Christ One Person, Two Natures Sunday Morning October 7, 2018 Sleater-Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA

Transcription

1 INTRODUCTION: - Today, we remember and celebrate the Lord s Supper o For the foreseeable future, I ll use the Lord s Supper as an occasion to preach a message about Christ, God and the Trinity o Last time, we covered John 1: Today, we re going to think about something very important what happened to Christ in the incarnation? o Incarnation = when He took on flesh and was conceived by a miracle of the Holy Spirit inside Mary - What, exactly, happened? o Did He stay divine o Did He give that up? o Is He both? - The truth is that the divine man Jesus already had a divine nature, but added a human nature, too o Christ is one person, with two distinct natures TEXT: - Paul wrote this letter from prison - One of his concerns in the letter is that the Christians in Philippi live holy lives and don t bring disgrace on Christ and the Gospel - He s just finished explaining that, although he wishes he could die so he d be with Christ in heaven, he knows he s still needed here Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again (Phil 1:25-26). - He knows God still has work for him to do, and hopes to be released from prison and see them again, one day! - In the meantime, though, he tells them how they should live their lives: 1

2 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God (Phil 1:27-28). - Live holy and upright lives that re worthy of the Gospel of Christ! - Don t let cultural pressure, overt or implicit, derail that goal - The Apostle Peter says you should do this so you ll have the opportunity and privilege to speak truth into people s lives even in the midst of conflict from family, friends, culture and government For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have (Phil 1:29-30). - The Christian life isn t one of peaceful bliss, or hedonistic debauchery it s a life shaped and informed by God and His Son s Gospel - That often means conflict (to greater or lesser extent depending on context) with a secular world that hates God s wisdom, values and mores So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind (Phil 2:1-2). - So, Paul says, Christian love (encapsulated in the Good News of Jesus Christ) can t be pushed outward if there s hatred and conflict inside the congregation! - So, have the same mind, be on the same page, be united around the Gospel and its implications 2

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others (Phil 2:3-4). - Here is where we get down to brass tacks what does this look like? o It means not acting according to selfish ambition o It means not acting out of narcissism; a belief that you re a genius and everyone else is stupid o It means, through the principle of humility (the opposite of narcissism and conceit!), you think of others more than yourself - Paul is speaking about how people in this congregation in Philippi should interact with one another how should people in a church get along and carry out the Great Commission? o By doing what he just said - That s a tall order who can we look to who models this humility and selfless love for others? o Jesus! Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus (Phil 2:5). - He continues: who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (Phil 2:6). - You can see two important things here: o (1) Jesus was in the form of God what does this mean? It means that Jesus, before the incarnation, had the very same outward appearance and nature as God Himself Notice the distinction; God and Jesus are distinct God is a synonym for Father, in this instance 1 1 John also used God as a synonym for Father in the prologue to his Gospel. 3

4 Some versions translate this as nature (e.g. being in the same nature as God ), which is true, but that isn t Paul s point Paul is more referring to outward appearance, and what this means about Jesus rank and status = it means equality! Jesus is equal to God; He has: the same form, the same outward appearance, the same majesty, the same holiness, the same purity, the same righteousness, the same rank, the same divine stature Jesus isn t derived or descended from God; He s eternally existed alongside Him, in the same form, shape and outward appearance as Him o (2) Jesus didn t hold onto His position what does it matter? Jesus deserves His special status in heaven, but He decided to let it go He didn t count this equality as something He had to desperately hold onto for dear life He deserves this status because He s the eternal Son of God; the KJV reads that Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal with God Why did Jesus leave heaven, then? Because God loves people like you and me, and wanted to save us from ourselves, so His Son gladly and voluntarily left there for our sakes! but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Phil 2:7). - Jesus emptied Himself that s a very literal way to translate it, but what does this mean? o It means Jesus made Himself of no reputation o It means Jesus left all that and came here for us 4

