Erickson on the Implications of the Humanity of Christ

In preparation for tonight's Bible study, I came across the following paragraphs from Millard Erickson's great systematic theology text Christian Theology regarding the implications of the doctrine of Christ's humanity.  We wholeheartedly affirm the deity of Christ, but too many of us, as Evangelical, Conservative, Baptist Christians, fail to reflect, study, and apply the important doctrine of Christ's deity.

What Erickson offers below is a good summary of the practicality of this doctrine.  Remember that all doctrines are practical and all of us are theologians. Thus what we believe about the doctrine of Christ (Christology) matters and thus it is important to consider both the deity and the humanity of Christ.  Erickson gives us a good sample as to why.

1.  The atoning death of Jesus can truly avail for us.  It was not some outsider to the human race who died on the cross.  He was one of us, and thus could truly offer a sacrifice on our behalf.  Just like the Old Testament priest, Jesus was a human who offered a sacrifice on behalf of his fellows.


2.  Jesus can truly sympathize with and intercede for us.  He has experienced all that we might undergo.  When we are hungry, weary, lonely, he fully understands, for he has gone through it all himself (Heb. 4:15).


3.  Jesus manifests the true nature of humanity.  While we are sometimes inclined to draw our conclusions as to what humanity is from an inductive examination of ourselves and those around us, these are but imperfect instances of humanity.  Jesus has not only told us what perfect humanity is, he has exhibited it.


4.  Jesus can be our example.  He is not some celestial superstar but one who has lived where we live.  We can therefore look to him as a model of the Christian life.  The biblical standards for human behavior, which seem to us to be so hard to attain, are seen in him to be within human possibility.  Of course, there must be full dependence upon the grace of God.  The fact that Jesus found it necessary to pray and depend upon the Father is indication that we must be similarly reliant upon him.


5.  Human nature is good.  When we tend toward asceticism, regarding human nature, and particularly physical nature, as somehow inherently evil or at least inferior to the spiritual and immaterial, the fact that Jesus took upon himself our full human nature is a reminder that to be human is not evil, it is good.


6.  God is not totally transcendent.  He is not so far removed from the human race.  If he could actually live among us at one time as a real human person, it is not surprising that he can and does act within the human realm today as well.


With John we rejoice that the incarnation was real and complete:  "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

-Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, 737-738.

Let me also point you to one other point hinted at in the list above (regarding Jesus' work as our Intercessor and Mediator).  And that is the fact that the sacrifice of God only is problematic for a number of reasons.  First of all, God is eternal and not subject to human weakness and the Fall.  In other words, God can never and will never succumb to death.  But there is another reason beyond this obvious point.  Jesus has to be both God and man because both are necessary for Him to be our propitiatory sacrifice and our mediator.  How?  The Docetic belief that it was God (who only "appeared" to be a man) who was on the cross is problematic for the same reason that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away human sin (Hebrews 10:4).  Animals aren't human enough to be the perfect sacrifice and mediator for salvation.  Similarly, if Christ is not both Divine and Human, then He is not human enough to be the perfect sacrifice and mediator for our salvation.  Christ, as our Mediator, must be both.

This is why Paul boldly proclaims, "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).


For more:
Sermon - December 26, 2010 - Jesus is Man  
GBC - Mahaney on the Person and Work of Christ:  Christ Our Mediator  
GBC - Stomach Virus' and the Humanity of Christ:  Moore on the Suffering and Sick Servant
GBC - Sayers on the Incarnation of Christ  
GBC - If Jesus Were Born in Our Digital Age
Blogizomai - We Are All Theologians: The Root of Everything We Are and Do 

December 26, 2010 - Jesus is Human

Here is the last sermon in our series on the Doctrine of God (known as Theology Proper) and the Person and Nature of Jesus Christ - the Second Person of the Trinity - known as Christology.  Due to the weather and other events, I did not record the message but have posted the notes.


Notes


For more:
Mahaney on the Person and Work of Christ:  Christ Our Mediator  
Stomach Virus' and the Humanity of Christ:  Moore on the Suffering and Sick Servant 
Sayers on the Incarnation of Christ  
If Jesus Were Born in Our Digital Age
September 12, 2010 - God is Creator 
September 19, 2010 - God is Provident 
October 10, 2010 - God is Sovereign  
October 24, 2010 - God is Immutable
October 31, 2010 - God is Holy 
November 7, 2010 - God is Jealous
November 13, 2010 -  God is Love
November 20, 2010 - God is Triune:  God the Father
November 27, 2010 - God is Triune:  God the Spirit
December 5, 2010 - Jesus is Lord
December 19, 2010 - Jesus is God

Mahaney on the Person and Work of Christ: Christ Our Mediator

I love the following passage taken from CJ Mahaney's book Christ Our Mediator: Finding Passion at the Cross (LifeChange Books).  Its a short book that can be read quickly, but its content is fantastic.  Let us always be reflecting on the cross!  Tomorrow we will be discusing the humanity of Christ and in the following quote, Mahaney shows how Christ's humanity and deity are necessary in order for the gospel to be real.  If Chrit is one and not the other then we remain in our sins.

