Sunday, December 1, 2024 AM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

03:18

to give you honor and praise, that you would arrange and provide this for us, that you would give us your

03:31

Word by your Spirit, reveal to us your Son, in whom you are well pleased, that you would make us behold your glory, and give us life.

03:47

We praise you for your grace. We ask that this morning, as we turn our attention to the glories of your

03:56

Son, Jesus Christ, that you would have your way in us, that you would conform us to Him, and so be honored, that you would bless us with your

04:08

Spirit, and so accomplish your work.

04:13

We pray that you would give us clarity of mind, warmth of heart, and give us liberty in Christ, to serve you and to worship you.

04:32

We thank you for the gift of your Son. It's in His name that we pray. Amen. I invite you to open your

04:40

Bibles and turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew. We'll be reading chapter 1, verses 18 through 25 this morning.

04:52

You may also want to get a bookmark in Luke, the early chapters, chapters 1 and 2.

05:00

That would be helpful as well. We'll be reading from Matthew chapter 1, verses 18 through 25.

05:15

It seems appropriate in this season to consider the importance of the miraculous conception and virgin birth of Jesus Christ.

05:31

Shocking, I know, to think about those things at this time of year. But I think to be more clear and concise, we can put both those terms together in the way that the

05:46

Bible does, as we have in Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14.

05:53

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call

06:03

His name Emmanuel. So it's not exactly the virgin birth that we're talking about.

06:10

It's the virgin conception. That's what Isaiah 7, verse 14 stresses. Now, Baptists get a little nervous when we talk about Mary.

06:20

That's a Catholic thing, right? Actually, it's a Bible thing. The Bible talks about Mary.

06:27

And there are some things about how Jesus of Nazareth was conceived and born that are vital for the good news, vital for the

06:38

Gospel. And these are things that we should rejoice in, especially during this season.

06:46

So we're going to keep our eye on how Matthew chapter 1, verses 18 through 25, how that passage functions in the larger part of Matthew's Gospel.

06:58

And we're going to look at Luke chapters 1, 2, and 3 this season. And we're going to look at some passages from the epistles.

07:05

But I think the goal should be that we consider Christ under the heading of that carol, what child is this?

07:15

Who are we thinking about? Where are we placing our hope and our affection? Who are we worshiping this

07:22

Christmas season, this Advent season? Let's make it worthwhile. Let's put our attention where it should belong in any season, but as long as we're here.

07:33

What child is this who saves? What child is this who awes?

07:40

What child is this who leads? What child is this who knows?

07:47

We're going to think about the first heading, the child who saves. My goal in this sermon is to focus on Jesus Christ as our

07:58

Savior prophesied by the Lord, by His prophets, by the angel, how

08:06

He is our Savior, how He was born, how He was named, but also to provide a bit of an overview of what we're going to see in the coming weeks.

08:18

So, I invite you to stand with me if you're able. We're going to read Matthew 1, verses 18 through 25.

08:26

Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After His mother

08:32

Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the

08:39

Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.

08:50

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you

09:00

Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name

09:10

Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the

09:19

Lord through the prophets, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call

09:26

His name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the

09:35

Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name

09:45

Jesus. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated.

10:01

I was asked a great question last week. If someone asked you to state the gospel, what would you say?

10:10

Someone asked you, so what is the gospel? What would you say when you were asked that? And that's a great question.

10:16

I love being asked that. I like asking that question. It brings to mind what are we going to include?

10:23

What are we going to leave out? I have to stop talking at some point, right? How do we explain the gospel?

10:31

In a nutshell, of course, it is the person and work of Christ. To say the person and work of Christ, now we're going to talk about who he is, and we're going to talk about what he has done and what he is doing.

10:42

But the gospel, the good news, is about the King of kings, the Lord of lords, who he is and what he has done.

10:50

So what are we going to include when we talk about his person? What are the essentials he can't do without?

10:58

What are we going to talk about when we think of the work of Jesus Christ, what he did, how he lived?

11:04

What are we going to include? What are we going to leave out? Well, what about the virgin conception?

11:16

Do we include that in the person and work of Jesus Christ? Is it really that crucial that we talk about him being born of the

11:28

Virgin Mary? Is it vital that we say that? Is it vital that we believe that, that we hold to that?