5 o It means Jesus concealed Himself, forsaking all the privileges and honor of His rank and divine status, and came here as a normal person - Ok, but what does that mean? o Paul explains: (a) Jesus took the form of a servant and slave (b) He made Himself be born as a man; as a normal person o Jesus did these things to Himself, they weren t done to Him - Does this mean Jesus stopped being divine? o No; it means He added a human nature to His divine nature, and His divine Person now lives in and through both natures (more on that soon!) o He didn t give up anything; Jesus concealed or veiled His true glory during the incarnation, but didn t give it up in any way (e.g. Princess Jasmine from Aladdin) o The Gospel of Luke tells us: (a) in its story of Gabriel s announcement to Mary, that Jesus really is human (Lk 1:26-38), (b) and He really did grow in wisdom and stature with God and men as He grew up (Lk 2:52), (c) and He really was tempted by Satan and defeated him as a man (Lk 4:1-13) (d) and He really did die (Lk 23:44-49) o But: (a) Gospel of John (Jn 1:1-18), (b) the Book of Hebrews (Heb 1:1-4), and (c) the Book of Colossians (Col 1:15-17) tells us that Jesus actively upholds and controls creation right now even during the incarnation o Basically, the Bible tells us that Jesus is both man and God at the same time! (a) Jesus, the eternal Son of God, has two natures divine and human (b) One person; two natures 5

6 (c) He s always had a divine nature, but He added a human nature in the incarnation, when He was miraculously conceived by the Spirit inside Mary - What does it means that Jesus is one Person, with two natures? o Nature: describes your attributes, personality, will, mind, characteristics = the constellation of things that makes you human, instead of an animal Now, we all have different attributes, personality, characteristics (etc.) But, the point is that we each have a human nature that contains these things o Person: the active being who controls, owns and possesses a nature all the attributes, characteristics, personality, mind and will in the world are worthless unless someone possesses them and acts upon them! A person is the active subject who embodies a nature and gives it life o Jesus is one Divine Person, and He has divine and human natures: Jesus is one active Person He s always had a divine nature; a constellation of characteristics and attributes that mark Him as God In the incarnation, by making Himself of no reputation, by taking the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men, Jesus added a human nature to His divine nature addition, not subtraction! Now, the one Divine Person of Jesus Christ owns, possesses and acts in accordance with (a) either His divine characteristics and attributes (e.g. He was upholding creation even during His ministry), or (b) His human characteristics (e.g. He became tired, thirsty, and didn t know certain things) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8). 6

7 - Jesus was found in human form = seen, verified and confirmed to be a normal man by everyone who knew Him! o Jesus didn t just seem to be human o He was human! o He came here in the same morally pure state that Adam did, and unlike Adan, He resisted sin and defeated Satan as our new representative which one will you choose? - Jesus veiled and concealed Himself so much that He allowed Himself to be killed even in the most disgraceful way imaginable in His day o Read Isa 52:13 53:12 CONCLUSION: 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 (Phil 2:9-11). - We worship and exalt Jesus because of who He is, and what He s done for His people: o He s always existed in the same form, majesty and outward shape as God o Yet, He counted all that as nothing o He left heaven above and came here o He made Himself nothing; a man of no reputation, by adding a human nature to His divine nature, and subjecting Himself to all that new nature s limitations and handicaps o He humbled Himself all the way to a lonely and agonizing death, in the most humiliating and painful way possible, so that people across the world could turn from their sins, to His Good News, and be saved - That s why we worship Him - That s why we exalt Him - He s the very model of selfless humility for a greater good - The man who wrote the letter to the Hebrews said this: 7

8 o Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. o For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. o For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted (Heb 2:14-18). - It s that love, that selfless sacrifice and that humility that impelled Jesus to be willingly obedient to do the Father s will, and establish the New and better covenant in His blood, which brings perfect and final forgiveness of all sins for everyone who comes to Him o He died so that His people would be saved from themselves o He did so that you might be freed from Satan o He died so that you might be adopted into His family o He died because He loves you o He died so that this sin-cursed creation would be made new again - As the Apostle Peter said: o For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation, (Acts 2:39-40). - Paul called the Philippians, and he calls Christians today, to have this same mindset, this same selfless love: o (1) to love your fellow believers with all your heart, soul, might and strength, and o (2) to love unbelievers enough to tell them the old, old story of Jesus and His love! 8