Saturday, December 9, 2017

December 10, 2017

"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."  Philippians 2:7-9

I remain captivated by this rich portion of Scripture. Paul is revealing some radical concepts about the love of God and how it should impact the way you and I should love.

For centuries there has been much speculation about the Anti-Christ, who he might be and when he would appear. That will continue until it actually happens and will probably catch most of us by surprise. But, in this Scripture we see the "anti-human" nature of Christ. He WAS essentially God, but became incarnate in human flesh.

It was this mystical union of God and man that made it possible for us to be delivered from sin. Jesus possessed the very thing that led to original sin - He was God. Lucifer was not God but tried to be and sinned. Adam was not God but wanted to be and sinned. Since that original sin our human nature has been contaminated with this desire to be like God. It is a rebellious nature. It is an attempt to escape accountability. It is a desire to do whatever we desire and face no consequences.

Jesus had that in His position as the Son of God, the Second Person in the Trinity. He could have clung to that. We would have! But He surrendered it and humbled Himself to become obedient to death. Because of His super-human, sinless nature, He was uniquely able to deliver us from our sins. Jesus, the Second Adam, was able to undo what Adam had done!

That is good news of great joy!