Posted by
ValiantForTruth on Sunday, December 26, 2010 10:32:30 AM
‘[Incarnation] means that God became one of us so that He could reach those of us who are willing to surrender to Him.’ – David Stokes
Re: http://townhall.com/columnists/DavidStokes/2010/12/25/the_forgotten_christmas_carol
The Messianic Psalm 110 is quoted a number of times and referred to many more times in the New Testament. In verse 3 it is written…
“Thy people will be made willing in the day of Thy power…”
This is the essence of the incarnation…According to the everlasting covenant, Christ came and gave Himself a ransom to redeem a people from every lawless deed and purify them for His own possession; a people zealous for good works. [Titus 2]
The statement that He came to ‘reach those of us who are willing to surrender to Him’ implies sometime that is foreign to the doctrine of Christ. Is there something about believers that separates them from unbelievers other than the sovereign grace of God?
For who regards us as superior? And what do we have that we did not receive? But if we did receive it, why do we boast as if we did not receive it? [1 Corinthians 4:7]
Redemption is about grace. The incarnation is of grace, and salvation is the application of grace. It is all of grace, and apart from grace we can do nothing. Christ is King, and His kingdom is the gracious imputation of righteousness to undeserving sinners who glory in their knowledge of Him.