The Sinless Savior is Born

The Purpose of Christmas and the Hidden Years of Jesus

I want to invite you to take out your Bibles with me for our time in the Word. The title of tonight's message is, The Sinless Savior is Born. And when it comes time to read, we're going to read from three different passages.

We're going to look at 2 Corinthians 5, 21 first. So if you want to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, have your Bibles open there. And when it comes time, that will be where we will read.

But before we read the text, I just want to make a few opening remarks. Every year, Christians all around the globe gather together to celebrate Christmas. We decorate to the nines. We seek out the perfect gifts for our loved ones.

We enjoy parties, feasts, and all kinds of festivities. We know that included within our celebrations are many things which do not originate in Scripture and yet have become enduring traditions of the season.

Yet within the minds of most believers is the idea that the heart of the holiday, even though there's a lot of trappings and things that aren't really found in Scripture, the heart of the holiday is not in turkeys or trees or lights or even a jolly old red man or red suited man and a white beard.

We know that the true reason of the celebration is the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet in all reality, even that is a subject which the Bible gives us very little detail about. In fact, two of the gospel writers whose responsibility it was to recount the life of Jesus Christ, two of the gospel writers don't even mention the birth of Jesus at all.

Matthew and Luke give their accounts, but they're focused each one on the fact that Jesus' mother was a virgin. That's the main part of both of their narratives, whether you look at the story in Matthew which gives the side from Joseph's perspective and the story in Luke which gives more of Mary's perspective.

But really a lot of the history is unknown and we've done a fairly decent job of sort of filling in the history. The text doesn't say, by the way, that there were three wise men. Did you know that? The Bible doesn't ever say there were three wise men.

It just says that there were wise men who came from the east and they had three gifts and so we conjecture that three gifts probably equals three wise men. It could have been three hundred, you know, likewise, there's no indication that they were actually there on the night Jesus was born.

More than likely, they came quite a bit later sometime within the first two years of his life, not the night of the birth. The text doesn't mention an innkeeper, even though every Christmas play in the history of Christmas plays has had somebody playing the innkeeper because somebody had to say there's no room in the inn.

The reason why I mention all this is it's important for us to realize that the Bible is not written as a history textbook. It's not written as in the same way that maybe our school textbooks were written.

It's meant to proclaim the truth of God's redemptive work in history. It tells us how man fell. It tells us what God did in response to the fall and how he brought redemption into the world. That's what the Bible is about.

And there are entire years of Jesus's life that have no information. You realize that? In fact, if you recount the story of Jesus when he was born, the next time we see Jesus Christ is 12 years later when he's 12 years old and he goes to the temple with his parents and because of a mixed up with the parents, he ends up being left in the temple and he's found there later among the rabbis who were teaching and he was asking questions.

We see that in the Gospel of Luke. The next time we see that's in Luke 2, the next time we see Jesus, 18 years later, Luke chapter 3, verse 23 says about 30 years old is when he started his ministry, about 30 years old.

Rejecting Unbiblical Stories About Jesus

That's a pretty big gap to go from birth to 12 to 30. And some folks, for some folks, that's too much to take. So some people have made it their mission to dream up events in the life of Jesus. Did you know there's whole stories about Jesus that are unbiblical and untrue, and yet they are in history where people have made up stories.

There's a story in the Koran about Jesus when he was a boy, about five years old, that he took clay and he made clay pigeons and he gave them life and he turned clay pigeons into real pigeons. That's not biblical.

That actually comes from the infancy Gospel of Thomas, which is agnostic text, nowhere near the writing of scripture, nowhere near the time of scripture. But that's where that story originates. It's not biblical.

It's not even true. But people want to fill the gaps of those missing quiet years. Why would God tell us nothing of the majority of Jesus's life? That's what I've heard. I've heard that question before.

People say, why would God not tell us about the majority? Because you think of it, if we know Jesus ministered for three years and we know something that happened at 12 years old and we know something that happened at his birth, that means we have 30 years of unaccounted history, three decades of information that nobody knows.

Well, my purpose in the message this evening is to tell you that while we certainly do not have a written record of that 30 years, that does not mean we know nothing. I propose that we do know something about those 30 years of unwritten history.

In fact, we know the most important thing about those 30 years of unwritten history. We know a fact that is so sublime and so magnificent that it's hard to even fathom when we sit and think about it. And what is it that we know about those 30 years?

