The Logos Became Flesh | John 1:1-18

OK, beloved, so for today's sermon text,

I wanted us to visit a less conventional text that is used during this season for the nativity of Christ, the birth of Christ.

And part of the reason I chose this text was because it also ties in very nicely to the previous sermons that I've been preaching on First John and on Scripture, Scripture alone.

So if you go ahead and turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, Chapter one will begin in verse one, the

Gospel of one. I'm sorry, the Gospel of John, Chapter one beginning in verse one.

God's word speaks to us and says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was

God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him and apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overtake it.

There was a man having been sent by from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light so that all might believe through him.

He was not the light, but he came to bear witness about the light. There was the true light which coming into the world enlightens everyone.

He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him.

He came to what was his own and those who were his own did not receive him. But as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the father or the unique one of a kind from the father.

Full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him and cried out, saying,

This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me has been ahead of me, for he existed before me.

For of his fullness we have all received in grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time.

The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the father. He has explained him.

This is God's word. Amen. This is an amazing passage that we come before that we are dealing with today.

And it brings us to the question that I try to make sure that we always ask ourselves.

And that is, what is the reason, beloved, for the season? What is the reason for the season?

And in all of these seasons and holidays and celebrations, we need to make sure that we have balance without compromise.

Balance without compromise. And we and in times like these and in the season like this one, we ought to meditate on the true meaning, the true meaning of this season, not what it is not about all the distractions of Santa Claus and, you know, elves and reindeer and all that's that's not what that's not what the season is about.

Those are distractions and often pagan distractions and appropriations that have been added to this true meaning of the season, what it is truly about.

And in one word, if we had to answer in one word, the reason for the season is

Jesus. Amen. Jesus is the reason for the season, not just this season, but any seasons and all seasons.

He's the reason for all seasons. He is why we exist. And that is precisely what

John's first gospel chapter tells us. He made us.

He created us. And apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being.

We are here for his glory. He is our reason. He is our treasure.

Our marvel. Our wonder. Which we ponder in our hearts and bring praise, glory and honor to him.

By our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, offering our entire lives as a living sacrifice unto him, as we will see in the

Gospels, a letter to the Romans and so on. Through him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.

That is the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing for with such sacrifices,

God is pleased. Amen. For such with such sacrifices, God is well pleased.

This is from Hebrews 13, 15 through 16. This helps us to establish a mindset for this season, this particular season.

So this time of year, we in this whole Christmas time season and everything, we celebrate, obviously, the nativity of Christ, the birth of Christ, the most glorious birth in all of history ever, ever.

The birth of God, the son, God, the logos.

In the beginning was the word, the logos, the logic, the wisdom and reason of God and the logos was with God and the logos was

God. The logos was God is God. And the word, the logos became flesh and dwelt tabernacled among us.

That is an astounding reality. And it is a reality, beloved. And we ought to live in light of that astounding reality.

Marvel, ponder and wonder at it. Because it is amazing truth.

Of God's word. This is what the season is all about, beloved.

And as as this gospel chapter and John tells us, though, teaches us, there is far more.

There is far more to the Christmas story than the humble nativity story.

Far more to it. There is a much larger picture playing itself out.

It ties into one of the most important doctrines of the entire Bible, more than one of the incarnation, namely the incarnation of Christ, of the son of God becoming man, the son of man.

These are some of the most profound, most challenging doctrines of the entire Bible, beloved.

That's what Christmas is about. Some of the most profound, deepest, most challenging, most complex doctrines in all of Scripture and which the early church wrestled with in order to define who

Christ is, who the person of Christ is and defended against the many errors.

That I've propagated since that time. Even in the times of Christ, many people thought had varied opinions of Christ.

Many of them were wrong. Oh, he was merely a prophet. He was a man. He was a carpenter. He was covering his son.

He was this, that and the other. But Jesus reveals to us that he is the

I am the Yahweh of the Old Testament. The logos of God, who is

God and became flesh himself, some of the most profound truths in all of Scripture, all of this, beloved and more, is what the first chapter of John's Gospel reveals to us.

