Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of the coronavirus?

We should take comfort in the biblical doctrine of the incarnation.

Many of us are stressed—troubled by the social, financial and physical terror COVID-19 has unleashed upon us. Where can we turn for help?

The doctrine of the incarnation speaks of the great mystery, that in Christ Jesus, all of God has come to us as a true human being. The fullness of God has become a member of our human race. In other words, in classical Christian theology, God is not a being that is distant and removed from human experience. He is not “the man upstairs”. Rather, he is the man who lived among us. This means that God has experienced firsthand all of our trials and troubles. He knows what it’s like to feel pain and disease, to feel the rejection of a friend, to feel temptation, to feel the onslaught of anxiety, to experience poverty and loss, to face what feels like an insurmountable situation.

Yet, the Bible likewise tells us that Jesus experienced all this without ever failing to trust His heavenly Father. Not once, did he give in to sin. Therefore, Jesus totally “gets us” and can totally save us.

The writer of Hebrews puts it this way:

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

~ Hebrews 4:15-16