The Infancy of Jesus (2) 11/20/2022

First Baptist Church Leominster

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In Hebrews 1, we saw the superior final revelation of God through Jesus Christ, and Hebrews 2 opens with an exhortation.

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If the people under the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, received such swift and severe judgment, how much worse will it be for those who reject the message of Jesus Christ and what he's done?

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And then toward the second half of the chapter, the writer addresses the incarnation of our

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Savior, which is fitting because that's what we'll be dealing with in Luke chapter 2 this morning as well.

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Hebrews chapter 2, and then Jason will pray for us. Hebrews chapter 2.

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Therefore, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

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For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

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It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the

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Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.

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It has been testified somewhere, what is man that you are mindful of him, or the

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Son of Man that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels.

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You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.

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Now when putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him, but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely

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Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

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For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

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For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,

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I will tell of your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise.

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And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children

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God has given me. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

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For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

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For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

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Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this passage that so clearly reveals

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Jesus Christ as a man and our faithful high priest. Jesus Christ suffered as we suffered, and yet he suffered without sin.

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And Lord, he is the supreme example that we are to follow. We thank you for his life.

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We thank you for his death, his resurrection, his ascension. We thank you that he is now ruling.

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And Lord, we pray that in our lives we would surrender our will to your will. Lord God, help us as we open up your word.

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We pray that we would see clearly the truth of your word, and that in the power of the Spirit we would apply it to our lives.

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We pray, Lord, that through the preaching of your word that we might all be changed into an image of Christ.

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Thank you, Lord. In Jesus name, amen. Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles to the infancy narrative of Luke that we've been working through. Luke chapter 2.

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Now, last Lord's Day, we began to give our attention to the earliest days of our

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Savior as he was led by his godly mother and father according to the

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Mosaic law under which he was born. And so we want to continue to read in Luke's infancy narrative beginning with Luke chapter 2 verse 36.

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Now, there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher.

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She was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity.

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And this woman was a widow of about 84 years who did not depart from the temple but served

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God with fasting and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the

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Lord and spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. So when they had performed all things concerning according to the law of the

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Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

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His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover and when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.

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When they had finished the days as they returned, the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem.

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And Joseph and his mother did not know it, but supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey and sought him among their relatives and acquaintances.

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And so when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking him. Now so it was that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

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And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. So when they saw him, they were amazed and his mother said to him, son, why have you done this to us?

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Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously. And he said to them, why did you seek me?

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Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them.

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Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them, but his mother kept all these things in her heart.

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And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.

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This morning we want to first work through the details of this passage we just read as they teach us regarding our

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Savior, but then we'll want to consider in more detail the biblical truth that's on display for us in these verses, that being the human nature of our

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Lord Jesus. And so first let's consider the witness of this passage to Jesus Christ.

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Now when we concluded our study last Lord's Day, we were addressing the testimony of the aged

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Simeon to the baby Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem.

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Simeon is set forth as a faithful and truthful witness on behalf of God, for he was cited as having been just and devout, waiting for the consolation or the comfort of Israel, salvation of Israel, and that the

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Holy Spirit was upon him. And so Simeon was a man who bore a prophetic word regarding the infant

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Jesus, his testimony was impeccable. Well Simeon's declaration had two separate themes, we mentioned this.

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First Simeon gave forth his song of thanksgiving unto God, the Nunc Diminis, it's a song, a

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Greek would indicate that. And then secondly Simeon gave a prophetic word to Mary, and that's what's in verses 34 and 35.

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And so after Simeon had concluded his blessing of God, Simeon turned to the amazed parents, they were amazed because they had just witnessed

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Simeon's prophetic utterance. And he blessed them, and then gave a word respecting her,

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Mary. And so here are Luke's words that include a parenthetical aside to Mary.

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Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against.

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We addressed that last week. And then here's the parenthetic statement, yes a sword will pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

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Of course when Simeon declared that a sword would pierce through Mary's soul also, he was speaking about the deep sorrow that Mary would encounter when she witnessed the crucifixion of his son upon his cross.

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Of course at this time neither Simeon nor Mary knew in advance the nature or manner that she would suffer this heart piercing pain, but for the

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Christian reader of course it's apparent that even in his infancy the destiny of Jesus to die upon his cross was in the purpose of God.

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And so we have hints of this and we'll find many of them. Jesus would die in a manner that would bring great grief to his mother.

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But this note of Jesus's future sufferings may also say a word to those who follow Jesus as their

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Lord and Savior. And so these words of a commentator caught my eye.

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This rejection explains Simeon's reference to a sword piercing through Mary's soul. She will feel a mother's pain as she watches her son go his way and suffer rejection.

