Remember Christ Was Born

Intro

The life of Christ, and life in Christ, is like a precious diamond.

There is light, sparkle, depth, radiance, intrigue, and beauty from so many different angles.

A diamond’s beauty is enhanced through the variety and design of the facets, and each angle or facet serves to bring more light and beauty to the eyes of those who look on.

Jesus Christ is eternally God, and eternally the Son, and because of His divine nature there will never be an end to the light and beauty that comes through the various facets of understanding the life of Christ.

You could spend the rest of your life, and the rest of eternity, studying the Lord Jesus, and you would never run out of things to learn or appreciate in Him.

The more we look into God’s Word to investigate the Word made Flesh, we find more and more light and beauty that captures our attention, directs our worship to the Triune God, and enriches our lives in Christ here - so that our lives will be enriched for all eternity as we worship the Lord together.

During the Christmas season we remember that Christ was born.

We have reliable eye-witness testimony and inspired Scripture to tell us all that we need to know about the birth of our Savior.

And yet we could spend countless hours mining for gold and diamonds in the pages of Scripture as we seek to worship and understand our Savior more and more.

Today we celebrate that Christ has come in the flesh, and in the deepest mysteries of our Triune God, the second person of the Trinity took upon Himself the human nature as well as retaining His eternal Divine nature.

This is perhaps one of the most profound and mind-boggling truths that we encounter in the Scriptures

And though we can never fully understand all the detail of the incarnation of Christ, we nevertheless trust God and His Word that it is true.

This morning we are going to look at two of the beautiful facets of the life of Christ, and then one of the life-changing results of being found in Christ.

Looking for His Arrival

[PPT - heading above, references below: Gen 1, 3:15, 4, 5, 6, 10-12, 13-50; Exodus; Judges; Samuel/Kings; Prophets]

On this side of the Cross we look for His return and the coming Day of God when righteousness will reign on the earth.

We spent a couple weeks in 2 Peter talking about what it looks like to Live Forward - knowing that Christ will return, what sort of people ought we to be? Holy conduct, godliness, looking for the coming of the Day of God.

We have the assurance of God’s completed revelation and the certainty of the resurrection of Christ that proves our faith is valid and the next chapter in God’s plan is unfolding according to His will.

But on the other side of the Cross, there is a long line of people who were anticipating and looking for His arrival at His first coming, though they may not have known precisely what they were looking for.

Everything prior to Christ was pointing toward Him and the redemptive work that would occur with the death and resurrection of the Lord.

And everything after the resurrection of Christ points back to the finished work that He accomplished, and now we wait patiently for the final chapters to be written.

So we’re going to review the journey of faith and anticipation of those who were looking for the Lord.

Turn to Gen 1:26-28. Here we learn of the unique creation of mankind in God’s image and likeness, as well as the command to rule.

the word image refers to the idea of a statue or figure which represents another person,

and the word likeness refers to the figure, form, or shape of another person.

The man and his wife were then commanded to subdue the earth and rule over the animals.

Mankind was created as a representative of God (that’s what it means to be in His image)

and Mankind was created in the likeness, form, figure, or shape of God.

But how can that be if God is a spirit? How can the Eternal Father have shape?

This presents a significant theological question, as well as a significant question for our anthropology -

If Mankind was to be a representative ruler on the earth, then who was the Sovereign Ruler who would come to the earth, and when would He come?

The very design of mankind in God’s image and likeness has an anticipation of someone greater than us, yet familiar to us.

Genesis 3 introduces the great conflict between Mankind and this shining one who guards and has a serpentine form.

This is no animal, because animals don’t talk or correspond to man (see chapter 2:20)

The conflict between the Woman and the Serpent results in a curse from God in Genesis 3:15, “15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.””

This promised Seed of the Woman will have a unique birth (the Woman’s offspring, not the Man’s)

He will suffer a fatal blow to his foot from the Serpent, while the Serpent will suffer a fatal crushing blow to the head from the Seed of the Woman.

From this moment the rest of the Biblical Story and mankind are looking for the arrival of this promised Seed of the Woman.

And remember that the design and form of Mankind is also anticipating and expecting a greater Sovereign Ruler to arrive on the earth.

In Genesis 4 Eve thought that her son Cain was the expected Seed, and she proclaimed “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD”

But Cain was not the promised Seed of the Woman, rather he failed to represent God and chose to represent the Serpent.

