Ever since the sermon yesterday this song has been running through my head…
When Jesus left heaven, what did he give up?
“who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,” Philippians 2:6-9 (New American Standard Bible)
Jesus relinquished his glory. He was still fully God – omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. Yet he emptied himself of his heavenly form and took on the appearance of a man.
As the son of heaven becoming son of man was being born in a stable…
“there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” Luke 2:8-9
As the glory rose from the Son of God, angels made the announcement to the shepherds. The shepherds said, “Let’s go see this great thing that has happened…” Luke 2:15b
Milton wrote it this way in his poem “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity”…
That glorious Form, that Light unsufferable,
And that far-beaming blaze of Majesty,
Wherewith he wont at Heav'n's high council-table,
To sit the midst of Trinal Unity,
He laid aside, and here with us to be,
Forsook the courts of everlasting day,
And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay.
I think glimpses of that glory were always with him. This glory directed the magi to the house where he abode (Mt. 2:9). This glory was seen as he went about doing good (Jn. 2:11). This glory was seen by Peter, James, and John (Lk. 9:32).
Yet he had to suffer, to enter into his glory. That suffering was the reason for which he was born – his first advent.
“Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" Luke 24:26
Did Jesus yearn for what he surrendered that night? He prayed earnestly in the garden before his crucifixion…
“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” John 17:5
As we look at the first advent, may we yearn for the second when Jesus glory will be fully revealed…
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” (Mt. 24:30)
"At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” (Mark 13:26)
(Thanks to D.M. (his thoughts in red) for his eye-opening teaching 12/6/09. This post comes from what he shared about God’s glory during his sermon. They are not his exact words, just what I wrote from my notes. D. always shows me something new through Scriptures I have read hundreds of times.)
