Why God Became Flesh - Part four

You can listen to this message here: https://youtu.be/3CHhB2mN9Tc  

Why God Became Flesh

Over the last several weeks we have examined some of the reasons Jehovah God became Himself human in Jesus the Christ.

We saw that He did not come to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance. He did not come to BE served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for us. He did not come to bring peace – although He is the Prince of Peace, but He came to bring a sword. He came to force men and women to make a choice between Him and even their families.

 

We saw that God became flesh to physically shepherd His lost sheep. And He came to bring good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, and to set captives free.

 

This week I want us to revisit what Jesus said to the congregation in that synagogue in Nazareth, specifically His remark about setting free captives and those who are oppressed.

 

Here for context is that section in Luke 4:18-21 –

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18ff) 

Jesus came to set free those who are held captive and who are oppressed specifically by the devil. In fact, St. John tells us in his first epistle: “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

And the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “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…” (Hebrews 2:14)

One of the most successful tools Satan has used since the Garden to oppress men and women and to get men and women to take matters of life into their own hands instead of trusting God to come to their aid – one of the most successful tools he has used is the fear of death.

When people fear death more than anything else in life, Satan can seduce them to do things they would NEVER consider doing. They will lie, they will cheat, they will steal, they will slander, they will use and abuse others – they will even murder to save their own lives.

Some recent surveys tell us some 20% of Americans are "afraid" or "very afraid" of dying. The respondents gave several reasons for their fear of death. I want to focus our attention on only three: The fear of the unknown; The fear of the Final Judgment; And the fear of leaving loved ones behind.

I focus on those three fears because they are specifically relevant to our theme, “Why Did God become Incarnate in Jesus.” I also focus on those three fears because they are relevant to the confidence we can have – the confidence we MUST have – in the promises and the purposes of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

First,: Fear of the unknown. Many people – even those who sit in church pews each week – feel as if they are completely in the dark about what happens to them after death. But God became flesh to shine a bright light into that darkness.

 

For example, here is what St Paul, under the divine and inerrant inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had to say about death: 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”

 

God also gives us a glimpse of our new home. Here is Revelation 21: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

 

These few passages – and I could cite dozens besides – give us only a glimpse into our eternal destiny. It is a place of light, without a hint of darkness. A place of eternal safety from enemies, a place where pain and sickness and loss and tears will never again be experienced.

 

Listen, please. God has given us enough information throughout His inerrant, infallible and holy word that we can know we will not walk alone through that valley of the shadow of death. That is a great gift God has given us – the true Christian does not need to enter fearfully into what awaits us on the other side of this life. We can live with confidence that when we close our eyes in death that we are only a heartbeat away from opening them in our new eternal home.

 

But what about the other fear many people have regarding death – the fear of judgment?

 

For most people, that fear is a justifiable emotion. If they are not true Christians, they have very good reason to fear.

 

God tells us in Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth: “Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, HCSB)

 

Everyone, regardless of title, wealth, or position in the church and outside the church – everyone who persists in living in rebellion against God’s commandments will, at their death, discover themselves cast from God’s presence into an eternal lake of fire where there will never be hope for a second chance.

 

Priest and laity, bishop and bookkeeper, pastor and choir member, Sunday school teacher and usher, if they are not living a lifestyle of obedience to Christ when they die, their destiny is so terrible, so tragic, so blood-curdling horrific that we should never cease to pray for our loved ones and friends and neighbors who, today, are in mortal danger of that destiny.

 

But – and this is important – despite the litany of damnable sins Paul cites in that 1 Corinthians text – the Holy Spirit quickly focuses our attention on the good news in verse 11: “And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

 

In other words, God told the Christians at Corinth that He took upon Himself in Christ the penalty for their sins. And He says the same thing to you and me who read that same letter. God WILL NOT punish the repentant Christian because He took our punishment in the incarnate Christ, sent to us for that purpose.

 

I know I have shared these nuggets of God’s truths with you many times in the past, and I continue to share them because we so often forget the many great gifts God has given us through our faith in His incarnation in Jesus. He has given us such gifts as forgiveness of sins, sanctification, justification, and with them all, eternal life – not because of who WE are or what WE have done, but only because of who God is and what HE has done.

