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Advent - the second day - The Vulnerable God

Philippians 2:1-8 1  So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2  complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3  Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

 Advent means "Coming", "Arrival", and it has to do with the anticipation that God is going to "show up"... he's going to come to his people.
Christians are not unique to the anticipation of God coming.
Jewish faithful in the first century were waiting in anticipation for God to come too.  
They were anticipating God coming in power to overthrow the heathen and to establish his absolute reign upon the earth where faith would be exalted...
and God would be in charge and God's justice would be established upon the earth.  
They were waiting for righteousness to reign.
They were waiting for sin to be done away with.
They were waiting for the Kingdom of Heaven where the lion would lie down with the lamb.
They were waiting for a King who would rule over all of the earth because God had established his Kingdom.
They were waiting for exalted power and authority.

 AND, they were waiting for the wrong thing.

 In Jesus, Immanuel, God with Us...we have Vulnerability.

 Instead of God in power...
Jesus empties himself of his position of Deity...
Jesus becomes a servant that washes feet and mixes with the poor and feeds the masses.
Jesus becomes a human being...not a divine powerful King.

 He lives from the bottom up, not the top down.
He's vulnerable...without strength, or position of influence.
AND,
He's Immanuel, God with us.

Peace

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