The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Example and Executor (of Humility)"
By Biblical definition, the Lord Jesus Christ never became God.
"Unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, o God, is forever and ever… From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God" (Hebrews 1:8; Psalm 90:2).
In "the mystery of godliness", however, the second Person of the Trinity, however, did become man. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). Somehow, the Eternal entered into the temporal, the Divine became human, and the Almighty took upon Himself the capacity for weakness, limitation, and even death. "He was crucified through weakness… He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death" (II Corinthians 13:4; Philippians 2:8).
Our obedience in obeying the command to "humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord" lies in the Lord Jesus as our example and executor of humility (James 4:10). Indeed, the only human being who ever really had anything of which to be proud, wasn't. The Lord worthy of eternal glory "made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7). How can such a wonder even occur? How can One of such being, power, and measure that "the Heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee" become resident in a human body and personality? (II Chronicles 6:18). Great indeed is the mystery of godliness in the sense of how the Word could be made flesh.
The far greater enigma, however, involves the willingness of heart to become human, with all its limitations of life and ultimate suffering of death. What kind of character and nature leads One to do that? Of all that Heaven will involve, the eternally ongoing discovery of our Lord's wondrous disposition as the God who became man, and the man who remains God will most occupy our quest and adventure. Such goodness has no limit, and regardless of how far we journey into the heart of our Lord, the Spirit of God beckons us to come further, dive deeper, and climb higher. "The love of Christ passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).
"Walk even as He walked" (I John 2:6). If our Lord's sublime example loomed before us as merely a prototype to follow, utter folly would ensue. This is not the case. "I will dwell in them and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16). Our Example also serves as our Executor. The quality of humility to which our Father calls us far transcends our capability of character. He did not create us to live by our own attempts to duplicate a sublime sensibility that inherently exists only in One. God rather made us to serve as the spiritual dwelling place of the Lord Jesus. "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6). Thereby - and only thereby - His character progressively nurtures and effects the quality of Christ's nature within us, and revealed through us. No calling of God more requires such grace than His command that we "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus… who humbled Himself" (Philippians 2:5; 8).
Forever will not be long enough to fully discover the glory of the Lord Jesus revealed in both power and humility. This day offers the possibility of further realization as we ponder the example of Christ in the pages of Scripture, and along the pathways of life as He dwells and walks in us. How will He lead and enable us to humble ourselves before God and people? We will find out as we kneel in humility before our Father, as exemplified by the Son and enabled by the Holy Spirit. Thereby, the beauty of Christ's character revealed to us will become "the hope of glory" revealed in us and through us, as the Psalmist prayed…
"And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us."
(Psalm 90:17)
Weekly Memory Verse
And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchizedec there ariseth another priest, who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
(Hebrews 7:15-16)
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