Mission Possible
The Joy of Christmas • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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I have a vague memory as a child of my parents watching a TV show titled Mission Impossible. This show starred Peter Graves (whom I recently learned was the brother of James Arness of Gunsmoke fame). In this show, each week Peter Graves’ team would be assigned a top-secret mission by the government which was considered to be impossible to achieve. However, since the show came back for more each week, it seems that the tasks were in fact possible. What I remember most from that show is the fact that the tape recording of their assignment would self-destruct as soon as they had listened to it. The show must have garnered a measure of success since a couple decades later Tom Cruise started making a series of movies based on the premise of this show.
Today, as we close out our series called THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS we will look at what I am calling MISSION POSSIBLE. You see, the Eternal Son of God had a mission to fulfill during His first advent. This mission was misunderstood by the religious establishment of Israel during the first century. And, sadly, it is still misunderstood by the vast majority of Jewish people to this very day. If Jesus of Nazareth had been a mere mortal man, this mission would have been impossible indeed. But Jesus was not a mere mortal man — He was God become man. Fully God, and fully man. Thus, since it is impossible to thwart the predetermined plan of God, this mission was guaranteed to be a success no matter how hard the foe tried to deter this mission.
Fortunately for us, the message with the details of this difficult mission did not self-destruct. It has been preserved down through the ages by the power of God.
As we consider this mission we will look at how the mission was determined, directed, progressed, and accomplished.
Let’s begin by looking at
Mission Determined
Mission Determined
When was it determined that man would need a Redeemer to save him from his sins? Was it before the Garden of Eden incident in which man fell into sin? Was it during the Garden of Eden incident? Or was it after God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden?
We can eliminate the third possibility, which is after the man and woman were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, since it was referred to while God was dealing with man in the Garden of Eden. God, while speaking to the Serpent of Old, whom the NT identifies as Satan, said this:
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.”
Man was not kicked out of the Garden of Eden until after this confrontation. So, we can eliminate that possibility. Thus, we are left we with two other possibilities; either the determination was made before man ever fell into sin, or it was made after the entrance of sin into the world, but before man was kicked out of Eden.
Note that:
The Clear Teaching of the Bible is that the Plan Was Determined Before the Fall of Man into Sin
Let me provide you with some Scriptural support for my thesis. On the Day of Pentecost, during his first ever published sermon, Peter stated:
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—
this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
Did you notice the statement that Christ was
Delivered over by the Predetermined Plan and Foreknowledge of God
This statement indicates that the plan was predetermined, but it does not address the issue of when it was predetermined. But Peter addressed it in his first epistle.
knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world to be the Redeemer of all who place their faith and trust in Him.
John referred to this in the Book of the Revelation. In chapter 13 of this Revelation John referred to the coming of the Beast of the Sea, whom we most frequently refer to as the Antichrist. He comes on the scene during the seven year tribulation period and he makes war with God and His people. And the vast majority of the people on earth will worship him, except for a certain small group of people. John had an interesting way of referring to the worshiper of the Antichrist.
All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
While the focus of this passage is on the false worshipers, we do see an interesting description of Christ and his followers. His followers are referred to as those whose names are written in the Book of Life. And Jesus is referred to as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Because the Redemptive plan of God was fixed from before the time of creation, Christ’s death on the cross of suffering was a certainty which would happen. Not only was the Redemptive Plan predetermined before the foundation of the world, we who are believers were chosen before the foundation of the world as well.
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
This mission which was impossible for mere men, was possible for the God become man. Not only was it possible, but it was a certainty fixed in eternity past.
Let’s turn our attention to
Mission Directed
Mission Directed
Note that,
In His Sovereignty, God Directs the Affairs of Mankind
In the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke we read about the directing of the mission. In Luke, which we looked at in the first message of this series, we read of the announcement of the forerunner of the Messiah, whom we refer to as John the Baptist. Then there is the announcement to Mary that she would become the mother of the Messiah. These two announcements came from the angel identified as Gabriel.
In Matthew’s account we read about things from Joseph’s perspective. Joseph was the betrothed husband of Mary. Look at
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
In the ancient Hebrew culture, marriages were arranged by the parents for their children. Once an agreement was struck the young man and young woman were legally married, even though they did not officially marry until a year later. This means that the charges for any sexual misconduct were upped from fornication to adultery, with adultery carrying the possibility of capital punishment.