There's many other passages, of course, but this one in particular has relevant bearing on the first chapter.

This season and the true meaning of Christmas is at the very least twofold, at the very minimum twofold.

There are two big picture book and truths here. And the first is about the hypostatic union of Christ.

Of our Savior's virgin birth, the incarnation of God, the son, the second person of the triune

God. Now, that one sentence is so full of deep doctrine that we have to really break this down and meditate on what exactly all of these words mean, because John's first gospel and the nativity brings us an incredible reality of how

God, the son, the logos is God himself. In light of the

Trinity, in relation to God himself, the triune God and how he it was that he became flesh, a man, a man.

The second truth about the nativity is the gospel of Christ.

It is about the gospel of Christ. The good news, the good tidings of great joy, like the hymn we sang, oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

Why was Christ born for this? Like the other hymn says, Christ was born for this, for the gospel, for the good news.

What is the purpose of why he came? And again,

John's gospel in this first chapter teaches about teaches us both of these things, these amazing things that are perfectly harmonized in his word and revealed.

So these are incredibly important things that we must understand, beloved our understanding, our understanding of who

Jesus is. Of who and what he is and what he has done, what he has accomplished has eternal consequences for us.

It has eternal consequences, not just in this life, but in the next as well.

And we need sound doctrine to maintain a balanced understanding of these biblical truths.

Which this gospel, this precious gospel shows us.

How this is what led to so many questions that led to deep doctrinal development and discussion and debate, fierce debate.

And drawing of lines and of boundaries. How do we make sense of Christ? How do we make sense of the person of Christ or persons of Christ?

Is there one person or is it many persons? Is he truly God and truly man or is he a hybrid of some sort?

Is he more God than he is man or more man than he is God? Is he

God at all? Is he man at all? All of these questions were wrestled with early on, very early on.

And this first chapter, beloved, speaks very clearly to certain truths that we must internalize, that we must believe and understand.

That Christ is both truly God and truly man.

Both. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only son of God, the unique son of God, eternally begotten of the

Father. God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, not created.

Like the heretic Arius suggested, there was a time when the son was not begotten, not made, eternally begotten.

In other words, of one being with the Father. Through him, all things were made.

Does this sound familiar, beloved? This is going many of the first chapter of John's gospel that we read.

For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven. The son of man came down.

The son of God came down. The eternal logos came down, was incarnate. He was incarnated.

Of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human, truly man.

That, beloved, is a quote from the Nicene Creed. A precious summary of the biblical teaching here, much of which is taken from John's gospel in this first chapter.

This is, beloved, the nativity is the story of the hypostatic union of Christ.

The hypostatic union of Christ. Now, obviously, that's a that's a big word you don't hear every day.

And it's a word that we need to understand what it means. We need to know what it means because it's what the

Bible teaches. What does it mean? What is the hypostatic union?

It is about the God who became man. In one person, two natures.

One person, two natures and the logos, the divine, eternal logos who was

God and is God became flesh and dwelt tabernacled among us.

Emmanuel. Right. And we beheld his glory. Glory as of the only begotten, the unique one of a kind from the father, full of grace and truth.

Amen. That's John's gospel. One chapter, one verse 14.

That is what the hypostatic union is defining and describing who Christ is. As I said, and as the early creeds explain scripture themselves, like the

Nicene Creed, Jesus Christ is both truly God and truly man in one person.

In one person. The word hypostatic comes from the

Greek upostasis. That word is a word that means literally in English substance, substance.

And in in English, the use in the

Greek tended to become wise. So that's why you see there's upostasis in Greek, but there's hypostasis in English hypostatic.

It's the same thing. Same word. The inseparable union, the inseparable union of Christ's two natures, his divinity and his humanity within one person, one person.

This union does not blend these two natures into a hybrid, nor does it divide him into two separate persons, both of which were historic heresies condemned long ago by the early church.

Refuted by scripture. Instead, both natures of Christ operate in harmony without confusion, division, change or separation.

