Skip to content The Humiliation of the Incarnation May 15 · 55 min ...more
May 15, 2025 · 55 min · The Greatest
...more Show the full description Show less Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
139K followers
Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
139K followers
The Humiliation and Love of Christ 0:00 Directly to us today. Would you pray with me? Father in heaven, we give you all the glory, honor, and praise for who you are and for all you're doing. And God, we pray that as your word is open this morning and as you0:10 speak to us, that we would have ears that are ready to hear, and we would have hearts that are ready to obey. Faithfully and accurately proclaimed that you have a message for us. And0:22 so Lord, our invitation this morning is speak Lord, for we are ready to hear. Lord, we pray for our world. It's in trouble. It's been in trouble since the fall, and we're seeing it played out. But Lord, we know that0:33 you're in charge of all things. And Lord, we just pray in this season that you would use this opportunity to let the gospel of Jesus Christ spread through your church and advance your kingdom in ways that we have never0:45 seen before. And so now Lord, as we gather for all who are gathered, who desire to hear the Lord speak, who will believe what the Lord is saying to you, and will by faith put into practice what he shows you, will you0:56 agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word, amen? Amen. How far would you go to show your love to somebody else? How low would you stoop to show your love to somebody1:08 else? How much rejection would you endure to show your love to somebody else? How much suffering How much suffering would you go through to show your love to somebody else?1:17 How much suffering would you go through to show your love to somebody else? How much suffering would you go through to show your love to somebody else?1:18 You know, there's no greater story in the Bible than what Jesus Christ did to demonstrate his love for us. And that while we were yet sinners, that Christ died for us. I mean, the simple truth of the scriptures is that1:29 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but would have eternal life. And for us as believers, we know this truth. And we believe this truth. And we1:41 say, that's a great truth. We also understand this word incarnation that Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the Godhead made up of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that this second person of the Trinity, Jesus1:53 Christ, about 2000 years ago, put on flesh And he became incarnate flesh. And when the word became flesh, he made his dwelling among us. So that as we look to Jesus, we get a true picture of who God2:04 is. And you can study religions the world over, and you can try to find a story of God coming to man, and it just doesn't exist, because Jesus Christ is unique in his incarnation and coming to us.2:16 And we believe that story, that being found in the appearance of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even to the point of death on a cross. Therefore, God highly exalted him and gave him the name2:27 that's above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee would bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father. Amen? What we believe is that God became a man,2:39 and yet what we often don't understand is the humiliation that came along with that. Because we are human beings and created in the image of God, and rightly so, we understand that, and that we are different than all of2:49 the other created order that God assigned, that we as male and female are created in the image of God and we are the crown of his creation. We need to understand something, that the distance between us and3:01 almighty God is far greater chasm than us and any other part of God's created order. And for God to stoop from God to become the God man, not only was his incarnation, but showed his3:13 humility in his willingness to do do this. And in Hebrews chapter 2, this author is pointing out to us not only the truth about the fact that Jesus Christ identified himself3:25 by putting on flesh as being fully God and fully man all at the same time for all eternity, but he describes the humiliation of what took place to make that a reality. Because sometimes as Christians, we don't think3:37 about what it costs Jesus Christ to do that. And in this text today, that's deeply theological that we could spend weeks on talking about all these different nuances of theology. I wanna3:48 highlight to you the humiliation of Jesus Christ in his incarnation, that you would understand his great love for you and how he was being willing to be humiliated so that he could demonstrate his love for4:00 you. And while there's not a ton of application, if you understand this truth, this will change your life. And so I invite you to open your bibles up to Hebrews chapter 2.4:12 Starting in verse 9. I'm gonna read through and finish the chapter, and then we'll highlight 4 different ways that Jesus Christ experienced humiliation during his incarnation. Here's what he says,4:26 little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.4:39 Are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation. For