The Son of God

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 145:14-21

Psalm 145:14–21 ESV

The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Advent Reading 4

On the fourth week of Advent, we light the final purple candle to mark the final week of prayer as we wait for the birth of our Savior. This final candle, the “Angel’s Candle,” symbolizes peace. It reminds us of the message of the angels: “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”

I can’t help it, but every time I hear “Peace on Earth'', I think of the movie Miss Congeniality. The joke is that the answer to all the questions in the Miss USA Pageant should be “world peace”. But when we talk about the peace candle, and specifically when we talk about the peace that Advent brings, we are talking about a peace that is better, more complete and more desperately needed than just some temporary fleeting world peace.

In Ephesians Chapter Two, Paul gets to the real heart and the real point of what we needed. He writes to a group of people who were (verse 11) once “gentiles in the flesh”. But when we hear Gentile we immediately think of the Gentile Jewish distinction and think of the hostility that they each had one for another, but for Paul, while that is the problem that he will get to, that is not THE Problem. The real issue is that they had (verse 12) “no hope, and were without God in the world”. That is the huge problem, the issue is that we are without hope because our lack of peace is NOT here on a surface level, instead we are, because of Sin, at war with God. So why is it so important that this fourth candle is the candle of peace, it is because as Paul writes in verses 13 and 14: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility”. So fittingly, the candle of peace becomes the fulfillment and the reason for our ability to enjoy the light of the other candles. The first candle was hope, and without Christ tearing down the wall of hostility, we have no hope. The second candle was Faith, and here is the object and source and power of our faith, it's the work of Christ. Last week was the candle of Joy, and our Joy comes in knowing our savior and knowing that he has come to bring us peace.

But I do want to note that there is a horizontal aspect to this peace, and we see that in two particular and important ways. The first is where Paul takes the Thoughts to the Ephesian church. Because of the work of Christ there is no longer, for those in Christ, the same Jew Gentile distinction and hostility, there is no longer the We have the Law and y’all stink, or the you guys are legalistic and we have freedom divide, in the body of Christ we are all united in one Body, namely the Body of Christ, he is the head of his church. Ephesians 2:19-22: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

And finally we believe and do proclaim that one day there will be true earthly peace on this earth. He is coming Back. One of the reasons that the advent season is so important is that while we look back and remember the first advent we remember and look forward to the second one as well. One day he will return and rule with a rod of Iron. All nations will bow and serve him. He is our King and the prince of peace.

May the peace of God dwell in your hearts as we bask in the light of this, the fourth advent candle!

Sermon

Good morning Church! I was glad when they said to meet let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

Well here we are in the last Sunday of advent, and so therefore our last advent sermon. And if I were to be honest, this one is the one that I have been looking forward too. It is the only one so far in the series that haven't started my sermon prep and thought: oh man, what have I gotten myself into. Today we will be looking at Jesus Christ, the son of Go.

This is taken form many places in Scripture. It is probably for many of us the most common name or title we could think of for Jesus. Eve In Peter’s answer to The question that Jesus asked as the inspiration to this whole series, Matthew 16:15 “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”” and Petre responds verse 16 Matthew 16:16 “Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”” . At the end of Matthew we see this too.

It turns out if you were to look at Matthew as one book, well you should look at it as one book, because it is… but if you were to look at the book as whole, it centers around this question of what is the nature of Jesus. WE opened with his genealogy, to let us know where he is from, but is he really? then Powerfully at his baptism in Matthew 3:17 “and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”” SO the testimony of the father is that Jesus is the Son. Then slowly the book builds and we see his teaching and his authority and his goodness and just who Jesus is unfold and then Peter proclaims: You are the son of God, this man is God. So in the middle now of the book the disciples seem to get it. So the testimony of the father is that this is the son of God the testimony of Peter as representative of his people say he is the son of God but then at the end of the book the most full pay off. Matthew 27:54 “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, [we will get to this part of Mathew in a while, but for now heres the point…] they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!””

So for today, as we ask the question: who do we say that Jesus is the answer is: He is truly the Son of God!. This then becomes for us the source of all of our hope. It is what we have faith in. it is why we have joy and peace. Truly all that we celebrate in advent hinges on this thought: That Jesus is the son of God. So that will be our topic for today, that will be where we spend our time this morning, but before we div into what God’s word says on this topic lets open with a word of prayer.

PRAY

Dear Lord we do thank you for all of the perfect gifts that you give us. We thank you that you would send your son to us, a wayward lost, rebellious people. To save us to redeem us to call us, to be with us. Thank you for the call that you place on our lives thank you fr the spirit given to us. Drawing us to repentance. WE thank you that you work in our heart and lives conforming us into the image of your son. Be with us this morning, speak to our hearts. May we be a people who are changed by the truth. WE pray this in the name our our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

It is very interesting to me that the two names that we end with in this series are the two I would say biggest names for Jesus. Well, that's not what is interesting, i planned it that way, what is interesting to me is that these two biggest names feel rather opposite. Last week we looked at Jesus favorite name for himself, that he is THE SON OF MAN. we looked at what that meant theologically and in the scope of what Daniel was saying and what Jesus would mean when he said that why would he choose that name above all others. but here in THE SON OF GOD I would say in our experience that this is the name that we choose and we prefer to call him. And As i pondered that this week i came across two questions to ponder that I think drive the point home as to why it might be the case that we are drawn to this name, why this name is important and what good is the name.

