Simply Jesus
God Became Flesh
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Welcome!
Call to Worship:
Philippians 2: 5-11 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Praise Songs
Intro:
I was reading in His Word these truths about who Jesus is that bring our hearts into a proper posture before Him:
Psalm 62:5-8
5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.
7 My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
8 O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.
I was praying and giving thanks for these truths about who my God and Savior is to me. As I prayed, I could see myself standing on a mighty rock looking out over a wide-open space and when I looked down that rock was Jesus I was standing on. I saw another image of me tucked into a safe and quiet space-like within a cove on a rock and I felt secure. I looked around me and it was Jesus surrounding me. He gave vision to what these words are saying. This is who He is. This is what He does as our God, our shelter, and our Rock. To see my foundation and my shelter is truly Him-not some physical rock on our earth-but Jesus the person was powerful. He spoke to my heart, “You can trust Me to know what you need and provide exactly what you need at the moment you need it.” This is what a Savior and Shepherd does.
So the words of the Psalm, O people trust in him at all times and pour out your heart to him is our calling as we live by faith. Faith in Him, not ourselves; not our circumstances; not our money as our security or our jobs; faith in Him for He knows us and therefore knows exactly how to care for us.
This is what we’ll look at more closely today, how Jesus knows us intimately.
He knows us so well not only because He created us, but because He lived as one of us. Jesus came in the flesh; he was born a man human being and there were a few reasons for this we’ll look more closely at today. In being human, he experienced the world we live in fully as we are experiencing it. He experienced pain, aches, and weariness in the body as we do. He experienced the dynamics of human relationships as we are experiencing the good and the bad. He experienced the hunger of the flesh as we all do and every temptation we can be drawn to…and yet in his humanness, he chose not to sin. He chose absolute obedience to the Father, listening to His voice only, above all the noise and above self. If you think this was an easy task because He was God, you are quickly forgetting what those temptations feel like within each of us-how easily we can be led astray, how quickly our thoughts can turn dark or selfish, how we give into our human emotions and let them be our guide. Absolute obedience to the Father is not easy for anyone, not even Jesus the Son of Man as He set aside His deity.
This is what God wants us to focus on and become more intimate with, Jesus, as the Son of man. In fact, this was the most preferred name Jesus would reference when speaking about Himself-Son of Man. We have to learn to also see and understand Jesus, as a human. Jesus as our brother as we are adopted into the family of God. Only as we are willing to see Him more fully through this lens does He become more approachable and trustworthy.
Let’s look in Hebrews chapter two about what the Word has to say about Jesus’ coming in the flesh and what this means for us as we walk by faith.
Hebrews 2:10-18 NLT
10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. 11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. 12 For he said to God, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people.” 13 He also said, “I will put my trust in him,”
that is, “I and the children God has given me.”
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. 16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
- To Become Like Us (Flesh and Blood).
Hebrews 2:14 14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.
Hebrews 2:17 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters,
Jesus came and manifested, was incarnated as a human being so he was prepared to later be the sacrifice for the sins of mankind. He was as some Bible translations read, the “last Adam” and He came to offer eternal life where the first Adam brought sin and death into our world and throughout mankind, Jesus born of a woman in the flesh, is considered the last Adam who brings us new life through Him. As we receive this new life, we are given the right to be called children of God, thus making us brothers and sisters to Christ, who is the Son of God.
We talk about Jesus as our Lord and King frequently and we should for He is King, but how often do you focus on Jesus as your brother? For He is this also. In fact, it is this relationship, He wants us to become comfortable with and nurture all the more closeness one can have with a brother.
We read in v. 11 that Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. He proudly calls us that. He cares for us as an older brother might look out for a younger sibling. He offers wisdom to us as a brother might. He is a safe place for us to share what is on our hearts like close siblings might do with one another. He also knows all our secrets and all the foolish things we have done in our lives and seasons we have gone through, and He loves us through all of it like a sibling does.
Not all of us have siblings to have this type of bond with, and not all of us unfortunately have close bonds with our siblings for a multitude of reasons. But some of us know exactly what this bond is like and are so thankful for those bonds.
