The Incarnation: A Christmas Miracle

Title: The Incarnation: A Christmas Miracle

Theme: Christ becoming Flesh and what it means

Goal: To help believers understand Christ and the lost believe

Sometimes we hear or use the phrase, “The Miracle of Christmas.” Sometimes we see that phrase in the title of a Hallmark Christmas movie. Where some girl comes to town in December, meets a guy she doesn’t like and falls in love. Every. Time!     

Of course, we know that’s not the Christmas miracle!

In fact, there are many miracles associated with Christmas or the birth of Jesus Christ!

Some have listed 7 Christmas miracles: Annunciation: Gabriel tells Mary; Conception: The Beginning of the Christ Child; The Explanation: Gabriel appears to Joseph; Incarnation: God takes on flesh (which is what incarnation means); The Declaration: Angels appear to Shepherds; The Agreement: Between The Father and the Son (Heb 10); The Visitation: The Wise men were led to Jesus, just as all who come to him are led to Him.

But really, the miracles don’t start with the Angel appearing to Mary! How about the Prophecies of the coming Messiah?

Those are miraculous, right?! 

Jeremiah said he would be the Lord our righteousness! A Righteous branch out of the house of David! (Jer 23:5-6)

Isaiah said the people who walk in darkness would see a great light! He will reign on the Throne of David, be called Prince of Peace and Almighty God! (Isa 9:2-7)

Micah said – and get this, he would be born in Bethlehem and yet his going forth is from eternity! And he will shepherd his flock and be Our Peace!

And again, Isaiah, tells us he will be born of a virgin and be called Immanuel – God with Us! (Isa 7:2)

We have heard these things so often we forget how amazing these things are! A Virgin would conceive!  HE will be God and yet born a man! He told us the Village! He told us some of his titles and ministries! And we didn’t even get to Isa 53 or Psalm 22 that tell of His sacrificial death!

But there’s one miracle I mentioned earlier, that I want to focus on. I’m going to wax a little “theological” but you can follow me, and you may already know this, at least I hope you do!

  Along with the Miraculous appearance of Jesus in Mary’s womb, something incredible was happening. The miracle of IMMANUEL! God With Us! God became flesh and dwelt among us! John said:1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

  Have you wondered why Jesus wrestled with His death in the Garden when He knew He’d come to earth for this moment?

  How about when Jesus said, no man knows the time of His return except the Father? (Mt 24:36) I mean, He is God right?

  Ill) Last Sunday the Golden Heirs sang a Christmas Musical. It had some great songs, but one of them drove me a little crazy! It wasn’t a bad song, and it kinda folded into Away in a Manger which was really nice. But the song was called, are you ready?  It was called “Was he quiet or did he cry?”

  It's talking about the baby Jesus. Was he a quiet baby or did he sometimes cry? Now, that’s not a bad question. BUT! The song never answered that question!  Let me answer it.    Ready?

Jesus, as a baby, cried! HE had the brain of a baby!

Let’s go back a bit and approach this from the Bible.

NOW – I KNOW this question has been keeping you awake at night! But the reason behind my answer is part of the Christmas Miracle and it really does matter!  And I’ll show you why!

   First, Jesus is not just a man, and he is not just God. HE is the God/man! There is no other person like him in the universe!

These Old Testament prophecies talked about how a man would be born who is from eternity! But only God is eternal! He is “God With Us.”

   But the OT doesn’t explain much about what that means. Jewish scholars actually wondered if there would be two messiahs! One human and one Divine. And the fact Jesus was both was difficult for them to wrap their brains around.

  Then, in the year 451, there was an important Church Council. The Council of Chalcedon. Now the early church held several councils and each time they addressed false teachings that were going around.

In those days some said that Jesus was just a man that God Adopted. Others said no, he is God and he just appeared to be a man; he just “seemed” to die on the cross! Still, others said, No, he is the God/man, but he has one nature, it is both human and divine. But that idea led to other problems like, why did he sweat drops of blood in Gethsemane or say he didn’t know when He was coming back? They would have us believe that Jesus had a divine human nature or a humanly divine nature. But Then, how could He DIE? God can’t die!

