Doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ - Christmas Special 2022

Sunday 25th December 2022

 

Exploring topological typologies of Christ’s Incarnation at Christmas!

 

Rivers of Tears Flow from My Eyes Because They Will Not Keep Your Word    Psalm 119:136

 

The Doctrine (or teaching) of Salvation is revealed clearly within the Bible but it is also legitimate to find revelation of it through the Creation, confirmed by the opening chapter of Romans verse 16 to 21:

 

16 I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is the power God uses to save everyone who believes—to save the Jews first, and then to save the non-Jews. 17 The Good News shows how God makes people right with himself. God’s way of making people right with him begins and ends with faith. As the Scripture says, “The person who is made right with God by faith will live forever.”

 

Faith means believing in something unseen, in the Bible it has the same word meaning as believe or trust.

 

18 God’s anger is shown from heaven against all the evil and wrong things that people do. By their own evil lives they hide the truth. 19 God shows his anger because everything that may be known about God has been made clear. Yes, God has clearly shown them everything that may be known about him. 20 There are things about God that people cannot see—his eternal power and all the things that make him God. But since the beginning of the world those things have been easy to understand. They are made clear by what God has made. So people have no excuse for the bad things they do. 21 

 

Thus the Word of God tells us that God has clearly shown us everything that may be known about him within the Word and without.   There are things about God that people cannot see,  but since the beginning of the world those things have been easy to understand.  They are made clear by what God has made.

 

The Bible teaches that God has made the world and everything in it, in such a way as to reveal things about Him.  God has created the world and done so like an artist or sculpture would do, leaving his signature or fingerprints on it for us to clearly see.  

 

In this episode, we will look at how the mountains, rivers and seas in the Jordan Valley provide some fascinating pictures which glorify God and support teachings found throughout His Word. 

 

Many thanks to Charlie Garrett whose analysis was the spark to light this work and further insight provided by other contributors to the body of Christ at the Superior Word church whilst studying the book of Joshua.  Thanks to Nikki Higgins for her fellowship and love including thoughtful discussion on the apologetic aspects of this presentation.  Thanks to Elsa Higgins for her observation about the Pre Tribulation rapture pictured by clouds that form before falling as rain on the Mount of Olives.   Thanks to Samuel Higgins for finding the Jordan River in Job 40.    Thanks to Joel Higgins for drawing my attention to the brother who was dead but now is alive.   Thanks to Grace Higgins for her love of the Rivers of Tears song we made up to soothe her when she was crying.

 

Thanks most of all to the Lord Jesus for guiding me through this study and comforting me with the two passages from 2nd Kings on the 8th Dec 22 when I found out the news of my brother's passing.

 

2 Kings 5:14

Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman. The messenger said, “Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Then your skin will be healed, and you will be clean.”

• The Doctrine of the Incarnation of Jesus our Saviour   

 

The Christmas story.  The virgin born Saviour who took on flesh in order to live a perfect life which qualified as sacrificial atonement to be made as payment for the sins of all mankind.   

 

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. 18 He who believes in God’s Son is not judged guilty. He who does not believe has already been judged guilty, because he has not believed in God’s only Son.    (John 3:16-19)

 

It is marvellous that this is illustrated through the Jordan River!   From the origination at Mount Hermon to the termination at the Dead Sea, God has provided a stunning picture to support the Bible narrative of Jesus coming down from Heaven, setting aside his divine attribute to Earth, Dying on the Cross for our sins, being buried and Rising again according to the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:3-4).

 

Please seek to glorify the Lord in your heart as you follow these ten steps and praise our Lord, the Creator God !

 

1. “One that descends”.    The name "Jordan" means "descender."   Its name comes from the root ‘YARAD,’ to descend.   

