Ron Lutz ~ 2 Corinthians 8:9 & Philippians 2:5-11   Sermon Quotes: 2 Corinthians 8:9 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. Philippians 2:5-11 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. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Martin Luther The mystery of the humanity of Christ, that He sunk Himself into our flesh, is beyond all human understanding. J. I. Packer God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and makes noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation. Charles Spurgeon “Just so far as he goes down, you go up; just so much as he is emptied, you are filled; just as he is condemned, you are justified; just so surely as he dies, so surely do you live beyond the fear of death.” J. I. Packer For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor —spending and being spent—to enrich their fellowmen, giving time, thought, care, and concern to do good to others—and not just their own friends—in whatever way there seems need. A.W. Tozer That he may be safe he puts himself in jeopardy; he loses his life to save it and is in danger of losing it if he attempts to preserve it. He goes down to get up. If he refuses to go down he is already down, but when he starts down he is on his way up. He is strongest when he is weakest and weakest when he is strong. Though poor he has the power to make others rich, but when he becomes rich his ability to enrich others vanishes. He has most after he has given most away and has least when he possesses most.