HE CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for coming down from heaven. You exist in the glory of the Father, yet You became a man. You became what You were not, so that we could become what we are not and share in Your glory. You did this for our salvation. Help us to be amazed by this each day, to be sure of Your love, and to live in the humility in which You came to us. Amen.
Sermon Text: Hebrews 2:10, 14-18. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation [atonement] for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth; Your Word is truth. Amen.
With this portion of the Nicene Creed:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried.
In the name of Jesus, who came down to suffer for our salvation, dear fellow redeemed: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus our Lord.
The word condescending is a negative one. It means someone is speaking down to you, acting all superior. But a second dictionary meaning for condescend is “to descend to a less dignified level.” You might say, “I would not condescend to respond to that insult,” or “I won’t stoop to that.” This is more the original meaning, “to descend to a less dignified level” – to stoop.
“He came down from heaven” means that Jesus “condescended” – in a very positive way! He “descended to a less dignified level,” He “stooped.”
As we heard in the first part of the Nicene Creed, as the Son of God He is “of one substance with the Father,” meaning He is equally God, He and the Father are one, He is equal with the Father in glory and power. So He exists in the glory of the Father, in heaven. You could say He’s way above us.
This greatness and power and glory of His is true and it’s important, and as we heard last Sunday it gives great safety and security – but not if you’re weighted down by your sins. If you’re lying in your sin, plagued by guilt and shame, struggling with weakness, this isn’t a comfort.
For example, if you don’t restrain your anger and remember outbursts that caused your loved ones pain; if you’ve lied or been dishonest, and only you know it; if you wish you could take back words you said to your spouse, your parents, or your child; if you arranged things so someone went down in the eyes of others compared to you; if you’ve been more concerned with your career and money than with your spiritual life; if you struggle with addictions; if you’ve had a broken marriage; if you’ve given into temptation in the area of sexual sins, including pornography use – Christ’s glory as God won’t comfort you. You might in fact retreat from Him. His holiness can’t comfort you when your sins are condemning you.
You can think of Him as being “up there,” far away, looking down on you – and looking down on you in the sense of being disappointed in you. You can have this thought: “Jesus is disappointed in me.” It’s true that He doesn’t condone or excuse your sin. It’s true that He sees your sins, they condemn you and He is the Judge. But to think of Him as looking down on you, waiting for you to be worthy of Him, seeing you as one big mess-up, that He’s disappointed with you – isn’t an accurate picture of Who He is.
It’s true that Jesus Christ is God. But knowing that is not to know Him yet. You don’t know Him until you know that “He came down from heaven … and was made man.” He wasn’t content to stay up there and let your sins condemn you. Hebrews 2 says: “as the children” – that’s all people – “have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself shared in the same.” It also says: “He had to be made like His brethren.”
Because all people are “flesh and blood,” this says, He had to become flesh and blood too. He did this – in the words of the creed – “for us men,” which doesn’t mean males, it’s an all-inclusive term that means men and women. It means mankind. We don’t just say “for us,” but “for us men,” to say exactly who He did this for: each and every person in the human race.
We also say that “He was made man.” God had told Adam and Eve they were to look for a “He,”a “man,” not just any human but a Man who would crush the serpent’s head. He is God’s Son and Mary’s Son.
He took upon Himself human flesh. Jesus Christ is not only God but also Man. This is what “incarnate” means: “in the flesh.” This creed says He “was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,” as we know from Luke 1 and Matthew 1, where the angel says to Mary and Joseph that the Holy Spirit conceived in Mary’s womb a child who is “the Son of God.”
He is God “in the flesh.” Immanuel: “God With Us.” True God and true Man in one Person, fully God and fully Man. Unless you know Him this way, you don’t know Him. We hear in John 1 that the Word “was made flesh” (Jn 1:14), and in 1 John 4 that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” and that saying, “I believe” to this, means you are “of God,” and belong to Him.
This is the first part of the good news for us today, the faith that we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths: that Christ came down, He “was made man” and shares our human flesh. He “condescended” in a good way, He “came down” to “a less dignified level” – to us sinners. He took upon Himself the same human flesh that we have, although since He was conceived by the Holy Spirit His human flesh was not sinful flesh.
Mentioning our need as sinners brings us to the true comfort of all that we’re learning is true of Jesus: why He did this. In the Apostles’ Creed, we just say who He is and what He did, just the bare facts. But this Creed adds why He did it. Why did He come down for us men, for all mankind, every person? We learn to say: “and for our salvation.” Then we say how He did it, how He earned our salvation. The Apostles’ Creed says He “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” Here we just say “He suffered and was buried,” His death is included in the words, “He suffered.”
Hebrews 2 says it this way: He came to share our human flesh “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hear that: He came down to “release” you from being enslaved to the devil through fear of death. He came to knock out death’s teeth! To free you, release you, from your greatest fear, the fear of death. He did it through His own death. His resurrection proves it!
It also says that He came “to make propitiation” – to make atonement, that is, full payment – “for the sins of the people.” You can’t be any more clear than that, why He came down: to make full payment for all your sins. Full payment. As in: there’s nothing you owe because of your sins. He forgives your debts, what you owe God due to your sins. If you’re tempted to think that you’re a disappointment to Him, that He considers you a big mess-up, that He’s an angry Judge to you, think again. He came down and made the payment Himself in His own death, for you. There are no sins of yours that God sees for Him to be disappointed in you, or to judge, at. all.
So, truly, Jesus Christ is true God and true Man who came down “for us men” – every person – “and for our salvation” – your salvation. He came for sinners, including you, to save them, including you.
So this “condescending” that the Son of God did, means that He descended from heaven to “a less dignified level.” That’s what you and I are because of our sins. But unlike people who act in condescending ways, Jesus wasn’t making sure everyone knows He’s above you and you’re less dignified. He didn’t just act humble. He who was greatest became least. He who was rich becamepoor. “For us men and for our salvation.”
He came to become what you are, apart from sin – to not be above you for a time, to suffer degradation, to be degraded – that He would give you a dignity you can never imagine, to make you co-heir of all that He has, so you would not remain what you are, but will share His glory and be exalted. Because of His atoning death, for His sake, you’re without sin. You are holy. His holiness does comfort you, because it’s holy, precious blood that He shed, and it’s holiness and righteousness that He gives to you.
Just imagine, God gives you faith in Him, this Jesus, so that you actually know Him as true God and true Man, your Savior. He tells you that He came down for your salvation – yours, you! – and by His grace you believe. What you believe in your heart you confess with your mouth.
You also confess it with your feet, when you come to the Lord’s Supper to be joined with Him, to eat His body, for His body to be joined to your body and make you holy; to drink His blood, for His blood to enter you and purify you completely.
You also confess Him in your life. As He left His comfortable home in heaven to come to you, your faith in Him and unity with Him drives you to others where you meet them in your vocations, to live out with them His great love, humility, and patience that He shares with you, not only to receive it but to give it to others and draw them to Him. Amen!