11:34

It is one of the first doctrines to go away when confronted with the sensibilities and sensitivities of the modern scientific community.

11:45

One of the very first things to go away in the story of Jesus is the virgin conception of Jesus of Nazareth.

11:52

Is it really crucial? Is it a little too much to ask anyone to believe in the virgin conception?

12:00

Is that just too much? It's just an unscientific ancient superstition, right?

12:07

It beggars belief. It asks too much. Should we really ask people to believe that part of the story, or do we throw it in the trash bin along with Genesis 1 through 11?

12:25

Well, it is essential. It's a huge part of the gospel, even as Genesis 1 through 11 is.

12:33

The Bible is given to us not because it is something that makes us feel all right.

12:38

The Bible is given to us because it is the Word of God, the essentials that we must know.

12:45

The Scriptures talk to us about the virgin conception of Jesus Christ.

12:53

This is something that we must affirm. Let me ask you it in a different way.

12:59

If someone wanted you to explain to them what Easter is all about, or Resurrection Day, what's that all about?

13:08

Why do you take one particular day out of the year and really, really emphasize the Resurrection?

13:13

Now, we do it every Sunday, but why that one Sunday in the year? If you were to explain to them what it's all about, would you do so and leave out the

13:22

Resurrection while you explain to them why

13:27

Easter is so important? Would you do that? So, would we do that with Christmas?

13:33

Would we leave out the virgin conception in trying to explain what

13:39

Christmas is really all about? That just would not make sense, would it?

13:45

So, we need to think about the importance of it, that the virgin conception of Jesus Christ is necessary for our salvation.

13:53

That's what the Bible says, and we need to rejoice in that truth and share that truth.

13:58

I want us to rejoice in four different ideas this morning, four different ponderables, if you will.

14:05

Think about God's promise to save. Think about God's purpose to save.

14:12

Think about God's person to save. And then God's power to save.

14:20

We should take up God's declaration concerning the conception and birth of Jesus Christ, and to do so without reservation, to do so with all eagerness, to give it a warm amen in our hearts and through our mouths and in our conversation.

14:38

We should do so with eagerness and joy. So, notice

14:44

God's promise to save. And this is all tied together with the miracle of this virgin conception.

14:54

Notice the miracle and how carefully it is described in both Matthew chapter 1, and then we'll also look over in Luke chapter 1 in a moment.

15:03

In Matthew chapter 1, verse 18, we read, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.

15:09

Now notice the time indicators. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the

15:21

Holy Spirit. So in the progression of the marital relationship between Joseph and Mary, there was the common betrothal where, by all legal means, they were intended for each other and only for each other.

15:36

But prior to them consummating their marriage, their official wedding, she is found to be with child, notice it says, of the

15:46

Holy Spirit. So legally, he's considered to be her husband, but he has not acted toward her as her husband yet.

15:56

And she is found to be with child. This puts Joseph into consternation, verse 19.

16:02

Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly in the customs of the day.

16:11

He could divorce her in a messy fashion or in a private fashion. He was going to try to do this privately.

16:18

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,

16:25

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife. For that which is conceived in her is of the

16:34

Holy Spirit. You see the emphasis. Twice we are told that Jesus of Nazareth was not conceived in the so -called natural way, but it is the

16:44

Holy Spirit, this giver of life, who has overshadowed

16:50

Mary, as we find in Luke chapter 1, and he has given life. And Jesus is conceived in the womb of Mary.

17:00

He has her DNA. He is as much man as man is man, but he is conceived by the

17:06

Holy Spirit. And God the Son takes upon human flesh as God of very

17:13

God. He is as much God as God is God. He is as much man as man is man. Both natures in one person, the miracle of the virgin conception.

17:22

This is emphasized to us because he is to be our

17:30

Savior. Now, notice also in Luke chapter 1, so if you flip over to Luke chapter 1 and take a look at verses 34 through 37, we have

17:41

Luke's accounting of this same story.

17:48

The angel has told Mary that she will conceive in her womb and bring forth a son, but then

17:56

Mary says in verse 34, how can this be since I do not know a man?

18:03

She has not consummated her wedding with her husband Joseph yet. She is betrothed.

18:09

She is not officially married yet. So the angel answered, verse 35, and said to her, the

18:14

Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One who is to be born will be called the

18:23

Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is now the sixth month for her who is called barren.

