The Humanity of Christ: Fully God, Fully Man

Prayer and introduction

One with you, Christ, we cannot die, as our lives are secure in you, hidden with you. So, Lord, we pray, that as we think about the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, that our hearts may be open, that we may be encouraged in our faith, that may be maybe built up in our resolve to love and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. So come, be our helper. Help me as I speak these words and help us all that, Lord, we would indeed come away from this hearing of your word, indeed fulfilled and fed. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, amen. 

It’s a great joy to be here today. It’s a great privilege to have been asked to share with us this morning, and into perhaps the afternoon, as we think about the whole of Christ in this conference. I’ve been aptly introduced. My name is Harrison Mungai. I serve as a pastor at Grace Point Church, Kikuyu alongside my elders. A number of them who are actually here today, so I have to be very careful what I say. What a great joy to also be married to Rhoda, who is here with me, right at the back and the Lord has blessed our union with three children. 

I’m a sinner saved by grace. And I say that, not because it’s a fanciful thing for people, you know, in these type of circles to say that, we are sinners saved by grace, but because it is true. And oftentimes, the thing that really defeats me and that confronts me, time and again, is my own sinfulness. But what an encouragement that we have just sung this, this morning: Christ the sinless one. Because of him, if I am asked at the door of Heaven why should I let you into my kingdom? There will be nothing to hold onto, be it my name or ministry, service or marriage, or children or anything that I could ever claim to be mine, but the complete work of Christ, which he has done for me. So, it’s all by grace that I have been saved and I thank God because of his work in me. 

Like I said a little earlier on, it is very humbling to have been asked to speak up this gospel feast at the time when Christianity is coming under severe stress in our nation, but also wider afield in the continent. This is not so much because there is no Christianity, (but) actually because of the form of Christianity that there is, which is actually alien to the Scriptures. Our public space is full of a type of Christianity that is actually devoid of the truths that are taught in the word of God. And that causes my heart to lament and indeed to cry that the Lord may indeed revive his work by calling us back to the word. 

What a joy it is that we can come here for two and a half days and feast on the gospel, feast on the word of God, because every great move of God in the Scriptures, perhaps even in history, has always been a return to the word of God, a return to Scriptures. When Scriptures are taught faithfully, God’s people are helped to live. God’s work is indeed seen in the lives of many. 

Lament for the nation

And I say that the events of just the last month, points to a people and even to a nation that is actually fascinated by an outward or a public appearance of Christianity, but unfortunately denies both the power and the demands of the Gospel. Brothers and sisters who are here at Proclaim Conference, the year 2022, it’s very sad that our people are steadily moving away from the solid teachings of Scripture and into subjective and manipulative words of men, which are actually cowards – the word of the season. This is simply an attempt to build movements around personalities or even brands. Very sadly, many people in our country, Kenya, have fallen for this form of Christianity that has actually veered off from the Bible. And I still lament, once again, that whenever people move away from the gospel, move away from the Scriptures, there is no telling where they will land. So, I joined Jeremiah in his lament, when he lamented for the city of Jerusalem and said, Lamentations 2:13,

“What can I say for you, to what compare you,
     O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
    O (virgin) daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is vast as the sea;
    who can heal you?”

What was the lament about? He says in Lamentations 2:14,

“Your prophets have seen for you
     false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity (in order to)
    to restore your fortunes,
but have seen for you oracles
    that are false and misleading.”

I pray that the Lord indeed would have mercy and bring us back using a conference like this one, back to the true word that exposes our own sinfulness and iniquity and calls us back to our Saviour who truly loves us.

Bible reading

Can I then switch to Luke’s gospel, which is the focus of my sharing this morning. I did that introduction by way of reminding us the time and the context in which we are in, and why Proclaim 2022 is such an important conference, that we can hear, feast on the word, feast on the gospel. 

Turn with me then to Luke 2:1-21. I want to appreciate the speaker who came before me. A lot of the things that we have said and now we are going to say do overlap, one with another. Luke 2:1-21,

“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, “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 Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”

This is the word of the Lord.

