And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:08, NKJV).
When God obeys, the history of time and space are rewritten, and the Universe and all Creation are redeemed from the judgment of sin. This is true, in all its profound complexity, because God has ordained it to be so, and for no other reason that the human mind can comprehend. In fact, we would not know about it all unless the Holy Spirit had revealed it to us through the Apostle Paul. That is partly why former skeptics, like C.S. Lewis, came to believe in the tenets of Christianity; it's just not something mere human imagination could conceive.
The writer of Hebrews declares, "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." (Hebrews 5:8, NKJV). What might be the single most miraculous aspect of the Incarnation of Christ? Perhaps, it's that the Omnipotent One learned obedience. He became voluntarily subject to Someone else to the point of death! What a startling contrast to what we would expect. It is amazing to me that this would be the case, and even more amazing that one of the commands He received from the Father was to die! For us! And not just to die, but to die a horrible, torturous and humiliating death in one of the most painful ways possible; the death of the cross. So agonizing was it, that a new word entered into human speech to describe it: excruciating.
Disobedience in the Garden resulted in excruciating obedience on Golgotha. That which the first man had every incentive to achieve, was a devastating failure. And only through the voluntary and obedient sacrifice of the Son of God was humanity brought back from the brink of eternal destruction. How much love does that evidence? How much humility? I cannot even imagine it. It is literally incomprehensible that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV). But beyond that, and this is the point of the verse above, Christ obeyed in this heroically redemptive act. Do not take that fact for granted, because it is proof of so much goodness and mercy and grace that it could explode our hearts in joy.
At this point in chapter 2 of this epistle, we have been given three separate words for Jesus being born a Man: He came in the form (morphe - mor-fay' ) of a slave, His life's shape, so to speak; He came in the likeness (homoioma - hom-oy'-o-mah) of men, meaning He was human, through and through; and now appearance (schema - shay'-mah). This last word is interesting in that it is the same word used daily in the Information Technology industry to describe the outward look, and inward rules of composition, of data. It serves as the complete description of both the format and valid values of information. It is all that is ever needed to know about the essence of what is being conveyed, or transmitted, or used. In human terms, it serves a similar purpose, in that it is everything in a person which strikes the senses about the figure, bearing, discourse, actions and manner of life of another.
What does all this say about the single most important hero of existence? How is it meant to impact the lives of those of us this hero has saved and transformed? Basically this:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16, NKJV).
And
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32, NKJV).
And
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29, NKJV).
We are to love like Him, obey like Him, and become like Him. Not out of fear, but gratitude. Not from compulsion, but voluntarily, because we KNOW and TRUST the One to whom we must give account.
Remember, above all, that you have been bought with an inconceivable price. You are not your own. All that you have, and are, come from Him, and without Him, you can do nothing.
The message of the Incarnation is clear. Each and every fallen human being is worth more to the Creator than all the rest of Creation put together. His love for us is abundant and boundless. He stopped at nothing to redeem us and to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:26, NKJV).
Yes, this is termed the "emptying" passage, but in the emptying of Himself, He enabled our joy to be full, and for us to have life everlasting. It is incomprehensible and glorious, stretching our minds and hearts beyond the bounds of human understanding. But it is true nonetheless. The most important truth of all.