  So, the Council met and discussed the scriptures. Remember, by 451 the New Testament was fully formed and they had the same scriptures we do! So, what do you do with verses showing both Jesus’ human nature and His Divine nature?

Listen as I read just a few short verses. (Col 2:9, Heb 1:3, 4:15)

Col 2:9 (NKJV) “For in Him (Jesus the man) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;”

Heb 1:3 (NKJV) Speaking of Jesus: “Who being the brightness of His glory (God the Father) and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

Heb 4:15 (NKJV)"For we do not have a High Priest (Jesus) who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." 

  The Council came up with a formula that we use to this day. In part of their long document, they said this: Jesus is truly man and truly God. We sometimes say “Fully” God and man, or “100” God and man. But “TRULY” expresses the two natures of Christ.

   But, his two natures are neither Mixed together nor are they divided. They don’t trade their attributes. The Divine nature isn’t a little bit human. The human nature isn’t a tiny bit divine. Jesus Christ’s human nature had a beginning. His Divine nature is eternal. The human nature of Christ could cry over the death of Lazarus and the grieving family, but His Divine nature would soon raise Lazarus from the dead!

  His Human nature looked on the coming crucifixion and receiving His Father’s wrath with great tribulation of the soul! But the Divine Son of God had already, in eternity past, said Yes to His Father. Heb 10:5…when Christ came into the world, he

said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God…”

Within Our Lord Jesus Christ, there is the Miracle of Two complete natures. His human nature knows exactly what it means to be tempted and His divine nature gives us the power to resist!

His human nature knows what it means to grieve! His divine nature is the God of all Comfort!

His Human nature Wept! His human nature sweat drops of blood. He was tired and hungry and weak and beaten and suffered and DIED!

His divine nature was consistently perfect, loving, and NEVER died. Don’t look at the cross and say that’s where God died! God never died! Jesus, our redeemer, died! Jesus the man died. Jesus Paid our debt. Took our place. Bought our forgiveness and Secured YOUR SALVATION For All Eternity!

We have this Great High Priest! Who understands us because He walked with us and experienced us!

THAT is the Miracle of Christmas. The WORD BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US…

AND WE BEHOLD HIS GLORY!

Have you experienced the Glory of Christ? You can.

In your heart, Fall on your face before the Lord Jesus Christ. Confess your sins, receive His forgiveness, repent from living life your way, and follow Jesus forever!

The Lost First Love Church

: To call believers to see where they strayed and return

Text: Rev 2:1-7

Rev 2:1  "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 

Rev 2:2  "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 

Rev 2:3  I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 

Rev 2:4  But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 

Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 

Rev 2:6  Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 

Rev 2:7  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.' 

When we talk about Revelation we often think of graphic symbolism and predictions of the future. But we forget this book starts out with 7 short letters to 7 churches. These are more like Postcards! Postcards from Heaven! They’re brief, personal and Urgent! In fact, the urgency part is a bit unnerving, because Jesus says things like, “Repent or I’ll take away your lampstand!” And even if we aren’t sure what the lampstand is, it sounds pretty serious!

We are going to spend 7 messages with these postcards. My hope is God will speak to you and me, through these passages, and bring us home!   Now you might think you're already home. And to a large degree, you might be. But let me ask, Is your life as fruitful for Jesus as you would like it to be? Are you as courageous in the Lord as you ought to be? Is any area of your life in rebellion to the Lord? Are you afraid to take a risk for Jesus? If so, open your hearts to these passages in the weeks ahead. Ask God to speak to you, to draw you to himself.

   Acts 19 is the record of Paul ministering in Ephesus. But its believed John also ministered there both before and after he wrote this book. Ephesus was among the largest cities of Asia Minor, about 50,000 around this time, and a famous center for idolatry!

In V1 Jesus is the one who holds the 7 starts and walks among the 7 lampstands. What is that about? See Rev 1:20 As for the mystery of the 7 stars you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.     

What are the 7 stars? Angels? Well the word means messenger. I think it’s fairly safe to say these are the pastors or individual messengers that John sent with each message. But I favor the pastors of the churches. And what are the lampstands? Remember, there was a lampstand in the temple. That was the only source of light in the temple, it was made with pure gold and filled with oil. Oil was the fuel of the 7 flames on the lampstand. That’s some profound symbolism when we remember, oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. So, what is the lampstand? I believe it is the life and light giving Spirit of God in the churches. And notice Jesus is walking among these lampstands and churches. He is with them, He knows what is going on.

