The Humility of Christ

This past week Christopher Hitchens, a prominent atheist, died of cancer at the age of 62. Many people prayed for him but he told them to not waste their time. He stated there would be no death bed conversion at least while he was conscious.

In an article in the Christian Post, Sep 07, 2010, it reported:

With less than two weeks before “Everybody Pray for Hitchens Day,” cancer-stricken Christopher Hitchens is encouraging believers to hold off on praying for him.

“I don’t mean to be churlish about any kind intentions, but when September 20 comes, please do not trouble deaf heaven with your bootless cries,” the atheist author wrote in a first-person article for Vanity Fair’s October 2010 issue.

“Unless, of course, it makes you feel better,” he added, echoing a past comment.

For Hitchens there was not enough proof to convince him that God exits and that Jesus was anything more than a mere man.

It is sad to read about his death but even more tragic that he never knew the love of God that was demonstrated in sending of His Son Jesus to the earth. I am sure that Hitchens heard more about God than the average person as he debated many people and wrote many books against belief in God. He died in unbelief having had many opportunities to hear the truth of the gospel. God has given man a free will because he does not want to force us to love him but make a choice to love Him. There is no freedom if we have no choices. Though Hitchens made the wrong choices about his beliefs in God, he was free to make them and was willing to accept the consequences of his beliefs.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, I cannot help but think of the humility of Christ, who left the glory and splendor of heaven to come to earth. Nothing we could ever do to change our living conditions could ever compare to what Christ did in humbling himself to come to earth. As bad as slums of India or Haiti are to live in after you have lived in a beautiful home cannot compare to the change in conditions that Jesus was willing to accept in becoming a human being. No other religion has a god who humbles himself to become a man like Jesus did.

His birthing room was a far cry from what most people experienced even during the time of his birth. A dirty manger filled with animal excrement and strong unpleasant odors was not a place for a King to be born. When Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son who would become King James, she gave birth to him in a room that had gold all over the ceiling. There were security guards in the room to ensure that the baby would not be taken and exchanged for another baby. The royal lineage had to be preserved and given special treatment. Yet Christ who was destined to the King Eternal was not afforded anything more than a filthy manger for his birth.

His first visitors were not people of royalty or of any importance in the eyes of the world. They were lowly shepherds, people who were despised for their occupation and would probably have been an embarrassment for anyone if they appeared unannounced and uninvited to visit. Yet God valued them and sent the angel to them to be the first to hear of the birth of the Savior of the world. They were thrilled to be visited by an angel and have the opportunity to see the long awaited Messiah. Can you image how they must have felt when they came to the manger and no one but them was there to celebrate the birth. Perhaps it may have seemed odd to them but also what an honor it was for them to be invited to see the King. God exalts the humble and humbles those who want to be exalted and are full of pride. We have to come to God in humility just as he humbled himself. We come to him on his terms, not demanding that he meet our terms before we will accept him. Those who are proud and will not humble themselves will never know God. The humble shepherds believed the message of the angel, they did not ask for more proof before they would believe. They were rewarded for their faith and obedience by being the first to see Jesus. God honors humility, faith and obedience. The proud will never be able to know and enjoy a relationship with God because they are demanding something of him that he is not obligated to give. God has already revealed himself in creation, He has revealed himself in Christ and now we have his written word that also reveals his nature, character, his works, his ways and his plan of salvation for all who will believe. Christ is alive today, seated at the right hand of God and he is alive in his people who have accepted his sacrifice for sins and given him Lordship of their lives. We who believe are now his ambassadors because Christ now dwells in us. We also are God’s messengers to the world.

The humble God after his birth had to flee with his parents to Egypt to spare his life. He was an exile and immigrant and was forced to live in a foreign country for two years before it was safe for him to return. Though he was just a toddler, he was still God in the flesh. How odd for God to flee for his life. The Creator of the Universe and all of life to have to be running for safety! Again we see the humility of God. He could have zapped Herod and taken him out to spare his Son but he chose to allow him to become an immigrant. I am not sure how they were received as extranjeros in Egypt but there were thousands of Jews living in the country and they must have found people to live with and help them make the adjustments to life in another country.

