Those who walked in darkness have seen a radiant light shining upon them. They once lived in the shadows of death, but now a glorious light has dawned!
— Isaiah 9:2 (TPT)
What or who is the radiant light? Jesus tells us when he says, “I am the light of the world” in John 8:12. Before Jesus came, the world was in darkness with no way out, lost in sin. He came into the world as a human baby, helpless. He didn’t just appear as a grown man, but went through the same development we went through. His brain was not developed any more than ours was when he was a baby. The Bible says he grew in wisdom and in stature. This tells us that he had to learn who he was and he had to grow in understanding his purpose. As I’ve said before, for a large part of my life, I thought because Jesus came from heaven and was God’s son, he had an edge on us because he was divine.
Then I read Philippians 2:7 and gasped. What is this saying? Jesus emptied himself of his glory and divine qualities making himself human. He left his power and place of exaltation and became human. He represents you and me. It seems that there are 3 factors involved in Jesus finding out who he was. The first one was his mother. She needed to tell him that his true Father was not Joseph. The second factor is the scriptures which she probably told him would explain more about who he was. We know Jesus studied the scriptures because he was astounding the scholars in the temple with his knowledge at the age of 12. The third factor was through Abba Father who said to him, “You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”. Seeing Jesus’ humanity is a lot to ponder, yet it helps us realize that he really knows and understands our human feelings.
Hebrews 2:17 says he had to become like us in every way in order to be our sacrifice and take away the sins of the people. He could then exchange places with you and me by taking our place on the cross, going into the grave (Hades) and winning the battle over death by rising from the dead. He was able to save us because he was the perfect human sacrifice. Since Jesus emptied himself, he did not have an edge on me as I thought. He lived as a human, the same as you and I.
Thinking about this may be new to you. It was to me. All my life I’d heard that Jesus came to save me, but realizing what he went through to do that is beyond understanding. I want to fall on my face in worship as the shepherds and magi did. Don’t let the familiarity of the carols and scenes of Christmas rob you of its true meaning.
This year instead of looking at a manger scene and thinking, “Oh how sweet”, ponder why God came as a baby into the world. He came to save (deliver, redeem, protect, heal etc) us as we have reflected on and he did it by becoming one of us.
There are also other important reasons God sent Jesus into our dark world which we will look at in the weeks to come. Meditate on what you have just read and let his overwhelming love engulf you. Worship him!
Who is like God? There is no god – nothing and no one – like Him.
“Because He appeared my soul feels it’s worth”
Walk Worthy Of Your Calling