Incarnation, pt2
Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 067
It is critical that we are fortified in the fundamental doctrine of Jesus Christ and Who He is.
Hebrews 10:1-4 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
The sacrificial system was being debated in the book of Hebrews—New Testament believers no longer needed to make any other sacrifice; Jesus was the final sacrifice. The logical argument being made here is that if those sacrifices really worked and were not just a shadow pointing to the true Lamb of God, then why did they have to be done over and over again?
Hebrews 1:5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me.
That is my favorite Christmas verse. When Jesus came into the world, He said: Sacrifice and offering is not what God has desired. God prepared a body for Jesus so He could sacrifice that body, feel all the pain and suffering, and, only as the Son of God, bear the sins of the world.
Hebrews 1:1-2 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Jesus was the heir of all things, and through Him God created the world. This shows that Jesus was not a created being, but was the Creator of all beings. He was indeed God.
Hebrews 1:3-4 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
Verse 2: He is the Creator.
Verse 3: He is the radiance and the exact representation of God.
Verse 4: He is not an angel. He is better than the angels.
Hebrews 1:5-6 For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”? And again, “I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me”? And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”
Only God is to be worshiped, and here God is directing the angels to worship Jesus. What did the angels do during the Christmas story? The angels came and worshipped Jesus. The wise men came and worshipped Him. The people who encountered Him worshipped Him. Only God is worthy of worship.
This is the incarnation. This is God manifesting Himself in the flesh.
Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
A Son is born, but He is the everlasting Father. There is only one way this can happen—God inserted Himself in the affairs of man by clothing Himself in a body—a body where He could feel, touch, taste, weep, feel rejection, feel tired, be worn out and exhausted. He would know what that was like, and there would never be an excuse on our part that God does not understand.
When we celebrate the incarnation—God becoming man, Jesus—one of the most prophetic things we are doing is declaring that we can never say that God does not understand and that God cannot relate to us. God did not just identify with us, but He became one of us in the form of a sinless man.
I pray that during the Christmas season we would take some time and really meditate on the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
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