The humble God grew up in a humble home with his earthly father working as a carpenter. No one would ever suspect him of being anything or anyone important based on the status of his father Joseph. One would think that a future King and Messiah would have at least been born into a family whose father was a priest of religious leader of the Jews. God humbled himself by being raised in a common and ordinary family so as to not draw attention to himself.

When Jesus embarked on his ministry, his own family did not understand him. Neither did the public recognize him as anything other than the “son of Mary” which was a term given to a child who did not know who his father was. How humiliating it must have been for Jesus to be labeled in this way. Jesus humbled himself and submitted to his Father in everything he did. His teaching were not his own but what his Father had revealed to him. He lived a very humble life, not even having a place to lay his head. He endured the mocking of the religious leaders, was falsely accused and unfairly tried and sentenced to death. He was beaten beyond recognition and stripped naked as he hung on a cross that was a form of punishment reserved for the worst criminals. How much more could one be humbled than what Jesus experienced?

Why did God chose to come to earth in great humility? I believe he came this way to show us the depth of his love for us and his willingness to stoop to the lowest level to reach every person of every social and economic status. No one can accuse God of being a respecter of persons, one who is prejudiced against one group or another, one who is not concerned about all people. He came in humility to show us as well how we also must come to him. His humility is the example we must be willing to follow if we want to come to him on his terms. Pride is the sin that caused Lucifer to rebel against God and be thrown out of heaven. Pride is the sin that will keep us from receiving Christ as Lord and Savior. Those who reject him do so in pride, believing that they know more or are too proud to submit themselves to the truth that God has revealed to them. They will be without excuse on judgment day, there will be ample evidence against them but the greatest evidence will be the appearing of Christ himself. Every knee will bow before him but for many it will be too late.

No one but God knows the eternal destiny of Christopher Hitchens. We would hope that before he died he had an opportunity to repent and be forgiven. God’s desire is that today be the day of salvation for all who are willing to humble themselves and confess that Jesus is Lord. He does not want any to perish to eternal hell but has given man the freedom to accept or reject his Son.

God will not always strive with an unbelieving person. There will come a day when there will be no more opportunity for repentance. A friend of mine is a pastor and one night he received a call from a lady who needed prayer. It was 11 p.m. but he and his wife traveled for 25 minutes in their car to visit and pray for her. The husband of the lady was a witch doctor and had caused many problems in the family. As the pastor was praying for the lady, the Lord spoke to him in his native language and told him to tell her husband that today was the day he needed to repent and reconcile his relationship with God. The pastor communicated this message to the witch doctor but it did not faze him. He refused to surrender his life to Christ and be reconciled to God. The pastor and his wife continued to pray for him and his wife for a while longer. The Lord again spoke to the pastor and told him that this would be his last opportunity to reconcile with God. If he did not do it, he would die that night. The pastor again told the husband this message and told him that he needed to prepare his family for his death if he refused to repent of his sin. This man again refused to humble himself and repent. The pastor prayed some more for him and then the Lord told him he had done what he asked him to do and he could return home with his wife. On his way home he received a phone call from the wife and she told him that her husband was dead.

God will not be mocked. Those who defiantly reject him and side with the devil as this witch doctor had done will be judged. Yet God in his mercy sent the pastor to share the gospel and give the warnings. He did not have to do this but because of his love he sent the pastor to share the message. If you are one who has constantly rejected the gospel message, please take note of this story and realize that you too are on a road that will lead to death and judgment which will result in eternally living in a place that was created for Satan and the fallen angels. It will not be a pleasant place but will be one of torment. Jesus spoke very clearly about hell and what it will be like. You may not want to believe that such a place exists but it does not negate the fact that it does exist and it will be your final destination.