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But the sword also reflects the pain anyone who identifies with Jesus feels as the world rejects what

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Jesus has to offer. That's a truism isn't it? Simeon's remark to Mary as an isn't aside but an important one since it shows that identifying with Jesus has painful personal consequences and that certainly is a truism.

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Well let's next consider Anna the prophetess. Now there was one

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Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phenuel, the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and lived with a husband seven years from her virginity.

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This woman was a widow of about 84 years who did not depart from the temple but served

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God with fasting and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the

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Lord and spoke of him to all those who look for redemption in Jerusalem.

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Anna exhibited qualities of purity, humility, devotion, faith, and hope for the

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Messiah. But most importantly she recognized that this infant Jesus was the promised

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Messiah. Anna is set forth as the ideal Jewess for in her the qualities and outlook which should have characterized all of Israel who are truly looking for the arrival of the

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Messiah and the redemption that he would bring. Apparently she was coming into the place into the into the temple precincts where Simeon and the family of Jesus were.

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She must have witnessed Simeon's testimony concerning Jesus. Her prophetic witness serves to confirm the words of Simeon.

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The Scriptures say out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word will be established and Anna's was the second word,

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Simeon being the first. The name Anna means grace. She was a widow and was a faithful and devout

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Jewish woman of advanced age. She was of the tribe of Asher which was one of the ten northern tribes of Israel.

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Anna's presence reveals that the so -called ten lost tribes were never truly or fully lost.

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In the 8th century BC when Assyria had invaded and defeated the northern kingdom of Israel and took into captivity the

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Jewish survivors, the entirety of the ten tribes was not in that deportation. Many must have traveled south into Judah upon hearing of the approaching invasion by Assyria and they had continued to exist along with the two principal tribes of the southern nation, those two tribes being

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Judah and Benjamin. And as one wrote, the fact that Luke knows to which tribe

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Anna belongs indicates that the Jews were keeping their family registers or genealogies up to date.

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All the tribes were still represented although some of them must have been few in number. We read that Anna was a prophetess.

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The voice of God had been silent for four centuries but here in the temple this day were

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Simeon and Anna an old prophet and an old prophetess. There were of course many prophets as well as prophetesses in the

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New Testament age. Luke writes of Philip the evangelist who had four unmarried daughters who did prophesy,

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Acts 21, and the Apostle Paul intimated that women had the gift of prophecy that they employed and gathered churches conditioned on if their heads were properly covered to show their proper submission to male authority.

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Now some might have trouble acknowledging this reality because it seems to contradict the

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Word of God through the Apostle Paul when he declared, and I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man but be in silence.

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And we can perhaps best understand that these two ideas are in harmony when we realize that the gift of prophecy was manifested in a woman or man for that matter.

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That woman was wholly passive. God was speaking directly through her apart we'd argue from her own personal mental input.

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She was but a voice, an instrument through whom God spoke. So she wasn't usurping authority,

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God was speaking through her apparently, and I had this gift of prophecy. She was a prophetess.

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And it was very old. She was of great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity.

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It's common for young women to marry at the age of 14, 15 in those days.

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And so is this saying that she had been widowed for 84 years? If so she would be over a hundred years of age, perhaps 105 or so.

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Or as Luke say that she was 84 years of age, and scholars differ in their opinion, that she was 84 years old is perfectly appropriate with the language and seems to be more reasonable.

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She was 84 perhaps rather than over 105. Of Anna's character,

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Luke wrote of her, who did not depart from the temple but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

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It's possible that she had living quarters in the temple grounds, but perhaps it should be understood as a hyperbolic statement.

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We refer to some people like that. He lives at that church. She was always there.

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Daily she was praying and fasting for the people of God and for the salvation of God to be realized by the coming

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Messiah. So Justice Sabian, Anna is set forth as a faithful, godly witness to the identity of the baby

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Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the

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Lord and spoke of him to all those who look for redemption in Jerusalem. Appreciated the words of Matthew Henry, who wrote long ago, and in his commentary, by the way, whenever he made an application he would always preface it with the word note, and then he gave an application.

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Devotion is a thing we ought to be constant in. Other duties are in season now and then, but we must all pray always.

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It's a pleasant sight to see aged Christians abounding in acts of devotion as those that are not weary of well -doing, that do not think themselves above these exercises or past them.

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In other words, I paid my dues, now I'm just going to coast the rest of the way to heaven. But that take more and more pleasure in them and see more and more need of them till they come to heaven.

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Those that are diligent and faithful in improving the light and means they have shall have further discoveries made by them, as Anna.

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Anna is now at length abundantly recompensed for her attendance so many years in the temple.

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Amen. Now we should make note of a textual variant reflected in this verse in our

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New King James Version. In this translation it reads, and coming in that instant she gave thanks to the

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Lord and spoke of him to all those who look for redemption in Jerusalem.