Since sin has been committed by man, therefore sin must be atoned for by a man.  Only a human being can be the perfect substitute for other human beings.  The deb and obligation and responsibility is mankind’s alone.  Neither you nor I, however, can atone for our sin to satisfy God’s righteous requirements; our own disobedience already condemns us before a righteous God.  Furthermore, we’re captive to sin; it’s humanly impossible for us to release ourselves from its rip.  Even if somehow, from this moment forward, we steeled ourselves to stop winning (which is impossible), our record is still stain by the sins of our past.


That’s our condition – having no possible way to atone for our sin, nor any possible way to free ourselves from enslavement to it.
 
A divine rescue is necessary.  We need a savior.  And in order to be our savior, in order to pay our debt, this individual must be like us – not just God in a form that merely appears to be human, but someone fully and truly human.  Yet he must be unlike us as well, because he must be sinless, since only a perfect sacrifice is acceptable.  He must be fully God, and not simply a man with a limited set of divine powers an abilities.  -44-45

Stomach Virus' and the Humanity of Christ: Moore on the Suffering and Sick Servant

If everything had worked according to plan, we would be discussing the humanity of Jesus this upcoming Sunday, but do to the snow last Sunday, we will discuss that a week later.  Recently I came across an article by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor Dr. Russell Moore regarding the humanity of Jesus.  Moore raises the question:  did Jesus ever have a stomach virus?  This is an interesting question and it has been asked in many different ways.  The question is basically about how human Jesus was.

It is important to remember that Jesus wasn't a sort superman:  all God and not human at all.  Instead, Jesus was both fully human and fully God.  It is dangerous to overemphasize one and ignore the other.  Moore writes:


Last week a friend called my office to leave a question she wanted some help thinking through. Could Jesus have gotten a stomach virus? Or the flu? Or a head cold? This question was rooted in something a little deeper. Since sickness is part of the curse of the Fall, would Jesus’ sinless nature have exempted him from viruses and bugs and fevers?

That night one of my sons woke us, crying as the stomach virus hit with all the unpleasantness that brings. As I watched his little frame tremble as he vomited, I thought about this woman’s question. Would Mary have ever watched her little firstborn in the throes of such sickness? . . .

The Scripture repeatedly makes a point of telling us about Jesus’ exhaustion, about his digestion of food, in order to make the point that our Christ really identified with us in every aspect of our common humanity, except for our sin (Heb. 4:15).

The very beginning of the Christ story itself tells us that part of the sign of the Messiah is that he is wrapped in cloths (Lk. 2:12). Why do you wrap cloths around a baby? For the same reason you might diaper your baby, or wrap her up in a blanket. The point is to keep the baby warm, and to keep him dry from waste. This signifies from the very beginning just how much Jesus is our brother, sharing with us a human nervous system and a human digestive system.

It’s also hard for us to imagine the radical nature of substitution. Of course, we understand Jesus’ suffering for us on the Cross. But the Cross was culmination, not the beginning of Jesus’ identification with us. Jesus walked into a world fallen with sin, a world cursed by thorns, death, and, yes, sickness. Though Jesus clearly had power of sickness in his healing ministry, and over death itself, he voluntarily joined us in a world of suffering and pain, for the purpose of offering up a sacrifice and restoring human peace with God and nature . . .

It just doesn’t seem right to us to imagine Jesus feverish or vomiting. But that’s precisely the scandal. It didn’t seem right to many to imagine Jesus as really flesh and bone, filled with blood and intestines and urine. 

Somehow that seemed to detract from his deity. It surely didn’t seem right to many to imagine the only begotten of the Father twisting in pain on a crucifixion stake, screaming as he drowned in his own blood. This was humiliating, undignified. That’s just the point. Jesus joined us in our humiliation, in our indignity.

I hope you don’t get a stomach virus this year, or the flu or the fever or a cold. But, if you do, I hope you remember, just for a minute, in your discomfort that Jesus has passed through everything you’ll ever face. He might have been racked with nausea or chills or aches, just as you are. And then he faced far, far worse.

But, as you lie there, remember the gospel of incarnation and substitution, a gospel that comes, as the old song says, to make his blessings known “far as the curse is found.”

There is some great insight here.  I love the emphasis on the cross.  The suffering of Jesus makes no sense unless Jesus is human.  If Jesus is not human then the cross loses its power.  This is hugely practical as we'll discuss next week.  I encourage you to read the entire article.


Russell Moore - Did Jesus Ever Get a Stomach Virus?