So last week we talked a little bit about Christ becoming man, the incarnation, that great mystery of Christ becoming man, adding that human nature to His divine nature, emptying Himself. And so continuing along the same lines, we're going to talk about some of that as well tonight. Question 27, which deals with Christ's humiliation. That's question 30 in the Baptist Catechism. And I've entitled this message, Christ Humiliated But Unbowed, because He was indeed humiliated, but he still was a person, as I mentioned last week, of infinite dignity. And that remained the case even while he was going through all his humiliation here on earth for us. Christ didn't have to become a man, just like He didn't have to create us. He's God. He is self-sufficient. No one, nothing compels him to do anything. It is simply self-generated. If he loves, if he has wrath, if he wants to do anything, it's totally self-generated, not motivated by outside forces. Nevertheless, he became a man, just like one of us. Out of his own desire, his own will, he did so. There are many in Christendom that have the idea, maybe not stated, but implied, that Christ needed to come to save humanity. That's not true. He didn't have to. He could have just wiped out the entire humanity, started again, right? And he got close. He saved only eight at one point, and he would have been totally within his rights to even do away those eight as well and just make a whole new humanity. Nevertheless, he humbled himself. As 1 Peter 1.20 tells us, he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for your sake. And I think that that last phrase is such an interesting and important part of that passage for us, for our sake. I've mentioned the Nicene Creed before, and please allow me to quote a little bit from it again. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the begotten of God the Father, the only begotten, that is of the essence of the Father. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten and not made, of the very same nature of the Father, by whom all things came into being in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. And so even though Christ humiliated Himself, we have a tendency to think of our Christ in human terms, but He is the God of the universe, the Creator of all that now exists. So question 27 asks the following, wherein did Christ's humiliation consist? And the answer is, Christ's humiliation consisted in His being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross in being buried and continuing under the power of death for a time. The first scripture that is given as proof is found in Luke chapter 2, verse 7, which says the following, and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger. The son steps from eternity into time and now is going to interact with his creation, as the old hymn says, out of the ivory palaces and into the world of woe. He is the firstborn. He is not only the firstborn chronologically, but he also is the preeminent one, the prototokos, as the Greek term indicates. Tim is going through the gospel of Luke right now, and of course he explained all concerning Luke's account of Jesus' birth, and the fact that he did not come in pomp or circumstance, he came quietly. You could even say an obscurity. It's an interesting thing that I was reading the other day. A famous unbeliever was talking about how there's no inscriptions about Christ. There's no real history about Him except in the Gospels. And I was thinking about that and saying, well, of course not. He didn't come for that purpose. He didn't come for people to recognize Him as the God of the universe. He came in obscurity. He came quietly to give His life for the sins of man. It was just as He purposed it. The second scripture is Galatians 4, verse 4. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. He came into the world just like the rest of us, born of a woman. even though that woman was a virgin, but he still was born the same way that the rest of us are born. He grew up the same way that the rest of us grew up. Hebrews 4 speaks of Christ being just like us, except without sin. In that respect, He was different. But in His humanity, He was just as much the human as we are. He got tired. He got hungry. He got sleepy. He got frustrated at times with the disciples. You can see in the way that he says things about, you know, questions them. And it's almost like he's hitting his head and thinking still. In John 14, he tells Philip, have I been so long with you and yet you have not recognized me? So how can I be with you for three years and you still don't know who I am? So you can tell that there's that frustration there at the humanity that the apostles manifested. Notice too that it wasn't a random thing. Christ didn't just come at some time. He came in the fullness of time. People might ask, well, how come Christ didn't come now? Why didn't He come in the Middle Ages? Well, because when He came, that was the fullness of time. That's when He needed to come. The Father had set the time for the Son to come. To receive a people to Himself. And that's when He came. Not a minute before. Not a minute after. And notice also that God sends His Son. He was already in existence. Christ said numerous times in the Gospels, I have come to do certain things. I have come to save the sinners. I have come to do one thing or the other. So He knew that He had come from somewhere. He wasn't just beginning to exist in Bethlehem. He was in existence in eternity past. Paul says in Romans chapter 5 that for when we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. And so it was just at the right time. Notice that the lawgiver subsumes himself to the law in order to fulfill its requirements in our place. Tremendously amazing, that thought is to me. The idea that the lawgiver himself decides, I'm going