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The preposition in, I -N. The newer English translations probably reflect the original reading.

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Here is the English Standard Version, and coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and speak to him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

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It can be seen how a Greek scribe may have seen this as a problematic claim. That Jesus was to bring about the redemption of Jerusalem when actually the destruction of Jerusalem occurred.

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Not its salvation due to the Jews rejection of their Messiah. And of course the Romans did that in A .D.

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70. And so the scribe at some point in the scribal transmission through the centuries added the preposition, not proposition, preposition translated in to indicate that Jesus had indeed secured the redemption of his people in Jerusalem.

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That's where he died. But we do not have a problem, we don't have a problem, with the inspired utterance of Anna speaking of the redemption of Jerusalem.

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Especially for reform. For although the Jewish people were looking for the redemption and restoration of the physical city of Jerusalem to be the center of the

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Messianic Kingdom, predominantly over the nations of the world, we understand the scriptures to speak of the salvation of spiritual

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Jerusalem, the Zion of God, the people of God. We who are redeemed by Jesus Christ are the true

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Jerusalem which the Old Testament prophets foretold to be the city whose builder and maker is

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God. The earthly Jerusalem in the Old Testament was a type and the anti -type is the heavenly

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Jerusalem or the people of God that are redeemed by Jesus Christ. And so we have no problem with him securing the redemption of Jerusalem.

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He secured the salvation of his people. Now Anna was a prophetess and she may have not fully understood the importance precision of the spiritual utterance that she gave, but indeed

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Jesus would secure the redemption of Jerusalem. He did. By the way

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William Hendrickson gave a good word of application regarding Anna. She's very old. There's work to do even for those who are far along in years.

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Anna spent her time in prayer, praise, and proclamation. What a blessed way to spend one's declining years.

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May we take that to heart. Amen. Well we next read that Jesus and his parents returned to Nazareth.

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We read that after the family had fulfilled all of what was required of them in Jerusalem, they journeyed to their home in Nazareth of Galilee.

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Verses 39 and 40. So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own city

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Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

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Here is an example of a biblical writer condensing and summarizing an account, giving a true statement but not including ensuing details.

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We read in Matthew's Gospel of other events in the lives of this family at this time. You recall there in Matthew's Gospel we read of the visit of the wise men from the east.

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We read of Joseph taking his family into Egypt to escape the wrath of King Herod and then returning to Nazareth after two years.

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The Holy Spirit moved Luke not to relate these events but to pass over them. They did indeed return to Nazareth and Galilee.

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We read a very instructive word regarding the child in verse 40. We have a description which sheds light on a very important matter and that is the humanity of Jesus.

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We read that the child grew, becoming stronger in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

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I read one commentator saying, notice it does not say he grew in grace because to lack grace would be due to sin.

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Jesus of course was without sin and so it describes him as having the grace of God upon him, but he did.

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He was filled with wisdom. He grew stronger in the spirit. Luke used the present tense participles in these clauses to describe the ongoing process of development in wisdom and receiving ultimate growing,

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I should say, rather than the grace of God. He was the perfect child, the dutiful son, compliant, supportive, submissive, and obedient, and of course he was without sin.

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There were many apocryphal stories of the childhood of Jesus that have no basis of fact in history.

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They're not in the Gospel of Luke or the Gospel of Matthew in their infancy stories.

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I was reading in William Hendrickson's commentary, he cited several of these apocryphal stories that actually deny the human nature of Jesus by infusing more in him than what is due.

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Those who deny this, and what he's talking about, those who deny that Jesus grew and improved in his understanding and growth, those who deny this are in danger of acquiring the mentality that must have marked the authors of certain apocryphal writings, and there were many of these.

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These picture Jesus as being, even according to his human nature, omniscient, or almighty, or at least nearly so, and this from the very start.

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Lions and leopards worship him. The infant says to a palm tree, bend down and refresh my mother with your fruit, and it does so immediately.

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At five years of age, Jesus models twelve sparrows out of soft clay.

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He claps his hands and the sparrows come alive and fly away. There's all kinds of these false traditions that were circulated in the early centuries.

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Thank God we have the final and full canon of Scripture. The New Testament tells us what is true and needful for us to know.

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The details of this gospel, along with those in Matthew's gospel, are all that God would have for us to know in the inspired scriptures regarding the

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Lord's infancy years, and they reveal growth and development of Jesus through childhood onto adulthood, and that's important.

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One wrote, the development of this child was therefore perfect. This along every line, physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual, from further beginning to end progress, was unimpaired and unimpeded by sin, whether inherited or acquired.

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Between the child Jesus and his father there was perfect harmony, limitless love.

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This also introduces us to the next paragraph in which the young boy Jesus reveals his closeness to his father.

