"Our faith falters when we think that God, the infinite, incomprehensible, ineffable reality, transcending all glory and majesty, should be defiled by associating with human nature"
- Gregory of Nyssa
When God set out to save us, it would seem the main thing to be accomplished was the sacrifice of Jesus' death. As the passage in Romans from Part 1 of this series said: "Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people." But God did not just send a perfect gift to atone our lives (think the goat appearing to save Isaac).
"Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.
He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide.
And to this day it is said,
“On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
- Genesis 22: 13-14
He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide.
And to this day it is said,
“On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
- Genesis 22: 13-14
God did not just send His Son as a sacrifice, He sent Him to live with us. Emmanuel means "God with us". God did not just come to die, He came to live among us for a lifetime. He was not in bubble of safety and peace, He was born into a dark world and lived in darkness. He grew up the son of carpenter, His birth came out of, what the world perceived as, a scandal. Within His first two years, the ruler of the age went on a killing rampage, murdering every little boy under the age of two. He spent His early years as a refugee, He was hated, mocked, and loved. Life was not rosy for Him. He faced temptation and stood against it.
“Have this mind among yourselves,
which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men. "
- Philippians 2:5-7
Christ's death is made a million times more significant because He was not just a sacrificial lamb, He was incarnate (embodied in flesh; in human form ), He was Love MANIFESTED (v.display or show (a quality or feeling) by one's acts or appearance; demonstrate).
"“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ""
- Luke 2: 10-11
"Do you ask the reason why God was born among men? If you exclude from life the benefits which come from God, you will have no way of recognizing the divine. It is from the blessings that we experience that we recognize our benefactor, since by observing what happens to us, we deduce the nature of him who is responsible for it. If, then, the love of man is a proper mark of the divine nature, here is the explanation you are looking for, here is the reason for God’s presence among men. Our nature was sick and needed a doctor. Man had fallen and needed someone to raise him up. He who had lost life needed someone to restore it. He who had ceased to participate in the good needed someone to bring him back to it. He who was shut up in darkness needed the presence of light. The prisoner was looking for someone to ransom him, the captive for someone to take his part. He who was under the yoke of slavery was looking for someone to set him free. Were these trifling and unworthy reasons to impel God to come down and visit human nature, seeing humanity was in such a pitiful and wretched state?"
- Gregory of Nyssa
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