The Fullness of Time: Christmas According to the Epistles

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Luke 2:10-14
• Hymn — Angels We Have Heard on High
• Hymn — While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
• Prayer of Invocation
• Prayer of Confession — Daniel 9:4-5
• Assurance of Pardon — Proverbs 28:13
• Scripture Reading — Micah 5:1-4
• Hymn — O Little Town of Bethlehem
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
• Sermon
• Hymn — Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
• Benediction — Hebrews 13:20-21
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: The Fullness of Time: Christmas According to the Epistles

Scripture: Philippians 2:5-8

I. The Incarnation Grounds Your Christology

A. Saving faith requires some knowledge of Christ, but deeper knowledge enriches the experience of faith

1. Westminster Larger Catechism: saving faith involves conviction of sin, inability to recover oneself, and resting on Christ and his righteousness
2. The more intimate the knowledge, the richer the enjoyment of Christ as the object of faith

B. First Viewpoint: Christ has a pre-existing, true Divine Nature (Philippians 2:6)

1. The Greek word morphe (form) means the full essence and nature of a thing — Christ is fully and eternally God
2. Christ did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped — unlike the first Adam, who grasped for it (Genesis 3)
3. As the second Adam, Christ was totally secure in his eternal equality with the Father as he agreed to enter the humility of the Incarnation

C. Second Viewpoint: Christ has permanently assumed a true human nature (Philippians 2:7)

1. "He emptied himself" does not mean divestiture of divine essence — the emptying is defined by what immediately follows: by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men
2. The Incarnation is addition, not subtraction — the Son assumed a real human body and soul, the very stuff of humanity
3. This assumption is permanent; Christ remains fully man forever, even now in glory

D. Third Viewpoint: Christ temporarily assumes non-essential aspects of human nature (Philippians 2:8)

1. The Greek word schema here refers to outward form or appearance — aspects that are normative but not essential to humanity
2. Mortality (the ability to die) is not essential to humanity; it belongs to the curse of sin
3. Christ assumed our full weakness all the way to death — "obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross"
4. In his glorified resurrection body, Christ put off this non-essential aspect; he is the firstfruits of our own resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20)
5. The emptying involves "not the loss of deity but of dignity, not of divine nature but of divine glory" (David Strain)

II. The Incarnation Secures Your Prize

A. Philippians 2:5 — "have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus" points to benefits that are yours in Christ

B. The Incarnation makes Union with Christ possible — he had to become like us so that we could be united to him

1. The image of the vine and branches: Union requires being of the same stuff (John 15:5)
2. Christ is himself the chief prize; his benefits flow from him

C. Two specific benefits that come with Christ

1. Christ's perfect obedience and righteousness, imputed to those united to him (Philippians 2:8)
2. A new mind — a new way of thinking about self and others, set free from selfish ambition (Philippians 2:1-4)

III. The Incarnation Sets Your Pattern

A. Christ's self-emptying is the model for how believers are to relate to one another in the church

B. The second Adam did not grasp for his rights but emptied himself of dignity and glory for his people

C. Believers are called to practice selfless humility — not asserting every right or privilege — after the pattern of Christ's humiliation

IV. The Incarnation Centers Your Preoccupation

A. Philippians 2:9-11 — Christ's humiliation leads to his exaltation: every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

B. The purpose of the believer's life is the glory of God — Soli Deo Gloria

C. The Incarnation is meant to focus the heart and direct worship — not merely intellectual wonder, but daily obedience and love for Christ in all of life