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I read one other word, I should have put it in my notes, but it suggested also since Jesus increased in wisdom, that reveals that ignorance of truth is not necessary, is not sinful.

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In other words, there's reasons why we may not understand or grow. We shouldn't think somehow that we are sinful because we don't understand something.

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We grow in our understanding, if the Lord permits. Well, let's consider now

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Jesus and his parents who traveled to Jerusalem when Jesus was 12. We read of this occasion when the parents traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem to observe the annual

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Passover celebration. And it's on this occasion in Jerusalem that Jesus reveals his understanding that God was his father and that his principal desire and purpose was to know and fulfill the

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Father's will. Here again as Luke 2 41 and following, his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the

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Passover and when he was 12 years old they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.

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When they had finished the days they returned and the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother did not know it.

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But supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey, sought him among their relatives and acquaintances.

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So when they did not find him they returned to Jerusalem seeking him. Now so it was that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions and all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

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So when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said to him, son why you had done this to us?

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Look your father and I have sought you anxiously. And he said to them, why did you seek me?

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Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them.

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And then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. But his mother kept all these things in her heart.

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And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.

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The Old Testament of course commanded every male Israelite to appear three times a year at the

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Feast of Tabernacles, Pentecost, and we see here on this occasion Passover.

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Verse 42 speaks of the one journey that Jesus made with his parents when he was 12 years of age.

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However this was probably not the first occasion to make the journey, but it was certainly the most significant to this point in his life.

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The importance of this event is to record the transition of our Lord from boyhood to manhood.

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He was soon to experience his Bar Mitzvah, or better he would become a

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Bar Mitzvah, that is a son of the commandment, a son of the law.

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Religiously he was regarded thereafter and treated as an adult man with all the responsibilities of an

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Israelite imposed and expected of him. They matured young in those days.

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That would be something that we should desire today for our young people. The return trip from Jerusalem had commenced as recorded in verse 43.

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There's probably a large caravan of people making the journey together from Galilee to Judah and then back to Galilee, and it was common in that time for women and children to lead the procession and the men would follow behind.

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A 12 -year -old boy might have traveled with his mother, and it's easy to understand

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Joseph must have thought he was doing so. Or the 12 -year -old Jesus might have traveled with his father, and it's easy to understand

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Mary must have thought that he was doing so. But in actuality Jesus had tarried in Jerusalem.

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This should not be seen as irresponsibility on the parents part, rather it's testimony to the trustworthiness of their son.

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Nor should it be construed as a weakness of Jesus's character because it resulted in the distress of his parents.

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Jesus was an ideal child, the perfect child, who could be trusted and depended upon even when out of sight.

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They had a great deal of confidence in his judgment, his character. A child like this, of course, makes parenting a joy rather than a chore.

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He must have been a continual delight to them. But while knowing that he would be where he ought to be, they did not know that he ought to be about his father's business.

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And so when he was discovered to be absent, we can envision the panic that ensued.

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And on the third day they found him. He was in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions, also giving answers by the way.

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The parents had not seen him for three days. The first day was spent traveling away from Jerusalem, perhaps 15 -20 miles.

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The second day traveling back to Jerusalem, and then the third day they found him in the temple. They were amazed at finding him there, and he was amazed that they were amazed at finding him there.

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They seemed at first to rebuke him for what they had apparently assumed to be negligence or a lack of consideration of his parents.

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They said to him, actually Mary said to him, son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously.

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It was his mother who spoke to him directly in what appears to be an accusatory tone. But perhaps it was simply an inquiry, not an accusation.

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But what it reveals that they were in a great deal of distress because they did not know where he was.

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They should have known that the respect he was showing to his heavenly father should not be perceived as disrespect for his parents.

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But then the first recorded words of our Savior in the Luke's Gospel are recorded.

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Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? We may discern from this little incident and the few recorded words some ways in which the human nature of our

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Lord was manifested. Let's list a couple of them. First, we see that Jesus had come to a consciousness of sonship to his heavenly father.

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There was a development in the consciousness of Jesus as to his personal identity and his relationship with God and his father.

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When this self -realization came to him, it is impossible for us to determine. But we see that at the age 12, it was a full realization to him.

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God was his father and he was God's son. Secondly, we see that Jesus possessed a great even chief desire to learn of and to please his father.

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It was impossible for Jesus to be other than a loving, obedient child. When a son or daughter truly loves his parent or parent, it's manifested in submission and obedience.

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And so it was with the life of the Lord Jesus. Thirdly, Jesus had come to recognize the responsibilities with that consciousness that that consciousness imposed upon him.

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So he said to his parents, why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be? He was compelled.

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I must be about my father's business. So expressed in these words is more than just a desire.

