Artists and creatives work in many mediums.  Painters paint.  Sculptors sculpt.  Musicians make music.  Authors create with words.  It is through his/her words that an author brings ideas and stories to life.  This is true of human authors, and it is true of the divine Author of all creation.

     In Genesis chapter 1, the scriptures provide us with a history lesson on how "history" itself came to be: "In the beginning God said..."  When God spoke, things, things of all shapes and sizes - galaxies, and planets, and stars, and continents, and oceans, and plants, and animals, and...even mankind - all came to be by the power of the spoken word of God.  It is important that we see the obvious connection that John is making in the beginning of his gospel when he points us back to the creation of all things when he says, in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word..."

     The capitalization points us to the fact that John is speaking of a proper noun here.  This word is a person...Jesus the Christ.  But why does John use this strange poetic language?  Why does he not just say, in plain language, the point he is making...that Jesus is God?  The choice by the Apostle, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is clever.  To say that the "Word became flesh" is to say that the same divine power that unrolled the entire universe and everything in it like a scroll, by the simple utterance of words, is now contained in the person of Jesus.  Take a moment to let that sink in!  How much more powerful is that concept to our finite minds?

     How often do we take time to simply dwell on the fact that Jesus, the author and creator of the entire universe, the sovereign Lord and sustainer of all things, condescended from glory, took on flesh, and walked (or tabernacled, as Tyler put it in his sermon) among his people?  Think of it this way, at the same time that Jesus was, for example, sleeping down in the hull of a fishing boat, he was holding together the entire universe...every single atom and molecule in the billions of galaxies.  How do we begin to wrap our minds around such things???

When we think about giving thanks to Jesus, our focus often quickly lands on his atoning work on the cross, and justifiably so, that is a monumental thing for us to be thankful for.  However, we are often far too short-sighted.  The incarnation is equally important.  But it is one thing to pay lip-service to the incarnation and quite another to understand and truly celebrate it in joyful thanksgiving.

     I think their are two important things that often get overlooked or misconstrued in much teaching on the incarnation.  First is that we must understand that the act of the incarnation by the eternal Son (the second person of the Trinity) is an act of addition, and not subtraction.  Again, we point back to John's poetic opening to his gospel.  This Word who became flesh did not lose any of his divine power and authority, but rather added to his fully divine nature a second fully human nature.  We often think of Christ giving something up in order to become flesh, but this is an incorrect way of thinking that has been bolstered by much bad teaching over the years.  We must understand both the fullness of Christ's divine and human natures.  Both coexist simultaneously in the person of Jesus.

     Second, we must understand that Jesus' incarnation was necessary.  One of the fundamental ways in which God has always interacted with his people is through what theologians call "federal headship" (or covenantal heads).  This means that God makes promises to and exercises his blessings and curses through a representative head.  This concept isn't exactly easy to understand, but becomes very clear when we think of many of the most well-known stories from the scriptures.  For example, Abraham is the father of the nation of Israel.  The promises God made to Abraham, while given to him, were applied to his offspring.  Again, we see in the stories of the kings of Israel and Judah, as the king went, so too the fate of the people followed.  A good king (as the federal head) brought blessing to himself and his people, but a bad king condemned the whole nation under the wrath of God.

     This concept is most important to understand in regards to Adam.  Because all men are decedents of Adam, all men are, by extension, condemned through the sin of Adam.  This is what Paul is explaining in Romans chapter 5.  Therefore, if by one man, Adam (our original head), all men were plunged into sin, it is through one man, Jesus (our new head), that all men are redeemed.  These may seem like weighty doctrinal concepts, but grasping them is important to a proper understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ.  This is why for thousands of years men have wrestled with the scriptures and sought to properly and adequately articulate and teach these weighty and beautiful truths. 

     Here's where the rubber meets the road.  In his sermon, Tyler talked to us about the importance of understanding and embracing our identity in Christ.  In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul provides the same instructions.  You who were once this (in the flesh)...embrace the truth that you are now this (in Christ).  Christ took on flesh so that, as a new and better Adam, he could fulfill all of the commands of the Law.  He was perfectly obedient and perfectly righteous.  He was a spotless lamb.  For this reason, he was the only acceptable sacrifice for the sins of mankind.  Nothing else could ever atone for our sins, but the blood of Jesus.  Without his perfect life, God's wrath could not have been satisfied on the cross.

     Likewise, just as Adam's sin is counted against all of his decedents, Christ's righteousness is counted on behalf of all of his children.  In Christ we are invited into fellowship with God and by his righteousness, we are given the right to be called his children.  We are quite literally adopted, as lost and wondering orphans, into the family of God.  All of this is because of the life of Jesus.  Without his life, we would not experience the reality that is ours through his atoning death (which is where we will pick up this Sunday, so please join us).

In Grace,
Chris Morris

If you missed this week's sermon (or just want to listen again), follow the link below to listen. Or subscribe to our podcast in iTunes.

Part 1 - Thank You Jesus For Your Life

Questions discussed in this sermon:

1.  Who is the Word?
2.  Is Jesus God?
3.  How do we live in response to the life of Christ?

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