Jesus humbly submitted Himself to begin in the earliest stages of human life, to be confined in a small space in amniotic fluid hidden from the world, and dependent upon nourishment and protection from a woman.  This is simply about the incredible state of humiliation of Jesus Christ, “the Word,” that John wrote was “made flesh” for our redemption.

Celebrating Advent Sunday, my pastor preached on John 1: 1-14 focusing on “The Word Made Flesh.”  The Gospel of John begins with this awesome truth: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.”  This is a mystery being revealed, as God said: “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness . . .”  when creating man (Genesis 1: 26). The plurals “Us,” “in Our image,” and “Our likeness” represent a mystery alluding to a plurality as to who God is.
John continues in the 14th verse: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us . . .”  Generally speaking, this causes us to think of the Word as the baby born in Bethlehem under unique circumstances.
Perhaps most are like me in thinking of that Word becoming flesh only after He was born.  However, as my pastor continued to preach, my mind and spirit went where it has never gone before with regard to what happened to Mary: “What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit (Matt 1:20). The Word  that was conceived in Mary began as a zygote (an egg fertilized by the Holy Spirit—not a human sperm), developing into an embryo, and becoming a fetus.  He was in one of those phases of development when Mary visited her pregnant cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth was carrying John the Baptist who in the womb did something very unusual: “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. . . For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1: 41, 44).
John the Baptist, still developing in Elizabeth’s womb, leaped for joy!  Why?  Because God, His Lord and Savior—who was also developing in the flesh, had just entered their home in the womb of Mary; John was aware of God in the flesh.  Is this not a mystery further startling our comprehension?
Thanks to sonograms and ultrasounds that show the phases of development of infants in the womb, we have an advantage today that previous generations didn’t have. Videos reveal the movements of infants, their knitted formation, their growth, and their beauty.  We know how early a heartbeat begins, when hearing develops, how they exercise their limbs, suck their thumbs, can be treated surgically, and so much more.
Is it possible the “Word made flesh” took place before Jesus was born and while in the womb of Mary? Jeremiah 1: 5 supports this possibility: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you . . .” 
Or, Psalm 139: 13-17: “For You created my innermost parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. . . wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and skillfully formed in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my formless substance . . .”
Christ’s humility expressed in Philippians 2: 6-7 may have even begun before He was born: “. . .  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men…. Jesus humbly submitted Himself to begin in the earliest stages of human life, to be confined in a small space in amniotic fluid hidden from the world, and dependent upon nourishment and protection from a woman.  This is simply about the incredible state of humiliation of Jesus Christ, “the Word,” that John wrote was “made flesh” for our redemption.
As we meditate during this Advent season, may we marvel on the awesome wonder that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ humbled himself in order to reconcile us to God.
“The Word made flesh” took place in a womb, and was then manifested in a manger.  God’s ways are past finding out.  “Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (Romans 11: 33). The incarnation is a mystery that keeps inspiring us to holy awe.
Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.
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Choosing to sacrifice for others requires constant self-control. He compares it to the training an athlete maintains to remain at the top of his/her game. God’s Spirit here shows us that laying down our rights for the ministry of the Gospel requires a permanent and focused commitment to discipline.

1 Corinthians 8 showed us that love for Christ and His people determines how we use our “rights.” As applied to eating food offered to idols, we learned that even if we no longer fear demons or false gods ourselves, even if we have no conscience issues personally with eating offered food, we must abstain. Why? Eating food offered to idols emboldens weak believers to sin against their conscience, because that food is immediately associated with idol worship to which they recently were enslaved.
If, by exercising our “rights” we encourage our brethren to sin, we actually “sin against Christ” [1] (v.8:13). Our decisions affect others. Love for Christ and love for His people demand that we lay aside our rights for the sake of the Gospel.
In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul illustrates for us that he was not telling the Corinthian believers (and us!) to do something that he was not willing to do himself. He was a true apostle called by Christ (vv.1–2), not a self-proclaimed apostle motivated by selfish ambition such as some at Corinth who strove to discredit him. Paul was real. As proof, he often laid aside his rights, preferences, comfort, and sacrificed much to help unbelievers come to saving faith and for believers to be strengthened. The Corinthians knew this since they had experienced his life and ministry firsthand (v.2).
Paul delineates for us ways that he laid aside his rights for the Gospel. It is his “defense to those who would examine him” (v.3).
His Right to Financial Support
Paul was committed to a self-support model of ministry, particularly in a church plant. He doesn’t explain his reason here. It wasn’t because it was some kind of superior model of ministry or especially strategic. He declined support that people normally expected to give so that unbelievers and new disciples would not be confused about his motives or message. [2] He also did this to avoid being a burden upon the poor and to exemplify hard work where the example was desperately needed. [3] He chose this much more difficult path of self-support in most cases. He did this out of love to remove obstacles in making disciples. Enemies constantly challenged his motives as an apostle.
Paul knew and taught that God-sanctioned gospel workers were worthy of financial support. He knew and taught here that the norm was for gospel laborers to be supported by God’s people (vv.6–18). But he also knew that in his circumstances, it was important to be primarily self-supporting to protect his testimony and message. At great cost to himself, Paul “made no use of any of these rights” (v.15).
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From the Parable of the Talents you must see the hand of God in it all, for he is the one who has entrusted all these things to you. And behind the hand of God, you must see his confidence in you, his trust, his optimism. God is the one who has called you to walk this path, and he is the one who has called you to walk it faithfully. 

The Parable of the Talents is one of the best-known and best-loved of all the parables Jesus left us. It tells of a man who is going on a journey and, who, before he sets out, distributes his wealth among his servants for safekeeping. To one he gives five talents, to another two, and to another just one. (A talent, for sake of context, is about 20 years’ of wages for a laborer.) It tells how each of these servants responds to what is entrusted to him: Two of the servants invest the money wisely and double it, while the other simply buries the money and then later returns it as-is. The first two receive their master’s approval while the third receives his condemnation.
This parable leads to many legitimate applications and often challenges us to be faithful with what the Lord has entrusted to us, whether that is the gospel itself, or the gifts, talents, money, responsibilities, or opportunities we have been given. God entrusts us with so much and it falls to us, as his servants, to be faithful with it all. We can expect that as we are faithful, we will know God’s approval and reward. “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance.”
Hidden in plain sight is a simple observation: the servants are never offered a choice in their stewardship. The master does not come to them to ask, “How much of my wealth do you think you’re capable of handling?” He never checks in to inquire, “How would you feel about being given the full five talents? Do you think you can handle five, or would you prefer to have just two?”
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