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There was a divine compulsion pressing upon him, a sense of duty possessed this young man.

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He felt the call of God on his life. And fourthly, Jesus had the desire to learn of his father and the way in which his father related to the world and to his people.

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Perhaps he didn't fully understand at this point the nature of his Messiahship. I don't know. Later we will see in his gospel, this gospel, that that his would be a far different kind of ministry than what was expected in Judaism.

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But the fact of his father's call on his life was vivid and central to him. He was called of God for a purpose, and so he would prepare himself.

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He must be about his father's business. And so he would learn and ask questions. And so we see that Jesus had a teachable spirit and a discerning one as well.

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No doubt he would take all these things that he heard and weigh them in the light of the Scriptures, his father's word.

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And so he would be found in the place where the Word of God was taught and discussed. And in that day this was done in the temple in Jerusalem.

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And it was not just a duty, but it was his delight. He longed to know more fully his father, and so he gave himself over fully to the pursuit of this knowledge.

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May the Lord enable us to have that kind of longing and desire. But fifthly, we see that Jesus also had the desire to fulfill all of his obligations before God, but before men also.

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And so now he would now assume the meekest of duties. We read, he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and he continued in subjection to them.

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And for the next 18 years, our Lord listened and learned. He was in preparation for his ministry as Israel's Messiah.

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And during this period of preparation, he patiently waited on his father to manifest himself and to anoint him with the

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Spirit in order to fulfill his work. And so until that day, we see that he kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

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Jesus grew as other children grow. But he must have stood out as an exemplary child and then young man.

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He was not tainted with sinful nature. His thoughts were wholly pure and his attitudes and actions were always godly.

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Matthew Henry drew some distinctions of the sinless Jesus as a child and all other children born into this world.

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First, whereas other children are weak in understanding and resolution, he was strong in spirit.

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By the Spirit of God, his human soul was endued with extraordinary vigor, and all his faculties performed their offices in an extraordinary manner.

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He reasoned strongly and his judgment was penetrating. Second, and whereas other children have foolishness bound in their hearts, which appears in what they say or do, he was filled with wisdom.

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Not by any advantages of instruction or education, but by the operation of the

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Holy Ghost. Everything he said and did was wisely said, wisely done, above his years.

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And this, of course, is what impressed those Jewish leaders as they were talking to him.

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This young man's only 12 years old, but listen to what he's saying. Listen to the kind of questions he's asking.

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I remember years ago, James Montgomery Boyce telling me about a young man who he'd always find at his conferences, and when the people would gather around Boyce and ask questions and whatnot, there was this young man about 11 or 12 would be asking all of these involved theological questions.

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Well, it was Michael Horton when he was a young man, and now, of course, he's a leading

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Reformed writer in the world, but it showed up when he was a young man. And then third, whereas other children show that corruption of nature is in them, and the tares of sin grow up with the wheat of reason, he made it appear that nothing but the grace of God was upon him.

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The wheat sprang up without tares, and that whereas other children are by nature children of wrath, he was greatly beloved and high in the favor of God, that God loved him and cherished him and took particular care of him.

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Well now, after considering the details of our account, let us consider its implications for our understanding and our devotion to our

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Savior. And so let's consider the divine and human natures of our Lord Jesus.

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Christians hold to a number of cardinal doctrines, essentials. We espouse some teachings of the faith that we believe are essential if one is to be regarded as a

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Christian. Some of these doctrines, teachings, include the belief in one true

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God. We are monotheists. This one God manifests himself in three persons,

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God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Belief in the biblical teaching of the Trinity is an essential article of the

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Christian faith. Regarding the Son of God, we believe what the Bible teaches regarding his incarnation, the eternally begotten

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Son of God assumed our human nature, which means our human body and soul, in the person of Jesus Christ, to whom alone is salvation from sin received through faith in him and his atoning death on the cross.

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But we also affirm his bodily resurrection from the dead as an essential teaching doctrine, and his ascension into heaven, his enthronement over the creation as Lord, Jesus as Lord, the

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God -man is Lord, and he there is reigning to fulfill the eternal decrees of God in bringing salvation to his people and to execute judgment on all sinners who fail or refuse to believe on him.

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And we of course believe in the Jesus Christ literal physical return to the earth to judge the world and usher in eternity.

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Now although a man may believe these things and yet remain a non -christian, no one who refuses to believe these things can be a true

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Christian. There are essentials that we must believe.

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And we would say that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man is an essential doctrine. If one believes

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Jesus to be a man but not God, he's no Christian. On the other hand, if one believes

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Jesus to be God and not a man, he too is no Christian. John says he's an antichrist.

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Jesus Christ is truly God and he is truly man. But when pressed, the

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Christian can become easily stymied and hard -pressed to explain the two natures of his one person. In what way was he manifested as God while on earth and in what way was he manifested as man?

