And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:8-14 (NIV) Beloved, todays study on this passage will be focussing on the humility of Christ. The angel promised the shepherds that they would see a sign: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Doesnt that amazed you? Here was Jesus – the Son of God lying in a manger, a trough for feeding animals, being born to a woman of no distinction. Can you imagine the shepherds reaction? Wasnt the Messiah supposed to a magnificent King? The fact that Jesus – the greatest – took such a humble position is a valuable lesson to us for He became poor for our sake. As Paul wrote, “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Christ came humbly and lived a humble life to teach us to be humble, and so that He could die on the cross in our place! Does Philippians 2 not say that Jesus is He who, “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”? In Christ, God took on the form of a man – so that He could die, in His humanity, as a perfect sacrifice. He died on the cross so that we could be forgiven – is that not humility? Surely it is! God did not come adorned with gold and jewels, or an army; He came as a little baby in a manger, wrapped in cloths! This is such a lesson to us! If God, who we are to imitate, was willing to humble Himself to the extent that He took the form of baby, who was to be found lying in an animal trough, and grew into the man who gave His life so that we could be forgiven through Him – what justification do we, as Christians, for not being humble? None! As 1 Peter 5:6 says, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time...” Beloved, let us be humble in the way that we live – especially in serving others. Christmas is coming up; the season presents us with countless opportunities to serve others out of love: We could offer to clear snow off paths, invite an elderly neighbour over for Christmas dinner, write someone an uplifting Christmas message and so forth. These things are so easy – and we are called to humble ourselves, making a change. Dont you know that people starve even over Christmas all across the globe, even in the USA and America? Serve – share food, invite people over, be a secret Santa, etc – in some way and so do good, glorifying the God who set the perfect example of humility. We may not be babies in a manger, but we are to imitate the humility of the God who took the form of a baby in a manger for our sakes. Blessings!
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 21:14:17 +0000
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