The Birth of the God-King

Good morning, everyone.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sean,

and I am one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church,

and it's my joy and privilege to preach God's word to you this morning.

If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We'd love to give you a copy that you can use.

You could use it while you're here.

You could take it home with you.

Got one for Kevin over here.

Thank you, Elena.

And please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

Matthew is the first book in the New Testament,

first of the four Gospels, which are really kind of biographies of Jesus.

His life, his birth, his life, his death, and this Christmas,

this Advent season, we're particularly remembering his birth.

So please turn with you to Matthew 1, verses 18 to 25.

Matthew 1:18–25

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father, we come to your word with the conviction

that every word of Scripture points to

and is fulfilled by your Son, Jesus Christ.

How much more so than this passage, which is about his birth.

So we ask that you would exalt the name of your Son, Jesus Christ,

that you'd reveal his mercy, his compassion, his grace to us,

so that through him all glory may redound to you, God our Father.

Father, we are your people.

To whom can we turn?

But to you, you have the words of eternal life.

So speak those words to us now, in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you are able, please stand as I read from God's word

in honor of God who has given this word to us.

Matthew 1, starting in verse 18, going to the end of the chapter.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

When his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph,

before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And her husband, Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame,

resolved to divorce her quietly.

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,

saying,

Joseph, son of David,

do not fear to take Mary as your wife,

for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son,

and you shall call his name Jesus,

for he will save his people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Emmanuel,

which means God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep,

he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.

He took his wife,

but knew her not until she had given birth to a son.

And he called his name Jesus.

This is God's holy, authoritative word.

You may be seated.

When Adam first sinned in Genesis 3,

all of us and all of humanity sinned in Adam

because Adam was the firstborn of all humans,

and therefore the representative head of the entire human family.

That's why Romans 5.12 says that sin came into the world through one man,

namely Adam,

and death through sin,

and so death spread to all.

Because it was man that sinned,

it also must be man that pays the price for sin.

Only a human being can represent humanity.

So already in Genesis 3.15,

what we call maybe the first revelation of the gospel,

God says to Satan, the serpent,

I will put enmity between you and the woman

and between your offspring and her offspring.

He shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.

It must be the offspring of the woman,

a man, a human,

that must represent humanity

and do battle with the serpent.

The Christ, the Messiah,

that will save God's people,

therefore must be someone who partakes in human flesh and blood.

But what man descended of Adam will do this?

What man can do this?

Psalm 49, verses 7 to 8 clearly teaches us,

Psalms 49:7–8

Truly, no man can ransom another

or give to God the price of his life,

for the ransom of their life is costly

and can never suffice.

No human being, he says,

can afford to redeem another human being from death.

Why?

Because the wages of sin is death,

and the price of a person's life

is therefore too high

for another man to bear.

In Ezekiel 14, 14,

God says that when a land sins against him

and by acting faithlessly to him,

even if these three men,

with the reputation of being perhaps

the most righteous people,

recorded in scripture,

Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it,

it says, God says,

even if these three men,

Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it,

they would deliver but their own lives

by their righteousness.

God said of Noah in Genesis 6, 9,

Noah was a righteous man,

blameless in his generation.

Noah walked with God.

In Daniel 6, 4,

it tells us that Babylonian satraps

sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel,

but they could find no ground for complaint

or any fault because he was faithful

and no error or fault was found in him.

And similarly, God says of Job,

in Job 1a,

there is none like him on all the earth,

a blameless and upright man

who fears God and turns away from evil.

So obviously they're still humans

and so they're still sinful,

but according to human standards,

they're the cream of the crop,

righteous, blameless,

by all relative human standards.

And yet, even if those three men

were to stand before God,

to intercede before him for our sins,

they could not redeem a single person

because they cannot afford the price.

And that's a big problem.

But in Matthew 1, 18 to 25,

we find God's elegant solution to this problem.

Jesus the Christ,

the messianic king,

the prophesied king,

is the God king.