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And here in our passage in Luke chapter 2, we get a glimpse into the early life of Jesus which is quite helpful for our understanding of his person.

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And so let's consider the person of Christ in rather simple and essential terms and we'll do so in three areas in the time we have remaining.

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First, the nature of Christ's divine nature. Secondly, the nature of Christ's human nature. And then third, we'll consider some of its implications for us.

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First, the nature of Christ's divine nature. Somebody asked me recently about the deity of Christ and how it can be shown with regard to the

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Trinity and I turned to Robert Raymond's Systematic Theology, which is a wonderful theology, and I ended up photocopying a hundred and ten pages that addressed the deity of Jesus Christ.

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It's aptly testified in Scripture. Here we just cite eight issues here that substantiate it without going into detail.

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All the names and titles of God found in the Scriptures are also applied to Jesus. He's the first and last, the

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Alpha and the Omega. Jesus is called God. Secondly, the mighty God, the great God, God over all. Those are direct statements in Scripture.

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Third, Jesus is called Jehovah, Lord, the Lord of hosts, King of kings.

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See, God was Lord of lords, King of kings in Daniel 4. All the divine attributes are ascribed to him.

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He's declared to be omnipresent, omniscient, almighty, immutable, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

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Only God can be that way. Fifth, Jesus is set forth as the creator and the upholder of the universe.

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Sixth, Jesus is the object of worship of all, even angels. Seven, Jesus required that men honor him as they honored the

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Father. That would be blasphemous if it were not true. Honor Jesus as they honor the

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Father, and that they should exercise the same faith in Jesus as they do in God the

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Father. And then eight, Jesus declared that he and the Father are one, that those who had seen him had seen the

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Father also. And so Jesus has been therefore the Christian God from the beginning.

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Jesus is God incarnate. And when we say incarnate, we speak of his human nature.

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So what was the nature of Christ's human nature? It's just as clearly true in the

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Scriptures that Christ Jesus is fully human, truly human. He was not merely God who took upon himself a human body.

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He became a human being, having a human nature, a soul which reasoned, felt emotion, and exercised decision.

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I think one of the most amazing things is that the eternal God, infinite God, outside of history, outside of time, becoming a man, entered into history.

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And he'll forever be within history as Jesus Christ. That's amazing when you consider it.

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Yes, he assumed a physical body as well, in which he encountered pain, weakness, and all of its limitations.

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He was like us in his human nature in every way, except, of course, with one exception, he was without sin.

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And therefore he was without sin effects and sins imposing limitations.

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But how these two natures manifested themselves in the person of Christ while they ministered on earth is rather difficult to sort out, for how can

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God become a man without one's human being completely absorbed and obscured?

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In fact, there are heresies in church history over that very issue that basically divinized human nature, its heresy.

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The scriptures teach of God's condescension of becoming man or of his humiliation in becoming man.

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Paul wrote of this great matter in Philippians. Christ, 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 bondservant being made in the likeness of men.

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And when it says Christ emptied himself when he became a man, it does not mean that he ceased to possess his divine attributes.

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That's not possible. God is immutable. And the

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God -man was immutable. He had divine attributes. He didn't lay down his divine nature.

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That would be impossible, for what could be seen from the scriptures is that he willingly consented to have his glory covered and veiled.

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In fact, the book of Hebrews speaks about his glory being veiled by his flesh, as it were.

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When he left heaven to add to his divine nature, our human nature, he purposed not to exercise his divine attributes unless directed to do so by his

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Father in order to fulfill his work as Lord and Savior. And so when the second person of the

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Trinity became a human being, he came in humility and weakness, not exercising the privileges and powers that were his as God by right, but he submitted himself to the lowly existence of humanity with all its abilities, limited abilities, and its limitations.

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And so we see in our passage in Luke one manifestation of his human nature, which is most amazing.

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As a child, he was increasing in wisdom. When Christ came into the world, he was as other human babies in need of instruction and development of his reasoning powers.

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Quite amazing. God is omniscient, that is all -knowing, and yet we see Christ, who is

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God incarnate, increasing in wisdom. Our Lord Jesus was like one of us.

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He had questions he desired answered. He reasoned through matters, he listened to teachers, and he studied the scriptures as he grew and developed into manhood.

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Now again, because Jesus was without sin, which characterizes each of us, he was not encumbered with the hindrances to understanding as we are.

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He was not subject to sinful thoughts or behavior, leading him to twist the scriptures to justify himself, as you and I are prone to do.

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He was not proud as you and I are, and so he was open to be taught by the scriptures, where you and I resist teaching because of our stubbornness to acknowledge that we have been in error.

