What are you doing for Christmas?

Exeter Temple Message notes

Sunday 21^st December 2014
Bible Reading:   Philippians 2:5-11
What are you doing for Christmas? This is an often repeated question at this time of year and the season is full of sometimes frantic activity.
We probably all get a bit too caught up in doing but human beings are not the only ones who are “doers” Our reading today reminds us of what Jesus did to start this whole celebration off. 
1.  Entering our humanity                                              
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death even to death on a cross.”
The first action we are asked to think about is Jesus entering into our humanity.
Paul without any apology asserts that Jesus Christ was God who became man. This verse is foundational to our understanding that Jesus was & is God. He has always been God. 

“Were Jesus a mere man, we would be left with a set of nice teachings (and a lot of antiquated stories) rather than a dynamic relationship with the personal God of the universe, made possible through the eternal sacrifice of an eternal Being if we do not believe this foundational truth, every aspect of our lives as Christians would change. Worshiping Jesus, obeying Him, praying to Him would be foolish. “If Jesus is not God, we have believed in vain.”(Arnold)

In the midst of all the other activity engaged in at Christmas meditating upon Jesus’ entry into our humanity will help us to appreciate the immensity of what he has done for us.

Paul says that Jesus became a servant, being found in appearance as a man. This doesn’t mean that Jesus just seemed to be a man.  When Jesus came he took on the full human nature with all the human characteristics.

When Jesus became a man he did not relinquish holiness, love, goodness, mercy, justice. He never ceased to be all those things but he chose to restrain His attributes of power in order to fully identify with us in our limitations.
He had always been everywhere present, all knowing and all powerful but now Jesus chose to be limited to one place and one time, to know only what the Father revealed to him and to be dependent upon the Father for the power to minister.
What was this all for?

The human race was given a perfect environment in which to live but messed it up. We were given the opportunity to live for God but messed that up too.

We were given law to live by but we did not have the ability to do it. Our rejection of God as Lord of our lives has disastrous consequences.  Spiritually we have cut ourselves off from our life source and the result is eternal separation from God, who is the source of all goodness.

Jesus took all that mess on Himself so that we could get out of it and have our connection with God, our spiritual life source restored forever, meaning that there is no need for us to ever be separated from the love of God.

2. Humbling himself in obedience to God

Let’s look at the next part of this wondrous doing that Jesus performed.

“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. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

We don’t find Jesus fighting the Father about Him leaving Heaven. He didn’t try to cling on to heaven but willingly let it go.   Have you ever seen toddlers both wanting the same toy?  They both cling on, pulling at it, neither wanting to release their grip on it.  Jesus was not like that with his position in heaven but gave up his position and place in glory that we might have Christmas.

“It began in a dirty manger and ended on a filthy cross. He was born in a borrowed manger and was buried in a borrowed tomb. God became a refugee in the midst of his own creation.”   (Anon)

Jesus death on cross is very important, but focus of the verse is why he humbled himself.  The reason he did this was because he was obedient to the will of the Father

What should we do in response? 

We should receive.

Paul says that we should seek to have the mind of Christ and his mind set was to humbly receive instruction from God the father and obey it.

What we so often called independence is self-sufficient pride or fear of being beholden to others.

Jesus is the greatest giver of all. Giving up heaven, giving His time for the crowds who wouldn't leave Him alone, giving His friendship to the lost, lonely and confused, giving His life in agony on the cross but we also see that Jesus was also a great receiver.

He came as a baby and a baby can do nothing for itself?  It must be fed, clothed, provided for by others. It knows nothing of self-sufficiency. A baby therefore is very vulnerable. It is on the receiving end of whatever is on offer.

Jesus willingly became a baby - a symbol of vulnerability. Jesus, Lord of the universe, not too proud to be breast-fed by a peasant girl.

Jesus was a guest far more often than He was a host. And at the end He even used someone else's tomb.

The greatest giver teaches us how to receive. To disregard gifts, carefully chosen, sacrificially gift wrapped and addressed to me is the height of insult to the giver.

Stealing is taking what does not belong to you, what was never offered to you. Snatching is taking from someone else in an ungracious and unappreciative way. But receiving - means taking what is offered, with appreciation and thankfulness.

Oswald Chambers was a great Christian teacher and he once said, "Salvation is the absolutely free unmerited gift of God. We would a hundred times rather that God told us to do something than we would accept His salvation as a gift.

3.  Ruling the world

Christmas in God’s eyes begins with Christ humbling himself in order to come in human form; it ends with him returning and reconciling the world and every knee bowing before him. The final thing we must do is bow before God in worship.

We need to recognize that Jesus, the Christ, is not made Lord by anything we say or do His Lordship as the Son was proclaimed by God Himself, when he raised Jesus from the dead!
If the entire world were to rebel against Jesus, Jesus would still be Lord of all! Confessing Jesus, as our personal Lord and Saviour, brings us into conformity with what Almighty God has already proclaimed Him to be!

As amazing as human beings are, we are not the masters.

God has given Jesus a name above every name that at his name every knee will bow.

The concept of bowing is one of both worship and submission. It is an act of giving personal praise and declaring submission of personal will.
 Every person, mind and body will bow
 Every belief, creed and religion will bow
 Every man, woman and child will bow
 Every tongue will confess
 Jesus will be proclaimed

Blessings

Alan and Carol