He is the God man.

He is fully man and fully God

and so that he can save all of us from our sins.

That's the main point of this passage.

We're going to look first at the humanity of the Christ.

Secondly, the divinity of the Christ.

And finally, we'll look at the salvation of the Christ.

Matthew writes in verse 18, 19,

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,

before they came together,

she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man

and unwilling to put her to shame,

resolved to divorce her quietly.

We're given several crucial details here.

Mary was betrothed to Joseph.

That means she was engaged,

formally engaged to be married to him.

They had not yet had their wedding

and they had not yet physically consummated their marriage

for that reason through sexual intercourse.

That's why he says it's before they came together.

But nonetheless, Mary was found to be with child.

Meaning she was showing pregnant.

We know from Luke 1, 56,

that Mary, after conceiving Jesus,

goes to Elizabeth to stay with her, her cousin,

because Elizabeth knows of her pregnancy,

that it is from the Holy Spirit.

And so she kind of takes refuge with her.

And it says that she stays with her for three months,

Luke 1, 5, 156.

And three months is about how long it takes

before a woman starts to show the baby bump.

And after that three months, she comes home

and then she's found out.

But there was no sexual infidelity

or promiscuity on her part.

We're told that she's witchcraft from the Holy Spirit.

So this is a virgin conception.

Mary conceived Jesus miraculously by the power of God

while remaining a virgin.

And I'll talk more about that later.

But for now, I want us to think about

the troubling implications of a virgin conception.

What are people going to say?

No, really.

I never slept with any man.

Listen, this baby is from the Holy Spirit.

How do you know that?

I had a dream.

I had a dream.

Yeah, right, Mary.

Tell me, who's the man?

Fess up.

There will be suspicions of infidelity her entire life.

Jesus would be considered an illegitimate child by many.

So much is implied in John 8

when the Jews falsely accused Jesus of being a Samaritan.

Even though Joseph, his adopted father,

is not Samaritan, clearly.

They accuse him of Samaritan,

which means they're accusing him

of being an illegitimate child.

And they say to him,

we were not born of sexual immorality.

We have one father, even God.

It's hard for Mary.

Try also being in Joseph's shoes.

Here is a woman that he loves,

that he has pledged his troth to,

saying, I love you and no other,

and I'm going to marry you,

and I'm going to provide for you

and protect you for the rest of my life.

That woman that he cherishes,

that he wants to spend the rest of his life with,

before their wedding day,

before they can enjoy conjugal relations,

is pregnant.

Things that would go through a man's mind in that situation.

The betrayal.

The lack of trust.

And according to Old Testament law,

Deuteronomy 22,

a woman who was discovered not to be a virgin,

who had been unfaithful before the time of her wedding,

there was capital punishment for that.

That's how seriously God takes the marriage union.

The Jews couldn't enforce that penalty in the first century

because they were under Roman rule,

but that goes to show how grave this sin is.

And at this point,

even though they can't execute the capital punishment,

it's still an honor and shame culture.

And the exposure of Mary's pregnancy

would have brought endless shame to Joseph,

and so he really has two options to save face.

First option is to conceal Mary's pregnancy

and become her accomplice.

Maybe they hasten their wedding days

to allay some suspicions,

and they hide the baby for a little bit

and act like this is his child.

Or, this would have been the more likely option,

the most common option in a situation like this,

he could expose Mary's infidelity

and publicly bring shame in public divorce trial.

To say, I had nothing to do with this.

It was all her.

That would save his face,

help him to get out of this quandary.

But Joseph opts for neither of these.

It says in verse 19,

her husband Joseph, being a just man

and unwilling to put her to shame,

resolved to divorce her quietly.

The word just is the same word

that's translated often as righteous.

It doesn't mean merciful or considerate.

It means that Joseph was careful

in keeping the Old Testament law.

He was a righteous man.

