Part 2: Our King Leads From The Front

From “Follow, Don’t Fight” — A Christmas Devotion Series
by Royce

“And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let his mindset become your motivation. He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing equality with God as his supreme prize. Instead he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death, a criminal’s death by crucifixion!” — Philippians 2:5-8 (TPT)

“Unmöglich.”

Impossible. That was the word echoing through German High Command on December 19th, 1944. American General George S. Patton had just announced he would disengage three full divisions from active combat, rotate them 90° north, march them through the worst winter in decades, and attack the southern flank of Germany’s Ardennes offensive in 48 hours.

German generals laughed. Their intelligence officers called it propaganda. Field Marshal von Rundstedt declared no army could execute such a maneuver in less than a week. They were all wrong.

When Patton’s Fourth Armored Division smashed into German positions barely 72 hours later, Field Marshal Model reportedly threw down his marshal’s baton and declared: “We are fighting a genius.”

Two thousand years earlier, another announcement echoed through the spiritual realm—but this one came with angels breaking into the night sky: “I have come to bring you good news, the most joyous news the world has ever heard! For today in Bethlehem a rescuer was born for you. He is the Lord YAHWEH, the Messiah.” (Luke 2:10-11)

The eternal God would become a man. The Creator would enter His creation. The King of Heaven would invade enemy-occupied territory not with overwhelming force from a distance, but by becoming one of the occupied. Fully God, fully human. Born in a feeding trough.

Unmöglich.

Hell’s high command laughed. This had to be deception. God doesn’t operate this way. Kings don’t become peasants. Kings don’t join the ranks. The Almighty doesn’t reduce Himself to the limitations of flesh, hunger, exhaustion, temptation, pain.

But then it happened.

“The Living Expression became a man and lived among us.” Not observed from a distance. Not sent reinforcements. Lived among us. The pillar of cloud and fire that led Israel through the wilderness—that same presence now walks dusty roads in sandals.

Here’s what makes the Incarnation so devastating to the enemy’s strategy: Jesus didn’t just enter the battlefield. He rewrote the rules of engagement using the devil’s own ultimate weapon.

Remember the third temptation? “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.” The devil offered everything. But Jesus did what no one saw coming: He SURRENDERED EVERYTHING. Because He knew that owning everything but separated from His Father would be a total loss. He surrendered everything so that humans could be with God again.

“He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing equality with God as his supreme prize. Instead he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant.”

This is the impossible maneuver. This is what no one saw coming.

The devil’s whole economy runs on grasping, seizing, accumulating, controlling. Jesus responded by doing what was supposedly impossible: the Creator of everything surrendered everything He owned.

Not to an equal. To criminals. To the very humans who would mock Him, spit on Him, nail Him to wood. He gave up His throne to serve those who deserved nothing. He traded the worship of angels for the betrayal of friends. He exchanged the glory of Heaven for a criminal’s death.

Unmöglich.

Even more impossible than Patton’s winter pivot. Because this surrender wasn’t weakness. It was the ultimate invasion strategy.

The Incarnation changed everything. “The Living Expression became a man and lived among us.” The pillar of fire didn’t just lead anymore—it became one of us. The King didn’t just issue orders—He joined the ranks. God didn’t send instructions from Heaven—He became the instruction manual written in human flesh.

This is why the Incarnation was necessary. This is why Christmas isn’t just a nice story about a baby—it’s the announcement of an invasion. The King of Heaven breaching enemy lines. The King taking His position at the front.

The impossible has happened. The King invaded. The victory is won.

Next: Part 3 — Fighting Under a New Flag

Personal Reflection:

• Where have you been trying to fight battles that our King has already won?
• How does it change your approach to know that Jesus didn’t just send instructions—He became the example by entering your exact conditions?
• What would it look like to surrender everything you think you own, following Jesus’ example of emptying Himself?

Prayer:
Father, the Incarnation breaks my categories of what’s possible. You became one of us. You led from the front. You surrendered everything to win everything. Teach me to follow the King who does the impossible. Let me stop fighting and learn to follow the King who entered the battlefield Himself. Amen.