V2 He says, I know you works, your toil and your endurance. He knows not only the work we do but the pains we take and how we suffer in our work for Him. That’s what He means by toil. And they have endured – they continued working when it was hard.

     He said they didn’t put up with evil. They even tested self-appointed apostles and found them to be false. They understood what the Bible taught about good and evil and sound doctrine. They didn’t put up with false teachers! In those days there were men going around trying to trick churches into false doctrine. Things like Gentiles need to become Jews to be Christians. Or Jesus wasn’t really God in the flesh. Or the God of the Old Testament was bad but Jesus was good. On and on. And the church called these things heresy, And Jesus said, Good!

In V3 He mentions again their patience and endurance and how they “bore up” or held up under stress. This is a good sign of being a true believer.

Ill) I remember reading of two missionaries who brought the gospel to some folks in Indonesia. They were ladies who went there as Bible translators. As they worked there for years some finally left their tribal religion and trusted in Jesus Christ. This made the local witch-doctor pretty angry and he was put curses on them. One of the young women who became a Christian lost her baby just after it was born and everybody said it was the power of the shaman. So there was this fear in the village that following Jesus would cause your babies to die. When the young missionaries heard and rushed to see the young mother who lost her baby they were prepared for the worst. How are we going to convince her that our God is a God of love, and more powerful than the shaman.? When they got there, they found her grieving but she said, shall I receive good from Him and not accept the bad also? And the other believers were all encouraged and even more women came to know Christ.

  Perseverance in trouble is a testimony of true believers!

BUT! Don’t you just hate it when someone is singing your praises but you know there is a “But” coming. “You did a great job!!  BUT – you missed this part, do it over.” Or, when a girl is letting the guy down easy, “I really like you a lot – BUT – can we just be friends?”

Well Jesus says But – and remember He walks among the candlesticks – he knows each church – and He says -V4 – But I have this against you – You have abandoned your first love!

This is a powerful accusation. And you know its true because Jesus said it! And of all things to have lost, Love is the Hallmark of the Gospel! 

For God so LOVED He sent! 

Herein is LOVE, not that we loved Him but He loved us! 

By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if you have LOVE for one another! 

LOVE is important! Its appears over 200 X in the NT!

 What does Left your first love, mean? Well, who is our first love as believers? Isn’t it the one who took our place? Who paid our debt? We have no Genuine Love – no Godly Love – until Jesus comes and rescues us! 

But what can you do about it? 

How do you just start loving again? 

How do you get that back?

1.      V5 Remember. Here is where I start the alliteration. I have 4 “R’s” for you. The first is Remember! V5 Remember from where you have fallen. Can you remember?

Can you remember a time when you loved Jesus more? Is it hard to say the words “I love Jesus” or “I love God”? Can you remember a time when the Grace and Mercy of God was so precious to you? HOW do you go back there? Or how do I get there if I have never really been there?

Ill) For years, I had a hard time singing “I love you Lord and I lift my voice ...” Even though I was grateful and loved the Lord for what He did, I knew my love was nothing compared with His love for me! But one day I accepted that He knew that I knew that! I was able to say ‘I love you.’ Because I knew that while my love was far from perfect, it was a love He had planted in my heart! But lets face it, we don’t always continue in the realization of His love for us and ours for Him!      SO – What do we do?

2.      REPENT. What does this mean? It means think differently. Change the direction of our thinking! After you Remember, Go back to that way of Thinking! But we have to be intentional about it. I saw a great quote the other day – "Nobody ever drifts into Holiness!" You don’t Repent by accident. You don’t keep repenting, everyday, several times a day, without Intentionality! Keep Remembering and Keep going back to that time when you were so thankful for His Grace!

3.      RETURN! Go Back to the First Works! This doesn’t mean, Work harder, or Serve the Lord More! No it means go back to what you did before you started to work for Him.