And because Joseph is a righteous and just man,

he cannot marry someone who has been unfaithful,

an adulterous woman.

He must divorce her.

So that's what he decides to do.

I'm gonna divorce her.

However, Joseph is also a merciful man.

And he says he is unwilling to put her to shame.

So he resolved, instead of divorcing her publicly,

to divorce her quietly.

The New International Version,

which is an alternate translation,

brings out the meaning of this more clearly

in there, verse 19.

It says,

Because Joseph, her husband,

was faithful to the law

and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace,

he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

That's the idea.

And some of you might be wondering,

well, if they were only engaged,

why does he have to divorce her?

Betrothal in those days

was a much more serious and formal affair

than nowadays.

Nowadays, people break off engagements fairly commonly.

However, in those days,

engagement is a formalized thing

where you exchange the bride price.

The man would give the bride price,

which is basically the woman's inheritance.

And if he should be unfaithful to her

and divorce her,

then she has something that she can take with her

to provide for herself.

And so they would exchange that already

at the engagement.

And from that point on,

they were bound to consider

to be legally bound to one another.

And they were referred to as husband and wife.

And so breaking off the engagement

at that stage was considered divorce,

which is why Joseph resolves to divorce her.

But that's a problem here too,

because he can't divorce her.

If you remember why,

remember from Jesus' genealogy last week,

Matthew 1.16 says,

Jacob, the father of Joseph,

the husband of Mary,

of whom Jesus was born,

who is called Christ.

In order for Jesus to be the Christ,

the prophesied messianic king

descended from King David,

he has to trace his line to King David.

And his line to King David

is traced not through Mary,

but through Joseph.

Joseph has to take him as his child.

Jesus' messianic kingship depends on it.

And so the angel of the Lord intervenes

in verse 20 and 21.

Notice how the angel addresses Joseph.

Joseph, son of David.

This is why this is important.

Joseph, son of David,

do not fear to take Mary as your wife,

for that which is conceived in her

is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son,

and you shall call his name Jesus,

for he will save his people from their sins.

It was the legal responsibility

of the father in those days

to name the child.

And by naming the child,

you lay claim on that child

and acknowledge that child as your heir.

And that's the idea behind Isaiah 43.1,

when God says to Israel, his people,

and consequently to us,

who are part of the new Israel in Jesus,

I have called you by name.

You are mine.

God's called his people by name.

We are his, his heirs.

And the angel addresses Joseph,

son of David,

to tell us what is at stake

and tells him,

despite his reservations,

to take Mary as his wife

and to adopt her son

and name him Jesus.

Verses 24 to 25 tell us

that Joseph obeyed the angel's commands.

It says,

when Joseph woke from sleep,

he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.

He took his wife,

but knew her not

until she had given birth to a son.

And he called his name Jesus.

It's Jesus because of,

because Joseph takes Mary as his wife

and adopts Jesus.

He becomes a son of David through him.

And this is amazing to me

that God uses Mary and Joseph,

who are mere humans,

for such a grand, glorious,

historic, significant event

as the incarnation,

the birth and lineage of the Messiah.

Can you imagine if Joseph,

after the angel came to him and said,

no way, angel of the Lord.

No.

I come from a respectable family.

Do you know I'm descendant of David?

King David?

I can't take her as my wife.

The endless shame.

Disgrace.

By every appearance,

she's guilty of fornication and adultery.

Can you imagine

if Mary said to angel Gabriel,

no way,

a pregnancy?

Right now?

I'm a virgin.

I'm not even married yet fully.

You think Joseph's going to take me

when I'm pregnant?

This is going to ruin

my prospects for marriage.

Not just that.

It's going to ruin the rest of my life

after I get abandoned by him.

Who's going to take me now?

Salvation history

hangs in the balance

of this faithful man

and this faithful woman.

Why would God take such a risk?

Of course,

in one sense,

it's not a risk at all

because the outcome is secure

because God is sovereign

and he's in full control

over all of human history

and every human decision.