 

Christian! Trust God who became flesh and lived among us for a while so that He could demonstrate to us how much He loves us and how firmly established are His promises.

 

But what of those in Corinth – and anywhere else – who were not washed, sanctified, and justified by their faith in Jesus’ substitutionary and sacrificial atonement?

 

Some teach even from pulpits, and from their richly paneled ecclesiastical offices, that eternal punishment does NOT refer to the Lake of Fire. These children of Satan, these secret disciples of hell seduce the biblically illiterate into believing that hell is simply an eternal separation from God and His holy kingdom.

 

But God’s inerrant word tells it quite differently AND very clearly to everyone with eyes open to God’s truth. Those souls who reject Christ’s sacrificial atonement for them, reject it even to their dying breath will spend their eternity separated from God in the Lake of Fire. And that is the same place the devil and his demons are also cast. You can find those texts, for example, in Matthew 25:41 and Revelation 14:10; 20:10, 11-15).

 

But back to the good news for those who are sons and daughters of God through their faith in Jesus: You CAN have unqualified confidence in your eternal destiny. You can live absolutely assured that when you die you will find yourself staring into the loving and smiling face of Jesus our Savior.

 

Some might think it presumptuous to have such confidence. But Scripture responds to that accusation with one word: Hogwash. Well, it doesn’t use that word, but that’s the idea.

 

It is never presumption to take God at His word. It was He who said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. (John 5:24) 

 

Neither is it presumption to believe the apostle John who, under the inerrant inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:11-13) 

 

Our trust in His promise of eternal life is not at all presumption. It’s called confidence in a faithful God.

 

And finally for today’s message, some fear death because they fear what will become of their loved ones left behind. I understand that fear because I worry about leaving my Nancy behind. But what does our Father in heaven have to say that can comfort us and assure us of His moment-by-moment care for those we leave behind?

 

He says lots of things. Oh, if only we would wrap our confidence around His faithful promises.

 

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you.” (Isaiah 43)

 

This promise God gave to Israel has direct application to every child of God who worries about leaving their loved ones behind. Though survivor’s tears will sting for a while, God vows to be with them as they journey through their unspeakable grief.

 

Hear is another, Isaiah 46:4 “Even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; and I will bear you and I will deliver you.”

 

Most everyone in this room knows what it is like to lose a beloved spouse or child or parent. But through it all, has not God taken care of you? When you thought at the time you could not go on, did not God carry you and bear you and deliver you?  So, do you think He will not do the same for those you love, if you die and leave them behind?

 

Just as God knows the number of hairs on YOUR head, He also knows the number of hairs on your loved one’s head. Just as God knows what we need before we even ask Him, so He knows what will be their needs before they ask Him.

 

I have to remind myself – and you might need to remind yourself – of the promises God gives each of His beloved children through faith in Jesus.

 

Listen, nothing can ever separate our loved ones from God’s love for them in Christ Jesus. Nothing – including our death. They will grieve, of course. But because God loves them as much as He loves you, He will hover near them, holding them – even if they cannot sense Him. He will guide them, encourage them, keep them, carry them.

 

Trust Him. Trust Him to do what He told the congregation in Nazareth: That He came to set free the captives and the oppressed. He came to tell them – and you and me – this word of unfailing promise:

 

“O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57

 

The God-Man Christ Jesus told those at the gravesite of Lazarus the same thing He tells you and me at the gravesite of those we love; and it is the same thing He tells those we love when they stand at OUR gravesite:

 

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. . . .” (John 11:25-26)

 

God became incarnate in Jesus to tell us we no longer need to fear death. He tells us that what lies beyond the valley of the shadow of death is not a great question mark. Scripture gives us enough information to give us confidence that when we close our eyes in death, we will then open them in the presence of the King of Glory and of all the holy angels, and of our family and friends who have gone before us into His presence.

 

And just as important, He wants us to know for certain that when we close our eyes in death, He will take care of those we leave behind.

 

Thanks be to Him from whom all blessings flow.

We will continue our series next week, examining the reasons God became flesh and dwelt among us as fully man and fully God.