Christmas – From Glory to Rat Hole - 2003
• About 9 months ago it was the toppling of a statue that focused the world’s attention on Iraq, this past week it was the real thing
• dramatic footage of Saddam Hussein being manhandled by an American doctor as he was subjected to a medical examination and checked for head lice
• This once proud, arrogant dictator who once made nations quake, found disheveled, humiliated and disgraced in a rat hole at the back of a farm
• Had to chuckle at the soldiers comment, “President Bush sends his regards”
• Saddam is now going to face the justice he denied so many others
• What was ironic about the capture was that the rat hole was just across the river from one of his 50 odd palaces fitted out with the finest Italian marble and gold
• In a matter of months Saddam had gone from magnificent splendor to a squalid rat hole
2000 years ago God made a similar journey
• God in the person of Jesus Christ laid aside his heavenly glory in order to take up residence in a squalid rat hole of sin
• The big difference of course was God’s journey was one of choice, whereas Saddam’s was one of necessity to save his miserable skin
• In Jesus’ case it was a matter of willingly giving up His skin and a whole lot more. He gave up everything He had
• Let’s go over to Phil 2. This was a hymn of the early church
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7 He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. 8 And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.
• The incarnation is considered the greatest miracle of all time, even greater than the resurrection. Even Lazarus was raised from the dead, but God becoming man……
• Imagine this scene in heaven for a moment
• All the splendor of heaven at Jesus’ beck and call, God the Father and the Holy Spirit are His constant companions, legions of angels are at his disposal, He has inheritant life, He glows like the sun in full strength, He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent
• Set all this aside and came down to live in our rat hole
• Not because he was forced by circumstances like Saddam, but because He loves us
• The key word in this passage is humility, one of the greatest characteristics of “love”
• In His humility Jesus set aside His glory, He came to live in our rat hole
• In his humility He came for you and I, we couldn’t save ourselves so He came to do it for us
• In his humility He came to take us by the hand and lead us out of our rat hole to heavenly mansions
• In his humility He emptied Himself so we could be exalted
Why would God Almighty humble himself like this?
• Was it because He saw some special merit in us, or that we are deserving of his love?
• No! He came into our rat hole because He loves us
• People talk about the reason for the season. That first Christmas the reason for the season was not Jesus Christ it was us – we were the original reason for the season. He came to save us
• Of course we now acknowledge Jesus as the reason for the season because of what He subsequently did for us
In contrast to Jesus’ humility, what was mankind’s reaction to this greatest of all miracles?
• Mostly our reaction was one of pride
• Because of our pride we rejected Him. We are so twisted in our sin we are content to hide in our rat hole from the only one who can save us
• In our pride we think there is some merit in God saving us – some even think they can earn their salvation
• In our pride, we don’t want to descend like He did, we want to be lifted up
• In our pride we promote ourselves and reject his way of humility
• Let me read how Max Lucado puts it
• It’s that time of year again. More than any other season, we’re reminded of the remarkable gift of the Savior. A
God whose rescue mission transported Him from the throne of glory to the heart of humanity. Why did He do it?
Because your soul was more important than His blood. Your eternal life was more important than His earthly life. Your place in heaven was more important to Him than His place in heaven, so He gave up His place so you could have yours.
Would you do what Jesus did? He swapped a spotless castle for a grimy stable. He exchanged the worship of angels for the company of killers. He could hold the universe in His palm but gave it up to float in the womb of a maiden.
If you were God, would you sleep on straw, nurse from a breast, and be clothed in a diaper? I wouldn’t, but Christ did.
If you knew that only a few would care that you came, would you still come? If you knew that those you loved would laugh in your face, would you still care? If you knew that the tongues you made would mock you, the mouths you made would spit at you; the hands you made would crucify you-would you still make them? Christ did. Would you regard the immobile and invalid more important than yourself? Jesus did.
He humbled Himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary’s finger. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier.
Why? Because that’s what love does. It puts the beloved before itself. Your soul was more important than His blood. Your eternal life was more important than His earthly life. Your place in heaven was more important to Him than His place in heaven, so he gave up His place so you could have yours.
He loves you that much, and because He loves you, you are of prime importance to Him.
• Because of what Jesus did for us, what is to be our response?