Celebration of Christmas

One of the most exciting seasons in life, at least for me, is Christmas, which is why I read Luke 2 with a lot of joy. And I hope we can have some Christmas songs sung because we’re going to be delighting in the humanity of Jesus.

I grew up in a liturgical church and seasons were very important. You knew the seasons by the drappings or the colours that they had around the church. And Christmas one was particularly exciting because you know when they’ve changed to the colours for Christmas, it sometimes would be purple denoting kingship or even gold and white, you would know it’s the season of happiness. Maybe because also we looked forward to great food and presents and all that comes with it.

Of course, later on, this kind of got dampened by the very fact that I got to read articles in the papers and to interact with people who are doubting the authenticity of Christmas, or even the historicity of it. Is it really true? Or was it even a hidden feast that was then somewhat assigned to Jesus? Now, can I say that dates, perhaps traditions and cultures notwithstanding, I still think Christmas is a great season for Christians, because it is first and foremost a celebration of the humanity of Jesus. It’s one season when the world stops to mark that indeed a saviour was born among us. 

Think of all the words that come to mind when you think “Christmas.” I don’t know what words come to your mind, but certainly words like “baby” come to mind certainly. Maybe “movement” or “travel.” We’ve just read about people moving from one town or city to another. Or even we might think about “census” which tells you about human activities and governments, be they colonial or otherwise, but it tells you a human story.

The Word became flesh

One of the things that might also come to mind, perhaps, might be things like food and presents and all these are part and parcel of the human experience. All these things are human experiences, yet our Saviour chose to come and identify with the human story. Here is one time when we get to behold a Saviour who is born among us. No wonder John, writing the gospel, declares those words that we heard before in John 1:14, “The word became flesh and he tabernacled among us.” He dwelt among us. What a glorious truth to behold – that God is among us.

Now whether it strikes you that God himself walked here on earth, was seen, he breathed the same air as us, was seen by many people, was touched by many people. He was real, and he still is real, as I’ll later on help to explain.

Yet, can I say, the idea of the humanity of Jesus Christ has not always been well understood, or even appreciated by the church. To some people it seems as if saying that Jesus was, or indeed is human, is actually blasphemous to many people.

Just yesterday, reflecting about my talk to somebody that I just met in the church compound, I said to him these words that, “there is a man in heaven,” and they looked at me in a very shocked, bewildered way. Our pastor has gone down a heretical path! Yet it is true that indeed there is a man in heaven who has preceded the rest of humanity. Am I also beginning to go down, as far as you are concerned? Most people are shocked at the thought that Jesus is human. Notice my use of tenses quite carefully. That very thought rocks people. We thought Jesus is divine and we want him to stay like that. We will see that Jesus’ humanity and his divinity, or his “Godness” are not to be pitted against each other. They’re actually to be held as they are, in tension for sure, but they have to be held as truths that have been both revealed in the pages of Scripture. Indeed, the Bible shows us, right from the passage we have read, and many other sections, that Jesus was indeed human. 

The humanity of Jesus through history

The early church actually did not struggle with this so much. The big trouble for them, perhaps unlike us, was with his divinity. Is he truly God as he claims to be? So interesting that the major councils of the church, perhaps beginning with Nicaea, going on to Ephesus and eventually Chalcedon – these councils were debating the divinity of Jesus. That last one I just mentioned there, they were trying to reconcile the two natures of Christ, and one of the speakers will deal with that later on. 

Maybe it’s because they had actually seen him in the flesh. Or maybe it was still in the living memory of those who had seen him in the flesh. Yet, brothers and sisters, doesn’t Jesus, when he stands right there before Thomas, showing his body, his resurrection body, showing him where the nails went through his hands, challenges him and says that John 20:29, “Do you now believe (that) because you have seen? Blessed are those who believe and yet they have not seen.” Isn’t that the call then of the believer today? To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ – in his humanity and divinity- even though we have not seen him.

So, what does the Bible really teach about the humanity of Jesus and why does that matter? What might we learn about Jesus’s humanity and how might we apply that in our lives as believers, but also in our ministries, for those among us who are pastor teachers, or those who are involved in one way or another in gospel ministry. Five things, five applications, a short prayer, then we are done.