Without confusion, change, division or separation.

All of these are boundaries that the early church helped to establish in our understanding, in a proper understanding of who

Jesus Christ is. And this, beloved, is what the nativity is all about.

How is it that God became man? How did he become flesh and dwell among us?

It is an incredible reality. And that's why it is so important for us to take heed to and remind and to familiarize ourselves with this, these precious creeds from the early church that help us to understand and make sense of these things and not stray off into heresy like many before have done so, like Arius did, who said

Christ is not divine, he is a creature, an exalted creature, which

Jehovah's Witnesses call Christ. Jehovah's Witnesses teach today very similarly. He is not a hybrid. He is not some hybrid nature of divine human nature, which

I think either Eutychius or Apollinarius taught. He is not mostly divine and some human.

Actually, I think that's what Apollinarius taught. But there is no confusion and there is no separation, which is what

Nestorianism teaches. Nestorianism also taught.

All of these are false views of Christ, and we have to make sure we understand the right one. And it is

John's first chapter here in the gospel that reveals to us the nativity and how to make sense of the logos becoming flesh.

And tabernacling, tenting among us. I want to read the

Chalcedonian Creed, which is another very important creed of the early church, written in 451

AD. Listen to these words carefully, beloved, and how they summarize, how they draw out and define for us what

John's gospel is revealing to us here. I'm using the particular version and I adapted this creed for our church.

And this is what I'm going to I'm going to read. We then following the faithful church, all with one consent, believe, teach and confess one and the same son, our

Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood.

Truly God and truly man, not fully God and fully man.

That's that's kind of a not a good use of language. He's not fully God. That would mean that he's not anything else.

Truly God and truly man, both of a reasonable human soul and body, a rational logic case, logic case, logic case, rational soul and body.

Consubstantial or rather co -essential, co -essential with the father, according to the

Godhead. The word co -essential there is homoousion. This is what a lot of the

Aryan controversy was about. Is Christ of a similar nature homoousion or is he of the same essence homoousion?

Those are two words, homo same and ocean essence, the same essence.

And that is where we also how we come across the definition of God, that God is one, one essence.

But three upostasis, three persons or substances.

God is one ocea, one essence. That is why Christ is homoousion. He is of the same essence as the father because they are both

God. Because Christ is the eternal logos, who was

God, is God. Amen. That is what this creed is explaining to us.

Co -essential homoousion with the father, according to the Godhead. And co -essential also with us, with us, according to the manhood of the same essence as us who are men, manhood, human, humanity.

In all things like unto us, yet without sin, begotten before all ages of the father, according to the

Godhead. And in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the

Virgin Mary, the mother of God, the God bearer.

According to the manhood, the mother of our Lord. Like the gospel says, one and the same

Christ, son, Lord, only begotten, monogony, unique, one of a kind.

To be acknowledged in two natures, two natures. And the

Greek there is Duo Fouseion. Duo as in duo, as a double.

Duo Fouseion, like Fouseis, which typically gets translated into nature, like physical.

That's where the word physical comes from, Fouseis. Duo Fouseion, two natures.

Inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, and inseparably.

That is what the boundaries that the early church had established in light of what

Scripture teaches regarding who Christ is. Regarding the one single person of Christ with fully essential

God, who is truly essentially God and essentially man.

One and the same person. The distinction of natures by no means being taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved and concurring in one single person.

One single person and one substance, one upostasis, right?

Christ is one upostasis, even though he has two natures.

One upostasis. One substance, one person.

Not parted or divided into two persons like Nestorianism taught and the early church refuted.

But one and the same Son and only begotten. God the Word. God the

Logos. Theon Logon. God the Logos. The Lord Jesus Christ as the prophets from the beginning.

From the beginning. From Genesis and on. Have declared concerning him and the

Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us and the creed of the faithful church has handed down to us.

Amen. That is what the Chalcedonian Creed says in full. And the

Church of Christ has formulated these doctrines like these based on what

Scripture teaches in passages like John chapter one. It is what

John chapter one is all about. Beloved. If you turn back with me there.

