Sermon

He Will Be Great

December 7, 2014 Christ the King Church Sermons

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400 years of silence broken.
God began to speak again.
Through the angel Gabriel.
Gabriel visited and revealed to Zechariah
that he and his wife in their old age in barrenness
were to conceive a son and the son's name would be John.
And John would be the forerunner of the long-awaited Messiah.
The King of kings and the Lord of lords.
The deliverer of God's people.
400 years of silence.
But God was at work.
Bringing about His eternal plan for the salvation of mankind.
This morning we're going to look at Luke 1.
Verses 26-38.
It's the historic account of God sending the angel Gabriel
to a teenaged peasant girl.
A virgin living in a good-for-nothing place called Nazareth.
It was Nathaniel in John 1 who said,
can anything good come from Nazareth?
God had given Gabriel the task of telling
this teenaged virgin girl, Mary,
that she would conceive and give birth to a boy
destined for greatness.
If you look at Luke 1.
Verse 32.
Out of the lips of Gabriel,
we read this of this baby.
He will be great.
This baby is no other than Emmanuel.
God with us.
The King of kings and the Lord of lords.
And this morning we're going to look
at the miraculous conception of our glorious King.
The incarnating of the second person of the Trinity.
It's amazing.
The incarnation of the second person of the Trinity
is not about God becoming cute and cuddly.
Though I'm sure He was cute and cuddly.
The incarnation,
this miraculous conception of God becoming a man,
taking on flesh,
it's all about fulfillment.
The long-anticipated rival of the Messiah King.
The King of kings and the Lord of lords.
This baby was destined for greatness
because He's the greatest.
So if you're looking at Luke 1,
let me read through verses 26-38.
In the sixth month,
the angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a city of Galilee named Nazareth
to a virgin betrothed to a man
whose name was Joseph of the house of David.
And the virgin's name was Mary.
And he came to her and said,
Greetings, O favored one!
The Lord is with you!
But she was greatly troubled at the saying
and tried to discern
what sort of greeting this might be.
And 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 bear a son
and you shall call His name Jesus.
He will be great
and will be called the Son of the Most High.
And the Lord God will give to Him
the throne of His father David.
And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
And of His kingdom,
there will be no end.
And Mary said to the angel,
How will this be since I am a virgin?
And the angel answered her,
The Holy Spirit will come upon you
and the power of the Most High
will overshadow you.
Therefore, the child to be born
will be called Holy,
the Son of God.
And behold, your relative Elizabeth
in her old age
has also conceived a son.
And this is the sixth month
with her who has been called barren.
For nothing will be impossible
with God.
And Mary said,
Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.
Let it be to me according to your word.
And the angel departed from her.
This baby,
miraculously conceived
in the virgin's womb,
he was destined for greatness.
This morning,
I just want to ask you a quick question.
Are you amazed at his greatness?
His miraculous conception
points to his greatness.
So let's do this.
Let's walk through this passage again.
But let me give you a little bit more detail.
In verses 26 and 27,
they set up the historic conversation
between the angel Gabriel
in this virgin Mary.
And as I mentioned earlier,
Gabriel was the same angel
that God had sent to Zechariah.
Gabriel was breaking the 400 years of silence.
And he was announcing
the coming of the long-awaited king,
the Messiah.
Now it's important to notice
where this scene is taking place.
It's taking place in Nazareth.
And Nazareth didn't have
the best reputation.
It would have been considered
a backwater town.
No one would have guessed
the king of kings
and the lords of lords
would have been conceived there.
Now in a couple weeks,
we'll look at how
Mary and this baby
get from Nazareth to Bethlehem,
which is 70 miles due south.
But what you need to know here
is this is taking place in Nazareth.
Not a prestigious town.
Our Savior was conceived
in very humble beginnings.
Which brings us to this
humble peasant girl, Mary.
She was probably between the ages
of 12 and 14, scholars say.
And in verse 27,
we learn a couple things about Mary.
She was a virgin.
It's repeated twice
in verse 27
and once again in verse 34.
There's emphasis here.
God wants us to know
that this young woman
has not known a man sexually.
Verse 34 literally reads this.
Mary asking the question,
how will this be
since I have not known a man?
