GOD’S CONDESCENSION
“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” II Corinthians 8:9
To condescend is a voluntary descent, usually referring to a descent from rank or dignity. When we speak of God’s condescension, we are speaking of how He, in all of His glory and holiness, chooses to identify with fallen and frail men. This is the grace of God: that “though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.” This is truly one of the amazing attributes of God. He comes down to where we are. David made mention of this in Psalm 8:3, 4 when he said, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”
How marvelous it is that God would think of us. We could never reach to the heavens or attain the holiness of God. It is not possible that we could gain an entrance into the presence of the eternal and almighty Creator. But when we could not come to where He was, He came to us. We could never have known God had He not made Himself known. We would never be able to go to Heaven had He not come to us and made a way for us to be with Him one day. Men of great wealth and position are often untouchable and separated from those beneath them, but God comes down to where we are – not in compromising His character, but to lift us up to Himself.
His glorious condescension is seen in the privilege of prayer. Why would the eternal God listen to and seriously consider our pleas? Why would God visit Abraham and confer with him before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? Because of His condescension He loves us, cares for us and has come down to commune with us.
We are not privileged to serve the Lord because we attained such a lofty position, but rather, because He has made it available to us. What a more wonderful picture of God’s condescension is seen in the incarnation of Christ! God would become a man and take upon Himself the form of a servant, that He might redeem fallen man through His vicarious death on the cross, O what a Savior! Our souls rejoice and marvel at this great truth, that God would come to us, commune with us, and commit to us, so that one day we, though weak and undeserving, might come to Him.