But still,

God did not have to use

Joseph and Mary.

In Acts 17.25,

it says that God is not

served by human hands

as though he needed anything

since he himself

gives to all mankind life,

breath,

and everything.

God doesn't need us

for anything.

He's not served

by human hands.

We're the ones

who need him

for everything.

God does not need

to use Joseph

and Mary.

Yet he uses,

and this is God's

mode of operation,

he uses fallible

human beings

to accomplish

his infallible

divine purposes.

And that's amazing.

So many of you,

and I'm so grateful

for you,

that so many of you

are involved

in serving our church

in various ways.

So many of you

are involved

even outside of that

in campus ministry

and various missions

organizations.

Don't ever think

that you are doing

God a favor.

you're not doing

something that he needs.

He's doing you

a favor,

involving you

in his plan,

his great purposes.

How is it?

How is it?

And I don't understand

this.

How is it that we,

people like us,

how is it that we

get to partake

in God's saving

purposes

throughout the world

by proclaiming

the gospel

of Jesus Christ

and making disciples

of Jesus Christ?

How can it be

that we

get to be a part

of that?

And how can it be?

This is biased

to all of you

in different sense,

but how can it be

that I

get to stand here

and expound

God's word

and preach to you

week after week?

That's a privilege.

We can't take that

for granted.

it's God's grace

to involve us.

And let's also

appreciate the

gritty humanity

of Jesus'

birth.

Look at,

he was conceived

by the Holy Spirit,

yes,

but he really is born

of the Virgin Mary.

She is called

his mother

in this chapter.

Matthew 1.16

says that Joseph,

the husband of Mary,

of whom Jesus was born.

Jesus was born

as an offspring

of the woman.

Like all of us

in this room,

Jesus has a real

human genealogy

traced through

his adopted father,

Joseph.

Jesus had

a human

upbringing.

thinking,

I want to note

here that there

is no mention

of a

Catholic doctrine

of immaculate

conception,

claiming that

Mary was born

without original sin

and never sinned

personally.

Mary was not

sinless.

Jesus is the only

sinless human.

In fact,

the claim that

Mary was sinless

and that only

a sinless woman

could give birth

to Jesus

runs in the face

of Jesus'

checkered genealogy,

which we looked at

last week.

Jesus embraces

humanity in all

of its sinfulness

to raise them

up to him.

We saw in

Jesus'

genealogy

that his

ancestors were

guilty of incest,

murder,

adultery,

idolatry,

child sacrifice,

and even

prostitution.

Jesus himself

was without sin,

yes,

but he,

nonetheless,

in his person

embraces the

whole of humanity

with all of

its sordid

and sinful

history.

There's also

no hint

in this text

of the doctrine

of Mary's

perpetual virginity,

that Mary

remained a virgin

for the rest

of her life.

That's nowhere

in Scripture.

Verse 25

does not say

that Joseph

never slept

with Mary,

ever.

It says

Joseph knew

Mary not

until she

had given

birth to a son,

which implies

that after

she gave

birth to Jesus,

they assumed

normal,

conjugal relations

like any

married couple.

people.

That's why

later on

in chapter 13,

verse 55 and 56,

Matthew notes

that Jesus

has brothers

and sisters,

and these

are not

referring to

spiritual brothers

and sisters

within the family

of God,

because in

John 2,

12,

it mentions

Jesus'

disciples

separate from

his brothers

and his

siblings.

Jesus had

human parents,

Jesus had

human siblings,

Jesus had

a human

upbringing

because Jesus

was fully

human.

And think

about when

the incarnation

actually began.

When did

God take

on human

flesh?

The incarnation

did not begin

with the birth.

It began

with conception.

conception.

God could

have,

imagine what

that would

have been

like,

God could

have sent

Jesus down

as an

adult.

He could

have written

the cloud

down just

like he

went up

to the

heavens.

He could

have written

the cloud

down in

adult form

and say,

here I am.