18:34

For with God nothing will be impossible. Encouragement to Mary to believe the message that is being told her, the sign of her relative

18:44

Elizabeth. So the focus in these stories is on the fact that Mary conceives a child by the direct life -giving power of the

18:56

Holy Spirit rather than by the normal design of procreation.

19:02

Here we have a seed of a woman, not of Adam. Rings a bell,

19:08

Genesis 3 .15, the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent.

19:15

The very first glimmers of gospel promise is coming to focus here in the life of the

19:23

Virgin Mary. God gives her a man. When Eve gave birth to her firstborn son

19:30

Cain, she says, God has given me a man. But that man was given to her by a man,

19:36

Adam. Here, God gives to Mary a man, but not of Adam.

19:44

Here is another beginning, a whole new beginning, a surprising and not so surprising necessary new beginning.

19:53

The promise of Genesis 3 .15 and the assurance that there needs to be another

19:59

Adam. The message here is tied to the miracle.

20:04

The fact that he is born, conceived in this way, the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is conceived of the

20:13

Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit is directly tied to the fact that he is our

20:18

Savior. We are to receive comfort from that. We are to receive joy in that, that he was conceived in the

20:28

Virgin Mary's womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is directly told to us as reason why we may look to Jesus of Nazareth and know that he is the

20:37

Christ, the Son of the living God, our Savior. Notice in verse 21 of Matthew chapter 1.

20:48

And she will bring forth the Son, and you shall call his name Jesus. The angel says to Joseph, who she has conceived in her own womb is by the

20:58

Holy Spirit, this Son she will bring forth. And Joseph, you're going to call his name

21:03

Jesus. You're going to call his name Yeshua. Why? For he will save his people from their sins.

21:12

You see how carefully it's connected. The miracle of the virgin conception is connected to this message of salvation.

21:21

He was conceived in this way, therefore he's going to be the Savior. He's going to save his people from their sins.

21:30

Now notice the supporting information, verses 22 and 23. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled, one of Matthew's favorite sayings, so that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the

21:44

Lord to the prophet, saying, behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and he shall call his name

21:49

Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. Quoting Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14.

21:58

This is all to fulfill. When you read Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14, and you read it in the context of the sign that the prophet

22:07

Isaiah gave by the Lord to the king, you don't walk away from that context concerning the dangers of the

22:17

Assyrian army and the political context of that time. You don't walk away from that verse thinking to yourself, ah, yes, there will be a virgin in Bethlehem who gives birth to a firstborn son.

22:31

You don't get it from that one verse, from that one passage. But on the other side of all the revelation of God throughout the entire book of Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and Daniel, and the rest of the prophets, and all of the corresponding material in the

22:48

Old Testament, you get to the other side of it, and here we are in the New Testament, and you look back at that very same promise and what

22:54

God is doing in the life of Mary, and you say, ah, here it is, because now in the light of Jesus Christ, you're reading the

23:02

Bible with an unveiled face, and you see what you're meant to see, the glories of Jesus Christ.

23:11

The miracle is essentially tied to the message, and the message is one of salvation.

23:19

It's a message of restoration, wherein God and man have been separated by sin and now being brought together,

23:26

God with us, Emmanuel. Not God against us, us apart from God, but God with us.

23:35

It is a message of salvation. It is a message of reconciliation. It is a message of at -one -ment, or atonement as we pronounce it.

23:46

Notice also in Luke chapter 1, the message.

23:53

When the angel comes to Mary and says, you are going to have a son, and what a son you're going to have, she says, how's that going to happen?

24:02

I'm not fully married yet, but what a son, proclaimed to her by the angel.

24:09

Look at verses 30 -33 of Luke chapter 1.

24:16

Then the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name

24:28

Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the son of the highest, and the

24:34

Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

24:44

Do you see the message? The message that is given in connection to the miracle is that this one who was conceived so miraculously to be born of the

24:55

Virgin Mary in this wondrous sign, the message is, here is the fulfillment of all the promises.

25:03

As many as are the promises of God and Christ, they are, yes, here he is. He is going to be the king who fulfills the promises to David.

25:11

He is going to be the favored one, the anointed one, the servant who will be that great high priest and the prophet of all the prophets and the king that was long promised.