Remember – He just praised their hard work and faithfulness! They were working. Maybe they weren’t doing everything right but they were working. No, he said do the “First” works. What are those? Pray harder? Sing louder?

   Look at the History of the Ephesian church. Read Acts 19:18:

V.18 many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. 

Among other things they did when they first believed is they put away their idols! Now I don’t think any of you have little idols set up in your house – if so – that’s got to go!  I am really surprised that some Christians STILL follow horoscopes! That’s an idol. I’m surprised how many people get their beliefs from bumper stickers and the internet! We need to get away from catchy phrases and believe God’s Word! We need to get our principles from the Bible! If you follow worldly wisdom and Facebook more than the Bible you’re doing it wrong!

We need to put away things we worship. How about our comfort zones? Are you willing to give those to God and burn them in a bonfire? That’s Hard, right? You bet it is.           

But, Before you ever started “Working” for Jesus, look back and see if you didn’t have a heart for Jesus. And you realized, NOTHING – NOTHING – compares with the Love of Christ.

4.       One more R in this passage. (V5). REMOVE. Now this is not Removing our salvation or Jesus leaving us. But it has to do with the Question, Why does Jesus need a church that has left their Love for Christ? Does that do the Kingdom any good? When he removes a lampstand, there are other churches to carry on.

Will you Remember, Repent and Return To Jesus as your King of Kings today?

Reason for the Season: Why Angels? Why Shepherds?

"Fear not, I have Good News." 

Luke 2:1-2

I know the phrase “The Reason for the Season” is pretty overdone. But "The Point of Jesus’ Coming" didn’t sound as catchy. And there are not too many words that rhyme with point! It’s kinda like the word Phoenix, hard to rhyme! There’s point, joint and anoint and that’s it! So, "Reason for the Season." (No, I never considered using "The Point the Anointed One came to this Joint")

     Now I’m not talking about the Season of Santa Claus, or the season of shopping, or even the season of holidays and food and family and Football! Even though ALL of those are better than the "Season of Politics" we just came thru! The Season I am talking about is remembering the Coming of the Son of God to earth!

    Why is that a Big Thing? Why do we celebrate the Birth of this man 2000 years later? There have been other great men and women, we don’t tend to celebrate their births, do we? Abraham Lincoln: We celebrate the Gettysburg address or the Emancipation Proclamation, but not his birth. Certainly, not his death! Madame Curie: Great Scientist! Nobody celebrates her birth! OK, we do celebrate Washington’s birthday with a holiday but it’s not like he gets fireworks and songs! All he gets is President’s Day Sales!

     Bible Study is kind of like being a detective. It’s asking the right kind of questions. There are many things we could ask about the message the angels had that day. But I want to start with two simple questions: 

Why was it announced by Angels?

And why was it announced to Shepherds?

I understand God sending a messenger to Mary! She was going to have a baby and she was a young virgin! And Joseph! He was engaged to her and this was a shock! But Shepherds?

     Luke 2:8 And in the same region there 

     were shepherds out in the field, keeping 

     watch over their flock by night. 

In the same region, near where Jesus was born, near Bethlehem, were shepherds. It doesn’t say how many, how old, or how Godly they are, just ‘shepherds.’

Now, if God had a PR man he might have suggested a different group. “Let’s announce it to the Governor.” Or to Congress! They couldn’t put it on TV, but how about sending an angel to Ceasar? Nope. God told shepherds.

You may remember that shepherds were near the bottom of society in those days. They couldn’t even testify in a trial because a) they weren’t trusted and b) they weren’t considered smart enough! 

But how did God want us to picture Him? David said, The Lord-is-my-Shepherd! Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd.”

   What if somebody was running for president and announced, “I am the Good Used Car salesman!” People would laugh. I know I pick on used car dealers, but I have known a couple good Christian men who sold used cars. Great guys! Honest guys! But that’s not the reputation they have! Same with Shepherds!