But instead,

Jesus was

conceived in

Mary's womb.

Jesus was

a human

embryo.

A pre-born

child who

went through

all of the

gestational

stages.

From the

cradle to

the grave,

from the

manger to

the cross,

Jesus embraced

human life

in its

entirety.

from

conception

to death.

As Hebrews

2 teaches

us,

in order

to save

us,

Jesus had

to be

made like

us in

every respect.

He had

to be

man to

represent

man.

He had

to take

on flesh

and blood

and become

like us.

Do you

ever doubt

that Jesus

is really

as merciful

and gracious

as God's

word teaches

us he is?

Think

again,

because Jesus

was made

like his

brothers.

This is

from Hebrews

2.17.

Jesus was

made like

his brothers

in every

respect so

that he

became a

merciful and

faithful high

priest in

the service

of God to

make propitiation

for the sins

of the people.

He is

merciful to

us because

Jesus gets

us.

he knows

all of

your

and my

frailties

weaknesses.

He knows

all of

our

limitations

and because

he does

he has

compassion.

Do you

ever doubt

that Jesus

faced the

same kinds

of temptation

that we

face?

Think again

because Hebrews

4.15

says we do

not have a

high priest

Jesus who

is unable

to sympathize

with our

weaknesses but

one who in

every respect

has been

tempted as

we are yet

without sin.

Jesus has

been there.

Jesus knows

the temptations

you face and

because he

himself suffered

when tempted

he is able to

help those who

are being

tempted.

There is no

savior like

Jesus.

In fact

Jesus is the

only savior

because he

truly understands

us because

he has

compassion on

us because

he truly

represents us

as man.

There is only

one mediator

between God

and man,

the man

Christ Jesus.

But Jesus

wasn't only

a man.

He was also

fully God.

He is the

incarnate God,

the son of

God who has

taken on human

flesh.

And we are

told this in

verse 18,

verse 20,

where we are

told that he

was conceived

in Mary from

the Holy Spirit.

And that is

why verse 16

of the genealogy

is careful to

note.

It does not

follow the

standard formula.

If it followed

the standard formula

it would have

said Joseph,

the father of

Jesus.

It does not

say that.

Joseph,

the husband

of Mary,

of whom Jesus

was born.

Joseph was

his legal

and adoptive

father,

but Jesus'

real father

is ultimately

God the

father.

No wonder

Joseph was

hesitant to

approach Mary

and sleep with

her even after

their marriage

ceremony.

It says in

verse 24,

25,

Joseph knew

her not until

she had given

birth to a

son.

The word

no is a

biblical

euphemism for

conjugal relations.

Matthew is

making it extra

clear that Jesus

is not a child

of Joseph

through intercourse.

Matthew is

making it

very clear.

In fact,

what man,

what faithful

man,

what believing

man in his

right mind,

knowing that

God is in

Mary's womb,

approached her.

Something sacred

and holy

has taken place.

Something divine

man.

And notice how

delicate and

restrained Matthew

is in his

description of

this.

It's very

unlike any

pagan accounts.

Ancient

Greco-Roman

texts often

tell lurid

tales of

Greco-Roman

gods impregnating

human women

and then

producing

demigods,

inferior deities

who are half

God and half

man.

But such

myths have

more in

common with

the disobedient

angelic beings

taking human

wives for

themselves and

giving birth to

the Nephilim

in Genesis 6

than the story

of Jesus'

conception and

birth.

Matthew's

unadorned

account is a

stark contrast

to these

elaborate Greco-Roman

mythologies.

He carefully

avoids any

hint of

any kind

of sexual

activity.

Jesus is

not half

God,

half man.

scripture

everywhere

and all

of church

history

confirmed

that Jesus

is fully

God and

fully man.

He's no

demigod,

he's no

superhuman,

he is

God and

he is

man.

That which

is conceived

in her is

from the

Holy Spirit.