This closeness is what Jesus invites all of us into however and that is in part why He came in the flesh-so that we could see the heart and nature of our invisible God. Remember Jesus always has been but He came so we could see the glory of God in the likeness of man.
John 1:14 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
He also came in the flesh so He could make a way through being born and later dying, to allow us this eternal bond through the family of God. This was the only way according to our holy and just God’s plan to bring many children to glory.
- To Remove the Power of Death.
This is God’s plan and we are all His creation. He determined the only way to remove the stain of sin and power of death is to shed the blood of an innocent being as the atonement, for the life of any being is in the blood. To make human beings justified and right with God for all eternity, a human being had to shed their blood, but only one who was innocent and without sin. There was only one qualified.
Hebrews 2:14 14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.
As a man in the flesh, Jesus was able to lay down His life. As God, He could not die, but as a man, He could and did. This sacrifice pleased the Father who is just and holy and required atonement for sin. It pleased God that mankind could now stand justified before Him and have the right to stand with Him again, which meant freedom to be in a relationship with Him forevermore.
As our High priest, He was also qualified to offer the sacrifice on the altar which was in fact Himself. He was qualified to enter the Holy of Holies and give of Himself for the purification of the sins of humanity.
Hebrews 2:15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
Only in this way, have we all who believe in Him, been set free from the penalty and weight of death looming over us. We have been set free and are no longer slaves to fear. We might be afraid at times, but we are not held in bondage to fear because Jesus has broken the power of death and the enemy. That power doesn’t exist any longer. We just need to remind ourselves and one another what He has done by coming in the flesh and dying for us. Listen to the words of Jesus, our victorious Savior and King.
Revelation 1:18 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Do you hear this today? Jesus holds the keys of death and Hades, which means the enemy has no power. The keys are in the hand of our Savior, who is the Living One! He is alive forever and ever! As we spoke of last week, all authority has been given to Jesus, so our rightful worship and honor are offered up to Him and Him alone. For He came to set the captives free, and He did just that!
- To Relate to Us.
Not only did His coming in the flesh allow Him to be our sacrifice and conquer the power of death, but it also positioned Him to become totally relatable to you and me. He is not a distant and far-off God who is unapproachable. He has fully encountered the human experience and knows the human condition personally. He lived it. He didn’t sin though. He submitted to full surrender and trust to the Father to accomplish the Father’s will and purposes.
This makes Jesus our perfect leader guiding us into salvation.
Hebrews 2:10 10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.
Hebrews 2:18 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
This makes Jesus our trustworthy counselor and friend. The One who sees and understands what you are tempted with for He was tempted also. He knows your sufferings for He suffered too. We can trust Him to guide us into righteousness and give us strength to overcome every battle we face.
He invites us to seek Him, really seek Him with our hearts for He is Lord and King forever and should be honored as such, but He is also our brother who cares for us and stands with us in every storm and valley we go through.
Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart. He will not force His way into your heart or life. He is waiting for you to invite Him in. He wants each of us to choose Him as He has chosen us. Open your heart fully today and let Him in. There is nothing to be gained by leaving Him out. There is everything to gain by letting Him in.
Where might you have kept the door closed to Jesus in your life? Where is he knocking that you haven’t yet answered? Ask yourself why. What are you afraid of if you open that door? What do you fear losing or exposing? What do you really have now if you keep that door closed?
Practice seeing Jesus as your brother as you read His Word-see what a loving brother He is to you. As you pray, call Him your brother and thank Him for being close to you as a brother watching over you. The more you practice this and focus on this, the more this understanding and comfort will grow within you. Let’s put some time into building this relationship this year.
Conclusion: Jesus came in the flesh to share our humanity in every respect; to gain victory over the power of death and sin, and to be our merciful high priest who understands our sufferings. He knows us and He is worthy to follow. Let’s pray:
Offering:
Prayers:
Final Song
Final Blessing: Ephesians 3: 17-19 (May) Christ dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