But that’s who God chose to make his first public announcement to. God is not worried about PR. God loves the world. Especially the ones no one else cares about. God was targeting a certain group with his Angelic advertising! Who did He target? Listen to these verses: First a prophecy about Jesus:     

     Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD

     is upon me, because the LORD has 

     anointed me to bring good news to 

     the poor; he has sent me to bind up 

     the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty 

     to the captives, and the opening of the 

     prison to those who are bound;

Luke 1:52 (Mary said) 

     He has brought down the mighty 

     from their thrones and exalted 

     those of humble estate; 53 he has 

     filled the hungry with good things, 

     and the rich he has sent away empty.

1Co 1:26 

     For consider your calling, brothers: 

     not many of you were wise according 

     to worldly standards, not many 

     powerful, not many of noble birth. 

     27 But God chose what is foolish 

     in the world to shame the wise; 

     God chose what is weak …to shame 

     the strong; 28 God chose what is 

     low and despised in the world… 

     29 so that no human being might 

     boast in the presence of God.

WHY Shepherds? Not because they were great and special. Because God values people over position.

Because God doesn’t value people the way the world does.

God took Moses from being a Prince and made him a shepherd before he used him to deliver Israel from bondage! In God’s estimation, shepherds have a noble duty. That’s why Jesus called Himself a good shepherd. Think about it!

They were out in their fields with the sheep. Not at home, under a roof, in a comfy bed.

“Watching over” means they put themselves between the sheep and dangerous predators.

They lived with the sheep, led them to water and green pastures, they didn’t just give them orders to follow!

Likewise, Jesus left the comfort and glory of heaven, to come down to be with us, here on earth.

Jesus was lifted up on a cross to put himself between us and dangerous predator who would take us to Hell with himself.

Jesus comes to walk with us, and live in us, not just give us rules to follow! He became sin that we might become the Holiness of God! God elevated the shepherds! Jesus became the Shepherd!

    And notice, he didn’t say, "now go to Bethlehem and find the baby!" No, these shepherds did that on their own. I think these  shepherds took the promises of a Messiah, seriously. There were many in Israel who did!

But then, why the Angels?

God uses his angels as messengers. When he drove Adam and eve from Eden he put a messenger at the gate to remind them they were no longer welcome! Angels appeared to Abraham and Jacob and Joshua. In Deut 33 we learn that when God brought the law it was with 10,000 of His angels. In fact, in the Jewish mind, it was angels who delivered the law of God. Well the law was the Old Testament, or covenant. God is about to put in place a New Covenant. Angels are still His messengers!

But notice something here in Luke 2:9 an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

The angel didn’t come alone. He didn’t come incognito. The Bible says angels can appear without us noticing them. That’s not the case here! He came with the Glory of the Lord.

Listen, until that last year before the birth of Jesus, The Glory of the Lord hadn’t been seen on earth for almost a thousand years! Joseph and Mary may have glimpsed it. The shepherds saw it in a big way! But the last time was the dedication of Solomon’s temple, when God’s glory came down! There may have been an occasion a couple hundred years later when Elijah’s sacrifice was burned up by fire that came down from Heaven. But it had been a long, long time!

The glory of God was with Adam and Eve in the garden before they sinned. Moses saw it in the burning bush. The Israelites saw it in the pillar of fire that led them out of bondage. They saw it come down on the tabernacle in the wilderness.

But the Glory of the Lord had just become a legend. Here, however, the shepherds saw it when the angel appeared!  God was doing something brand new!

Later, Jesus took 3 disciples up a hill and was transfigured before them. The Glory of the Lord burst out of the Man Christ Jesus. Hebrews explains why. Jesus was the "outshining of the Glory of God.” Paul wrote that Jesus is the Image of the invisible God. Before Jesus, God appeared as light and fire, not primarily with a human body. He is the invisible God. But God is doing something new! He is sending His Only Begotten, His One and Only, the 2nd person of the Eternal trinity in Heaven; Jesus the Christ, the God/man. And on that day was born a baby in Bethlehem, with the fullness of the glorious Glory of God bottled up inside of Him.

God came down! Oh what a Thought!

God Himself, in Human flesh was wrought.

Born of a virgin, this God most high!

In an unknown stable,

Our Holy God came nigh! 

Our God came down.

Our God came down. Our God came down!

When you are giving presents this Christmas, remember the greatest gift of all! Given for you! When you open a Christmas Card, think of the gift inside those swaddling clothes!