I want to provide a drive by commentary on this passage. This amazing passage.

Where in the beginning was once again the word the Logos and the Logos was with God.

So distinct. There is a distinction there. But the Logos was also

God. That is why we believe in the triune God the Trinity beloved because there are two persons here being described.

There are both God. There is the Logos and there is the God the

Father. He the Logos was in the beginning with God.

God the Father. All things came into being through him and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being.

This is because the Logos is the creator God because all three persons of the

Godhead are the creator God. And none of them do anything independently apart from each other.

So. In him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overtake it.

There was a man having been sent from God whose name was John and he came to witness to bear witness about the light so that all might believe through him.

And verse nine. There was the true light which coming into the world enlightens everyone.

Christ this because remember Scripture uses light and enlightening for knowledge and truth.

Christ is the way the truth and the life. Amen. His words are life and truth.

And he was is the one who enlightens all men.

He gives light or knowledge to all men. That is like the beloved him.

O come O come Emmanuel and teach us in her ways to go the ways of wisdom reveal to us these ways of wisdom.

That is what Christ does. He teaches us and enlightens us all things. He was in the world and the world was made through him and yet the world did not know him.

But as many as received him in verse 12 to them he gave the right to become children of God even to those who believe in his name.

And here we come to the jarring reality the dramatic reality of God entering into our own world in history and the logos becoming flesh.

The logos became flesh and dwelt among us tabernacle tented among us and we beheld his glory glory as the monogamous the only begotten the unique one of a kind from the father.

Full of grace and truth and this logos existed before John for of his fullness.

We have all received in grace upon great grace for the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

So here there is an explicit connection once again that with the logos who is

God who was God who is God in the beginning with God. And now we come full circle to the one who came before John who came before John even though John was born first.

Who came before John existed before him because grace he his fullness we have all received in grace upon grace and this is the same

Jesus Christ. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen

God at any time the only begotten God the only begotten

God who is in the bosom of the father he has explained he has exegeted him to us.

The only begotten God again

God who is the son who is Christ in the bosom of the father he has explained him he has explained the father to us.

What an amazing amazing passage beloved. This is what the nativity is all about.

It is what is all about and what ought to cause us to ponder and wonder and marvel at these amazing truths beloved.

These amazing truths from God's word about this precious pivotal momentous event in history.

So that is what we have to wrestle with beloved. How do we make now there's a deeper there's more questions that come out of this right because how now do we make sense or of or how do we relate the two natures in Christ.

How do we relate them how do we make sense of them biblically because the scriptures show us that God the son properly speaking is the subject.

He is the subject and the person of the incarnation not the human nature of Christ because God the son precedes and pre exists the human nature.

That is why the early church taught and and the church since then the the

Orthodox teaching of Christ the sound teaching of Christ is that God the son is the subject of the incarnation.

He is the person of the incarnation. But then how is it that Christ is truly man if he's not a human person how can he be truly man.

Well beloved this is what again the early church wrestled with. How do we make sense of the word becoming flesh and a true man.

And there are two more terms that came out of this understanding. They are similarly related to the hypostatic union to hypostasis or apostasis.

One of them is and hypostasis and hypostatic stasis or on who post as he's and hypostasis is without an independent substance.

In other words the human nature of Jesus Christ has no separate independent person apart from the divine logos.

OK. He is not independently personal as a human apart from the divine logos the person of the incarnation because that is the story in ISM.

And the story in ISM teaches that Christ is two persons and there's too much of a separation between the two.

We cannot have that. Christ is one single person and this doctrine arose to counter teachings that might suggest

Christ's human nature existed personally on its own before during or after the incarnation.

All of that is false. Christ is singularly one person.

He is and his human nature is and hypostasis.

It is not independent of the divine person. Now there is another term related to it.

It is in hypostasis and hypostatic which the early church also came to develop in light of what

Scripture teaches. It means in person or in substance in subsistence in substantial in personal.

What does that mean? It is that Christ human nature not as a separate personal identity or substance.