In Genesis 5 Lamech thought that Noah would be the one to give comfort and rest from toilsome labor.

Noah did bring salvation to all those who would get on the boat and escape the flood of judgment.

Yet for all his genius and rebuilding civilization after the waters receded, Noah was not the promised Seed of the Woman.

In Genesis 12 God makes a sovereign choice in Abraham, selecting him and his wife out of all the other pagan civilizations to be the channel through which the whole world would be blessed.

Would Abraham and Sarah bear the promised Seed of the Woman? It would certainly need to be a miraculous birth because Sarah was barren.

God did provide a miraculous son, but it was later revealed to Isaac (and then later Jacob) that God would establish His covenant with them and their descendants.

The promised Seed of the Woman seemed so far off, yet they held on to the words of God in faith that He would deliver.

In Exodus 1 Moses certainly had a miraculous and unique birth, and he later believed that he was appointed for the deliverance of God’s people out of bondage.

Moses was 40 years early, but God later used him to redeem national Israel out of Egypt for God’s own possession.

Perhaps Moses was the promised Seed of the Woman? No, he was not - he failed to obey the command of God and the nation moved on without him.

Perhaps the Seed of the Woman would come through the Judges? Or perhaps if the people grumbled enough and demanded a King - that one would be the Serpent Crusher?

King Saul proved to be a failure with no heart for God, and there was no hope for his line continuing.

But what about King David?

Now here is a man who was anointed by God, chosen and equipped to be God’s representative ruler on earth.

David functioned as a Prophet by speaking the oracles of God,

Priest (as he interceded on behalf of Israel to God, and represented God to the people),

and a King, exercising dominion and rule over the earth as God’s chosen one.

Could David be the Seed of the Woman? No, he too proved to collapse under the weight of sin and temptation.

But God made a unique covenant with David, promising that one of David’s descendants would forever be on the throne, ruling on earth and representing God in righteousness.

In several of the Psalms and throughout the Prophets, the people of Israel were looking for and anticipating the arrival of the promised Seed of the Woman, gaining more insight with each passing chapter of God’s unfolding plan for Mankind.

His Arrival

The second facet of the life of Christ that we’re looking at today is His long-expected arrival.

God’s unfolding plan for Mankind opens on the pages of the New Testament with a pronouncement by the angel Gabriel that Mary was with child, that the Son would save His people from their sin, and that He would inherit the throne of His father King David.

Luke 1:31–33 (NASB95)

31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

Matthew 1:20–21 (NASB95)

20 ... “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Jesus is the promised Seed of the Woman

Born through miraculous means to a virgin and conceived by the Holy Spirit

The Living Word that was in the beginning with God took on flesh

The eternal Lord who emptied Himself

Turn to Philippians 2:5-8 “5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

He is Immanuel, God with us.

Man was created as a representative ruler - But Jesus is the Sovereign Ruler that we represent.

Mankind was made in God’s image and likeness - we were made in the form and shape of Jesus, the eternal Son of God.

The redemption plan for mankind was in the mind of God from all eternity, and we are fashioned and shaped after the image of Christ, who entered time and space to Rule on the earth.

Turn to Hebrews 10:1-10.

God prepared a body for Jesus, who had come to do God’s will.

Jesus is the one we are fashioned after, and Jesus is even the one who formed/fashioned mankind in the beginning (Genesis 1, John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1)

Jesus is the Savior of the world.

There is no other name given to mankind under heaven by which they must be saved

For in this way God loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

The result of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice

New Life in Christ

Jesus is the promised Seed of the Woman, the one who suffered a fatal blow by the serpent, yet the same one who resurrected from the dead dealing a fatal blow in crushing the serpent’s head.

Just as Jesus conquered Satan, sin, and death, He grants that same victory to all who would put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.

New Life in Christ is marked by being transformed into a new creation, no longer a slave to sin but an obedient servant to the Lord Jesus

2 Corinthians 5:14–21 NASB95

14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. 16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

You do not need to remain under the power of sin, but rather you are invited to come under the lordship of Jesus the Christ.

God has given us the greatest gift of all time - His Son, His very Self, for our redemption.

This new life in Christ is available to all mankind, and it is God’s desire that people repent of their unbelief and trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation.

As you go from one day to the next, remember that Jesus the eternal Son of God, the long-expected Seed of the Woman, came to the earth which He had created, and took upon Himself flesh, a human nature, in order to offer YOU new life with Him forever.

That is the beauty of Christmas.