If you don’t know Jesus – He paid for your sins 2000 years ago – Today is the day to trust Him!

Reason for the Season Part II

Who is this Baby and What is a Savior?
 Luke 2:1-11
What does the World think of Jesus? More specifically what does the world, that lives in the USA, think of Jesus?
Just last year a study was done by the Barna group showing that over 90% of Americans believe Jesus was a real person.[i]

That’s nice. But, with each generation it’s a little bit less. The youngest generation tested, the Millennials, about 35 and under, only 87% think he was real. Who knows how low that will go in the next generation, those who are just children right now.
But even though that’s a pretty high number, less than 60% (56) believe Jesus is God or divine. Guess where the millennials stand. Less than 50%! Now if Jesus isn’t God, our faith is as pointless as if he didn’t exist at all!
But even though slightly over 50% of all America thinks he is god, LESS than 50% think he was sinless! In other words, most people think Jesus sinned like everyone else! There is one lie from the devil that has really taken hold in our culture! If Jesus sinned, he could not be our sacrifice or our savior.

But in spite of that low number – When asked if they had made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that affected their lives – are you ready? – 62% said yes! Some of these people don’t even think Jesus is God, or know he was sinless! It’s hard to believe 62% of the USA is truly saved.
There are people all over the USA today, sitting in churches this morning, who think they have made a commitment to Jesus Christ, but He never made a commitment to them!
   But one final point. Among those who say they have made a commitment to Jesus Christ - people who say they’re Christians - how many believe they will go to heaven because they confessed their sins to Christ, believed in and accepted Him as their savior? 63%. Basically 2 out of three. Not 2/3 Americans, but 2/3 of those who say they believe in Jesus.
Over 30% of people who claim they believe in Christ, who say they made a
commitment to Him – don’t understand HOW to be saved!
20% say its because they tried to keep the 10 commandments or because they were basically good, OR because God loves everybody and won’t let anyone go to Hell!
IN one sense this is Good news, It means there are lots of folks who need to hear the gospel! But its also bad news. After 300 years of gospel preaching in America only 60% call themselves Christian and 2/3rds of those don’t even know how to be saved!
 THE ANGELS SAID:
     I bring you good news of great joy
     that will be for all the people. For
     unto you is born this day in the
     city of David a Savior!
WHAT IS A SAVIOR? Have any of you noticed a drop off in the use of the word “saved?” I have. I even feel funny using it just because I’m not sure people know what it means. But it’s a good word. We could replace it with rescued or delivered. But delivered makes many think about babies, boxes, and mail. Rescued is good because it implies a sense of danger or trouble or even death! But I think we need to keep the word “Saved” alive! Or else nobody will know why Jesus is a Savior!
A lifeguard rescues people from drowning. He SAVES them. People still know the meaning of saved in that context. It happened to me once. When I was about 12 I was swimming the rapids in my hometown of New Braunfels, Texas. I felt the tug of a whirlpool and just before I went under I yelled "help." Now these are pretty weak whirlpools in the Comal river and with one kick I was back above the water. Just in time to me hit smack in the face by an inner tube. Which stung, but I was glad to have it to grab on to. That lifeguard (I think his name was Max) was my savior that day. (Well, kinda, I wasn't really going to drown but he didn't know that.)
   Jesus came, as a Savior because God had already planned to save people. People who really needed saving! If you are saved today let me tell you something amazing. Before Jesus ever came, God knew, from before the foundation of the world, that Jesus would save you. Your eternal life would be guaranteed when His only begotten Son took your place on the cross! Jesus came as a Savior!
BUT SAVED FROM WHAT? That’s a good question.
Some think we need to be saved from our unfulfillment or our terrible life situation.[ii]