Jesus was born

Luke 2:7 of the verse that we read shows us that he was human. Human. Why do we say that? It is because he was born like all human beings. 

Luke 2:7, “She gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes (he needed warmth) laid him in a manger, (he needed support) because there was no place for them in the inn.”

Yes, he was indeed miraculously by the power of the Holy Spirit conceived in Mary’s womb, but like Adam, the first Adam, he had God as his father which points us to his perfect humanity. Yet, like all of us, he was born of a woman, and he shares in our humanity. Later on, we notice from Luke 2:21, he is given a human name. He is called Jesus, the name that had been given before he was conceived, but it was an ordinary name in his time. And certainly, earlier on in the Scriptures, we would see the use of “Yeshua” and even later on in the Epistles, we see the name is actually being used.  So, it means “a Saviour,” as we have heard earlier on from the message of the angels, but he is human. If we were to turn the page into Luke 4:23, we would come across a genealogy that Luke gives us to show us that he has a human ancestry. He has a background. He has a legal lineage through Joseph. He can trace his ancestry all the way back to King David and all the way back to the Father Abraham, the father of the promises.

He is human by every way and definition, you might say. He’s born of a woman. He has come into a human culture and context. He has a human background, so to speak. He has a human ancestry and genealogy. He has a human body. He is born as a baby: vulnerable, needing warmth. He needs to be wrapped in those swaddling clothes.

I hope that doesn’t sound blasphemous if I say he was as human as perhaps the guy next to you or the lady next to you. He would have been someone that you can say to, “After this, can we go and grab a drink?” And I think this ought to shock us and at the same time fill us with awe at the mystery of the incarnation. At one point he should draw us in to worship – bring us close to our father and see his great love for us. How great the Father’s love for us. 

Jesus grew and developed 

2) He is human because he actually grew and developed. If you were to turn the page into Luke 2:40, we see growth and development. Look at Luke 2:40, still the same chapter, you stay with me in Luke chapter 2. You come across,  “And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favour of God was upon him.”

It is a human characteristic to grow. It is, whether we are growing in strength or gaining more wisdom, really this is a human attribute. If you skip over to Luke 2:52, we hear, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man.”

But, as we might say, it’s of the divine to be unchanging (immutability), it is a human attribute to change and to grow. We are growing, I hope, in our understanding of the Gospel. We are growing in our understanding of the world around us. We are those who, who feed and actually grow bigger. Isn’t it all striking, somebody noticed that Jesus loved his food. Somebody observed and said that in Luke’s gospel, Jesus was either going to a feast or coming from one. And I hope the organizers of this conference are also in sync with that, because we just come from tea, and we are soon going for lunch. Because we are those who need feeding! We are human and Jesus was. Does it strike you how Jesus wants to be remembered? He says, “You shall remember me when you are gathered and are actually eating.” One of the best ways to remember Jesus is by food. Please take food seriously, if you have not been taking food seriously. Clearly, I have been taking my food seriously! Yet, he instituted the Lord’s table as a way to remember him. 

Jesus experienced pain and weakness

3) Why was he human or how was he human? It’s because he experienced pain and weakness.

I’m only going to refer to these passages, but please note them down. That he would get hungry – Matthew 4:2. He would get thirsty – John 4:7 and in 19:28. He grew tired – John 4:6. He experienced human emotions such as anger, sorrow, grief – Matthew 26:37, John 2:15, John 11:35. He would be sorrowful and caught up in grief, but we also noticed that he was tempted. Again, just the next chapter Luke 4, we come across the temptation of Jesus, yet he did not sin. So, he experienced the whole range of human experiences, whether lack or need anger or sorrow or grief, even joy, because he was human.

