The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Honor and Humility"
On two occasions, Scripture records God the Father declaring His voiced pleasure in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
"And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him, and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17).
"And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him" (Matthew 17:1-5).
First, the humility of the Lord Jesus pleased the Father by our Savior's willingness to participate in a sinner's baptism despite His perfect sinlessness (thereby identifying Himself with us). Later, His transfiguration pleased the Father as Christ's divine glory was openly manifested (thereby revealing His eternal divinity). Both expressions of loving approval affirm God's pleasure in the incarnation of His Son, whereby the divine and the human unite in one glorious person.
"Great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh" (I T Timothy 3:16).
God so dearly loves His creation that through the incarnation of Christ, He became a part of it. The Word "forever… settled in heaven" now exists as the Word "made flesh" (Psalm 119:84; John 1:14). Our Heavenly Father loved the willingness of the Lord Jesus to condescend in the greatest expression of humility ever known. He also loves bestowing the utmost glory on Christ as the one worthy He deems worthy to "in all things have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:17). To know and understand the Lord Jesus rightly means that we view Him as the God who became man, and the man who remains God. Great indeed is the mystery!
We view our Savior in terms of infinite greatness and humble lowliness. The Apostle John, who once laid His head upon the Lord Jesus' chest, also fell at His feet as dead when seeing Him in His risen glory (John 13:23; Revelation 1:17). No contradiction exists in the perfect fusion of glory and meekness. We rather seek to accept both wonders in our hearts and minds, understanding that the humility and the glory will frequently overwhelm us with immeasurable joy and solemn reverence. "His greatness is unsearchable… how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty!" (Psalm 145:3; Zechariah 9:17).
We must know both expressions of glory, wasting no time to seek full understanding of how God and man can so perfectly exist in the blessed union. Great indeed is the mystery. Blessed indeed is the Savior who so pleased the Father at the baptism of sublime humility and in the mount of ineffable glory. The Lord Jesus forever exists as the God who became man, and the man who remains God. Such a wonder pleases the Father, to whom no mystery exists regarding His beloved Son. It must also please us, although we well know that a long eternity will forever find us drawing near to our sublimely humble Savior, while also being overwhelmed by our glorious Lord who will eternally drive us to our knees and faces in utmost awe.
"Before honor is humility."
(Proverbs 15:33)
Weekly Memory Verse
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
(II Corinthians 4:6)
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