Advent-ure 2021 December 13: He Would Come As a Child (Humble)

The Bible announces to us that our Redeemer would be a Child, a Son - sent to earth so that we might receive salvation. We can read a passage in Philippians that shows us that Jesus, who is a member of the Godhead, the Trinity, took on human form, humbling Himself to perform the will of God. In the second chapter, we find these words:
4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus came to earth as child, lived as a perfect man, and gave Himself over to death so that He could defeat it and free us from its power.  He demonstrated what true humility looked like - rejecting the temptation of selfishness or self-exaltation in order to show us the way to eternal life. We can look to Jesus and by so doing take our eyes off ourselves, so that we might reflect the glory of Christ. He shows us how to navigate the way to true humility.

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We are now at December 13 as we walk through "25: A Christmas Advent-ure," the annual Faith Radio Advent Guide, exploring "The Timeline to Transformation," consisting of prophecies that we find in Scripture that point to the coming of our Savior, our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

This passage in Isaiah 9 is oft-quoted during the Christmas season, and we'll spend time on it the next two days. It says:
6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

It was more than just a church member taking a youth pastor on a hunting trip - it was a discovery of how to understand another person in spite of their differences. As a Baptist Press article relates, 11 years ago, Quintell Hill, while serving as the student minister at a church in North Carolina, was invited to go hunting by Tony Adcock, who was the father of two daughters who were part of the ministry.  It was a tremendous experience for Hill, who is African-American; the article stated:

A white man’s idea to take a Black man 20 years his junior on a hunting trip to get to know each other better has never left Hill. Adcock reached out to Hill in that moment. Since then, Hill has helped counsel Adcock through some tough times in life. Adcock, a general contractor, helped Multiply Community Church get its new building ready for occupation. When Hill moved to Georgia, Adcock gave him a turkey call inscribed with: “Don’t forget about your brother Tony.”

The outdoors wasn’t exactly something new to Hill, who grew up fishing for bass, crappie, brim and catfish. “I’m a country dude at heart and would get deer meat from my neighbors, so I’ve been eating that my whole life,” he said. “But God used the outdoors to bring two guys together who looked nothing alike and build a common bond.”

Multiply Community Church is located in Monroe, NC, and Hill now serves as first vice-president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.  The church was planted by Quintell Hill in 2019, after he had served in North Carolina, as well as the Atlanta area.  The article notes:

Multiply Community Church, he said, is intentional about reflecting a diverse community in an area with a history marked by division. However, that is not the church’s focus.

“We want to be multi-ethnic, but we don’t worship it,” he said. “We want to reach people, period. God has blessed us with that. The power of the Gospel – nothing else – has allowed people to come together here.”

Hill relates: “We all bleed the same and it’s the Gospel that brings us together..." The article reports that, "He has recently launched his own outdoor ministry, One Way Outdoors, as a platform to point people to Jesus. Meanwhile, Multiply Community Church will continue to be about reaching its neighborhood and the nations for Christ."

The relationship between two men of different racial backgrounds and the willingness of one man to reach out to another illustrates how, in humility, we can serve one another, and in so doing, further the work of the Lord.  Philippians 2 illustrates how Jesus humbled Himself and came to earth in the form of a man.  The act of love was prophesied in Scripture, and provides another instance of the reliability of the Scriptures. 

Pastor Quintell Hill speaks of the gospel bringing people together. Jesus was willing to lay aside his high position in heaven and come to earth in the form of a child and we can lay down our lives and the things that could keep us apart in order that His love can flow and lives can be changed. 

The Church can flourish as we emphasize our commonality - we all have the same Father and the same Savior.  We have been made, as Paul notes in Acts 17, from one blood, and inside, we're all the same.  It's instructive that a principle of Scripture is that God does not regard outward appearance, but He looks at the heart.