December 16, God's most successful setback.

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the

earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2, 9, to 11.

Christmas marked the beginning of God's most successful setback.

He has always delighted to show His power through a pair of defeat.

He makes tactical retreats in order to win strategic victories.

In the Old Testament, Joseph, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, was promised glory and power

in a dream, Genesis 37, 5 to 11.

But to achieve that victory, he had become a slave in Egypt.

And as if that were not enough, when His conditions improved because of His integrity,

He was made worse than a slave, a prisoner.

But it was all planned, planned by God for His good and the good of His family and eventually

for the good of the whole world.

For there in prison, He met Pharaoh's butler, who eventually brought Him to Pharaoh, who

put Him over Egypt, and finally His dream came true.

His brothers bowed before Him, and He saved them from starvation.

What an unlikely route to glory.

And that is God's way, even for His Son.

He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave worse than a slave, a prisoner and was

executed.

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