Jesus is

born miraculously

with two

natures,

a human

nature and

a divine

nature,

in the

one person

of Jesus

Christ.

Christ.

The prophecy

from Isaiah

7, 14,

which Matthew

cites in

verse 22

and 23

confirms this.

Matthew is

known for

often citing

the Old

Testament and

to demonstrate

how Jesus

fulfilled the

Old Testament.

He does

this over

ten times,

uses this

formula,

this was to

fulfill what

the Lord

spoke by

so and so.

That formula

quotation is

used over

ten times in

his gospel and

five of those

occur in the

birth narrative.

So Matthew

is making it

very clear to

us,

Jesus is

the prophesied

one.

Jesus is

the promised

one.

Jesus is

the one who

fulfills all

of these

promises.

And what

did Isaiah

7, 14

prophesy?

Behold,

a virgin

shall conceive

and bear a

son and

they shall

call his

name Emmanuel,

God with

us.

How specific

can it

get?

A virgin

conceives a

child and

this child is

no ordinary

child but

this child is

a God

child,

Emmanuel,

God with

us.

All of

the Old

Testament

prophecies,

when we

read and

from,

we were

singing Psalm

34 earlier

and we were

reading in the

assurance of

pardon also of

how God is

the one who

is with us,

the Lord of

hosts is

with us.

That phrase

occurs so many

times throughout

all of the

Old Testament.

God is

with us.

And

Imanu is

the phrase in

Hebrew that

means God

is with

us.

Imanu is

with us,

El is

God,

God with

us.

So all of

those promises,

everything that

God has said to

his people,

I assure you,

I am with

you,

I will not

abandon you,

I will not

forsake you,

all of that

comes to

ultimate fruition

in Jesus who

is Immanuel,

God with

us.

So he's

fully God.

This is why

Jesus doesn't

ever in the

gospel stop

people from

worshiping him.

All pious

people recognize

that there's

only one true

God and if

you try to

worship someone

who is not

God, that

that is

idolatrous.

So Peter

in Acts 10

when Cornelius

falls at his

feet to

worship him,

oh you,

you're this

great apostle,

one that

God sent

to me,

they bowed

down to

him to

worship him

and then

Peter lifts

him up

saying,

stand up,

I too am

a man.

Peter knows

this place.

Even angels

refuse to be

worshipped.

In Revelation

22, 8, 9,

John falls

to worship

at the feet

of an angel

who is this

glorious being

and then the

angel says to

John,

you must not

do that.

I am a

fellow servant

with you

and your

brothers,

the prophets

and with

those who

keep the

words of

this book.

Worship

God.

But the

Gospels,

this is

shocking,

right?

And this

is where

like, you

know, when

people come

to you and

say, oh,

the Gospels

in their

original form

never affirm

that Jesus

is the

deity, that

he is God.

Only the

Gospel of

John, which

was written

later on,

does this.

No, Matthew,

Mark, Luke,

and John

never do that.

I don't know,

maybe you've

heard this in

some of your

college classes.

Are you

kidding me?

Have you seen

how many times

people fall at

Jesus' feet and

bow down and

worship him?

And he says

nothing.

Instead, they

worship him, say,

truly, you are the

Son of God.

God.

And Jesus says,

yeah, you say

that I am.

That is who I

am.

Those things,

those instances

would be

incredibly

inappropriate if

they weren't for

Jesus' actual

divinity.

But Jesus is

fully God, and

because he is

Emmanuel, God

with us,

falling before

his feet in

worship and

bowing before

him is the

only appropriate

response.

And that the

deity of Christ,

divinity of Christ,

has important

theological

implications.

For my third

and final point,

the salvation of

the Christ,

the angel who

appears to

Joseph says in

verse 21,

Mary will bear

a son, and

you shall call

his name

Jesus, for he

will save his

people from

their sins.

The name

Jesus means

the Lord

saves.

So if you

wonder, is

Jesus really a

savior?

