160717 The God Who Came to Earth

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In order for mankind to know God it was essential that He come in physical form. Nature reveals the presence of God but does not tell us enough about Him. God’s revelation in the natural world is enough to indict people who choose not to believe in Him. But, the natural revelation is not enough to bring people to salvation. It is necessary that we have a personal knowledge of God. Sinful people misinterpret the revelation found in nature and the result is hundreds of false religions. Only the Bible tells the true story of God.

God is everywhere present and therefore He has always been on the earth. However, God did not always show Himself in a human body. Before the creation of the universe God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit agreed not just to create a universe but also to create mankind, male and female, in His own image. After putting man in the garden God allowed temptation to come to Adam. He only had one rule and he broke that. This was true even though…

God had a physical contact with Adam and Eve. Let’s look at Genesis 3:8-11. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Apparently God came into man’s presence in physical form on a daily basis. We are not given details about this statement “the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” We should never think that sin surprised God or that God was somehow caught napping.

Without a doubt God ordained sin because nothing can happen without first passing by God and being allowed. He did not cause sin because “God cannot be tempted with evil and He Himself tempts no one” (James 1:13). In order for Adam and Eve to be tempted sin had to be present in the angelic world with the fall of Satan and his demons. Even with a daily, physical contact with God, Eve decided to doubt what He had said. Though mankind had been warned that they would die if they ate from the tree of knowledge still Eve, followed by Adam, were willing to experiment. Having been tempted by Satan, and falling to that temptation, the first man and woman experienced shame as they died spiritually.

It is very important for us to recognize that this event actually happened. If we assume, as some do, that this is just a myth then we rule out the possibility of inherited sin. The creation of Adam and Eve is essential to man’s relationship with God. Their sin is equally essential to our understanding that we need a Savior. Throughout the Bible, whenever it is mentioned, the Genesis narrative is upheld as true. For some period of time Adam and Eve had physical contact with God. However…

Rebellion against God broke that physical contact. Let’s read on in Genesis 3:22-24. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

In order to prevent the man and woman from eating of the tree of life and as a result living forever in their sinful condition God gave them the gift of death. (1 Corinthians 3:21-23) They were ushered out of the garden of Eden and, until the great flood, an angel was stationed at the entrance to the garden to keep them from returning.

It is hard to imagine the deep grief that the man and woman experienced when they were separated from God’s physical presence. We know that God continued to relate to them but now it was different. God covered their shame by taking the life of innocent animals in order to clothe them with the skins. These were animals that Adam and Eve knew and had named.

When Adam and Eve produced children two of them, Cain and Abel, brought sacrifices to God. When Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted by God and Abel’s was accepted Cain killed Abel! At that time Cain found that God was still there and was still inquiring about His creation. The result was that Cain was driven even farther away because of his guilt. Man now had a broken relationship…

However, God continued this relationship. Let’s read on and Genesis 5:21-24. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. ²² Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Enoch is an example of the continued contact between God and man. Even though Adam and Eve no longer had that personal contact with God. With the birth of their grandson, Enosh, we are told that “At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Certainly this represented prayer but also likely indicated an altar and a blood sacrifice. The generations passed until Enoch was born. Enoch was the father of Methuselah, the longest lived man that we know of. Enoch had a unique relationship to God of all those mentioned in Genesis chapter 5. He was the first man, that we know of, who did not die but instead was transformed into the presence of God. It is noted in Hebrews 11:5 that he was commended as having pleased God. Throughout history God continued contact with his creation…

Until one came that God could call His friend. Let’s look at Genesis 12:1-3. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

We do not know how much time passed from the creation to the flood or from the flood to Abraham. Many, many generations passed by. And then a man was born in the modern day country of Iraq in the city of Ur. We are not told how Abram was approached by God. Just simply that “the Lord said” and Abram heard Him and responded. We are also not told why God chose Abram. As time went by the relationship between Abram and God grew stronger. Until, when Abram was ninety-nine years old God told him that his wife, Sarai, would have a son and they would call his name “Isaac” (Genesis 17:1-17). On that day Abram’s name was changed to Abraham and Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah. We do not know all the things going on here but in the New Testament we are told “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:3). One consequence growing out of Abraham’s relationship to God was that Abraham was called God’s friend. I believe the only other person given that lofty title in the Bible was Moses (Exodus 33:11).

Even though Abraham and Sarah had no children at the time of their being chosen by God they were still given the promise that they would produce a great nation. They would have generations of descendants until the fullness of time should come. When that fullness happened God produced a baby. That baby was born in a stable to an apparent peasant girl named Mary. He would be raised in the home of the carpenter in a little town called Nazareth. From such simple beginnings there came one…

In whom God could bless the whole earth. Probably the best-known verse in the entire Bible is John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

I doubt that Abram understood at all what God meant in blessing the whole earth.

God didn’t spare his own Son but gave him up so that the entire earth could be blessed. What kind of blessing would this be? John the Baptizer had identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! What greater blessing could there be? That the world’s sin could be taken away. All of history pointed ahead to this simple man! This One was God in the flesh! Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man in one person, and will be so forever.

Before the creation of the world a plan was put into motion to provide for man’s salvation. That plan involved Jesus taking on the sin of mankind and nailing it to the cross of Calvary. Thereby…

Demonstrating God’s love for mankind. Now let’s look at Romans 5:8.  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

One of the highest qualities that identify God the Father is “love”. Repeatedly in the Bible we are told that God loves us. In following Him we are to love one another. In fact Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone laid down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). Thus adding us to the list of people that might be called “friends of God”!

The pivotal point of all history was God sending His Son into the world to take away the sin of the world. The whole world today uses a calendar that is based on Jesus. Thousands of years before God sent His Son into the world He had given Abram the promise that in him all the world would be blessed. And…

God’s Blessing was Jesus. Let’s turn to Hebrews 2:14-18. 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, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Jesus, the Blessing of God, had to be fully identified with man. He took flesh and blood and was tempted in every way that we are. The plan was to defeat Satan on his own grounds. In order for that to happen He had to be like us in every way except for sin.

Jesus was tempted and had no sin therefore we can understand that temptation itself is not sin. Sin comes when we follow the temptation toward its conclusion.

So we can turn to Philippians 2:8-11. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

One night, outside Bethlehem, some shepherds heard an angel saying, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11) The God who came down to earth did so as a little baby in a manger rather than a conquering King on a white horse!

Clearly, Jesus came into the world as God! 700 years before Christ, Isaiah had proclaimed, “to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God…” (Isaiah 9:6). In the New Testament there are hundreds of verses that call Jesus “God” and “Lord” as well as other titles of deity. In Him all the fullness God was pleased to dwell. At his birth he was called “Immanuel” which means, “God with us”! We can put our faith and trust in Him as our Lord and Savior. Have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? Today can be your day of salvation.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.