Luke is emphasizing
Mary's virginity.
And the question is why?
Well, there are two important reasons.
The first one is this.
No man on earth
could claim
that this baby
that was to be conceived in her
was his own.
It's that simple.
And the second reason
is one of fulfillment.
This was the fulfillment
of a prophetic sign
way back in Isaiah 7.14
spoken 700 years earlier.
Isaiah 7.14 reads this.
Therefore, the Lord Himself
will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin
shall conceive
and bear a son
and His name shall be called
Emmanuel.
Emmanuel.
What Luke is helping us here,
he's helping us
make a connection.
That this Mary
is the virgin
that Isaiah spoke of
700 years earlier.
What we need to see
happening here is this.
God's plan
for the fullness of time
is being worked out.
God is fulfilling His word.
God is bringing salvation
to mankind.
God is trying to find.
He's been at work
over these 400 years
of silence.
We also learn
that Mary was betrothed
to a guy named Joseph.
Now at that time,
getting Mary involved
two steps,
kind of like our
two steps nowadays.
The first step back then
was called betrothal
and it was a legally
binding commitment
between a man
and a woman.
The second step
was marriage
where a man and woman
actually came together
and consummated
their union.
Like I said,
it's kind of similar
to what we experience today.
A man and woman
becoming engaged
and then getting married.
But unlike today,
betrothal in the first century,
that first step,
was legally binding.
And so to break off
a betrothal
required a legal divorce.
That's what's happening
when we read
Matthew chapter 1

Matthew 1 chapter mention
when Joseph learns
that Mary was pregnant.
How about that
for some drama?
He assumes another man
had gotten Mary pregnant
and he's going to
divorce her quietly.
The situation was such
that it required
an angel of the Lord,
I'm guessing Gabriel,
to appear to Joseph
and to explain to him
that the child
in Mary's womb
was conceived
by the Holy Spirit
in fulfillment
of Isaiah 7.14.
And the angel said,
you've got to take her
as your wife.
And Joseph did.
He believed
and he obeyed.
So Mary was
a young,
teenaged virgin,
betrothed to Joseph,
living in the good-for-nothing
town of Nazareth
when Gabriel
appears to her
and in verse 28
we read the greeting.
Greetings,
O favored one,
the Lord is with you.
Now mind you,
there was no warning
of this.
Maybe a more accurate
rendering would be
rejoice,
O favored one,
the Lord is with you.
Gabriel is bringing
good news.
It's like he's saying,
Mary,
in God's great purposes,
you are the virgin
of Isaiah 7.14.
Rejoice,
O favored one.
It's Mary
who will conceive
and give birth
to Emmanuel,
God with us.
Think about this.
when God inspired Isaiah
to speak
the words recorded,
Isaiah 7.14,
God knew
who he had in mind.
God knew
this Mary
700 years earlier.
She's not a random choice.
What's happening here
is the outworking
of God's eternal plan.
And it helps us
to understand
what Gabriel means
when he calls Mary,
O favored one.
She has been chosen
by God
to fulfill
Isaiah 7.14.
Gabriel also tells Mary,
God is with you.
What a promise.
Very timely.
Because
what Mary
is going to go through,
she's going to need
that promise.
Well,
verse 27,
we see Mary's response.
She's troubled.
Literally,
she's confused.
She's confused
at what Gabriel
has just said to her.
Maybe
she's in the presence
of an angel.
We're not told
what he looks like.
Was he kind of
levitating off the ground
a little bit?
To what degree
was he glowing?
How did she know?
Maybe she was
overwhelmed by that.
It does seem clear,
though,
that she was also
overwhelmed
by the words
that seemed
to be coming
out of nowhere.
her.
Rejoice,
O favored one.
God is with you.
What was she doing
when she was interrupted?
It's probably
all of the above.
An angel speaking
to you
would be
somewhat troubling.
him.
But we see something
here about Mary
that clues us
into why God
had chosen her.
She,
tried to discern
what sort of
greeting this might be.
she was thoughtful
about it.
She didn't freak out.
She didn't turn around
and run.
She was thoughtful.
What does this mean?
Gabriel sees her
trying to make sense
of what's going on here
and so he speaks again.