25:22

Here he is, your very own son. So the message is not just for Mary, not only will

25:30

Mary receive blessing because of this, but the message is rather broad.

25:36

As we see in Luke 2, verses 10 -14, the miracle of this virgin conception made manifest by the virgin birth where Jesus is born of Mary and he is laid out publicly for visitors to come and behold that the

25:54

Son of God has been born in Bethlehem. In Luke 2, verse 10, the angel announces the birth of Christ to the shepherds.

26:08

Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

26:16

That's a broad word. It's a broad message. Not just for Mary, not just for Joseph.

26:22

Although the angel spoke to Mary and spoke to Joseph, here is the angel speaking to the shepherds and saying this message is for all people.

26:28

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is

26:34

Christ the Lord, and this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger.

26:42

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

26:51

What a big message tied to that one miracle of the virgin conception because we're not looking at a nifty little fulfillment of a handful of specific prophecies to encourage just a few people or one type of people.

27:10

This is nothing less than new creation. This is nothing less than the new

27:16

Adam, the last Adam, the restart for all humanity. Here he is, the Messiah, the

27:21

Christ, the Savior for all kinds of people everywhere. It's a big message tied to this miracle.

27:30

Restoration, fulfillment, hope, peace, and joy all because Jesus Christ was conceived miraculously in the womb of the

27:40

Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now that's God's promise to save. Every time we read in Matthew and in Luke about this miracle of this virgin conception, it is tied to this message of God's promise to save.

27:55

Behold, here's your Savior. Mary, here's your Savior. Joseph, here's your Savior. Shepherds, here's your

28:00

Savior. Hey, everyone, here's your Savior. The promise to save wrapped up in this person,

28:07

Jesus Christ, and how He was conceived. Now we're going to think more and more about that for the rest of our sermon today and as the

28:15

Lord wills in the coming weeks. But consider that God's promise to save is of course, of course, it is in line with His purpose.

28:22

His purpose to save. And it should cause us some reflection. In this season, what are we expecting?

28:32

What are we expecting of the Lord? Even out of season, what do we expect from the Lord? What kind of promises do we live by?

28:41

What kind of promises do we live by? He has promised to save. He has given us a

28:47

Savior. Do we expect salvation? Do we expect forgiveness?

28:52

Do we expect cleansing? Do we expect that God brings us along and that He saves and He saves and He saves?

29:00

Is that our expectation of our Lord? And to further consider, that message does not ring as joyous to some as to others.

29:14

Why not? Well, Jesus gave that some thought. And in His ministry,

29:19

He pointed out that it was the sick who rejoiced in the great physician. It was the sinner who rejoiced in the arrival of the

29:29

Savior. And if you're wondering where some of your joy might have gone, not as present in this season as it has been, just remember, the more you recognize your need for a

29:44

Savior, the degree of your own sinfulness, the reality that I can't figure it out,

29:49

I can't solve it, I can't deliver myself, I have no answer for it, in and of my own energy, my own capacity, my own will,

29:56

I can't do it, the more that you look to Jesus Christ as your Savior, that you need that Savior, the more joy you're going to have this

30:03

Advent. God is purposed to save. There is certainly the need for salvation.

30:11

When you read any genealogy in the Bible, including the one here in Matthew 1, verses 1 through 17, you are struck by the passing of time and the passing of generations.

30:27

The famous one in Genesis chapter 5, each generation concludes with the refrain, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died.

30:38

Oh, we need a Savior. We need a Savior. It is appointed to man once to die, and after this, the judgment.

30:45

We need a Savior, and we need someone who is a Savior who holds the keys of death and Hades, who was dead and is alive forevermore, the one who is the resurrection and the life.

30:57

We need a Savior. This genealogy that we read in Matthew 1, verses 1 through 17, reminds us of the curse of death because of the sin at the beginning of the creation.

31:10

Also, we see a lineage in the storyline of Israel and how they suffered under covenantal curses.

31:19

We even read about the Babylonian exile. God promised, you don't keep covenant with me, I'm going to kick you out of your land.

31:25

We're reminded of the need of a Savior just in the genealogy because people are dying in this genealogy, and people were great sinners in this genealogy, and there was an exile in this genealogy.