Jesus suffered, died and was buried

4) Jesus was human because he suffered, died, and was buried. God said, or can I say, that our mortality bears our humanity more than anything else. When he was put up on that Roman cross, he suffered and died. We are told he gave up his spirit. He became subject to death as we would read elsewhere in the Epistles, he was subjected to death, even death on a cross, a shameful one. There is no closer identification with the human race then actually in his own suffering and dying. In his context, he was then buried. Here was the Saviour who came to save us, suffering death in order to rescue us from death, as Paul notes it in Romans 8:3-4.

Jesus was raised in his humanity

But can I say, and this is the last one before we come to the application, says that (Point 5:) he was raised in his humanity. Isn’t it striking that Jesus was raised from the dead after three days in the same body in which he died, but now glorified in an immortal state? In other words, he indeed overcame death. He was seen by many people, as we would read in 1 Corinthians 15, perhaps more than 500. He had scars in his hands. We noticed that he also ate and related with his disciples, because he was raised in his humanity, as well. Glorified humanity.

An angel announces in Acts 1:11, when he was taken up bodily, that he will return the same way. Now, the same way could mean that he will return, and you will see him, but a better reading of it is that “the same way” would mean visibly, bodily, as we would read in Colossians 3:4. He will return in a visible, bodily way. Can I say that it is human to have a body.

One of the things a friend said to me is, “When people have this idea that they will see God (and I need to be careful about this one here) I think they have an idea of someone else that they will see apart from Jesus, who will be visible and who perhaps might have a body.”

Although there are maybe dreams and visions of that, you know, quoted and seen from Scripture, a right reading of that is the God you can see is Jesus. We shall see him. I know Trinity is indeed mysterious, but the Father who has willed and who has chosen, as he indeed ordained the Son, who can be seen and who can be like us, in order to redeem us. And when we have seen Jesus, then indeed we have seen the Father. So, the one we will see, I can say this, is indeed Jesus.

How does this matter to us gathering here today? Perhaps with all the potential tension or even theological questions that might arise out of this, why does this matter, that we would affirm Jesus’s humanity?

Why does it matter that Jesus is human?

Why it matters is because, and these are the applications:

1) If he were not human, he wouldn’t be our representative or substitute. Yet, that’s the very reason that, that he came: to be our representative and to be our substitute, to take our place so that the great exchange can actually happen. Can I submit to us that the gospel would actually be incomplete or even uncertain if you did not hold carefully to the Biblical teaching of the doctrine of Christ as indeed human.

If he was not human, he cannot then represent humans. Not just perhaps, humanly speaking. We just came through a national exercise of choosing leaders and we chose people like us to represent us in Parliament. I don’t think there is any county or sub-county that actually chose non-human to represent us. That representation will not be ideal! So, Jesus will take our place, would represent us, because he is like us. Not by character, because as by character in Genesis 3, we are fallen. But by design, Jesus is the perfect human being. He is like the Genesis 1 & 2 Adam: perfect in his nature and so he can represent and can indeed be a substitute for fallen human beings, as a second Adam.

We are reminded elsewhere that we could not be saved by the blood of ram and goats. And we know the once and for all, sufficient sacrifice of Jesus. He not only dies for sinners, but lives for them as well, so that his righteousness can become their own, as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21. Pastor-teachers, preach the full Gospel. And it is not full gospel if it is not showing us one who represents us, one who is our substitute, yet one who came in among us. Emmanuel, God with us, became like us in order to redeem us. 

Dear saints, who are here at this conference: look to Jesus. He is your only hope. He is my only hope. He is the one I need my eyes to look up to. Or indeed, he is the perfect one. Hope must not be in my local church, in a pastor or a prophet or a teacher. It needs to be on Jesus, the one who was given once and for all, to save sinners. 

Jesus identifies with our pain and sorrow

But why does this matter?

2) It matters because, since Jesus was a human person, he identifies with our pain and our sorrow. And this has massive implications for discipleship. We are told that he suffered in every way, yet he did not sin. He knows our frame. He knows we are weak. He lived in that frailty of a human baby. He is one who needed to be wrapped in swaddling clothes. He is one who grew in wisdom and stature. He knows our limitations in knowledge and in wisdom. Brothers and sisters, our discipleship is greatly helped when we know that our Saviour was like us.