Verse 30,
Don't be afraid,
Mary,
for you have found
favor with God.
It's like Gabriel
saying,
Mary,
everything's cool.
God has chosen you
among all women
for a great privilege.
What is God
going to do?
Look at verse 31.
And behold,
you will conceive
in your womb
and bear a son
and you shall call
his name
Jesus.
Does that echo
of anything
in your mind?
It should echo
of the passage
I read earlier.
should echo
of Isaiah 7.14.
Therefore,
the Lord himself
will give you a sign.
Behold,
the virgin
shall conceive
and bear a son
and shall call
his name
Emmanuel.
The angel says here,
and behold,
you,
the virgin,
will conceive
in your womb
and bear a son
and you shall call
his name
what are you waiting
for?
Isaiah 7.14
would say
Emmanuel.
The angel
says Jesus.
It's purposeful.
What's the intended
effect?
If you knew
Isaiah 7.14
you would be thinking
Jesus is Emmanuel.
Emmanuel is Jesus.
Jesus.
Jesus is God
with us.
Now Jesus
was a common name
back in the day.
In our rendering,
it's a rendering,
Jesus is English
for a Hebrew word
Yeshua,
which actually
means Joshua
and it actually
means Savior.
and behold,
you Mary,
the virgin,
will conceive
in your womb
and bear a son
and you shall
call his name
Savior
who is our Emmanuel,
God with us.
It's packed.
Packed.
Mary's being told
she's to be
the mother
of the Messiah,
Emmanuel,
God with us
and his name
is Jesus.
No other woman
on the face
of this planet
can claim
that honor.
We don't worship
her because of that,
but we do bless
her because of that.
We do honor her
because of that.
Gabriel continues
in verse 32,
He will be great.
This woman born to you,
He will be great.
This Jesus born to you,
He is destined
for greatness
because He is
the greatest.
He, Jesus,
will be called
the Son of the Most High.
He will be conceived
by God Himself.
This gets
at the deep end
of the pool.
You see,
Jesus
had two natures.
He was simultaneously
fully God
and fully man.
two distinct natures
in one person.
He remains so today.
Remember,
He lived a life,
died on the cross,
was raised from the dead,
and then He ascended
to the right hand
of God bodily
and where He is
right now.
Fully God,
fully man,
interceding for His own.
Son of the Most High.
And the Lord God
will give to Him
the throne of His father,
David.
This is the fulfillment
of a promise
God made to King David
way back in 2 Samuel 7.
God promises to King David
He will establish
David's throne forever.
There will always be
a descendant of David
on David's throne.
Jesus is that descendant
of David.
David.
The throne represents
kingship.
God is saying
this child in Mary's womb
is the long-awaited
descendant of David
who will sit upon
the throne.
And by the way,
He's fully God
and fully man.
Emmanuel.
He is the forever king.
And He will reign over
the house of Jacob
forever.
God is giving this child
conceived in Mary's womb
to be king
and He's going to reign.
He's going to exercise
authority over the house
of Jacob.
He is Israel's long-awaited
Messiah.
The long-awaited King
of Israel.
He is their Messiah
who will reign forever
and by God's grace,
He is our Messiah.
He is king of both Jews
and Gentiles.
He's the king of kings
and the Lord of lords.
He's Lord of all.
Our forever king
who will reign forever
and of His kingdom
there will be no end.
Nations rise
and nations fall
but not the kingdom
of Emmanuel.
The kingdom of God
has no end
as Christians.
We've been transferred
from the domain
of darkness
into the kingdom
of God's beloved son
King Jesus.
A kingdom expanding
and everlasting.
It's expanding
in this city.
He is our forever king
whose reign is forever
and He reigns over
an everlasting kingdom.
kingdom.
That's the one
who's in the womb.
He will be great.
This baby conceived
was destined
for greatness
because He is greatness.
He is our forever king
who will exercise
a forever reign
on David's throne
over an everlasting kingdom.
It's as if Gabriel
is saying to this virgin,
Mary, the child
in your womb
is the one
who fulfills
God's forever plan.
He's the forever king.
He will be great.
What do you think
about them apples, Mary?
Verse 34,
Mary responds in faith
but she has a very
pragmatic question.
Her question is
a how question.
A how question
born of faith.
