|
DATE |
CHURCH |
SUBJECT |
PREACHER |
BIBLE
REF. |
|
08.07.07 |
All Saints Church |
A God Who
Identifies |
Rev. Tony Higton |
Phil. 2:6-8
Col. 1:12-13
Heb. 4:15 |
|
The second thing about our missionary God
is that he is:
2. A God who identifies
He identified with us in order to save
us
Paul tells us in Philippians 2:6-8 that
although Christ Jesus was “in very nature God” he was willing to
be “made in human likeness”. And being found in appearance as a
human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
God loved us so much that he became one of
us, experiencing all the pressures, suffering, disappointments,
humiliation, injustice, unrequited affection and temptations
that we do. Ultimately, says Paul he became “obedient to death—
even death on a cross!” He suffered a terrible death, more than
identifying with all human suffering and bearing all human sin.
So we must put ourselves in place of those
who do not know God intimately and do not enjoy the great
benefits of such a relationship. We are not better than them but
we do have many good things to share with them. So we should
reach out to them.
He came from the light of heaven to the
spiritual darkness of this world.
In Colossians 1:12-13 Paul contrasts “the
kingdom of light” with “the dominion of darkness”. So God
identified with us even though we are, to say the least, so
different from him.
So the church must welcome those who are
“different”: those who come from different social or educational
backgrounds, those who have different tastes in worship, those
who express themselves differently, etc.
He came from omnipotence to weakness
“He made himself nothing by taking the very
nature of a servant” says Paul (Philippians 2:7). In other
words, God made himself vulnerable in order to identify with us.
So we are called to make ourselves
vulnerable in reaching out to people who may disagree with us or
even reject us. That is the way of Christ. He calls us to take
the humble place, to serve those who are not yet churchgoers, as
well as those who are. He calls us to be prepared to be
disturbed; to sacrifice.
He came from the purity of heaven to the
sinfulness of this world
Speaking of Jesus, the writer to the
Hebrews said: “We do not have a high priest who is unable to
empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been
tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” (Heb
4:15). So Jesus identified with sinners, even though he never
once sinned.
We too are called to identify with those
who have fallen into even serious sin, in order to redeem them.
After all, we are all sinners.
So, we believe in a God who came into the
world to identify with all human beings in order to save them.
We are obliged to do the same: it is godly and Christ-like for
us to do so. |