In 33 years of life, Jesus did not sin even once. That's what we know. Yeah, I don't know what he did as a teenager. I don't know how he spent his time in his 20s. But I know this, based on the testimony of Scripture, whatever he did, it was without sin.

In fact, that's the three passages I'm going to show you tonight, just to straight prove this is not something that I came up with, and this is not something that theologians have come up with. This is something in the Bible.

The Sinlessness of Christ in Scripture

2 Corinthians 5 .21, if you have your Bible open, we'll read that one first. 2 Corinthians 5 .21, very familiar passage, especially if you share the gospel, because this is one that often is used in the sharing of the gospel.

It says this, for our sake, he made him who knew no sin, to know no sin. To be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. He made him who knew no sin. Notice the text. It says he knew no sin.

Not that he stopped sinning at 30. I've heard that argument. I heard Jesus was a sinner up until the age of 30. But when he was baptized, he was born again. This is false TBN theology, by the way. You watch TBN theology.

You hear those those crooked pastor preachers on TV. They'll say Jesus was a born again man. And that's why you can do anything Jesus could do because you're born again. And all he was was a twice born man.

And you're a twice born man. That's garbage. Jesus was not born again. He need not be born again. That's foolishness. Jesus, sinless from birth, sinless from conception. He knew no sin. Second Corinthians 521 tells us now very quickly turn to First Peter 2 and 22.

Now, this is a different gospel writer or a different writer, not a gospel writer, but a different writer. Right. Who wrote Second Corinthians? Paul. So we now go to First Peter. Who wrote First Peter?

This one you should know. It's in the title. First Peter was written by Peter. Right. And so we have the testimony of Peter, who was who? Apostle Jesus Christ spent three years with him in ministry. If Jesus ever sinned, do you think Peter would know it?

I think it'd be hard to keep it from the guy who is living with you, ministering with you, walking with you daily for three years. If you were hiding a sinful life, I think he would know it. So we go over to First Peter 2, verse 22.

Now, this is in the midst of a conversation, something else he's talking about. But he said this about Jesus in verse 22. He said he committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth. This is Peter's testimony of Jesus Christ.

And it's not that's not even the point of what he's talking about. That's just the illustration he's taught. He's using he committed no sin. So we have Paul, the apostle, gives testimony. Second Corinthians 521.

He who was he knew no sin. Peter walked with Jesus three years, gives testimony. He was had no sin. Now, last one over to Hebrews 4, 15. So just keep turning. Actually, turn left this other way. Turn left to Hebrews chapter four and verse 15.

Hebrews 4 and 15 says this. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without what? Sin. Here's the thing.

Hebrews. Hebrews is written by someone we don't know. It doesn't say who it was written by. Some people believe the apostle Paul wrote it. And if you believe the apostle Paul wrote it, that's fine. I'm not going to argue with you.

I tend to think it wasn't Paul. I tend to think it may have been one of Paul's associates, maybe Barnabas, maybe even maybe even Luke. But here's the point. If this isn't Paul, if this is Barnabas or Luke or another one of the associates of Paul, here's what we know.

That's a third testimony to the sinlessness of Christ that we have in Scripture, three different testimonies to the sinlessness of Christ. How many testimonies do we have to the virgin birth? Only two.

Matthew and Luke. Mark doesn't mention it. John doesn't mention it. We have Isaiah who prophesied about it. But as for the New Testament, we have two testimonies to the virgin birth. We have three testimonies to the sinlessness of Jesus Christ.

And that doesn't count all of the other passages that infer that. These are the ones that say it explicitly. But it's inferred all throughout the Scripture. Do you realize that every time Jesus said your sins are forgiven you, that was a statement of his own divinity.

He was stating something about himself by saying your sins are forgiven. We don't know a lot about Jesus's life. We know nothing of 30 years of his life. But this we know for certain. He was a man without sin.

The text tells us so. And you say, what does this matter and why? Oh, why on Christmas is this the subject? Here's the reason. Some people argue, number one, Jesus was born like any other man and he was a sinner.

Some people even say it would have been better if he was a sinner because he'd be more like us. Others claim that if he was really a man, he must have been a sinner because sin is such an integral part of what it means to be a man.

