And He Shall Be Called Immanuel
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION: I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, I had so much anticipation for Christmas morning!
It wasn’t necessarily just about gifts, I just had a lot of anticipation and excitement for Christmas! I don’t know why, I always wanted a white Christmas and I just love Christmas!
Christmas Eve used to feel like the longest night of my life. The anticipation was so high! I remember laying in my bed at like 3 AM waiting for everyone else to wake up! I was SO EXCITED!
Tonight, we are going to take some time to talk about something that was anticipated not for a night or a month, or even a year, but rather something that was anticipated for much longer!
Not only was this certain event anticipated for so long, it was of much higher stakes than whether there would be a white Christmas or not. In fact, just this week, Hope and I talked about how much we love WHITE CHRISTMAS’S. There’s anticipation for it!
There’s anticipation all around Christmas! There’s anticipation to see family, to celebrate, to give gifts, to get gifts! There’s anticipation! It’s a tangible feeling in our world! Our world is full of anticipation around Christmas!
Tonight, we are going to talk about the reason that Christmas exists- the coming of our Savior, something that was full of ANTICIPATION!
BODY: Tonight we are going to be walking through the Christmas story together. We’ll be looking at Matthew 1:18-25. If you have a Bible, would you turn there with me? If you do not, that’s ok! We will have it up on the screens as we talk about it.
(Let people turn there. The Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew. Matthew was a disciple, or a follower of Jesus. He was an Eyewitness of Jesus’s life., then pray)
The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
Matthew begins by talking about the birth of Jesus.
In this case, another word would be incarnation. Jesus has always been and always will be BECAUSE he is fully God and fully man.
In verse 18, we are introduced to two people- Mary and Joseph.
Mary and Joseph are engaged at this time. Engagement was a more serious commitment in Israel than it is today.
To dissolve an engagement was the equivalent of divorce. An engaged couple was truly seen as a married couple in the eyes of the world! There was one key exception which meant that Mary was still a virgin.
Mary and Joseph are engaged and Mary is a virgin.
Yet, as we read on, we see that it is discovered that she is pregnant!
Mary is not pregnant from man though, she is instead pregnant, “From the Holy Spirit.”
This child will be unlike any other!
Instead, he will be BOTH GOD AND MAN!
Now, when it’s discovered that Mary is pregnant, this is a big issue. She faces shame and accusations about her character.
But she is not alone in that. Joseph will face the same thing. so, Joseph, who is called her husband here- because of the seriousness of engagement makes a decision.
He is going to divorce her secretly so that she is not publicly shamed.
In the law of Israel, she could have been stoned. Joseph does not desire that for her.
Instead, he is going to quietly call things off and do so secretly so that she can save some of her reputation and have a future.
If we’re honest, this isn’t sounding like a happy story for Christmas so far!
That’s part of what is so spectacular about the Christmas story though!
It happens at a time full of oppression and pain, full of suffering and sorrow, in a situation for Mary and Joseph that seems like disaster and yet we will see GOD work in all of this!
But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
As we come to verse 20, we read that Joseph has CONSIDERED these things. He has spent time thinking about what to do. He has reflected on the situation and he is sure that a quiet divorce is the best option.
But then the LORD SENDS AN ANGEL! An angel is literally a messenger from God and the angel comes in a dream to Joseph. Now, this was not normal! For 400 years the Lord had not spoken to Israel and NOW AN ANGEL APPEARS TO JOSEPH! Joseph, the humble carpenter!
He had to wonder WHY HIM? WHY ME? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?
The angel first tells Joseph not to be afraid.
Joseph is called the “son of David.”
David was a king of Israel, in fact, he was the most well-known king of Israel. He was known for following God and for a promise that was made to him by God!
God promised him that his descendants would reign forever.
Joseph is one of those descendants- hence, he is a son of David.
The angel says that Joseph should still take Mary as his wife and also tells Joseph that the child is from the Holy spirit. This child is unlike any other child!
He is to be named Jesus and then Joseph is told what his son will do.
His son will save his people from their sins.
Joseph is told that his son has a mission and that he will be unlike any other!
Jesus is coming to SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS!
So what is sin? Sin is anything that we think, say, or do that is not in line with God’s perfect standard!
Sin separates us from God and the punishment for sin is death.
Jesus came to SAVE US FROM SIN!
We’ll talk more about that in a minute.
As we keep going, Matthew writes Matthew 1:22-23
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
See, the virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name him Immanuel,
which is translated “God is with us.”