Yeah!

That's his

name!

the Lord

saves.

He will

save his

people from

their sins.

And we sing

Jesus' name

all the time.

His name is

on the lips

of his people

all the time

in prayer.

Every time we

pray, we pray

in Jesus'

name.

Every time we

sing, we sing

to Jesus'

name.

And how

sweet is

that name

that reminds

us the

Lord saves.

Jesus could

have had a

lot of

different

names.

The angel

God could

have told

Joseph to

name him

Naziah.

It's a cool

name.

It means

conqueror.

Yeah,

Naziah, go

conquer the

Roman Empire.

Liberate your

people.

I don't know

why I'm

talking like

this.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Or it

could have

been Daniel,

which means

God is

judge.

That would

have been

true too.

God could

have sent

Jesus to

judge all

of us as

he rightly

deserves to.

But no,

his name

is Jesus.

The Lord

saves.

And we

call out to

his name

every day.

Jesus, my Jesus, I love you.

And what exactly does Jesus save us from? Verse 21 tells us he will save his people from their

sins. And this brings God's entire salvation plan, his redemptive historical purposes to a focus

with a crystal clear focus. The Jews at the time, they were expecting the Messiah to come,

and they were expecting him to come and save them, but they were expecting him to come primarily to

save them from the Roman oppressors, to establish the kingdom of God on earth.

But Jesus's mission here, God is confirming through his angelic messenger, is far grander than that.

The Roman Empire? Please. God has much bigger fish to fry. Jesus has come to save his people from

their sins. Because the Jews, God's people were oppressed and conquered by many nations, right?

The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and then the Romans.

But these foreign nations were merely instruments of God's judgment.

They were not the cause of their misfortune.

The true root cause of their misfortune was their sin, their unfaithfulness to God, their violation of

their covenant with God, which led to these judgments, which are meant to bring them back to repentance.

So then nothing short of salvation from their sins can actually save them.

This brings some helpful applications for our day and age, because in our day too, there's a lot of suffering.

There's a lot of oppression.

There are a lot of things that people need to be saved from.

Wars, natural disasters, international crises, climate catastrophes, epidemics, pandemics, economic depression,

social injustices, world hunger.

But there is one thing that is more urgent and more pressing and more consequential than any of these things that we must be saved from,

and that is our sins.

Sin is the cause of our alienation from God.

Sin is the reason for people's eternal damnation.

Sin is the root cause of all hostility between races and genders and nations.

Sin is the reason why diseases and disasters and death have entered into our world.

So my Christian brothers and sisters, do you give appropriate attention to dealing with sin in your life?

And do you give appropriate attention to proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ,

which is the only news that can deal with the sin around us and the sin of our neighbors?

Or are you more preoccupied with just the external circumstances of your life?

Heart diseases, brain malformations, cancers, strokes, do not separate us from God.

Sin does.

And Jesus, our Savior, came to save us from our sins.

Because Jesus was conceived and married from the Holy Spirit,

apart from the sexual involvement of any man,

the original sin that entered humanity through Adam, their head,

is cut off, interrupted,

as Romans 5, 12 tells us, uniquely in Jesus' birth.

Jesus is the first and only human to be born without sin.

I'm excluding Adam because he wasn't born.

He was created.

And Eve.

1 John 3, 5 says,

You know that Jesus appeared in order to take away sins,

and in him there is no sin.

This is because Jesus knew no sin.

Only he can bear our sins so that we might become the righteousness of God,

as 2 Corinthians 5, 21 says.

This is essential for his saving work.

He has to be God who is without sin.

Jesus is the one man who never deserved to die

because death is a consequence of sin,

and he had no sin.

And yet Jesus died to save us from our sins.

For those of you here who are not yet followers of Christ,

what is your solution for sin?

Romans 6, 23 says,

The wages of sin is death.

Hebrews 9, 22 says,

Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

You cannot pay for your sins apart from death.