which reason, he's5:01 I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in him. Behold I and the children whom God has given. And the children share5:13 in flesh and blood. He himself, likewise, also partook the devil and might free those who through fear5:25 of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly, he does not give help to angels, but he gives help to the descendant of Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all5:37 things, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in all, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.5:55 And here in this story, we read about how Christ humiliated himself on our behalf and willingly did so. And to understand what he went through on our behalf because of the great love6:07 with which he has for us. And as we highlight these 4 different ways in this great book that's becoming 1 of my favorite books in the entire Bible,6:25 salvation. The humiliation involves the substitution of Christ who suffered sob. As we ended our text at the end of verse 8 last week, we talked about how Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning, but we6:37 still haven't seen everything subject to him yet. But we're going Jesus Christ is gonna rule and reign on this planet, and we will see it. But what we do see is we see him who was made for a little while lower6:49 than the angels namely him, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Make no mistake about it. If you want to7:01 say why did Jesus Christ come to earth? He came for 1 reason and 1 reason only, to die for the sins of the world. That's why Jesus came. He not only came in humility and identified himself as a human being, but he came7:12 on purpose to die. He came on purpose to be rejected by those that he created, whom he loved. The very people he cared for and the very ones he came to save were the very ones who were yelling at the end of7:24 his life, crucify him. Crucify him. Humiliation7:36 to die for the sins of the world. The Bible says cursed is anyone who's hung on the tree. Jesus Christ became the curse for our sin. Jesus Christ on the cross took awe of our sin.7:48 And the writers of the New Testament saw and knew who Jesus was and knew that that was the reason why he And it's important that you understand that. Mean, we hear stories in our day8:00 of people who served in the military, who are alive because someone in their platoon gave their life for them. And when you hear 1 of these men or women speak, they'll say something like this, because I've heard several8:11 of them. We were in a platoon. We were in Vietnam. We were in a foxhole and a grenade rolled in. And our friend, private first class, and they'll name his name, they'll say who he was without8:23 thinking about it, dove on that grenade as we all jumped out of the way. And he took the brunt of all that and was killed instantaneously. And the reason I'm here today is because he took my place in death. And we hear8:34 stories like that and the patriotic nature of our hearts go off and say, that's incredible. Jesus8:46 Christ gave his life so that you could live. He is the substitute for your sin. Now the Bible makes clear in Romans 3 23, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of your I'm8:58 here to tell you on the authority of God's word for you and for everybody sitting around you today that your sin Well, the your and9:12 truest, you cannot get to God. The Bible says, here's what's even worse about sin. Romans 6 23 tells us the wages of sin is so because of your sin, you will and you'll9:24 about it on a regular basis as you age or whether you don't give in any thought. I can assure you that if Jesus doesn't come back in your lifetime, you will die. It's a promise from9:38 penalty for your sin and to offer the perfect sacrifice to his father so that you who were dead in your sin would have a payment for your sin and the only payment for your sin is the Lord Jesus Christ.9:50 Now9:51 here's what we understand. Sometimes we received a ticket from a police officer. We have a certain amount of time either to argue that ticket or to pay that ticket. And sometimes we just say, well, I was guilty. I'm I'm10:02 paying that ticket. Right? Maybe the ticket's a hundred dollars. But if somebody just walked up to you, if a policeman just walked up to you and said, hey, you owe me a10:14 hundred dollars. You would be offended at that. Because you would say, well, what did I do wrong? I didn't do anything wrong. Why are you telling me what I gotta pay?10:26 Most people don't realize that they're blind to the deadness inside their soul and that they're not getting to heaven no matter how good they may deem themselves. And there's a10:38 penalty that has to be paid. And the only payment that can be made is Jesus. He is our substitution. It's the story, religions10:50 the world over. Listen to everybody that you Jesus Christ is unique. He's the only payment for your sin. No 1 else can cleanse you, wash you clean, or make you right with God.11:03 You say, well, how did that happen? I mean, you think about this for a second, that God became a man. God became a man. I mean, when we read that, our jaw should drop and be like, woah. I don't11:15 even understand