[Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, God with us.](Matt.1:23)
[He, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men] - while being a true God(Phil. 2:6,7 R.S.V.) [In as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage... Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people](Heb.2:14,15,17).
Jesus Christ who was born as a baby two thousand years ago, was not the man Jesus who began His existence at the time, but was God who had been from eternity and had come down to this earth in human likeness the true God who was clothed with humanity(1John 5:20). His flesh was the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, abundant with divine power and might. As for His humanity, He was the man Jesus. And as for His divinity, He was the Son of God representing God; He Himself was the Almighty God.
Centuries before He came to earth as a man, the prophet Isaiah prophesied. [For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace](Isa.9:6). He is the Everlasting God[without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.] who has been with God the Father from the days of eternity(Heb. 7:3).
As He seek on this earth, He said, [The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost](Luke 19:10). [What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains and seek the one that is straying?] [The Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost] - this earth(Matt. 18:12, Luke 19:10).
As He was in the synagogue, He said to the multitude, [Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he saw it and was glad](John 8:56). Then the Jews said to Him, [You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?](John 8:57). [Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was I AM'](John 8:58). In this way He made it clear to the blind Jewish leaders that He had existed from before Abraham, before the foundation of the world, from eternity.
Truly He was the God of infinite love who came down to save His children on earth,[who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant.] It was not at anyone's urging or counsel that lead Him to come down to save even one lost sheep (the earthly children), in the form of a humble man. He voluntarily sacrificed Himself. He could have remained by His Father's side, to received the glory and reverence from angels. But that He might give light to the world of darkness and life to His perishing earthly children, He decided to give up His throne to His Father and come down.
Two thousand years ago, a mystic voice spoke from the throne of heaven. [Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for me.] [Behold, I have come - in the volume of book it is written of me - to do Your will, O God] (Heb. 10:5,7). In this word is proclaimed the fulfillment of the purpose which had been hidden from eternity. Christ was to take upon Himself human nature to come down to this earth. He said, "A body You have prepared for me." If He had come with the glory that He had with the Father from the foundation of the world, we could not have withstood the dazzling light of His presence. So in order that we might see and not be consumed by it, He covered His glory of God) with His flesh. His divinity was covered with humanity and invisible glory appeared visible in the form of a man. He did not have any outward beauty or attractiveness in the sight of men, yet He was God transformed into flesh, the Light of heaven and earth. It was to approach His earthly children surrounded with sorrow and temptation that He covered His glory, grandeur, and majesty. At the moment Satan seemed to have gained full victory, but [when the fullness of the time had come](Gal.4:4), the Son of God appeared with heaven's mission of grace. [The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth](John 1:14).
Jesus came from heaven to reshape the character of His earthly children who had been ruined by sin. He came to drive out the devil who had been taking possession of men's will. He came to deliver us from the dust and dirt, transform our ruined characters into His holiness and clothe us with the beauty of His glory.
The story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. We marvel at the Savior's sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the manger, and the companionship of adoring angels for the beasts of the stall. Yet this was the beginning of the wonderful condescension. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. As every child of Adam, He accepted the results of the great law of heredity, to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.
As I see maggots in a cesspool I think about our Lord God Jesus who gave up heaven and came down in the very form of a filthy sinner into this world full of the terrible stench of sin,and I ask myself, "You, Myung Ho If you were told to go into the cesspool and become a maggot and live there forever, could you do it?"
"Oh! Never never could I do it."
"Then how about just for one day and return?"
But my answer would still be the same."Oh, no!"
However, the highest, lofty and holy God, our Lord Jesus, left His lofty status and position as God and came down to this cesspool earth, incomparable to the heavenly court, and became a man-maggot.
What a sorrowful fact His amazing sacrifice is! It is that which neither sinners nor angels can understand; only the Father who is equal with Him knows the length, height, and dept of His sacrifice!
It would have been an almost infinite humiliation and insult for the God of heaven even to become a glorious, holy angels, but what a startling sacrifice He paid in becoming a man in this sinful world lower than angels! Oh, He is still sitting at the right hand of God as a man! (Mark 16:19,Ps 110:1). He did not become a man temporarily, but He became a man forever. It is His (God) unending sacrifice and humiliation.
Oh what should I say, how should I lament for God, my Father whose infinite humiliation and sacrifice was paid all for me, to save me alone! When I see my Lord, my Father"s face in heaven, what will I be able to say to Him, How can I even face Him? With what words will I comfort and thank Him? Oh I am a sinner, the chief of sinners!
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