Now, Zachariah
earlier on
asked a how question.
When the angel Gabriel
told him
that his wife
was going to have
a son,
he was like,
how's that going to happen?
Show me.
Prove it to me.
And the angel did.
He inflicted mutinous
on Zachariah
for nine months.
It was quite the sign.
Mary doesn't demand
an explanation.
She humbly asks
for help
to understand.
Mary isn't the only one
who needs help
in understanding
what happened
in her womb.
We need help.
It's hard for us
to understand
how a child
can be conceived
in a virgin's womb
without a man involved.
Conception
typically doesn't happen
that way.
God's ways
are higher
than our ways.
in verse 35,
Gabriel helps
Mary
and us
understand
how this child
will be conceived
in the virgin's womb.
and he brings us
once again
into the deep end
of the pool.
He says this,
the Holy Spirit
will come upon you
and the Most High
will overshadow you.
Therefore,
the child to be born
will be called
holy,
the Son of God.
Gabriel doesn't give
Mary a biological answer.
Gabriel gives Mary
a theological answer.
The conception
of Jesus
in the virgin womb
of Mary
was a miraculous
display
of the triune
God's powerful presence.
You see him?
Do you see
this triune God
there in verse 35?
The Holy Spirit
will come upon you
and the Most High
will overshadow you.
There he is,
the Son of God.
Three persons
of the Trinity.
They're all there.
The Father,
the first person
of the Trinity,
God Most High
overshadows Mary.
There's no hint
in this text
of sexual overtones.
It's the same word
that describes,
this word overshadow,
describes God's presence
that overshadowed
the Mount of Transfiguration.
God's presence manifest.
Out of which God says,
this is my beloved Son
of whom I'm well pleased.
The third person
of the Trinity,
the Holy Spirit,
was the one
who actually caused
the second person
of the Trinity
to be conceived
in the virgin's womb.
This is big stuff,
isn't it?
Now what we need
to understand is this.
The second person
of the Trinity
has eternally existed
before his incarnation.
Jesus wasn't created.
The second person
of the Trinity
wasn't created
at the incarnation.
The second person
of the Trinity
eternally existed
before the incarnation
and then as a work
of the triune God.
He was incarnated.
He took on human flesh.
Fully God,
fully man.
Two distinct natures
in one person.
What's so unique
about this point
in the history
of redemption
is that the eternal
Son of God,
the second person
of the Trinity,
permanently
takes on
human flesh.
It's amazing.
For that to happen
required a coordinated
miracle of the triune God.
This Jesus,
He will be great.
The second person
of the Trinity
miraculously conceived
in the womb of Mary
as a man.
Fully God.
Fully man.
Man,
this is not only miraculous,
it's mysterious.
This is hard
to keep together,
isn't it?
This is beyond us.
It's the glory
of our King.
What we see here
in verse 35
is all three members
of the Trinity
involved in the
miraculous conception
of Jesus and Mary's womb.
The miraculous conception
is a triune miracle.
This is all part
of the plan
of God's
eternal plan
for the salvation
of mankind.
In verses 36
and 37,
Gabriel goes on
to assure Mary
of God's ability
to pull this miracle off.
And the way he does it,
he says,
hey,
I've already been doing
this kind of stuff.
Your relative,
Elizabeth,
she's conceived
six months ago.
It's already happening.
I'm capable
of this kind of thing.
Do you remember
Gabriel's first words
to Mary?
Rejoice,
O favored one.
God is with you.
What a promise.
Great assurance.
And the final words
of Gabriel
here in this text
to Mary is this,
for nothing will be
impossible with God.
Opening the womb
of an old,
barren woman
is well within
God's omnipotence.
Incarnating the Savior
of the world,
Jesus,
fully God
and fully man
in a virgin's womb
is also
well within
God's power.
What's impossible,
humanly speaking,
a virgin conceiving
a child without a man
is more than possible
for God.
His ways are far
beyond our ways.
God's love
is the Lord.
This scene
ends in verse 38.
Mary takes it all in
and says,
I am the Lord.
I am the servant
of the Lord.
Let it be to me
according to your word.
In other words,
Amen!
Amen.
It's a humble
and believing response.
She sees herself
rightly
in relationship
to God.