that. How could he stoop to that level? I mean, if we could make ourselves like someone in the animal kingdom for all eternity because of our love for that species,11:27 that step wouldn't even be as low as Jesus fully God becoming man. And Jesus Christ did not put on flesh for 33 years, make no mistake about it, he put it on for all eternity. He died as the God11:39 man. He rose as the God man. He ascended as the God man, and he's coming back as the God man. And my Bible says there's 1 mediator between God and man, and it's the man, Jesus Christ. Jesus loved11:51 the world so much. He was willing to put on flesh for all eternity. Fully God becoming human. Amazing. Amazing. And we're aware of the fact that he12:02 came here, and we're aware that the Bible testifies to that, and we're aware that he died on the cross for our sins, but we're not aware of the glory of the story. Sometimes we don't think about the humiliation. I mean,12:12 think about the greatest athlete who plays for the Broncos or the Colorado Rockies or something like that, and they get released from their contract. But they say, you know what? I love this team so much that instead of12:23 going and playing for another, I'm just gonna humble myself. I'll become the towel boy. I'll I'll I'll do the laundry. I'll I'll take out the trash. I'll do whatever's needed. I don't care if I make another dime. I just12:33 wanna show this organization how much I care for them. Would that make national news? That make news all over the place. Who would humble themselves to do that after being mistreated? What if that story went on to say12:45 that then the people within the organization started mistreating that person and speaking bad about that person and beating that person and ultimately killing that person? That's the humility that Jesus Christ had for us12:55 in an even greater way. He became human on purpose to be rejected, on purpose to suffer, and on purpose to die, to let you know how much he loves you. How much13:07 he loves you. Amen? Now, most of us don't have a story of, you know, a military story of somebody dying for us in our place, or being at a mall when there's a shooting, and somebody else dying in our13:19 place. But every single 1 of us who through repentance and faith have trusted in Jesus Christ have that very story. That I was dead and now I'm alive, not because of me, but because of what Christ did on my behalf.13:31 He was the substitutionary atonement for my sin. Well, how can a God who is eternal, who's always existed die? Second Corinthians 5 21 tells us, God made him who13:43 had no sin to be sinned for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God the Father placed all of the sin of the world on his son.14:04 Notice what it is. It's just because of the suffering of death. He's crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone. Now, what does it mean to taste? We're gonna come up with14:16 this word in Hebrews chapter 6. It's important you know it. Taste means to experience. It means to experience. She has experienced death to the full. He truly died.14:28 Down, but he wasn't really dead. He was dead. He was totally dead. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was wounded for our iniquities and by his stripes, we have been healed.14:39 Jesus Christ is the sacrifice. He tasted death and notice the last word in verse 9. I want everyone to say it out loud and loudly. Look at your Bible. That way he might taste death for who? Everyone.14:50 Say14:50 it really loud. Everyone. He tasted death for everyone. You know what that means? Everyone in the original language means everyone. That means any person at any time can repent of15:02 his or her sin and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. Everyone, he died for the world. Now notice what it says in verse 10, for it was fitting for him, for whom are all things15:14 and through whom are all things and bringing many sons to glory to perfect the author of their salvation through their sufferings.15:26 Colossians. Just like it says in John chapter 1 and verse 3 that all things were made by him and for him. This creator of all things came and humbled himself so that we could experience salvation.15:38 Perfect world. He never did anything wrong. We as human beings are the ones that have screwed it up. It's our sin that has done that. And Jesus, in his grace, still comes and says, in spite of what you've done wrong,15:50 I'll pay the price so that you can come back to God. It's justice and mercy being fleshed out together. Some of of God's justice. Some of us are aware because we have a really strong16:02 conscience. Man, I don't know if God still loves me. I don't know if he'd do that because I did wrong. I know I was wrong. And that's good. That's good that you're aware of that. But you also need to be just as aware of16:11 the fact that when you're steeped in your sin, you can come running to God and receive his mercy and grace in time of need. Amen? That his mercy and grace are still as16:23 says about who he is. We're gonna read in chapter 12 about how he's the author and perfecter of our faith. But this word author, do you know what it means? It means leader or initiator or originator or chief. Truly16:35 a