That is an endless night.

But the morning dawns with Christ who rises from the dead

to give hope to all sinners.

Have you put your faith in the only Savior

who can save you from your sins?

And there are exhortations here for believers as well.

Jesus did many good works during his time on earth.

He healed the sick and raised the dead.

Jesus' central mission, however, always was

to give his life as a ransom for many,

to save his people from their sins.

Likewise, I want you all as God's people

to love your neighbors as yourself,

to do many good works wherever you are,

to do your work with excellence in honor of the Lord,

in your classrooms, in the libraries, in the labs,

in the courts, in the banks, in the offices,

in the studios, and in your homes,

and in the marketplaces.

I want you to honor God and do good to your neighbors

and love your neighbors,

to abound in all good works.

But the central mission of the Church of Christ

is to proclaim Jesus Christ who saves us from our sins.

And that's how we join him in his mission.

I don't want us to ever forget that.

Also, I want to address those of you who feel that

maybe there are some sins in your life

that Jesus is not quite able to deal with.

I know you don't think that in your head, theoretically,

but you think that in your heart.

You think that in the way you approach God

because you approach him thinking,

ah, he doesn't really want to spend time with me.

He's not really pleased with me.

Yeah, maybe back then when my faith was new

and I was zealous and I became a fresh Christian,

but I've sinned so many times since then.

Again, and again, and again,

how can God possibly love me?

How can that really be forgiven?

Surely there's a limit.

If Jesus died and that's it,

then you might have something.

But Jesus died and he was raised

and he ascended to the right hand of the Father

where God's word teaches us

that he is now making intercession for us.

I want you to get this

because this is so important.

Romans 8, 33 to 34.

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?

It is God who justifies.

Who is to condemn?

Christ Jesus is the one who died.

More than that,

who was raised,

who is at the right hand of God,

who indeed is interceding for us.

Jesus rose from the dead

and ascended to the right hand of the Father

and he is there interceding for us.

Similarly, Hebrews 7, 24 to 26 tells us

that because Jesus is a high priest who lives forever,

he didn't die like the earthly human high priests.

He lives forever

because he's raised from the dead

and he's at the right hand of the Father.

He is exalted above the heavens.

He says, consequently, it says,

he's able to save to the uttermost

those who draw near to God through him

since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Maybe you think God saves you partway.

Sometimes I've had this interaction.

I think my kids one time,

family worship asked me,

well, did,

are we forgiven because of Jesus,

what he did,

are we forgiven all our future sins too?

I'm like, well,

that's not exactly the right way to think about it, right?

Because we are called to confess our sins

to be forgiven.

So it's not that God forgives you beforehand

of all your future sins.

However, the basis for the forgiveness

of all of your future sins

is purchased at the cross.

And now,

at the right hand of the Father,

moment by moment,

with every sin,

with every failure,

Jesus intercedes for you.

I died for that sin.

Oh, here comes another one.

I died for that sin.

Here comes another one.

Yes, I died for that sin.

I died for that sin.

Interceding on your behalf right now

at the right hand of the Father.

Isn't that amazing?

So if you doubt that Jesus saves you

to the uttermost,

to the end,

completely,

Jesus is a complete Savior.

He is a whole Savior.

You doubt that,

then remember that.

He saves to the uttermost

because He is right now

at the right hand of the Father

interceding for you.

Jesus saves.

The Lord saves.

Emmanuel, God with us,

and He will save His people

from their sins.

Hallelujah.

Father, thank You so much

for Your love

in sending Jesus to us.

We are so loved.

So loved.

More love than we can know.

More love than we will ever

fully grasp.

And I ask God

that by Your grace

You will help

my brothers and sisters here

to grasp that love

a little bit better today.

And I ask that by Your mercy

that You will save those

in this room

who do not yet know

Your great love.

All glory belongs to You, Father.

Salvation is of You

from the beginning to the end.

So glorify Yourself

in saving sinners today.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.