 

Paul writes in Philippians 2:

 

“Christ himself was like God in everything. He was equal with God. But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be held on to. He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born as a man and became like a servant. And when he was living as a man, he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God. He obeyed even when that caused his death—death on a cross. So God raised Christ to the highest place. God made the name of Christ greater than every other name. God wants every knee to bow to Jesus— everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Everyone will say, “Jesus Christ is Lord” and bring glory to God the Father.    (Philippians 2:5-11)

 

1. The name of the majestic mountain which is the source for the Jordan River is Mount Hermon .  in the (Hebrew it is Chermon Phonetic Spelling: (kher-mone')  "sacred (mountain)"  

 

In one place it is called Chermonim (Psalm 42:6) using the Hebrew plural ending as seen in the word Elohim which means God but has a plurality distinct from El.     Mount Hermon has three roughly equal sized summits, situated like the angles of a triangle, and equidistant about a quarter of a mile from each other. Hopefully you can imagine how this symbolises the Holy Trinity - three equal persons of God sharing one essence.   God The Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.   

 

It is on this mountain that the scholars at Bible.org believe the transfiguration event occurred.  The transfiguration is a biblical event that appears in each of the Gospel books as an important moment in the life of Jesus and evidence of his divinity. After Jesus performs a series of miracles and foretells His own death, Jesus leads exactly three of his disciples, to Hermon and his appearance was radiantly transformed.  

 

In Mark Chapter 9 we read:

While these followers watched, Jesus was changed. 3 His clothes became shining white, whiter than any person could make them. 4 Then two men appeared, talking with Jesus. The men were Moses and Elijah  (Mark 9:3-4)

 

 Then a cloud came and covered them. A voice came from the cloud. The voice said, “This is my Son, and I love him. Obey him!”    (Mark 9:7)

 

 Jesus revealed his divine being.

 

1. Some rivers begin in mountains or hills, where rain water or snowmelt collects and forms small channels.   Some rivers begin where a natural spring releases water from underground. The Jordan River has three principal sources, all of which rise at the foot of Mount Hermon.  As the water springs up having descended from the holy place,  a picture of the virgin birth of Christ can be imagined. 
   1. Isaiah 12:3 “With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation.”
2. As the river flows into Galilee the river path is quite ordinary picturing the humble early life of Jesus - Can anything good come from Nazareth? 
3. This changes once the river reaches the sea of Galilee - picturing the extraordinary life which is revealed during his ministry which begins with miracles and teaching around this very place.   
4.  The change to a zigzag pattern after the Jordan leaves Galilee pictures Jesus’ teaching and miracles across Israel.     The Jordan river zigzags at least 153 miles, although if one is precise one can measure a river bed distance up to infinity - picturing the divine essence of Jesus.   Jesus is God and  Jesus is man.   The God/Man
5. Jesus Died for Our Sins - this is pictured by water entering the Salt Sea or Dead Sea which cannot support life -  

 

Fish carried in by the Jordan die quickly  - the salt content is way too high for life, being ten times more than the average level of salt in the sea.

Salt has a cleansing property.  The sins of the believers are washed away by the shedding of Jesus’ blood.   Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.

1. Jesus was Buried (The lowest point on Earth in terms of dry land is the shore of the Dead Sea)   The days between Jesus death and resurrection where the lowest point in the lives of his friends.

39 Nicodemus went with Joseph. Nicodemus was the man who earlier had come to Jesus at night. He brought about 75 pounds of spices. This was a mixture of myrrh and aloes. 40 These two men took Jesus’ body and wrapped it with the spices in pieces of linen cloth. (This is how the Jews bury people.)     John 19:39-42   International Children’s Bible

 

Just as Jesus' body was encased in valuable minerals as it was buried so too the water arriving in the dead sea is sitting above a treasure trove of minerals.   Most Valuable Piece of Land on Earth ( approx 5 trillion dollar ($5,000,000,000,000) chemical and mineral wealth is deposited at  Dead Sea ).   This vast value in some small way pictures the infinite price paid for the sins of potentially all people in the world.   

 

Interesting fact!  The Dead Sea is known for its unique climate and the area has approx 330, (or 33 times 10) sunny days a year and Jesus’ earthly life was 33 years!   

 

1. Jesus Rose again  -  Water in the Salt Sea evaporates and this pictures the resurrection.  Evaporation is the process by which a liquid turns into a gas. It is also one of the three main steps in the water cycle.    It can be easily visualised when rain puddles “disappear” on a hot day or when wet clothes dry in the sun. In these examples, the liquid water is not actually vanishing—it is evaporating into a gas, called water vapour.
   