pioneer. I like the word trailblazer. It means there was no method of salvation until Jesus Christ came and made the way. That's why Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No 1 comes to the16:47 father except through me. Why? Because I'm the author of Salvation. I'm the 1 who's made a way. There is no other way to be saved apart from repenting and trusting in Jesus Christ and in him alone. He16:59 said, well, you're just saying that because you're in Denver and you're in a church. No friends. I would tell you no matter where I'm standing my feet, that is true for all people everywhere at all times. That's what17:09 he's saying. So Jesus was willing to humble himself, become obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. The most shameful, humiliating way to die. Here, the creator of the17:21 whole universe ends his life on the earth by being stretched out naked after being beat to a pulp and gives up his last breath because of your sin and my sin and shamefully dies on17:33 a cross. But 3 days later, friends, I got great news for you. Because he paid for your sin and he truly is the 1 and only son of God, he rose from the dead 3 days later to offer life17:45 to any sinner who would repent and place their faith in the Lord Jesus. Amen? That's who our savior is. Your substitute. Yes. It was more than just providing an example of how to love.17:56 It was more than just laying down his life. He said, I have come that in me you might have life and have it to the fullest. Turned from it? Have you ever turned completely to Christ and said,18:08 I know that you're my payment and I want you to pay for all my sins? That's his substitution. He came as a substitute for you. He came to die in your place so that at your death, you would never have to truly die. And18:16 I'm so that at your death, you would never have to truly die. Now think about this as Christians. Christians die, non Christians die, but for a Christian, it's different.18:28 Because if you truly know the Lord, the Bible says to be apart from the body is to be with Christ. At the moment that a Christian dies, they are immediately in the presence of Christ. While you may18:40 lament and hurt over people that you know, and you may cry tears for people who have been close to you, I have news for you. If the person who died is a Christian, they're not thinking about you18:52 anymore when they die. They're not looking down from heaven hoping that you live a good life. They're so captivated by the glory of the Lord Jesus and so drawn to him in love that that's all that they can consume19:03 themselves with. And they're happy. They're happy. You may wonder, well, they're a Christian. I hope they're they're happy. They're healed. They're whole and they love God.19:16 And the glory of their faith has now come to fruition.19:28 Salvation. Now, here's a word. I've read it twice in these 2 verses, but it doesn't jump out at us. In verse 9, it says, the suffering of death. In verse 10, it says, salvation through19:40 sufferings. We don't like to talk about sufferings. Quite frankly, most of us don't know what it even means to suffer. Some of our stories suffer go like this. Yeah. I was in line the other night at the drive through. It19:51 was like twice as long as usual and they couldn't get their act together. Right? Or, you know, my job, I mean, they let us out late the other day. I was really suffering, or traffic was backed up on the road. I was20:01 suffering. Suffering means pain, calamity, and misfortune. Jesus came on purpose to suffer. His life came on purpose to experience pain.20:13 He came on purpose to experience calamity. He came on purpose to experience misfortune by who? The very ones that he created. He suffered. Don't miss that. His substitution meant that he had to suffer20:25 for our salvation because that was the only way he could pay the perfect penalty. And he paid the perfect penalty. That's why salvation is only through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Make no mistake about it. Jesus Christ20:36 came on purpose to die. Die for the sins of the world, but die for each individual person who would turn from his or her sin and turn completely to Christ.20:49 Salvation? Have you turned from your sin and turned to Christ and realize it's only through him that you can be saved? The humiliation of the incarnation involves understanding Christ as a substitute for our21:01 sin, who suffered for our salvation. Secondly, is this. Humiliation also involves the sanctification of Christ, who identifies as our brother.21:13 The sanctification of Christ who identifies as our brother. Notice verse 11. For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified or are being sanctified are all from 1 father, for which reason he21:25 is not ashamed to call them brethren. Now think about this. If you study the life of Jesus Christ, the thing that you will see him do the most in his ministry is desire to spend time with his dad. He wants to spend21:37 time with his father. He's sneaking away to pray to his father. He's always talking to his father. In Jerusalem. His parents have to come back from Galilee on their trip home to find him. And he says, did you not know I21:49 had to be in my father's