31:37

Look at how many problems this one genealogy lists, but it all leads up to one name, the

31:43

Savior, Jesus. And not only do we need salvation from sin, which brings death, salvation from separation, which is emphasized by the exile in Matthew 1, but also when you read about the same situation in Luke, did you notice that the kingdom is a mess?

32:10

The throne of his father David will be given to him, and then he's going to reign. Well, who's on the throne now?

32:16

No one was on the throne. Nobody was occupying David's throne.

32:22

The whole nation was under the judgment of God because they were covenant breakers, and there was no king on the throne in Jerusalem except for an

32:30

Edomite by the name of Herod, right? Well, what about the promises to David about his lineage?

32:39

Well, the kingdom was a mess. Nobody was on the throne. What happened to the promises? Where's that lamp in Jerusalem that God promised would never go out?

32:47

How is that going to get solved? The throne is vacant, and the womb was barren.

32:53

Remember Elizabeth? I mean, she wanted to have children, couldn't have children.

33:01

Zacharias prayed for children, couldn't even believe it when God said, answered prayer.

33:09

The womb was barren, the throne was vacant, but look at what God did. Barren womb reminds us of creation being a mess.

33:18

The vacant throne reminds us of the kingdom being a mess, but notice who shows up. Both sorrows are undone.

33:25

As the first rays of the new creation signal the dawn, here comes the Savior, Jesus Christ. What is needed is, of course, deliverance, rescue from sins.

33:35

He will save His people from their sins. In which way? In every possible way.

33:42

It's not just in one or two specific ways that He saves His people from their sins, but He saves in every possible fashion

33:50

His people from their sins. From the guilt of it, from the power of it, from the enslavement of it, from the death of it, from the separation of it, even unto the very presence of it,

33:59

He will save us from our sins. We have a Savior who saves us in every possible way.

34:08

When His salvation undoes the exile, removes the curse, He bears the curse that we receive

34:16

His blessings. And we see grace upon Mary, favor upon Mary for being the mother of Christ, and glory guaranteed in the ceaseless reign of Jesus Christ upon the promised throne.

34:32

Grace and glory. What God promised to David by the prophet Nathan in 2

34:39

Samuel 7 -16 concerning the lineage of David, here we read in Matthew and in Luke, here's the fulfillment.

34:47

It's Jesus. Jesus is Nazareth. He's the one. He's the promised one, and He's going to reign forever, and there's no end to His kingdom.

34:54

His kingdom is not like the other kingdoms of the earth that are like in the shape of men who can get shattered and destroyed, not like a mountain that can be touched, that can be trembled and done away with, but no,

35:03

His kingdom is everlasting. It will never be destroyed. His power is from heaven, and that power of heaven is felt upon earth.

35:12

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. How could that all possibly be?

35:19

How could it be that the Virgin Mary would conceive a son who would fulfill all of these promises and receive this kingdom that has no...

35:32

How is that even possible that all of this could take place by the power and the presence of the

35:41

Holy Spirit? By the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now, this is so important to the truth of the virgin conception being vital to the gospel, being vital to the good news, that the

35:56

Holy Spirit, He brought this about. He's the one who did this miraculous thing, bringing life from Mary's womb in this way.

36:09

Do you remember... Okay, first verse in the Bible. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

36:16

Remember verse 2? The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the

36:25

Spirit hovered over the face of the waters. And you're on the edge of your seat, on the edge of your seat, and then everything starts happening.

36:35

But everything starts happening because the Father, by the Son, through the Spirit, creates.

36:43

God speaks the word, and the power of the Spirit brings it all to pass. The Spirit was hovering...

36:49

Where? Over the face of the waters. The word picture is that you see the mist and the water being stirred up by the power of an eagle's wings.

37:04

The Spirit hovering over the face of the waters. To do what?

37:10

To create, and create, and create, and to create. To bring life, to bring life, to bring life.

37:20

And once again, we have the

37:26

Holy Spirit hovering over the face of the deep.

37:32

In the darkness of Mary's womb, over these waters, the Holy Spirit hovers and brings life.

37:40

Brings life. What are we being told by this parallel to Genesis 1 -2?

37:47

That here in Matthew 1 and Luke 1, the Holy Spirit, once again, He's bringing life.

37:53

We're being told, Welcome to the new creation. Welcome to the new beginning.