I don’t know whether you’ve ever experienced human connection when somebody shares a relatable experience.  You feel, “Yes exactly!” You get to know, “Ah! There’s somebody who kind of speaks my language!” There seems to be some, there seems to be some connection there. Can I say, Jesus identifies with you.

(Quotes song in Swahili)

That’s how we sang, that song we sang in Swahili. He knows our sorrows. He knows our pains. He knows all longings. He knows our anxieties and our fears and our doubts.

Why is this important to you Pastor-teacher? It is important for you because it is a call to contextualize our ministry. Jesus did not announce the gospel from the skies. He actually came and taught it to us. He wasn’t in a high chamber somewhere, but he actually came to where we were – an incarnational ministry. Throughout his teaching and even his own ministry, we would see him identifying with human plight. Jesus was not indifferent to human sorrow and human suffering. 

And that’s a bit of a rebuke for me, because I can think that maybe people just need is a word, and certainly they do need the gospel, but life together – knowing where people are, sharing in their pain and sorrow, is part and parcel of our calling to the ministry. Paul talks about proclaiming the Word but also sharing our lives. Not only are we to share the gospel, but we are also to care for the needs of those to whom we are called. Of course, to a varying, wise degree to know the level of our involvement. Incarnational ministry doesn’t mean that the Church does everything, dear pastor. It also means that the Church is not indifferent to politics. It’s not indifferent to economic issues. It’s not indifferent to environmental concerns. They are not our primary ministry, but they are not to be removed out the window as well.

May the Lord help us as we think how can we be incarnational in our ministry. Many of us in our type of circles sometimes are very hesitant to engage in socio-cultural issues, maybe for the fear that it might stain our gospel ministry. May the Lord raise among us those he would gift with a public ministry, perhaps like of John Newton, calling out wickedness in the society, calling out corruption and the excesses of government, being involved with those who are hurting and tying up the wounds of those among us who have been hurt by the enemy or by the context in which we live. Jesus took on human flesh, was called Emmanuel – God with us. Pastor, are you living in your chamber and removed from the experiences of those to whom the Lord has called you? Jesus would be different. He was right here with us, identifying with us. 

But you are saying, “How might you apply this truth?” Can I remind you and I, yours and mine are days that the Lord has numbered. They are full of pain and struggle, as we will sing tomorrow in the mid-morning session. Ours is a life of pain and struggle in our following Jesus. We are foreigners and sojourners on this earth. Can I remind you that our saviour, who went through all range of human experiences, is yours and mine forevermore. Jesus has been through this. Can you be encouraged today? Jesus has been through this. Keep going. Keep walking. Keep following Jesus. 

Jesus is our pattern and model

Why does this matter that Jesus was human? 3) It is because he is our pattern and model. We did speak about representation, but now here is a pattern (closely related to that) and model. When we are preaching the gospel, what we are calling people to is to Christ’s likeness. Come and follow Jesus, come and be like him, be transformed in your thinking. Be like Jesus because he’s our pattern and our model. 

But it is difficult to follow someone that you’re unlike. Do you see how inconsistent that would be? If I told you to, to, to be a Toyota, could you behave, could you try and change your ways and become a Toyota? You’d look at me wondering, “Sorry, do you mean a person by the name Toyota or do you mean the car model I’m just looking at outside?” Because that’s of a different nature. So, when we overemphasize the divinity of Jesus and still call people to follow Jesus, there’s a bit of a logic break right there. “Hey, but hang on a minute. I, I thought that’s God. Is that not, and you know, unlike anything that I know? He doesn’t experience the same cultural and traditional pressures that I get.”

We notice that Jesus is actually human. You and I can follow him. 1 Peter 2:21. Because Christ’s triumphed over sin, Christians can have confidence to overcome like he did. Dear Pastor-teacher, continue pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s a perfect man. Don’t try to model us into being like you. Don’t try to shape us into little yous in our not congregation. Don’t try to get us to talk like you, which is often a mistake that many of us in mentorship do. Show us Christ, that’s what we want. Show us Jesus, not yourself, mannerisms, or culture, but actually what we want and what we long for is Jesus. He’s our model that we want to follow. 