And so the first question is a big one, but WHAT DOES THIS MEAN THEOLOGICALLY?

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN THEOLOGICALLY?

When we say that Jesus is the son of God what are we saying about the nature of Jesus and really the nature of God. And in this I think there are really two points that are inter-related that I would like us to spend out time looking at this morning. I think for many of us is the natural way to describe Christ’s divinity. For he is truly as the centurion proclaimed the son of God. Historically speaking in the Jewish community there would be a thought that we are all sons of God. For we are all made in the image of God. WE all carry that, so in some way we are all his children, and sure, there is kinda a way that we could say that that he made us all so we are all his children. But when we say that Jesus is THE son of God we mean something deeper. WE are saying that he is by his very nature the same as God. As the only begotten son of God he has something unique to him that makes him divine.

To say that he is the Son of God is to say that he has authority and power and certain parts of who he is by the nature of who his father is, he has position and an identity that is far above all of ours. So we may be, in some shadowy and philosophical way sons of God (truly in Christ we are his children, more on that later, we are talking about fundamental natures here…) he is the one who truly is God. SO he is the very son of God. And as we celebrate advent as we reflect on the Christmas season this is what we proclaim and what we cherish. That some 2000 years ago God sent forth his son. He came down to earth. “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son. These become the thoughts that motivate us, and they draw us to see what is different and unique about our savior. They draw us to come and see that here is one worthy of all worship honor and praise. When we looked at Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah we noted that in the throne room of heaven he recieved all worship honor dominion and power. These things offered unto him rightly and ONLY because he is the Son of God. So when we say he is the Son of God we mean all this. He is the lamb, he is the lion he is God’s Son and he is God.

But this leads us to our second thought that would like to cover. ad While I usually try and avoid all the technical phrases and thoughts This one is important enough that would like to cover it today. I will start with a question: what s the nature of Jesus’ sonship? Maybe you have never asked this question before, but it is important. Theologians have spent a lot of time working on this particularly in the early church. Because it turns out if you get this question wrong it can have hugely dire heretic problems. How do we describe it. The problem stated goes like this. There was a time in my life where I was not a father. Then I had a son and I became a father. My son, only became my son when God began to create him and knit him together in his mothers womb. SO to bring these ideas down the idea of a human, the ideas that we see and live out of fatherhood and sonship play out in this sort of temporal plane. but we proclaim that God is immutable, that the fancy way to say that God is unchanging. Therefore when we proclaim that Jesus is the son of God we must include the immutable nature of God.

Therefore when we talk about this you will often hear the phrase “the eternal begotten-ness of Jesus”. What does this phrase mean? It mean that within the working of the triune God, within the eternal fellowship of the Father son and Holy Spirit forever and always, by their very nature, the father is the Father and the son is the son. There has never been a time when the son was not the son there will never be a time when the son will stop being the son. There has never bee a time nor will there ever be a time because in eternity the second person of the trinity is the Son. This explains to us what is known as, and I am trying not to get into the weeds with this, but these are difficult but important, but this describes what we call the economy of the trinity. As I always told the youth when I was a youth pastor I really do not care if you remember this phrase, please remember this idea - as the second person of the trinity the Son relates to the father in a certain way, always and forever in eternity. This is important for us for many reasons. The first is to look at our salvation. Always the father has called, the son has been given a people to save and the spirit has had a role in sealing.

From before anything was made The son was the savior. There was a covenant made within the trinity that works in light of Jesus’ sonship. There is a temptation for us to think these thoughts on the trinity and these ideas of the father and the son, maybe they are just helpful for us, but they don;t really mean much. We have the inclination to think: this is hard, throw up our hands and think: I don’t really need to think about that. But the truth is theologically speaking if Jesu is not the son we have real problems. If the son is not forever and always the son of the father. There becomes a breakdown in God in who he is and therefore God in how he works and therefore a breakdown in God and how he saves us. And so we try and grasp these things and understand them in ways that God has given us. he has seen fit to give us earthly pictures to grasp out maybe kinda how these heavenly realities work. SO we have the son, he is the son who does his fathers will, because it is good and right when Son’s do their fathers will. The father sends and the son god. The son, Fully God, not less than or partially God but fully God is still SENT, and he goes. WE mentioned it before John 3:16 God so loved the world that he SENT his only son. S the son is a sent one. these are true of Jesus by nature of his sonship. Though it it difficult to grasp we must proclaim Jesus Christ is the son of God, and as the second person of the trinity he always and forever will be the son.

But while wrestling through these theological points is good but they are good because they lead us to what I believe is the most important question: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME PERSONALLY?