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And he was not lazy or hardened to the things of God, so as to neglect the study of the scriptures, as you and I are all too often.

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He was diligent in his study, and of course he was always pleasing to his Heavenly Father, and so his father was always pleased to reveal himself to his son.

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And so we read in verse 40 that the grace of God was upon him, without limit.

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God does not manifest himself just to anyone, and certainly to no one who refuses to relax the desire to know him, but that was not the case with our

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Lord Jesus. He would later say the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself is doing.

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What a wonderful statement. And so we see the rapid increase in the sight of all within this child of Nazareth.

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In Christ Jesus, we see human nature developing unimpeded, without limitation, and rapidly, even at the age of 12, we see our

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Lord had arrived at the self -realization of his own person, who he was, and how he stood in relationship with his father.

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He had increased in wisdom to this point. He was even the amazement to the teachers. Let's consider the implications of his human nature for us.

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And I trust that as we've been considering these things, the Spirit of God has already been making application to your hearts.

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I do not believe that we need to spell out in every detail every implication or application when expounding the

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Scriptures. You folks are intelligent, rational individuals, or at least most of you seem to be, able to be taught by God himself.

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But allow us to point out several matters that I believe are important. First, let's say a word to you younger people, and then in general terms to all

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Christians. I regard and treat teenagers as adults. I purpose to treat teenagers with respect and dignity as responsible human beings, because I know that you're fully capable of hearing and heeding the things of God.

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But as capable learning as adults and understanding as adults, you're also responsible as adults, you younger people.

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And if Christ were to return today, if you are capable of hearing and understanding God's Word, then you will be held accountable before the

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Lord for having done so, or not done so. Jesus at the age of 12 was soon to be regarded as a responsible adult before God's law, and therefore he was accountable before God himself, as were all

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Israelites in that day. And if you are of that age, God expects no less of you, and therefore we should certainly expect no less from you.

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And so we refuse to adopt the philosophy of trying to appease and entertain youth in order to keep you from strain, as though we're going to entertain you until you're out of your teen years, and then you can become like adults.

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That's just postponing maturity. Now is the time for godly learning.

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It's always incumbent upon you to live before him in faith and obedience. And so there's a time when

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God expects you as an individual to stand and assume your responsibility before him. And so I would urge you to listen and heed the voice of God, young people.

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Examine and follow the pattern of our Lord Jesus when he was but 12, and you will be blessed of God for doing so.

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Now in general, what may we learn from our passage? Well first, we too should come to a consciousness of our sonship to our

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Heavenly Father. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, that's clear, but Christians are adopted children of God.

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We become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, according to Galatians.

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And this reality has far -reaching implications for how we view ourselves, and how we view the world, and how we view ourselves in relation to the world.

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There was a development of consciousness of our Lord as to who he was, and there should be a similar development in our understanding of what it means to be a child of God, to be a

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Christian. Are you fully aware, child of God, to know what it means to be a child of God?

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Perhaps many do not. If you did, your life would probably be remarkably different. With awareness of sonship comes awareness and assurance of God's love, the awareness that we will be like him one day in purity and holiness.

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Knowing that we're the true children of God through faith in Christ reveals to us the manner of God dealing with us, and that he's intended to grant us a glorious inheritance from our

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Father. And second, as was the case with Jesus, there is present in every true child of God the desire to please his or her father.

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It was impossible for Jesus to have been other than a loving, obedient child. When a son or daughter truly loves his or her parent, it's manifested in submission and obedience.

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And so it was in the life of the Lord Jesus. This is a truism. If you do not have a desire to do your heavenly

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Father's will, if this is not the moving, driving force in your life, you should seriously examine whether or not you're a child of God.

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You may yet be unsaved in your sins and under his wrath, regardless of what you claim to believe.

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The Word of God declares, but if anyone loves God, this one is known by him. How do you know that God knows someone relationally, personally, if they love

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God? Who are the sons of God? Paul wrote, for all who are being led by the

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Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And in that context of Romans 8, those who are being led by the

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Spirit of God are those who are ordering their life according to the law of God, enabled by the Holy Spirit.

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These are the children of God being led by God. Third, we too are to recognize the responsibilities that this consciousness of being children of God imposes upon us.

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Years ago, I made a list of all the blessings and privileges we have as Christians, and I recognized with all the blessings and privileges, there was an accompanied accountability and responsibility.

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You're a child of God, glorious, but that has implications. That reveals how you are to act and react and respond in the light of that relationship with God.

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We are to recognize our responsibilities. Yes, there's a desire that drives our hearts, but there's also a sense of duty which compels us to act in a certain way, to lead us in a certain way.

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Jesus had said to his parents, did you not know that I must be about my father's business? And in a similar manner, there's a divine compulsion which presses upon every true child of God.