She will serve
in the capacity
God has called her to.
That humility
is further demonstrated
in her trusting
in the words
of the angel
Gabriel
who was sent
from God.
She is trusting
that these words
are true
and must be obeyed.
Not only is she
to be the mother
of Jesus,
she's becoming
a disciple
of Jesus.
this woman
who will be
at the birth
of Jesus
will also be
present at His death.
She will become
one of His followers.
So what is this
passage all about?
It's all about
the greatness
of the One
who was miraculously
conceived
in Mary's
virgin womb.
It's all about Him.
It's all about Christ.
Christ.
Gabriel said it
in verse whatever.
He will be great.
He was destined
for greatness
because He is
the greatest.
So here's this.
Four things
to walk away
with this morning.
Four things
to walk away
and be amazed by.
To savor
this Christmas season.
First is this.
The conception
of Jesus
in the virgin
womb of Mary
was a great
fulfillment.
fulfillment.
It's the fulfillment
of Isaiah 7.14.
Behold,
the virgin
shall conceive
a child
and bear a son.
They should call
His name Emmanuel.
The great fulfillment
is part of God's
great plan of salvation
for sinners
like me and you.
Emmanuel
is Jesus.
Our Savior.
Our God
became flesh
in order to
save sinners.
It's an amazing
fulfillment.
fulfillment.
Are you amazed
that your God
would take on
flesh
in order
to rescue you?
Are you amazed?
The second thing,
the conception
of Jesus
in the virgin's
womb
was a great
miracle.
It's not
humanly possible.
but what is
impossible
for man
is possible
for the
triune God.
The miraculous
conception
of Emmanuel
was a
coordinated
miracle
of the
triune God.
It was all
according to
His plan.
It's an amazing
miracle
and it's essential
to our faith.
Are you amazed
by that miracle?
Do you realize
what happened?
It's amazing.
Nothing is
impossible
for God.
Third,
the conception
of Jesus
in Mary's
womb
is a great
mystery.
How can
God become
flesh?
How does
the eternally
existing
second person
of the Trinity
take on
human flesh
without ceasing
to be either
fully God
or fully man?
It's an amazing
mystery
and it's
our God.
It's our King.
It's our Savior.
That's who He is.
He is.
It's glorious.
There's no one
like Him.
He is the only
theanthropic
one.
Fully God,
fully man.
One person.
And as the only
one who is
fully God
and fully man,
He's the only
mediator
between God
and man.
No one
can be saved
apart from Him.
God became
one of us
in order to
save us.
Are you
amazed?
Fourth,
the baby
conceived in
the virgin's
womb
is the
great
forever
King.
And He
calls you
to wholehearted
humble
obedience.
Your response
to Jesus
is to be
the same
of His
mother's.
Behold,
I am the
servant of
the Lord.
Let it be
to me
according to
your word.
Have you
bowed your
knee in
wholehearted,
humble
obedience to
King Jesus?
He is the
great King of
kings and
Lord of
lords.
And those
who bowed
their knee
to Him
and Him
alone,
you know
what they
find?
Forgiveness
of all their
sins.
Freedom
from
captivity.
Joy
unceasing.
Blessing
upon blessing
upon blessing.
The opening
words of
Mary's
magnificat
will be
yours
if you
bow your
knee.
My soul
magnifies
the Lord
and my
spirit
rejoices
in God
my Savior.
Our
conclusion
this morning?
The 400
years of
silence
had been
broken.
The baby
born of
the Virgin
Mary,
he will
be great.
He is
great.
He is
alive and
he is
reigning and
he is
expanding his
everlasting
kingdom.
He is
our great
Savior,
our great
King.
He is
our great
Emmanuel.
And my
prayer for
you is
that his
greatness
would be
the joy
of your
Christmas.
Let's
pray.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Great
triune
God,
we stand
amazed
at what
you did
2,000
years ago.
This is
beyond us.
We recognize
your ways
are not
our ways,
but what
we can
see,
we say
glory to
God in
the highest.
There's
no one
like you.
King
Jesus,
we gladly
bow our
knee,
for we
delight in
you.
We
delight in you.
You are
our
Emmanuel.
In Jesus'
name we
pray,
Amen.