The Heart for Christmas

And now this week as we turn our attention to verse 7, we’re going to look at the very heart of Christmas. The words of verse 7 take us into the core of the Christmas story, into the heart of the Gospel, and the glories contained there. And we’re going to unpack them under three headings, really three apparent paradoxes that you’ll find in verse 7. If you’ll look at it closely, you’ll notice the first we’ll call “subtraction by addition,” the first paradox; “subtraction by addition.” You see that in verse 7? “He emptied himself” - that’s subtraction. “He emptied himself by taking the form of a servant” - that’s addition. “Subtraction by addition,” the first paradox. The second paradox, “the Lord became a slave.” The Lord became a slave. The one Paul says is “in form God,” is found in form a servant. And then finally the third paradox, “the Creator is born a man.” The Creator become a creature, born of the virgin and laid in the manger.