to put myself under the law so that I can redeem humanity. Amazing thought. Isaiah 53, of course, is sort of like the mini gospel of the Old Testament. And in verse 3, Isaiah says the following, he is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. It's curious to know that the New Testament never speaks of Christ as laughing. Now, I don't think we should make too much of that. He probably did. He probably smiled, sort of like, again, going back to the apostles, right? When they said some stupid stuff, he probably had a annoying smile, right? And that kind of thing. But I think that the idea is that the evangelists understood the seriousness of Christ's mission. I mean, you're talking about redeeming humanity. Nothing is more important than that. You know, nothing is as momentous as that in history. I heard a preacher one time say, if you miss heaven, you missed all there is. And he was absolutely right. Because if you do not go to heaven, then your life is useless. It has served no purpose. And you're going to end up in a place where you don't even want to think about. So truly, that is reality. Despised is ascribing little worth. The world looked upon Jesus as somebody that wasn't worth their time. I mean, you see it in the Gospels, right? You see the Pharisees and many others who think that, who is this person? Why are you telling me this? Who are you? What authority do you have? That was a question that was asked a number of times. By what authority do you do these things? And so on and so forth. Totally missing the point that Christ had just performed a tremendous miracle. But somehow that was lost in the whole idea that this was not the person that we expected. They expected somebody else. They expected somebody that would come with the pomp and the circumstance that the unbeliever I mentioned at the beginning expected Christ to come apparently. But his suffering was of a piece of his mission. He came to take on our sin. Now, sin by its very nature causes grief. And in vision, we're used to it. I mean, we're living in that quagmire all day long, every day of our lives. Not only other people's sins, but ours as well. So we can't escape it. But imagine the Holy God, who doesn't know sin, cannot contemplate sin, stepping into creation and taking on a body that's subjected to all that dirtiness and all that filthiness that goes on around me. I can't imagine it, simply because, like I say, I've had flesh all my life and I've been subjected to that sin all my life. But for him to do that, it's amazing. Again, the only word that fits that description. So not only did he suffer rejection and abuse, but he came to a humanity that didn't understand his mission. Even his followers, in many instances, didn't understand his mission. You remember John 6. There were many disciples there listening to him. This is after he had performed a tremendous miracle. Two of them, actually. One was a little more private, but one was the feeding of 5,000. Very public. a tremendous sign. And what do the people in John chapter 6 do? They ask for a sign. What sign do you perform, right? After he had done a sign that, well, in the history of mankind has never been done and will never be done again. And yet, the hardness of the heart leads to Christ, well, being dumbfounded. Really, if there's such a thing as being dumbfounded in the deity, that had to do it. Because we certainly are clueless. In Acts 1-6, the disciples say to Jesus, Lord, are You now going to restore the Kingdom to Israel? Right? It's almost like, well, are You finally going to do what we expect You to do? And what does Christ do? Patiently, He says, it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has reserved to His hand. And so again, patiently explaining to people who are clueless why the mission was what it was. Matthew 27, 46. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now, a lot of people have ideas as to this here. There's a couple of major theories as to what Jesus meant by that cry. Perhaps the most popular is that he felt himself abandoned by God. God could not look upon him because he had taken on the sins of the world. And so he turned his back on him. There's other people that say, well, that couldn't be the case because then that would mean a rupture in the Godhead. How could God the Father turn His back on God the Son? Perhaps the theory goes that He was just beginning to quote Psalm 22. As you know, that is the beginning of Psalm 22. It wasn't unusual for folks to quote the beginning of a psalm to make a point. So some people think, well, maybe that's the case here. I happen to believe that Jesus' humanity did feel abandoned, that because He had taken on that sin, something that He had never experienced, that the Father turned His back on Jesus' humanity, on the fact that the sin was there being punished on the cross for each one of us. for His people, for those He came to save. So that's why He cries out, why have you forsaken Me? I have never felt this. Even in my 33 years of human experience, I have never felt the Father forsaking me. But sin has that effect, that even the Father forsakes the Son at that moment. Philippians 2 and 8 says the following. