January 11: Philippians 2 5-11

Key Verse: Philippians 2 8
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!

Devotion:
No, you are not seeing things and my bible isn’t stuck in one place, but these verses have so much to give us! What is the best way to infiltrate the enemy? What is the best way to be able to walk around the enemy’s camp without being detected? If you wanted to be able to walk unnoticed in a rough neighbourhood, would you walk through it is a suit with flashing lights, or in clothes they wore in that neighbourhood?

The Lord knew the only way to reach people, was to become a person. He knew He had to bring Himself down to our level to allow us to see what He has in store for us. He knew He would have to show us how He was willing to accept all the punishment which is due to us. If you wanted to show someone you could arm wrestle them, would you cheat by taking a robotic arm in to the contest, or would you offer your arm against their arm?

Jesus knew He had to accept the punishment in the same form which we accept our punishment. He knew He could only show us how much He loves us if He was at our level – if He was in a human body, the same as we are in a human body. He needed to show us His love for us by showing He was willing to accept it all for our sake. What better way than to become one of us, to become a human being, so He could share the pain as we would if we had to pay the price for our sins.

He was willing to take on your sins for you when He went to the cross. He was willing to take on human form so He could accept the punishment in the same body as you would normally accept it – just because He loves you. He was willing to be born of no reputation, be your servant and become one of us, just so we could see how much He loves us.

Points to Ponder:
Have you ever pretended to be someone else?

Jesus physically became a human to make sure He paid for our sins IN FULL!