Unexpected Realities

Intro:

Matthew records the interaction between Joseph and the angel.

Matthew 1:20–21 NIV

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew, an apostle, then adds this bit of information

Matthew 1:22–23 NIV

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Why did Matthew include this information and why did he make this connection to Isaiah 7:14?

I think it was emphasize the truth that Jesus was not born by natural means. Joseph might raise Jesus but he was not his biological father.

What about Mary, did Jesus her DNA? The scriptures are inconclusive when it comes to this matter. The angel simply states “what is conceived in her is form the Holy Spirit.”

To consider the statement “God with us” reveals some rather unexpected realities. Realities that are completely unique to the Christian faith. The last few weeks we’ve primarily considered Matthew & Luke’s gospels. Today I want to switch things up a bit and look at John’s.

READ John 1:1-5, 14.

1. Jesus is in fact, God in the flesh.

A. The apostles attest to the the things they saw and experienced and came to this conclusion.

1 John 1:1–4 NIV

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

Luke 1:1–4 NIV

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

They heard Jesus makes such claims

John 10:30 NIV

I and the Father are one.”

I will return preaching in the book of John after the first of the year and if you remember one of the major themes of this gospel is the deity of Christ.

Almost all of the apostles died because they refused to recant this truth. They died not simply because they believed but because they had witnessed Jesus life and knew that he was “God with us”

B. The NT church has held to this as an essential doctrine of the faith.

Aside from many of the creeds this

Romans 9:5 NIV

Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

2 Peter 1:1 NIV

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

The oldest surviving sermon of the Christian church after the New Testament opened with the words: “Brethren, we ought so to think of Jesus Christ as of God, as the judge of living and dead. And we ought not to belittle our salvation; for when we belittle him, we expect also to receive little.”

The oldest surviving account of the death of a Christian martyr contained the declaration: “It will be impossible for us to forsake Christ . . . or to worship any other. For him, being the Son of God, we adore, but the martyrs . . . we cherish.”

The oldest surviving pagan report about the church described Christians as gathering before sunrise and “singing a hymn to Christ as to [a] god.”

The oldest surviving liturgical prayer of the church was a prayer addressed to Christ: “Our Lord, come!”

READ John 1:9-13

2. The peculiar rejection of Jesus by those he came to save.

A. There is a choice for each of us to make.

I remember getting gifts as a child that I didn’t really appreciate or like. It was a gift I did not want or appricitate. Ugly Christmas Sweaters. Once thought a nuisance and unwanted now popular.

So it is with Jesus. He was rejected and even despised by those he came to save. And in spite of all the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love he brings he is still rejected today.

REASONS TO REJECT JESUS

Don’t need a savior—I’m a good person

Fear of social rejection

What the present world offers is more appealing

They are simply stiffnecked (pride)

B. The choices we make have consequences that can be either positive or negative.

All have sinned, and the wages of sin is death Romans 6:23

Romans 6:23 NIV

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Fear God God, Matthew 10:28

Matthew 10:28 NIV

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

The things of earth are temporal 2 Cor 4:18

2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

You’ve heard the expression, “pride comes before the fall”

James 4:6 NIV

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Ultimately for for those who chose to receive the gift of Jesus there is the RIGHT to be called children of God.

And look John says it’s super natural, not born the normal way. It is like Jesus.

READ John 1:14-18

3. The absolute transformation of those who do receive Jesus.

John again comments that he is an eyewitness to all that Jesus was while on earth and who he is.

A. Jesus came as an example of grace & truth in its fulness.

What are these two things, grace & truth? Are they opposed to one another?

B. Out of Jesus’ fulness we are assured unlimited grace.

I wonder why John focuses on grace in place of grace already given? And not truth in place of truth already given?

Is it because our human nature struggles to understand grace more than we do truth?

So what is “grace in place of grace”

The blessings we receive are grace upon grace—God’s good will towards us and the good works of God in us.

It is grace for the sake of grace, grace heaped upon more grace

It is grace for the promoting and advancing of grace

It is grace in truth fulfilling the grace in type (OT)

It is grace that improves, confirms and perfects another grace