But that's not true because Adam was created as a man. And guess what? Adam wasn't a sinner until he sinned. Right. So Jesus, that's why he's called the second Adam or the last Adam, because he was the perfect man without sin from conception.

And he never sinned in his whole life. And it matters for two reasons. I ask the question, why does it matter? Two reasons. Two reasons why the sinlessness of matter, sinlessness of Jesus matters, especially right here at Christmas time.

Why Christ's Sinlessness Matters for His Identity and Mission

Two reasons why it matters. One, who he claimed to be and two, what he came to do. Who he claimed to be and what he came to do. Who did he claim to be? Jesus Christ claimed to be God in the flesh. You say, I don't remember Jesus ever saying I am God.

Well, write it down. I'll tell you where it's at. John, chapter eight, verse fifty eight. The Pharisees are condemning him. They're talking to him and they were talking to him about Abraham, about Abraham being their father.

And Jesus said, if Abraham was your father, you would worship me. But you're of your father, the devil. And he said, Abraham, long to see my day. And the Pharisees scoffed at him and said, you're not even 50 years old.

How could Abraham long to see your day? You're not even 50 years old. Jesus said this before Abraham was, I am. He didn't say before Abraham was, I was. Which linguistically would have been more accurate, but he used the divine name for himself before Abraham was, I am.

Jesus declared in that one sentence who he was. He declared himself to be the I am, to be God in the flesh. Later on in John 17, when he's praying to the father, he said to the father, glorify me with the glory that we shared before the world was.

Guess what? The Bible says no one shares God's glory, but God. So if Jesus shared the glory of God, he was saying he is God. Does that make sense? Jesus declared who he was. And as I said, it's implied throughout the scripture, every time he forgives sins.

The Jewish leaders had a cow every time he forgave a sin. Why? Because you make yourself equal with God. And that's right. If I forgive your sin, I would be wrong because only God can forgive sin. And Jesus Christ, when he forgave sin, demonstrated who he was.

He was God. And he claimed to be God. And let me tell you this, if Jesus claimed to be God and he sinned, guess what? He'd be a liar. If Jesus claimed to be God and he sinned, he'd be false. A false prophet.

God cannot sin. As a result, Jesus Christ, when he took on a human nature, he did not give up his divine nature. He maintained his divine nature and his human nature, and both of them were perfect. While the human nature dealt with limitations of hunger and thirst and tiredness and all of those other things, Jesus did not ever give in to temptation because it would have been a violation of his nature to do so.

You know why you sin? You sin because it's your nature. You know why Jesus didn't sin? Because it wasn't his nature. Jesus's nature was holy, righteous. Jesus did not sin. Had he sinned, it would have been a violation of his nature.

He is God. Thus, he never sinned. He never sinned. Thus, he's God. So that's number one. The sinlessness of Jesus matters because of who he claimed to be. And number two, and it's only a two point sermon.

I told him I'd keep it short because they're all sitting up there. They're not used to this second point. And I know what some of you are thinking, it's too late to keep it short. But well, what he came to do, not only who he claimed to be and he claimed to be God and he was God and he is God, but to what he came to do.

Christ Came to Save Sinners and Become Our Substitute

Jesus came into this world to do something. Jesus came into this world on a rescue mission. You understand that? The Bible says in 1st Timothy 115, this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

And Paul said, of whom I am the chief of sinners. But what did Jesus come into the world to do? He came to save sinners. Luke 19 10, for the son of man came to seek and save that which was lost. Jesus had a mission.

Mankind was plunged into sin by Adam. His sin nature was passed to each generation and every person born is a sinner from birth. We are sinners both by nature and by choice. And we sin not because we're not we're sinners, not because we're sin.

We sin because we're sinners. And that's why I believe the virgin birth was necessary, because I believe the virgin birth kept Jesus from inheriting the sin of Adam, which the Bible seems to indicate is passed from the father.

Jesus receiving the divine nature from God receives not the sin nature of Adam, but a new nature, a fresh nature being the second or last Adam. Jesus was fully man as Adam was fully man. And in this way, Jesus represented mankind.

Had he sinned, had Jesus sinned ever in all his teenage years, in all of his 20s, even as a little baby, do you think babies sin? Oh, yeah. I'll give you mine for a day and you will learn. She's a viper in a diaper.

She's a sinner as a baby. Now, she doesn't know she's sinning, but that little Adamic nature is bound up in the child. This would say foolishness is bound in the heart of a child and the rod shall surely take it away.