house? All throughout his ministry, he's seeking his father. He said, I only do what I see my father. When he picks his 12 disciples, he stays up all night praying to hear what his22:00 father says about these 12 men that he's gonna appoint as apostles. In the garden of Gethsemane, he's praying to his father to see if there's any other way that salvation can be wrought, and then he's obedient to his22:11 father. On the cross, who's he talking to the whole time while people are mocking him and making fun of him? His father. I mean, some of his last words were father, forgive them for they do not know what they're doing.22:22 His whole life was centered upon his relationship with his dad. Now, what's this text tell us? This text tells us that in Jesus Christ humiliation, there's a sanctification process that takes place. 1 who22:34 is sanctified and 1 who is sanctifying others. Sanctification means that your whole that you're set apart, that you're consecrated. Jesus Christ is always the holy 1.22:45 He's always been set apart. He's nothing like us, and yet, when we are justified by faith, when we are made right with him through the gospel, we are positionally sanctified. He declares us22:57 holy. He sets us apart and then guess what he does? Through his holy spirit, he spends the rest of our lives growing us in a sanctification process. He grows us into holiness. He grows us into the likeness of Jesus.23:12 Can do that is because he says, we share the same dad. The Bible 1 of the ways the Bible talks about salvation is that we've been adopted into the family of God. When we're adopted, guess what? We all23:23 share the same father. We're family? How many know family that blood is thicker23:35 than water? Certain people within your family that you may not get along with as much as others, but you can say whatever you want about them, but they're family and nobody else better say that.23:48 I'm here to tell you the authority of God's word, if you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior, your family. Some of you think that, yeah, I might be family, but I'm that outcast in the family and got to24:00 be disappointed in me. No, he's not. He loves you as his own brother or sister. He cares about you because we share the same father. You said, well, when did this adoption process take place? When you've24:12 repented and trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior. When you've taken ownership of the fact that he's the substitution for your sin,24:21 that he24:21 suffered for you. You change fathers. You say, well, how do you know that? Because Jesus makes it very clear to a bunch of religious leaders of the day that we have 1 of 2 fathers. We24:33 either have our father God or we have our father who is the devil. And all of us are born with the father, our father being the devil. Notice what Jesus says in John chapter 8 verse 42,24:45 when he's talking to the religious leaders who say that our father is Abraham. You know, we're we're spiritual. Here's what Jesus says. John 8 42 said, if if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth24:56 and have come from God, for I have not yet even come on my own initiative, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. And here's why, verse 44. You are25:07 of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from25:18 his own nature for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. So here's the question. Who's your daddy?25:38 Salvation, then God is your father. If you don't, the devil is your father. And what he is the father of? The father of lies. He's constantly lying. That's all he knows how to do. We'll talk more about it later.25:49 He is a liar. And he doesn't want you to understand that not only positionally are you sanctified, but that God is growing you in holiness. That God has set you apart for a purpose greater than what you ever knew. And26:01 he's doing that in your life because he identifies as our brother. Some of you don't understand that. Some of you picture if Jesus Christ was here in all of his glory, that he might put his26:13 arm around some of you and say, hey, this is my brother or or this is my sister. But if he brought you up here, he'd be like, oh, yeah. I know you. Hey, come on. I don't really yeah. You've had a tough life, but I don't26:23 want to hang out with you. But that's not who our god is. Mean, think about the stories that Jesus told about the love of his father in Luke chapter 15 about a lost coin and a lost sheep and 2 lost sons.26:35 And when the younger prodigal son went away and spent everything he had and lived his life in wild living senses as he's slopping the hogs saying, even the slaves in my dad's house26:47 do better than I'm doing here. I know what I'll do. I'll go to my dad and I'll give him a 3 point sermon. 