Table of Contents
Definition of Condescension:
The word condescension comes from the word condescend, which means:
1. To descend from the privileges of superior rank or dignity, to do some act to an inferior, which strict justice or the ordinary rules of civility do not require. Hence, to submit or yield, as to an inferior, implying an occasional relinquishment of distinction.
2. To recede from ones rights in negotiation, or common intercourse, to do some act, which strict justice does not require.
3. To stoop or descend; to yield; to submit; implying a relinquishment of rank, or dignity of character, and sometimes a sinking into debasement.
Definition from Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.
The Condescension of Christ
People can’t fully comprehend God’s love in offering His only begotten Son. Christ exchanged the throne of heaven for a manger and the company of heavenly holy beings with sinful earthly creatures. Human pride and arrogance stand judged in His presence (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Christ so completely condescended that He retained nothing of the glory that were once His in heaven. He took upon Himself human nature and became subject to the limitations of humanity. He became poor to the point where of Himself He could do nothing (John 5:19, 20).
“Who (Christ), being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
It would have been a great disgrace for the Creator to take man’s human nature, even when Adam was in his perfect condition at his creation. But the Son of God was incarnated when humans had deteriorated in every way after four thousand years of sin. Like all the descendants of Adam, Christ bore the results of the law of hereditary. He came with such inheritance in order to carry our griefs and sorrows (Isaiah 53). He did that to leave us the example of a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15).
When Lucifer was in heaven, he was jealous of Christ for His exalted position as the Son of God. And he hated Christ when he himself was removed from heaven after his rebellion. But his ultimate hate was directed to Christ when He vowed to redeem the sinners and deliver them from eternal death (Genesis 3:15; 1 John 3:8). Yet, into the world where Satan claimed territory, God permitted His Son to be born as a helpless babe, subject to the attacks of Satan. God allowed His Son to meet life’s trials that were common to every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity was to fight it, at the danger of failure and everlasting loss (John 13:15).
Here is God’s love: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Love is true only when it is in action. God’s love for sinners led Him to give all that He had for their salvation (Romans 5:8). The apostle John declares, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
There are none to whom the Lord refuses the blessings of saving grace. There is but one condition—belief in, and willing cooperation with, Christ. God’s love engulfs all humanity, but directly benefits only those who accept it (John 1:12). It is God’s goodness that leads men to repentance (Romans 2:4).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