Sorry, I get a little. You understand that foolishness, that sin nature is there. Jesus didn't have the sin nature. Jesus didn't suffer for his own sins. See, that's the thing. If Jesus would have been a sinner when he went to the cross, he would have deserved the cross.

You understand if Jesus would have been a sinner, had he gone to the cross as a sinner, he wouldn't have been able to be a substitute for anyone because he would have been paying for his own debt. You know, this is what makes him the better priest, according to the book of Hebrews, because the book of Hebrews says the problem with those priests is one you had to get new priests all the time because they were constantly turning them over.

They were dying and they're aging out and things. But the other problem was this, that the priest had to cleanse themselves first. They had to purify themselves first. Guess what? Jesus didn't have to do.

He didn't have to cleanse himself. Jesus didn't have to be purified. He was baptized as a sure unto righteousness, not to get saved or to get washed from sin because he had no sin. Right. And this is what the Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 18.

Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous. You know, it's beautiful about that passage. Write it down. 1 Peter 3, 18. You are the unrighteous. I am the unrighteous. Jesus is the only one righteous.

Remember when Jesus said a physician is needed for the sick? And he said, I've not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. You know what's great about that passage is everybody qualifies.

Everybody qualifies as unrighteous. Paul says this, there is none good, no, not one. There's none who understands. There's none who seeks after God. When the Bible says he was righteous and he died for the unrighteous, that's all of us.

That's all of us. And theologians call this a big, long 50 cent word, penal substitutionary atonement. And what that means is this through the cross, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for every person who would ever believe and thereby became the substitute in punishment and made the way for them to experience relationship with God as their father in heaven.

We are adopted as sons because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit, who gives us the ability to call out to God in faith and call him father. All of this because of the work of Jesus, a work which he could not have done if he were a sinner.

So many have made the statement, which is very true in the shadow of the manger. Blooms the cross. It's interesting tonight, I was noticing this as I pushed the manger up to the pulpit, the cross is right behind it.

Cross is right behind it. And this reminds us that Jesus, the God man, came to save sinners by becoming one of us. And then dying in our place, he volunteer voluntarily stepped down from his throne in heaven, took on flesh and bore the sins of his people so they could be set free.

He sacrificed his life so that you might live. God made him who knew no sin to become sin for you so that you could become the righteousness of God in him. Over in Russia, there is a story of a king who was making a trek on a bobsled with his servant.

And the two of them, as they were making their trek on the bobsled, went into a forest which was on the the trek of where they had to go. They had to cut through a forest to get to where they were going.

It was just the king and his slave, his servant. And as they were going through the forest, it began to get dark and they they noticed out in the distance the howling of wolves. And they knew that danger was falling upon them.

And they began to hear the the rustling of the bushes and the sounds of the wolves starting to grow closer, and they knew that danger was coming in the few little dogs they had pulling their sled was not going to be a match for the for the wolves.

The only chance they possibly had was maybe outrun the wolves, maybe outrun these things. So they began to push their dogs as hard as they could and push the the few little pups they had to go as fast as they could.

And they were hearing the beating of the of the wolves behind them. And they knew they weren't going to make it. And so finally, the servant, out of love for his king, throws himself off of the bobsled into the pack of wolves so that the king could go free.

And someone says that is an amazing picture of the gospel. But it's not because if it was a picture of the gospel, the king would have jumped off the bobsled. The babe in the manger is the king of the universe.

Come to earth to give himself for us. Sinless savior from conception to the cross and beyond. Oh, come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord. May we pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the picture of the gospel, which is given to us as we look to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinless sin bearer, who is our savior, born in a manger, died on a cross, rose from the tomb, ascended into heaven and now makes intercession for all who believe on him.

Lord, if there be one among us tonight who has not bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has not seen him as king of kings and lord of lords of their life. Lord, that tonight that you might save their soul, give them life, give them the desire to follow after him all the days of their life.

And Lord, those who are believers, may tonight be a night of genuine worship. May they be reminded of the gospel. May they be reminded of the importance of the sinlessness of Christ. May they be reminded, Lord, that our savior, our savior was God in the flesh.

And he is the one upon whom every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God, the father. We thank you for him and we thank you for his coming in the flesh. Lord, may we celebrate it with all of our might in Jesus name.

Amen.