We have been created by God for the purpose of bringing glory to him. He is a holy God and sin cannot be in his presence. Sin entered the world through the decision of Adam and Eve to believe a lie of the devil and every human being has made the same decision and is guilty of sinning against God. But God in his great love for us, sent Jesus to take care of the sin problem and make possible a way for us to be reconciled to him and be able to enjoy an intimate and eternal relationship with God. If we reject what God has done for us, how he humbled himself to become a man to die for us and be the sacrifice for our sin, the only just judgment against us is to be rejected by God because we have rejected Him. This is not God’s desire but it is the consequence that we will face if we reject him because of our pride.

Don’t waste another minute of your life living for yourself, rejecting Jesus because of your pride. Humble yourself under the hand of God and he will exalt you. He will save you from your sin and give you a life that will be filled with his presence, his joy, his love, his mercy and his grace. What will you gain by holding on to your beliefs? What benefit will you receive that can compare to what God has prepared for those who love him? Rejecting God is your choice but when you realize what you are accepting and what you will not be receiving, to me it is a very foolish and selfish choice. Jesus said this, “What will a man gain if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul.” What will you give in exchange for your soul? Money, fame, success, drugs, sex, position, power? These will all pass away and all you will have left after you leave this earth is your soul that you exchanged for temporal things rather than eternal things. In the end, the truth will be revealed to those who rejected it and they will go to the place of their choosing to spend eternity living as they lived life on earth, separated from a God who loved them and desired only the best for them.

The Jesus I never knew

Phillip Yancey has written a book entitled, “The Jesus I never knew.”

There are many people who have a wrong understanding of who Jesus is and as a result have rejected him or are not surrendering their lives to him but are following after their own desires. I was reading the Revelation of Jesus Christ written by the Apostle John who was banished to the island of Patmos because of his testimony of Jesus. John got caught up in the Spirit and was given a revelation of Jesus whom he knew in the flesh while he lived on earth but in his vision had a different view of Christ in all of his glory.

John had the privilege of living with Jesus for 3 years. He saw Jesus in his humanity, how he hungered, was thirsty, got tired from walking, wept at Lazarus’ death and was called the son of Mary which described him as an illegitimate child whose father was unknown. John saw Jesus as fully human but he also saw how he yielded himself in obedience to his heavenly father and broke the laws of nature bringing healing to the blind, deaf, lame, sick, demon possessed and raising people from the dead. Jesus set aside his divinity to take on flesh and live in obedience to his heavenly Father. John was an eye witness to the miracles of Jesus, his death and resurrection. He left everything to be a follower of Jesus and spent his life proclaiming the gospel message and conveying the messages that Jesus taught.

The last image John had of Jesus was when he ascended into heaven. But now as he was banished to Patmos, he had a revelation of a glorified Jesus he had never seen or known before. John saw Jesus as he is today.

We need to see Jesus as John saw him, especially during this time of year when we focus on his birth. For some people Jesus was simply a human being, no different than you or I. He was a baby in a manger, lived as a human being and did many good things. To others he is viewed as one sent from God as a prophet or teacher but not a Messiah or Savior of the world.

When John was caught up in the Spirit, he saw and heard Jesus in a completely different realm than he had ever known before. .

John describes Jesus initially in terms of how he knew him during his ministry and after his resurrection. He called him, “the faithful witness, the first born of the dead, the ruler of the kings on earth.” Rev. 1:5

Then he describes what Christ has done for us.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

Rev 1:6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Then he describes what will happen when he returns as he had promised.

Rev 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

A day is coming when there will be great celebration of his return for those who have recognized Jesus as Messiah but it will also be a day when those from every tribe of people who rejected him will wail and beat their chest when they realize they were wrong in their beliefs about him.

Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet

Rev 1:11 saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

Rev 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,

Rev 1:13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

Rev 1:14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,

Rev 1:15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

Rev 1:16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

Rev 1:17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

John saw Jesus in his glorified body that I am sure was difficult for him to describe. He saw a powerful being and his only response was to fall to the ground in worship. This is the reaction we all must have toward Jesus. He alone is worthy to be worshipped. He is the Holy One, the Righteous One, the only one worthy of praise.

