The Self Degradation Of God

This is a study I have felt reservations about doing. You can tell by the title of it why. But it is something that came to me a few weeks ago and just would not leave. It kept nagging at me until I wrote it out. I haven`t preached it yet so you will be the first to see it. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you understand my reasoning by the time it is done. We all get into the habit of looking at things in a certain way. We do not dare to look at things any other way because it would upset our doctrines or our perceptions of how we think things are. But we need to step outside of the box every now and then to get the proper perspective upon our faith. And this is what I am going to try to attempt to get you to do tonight. To look at things a little bit differently. Here we go. The self-debasement of God The self-debasement of God? Such a thing cannot happen you might say. The Creator of the universe, Ha`El-yon "the Most High",Ha-G`du-lah Ba-M`ro-mim"the Greatness on High". The Lord of heaven and earth being debased and by His own choosing? I do not pretend to understand the mind of God. The finite trying to comprehend the Infinite is an exercise in futility. But even God has a pattern to His actions.And if you study His word enough you`ll be able to see a definite pattern emerging. Everything God says and does has a purpose. And that purpose is the redemption of man. You might be asking,"What does this have anything to do with the self-debasement of God?" Everything. And I am getting ready to show you. It is a picture painted all through scripture. It begins in Gen.3 with the fall of man. In Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. No one knows what Adam and Eve really had in mind when they ate of the fruit. I do not think it was open rebellion but maybe they believed they could serve God better.

Remember the snake appealed to their vanity saying,"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil". That is the way devil always hooks man you know. He appeals to their vanity. He wants them to think they can be something they can never truly be. Aren`t we all like that? How we all try to raise ourselves above what we really are. The self-delusion that we force upon everyone else. We then take pride in what people think and what we think of ourselves. But God is different. He searches for us like a parent desperately hunting for His lost child. In Genesis 3:9 what did God ask,"Where art thou?". He knew where they were but they were lost to Him nonetheless. There was a perfect fellowship between man and God before the fall. And that was over. And that is when the self-debasement of God began. In Genesis 3:21 It says God gave them coats of skin. Where did the coats come from? There was a sacrifice made. I know it doesn`t say this but something had to die to provide those coats. And it was God who made that first sacrifice. The One who knew no sin shed the first drop of blood for the price of sin. It is amazing how we try to raise ourselves up to be something we are not and God is lowering Himself to make us more like Him. Now let us look at Genesis 15. Specifically between verse 9 and verse 17. 9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. 11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. 12 ¶And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 17 ¶And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. This chapter on the surface is a very strange chapter. Full of symbolism. Hard for most to understand. This is the second instance of God debasing Himself. This chapter is describing a beginning of a covenant between God and Abraham. It is an eternal covenant. In a strange and solemn ritual Abraham prepares the scene for contract negotiations. According to established procedure three animals are divided in the middle. In the ratification of the contract between superior and inferior it was obligatory for inferior to stand between the severed animals. There he would take an oath of obedience, calling upon God to do to him as he had done to the animals, and even worse, should he fail to keep its terms. At the crucial instant,however, a ball of fire passed between the pieces of the animals had severed, symbolic of the awesome truth that God had taken upon himself the obligations of the inferior, making himself the servant of Abraham his servant. Thus while God initiated the covenant with Abraham, he also obligated himself by its terms. Only God was bound by oath, not Abraham. God`s commitment to Abraham was also to his descendants, without limitations or conditions. This covenant cannot be broken, because God will not break it. Neither Abraham nor his descendants, neither Israel, nor the church, can void the commitment made by God in love. Therefor, although Israel violated the Sinai covenant and was overtaken by disaster, God`s commitment remained. While the prophets could threaten punishment under the terms of the Sinai covenant, they could also promise restoration because of the unalterable word of God. However tragic the consequences of human sin, transcending all is the oath to Abraham, the permanent commitment of God to deliver His children. God making Himself the "servant of His servant". Sounds like things to come doesn`t it? Now lets look at King David for a few minutes. He is the perfect picture of the Melekh ha-Mashiach "the Anointed King". Of all of the kings of Israel David was the The "apple of God`s eye". David is the one the Lord made a covenant with to establish his throne forever. When King David had the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem he did something only servants did. He danced before the procession of the ark in a linen cloth.