A)  Sometimes when we talk about our salvation we talk about how our life wasn’t complete. Maybe our marriage wasn’t too great till Jesus came along. Or we didn’t have the career we hoped for. Our kids didn’t turn out how we liked or we didn’t have the kinda of life we hoped for. We look at vacation brochures for skiing the alps but all we get is 3 nights in Oklahoma City! Now that might make most people turn to Jesus!
But we can give off the idea that Jesus came to deliver you from a bad marriage, or give us a better career. Or at least help you like the crummy career you got! Sometimes the idea we give people is Jesus came to help out our lot in life. With Jesus I drive a Lincoln, ski in Colorado, get promotions at work and my kid goes to Harvard!
B)    Sometimes we give people the impression that Jesus came to deliver us from bad habits or addictions. We treat Jesus as if he’s the “Higher Power” that some people in AA use as a "hook in heaven" to help them pull themselves up. Maybe its drugs or alcohol or even sexual sin. Maybe you had a bad temper, were a serial glutton or a serial murderer until Jesus came.
    Now these things I mentioned are certainly within the power of the gospel. Knowing Jesus can give you a new outlook on life. It can make you the kind of loving caring person who might get that promotion at work, or have a better marriage or raise better kids.
   The gospel – the good news of Jesus - can give you power over drugs and alcohol. It can deliver you from a wicked temper or the power of lust. But is that ALL Jesus came for?

     Further, what about those people who do feel fulfilled? They have a nice house and car, vacations galore. Their kids are doing great. They aren’t addicted to drugs or alcohol. Do they not need Jesus? There are millions of people in the world who get up every day, work in the fields, live in a hut, and marry their kids off to the neighboring village, who are content to do just that. They can’t imagine anything else! Don’t They Need the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
C)    Luk 2:10 And the angel said to them, 
     "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good 
     news of great joy that will be for all the 
     people. 11 For unto you is born this day 
     in the city of David a Savior. 
Saved from what? In the Matthew story of Jesus’ birth-
an angel – maybe the same angel here – appears to Joseph and says, 
     1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall 
     call his name Jesus, for he will save 
    his people from their sins. From Their Sins!
That’s what we are saved from. May not be as exciting as getting off drugs, or being fulfilled in their careers or helping them have perfect kids. It’s not a fulfilling as finding your purpose in life!   But salvation from sin is what God provides! 
For one thing, its universal. Everyone has a sin problem. 
Not everybody "needs" purpose or a better life!
  Why would God save us from our sins? Because that is the only way we can be right with Him! When you realize it’s not just about forgiveness.
Forgiveness is GREAT! But God will deliver you from the Penalty of sin, the hell created for the devil. He delivers you from the power of sin, which includes deliverance from addiction, and every sin that damages our relationship with Him! He also delivers from the Presence of sin. Jesus saves you from your sin that you might dwell in the House of the Lord forever!
The church needs to get back to telling the world what Jesus really came to do! Not to be your best friend, but to be your savior. Not to manage your career but to remove you from your sins. Not to help you stand head and shoulders above other men but to fall to your knees at the feet of Jesus!
You know the angels didn’t even tell the shepherds the baby’s name. They said you’ll find him in a manger, a feed trough. But they found him and his name was savior, not just his title. Because Jesus means the Salvation of Jehovah. The Savior sent by God.
That’s the Good News! God sent his Son to save us from the thing we try to deny we need saving from. We don’t like to admit we are sinners. But we are and God has a remedy!
A Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord.
This is what makes us truly understand the love of God. Not so much the things that Jesus does for us to help have happy lives. But the fact that He saved us from our sins.

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[i] https://www.barna.com/research/what-do-americans-believe-about-jesus-5-popular-beliefs/

[ii] Borrowed partially from John MacArthur.

Reason for the season Part III

He is Christ the Lord, A foundational truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

This is part 3 of my creatively titled series, "The Reason for the Season." 

We’ve been looking closely at this passage announcing the birth of Jesus. We talked about Why Angels and Why Shepherds? Many don’t realise, the law was given to Moses by God but it was delivered with ten-thousands of angels. Deut. 33 tells us that as well as the books of Acts and Galatians. Well, here, one angel delivers the news but he is joined very possibly by ten-thousands of angels! But too my knowledge, this is the only time, after the birth of Christ, that angels announce Jesus. You see, that’s up to humans now. God has made it His Plan A, that people will tell other people about Jesus. Or as Paul put it, “How shall they hear without a preacher?”

And Why shepherds? The lowest group in society, they were dirty, smelly, caretakers of the dumbest of animals. But God designed his Gospel for the poor and the outcasts. In fact there is a very real sense in which the gospel brings all people very low before it lifts them up.

