Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 3 Study # 13
July 31, 2005
Lincolnton, N.C.
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<173> Thesis:  The Incarnation establishes the nature of the "glory" extended to men. Introduction:  Last week we dived into a consideration of what Simeon's statement about the significance of Jesus in respect to the Gentiles meant. When the dust cleared (pardon the mixed metaphor of diving into the dust), we concluded that the incarnation confronted the attitude of the Gentiles toward God about whether He is a God of Love or not. Simeon said that the Incarnate Son of God was a "light" which gave true divine insight through "revelation" to a people who were trying to take refuge in "wisdom" from a hateful god (a most "foolish" effort). The incarnation not only demonstrated the superiority of omnipotence over finite man's greatest abilities, but it proved that there was no basis for the "hateful god" thesis and, thus, undercut the antagonism of the Gentiles toward Him. This morning we are going to take a serious look at Simeon's other statement: the one about the significance of Jesus in respect to Israel. He said that Jesus, prepared by God according to the standard of the countenance of all people, was Israel's "glory". What does that mean?