Easter Devotional - Day 05
"This good news is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! As a human, he was from the family of David. But the Holy Spirit proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God, because he was raised from death." Romans 1:3-4
We are so accustomed to understanding Jesus as God in human flesh that we may overlook the importance of Paul's words. The mystery of the incarnation has become an assumed fact for so many of us. We quote Scriptures, sing hymns, and repeat messages pointing to God being present in Christ Jesus so often, we may forget that this was something novel, special, and completely unexpected in Paul's day. When Paul refers to Jesus as God in flesh, or when the gospel writers mention the same, it was to an audience who considered such unimaginable outside the fantastical myths of Roman and Greek deities.
In those stories of gods taking human form, they were never really human. It was ever a charade—a temporary means to communicate with mortal humanity. God Almighty, actually born in human flesh and living the natural course of human life on earth was a wholly different concept. This was no mere charade or costume assumed for a few brief moments. This was the Creator participating in the human experience from beginning to end. For that reason, it was the birth of Jesus that so significantly displayed Jesus' humanity. In his birth, he was as one of us, subject to the limitations of human flesh and sharing our experience of life with all its difficulties and turmoil.
From Paul's perspective, the human lineage of Jesus clearly went back to David. His birth and being named by Joseph were sufficient proof of that lineage from a Jewish perspective. In terms of his divinity, however, Paul does not point to Jesus' birth at all. Mary's chastity, character, or purity with respect to sin has no place in Paul's argument. The only point of interest here is Jesus' resurrection. This is where the question of Jesus' incarnation is most clearly portrayed and proven. The resurrection is what makes or breaks the question of Jesus being God. His birth was within the realm of human experience, but life beyond death placed him in the realm of divine experience.
It is from the experience of resurrection that Jesus' life and death become good news for those who accept his offer of forgiveness, grace, and faith. It is likewise from the resurrection that Jesus becomes so much more than an itinerant teacher with an interesting message. Since the resurrection confirms Jesus to be God incarnate, it also confirms that Jesus' words and example of living must be taken much more seriously than we are wont to do.
Jesus was human, yet he lived according to the will and character of God. Jesus was God, yet he lived in the conditions of mortal humanity. His message was no idealism proclaimed as good theory. His words and actions were nothing less than the visible expression of Godly character within the realm of human experience. As God calls us to live, so God did also live in the person of Jesus Christ. The Sermon on the Mount was not just a sermon of ethereal bliss. It was the way Jesus lived. It was the way Jesus died. It is God's command, not as one removed from our experience, but as one who participated in the human experience and decreed it the only appropriate manner for our living. It was this good news that took hold of Paul's life. Will we allow it to claim ours as well?
God lived on earth in Jesus. Allow the character of his example to guide your daily actions.
"Lord, help me see Jesus not as a hero, but as an example for living my life in your will."
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
We are so accustomed to understanding Jesus as God in human flesh that we may overlook the importance of Paul's words. The mystery of the incarnation has become an assumed fact for so many of us. We quote Scriptures, sing hymns, and repeat messages pointing to God being present in Christ Jesus so often, we may forget that this was something novel, special, and completely unexpected in Paul's day. When Paul refers to Jesus as God in flesh, or when the gospel writers mention the same, it was to an audience who considered such unimaginable outside the fantastical myths of Roman and Greek deities.
In those stories of gods taking human form, they were never really human. It was ever a charade—a temporary means to communicate with mortal humanity. God Almighty, actually born in human flesh and living the natural course of human life on earth was a wholly different concept. This was no mere charade or costume assumed for a few brief moments. This was the Creator participating in the human experience from beginning to end. For that reason, it was the birth of Jesus that so significantly displayed Jesus' humanity. In his birth, he was as one of us, subject to the limitations of human flesh and sharing our experience of life with all its difficulties and turmoil.
From Paul's perspective, the human lineage of Jesus clearly went back to David. His birth and being named by Joseph were sufficient proof of that lineage from a Jewish perspective. In terms of his divinity, however, Paul does not point to Jesus' birth at all. Mary's chastity, character, or purity with respect to sin has no place in Paul's argument. The only point of interest here is Jesus' resurrection. This is where the question of Jesus' incarnation is most clearly portrayed and proven. The resurrection is what makes or breaks the question of Jesus being God. His birth was within the realm of human experience, but life beyond death placed him in the realm of divine experience.
It is from the experience of resurrection that Jesus' life and death become good news for those who accept his offer of forgiveness, grace, and faith. It is likewise from the resurrection that Jesus becomes so much more than an itinerant teacher with an interesting message. Since the resurrection confirms Jesus to be God incarnate, it also confirms that Jesus' words and example of living must be taken much more seriously than we are wont to do.
Jesus was human, yet he lived according to the will and character of God. Jesus was God, yet he lived in the conditions of mortal humanity. His message was no idealism proclaimed as good theory. His words and actions were nothing less than the visible expression of Godly character within the realm of human experience. As God calls us to live, so God did also live in the person of Jesus Christ. The Sermon on the Mount was not just a sermon of ethereal bliss. It was the way Jesus lived. It was the way Jesus died. It is God's command, not as one removed from our experience, but as one who participated in the human experience and decreed it the only appropriate manner for our living. It was this good news that took hold of Paul's life. Will we allow it to claim ours as well?
God lived on earth in Jesus. Allow the character of his example to guide your daily actions.
"Lord, help me see Jesus not as a hero, but as an example for living my life in your will."
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
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