Then we looked at the first great statement the angel made, 

     Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city

      of David a Savior.

A Savior! Jesus did not come to take away all your troubles. Hate to break it to you. He even told us, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Jesus came to save us from our sins! He took our sins upon Him that we might be made holy before God. He didn’t come to make us prosperous or popular or pretty. He came to save us from our sins! He told the shepherds what he already told Joseph in 

     Mat 1:21, She will bear a son, and you shall call 

     his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 

But then the angel enlarges the description. The rest of v11 says, 

     a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

Savior, Christ and Lord. Terms we throw around in church but what do they mean? We looked at Savior so let’s look at Christ!

This is the Greek word for Messiah. It means the anointed one.

Well generally speaking there were three classes of people who were anointed. Know who they were? Prophets, Priests and Kings.[1] Which one was Jesus? 

As a prophet, Jesus spoke the Word of God, in Fact He was the Word of God in the Flesh! He communicated the will of God to us. As well as His love and all of His attributes! Just as words communicate ideas, Jesus communicated God to us - He is God.

Jesus the Priest was our go-between with God! He became a man, dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, took our sins and paid for them with His blood. And the Bible suggests that the very blood of Christ was sprinkled in the Holy of Holies in the heavens. The blood that washed away our sins!

Jesus our King – Our King – rules and reigns over the universe AND over our hearts and lives. Remember when the wise men came looking for a King who was born? They came to Herod,who was a governor, so Herod asked his scholars about this. They told him what Malachi had prophesied, the messiah, who would reign, would be born in Bethlehem. These wise men had a better idea of who Jesus was meant to be than many in Israel! He is a King!

Jesus is the anointed one, the Christ, the Word of God, the High Priest and the King of Kings!

And the Lord of Lords! That’s the other thing the angels said.

What is a Lord? Simply it is one with authority, a master or boss. It is used of masters of slaves as well as emperors. But here’s the thing, the disciple began to call Him Lord early on. They owned Him as their master and teacher and ruler. And that’s the bottom line isn’t it? Jesus is King of Kings but there will be those who rebel against the King to the death! They won't bow the knee until they are banished from His presence.That doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t King! But will He be your King? Will He be your Lord?

I want to show you something interesting. Who did the Angel says this Good news was for?

      “For I bring YOU good news of great joy...

      “For unto YOU is born this day…”  

There is a great personal, individual announcement going on here. YOU! For YOU is born a Savior! This is the narrowest part of the announcement! It comes for you! Each Shepherd was told the Savior came for them!

But the angel adds, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” This makes the announcement much widerr, but, not as big as you might think. When God speaks about “The People” He invariably is talking about His people, Israel! But that is still a lot more than just you!

Think about it, where did Jesus spend his whole life? In Israel. Except for an early childhood in Egypt and the occasional sidetrip to a neighboring country. Jesus came for Israel! And did they receive Him? Or did they say “Crucify Him”?

But GOD makes this even larger. Is it good news for me and you? Its good news for Israel! Its good news for a few shepherds. But, I’m just a tiny fraction of being Jewish, so I’m probably 99% gentile! What about me and you?

Later in this same chapter (V28), the Bible says a man named Simeon was “in the Spirit” and when he saw the baby Jesus, v28 says,

     “he took him up in his arms and blessed God 

      and said, 29 "Lord, now you are letting your 

      servant depart in peace, according to your word; 

      30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that 

      you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 

      32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for 

      glory to your people Israel." 

Jesus is a Light for the Gentiles!

When I was a boy we sang the hymn Jesus Included Me. As a child I didn’t get it. As a teenager I didn’t get it.

Then one day He became a light to this gentile. And I got it. He is My Savior, He is my Messiah, and He is My Lord!

He’s the boss of me! I don’t always act like it I know!

But He is. 

And I’m more than willing for Him to be my Lord, Supremely Because He Is My Savior!

Is He yours?

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[1] Smith’s Bible Dictionary http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/smiths-bible-dictionary/anointing.html

Image: http://www.refrigeratordevotionals.com/get-started/powerful-visual-learning/visual-aid-jesus-christ-is-prophet-priest-and-king/