Dear saint, continue to grow in holiness and confidence; it is Christ in you – the hope of glory. Jesus is your pattern and your model. Everyone else may fail. Big names like we have seen in the recent years, and in the recent past, have often times fallen short of the mark of our expectations, to our great disappointment. But we are not to look after them. We are not to look up to them, in a sense. I think our ultimate example is Jesus. Yes, we are to follow the example of those who through faith have indeed conquered, as we are told elsewhere. The ultimate pattern is Jesus and our model is him. So, dear saint, may you grow in holiness and confidence in Jesus Christ, who is in you – the hope of glory.

Jesus intercedes for us 

Why does this matter? Number 4: because he intercedes for us. He is a priest and a mediator. Can I just point us to Hebrews 4, as I draw closer and closer to the end of this session. In Hebrews 4:14-16, the writer of Hebrews says, 

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

And it goes on. I would have wanted to read a little bit more, but time fails me. What Jesus is doing for us is to intercede for us. He is a priest who intercedes, who speaks to God on behalf of the people. Does it strike you that actually a priest needs to be human? Maybe you’ve never thought about it that way. But the divine being may not be speaking to himself. You can’t quite, can’t quite mediate on behalf of someone else, to yourself. That would be a bit, a bit awkward. “What’s going on my friend? Great to see you here, on my behalf to myself!” There’s a sense in which that doesn’t quite work out. But Jesus, having identified with us, intercedes for us. Isn’t that encouraging, dear brothers and sisters? 

Dear saint, you have a mediator. You have one who advocates for your case. He intercedes for you. Fight on! Keep going in the walk of faith, in your walk of faith. This matters: the one who has been through this path before, precedes you, and also intercedes for you. That priest who has actually gone ahead. Therefore, hold fast to your confession of faith.

Jesus’ resurrection gives us eternal hope

And I close by saying this matters because;

5) It gives us hope – eternal hope for believers. Why shall we rise again? Why shall we be raised from the dead? The answer is short and simple: because our Saviour was raised from the dead. Because of his resurrection, (1 Corinthians 15) we have confidence that we shall also rise again. And this has huge implications for service and for ministry. That’s why we have to be steadfast. 1 Corinthians 15:58. That’s why we continue to abound in the work of the Lord. That’s how we know that labour in the Lord is not in vain. We shall be, we shall be resurrected, as Jesus was also resurrected. He gives us resources, spiritual resources, when we are at our lowest: when we are going through grief, when we are going through loss and our bodies are wasting away. When we have that diagnosis that’s actually terminal; you get hope to know we have hope beyond the grave. Why is that? Because our Saviour, who was like us, was also raised from the dead, so we shall rise again. Encourage one another. Paul writing Thessalonians 4:13-28 with these words: You will rise again. Christ will come and indeed we shall be like him.

Let us pray.

Prayer

Grant for us, O Lord, so to know that you are ours forever more. Lord, continue to help us that our hearts may be caught up in wonder, in amazement, at the mystery of the incarnation. But for such as us, who were lost, who are rebellious sinners, a Saviour came, he who was perfect and sinless. The perfect human being came in and dwelt among us, so that we who are sinful and rebellious, would indeed be brought back to you, saved and promised an eternity with you. Oh Lord, we pray that we will not be those who take our salvation for granted. Lord, please help us that we would be those who approach our salvation with fear and trembling, holding it as a precious gift that cost you all.

Lord, we pray, that as we behold our Saviour, who came in among us, like us, that we would be encouraged in our walk of faith. Grant that none would be among us who would be drooping their hands or falling off and giving up, but grant O Lord, that we will be held fast and will be confident in our confession, knowing that Jesus has overcome for us.

Those among us, Lord, with big questions, whether about life or ministry, we pray that as we look to Christ, who identified so closely, in the closest way possible with us, that we would be drawing encouragement and confidence to keep going. So, we thank you and we praise you. In the name of Jesus, our Lord and our Saviour, amen.