Nevertheless does subsist in is substantiated in and through the person of the divine son.

That is how Christ is truly human by virtue of becoming united to the divine person of the son.

Christ human nature truly stands in the person of the divine logos as one person.

Amen. This is so important that we understand beloved and a lot of sadly a lot of Christians don't understand this and they churches neglect to teach us.

These things but it is what the gospel and the nativity is all about.

It is about making sense of these realities. These truths that Christ human nature is both and hypostatic and and hypostatic because there is only one person.

Of Christ. Who is truly God and truly man. And yet the divine logos is the subject of the incarnation.

And yet this brings us to more issues that have developed since then because contrary to Eastern Orthodoxy and many others who deny the biblical gospel.

Even though God the son is the subject of the incarnation of Christ. Christ the

God man in his human nature nevertheless could and did indeed suffer bleed and die and bore the wrath of God the father on the cross.

Bearing the punishment for our sins in our stead in our place.

Because that is precisely what scripture also teaches us in the doctrine of propitiation the doctrine of the satisfaction of God's wrath.

And this is what got John's other letters shows us that I've covered in previous sermons before first John 2 2.

And this Jesus Christ is a propitiation of our sins. He is a propitiation of our sins.

He is the wrath satisfying sacrifice for all our sins. That is what it means.

That is what the word means beloved biblically. This is why in Isaiah 53 the fifth gospel as it's often called.

Verses 10 through 11 Yahweh himself was pleased to crush him.

To crush who beloved. To crush the suffering Messiah Christ.

Putting him to grief. If you would place his soul as a guilt offering a sin offering he will see his seed.

He will prolong his days and the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in his hand. As a result of the anguish of his soul the travail of his soul.

He the suffering servant will see it and be satisfied. Having accomplished what the father had sent him to do.

By his knowledge the righteous one my servant will justify the many.

Will justify the many as he will bear also their iniquities beloved.

Because Christ did all of these things and more. And to deny this is to deny the biblical gospel.

Because it is what Christ accomplished on our behalf. So that we might be forgiven this is the other twofold truth of the nativity.

This is what this is why beloved he came Christ came. In order to give his life as a ransom for the many.

And in order to suffer bleed be crushed by Yahweh and die.

God had to first become flesh. He had to first become a man flesh.

To become that human sacrifice and that mediator between God and man.

The man Christ Jesus that is why

Christ came. And even the Septuagint the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

Which the New Testament writers quoted more often than any other Old Testament version. And which

Eastern Orthodox affirm says in Isaiah 53 5. But he was wounded because of our acts of lawlessness.

And has been weakened because of our sins upon him. Upon him was the discipline of our peace.

Was the chastisement of our peace. Was the punishment of our peace.

It was placed upon him and by his bruise we were healed.

That is the doctrine of propitiation. And as much as men try to say that well no

Christ couldn't suffer the wrath of God. Because he is God. How can you separate God like that?

And no that's not what we're doing. We are teaching what the Bible itself shows us the gospel is.

That Christ became flesh in order to bear Yahweh's wrath.

To be crushed by Yahweh. And so that Yahweh may be pleased and satisfied.

Because of what the suffering servant did. To suffer bleed and die. And finish what

Christ came to finish on that cross. And by his stripes by his bruises we are what beloved?

We are healed we are saved we are fully redeemed. Not by the blood or by the will of man.

Or by anything else but by God himself. That is we are born of God by God alone.

And because of what Christ the God man did for us. Beloved this is just an astounding truth from the word of God.

From John's first chapter here in his gospel. And it is also then no wonder.

That the Apostle John records the words of John the Baptist. In the same first chapter.

Turn with me to the first chapter of John's gospel beloved. And we'll start in verse 28.

Because this is what the gospel is teaching us once again. This is what John both

Johns are revealing to us. John the Baptist the prophet and John the Apostle.

They are showing us these amazing things. All coming together in the one person.

And the perfect work of Christ the God man. John chapter 1

I'll start in verse 28. These things took place in Bethany beyond the

Jordan. Where John was baptizing on the next day. He saw

Jesus coming to him and said. Behold the what? The Lamb of God.