5 that I've sinned against heaven and against you. 0.2, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 3, just make26:58 me a story. So after he hasn't seen his dad in a period of time after wasting all of his inheritance and basically telling his dad, I don't love you. He goes long distance, his dad sees27:09 him and starts sprinting at him. And if we didn't know the end of the story, we'd be like, I know what his dad's gonna do when he gets his hands on him. And yet, here's this son that's been covered in pig27:21 slop and manure who comes home to his dad and his dad sprints to him, which is undignified for a Jewish father to do. And what's the first thing we see? Throws his arms around him, hugs him,27:33 kisses him. Point sermon, the dad's just like, no. I'm not listening. Quick. You know, do this. Bring the best breast robe and put it on put a ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, for the son of mine was dead and27:44 he's alive. He was lost. He's now found. Let's kill the fattened calf and celebrate. That's who our God is. He is a sanctifier. He promises that we are27:56 holy and that he's growing us in holiness. If someone asks you the question, are you holy? What would you say?28:04 If you're28:04 a believer in Jesus Christ, your answer is a resounding yes, I am. And it has nothing to do with who you see in the mirror, how you act to this. It has everything to do with whose you are. Jesus Christ is the sanctifier28:15 who is sanctifying his28:33 half brother, the God man, who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy to the only God our savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty,28:44 dominion, and authority before all time means if you're in him, he's going to sanctify you and bring you all the way home. And when he gets you home and he brings you forward,28:56 he's going to present you with exceedingly great joy to his father and say, And see, we don't get a big enough picture of how much29:08 the father pursues us. We don't see how much he loves us. I officiated a wedding yesterday afternoon. It was a really unique wedding. Venezuela, 3 years ago. The husband,29:20 the groom, speaks only spoke only English, and the bride spoke only Spanish. They couldn't communicate, but God put on his heart, that's your wife. So they began to get to know each other, and they had to get29:32 to know each other over the internet, on Zoom. That's how their relationship got built. She started learning English. He started learning Spanish. They wanted to honor God. He ended up leading her to Christ.29:44 Drawn together for 3 years. They've had a long distance relationship. Yesterday at the wedding was only the third time they had ever been together in person. I'd never even met the bride.29:58 Groom back as he was almost going out to chase her. I was like, bro, she's coming. Just chill. Because there was such an excitement for his bride coming that he couldn't contain himself.30:14 A Some of us think, well, I'm just saved. I know God will take me. No. When you see the father's love for you through his son on the day that you meet him, there'll be a pursuit of30:29 love that you've never even experienced before. And no matter how much you think God loves you, he loves you even more than that. There's a pursuit. There's a love. And there's a desire to be pursued. That's30:40 Jesus Christ and his bride. Amen? That's what God wants us to know. We have a father. We share the same father. And we know we have all that, not because of anything we've done. Ephesians two:eight and 9 says, For it's30:52 by grace, you have been saved through faith. It's not your own doing. Are believers because we've made our self We're only believers because Jesus Christ has revealed31:03 himself to us. We're only believers because Jesus Christ has shown us the way that He's the way, the truth, and the life. We're only believers because he's given us grace and lavished us with mercy so that we can know31:14 our sins are forgiven. We don't gather because we're good people. We don't gather because we're better people. We gather because we're redeemed people. We gather because we're sanctified people, and God's growing us in31:25 sanctification. Apart for a purpose. Jesus Christ was willing to become incarnate flesh and humiliate himself, not only through suffering for our salvation, but through identifying with31:37 us as a brother. Jesus Christ identifies with you. He'll hang out with you. It means this, he not only loves you because theologically that's the truth, but he likes you. He's31:49 proud of you. You may be disappointed in yourself. You may hear the lies of the enemy tell you how worthless you are, but that's not the voice of God. God would say to the believer, you are chosen, and you are loved, and32:00 you are redeemed, and you are forgiven, and you are adopted, and you are mine. Isn't that good news this morning?32:11 The good news32:11 this morning is Jesus is willing to suffer for our salvation, and he identifies as a brother. And this third 1 is 1 of my favorites. This third 1 is absolutely 1 of my favorites.32:30 Emancipation of Christ who destroyed the power of death. Now, these verses leading in, we see some old testament scriptures from Psalm 22 22 saying, I will proclaim32:42 your name to my brethren in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise. And again, I will put behold I and the children whom God has given me. We see32:54 that identification. But notice this next part. Notice this emancipation of Christ. Notice this freedom that God has given us. Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise33:05 also partook the same. What it's saying is because we are flesh and blood and God created us as flesh and blood that Jesus Christ humbled himself, he became flesh and blood too. Became flesh and blood too. The difference33:17 in Jesus Christ's incarnation, he didn't have a mom and a dad. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He didn't have a sin nature on the inside like you and I have. He wasn't destined to die33:27 because of his sin. He came to die in place for your sin because that was his and he became flesh and blood in his incarnation. But notice what happened33:39 on the that he himself likewise partook the same that through death,33:52 subject to slavery all their lives. This emancipation of Christ who destroyed the power of death. Well, who had the power of death? The devil did. The34:04 devil had the power of death until Jesus Christ died on the cross. You say why? Because all the way back in the garden, God told them, do not eat off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the day that you eat34:14 off of it, dying, you will surely die. And Satan knew this. That's why he deceived Eve and Adam. And when they ate the fruit, die now because your word says they34:26 have to die. And I'm gonna hold the keys to death. And I'm gonna make sure that they die. It's why in John 10 10 it says the thief comes only to steal34:50 That's what he wanted to do. But I got good news for you. I got really good news for you. That at the cross, that through death, Jesus Christ might render powerless35:02 him who had the power of death. That is the devil. You know what render powerless means? Render powerless means to invalidate. It means to put an end to. It means to destroy. I love35:14 this definition. It means to leave unemployed. When Jesus Christ died, the devil had a going out of business sale in hell. It meant that he no longer held the power,35:26 that Jesus Christ held the power to life, and that there was no way that anyone else had to go to hell anymore, that everybody who lives through repentance and faith could come to him. So35:39 that hell could be emptied, which means if you're here today, God never intended you to go to hell. God sent Jesus Christ on the cross to die for your sin,35:54 death. Isn't that good news? Yes. He came to set you free from death. Now notice what this passage goes on to say, because I love this. This is It's a great It's a story. It's a story. It's a story. It's a story.36:03 It's a story. It's a story. It's a story. It's a story. It's a story. It's a story. It's a story.36:03 It's a story. It's a story. And might free those who, through fear of death, were subject to slavery all their lives. You ever fear death? As a Christian, I'm just here to tell you on the authority36:15 of God's word, don't ever fear death. Most glorious moment you've ever lived. Now, you may be curious and fearful about how you're gonna die. I mean,36:27 I'm always hoping maybe I'm preaching and fall over. I'm at a, you know, watching a game on TV and kind of snore snore away or something. I mean, we sometimes concern ourselves with how how are we going to die? Is it36:38 going to be painful? Those kind of things. But dying itself should not scare you. Why? The apostle Paul told us, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. For the Christian, death is the goal of your faith.36:50 It's being with Jesus Christ and all of his glory. That's why Paul says, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. And then I'm paraphrasing. He says, but what shall I choose between living and dying? I don't know what37:00 to choose. Order to serve you, it's probably better that I keep on living convinced of this. I know I'll keep on living because you need me to teach, but I'd rather be with Jesus than you. That's the paraphrased version37:12 paraphrased version there. Like, why are we so afraid of death? Christians, listen to me. You should never fear death if you're a Christian. 1 of the most disappointing things to me in the past37:24 2 years is not that people in our world fear death because they fear death every single day. It's been watching the church act like those in the world. That's been disappointing to me. Why are we as37:36 Christians afraid to die? Why are we afraid to die? Well, we might die. Let me tell you something. You're gonna die. Every single 1 of you. It doesn't mean don't have wisdom, it doesn't37:48 mean don't make good choices, you make good choices for yourself. You wanna wear a mask, wear a mask. You wanna get vaccinated, get vaccinated. You wanna do all those things, but quit putting your fear on everybody else,37:56 because I'm not afraid to die, and neither should you be. Now there's wisdom,38:08 there's wisdom in how we live. I mean, I don't drive like a hundred miles an hour on I 25 when it's icy. Right? I mean, we're called38:20 to use wisdom, but we're not called to tell other people to live in fear. Jesus Christ abolished fear at the cross. If you're not afraid of dying, what38:32 else can happen to you? You shouldn't be afraid of dying. You should be afraid of dying apart from Christ. Because it's a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Use wisdom.Show more In this video 0:00 The Humiliation and Love of ChristComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.