Grace and Peace Episode 18
Presbyterian Church of Easton
January 5, 2021
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2
Heidelberg Catechism
35Q. What does it mean that he “was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary”?
A. That the eternal Son of God, who is and remains true and eternal God, took to himself, through the working of the Holy Spirit, from the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary, a truly human nature so that he might also become David’s true descendant, like his brothers and sisters in every way except for sin.
36Q. How does the holy conception and birth of Christ benefit you?
A. He is our mediator and, in God’s sight, he covers with his innocence and perfect holiness my sinfulness in which I was conceived.
My favorite comic hero is Superman. The Man of Steel can fly through the air. Sometimes Superman is in disguise, he appears to be a mild-mannered newspaper reporter named Clark Kent. Although he is really Superman he looked like an ordinary human. Some people believe that this describes Jesus. They think that Jesus is really God, but came to earth only appearing as an ordinary human. Jesus’ humanity was just a temporary disguise. This is the theological heresy of Docetism, Jesus was truly divine, but only appeared to be human.
Many people in the church today believe this. We spend so much time talking about Jesus being God we forget that he was also an ordinary human like you and me. But we must remember that Mary did have to change his diapers. Jesus was not God pretending to be a human. Jesus was a human who experienced what we experience who was also God. But Jesus is not like us in one area. All of us are slaves to sin. We’ve been sinners since the day we were born, but not Jesus. Jesus did not sin. Jesus was completely righteous.
This allows Jesus to be our mediator before God. When the day comes that God will judge us for what we have done and for what we have left undone, Jesus will be there to intercede on our behalf. He will clothe us with His righteousness. We will be forgiven and declared not guilty.
We read in the Book of Hebrews 2:14-15 “Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.” Jesus is fully human and fully divine. In Him, we have been forgiven and freed from slavery to sin and the power of evil. What a blessing!
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to earth as both the manifestation of God and human like us. We thank you that your righteous life covers our sinful lives. We thank you for freeing us from the power of the devil. We pray this in your name. Amen.
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