• Our response should be to throw ourselves down in worship
• Colossians 1:16 Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him.
• You and I were made to worship God
• Paul says the same thing here in Phil 2
9 Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
• The time is coming when every knee, willingly or unwillingly will bow before Jesus Christ and every tongue will confess He is Lord
• It’s interesting that Saddam even in capture was making demands of his captives. He said, I am Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq, I want to negotiate”
• How arrogant is that, trying to negotiate while you are sitting in a rat hole with heavily armed soldiers ready to lob a grenade in to flush you out
• Yet this is what we sometimes try to do with our surrender. We not willing to make an unconditional surrender to our Lord, we want to hang onto some of the old parts of our lives
• God is not interested in our negotiations, He’s not interested in our merits, He’s interested in our unconditional surrender
• Notice v. 5
5 Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had.
• Another translation puts it this way, "Let the inner attitude of Christ be the attitude which dominates your common life."
• Do we realize what is being asked of us as followers of Jesus Christ
• We are being asked to develop and imitate the very mind of Christ in how we live our lives
• V.7 Speaks of Servanthood: The King of Kings who was served by legions of angels became a servant
• V. 7-8 speak of Humility: The Lord of Lords who was worthy of worship, stripped Himself of his Divine glory to come and die at the hands of those who should have worshipped Him
• V.8 speaks of Obedience: The Lord of Glory who has inheritant life, became obedient to the point of suffering a common criminal’s death so we could be saved
• Max Lucado asked the question, Would you do what Jesus did?
• Would you swap a spotless castle for a grimy stable.
• Would you exchange the worship of angels for the company of killers.
• If you were God, would you sleep on straw, nurse from a breast, and be clothed in a diaper
• If you knew that only a few would care that you came, would you still come?
• If you knew that those you loved would laugh in your face, would you still care?
• If you knew that the tongues you made would mock you, the mouths you made would spit at you; the hands you made would crucify you-would you still make them? Christ did.
• Would you regard the immobile and invalid more important than yourself? Jesus did.
• He humbled Himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary’s finger. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier.
• These are the attitudes of unconditional surrender – servant hood, humility, and Obedience
• When was the last time we lowered yourself to serve someone beneath us? The poor, the sick the elderly
• When was the last time we parted with a few dollars to buy something for someone other than our immediate family – the fatherless, the widow, the afflicted
• When was the last time we obeyed our Lord’s command in Matt 25 to feed the hungry, to give a drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison
• Of course the only way this is going to happen is to allow Jesus Christ to come take us residence in our hearts, because He is the only one who can make it possible
• This is the true spirit of Christ and also should be the true spirit of Christmas
• Hence our focus on Jesus Christ
• None of us is ever going to feel at home until we take that outstretched hand of Jesus Christ and allow Him to lead us out of that hole
• We will never feel at home while we still retain parts of our old rat hole (Beggars story)
• If we are not willing to surrender everything, we remain in that rat hole
• If we are keeping Jesus Christ at arms’ length resisting his overtures of love, we remain in that rat hole
• If we trying to work out our own salvation, we remain in that rat hole
• Jesus came to set us free. He left His home so we could feel at home. He is here with us now. He wants to take us by the hand and lead us out of that hole
• We remain spiritual homeless until we do
That remarkable night 2000 years ago when God descended into our rat hole we received an amazing set of gifts
• But just because those gifts are free to us, doesn’t mean a price has not been paid
• Jesus paid the price
• Jesus got a stable for His birth so that we could be born to an eternal home in heaven.
• Jesus got the likeness of sinful flesh so that we could gain the likeness of Christ.
• Jesus got to take on our sin so that we could take on His salvation.
• Jesus got rejection so that we could gain redemption.
• Jesus got a cross so that we could gain a crown.
• Jesus was stripped of His few earthly garments so that we could be clothed with heavenly glory.
• Jesus got a world of darkness so that we might gain a world of light.
• Jesus got death so that we might gain life.
• Jesus was "put down" so that we might be "lifted up"
• Saddam will never make the transition from his rat hole back to his palace across the river, but you and I will
• You and I will make the transition from the squalid rat hole of sin to the glorious heavenly city but only because Jesus was willing to make the transition from His palace to our rat hole
• That is something to celebrate. Let’s praise our Savior for his love