2 Samuel 6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. Imagine the most powerful man in Israel,the king, dancing in a parade in his underwear. A man who God took delight in and blessed everything he touched. Debasing himself like a lowly servant. Unheard of. He should act with dignity and decorum. He should be setting on his lofty throne looking down on the procession. But instead he took the role of a lowly servant and danced with, "joy". I can see Christ dancing in heaven before the Father`s throne for everyone who comes to know Him and His sacrifice. Now lets go back to Abraham. I know everyone has heard that Abraham was called the friend of God. James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. I am going to tell you real quick why he was called the friend of God. In Genesis chapter 13 it tells of Abraham meeting with three visitors in the plains of Memre. One of those visitors was God. Or His Sh`Khinnah. God`s purpose on that day was three-fold. First, to tell Abraham that he was going to be a father through Sara. Second,to initiate another covenant. And third, to tell Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorra. Now lets concentrate on the second reason. The covenant. It was a special kind of covenant. A friendship covenant I believe it is called. More accurately called a salt covenant. In the ancient world salt was a rare commodity. It was even used as currency. It was part of the daily staple and a very important one at that. When two people make a covenant of this type they take their bags of salt and pour them into a common pile between them. Then they proceed to divide the pile of salt into two piles again. Giving each an equal share of it. The only way to break this type of covenant was to separate each grain of salt and return it to the original owner. Imagine the Creator of the universe wanting to be friends with Abraham.

Creator friends with the created? Impossible ain`t it? Not to God.With Him all things are possible. Now lets look in the New Testament. Specifically in St. John chapter 13. This chapter is talks about the last supper just before the crucifixion. Lets look at verses 4 and 5 of that chapter. John 13:4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Remember what I called King David a few minutes ago? It was Melekh ha-Mashiach "the Anointed King". I said David was a type of Messiah. Matter fact one of the titles for the Messiah is "Son of David". To be the Malekh ha-Mashiach David had to be annointed. The word mashiach is Hebrew for the word Messiah. Which means to be anointed or to be smeared. In the Gospel of Mark chapter 11 talks of the triumphal entry of Christ. In verse 11 it talks of Christ walking into the temple and looking around and then walking back out and going to Bethany. If the high priest anointed Him as Messiah then it would have been over for all of us who aren`t Jewish. But God out of His compassion and mercy made a way for us. The high priest and the Pharisees knew who exactly who Jesus was. There are four things according to rabbinic tradition that the Messiah to do before he is proclaimed Messiah. 1) To heal the lepers. Mathew 7:2-4 2) Casting out of a dumb spirit. Mark 9:17-27 3) Raising the dead. Mark 5: 36-43 4) Making the blind to see again. Mark 8:22-26 So you see, they knew exactly who He was. But lets get back to the study. It is so easy to start a study on one thing and have it branch out into another. And that is another story altogether. But imagine the Messiah taking off His clothes and washing the disciples feet. The Master becoming the servant of His servant. Remember the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15? Where God passed through the sacrifices effectively making Himself the servant of His servant and taking on all the responsibilities.

And if the covenant was ever broken He would pay the price? God did not break the covenant. But He knew we could not pay the price. Just like we could not pay the price for sin. So He paid it. Now imagine the One who knew no sin becoming sin. Ha-Kodosh Yisra-el hayah chatta-ah (The Holy One of Israel became sin.) He paid the price we could not pay. He paid the debt He did not owe. You see, God debased Himself to lift us up from the mud of sin. He literally became sin. Shouldn`t we debase ourselves to lift Him up? What did Christ say? If we lift Him up He will draw all men to Him" Now for my last example. When Christ was arrested by the guards of the high priest it was after He spent the entire night in prayer. You can read where His sweat became as great drops of blood, Luke 22:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. The sweat capillaries on His skin ruptured causing this. It is something that happens when someone is under great duress or stress. He was lead before the court of the high priest and interrogated until morning Imagine the "Creator" being arrested and interrogated like a common criminal by His own high priest and then sentenced to die. But to carry out the death sentence the high priest must have Him brought before Pilate and have him declare Him guilty as well. I would go into details what happened here during the trial before Pilate and the wounds that ultimately resulted in His death non the cross but that would lengthen this study quite a bit. So I am going to skip forward a little bit to when Christ is on the cross and crying to His Father," My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?". Remember on the cross Christ became sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

A holy and just God cannot abide the presence of sin no more then can sin abide the presence of a holy and just God. Remember God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire. This is the ultimate debasement of God. The holy becoming the profane. The created crucifying the Creator. He hung on that cross because He loved us not because we deserved redemption. There is nothing in us that is holy or sacred. Only through Him can our righteousness be snow white. And all because He loves us. How much do we love Him? Are we willing to be humiliated like He has? Are we willing to go thru what He went through? We often here people say that they want to be in the center of God`s will. How serious are they? The center of God`s will is not a safe place to be. Even the Malakh ha-Massiach was not safe in the center of God`s will. But the will of God is another study altogether. The main will of God is to draw us back to Him and that is the center of this study. God will debase Himself to do just that. For true love causes One to do things that seem strange to others. To make themselves into something they are not. You see,it is about a personal relationship with Him. That relationship is amazingly like a marriage. It is a love that is given freely. A love grown deeper with knowledge of the One we love. Do you have a marriage like relationship with Him or is that relationship with Him strained? Like a marriage that is on the rocks.

One word from a divorce. Only you know how you stand with Him.