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A sense of delightful duty possesses us. Yes, there are times we may not feel like doing what we should be doing, but in those times a sense of duty compels us.

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It's right, it's good, I must do it, even though I might not be looking forward to it.

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Some Christians do not believe this is so. They say all motivation for the Christian stems solely from love.

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I heard one once say there's no ought to the Christian life. I don't see that in the

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Bible. There are things that we should desire to do because love compels us, but in those times when the degree of love may be waning in our souls, at those times a sense of duty prevails, and we do the things that please our

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Father. Again, Jesus said, do you not know that I must be about my father's business? And so there are times which duty demands when our devotion may be weak, and yet we should recognize doing one's duty itself is a manifestation of love, isn't it?

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And four, we too should possess a desire to learn of our Father and the way in which he relates to the world and his people.

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We want to understand what God is doing in the world and why he's doing it. We have limited capacities, but he reveals himself in his word and the way he works in history.

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We're reading through the prophets right now, if you're following our Bible reading schedule for the year, and we're in Ezekiel, and we're reading about God's dealings with Judah and Babylon, and you can see perhaps what's being mirrored and what

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God's doing in the world today, and might do yet in the world today.

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And so we should desire to learn our Father's will, and we should have a discerning spirit as well, taking all things we hear and measure them against the scriptures, our

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Father's word. And so may we be found in the place where the Word of God is taught, discussed among his people, the teachers he's appointed for us.

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Let's give ourselves to the pursuit of this knowledge of our God and our Lord. And then fifth, we too should desire purpose to fulfill all of our obligations before God and mankind.

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Jesus submitted to his parents, he went down with them, came to Nazareth, continued in subjection to them.

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And so even our Lord Jesus, by this point far beyond the understanding of his parents, submitted himself to them for the next 18 years apparently, and so we too are to submit to authority.

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Whether it be to Caesar, render to him as due, or employer, render honor to whom honor is due, or to parents to whom children are to render obedience in everything.

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We should not accept the common belief that every child growing up goes to a period of rebellion as though this is something normal and natural, or healthy.

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No, all self -will is sin. The child may struggle as to what it means to do the will of his parents and how that fits into the will of his

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Heavenly Father, but we're not to be self -willed, insistent that our will be done on earth as we think it ought to be done.

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That sin and very nature rebellion seen in our first parents, who insisted they would be as gods.

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And so may the Lord help us in this, seeking to know his will. And then six, we're to greatly admire the condescension of our

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Savior who denied himself of the rights and privileges of his deity, in order to become the servant of God to save us from our sin.

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We're to have this mind in ourselves, and so here's a direct application of the human nature to you, to you.

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Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, the scriptures say, who even though he was in the form of God, did not see equality with God, something to be clung to, grasped after, but he made himself of no reputation.

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He took upon himself the form of a servant, not a free man, a servant, born in the likeness of man, found in human form.

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He humbled himself, even becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death on a cross, a cruel, inhuman, shameful way of death.

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And therefore God highly exalted him and gave him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee would bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord to the glory of God the Father. Thomas Manton wrote of the degree of admiration we should have toward Jesus Christ in humbling himself to become our

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Savior and Lord. We'll conclude with this. Use one, they always had a use and application, is to teach us to admire the condescension of the

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Son of God, who submitted to all our sinless infirmities and would grow and be improved in soul as well as body.

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The oftener we think of this, the more should our hearts be filled with reverence at this stupendous mystery.

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It is without controversy great that the Son of God should be as other infants, be carried nine months in the womb, be suckled, swaddled, brought up as other children, and grow in wisdom and stature as they do.

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Is this the great God that made all things, governeth all things at his pleasure? Is this the fountain of wisdom, the author of all perfection?

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Yes, it is he, but this abusing is for our sakes. The beginning of his humiliation was in the very womb, and the progress of it was from the cradle to the grave.

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And so may the Lord help us to explore further and understand more deeply this glorious reality of our

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Lord's incarnation and what he secured for us by becoming one of us.

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For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that through his poverty we might become rich.

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Amen? Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word that reveals so richly things about yourself, our

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God, for we know in Christ Jesus there is life and light.

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And so help us, our God, to love you more supremely and and seek you more thoroughly and faithfully.

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And may you bless, Lord, our efforts. May the Holy Spirit instruct us and guide us in revealing your word to us.

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And then, Lord, help us to apply in life the lessons and the realities of this.

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Bless us, our God, as we seek to serve you as we go forth from this place into the week before us.

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Help us to walk and act and react like Christians. And help us, Lord, to have the eternal well -being of souls upon our hearts and minds.

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Give us grace, our God, and courage and opportunity to bear witness of the gospel that we might see the kingdom of Jesus Christ greatly advanced in our days.