   
2. A river crosses two lands, picturing Heaven and Hell.  The Children of Israel had to cross the Jordan River to enter the promised land (amazingly Charlie deduced that this was on the very same day of the first Passover (which in itself pictures Jesus’ innocent personal sacrifice on the cross to pay for our sins and overcome death).   This pictures our need to exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ’s Sacrifice to escape the wilderness / Hell and enter The Promised Land / Heaven 

The very stones and rivers bear testimony,

to that invisible yet wonderful reality.

The water descends so profoundly,

picturing an all encompassing sanctity.

 

The Jordan River springs up at the foot of Hermon,

continuing plainly until it reaches the Galilee.    

Until His teaching ministry has yet begun,

Jesus’ life appears to be quite ordinary. 

 

Now the river leaves Galilee, 

its journey zigzags much more.

Spreading across Israel teaching about the Door,

The Father is revealed for everyone to see!

 

The Jordan River is where Jesus was baptised. 

A voice from Heaven cried out “this is my beloved!”

Yes the Father spoke! “this is My Son in whom I am well pleased”

The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, His ministry was started.    

 

Now when he was at the age of thirty,

Miracles abound around the Sea of Galilee.

The lame walk, the blind see and the dead are no longer affected

Jesus’s offer to Israel of the Kingdom is rejected.

 

Jesus’s first advent and the Jordan River end unexpectedly.

Instead of the river making its way to the ocean 

The water meanders into the Salt or Dead Sea.

God has produced an amazing topography!

  

Water in the sea evaporates under the 330 days of annual sun.

Leaving behind the minerals and salt, which make swimming in it such fun!

Salt has a cleansing property - a metaphor for the believers sins, 

washed away by the shedding of Jesus’ blood, for the remission of our sins.

 

Jesus left the Jordan River filled with the Holy Spirit.   

All believers now benefit from the full dwelling of His Holy Spirit.   

The water in the river symbolises the Spirit work which glorifies the Saviour, 

For the Spirit of God named this typological river, the Descender.

 

Joshua and the Israelites had to cross the Descender 

In doing so the Promised Land they would enter,

We must simply believe in the cross work of Jesus 

In doing so the Promised Land of Heaven we will surely enter!

 

We face a choice, which is free and freely offered.

Please make a one time profession 

Change your eternal destination! 

faith in the Lord Jesus!

 

Change from death to life and be saved! 

Yes, just call upon Him and you WILL be saved!

Overcome death Just as He did!

Simply by faith in just what He did!

 

Choose wisely. 

Choose life! 

Choose God’s offer of forgiveness,

Found in Christ!

2) How wonderful is the Word of God!

 

Humanly speaking, the Bible was written by approximately 40 men and women of diverse backgrounds over the course of 1500 years. Isaiah was a prophet, Ezra was a priest, Matthew was a tax-collector, John was a fisherman, Paul was a tentmaker, Moses was a shepherd, Luke was a physician. Despite being penned by different authors over 15 centuries, the Bible does not contradict itself and does not contain any errors.

 

The doctrine of the incarnation is referenced explicitly or implicitly by type or picture by all these writers.   God declares that His Creation will also reveal his invisible attributes which are clearly seen.   The metaphor of the Jordan River is astonishing yet is not alluded to by the writers, some of whom may not have even made the allegorical link.  

 

As well as the Incarnation the following doctrines are pictured in and around the Jordan River:

1. The Doctrine of the Sealing of the Holy Spirit
   The Dead Sea is the only place on earth where you can sunbathe for long periods with little or no sunburn because harmful ultraviolet rays are filtered through an extra thick atmospheric layer which contains evaporated water particles from the Dead Sea.
2. The Doctrine of Eternal Salvation - in Joshua 3, the Children of Israel cross the river on dry land, the waters then resume to their natural level and there is no way to cross back in the same way.
3. The Doctrine of the Trinity  - Hermon means Sacred - three equal height, equidistant mountain caps arranged in a triangle formation.  
4. The Doctrine of the Ministry of the Holy Spirit  - in the way the water level falls at a place called Adam and is restored when the Ark picturing Christ’s priestly work is pictured.
5. The Doctrine of the 2nd Coming of Christ after the Rapture -  God has provided a living breathing Bible Eschatological Map!   Water enters dead sea 15.3 miles due East of Mount of Olives.   Some water evaporates and forms clouds (picturing the saints rescued in the pre tribulation rapture), some water is left behind and remains in the Dead Sea signifying those heading into the tribulation period.     
6. The doctrine of the Kingdom Inauguration - The dead sea comes alive, signifying all Israel being saved Zech 12-14; Rom 11 (Israelogy - helps refutes Replacement Theology?)
7. The doctrine of the first week of Creation - The river visits a place called Adam, and ends in death when Adam disobeys God leading to the Curse  (Fish dying as they reach the Dead Sea)
8. The Sovereignty of God over His Creation (implied from all the above).  God created the water cycle in such a way that it serves as a continuous model which at the Jordan River pictures the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Either God has created the Geography of Israel to support key doctrines of the Bible or the writers of the Bible studied the geography and water cycle in and around the Jordan Valley in order to weave a story which was inspired by the Jordan River, yet did so without seeking barely any credit for their ingenuity!

 

The only verse hinting at the powerful significance of the Jordan River compared to all over rivers was found by Samuel Higgins in Job 40.

 

If the river floods, he will not be afraid.

    He is not afraid even if the Jordan River rushes to his mouth.     Job 40:23

 

It is interesting that this is in the oldest book of the Bible, yet no other Bible authors make such a reference to the Jordan as far as I can find.   The pictures found in the Jordan river are not lying on the surface but have been left just under it for us to discover..   It is incredible that we are being blessed to know this now!

 

So the non believer has a choice to make. If the Bible was written without God the authors took this innocuous reference in the first book and then proceeded to weave the Jesus story ever more complex, without contradiction and yet consistent to the geography of the Jordan River  OR the almighty God made this to glorify Himself OR the connection is just a coincidence.   God graciously leaves the philosophical possibility of a coincidence open to us since it is not an understanding of evidence which pleases God it is faith alone.

We all need to simply have faith or trust or belief in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.  Have you put your trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins? Nothing can compare to the water that Christ offers us.

 

Let us close now by understanding how we can receive the forgiveness of God by believing the Gospel.  Salvation by Grace alone through Faith alone.

 

Grace is undeserved love.

Faith or Belief is the act of trusting in something without seeing.

 

 Ephesians 2 8-9 

8 … you have been saved by grace because you believe. You did not save yourselves. It was a gift from God. 9 You cannot brag that you are saved by the work you have done.

 

We are saved only by believing in what Jesus did for us!

 

Any person regardless of swimming ability can exercise faith that they would not drown in the Salt Sea and they would float without any effort.   Undeserved floating instead of drowning as would occur in any other body of water on the planet.   The Doctrine of Salvation by Grace through Believing is pictured at the Dead Sea where the Descender dies.

 

The default position of man is one under condemnation (because of Adam’s sin).   We all deserve to die because of participation in a world of sin, but there is only one place we can be to avoid this penalty.      The message of the Gospel is exclusive and non negotiable.  Jesus is the way the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him.

 “. . . for whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23)

Closing Verse:

 

2 Kings 5:14

14 So Naaman went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times. He did just as Elisha had said. Then Naaman’s skin became new again. It was like the skin of a little boy. And Naaman was clean!

Thank you Uncle Charlie’s for your excellent sermons at SuperiorWord.org.  We learned that the water flow in and out of the Jordan river can be examined alongside the Bible record to highlight many important features of the Incarnation of the Second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God/Man.   

 

RIVERS OF TEARS FLOW THROUGH MY EYES BECAUSE THEY WILL NOT KEEP YOU WORD!    Ps 119  --  

 

Praise the Lord for he has provided us with a teaching model within the very place in His created world in which the Bible story unfolds.  This wonderfully reaffirms His Salvation plan through the Person of Jesus Christ. 

 

Hallelujah and Amen