37:59

Welcome to the fresh start. Jesus is being made by the power of the

38:06

Holy Spirit. We want to be even further grounded in this. Do you remember that when there needed to be a fresh start, when

38:15

God cleansed the face of the earth because of all the great sin, and Noah and his family were on the ark, and the waters had done their work, and Noah was wondering,

38:27

Are we ever getting out of here? What did he do? He sent out a raven. No good. He sends out a dove.

38:33

And the dove flew to and fro over the face of the waters.

38:41

Until such time, the dove arrived with an olive branch, which is why ever since,

38:46

Noah, this man of comfort, ever since, the dove and the olive branch have been symbols of peace.

38:53

Well, what happened at the crossing of the waters when John the

38:58

Baptist was baptizing Jesus of Nazareth? Who came to hover over the face of the waters in the form of a dove, saying,

39:09

Welcome to the new creation? It was the Holy Spirit, wasn't it? What are we looking at in the virgin conception of Jesus Christ other than this signal of God saying,

39:20

Behold, I make all things new. I make all things new.

39:28

And this, of course, leads us to think about God's person, God's person who saves.

39:33

As we read through Matthew 1 and Luke 1 and Luke 2, we encounter time and again the names of salvation, the names of salvation.

39:48

In Matthew 1 in verse 18, we read, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.

39:56

Verse 21, we read, She will bring forth a Son, and ye shall call His name Jesus. Jesus.

40:05

Luke 1 in verse 31, You shall call His name

40:10

Jesus. Why call His name

40:16

Jesus? Because it's pronounced Yeshua, meaning the

40:22

Lord saves. The Lord saves. That's a great name for the one who is going to come and do something new, a fresh thing.

40:32

Remember that Moses' successor was named Yeshua. Moses was succeeded by Joshua, better pronounced

40:41

Yeshua. And his name was changed from Hosea to Yeshua on purpose.

40:49

It's why the New Testament looks back and says, This was to fulfill the successor of Moses, the successor of the old covenant, the one who brings the new covenant, the one who leads you into the promised land of rest across that Jordan River into the land of Canaan, the one who does finally bring you into that full inheritance.

41:08

His name is Yeshua. He's the successor of Moses. He's the one who brings the succession of the old covenant into the new covenant and brings us all across into that promised land.

41:18

And where was He baptized? Where was Jesus of Nazareth baptized? But at the very location where Joshua crossed.

41:28

His name is Yeshua. And His title is Christ. He is the anointed one.

41:36

The Hebrew, Messiah, Christos in the Greek, the anointed one.

41:41

Who got anointed in the Old Testament? Prophets got anointed. Priests got anointed. Kings got anointed.

41:48

Well, what happens when somebody is all three at the same time? Prophet, priest, and king.

41:54

And not just prophet, priest, and king all at the same time, but that great prophet that was greater than Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy 18.

42:03

What if He's the great high priest of the order of Melchizedek that we read about in Genesis 14?

42:09

And He's the king of all kings who was promised of in Psalm 2 and Psalm 110.

42:16

He's all three, but He's the superlative of all three all at the same time. He's the anointed one.

42:22

The one that God has set aside to accomplish His purposes. He's Jesus.

42:28

He's Christ. He's Emmanuel. Like Isaiah 7 .14 says,

42:34

God with us. He undoes the separation. He undoes the exile.

42:40

He undoes the curse. Jerusalem fell in 586 B .C.

42:46

and the people were exiled out to Babylon. And even though they came home and never felt quite like home, there's no

42:51

Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. The temple is far smaller than it should be and nobody can attest to the priesthood very well.

42:57

There's no king on the throne. It doesn't really feel like we ever came back from exile. But the exile is way worse than that.

43:05

The exile started in Genesis 3. That's when the exile got started.

43:12

Adam and Eve sent away from the Garden of Eden. The cherubim with a flaming sword turning every which way to guard the path to the

43:18

Tree of Life. That's when our sins have made a separation between us and God. We are made in His image and as sinners we're cut off from the life of God and we must be brought back all the way to God and it is

43:31

Emmanuel who does that. God with us. And it's not something where He lays down the path of hardship that we must crawl up on our knees to make our way to heaven.

43:40

He has come down from heaven to us. God with us. Which is the prerequisite for us with God.