That does what? Who takes away the sin of the world.

The sin of his people. Because as he says in his other letter.

Christ is the propitiation of the sins of the whole world. Not just for our sins.

Not just for us. But also for the sins of all believers. Throughout the whole world.

That's who Christ died for. And that is why Christ is the typological

Lamb of God. He is the Lamb of God. That made an end to the sacrificing of all lambs.

Because he is the ultimate Lamb of God. That truly takes away the sin of the world.

Of God's people. Because of the propitiatory sin bearing sacrifice.

That he came to accomplish. So much so is this emphasized in John's Gospel.

That the Apostle restates this. That John the Baptist restates this again. In verse 35.

On the next day. John again was standing with two of his disciples.

And he looked at Jesus as he walked and said. What did he say? Behold once again.

The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak.

And followed Jesus. Amen. Should this not be our response today beloved.

Upon beholding the good news. That Jesus Christ is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

Like the two disciples. We hear this. And follow him. Let us follow him beloved.

This should be our response. In this season. Of the nativity.

To believe these words. And to follow Jesus. Because he is our

Lamb. He is our sacrificial Lamb. He is our propitiatory Lamb.

He is our wrath satisfying sin bearing Lamb. That takes away the sins of all his people.

Of all the world. For of his fullness we have all received.

And grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. But grace and truth came.

Through Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God. Who takes away all our sin. This beloved is the beautiful.

Revelation. Of the long gospel distinction. That I've also preached on before.

That John's gospel also teaches us. Christ came. To grace us with his grace.

With grace upon grace. Because he the perfect God man. Became a man.

That he might suffer bleed. Die and bear the wrath of God. The father Yahweh.

And yes. The wills of God are one. God the son's will.

Is the same as the father's will. Is the same as the spirits will. But in light of that.

We cannot take away from what the gospel is. And what the scripture teaches us that it is.

That Yahweh. Was satisfied to crush. The suffering servant.

God. The incarnate. God man. Christ. Now.

To help us further. Cement these things in our mind. I want to quote once again from.

Irenaeus. Remember him. I've quoted him before. Numerous times. He has many good things to say.

In the same work. Against heresies. He says this. But again.

Those who assert. That he. Christ. Was simply a mere man.

Begotten by Joseph. Right. Instead of God. Remain. Remaining in the bondage of the old disobedience.

Are in a state of death. In other words. He's saying you can't be saved.

You can't be saved. If you do not believe. That Christ. If you believe that Christ was merely a man.

And not God. Because that is not what the Bible teaches. It is heresy.

For it was for this end. That the word of God. The logos of God.

Was made man. And he who was the son of God. Became the son of man.

That man. Having been taken. Into the word. And receiving the adoption.

Might become. The son of God. Himself. Amen. That is an awesome.

That is an awesome. Saying there from Irenaeus. For it was for this end.

That the logos of God. Was made man. And he who was the son of God.

God himself. Became the son of man. Prophesied in Daniel. And so on. For by.

No other means. Became the son of man. That man himself.

Having been taken into the word. And receiving the adoption. Might become. The son of God.

For by no other means. Beloved. Could we. Have attained.

To incorruptibility. And immortality. Unless. We had been united.

To incorruptibility. And immortality. Himself. But how could we be joined.

To incorruptibility. And immortality. Unless first. Incorruptibility. And immortality.

Had become. That which we also. Are. So that.

The corruptible. Which is us. Fallen sinners. Might be swallowed up.

By incorruptibility. And the mortal by immortality. That we might receive.

The adoption. As. Sons and daughters. Of God. That is an awesome.

Summary of what scripture. Also teaches us. Beloved. Words from. Irenaeus. From the 170s.

A .D. These are also. He's also echoing. The teaching of 1st

Corinthians 15. The chapter on the gospel. And on the resurrection. That which was.

Incorruptible. Became. Like corruptible flesh. That we might become. Incorruptible.

Like. Him. Amen. That. Is an amazing.

