(47) Conclusion

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So what? I’m sure you knew that question had to be coming! How do we make all this practical? How should we be changed by these truths? First, we should have a change in our thinking that leads to a change in our approach to life and leads to worship.

The more I study and come to understand these glorious truths about the person of Jesus, the more I am convinced that I don’t even begin to understand. What I am saying is that even though I believe I understand the uniqueness of the person of Jesus far better than I ever have before, I am left feeling utterly ignorant. That’s right, ignorant. I am left bewildered, overwhelmed. Words fail me to express how humbled I feel before the glory of my Jesus. It leaves me with an intense awe and wonder. It leaves me with a heart of profound reverance. It leaves me broken before His glory. Tears stream from my eyes as I am convicted of the way I have allowed my view of the glories of Jesus to slip from my view.

I am convinced that my view of life, my life, and the world around me has been so distorted by my small view of Jesus. I am inspired to greater trust in Him who is so gloriously complex and amazing. I realize my most complex and confusing circumstances don’t even make Him break a sweat! He can handle it. I am spurred on to greater reliance on Him who is so incredibly unique rather than on myself, my thinking, my ideas, my solutions, my abilities. I am challenged to believe Him for strength, victory, and great accomplishments according to His glory and for His glory. I am challenged to stop thinking simple and small.

I am captivated by a passion to bow before Him and worship Him. In my heart I prostrate myself before His glory that I cannot begin to comprehend. I am filled with a passion to give my life to Him in complete surrender. Oh Jesus, may I be completely Yours for the honor and glory of your name!

How about you? Do you approach life with your mind and heart filled with a view of our glorious Jesus? I mean, is there a vision of God doing glorious things in and through your life? Or are you defeated, discouraged, just getting by? Isn’t your Jesus bigger than that? He is.

How do you approach life? Do you make your plans and decisions based on your thinking and knowledge, or are you passionate to see the plans your glorious Jesus has for you? Do you approach life with confidence, hope, expectation? How great is your Jesus? He is beyond comprehension!

The real Jesus is gloriously amazing and beyond comprehension. He wants to lead you to a life that is gloriously amazing, even beyond comprehension to the world around you. A life that springs from the life of the One who lives within you who is so amazing!

But there’s another incredibly profound truth for us to apply in all this. To really understand the “so what?” of these doctrines, we need to go back to one of our key passages, Philippians two. Paul did not talk about Jesus giving up the glories of Heaven just to teach a doctrinal truth. He taught it to bring about a change of thinking, attitude and action in his readers.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 NAU)

“Have this attitude” that Jesus had. What is that attitude? It is an attitude of humility, self-sacrifice, servant-hood. We need to look closely at this attitude.

It is an attitude of humility. Jesus rightfully had a position of great exaltation. He resided in a place of incredible wonder, majesty, beauty, and perfection. He continually received the adoration and worship of the angelic hosts. He was ministered to day and night. This was His rightful position. He deserved it. He was worthy of it. He gave it up.

Again I remind you, Jesus went from glory to grime. He went from worship to wagging fingers. He went from words of adoration to words of accusation. He went from perfection to imperfection. He went from comfort to conflict. He went from mansion to manger. He went from supreme to servant. These are not just poetic thoughts, this is truth!

Who am I? When I stand before such majesty it becomes all to clear. And I am indeed humbled. You know, we are so mixed up and so devoid of worship and passion for God just because we don’t get this one truth right. We are nothing, He is everything. I must remind you who we are apart from the infinite grace of God in Christ. We are vapor, dust, worms, grasshoppers. Feeling small? You should – apart from grace. Apart from God’s grace in Christ, we are dead, dumb, darkness, defiled, depraved. Felling lost? You should – apart from grace.

But God – those are the two most beautiful words I know of. I was nothing BUT GOD made me His child and showers His love and blessing upon me. I was dead BUT GOD made me alive.

Now, if Jesus could step down from glory to take the position of a servant, what’s stopping me from being a servant? Simple. Pride and selfishness. See the amazing difference? He had it all and deserved it all. I had nothing and deserved nothing and was given everything. He stepped down to serve. And I am proud and selfish. Who do we think we are? Be humbled before the glorious Jesus, up close and personal.

What happens when we have the attitude of humility? It leads to self-sacrifice and service. Are you willing to give up your desires for others? Are you a servant? Want to know if you have a pride problem? Answer the questions, “Is there anyone I won’t serve?” “Is there any task I won’t do?” Get to know Jesus up close and personal. Be Jesus to someone, up close and personal.


Next:  (48) Jesus: Old Testament Hope - Introduction

(46) Summary

Let’s try to wrap all this up and summarize it. There are three main doctrinal concepts we have looked at in this study that are very important. We can summarize them as follows.

Paradox: A paradox is a statement or idea that seems illogical or seems to present two opposite ideas that are in fact both true. It is when there are two ideas that seem to be opposite or it seems like they can’t both be true but they really are. It is when scripture clearly teaches two things that seem to be opposite.

Hypostatic Union: The two natures of Christ (deity and humanity) are united and cannot be separated. They are united without being mixed and without a loss of separate identity. He remains forever the God-man, fully God and fully man, two distinct natures in one Person forever.

Kenosis: Jesus eternally existed in Heaven possessing all the nature, glory and position of God demonstrated in the visible display of that glory. Jesus did not regard this position as something to be held tightly to for His own benefit. Instead, He acted in unison with the triune God-head and for the glory of the triune God-head. He gave up this position of exalted glory and added humanity to His deity. He did not give up any attribute of divinity, only the external display of His deity. He chose to act primarily within the confines of humanity. He took on the state of pre-fall humanity. He entered into humanity in a low position of poverty, obscurity, and servant-hood.


Next:  (47) Deity in Humanity - Conclusion

(41) Understanding Paradox

Let’s get started. Step one in gaining an understanding of Jesus’ deity and humanity is to get acquainted with a few unique theological terms. First, is the term paradox. This is not strictly a theological term, but it is very important to theology. A paradox is a statement or idea that seems illogical or seems to present two opposite ideas that are in fact both true. It is when we consider two ideas that seem to be opposite or it seems like they can’t both be true but they really are. For those who like mental games, consider this paradoxical statement: “Everything I say is a lie.” (Is that true?) Or, try this one: “There is an exception to every rule.” (Isn’t that a rule?) Don’t get it? Don’t worry, some people love this kind of stuff. The rest of us can get on with our study.

Understanding paradoxes is very important when we, who are finite, try to understand the infinite God. Consider just a few Biblical paradoxes:

● There is one God in three persons.

● The Bible is a book, a thing, and yet it is “living”.

● We see truth by believing in what we can’t see.

● God has decreed the future yet man makes choices that determine his future.

● Mary was a virgin who had a baby.

Why does all this matter? Because when we consider Jesus, we are presented with a number of paradoxes that raise questions for us. We can and will explore the answers to some of these questions, but we must keep in mind that they are paradoxes – two truths that seem to be opposed to each other but are in fact both true. The problem is not in them making sense, the problem is in our ability to make sense of them. The problem is with our minds. It all makes perfect sense to the God of all knowledge and wisdom. So don’t forget – if scripture clearly teaches two things that seem to be opposite, we must find fault with our ability to understand. We should try to understand as best we can. But, whatever we cannot understand, must be accepted as a paradox to us.


Next:  (42)  Hypostatic Union