The Most Holy Servant

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name 'God with us.'" (Isaiah 7:14)

"Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus ['God saves']. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:26-35)

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." (John 1:1-5)

"He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:10-14)

"Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven." (Colossians 1:12-20)

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, 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 bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:5-11)

He emptied Himself and He humbled Himself. The Son of God, who is the Creator and Ruler of all things, emptied Himself of His equality with God the Father, and He humbled Himself by lowering Himself to the lowest position on earth. The Highest One went all the way down and made Himself the lowest one. The King of the universe slept in the dirt and washed the feet of his disciples. He allowed Himself to be abused and murdered by the things that He created, even though He knew their names forever ago. He knew their entire lives before they were born. Then He created them and let them do what they did. He planned it that way.

"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power." (Acts 2:22-24)

When He came to earth He would have been perfectly within His Godly rights to wipe out every human on the planet with His holy presence. He did not have to empty Himself. He could have appeared to all of mankind in the blinding fullness of His glory. He could have set His holy throne upon the earth and forced everyone to their knees with a single command. But He humbled Himself. The King of everything came down and became a helpless baby, born to peasants, in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Instead of setting Himself up as a king, He came as a humble servant.

"Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)

Christians constantly celebrate the fact that Christ gave His life as a ransom, as we very well should. But many of us fail to think about the first part. He lived the life of a humble servant first. Why didn't He just come to earth as a grown man and go immediately to the cross? Why did He come as a baby, live 33 years, and then go to the cross?

Because you came here as a baby.

He didn't just die for you, He also lived a perfect life for you, from start to finish. He was a perfect newborn, a perfect infant, a perfect toddler, a perfect kid, a perfect teenager, and a perfect adult. He was the most holy servant because you couldn't do it. Every moment of His life He was pleasing to the Father, in everything He did and everything He said. He always did the Father's will because you can't.

"And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning? I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.” They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him." (John 8:23-30)

He died for us, but first He lived for us. His life becomes our life. His death becomes our death. His obedience becomes our obedience. His perfection becomes our perfection. If He had only died for us and wiped out our sins, we would only be left in some kind of neutral position because we're still not good enough to go to heaven. We still wouldn't have the righteousness and perfect holiness required to enter the kingdom of God. He lived a perfect life so that we could also gain all of His righteousness through faith in Him.

This is what you're supposed to be celebrating on December 25th. Please try to see past the lights, and the wreaths, and the trees, and the ornaments, and the gifts, and Santa Claus, and all of the other additions that have been tacked onto Christmas. Your Creator humbled Himself and became flesh and lived a perfect life for anyone who believes in Him. Then He died on the cross and was resurrected 3 days later. He appeared to many witnesses, which is recorded in the New Testament. Then He ascended into heaven with the promise that He will return some day. Now all human beings are commanded to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way to God. Without Him you will perish in your sins. You must believe in Jesus Christ.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." (John 3:16-21)

"Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31)

Thanks for reading. God bless.