43:49

He loved us first that we might love Him back.

43:55

And He's the Son of David, isn't He? He's the Son of Mary and adopted in a sense.

44:02

Yes, He's the Son of Joseph. But therefore He's in the lineage of King David.

44:08

He's part of that royal lineage and thus He is the fulfillment of that promised Son of David. But not just, wow, look at that deep heritage and how neat that is that those things connect.

44:20

But it's the fulfillment of those promises that one from David's own heir would be an everlasting king.

44:33

Everlasting king. You know why an everlasting kingdom is so important to us? Because that means everlasting life.

44:41

Everlasting life. That's what that means. The fact that we're an everlasting kingdom means we have everlasting life. The kingdom won't fail.

44:47

The king won't fail so his kingdom won't fail. Therefore, those who are in the kingdom, we won't fall. We have everlasting life.

44:53

That's why that's important. And He's the Son of God. He's the Son of God. Luke 3 describes

45:02

Adam as the Son of God. Deuteronomy describes

45:08

Israel as the Son of God. But you know who the last

45:13

Adam is and you know who the fulfillment of Israel is, is Jesus of Nazareth who is the

45:19

Son of God. Whatever God required Adam to be, that's what

45:25

Jesus Christ is. Whatever God commanded of Israel to be in their role,

45:32

Jesus Christ has fulfilled. Jesus is all that Adam and Israel were ever supposed to be, but He's all that at the finish line.

45:40

All that at the finish line. And if we're in Him, then we are welcomed before the face of God.

45:47

And He's from Nazareth. Another name about salvation. He's from Nazareth. Why Nazareth?

45:53

Nasir in the Hebrew, branch. So He's the branch man from branch town. He's from Nazareth.

45:59

He's the promised branch that Isaiah spoke about more than once. And He is the

46:05

Savior who is Christ the Lord, we hear in Luke 2, the announcement of the angel. And He is the

46:10

Child. If you read Isaiah 7 -12, just count how many times you read about the

46:17

Child. Well, here is the Child. So time and again throughout Matthew 1 and Luke 1 and Luke 2 and even

46:24

Luke 3, the emphasis is that this virgin conception brings to us the man of God's own choosing, our

46:33

Savior, behold God's person who saves. Jesus put it into terms that Nathanael could understand when

46:50

He called Nathanael to be His disciple. Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile. That was very impressive to Nathanael.

46:58

And Jesus said, well, if you're impressed with that, you're going to see something else. You're going to see the angels ascending and descending upon the

47:04

Son of Man. What is He talking about? Jacob on the run from Esau at Bethel sees a vision of access to heaven, a very steep staircase, this kind of mountainous ascent into heaven, and the angels are ascending and descending upon this ladder.

47:29

Jesus tells Nathanael, I'm the ladder. I'm the one who bridges heaven and earth.

47:36

All the angels pay attention to me. They bring my message and do my bidding. God's person who saves. This is why the virgin conception leads us to hold fast to these truths, the divine nature of Jesus, the human nature of Jesus, fully divine, fully human, two natures in one person for us and for our salvation.

47:54

And all of this points to God's power to save, God's power to save.

48:01

The prideful despair of the sinner may be expressed in four words, all on my own.

48:10

A lot of songs written with that theme, but that is the prideful despair of the sinner, all on my own.

48:19

But every bitter claim of betrayal and abandonment and misunderstanding, all of the arrogance of every indoctrinated victim falls away before the grace of God and Jesus Christ.

48:30

You know what we should do? Throughout Matthew 1 and Luke 1 and Luke 2, do you know what the action verbs are time and again?

48:38

This is what we ought to do this season. Two things. Behold and rejoice.

48:46

Can we do that? Take the time to behold and then to rejoice. Behold our

48:52

Savior. Behold the good news. Behold the miracle of the virgin conception. Behold our

48:57

Savior and rejoice. Rejoice in Him. Let's close in prayer.

49:04

Father, we thank You for the time that You've given to us. I pray that You indeed would help us to behold the glories of Jesus Christ and to rejoice in the salvation that You bring.

49:15

Thank You for giving to us this child, Your only begotten

49:21

Son, for us and for our salvation. We pray all of these things looking only to our

49:30

Savior Jesus Christ. It's in His name that we pray. Amen.