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Sorry. This is found in what has been termed the Carmen Christi, which is the hymn to Christ as God. Some scholars believe that it's a hymn that the church used to sing that Paul has appropriated and quoted here to make the point that he's trying to make. And the point that he's trying to make is that He has just told His readers they need to be humble. They need to look upon others as more important than themselves. And then, beginning in verse 5, He says, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ. So in other words, He's giving them the epitome of the example. of who acted the way that we need to act like. He is our example. Let's follow Him, because He is the perfect example. Remember in 1 Corinthians, there's a couple of times where Paul talks about, follow me as I follow Christ. But Paul was a fallible human being. He was going to make mistakes. But Christ, however, was not fallible. He was infallible. And so whatever He did, we can be sure that we can imitate and that we would be doing the right thing in doing so. Again, imagine the God of the universe lowering Himself to that level. As the hymn says, Amazing Love, how can it be that Thou, my God, should die for me? Death on the cross, the worst kind imaginable. I've been watching a couple of videos about crucifixion, and although I've seen some of them before, but every time I see one, it never fails to make an impression about how torturous that death was. Truly, the depravity of man in inventing ways to torture each other knows no bounds. And so to imagine the fact that an individual, Christ, who did not have to die, died that way, it's pretty awful, pretty amazing that he was willing to do so. Matthew 12 and 40. As Jonas was three days and nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. This is what would be termed a prophecy in pictures. In other words, it's not in words, but the events themselves are the prophecy. And in this case, of course, the prophet serves as the imagery of Christ dying, being buried, and then being resurrected. Let me say here as well that if the book of Jonah and the event that took place in the life of Jonah is not real, then the point that Christ is making is empty. The illusion is empty. Because if it didn't happen, well, what are you telling us Christ? There was a myth that happened and now you're going to replicate that myth? Makes no sense. So obviously Christ believed it to be a real event. And if he does believe it to be factual and historical, we need to as well. We've spoken about the fact that nothing happens by accident. Every event portrayed in the Old Testament has a purpose. And those purposes are usually pointing us to Christ. The Old Testament is a signpost that says, follow in this direction and you will find Christ. And Jonah is no different. God takes upon Himself that which He abhors most. I keep talking about that, but it's because it really is an amazing thought. He takes on what He abhors most in order to save us. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says that God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we may become the righteousness of God in Him. And so He made Him sin. A sin offering for us. Again, channeling Tim, one day all will be forced to acknowledge that Christ is Lord. Better to do so now than to do it then, right? Because if you don't do it now, then you will be forced to do it then. And it will be after he tells you, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. That's not something I want to hear. See, I want to hear, well done, good and faithful servant. It's something that Kevin is, well, I guess not hearing yet because it hasn't happened. We had a conversation about this, Tim and I, you know, the other night about, well, when you get to heaven, how is that time-wise and whatever? Now you're stepping into eternity. Everybody that's going to be there is probably there. I don't know. You know, it kind of makes your head hurt as to how that's going to happen, right? But the reality is that it's going to happen. And Christ is going to speak those words because He has said He will. And I want to be on the side of the sheep, not the side of the goat. And I hope that as many people as I speak to will be on that side as well. You did say goats, not goads. Yes, I did say the goats, not the goats. So anyway, see, you made me lose my train of thought. So anyway, be on the side of the sheep, right? So let's confess Christ now, while we have the opportunity. Isaiah 55, beginning with verse 6. Isaiah tells his readers, Seek the Lord while He may be found. Draw near to Him while He is near. Right? Let the wicked forsake His way, etc. while we have the opportunity. Before our hearts become so hardened that we just can't do it. We don't have the desire to do it any longer. We need to do it tonight, today. In a couple of weeks, we're going to talk about Christ's exaltation. Next week, Lord willing, Our brother John is going to discuss Christ's offices as priest and king, but in a couple of weeks we'll talk about his exaltation. But let me leave you with a couple of thoughts along those lines now for you to think about in the next couple of weeks. One comes from Spurgeon, and the other one comes from the Athanasian Creed. The Christ that died upon the cross now lives in our hearts. The Christ that took human guilt has taken possession of our souls, And henceforth, we live only in Him, for Him, by Him. He has engrossed our affections. All our arters burn for Him. God, make it to be so with us, that we may glorify God and bless our age. From the Athanasian Creed, He ascended into heaven. He sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the living and the dead. At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into everlasting life, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire." You will hear echoes there of John chapter 5 where Christ says those very same words. So, again, if you have not embraced the Christ, and again, talking about Kevin, because when I read the email this afternoon, and I read the portion where Tim is saying that Kevin was adamant, saying, if you have not embraced the Christ, even beyond the grave, he's telling us that. Right? That's a great thought. I hope that when my time comes, I'm thinking about that as well. Leaving a message and leaving a legacy for people that the Christ is worth everything. That the Christ is everything. Without Him, there's nothing.