As we close out beloved. In the book of Leviticus. Chapter 12.

Verses 1 through 8. Here we see. What God's law speaks to. Concerning this offering.

Then Yahweh. Spoke to Moses saying. Speak to the sons of Israel. Saying. When a woman gives birth.

And bears a male child. Then she shall be unclean for seven days. As in the days of her menstruation.

She shall be unclean. Now on the eighth day. The flesh of his foreskin. Shall be circumcised. That's what

Mary and Joseph did. Then she shall remain in the blood of her. Cleansing. For 33 days.

She shall not touch any. Holy thing. And she shall not enter the sanctuary. Until the days of her cleansing are fulfilled.

But if she bears a female child. Then she shall be clean for two weeks. As in her menstruation. And she shall remain in the blood of her cleansing.

For 66 days. When the cleansing. When the days of her cleansing are fulfilled.

For a son or for a daughter. She shall bring to the. Listen carefully. She shall bring to the priest.

At the doorway of the tent. Of the meeting. A one year old lamb. For a burnt offering.

And a young pigeon. Or a turtle dove. For a what? For a sin offering.

Then he shall bring it. Near. The priest shall bring it near. Before the Yahweh. And make atonement for her.

And she shall be cleansed. From the flow of her blood. This is the law for her. Who bears a child.

Whether male or female. But if she cannot afford a lamb. Then she shall take the two turtle doves.

Or two young pigeons. The one for a burnt offering. And the other for a sin offering.

And the priest shall make atonement for her. And she shall. She will be clean. This beloved.

Is. What the Bible. Also shows us about. Mary herself.

She herself was a sinner like us. That is why her spirit rejoiced in God.

Her savior. And sadly. Eastern Orthodox and Catholic. Church.

They deny these truths. Even the commentary from the

New American Bible. Which is a Catholic Bible. On this passage says. The 1970 edition.

Says. 40 days after the birth of Jesus. His virgin mother made this offering of the poor. Since the

Holocaust was offered in Thanksgiving. For the birth of the child. This most fittingly offered by Mary.

However. Because of her miraculous delivery. Because of her miraculous delivery.

She was not really obliged to make the sin offering. Of purification. So they're denying this reality.

That Mary herself was a sinner. And that she needed to make a sin offering.

When Christ was born. This beloved. Is what we cannot lose sight of.

That. The glorious gospel. Is that God. The son.

Became a man. Became flesh. And dwelt among us. That me. He may also suffer.

Bleed. Die. Bearing the wrath of God. For us. That we might become.

Fully. Pardoned. Because. Christ. The lamb. Of God.

Takes away the sins. All our sins. The sins of the world. Beloved.

Amen. Amen. Let us bow our heads now. In a word of.

Concluding prayer. Our gracious heavenly father. We thank you Lord. For these precious truths.

In this. Amazing story. Of your son's nativity. That God.

Your son. The logos. Of God. Became flesh. And dwelt.

Among us. Tabernacle among us. That he may become. A ransom.

For us. Your people beloved. Are. Your beloved people. Father we thank you so much for these truths.

And. We ask that you help us to ponder. Wonder. And marvel. At these things.

In a spirit of humility. Because of what God. The son. Christ. Your son had accomplished for us.

The ultimate. Sacrifice. The ultimate propitiatory sacrifice Lord. Help us to not.

Ever lose sight of these things. These things that are of first importance. According to you. And your word. And we ask these things in your son's precious name.

The Lamb of God. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermons of.

Thorn Crown Covenant Baptist Church. Where the Bible alone. And the Bible in its entirety. Has applied to all of faith and life.

We strive to be biblical. Reformed. Historic. Confessional. Loving. Discerning Christians.

Who evangelize. Stand firm in. And earnestly contend for. The Christian faith. If you're looking for a church in the

El Paso Texas area. Or for more information about our church. Sermons. And ministries. Such as Semper Reformanda Radio.

And Thorn Crown Network Podcast. Please contact us at. thorncrownministries .com And may the mercy.