Matthew reminds us of a prophecy from the book of Isaiah.
We read it earlier in our service.
Isaiah 7:14 is fulfilled with how Jesus is born!
The virgin- MARY, becomes pregnant.
She will give birth to a son- THAT IS JESUS
And they will name him, or THEY WILL CALL HIM IMMANUEL which means God is with us. No man can ever give the forgiveness of sins. Only God can!
Jesus can save us because Jesus is fully God and fully man!
So, Mary, the virgin will give birth to a son named Jesus who will save us from our sins and we will call him Immanuel, or God is with us!
All of these are fulfilled in the events of Matthew 1, the events that we celebrate at Christmas!
Matthew finishes his account of Jesus being born by saying: Matthew 1:24-25
When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.
Joseph wakes up and he obeys the Lord.
He walks in faith and he trusts God. He marries Mary and he trusts God even as he faces shame and accusations about his character. Joseph is OBEDIENT though!
He’s obedient even to the point of naming his son Jesus, just as he was told to do.
We know a little more about Jesus’s birth and the circumstances from Luke 2. Luke tells us that Caesar Augustus calls for a census and requires that everyone returns to their hometown.
Joseph has to return to his hometown which is Bethlehem. Luke 2:4-7 says:
Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
While they are in Bethlehem Jesus is born and they wrap him in cloth and lay him in a manger because there is no guest room for them!
That’s not exactly a royal birth! It’s humble. It’s probably not what we expect when we hear that “HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS.”
But here’s the thing about Jesus’s mission. Jesus did not come to be served, but rather to serve!
He came as a servant and a savior!
GOSPEL (FROM THE HEART)
CALL TO BELIEVE THIS CHRISTMAS!
Application:
Now, if you have placed your faith in Jesus, let me speak directly to you.
Christmas is a powerful time of celebration! It’s a celebration of our SAVIOR coming! Let me encourage you in a non-cliche way to keep that in mind!
Let me encourage you dear believer, truly REJOICE AND CELEBRATE! Let your heart be filled with joy! Regardless of what may be going on, let me encourage you to rejoice today! Your savior has come! What better reason to rejoice? WHAT BETTER GIFT COULD YOU RECEIVE?
So how can you rejoice today?
Let me give you 3 suggestions.
Thanksgiving at Christmas!
Turn your life back to Jesus!
Tell those around you!
Thanksgiving at Christmas- I know this sounds weird- I mean thanksgiving happens at Thanksgiving, but let me encourage you to GIVE THANKS!
GIVE THANKS FOR WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN YOU! GIVE THANKS FOR WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH! GIVE THANKS FOR THE GIFT OF JESUS!
MAKE THIS CHRISTMAS A CHRISTMAS MARKED BY THANKSGIVING!
Turn your life back to Jesus!
Maybe this Christmas you feel distant from God. Maybe you feel far away. Let me encourage you to draw near to God!
You do not have to be far from God.
Let me give us 3 ways that we can grow closer to God and turn our lives towards Jesus at Christmas this year!
Read your Bible
This is the word of God! If you want to be closer to God, READ HIS WORD!
Here at Cornerstone, we are built on the WORD OF GOD! This next year, we’ll be reading through the Bible together and we’d love to have you join us! If you don’t have a Bible, we have some in the back of the sanctuary and we’d love to give you one!
Pray
This is how we talk to God! Bring your thanksgiving, your praise and your requests to God! Talk to God!
At Christmas we often see friends and family. But it wouldn’t be very fun if we didn’t speak to one another!
The same is true of our walk with God! So read your Bible and pray!
Fellowship with Other Believers (Go to church! DISCIPLESHIP)
God has given us opportunities to spur one another on! As we seek to be closer to God, we have an awesome gift in that we have other believers to encourage us!
Let me encourage everyone here- get involved at a local church! Engage with other believers who can spur you on and can encourage you!
Tell those around you!
Part of rejoicing and celebrating is sharing that with others! (Imagine that the Illini won the NCAA championship for Men’s basketball. Would they take the trophy and bury it in the ground to hide it? NO! They’d celebrate by SHARING IT WITH OTHERS!
The same is true for us! Don’t bury your faith! Share it with those around you! GIVE THE GIFT OF SHARING YOUR FAITH THIS YEAR!
It isn’t OUR JOB to save someone- that’s the HOLY SPIRIT’S! But, we can give the gift of SHARING WHAT WE BELIEVE!