I was listening to a message called “Ten shekels and a shirt” by Paris Reidhead which is a classic message that I recommend to each of you. The message included stories of the evangelists George Whitefield and John Wesley. These men had a tremendous respect for the holiness of God and the horribleness of our sinful state. They cried out against sin because they saw how much God hated it because of what it has done to the relationship he originally intended and still desires to have with his creation. They did not take sin lightly but preached with great passion to stir the hearts of men to see themselves in their sinful state and turn to God for salvation. I don’t know how well their message would be received today in a culture that is afraid of the word sin and views it as a hate crime when it is used against certain sinful behaviors.

Whitefield preached to a crowd of 20 thousand people at Boston Commons. He told the people “you are monsters, monsters of iniquity, you deserve hell. The worst of your crimes as criminal as you have been is that you have not had the good grace to see it. If you will not weep for your sins and your crimes against a holy God, George Whitefield will weep for you.” He would put his head in his arms and weep like a baby not because they were in danger of hell but because they were monsters of iniquity that did not see their crime.

John Wesley was a preacher of the righteousness and holiness of God, and when he would stand and preach for 2 to 3 hours as he was accustomed to in the open air and he would exalt the holiness of God and the law of God and the justice of God and the wisdom of his requirements and the justice of his wrath and his anger. Then he would turn to sinners and tell them about the enormity of their crimes and open rebellion, their treason and their anarchy, the power of God would so descend the company that on one occasion that has been reliably reported that when the crowd dispersed, 1800 people were lying on the ground utterly unconscious because they had a revelation of the holiness of God and they had seen the enormity of their sin. God had so penetrated their minds and hearts that they had fallen to the ground.

I think at times we are guilty of presenting a Santa Claus God who gives people what they need and we do not emphasize the holiness of God and our rebellion against Him. God deserves to be glorified and only a redeemed person who has truly repented from their sin can bring glory to Him. Our passion must be to bring God glory and honor that He alone deserves. His true character and nature must be proclaimed to a world that does not know him or His Son, Jesus.

The Moravians sent hundreds of missionaries to unreached parts of the world. When they sent them out they stated, “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of his suffering.” The reward is worshippers who will bring glory to God through their repentance and lives that honor his holiness and righteousness.

John had a revelation of Jesus that caused him to bow before his holiness.

This is the Jesus I believe that all will see when he returns and every knee will bow before him and acknowledge that he is Lord. This is the Jesus we need to proclaim to the world. A Jesus who is alive, who is all powerful, who is full of love, who conquered death and is in control of the destiny of the world. He is actively involved in the lives of those who have surrendered to his Lordship and he is coming again.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ we need to remember that there are 2 billion people who have never heard of Jesus nor had the opportunity to hear the gospel message proclaimed. They need a revelation of Jesus in his holiness and righteousness in order that they too can repent and surrender their lives to God and bring glory to His name.

The Joshua Project has compiled these statistics regarding the people who have yet to hear the gospel.

A Church for every People Group

Global Total 16,600

Unreached / Least Reached 6,900

The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth

True Believers 10%

Nominal Adherents 20%

Heard, no response 40%

Virtually no exposure 30%

God is using all forms of technology to reach the unreached world. He is revealing Jesus to a world that is losing hope and is mired in sin. Christ is the only hope; he is the only answer to the sin problem of all of mankind. This Christmas let us be proclaimers of the holiness and righteousness of God that will give people the true motivation for repentance and surrendering their lives to Christ.

We serve a Christ who gave his blood for our sins and now reigns in heaven. He is coming again and His desire is that all the nations have an opportunity to hear the gospel message. We have been entrusted with the gospel and we must make every effort to reach every nation for the glory and honor of the Lamb. It must always be our number one priority because the eternal destiny of every soul depends on whether they have accepted or rejected the gospel. The church must make the necessary resources available so that the unreached can hear. Less than one penny of every dollar given to all Christian causes goes to financing pioneer church planting among unreached people groups. This must change. Our job is to proclaim it to all the world and as we do our part, the Holy Spirit will call them to repentance.

This Christmas, may we boldly and unashamedly proclaim the reason Christ came to earth. May we seek for opportunities to share the message and never shy away from clearly announcing the wonderful message of God becoming man to redeem him from his sin.