Joseph learned that Mary was with child. He knew for a fact that he had not had sexual relations with her. So he had to determine what to do. Apparently it was his choice to make. The three basic options he had to choose from were to have Mary stoned to death for adultery. He did not like that option. Another choice was to divorce her, which is what the text means when it says “send her away.” Even within that choice there seems to have been two options. He could divorce her in a public way, or he could do so in a private way. He was leaning towards a private divorce, trying to spare her as much embarrassment as possible. The third choice was to take Mary as his wife and raise her child as his own.
God, who is always the hero of every biblical narrative, stepped in and directed this affair so that His purpose would not be thwarted. He sent an angel to Joseph with a message. Look at
But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “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.
She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
God will not allow anyone to thwart His predetermined plan. And God’s plan was for Jesus to save His people from their sins. Thus, God directed Joseph to take Mary as his wife. To raise her Child as his own. And to live in accordance to what his ancestor wrote:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
We do not know if the angel explained the virgin birth of the coming Messiah to Joseph or not, but Matthew explained it to his readers. Look at
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
Joseph obeyed the heavenly directions. Look at
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Though Joseph had been leaning towards a private divorce of Mary, he obeyed God’s direction to take her as his wife.
Sometimes God instructs us to do things which seem hard for us to do, or things which we fear others will put us in an insane asylum for. But we must obey His instructions. We must trust Him with all of our hearts, and lean not on our own understanding.
Let’s move on to look at how the
Mission Progressed
Mission Progressed
Note that,
Jesus Had a Mission Given to Him from the Father, and Nothing Could Deter Him from Fulfilling His Mission
Throughout the Gospel narratives we find Jesus making various statements about His mission. Perhaps these statements actually confused people as to who Jesus truly was. The nation of Israel was looking for a military or political leader who would overthrow Roman oppression and deliver the nation to be its own sovereign entity. Somehow they misunderstood the clear teaching of the OT prophets who prophesied about the sufferings of Messiah.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
In the early days of His public ministry in Galilee, Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth. Luke informs us of this event.
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
On another occasion, Jesus said:
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
And in a very unique way He did fulfill the Law and the Prophets — just not in the way the Rabbis of His day expected.
Another time He said:
I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
A person must recognize that they are a sinner and in need of a Savior. And those who did recognize this became followers of Jesus. Sadly, those who were the leaders of the religious establishment in Israel did not recognize their own sin, and their own need of repentance.
On another occasion Jesus said:
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
When people were complaining about Jesus spending time with Zacheus, the chief tax collector, Jesus said:
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Around that same time frame Jesus said:
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Jesus came to serve — He also came to bring light into this very dark world.
I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.
Not all who had an encounter with Jesus embraced the light. As a matter of fact most preferred to stay in the dark. But those who were the sheep from His flock did respond to His voice to follow Him. And to them He give abundant, eternal life.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
So far, we have looked at how the mission was determined in eternity past, it was directed by God, and progressed through the obedience of Christ.
Let’s turn our attention to the
Mission Accomplished
Mission Accomplished
Note that,
The Mission Christ was Given was Accomplished at the Cross
When Jesus hung on the cross He who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
As He hung on the cross He absorbed God’s wrath for the sins of His people. At this time He was temporarily forsaken by His Father. We are told that during this time it became dark during broad daylight. And Christ cried out to His Father, in the words of His ancestor, King David.
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
As I said before, this abandonment was a temporary condition, until Jesus had absorbed all of God’s wrath which was directed at the sins of His people. At this point, John tells us:
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.”
A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.
Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
John MacArthur once stated, “The shadow of the cross looms over the manger. When you understand that, you understand Christmas.”
My hope is that each one of you understands the true meaning of Christmas. Without the birth of Jesus there could be no cross. And without the cross of Jesus there would be no redemption from sin. And without the resurrection of Jesus there would be no victory of sin and death. We would be lost and under the judgment of God if Jesus had not fulfilled His mission from the Father.
Let’s pray.
Dear Father,
We are so blessed by the wisdom of Your predetermined plan of redemption. You provided for our redemption in the incarnation of Your Eternal Son. We are so grateful that Jesus was born to save His people from their sins. We are even more blessed to be numbered among Your people.
As we celebrate the birth of Your Son, may we be mindful of the truth that the shadow of the cross looms over the incarnation and birth of our Savior.
Lord, I pray for any who have not yet placed their faith in Jesus as their Redeemer, that this would be the day in which Your Spirit awakens them from spiritual slumber and breathes into them the breath of spiritual life in Christ Jesus.
In Jesus Name, Amen.