God Almighty in a Manger

Every year people all over this country hear the Christmas story, and what a beautiful story it is, but they never quite grasp it because they don’t understand what was really going on with that baby in a manger. They don’t understand who Jesus really was, what He did and why He did it. What did it mean for the angels to declare a savior is born?

Philippians 2:1-11 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I. Who was Jesus?
There is a picture taken a while back by a satellite from the edge of our solar system. Now some have looked at this photo and have concluded that the earth is insignificant. “Look how small we are in a vast universe.” However, they miss the point. The universe isn’t about us. It is about God!

The heavens declare the glory of God. It is about His greatness! As we grow in technology and see just how big the universe is, we see how small we are, but the bigger picture is that we should see just how big the God is who created it all!!!

That is God. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. If nothing else was, God would be. He is the only one who has the right to simple call Himself “I AM” as He did to Moses in declaring His self existence and deity.
God is omniscient (He knows all), He is omnipotent (He is all powerful), He is omnipresent (He is present everywhere), and He is sovereign (He is in complete control of everything).

So, Philippians 2:6 states that Jesus was in the form of God.

Hebrews 1:3a He (Jesus Christ) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word (Jesus Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

So the same God that made the speck called earth, including your little molecule of an existence… the God that created this vast universe to declare His glory… Jesus is THAT God. Yes before Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem, He eternally existed as what we call the second person in the triune God.

As Jesus told the skeptics in His day, “Before Abraham was, I AM!”

II. What did He do?

Here is the ultimate act of Humility. Jesus; the great I AM had every right to stay put, right there on His heavenly throne, but He did something unfathomable. Have you ever seen Horton Hears a Who? Horton is an elephant who finds a speck that lands on a flower. It turns out that this speck is a whole world consisting of microscopic people called Whos. Horton does all he can to ensure their safety. But Jesus entered the speck! He became one of us… a microscopic blip on the radar compared to the rest of His created universe.

What did Jesus inherit in taking on Human form? Though He was still God, He now took on attributes of humanity. He began as a helpless baby; unable to speak, walk or talk. He grew in wisdom with a human mind. He thirsted and hungered. He was open to the temptation of sin, though because He was still God, he was able to resist. He wept. He became weak. He was fully God, but chose to become fully human with all of its weaknesses. Ultimately, just like all humans, he was able to die.
Jesus was still God and the Bible says that at any point he could have exercised every bit of that right, but He had a mission. He could have called legions of angels to His aid, but chose not to.
We are sinners. God cannot look upon sin because of His good and perfect nature. In order for God to have a relationship with you and me, there had to be justice toward our sin. That is where Jesus came in. If we are not to perish, then somebody had to perish in our place. In order to take our place, He had to live the sinless life that we could not. He could have exited stage left, but He continued in perfect obedience, even unto death on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins.
It didn’t end there. God raised Him from the dead and restored His position as King. Now Christ reigns once again from heaven still as fully God and fully man. He now can act as a high priest for the sake of us. As God, he represents God to us and as man, He represents us to God. He not only reconciles us to God through faith in Him, but he relates to us, because he has been there and done that and overcame that. What an amazing God who entered this speck and overcame sin and death that we might have eternal life with Him!


III. Why did He do it?

He did it for us, but ultimately He did it for the glory of God the Father who loved us. (John 3:16)

God will be glorified, either by His merciful love or by His justice. Whether we trust Him by faith or not, we will all bow before Him in the end in either heaven or hell.


IV. What does this mean for us?

Jesus didn’t think Himself better than God, but instead became His servant. He considered you significant, though the Bible says we were His enemies lost in our sin. He came to serve you. God served you?!? Put that into perspective. By His grace through faith in His atoning work on the cross and resurrection, He gave you eternal life and restored your relationship with God. Amazing!

Now the Apostle Paul says that we get to do the same thing. Christ was our example. Not that we can save souls, but we can point them to the Christ who can. It takes work. It takes an act of humility to go out into a world not knowing who will fall down in tears before the throne waiting for forgiveness and who will in unrighteous anger put you to the sword; figuratively or literally.

John Piper talks about taking good risks in his book, “Don’t Waste Your Life”. With us being human and not God, we don’t know the outcome of choices and therefore life is full of risks. A good risk is trusting God and then entering into other people’s lives in order to point them to Christ.
I’m challenging you to bring God to others. Trust the Holy Spirit. Esteem others above yourself, even those who are difficult to like. Take risks and watch the Holy Spirit work.