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME PERSONALLY?

Ad so we dealt with a little bit the nature of the triune God working our salvation. the father calls the Son saves and the Spirit seals ad therefore we have salvation. but I would like to get a little more personal. and this part will feel more like what we usually do I would like to look at 2 passages. One of them We have been dancing around all morning, it is a verse you have heard countless times. John Chapter 3:16

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

When we celebrate advent. as we come and light the candles and we come and see all the bells and whistles both literally and figuratively of the Christmas season, do we realize the depth of the gift that we have been given.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. When I would try and teach youth the weight of this thought I would say it this way. I want you to think of the people you love and the people you cherish. The fathers in this room know, really the mothers too, the parents in this room know there is a particular type of love that you have for your children that is really impossible to quantify. but you just know and feel how big and huge that love is. For God so loved the world that he was willing to send his son. Knowing, God omniscient and omnipotent, all knowing and all powerful, knowing that he sent his son to die. Knowing that his son would be brutally murdered o the cross. Knowing the cost, knowing in advance, really eternally knowing that come the night Jesus was praying in the garden : “Father if it may be let this cup [the cup of God’s wrath against sin] may it be that this cup pass from my lips but nevertheless not my will but yours be done.” Knowing the cry that would come form the cross: “my God my God why have you forsaken me”. Knowing that God so loved the world that he gave his only son.

So yes, part of this personally it means that all who call on the name of Jesus will be saved, but more than that it gives us access to understand the love that God has for his people. For he who did not spare his own son will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Knowing that Jesus is the son, and knowing what he was sent to do, knowing what it would cost and knowing that God would pay that price means for us a depth and richness of understanding God’s love and really having a picture of God’s love. Paul writing to the church in Ephesus would say: I pray that you, together will all the saints would grasp the height, and depth and breadth and width of the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord - Which is unknowable. Paul says that the Love is unknowable but prays that w grasp it. HERE is one of the ways that w can try and start to lay hold of the beauty and majesty of that love. He gave us his son. But the there is more.

Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, what Paul is saying here. In God’s perfect timing and according to God’s perfect plan. When all of the things that needed to happen before had happened and when all the preparatory things had taken place, when the fullness of time had come at JUST the right moment, God sent his son. born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, We celebrate this portion of this verse at advent. What we call the incarnation. that to the virgin Mary some 2000 years ago was born a child. He is Christ the Lord. So he born to the virgin but we can add, it gets better, it is important we understand this. Though he was the high king of heaven, he was bor in a manger in humble estates. Though he is the Lord of all creation, though he is due [and will one day receive] all glory honor and praise at his birth there was not all the expected pomp and circumstance. who came to give him praise: some shepherds. some magi. But the king who should have come and bowed a knee tried to kill him. So not only do we celebrate that he was born in a humble estate to the virgin Mary, but also he was born under the law. He was born under the same thing that we fail to keep all the time. He was born under the same rules that WE would be held too. The rule that, to put it simply, 1 Peter 1:16: we are to be holy as God is holy. It include offing God all due honor and praise. Following not just the letter but also the spirit of that law. And it is that Law that Jesus was bor under. Why? why was the son of God bor under that law: to redeem us from under the law. He sent his son because only his son could follow his law perfectly. We rebellious wretched sinners that we are break Gods law all the time here is one who lived a perfect life. He was sent to redeem us. but it is not just that we are redeemed. We are redeemed, Verse 5 of Galatians chapter four we are redeemed so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Because God sent his son, i get to be god’s son. truly and fully, no caveats, no kindas, no yes Buts. those who are in Christ receive adoption as sons. With all the full rights and benefits of being God’s son. not just a son. But if we were to fast forward to verse 7 we are an heir. We receive adoption. In what is in my estimation one of the most beautiful thoughts the universe has ever known. God allows me to call him my father. I have an example in his perfect son. and his perfect son bore the guilt of my sin of the cross. the wrath that was due my sin was poured out not on me, but on Jesus. Isaiah 53:10: it was the will of the Lord to crush HIM. Then having paid the due penalty for my sin. thus in the one act of the crucifixion Jesus faced the two enemies that sought to destroy me and my soul: sin and death. then in bearing my wrath and facing death he rose victoriously on the third day. But it is not JUST that he says: now you can do it too. But now because of what Christ has done I am hid in him. It is not up to me to work and strive and try and fail. I am gods son because his only begotten so did the work and grants me his righteousness.

Jesus Chrsit is the son of God truly, as the centurion said, this was the son of God. but for me that means everything. it means salvation. it means a picture o God’s love it means being adopted into the family of God. Then, having been made a part of Gods family we are made, we read this in revelation, a kingdom a nation of priests! We are his beloved children by way of the work of his son and so he will care for us. he will nurture us, he will discipline us, grow us sanctify us deliver us, glorify us. Paul writes to the church in Cesarea Philippi: he who began a good work i you will bring it about to completion. We get access to all of this because truly he is the Christ, the son of the living God.

Lets PRAY