Even so, I was stunned when I read this one, beautifully crafted sentence by Dr. Packer on page 9 of the foreword. It's even better if you read it out loud, and best if you read it out loud to someone you love.
What the gospels show us can be summed up like this: Without forfeiting or reducing either His divine identity or His divine powers, in full and exact obedience to the Father's will throughout, and through the enabling agency of the Holy Spirit at every turn, the second person of the Godhead, the Son of God who is God the Son, became a fetus growing in Mary's womb; was born and nursed like any other baby; passed through infancy, boyhood, and adolescence into manhood; knew from the first moment of his self-awareness as a newborn that He was the Father's Son, who would always know and must always do what the Father directed, and did so unfailingly; blended meekness with majesty, seriousness with joyousness, satirical humor with sensitive gentleness, forthrightness against sin with vulnerable love to sinners in a unique perfection of character; modeled wisdom and humility, self-control and integrity, independence in face of men and prayer dependence on his Father, in a way and to a degree never seen or imagined before; and finally endured six hours of supreme agony on the cross, giving His life a ransom for many, bearing away the sin of the world, undergoing the Godforsakenness that we sinners deserved.
Okay, I didn't say it was a short sentence. Also, I'd better include his next one, since it focuses on the Resurrection: Then His resurrection displayed His divinity and demonstrated His victory to His disciples, who from then on linked Him with the Father in their worship and prayers.
Apart from the Bible, no human words can really do our Savior justice. But this comes pretty close. It makes me admire our Jesus so much.
