God With Us

Introduction

Scripture

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can more like You, and more made into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all to often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possible can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ[e] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[f] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Context

In today’s devotional and sermon text, we move into Mark’s account of Jesus’ birth. If you are wondering who the author Matthew is, author Mark is, you will see often in your bible and appears in multiple books including this one, all the gospels and Acts. This gospel account begins with something that would have been very important for everyone of Jewish descent, but we can easily want to overlook. This of course is the preceding 17 verses, starting at verse 1 of this chapter, which gives the genealogy of Jesus. This was important for them, because first of all, genealogy was important to Jewish people, as it is how they could trace from which tribe they were from and belonged to, but also and very importantly, it was prophesied that from the lineage of Judah and the family of King David, the Messiah, the Christ would come.

So, this lineage gives a direct account of Jesus’ family, and can easily trace Him back to David, directly from 14 generations before. As long as that seems, even longer still, the entire world had waited from some 77 generations, from Adam and Eve until Jesus’ coming, for His arrival. Remember, even back from the fall of man into sin and our chosen separation from God, God had promised that He would send the Person, who was both God and Man, to provide the payment for the penalty for our chosen separation from God. God did a thing so great here, that our minds cannot get our heads around it, so great, that even the brightest minds spending their entire will and thought on it for a lifetime, could only cheapen it’s worth and value when they try to describe it! This of course, is a great gain for us, Jesus coming to the earth as a child as God had promised, so you our hearts should jump up and sing with the most joy we can muster we think on this. Because our sin and evil and separation from God is so great. So, you must Understand and rejoice that in your need for God, He came to us. Let’s see this unfold from where From the text, I want you to see these words that describe what God did when Jesus came to the earth.

Message

The first word to see that describes what God did when Jesus came to earth is that He provided: Mercy 18-19

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ[e] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[f] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

We begin Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth. As a quick side note, the word Christ itself is not his last name or surname, as we have today. Rather it is Jesus’ title, He is the Christ, meaning the anointed or chosen one to redeem us from our sin, our Messiah, our savior. His first name, which we say Jesus (which is a translation of a translation, from Hebrew to Greek, to English) , most closely relates to our name Joshua, or in Hebrew yehōšûa. The Hebrew people were very good at giving names meanings. In Jesus/Joshua’s case, His full name means, “Yahweh is Salvation.” But, the shorter form, as we might say to Josh, yēs̆ûa, means “Yahweah Saves.” His mother, Mary was engaged to a man named Joseph who was from the house and lineage of King David. Hebrew engagement itself, was a very serious and binding matter, so serious that for all intents and purposes we would say that they were married, but did not live with each other yet and remained in the house of their parents for a year to prove to each other their purity and commitment to each other before coming and living together. During this period, Joseph discovered Mary’s condition, that she was pregnant, and the child was not his. This would have been a very upsetting thing, as the in the original language, it is clear that Mary didn’t tell Joseph, but he discovered it through simply looking at Mary. Mary of course, knew that they she still had a purity, and as the other gospel accounts show, this child was a gift from the Holy Spirit to the whole world, that she was carrying for all creation’s benefit.

Now, the thing about Joseph is, He was a good man and he loved Mary very much. Not knowing yet what had happened, only knowing that she was pregnant and not from him, Joseph shows true quality and character. Whereas by law, he had every right to humiliate Mary and have a public divorce at the town gate for everyone to see, that could lead to her stoning to death, he did something much different. Even though he felt betrayed and abandoned by the women he loved, he decided to show her something that we all need, and the guilty craves, mercy. So, he decided to not make a big deal about it, that would have condemned mary to lifetime of separation and shame (if she was allowed to live), rather, he wanted to divorce her quietly so that she could get on with her life and perhaps someday build a better future for herself.

How interesting it is here, to see Joseph’s act of mercy, when what was really going on was mercy all around. Mercy for you, mercy for me, mercy for everyone who desires to be in a close relationship with God, as opposed to the sinless, unruly, and rebellious manner that the world lives in and everyone remains in until they accept Christ as their king. This child in Mary’s womb was a promised savior, the Christ, the Messiah, who one day all the world will bend their knee to. God’s divine Mercy was at work here. Though Joseph didn’t understand it just yet, we have the benefit of seeing and so we Understand and rejoice that in your need for God, He came to us. He came to us as an act of Mercy, because it is what you, me, we, us all need.

The next word to see that describes what God did when Jesus came to earth is that He provided Salvation 20-23

20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

During the time period where Joseph was trying to figure out how to go about quietly divorcing Mary, something miraculous happened. While sleeping, an angel of God came to Joseph and gave him a very important message that he was to follow. To not be afraid of what would happen, this situation is not as it seems to you. The child that you have seen Mary carrying did not come about in the usual way. No, this child was conceived of the Almighty God. This child is no typical child, no. This child is so so so much more. The child will be a son, and you are to take him on as your own and name Him Jesus (Yahweh is my salvation), because He will save His people from their sins. This is the fulfilment of what mankind had long been waiting for. Look at the prophets of old, listen to what the prophet Isaiah wrote that God charged him to share with the world, that a virgin (which Mary is) will have a son, and he will be God with us.

What am important idea, an important idea, and important being. God with us. For oh so long, mankind had not so much as even heard from God (some 400 years at this point), let alone seen Him and lived with Him. Now this was all about to change. Can you imagine being in the shoes of anyone who was a worshiper of God at this time? This whole people of Israel, should have been keenly aware that they were painfully separated from God because of their sin. They knew from God’s word to them, they were totally dependent on God to be redeemed, and for many generations that had dwelled closely with Him, and then they would separate themselves from Him, and so this pattern went on and on, until after 400 years, you receive nothing but silence from God. To them, God and salvation would have felt so distant, like a pipe dream, or even an old folk story that might be true (but we are unsure if it is true, as we think of the story of young George Washington and the Cherry Tree or a Young Abraham Lincoln, who walked many miles to return a few pennies of change he had overcharged someone).

As real or unreal as the prophets and religious writings of old seemed to the people of Israel at the time, God showed them, of course they were correct! I have been working on them this whole time, and behold the time has come, and the messiah is given, I am sending you Salvation, I am sending you the second person of the Holy Trinity, God- The- Son, Jesus who you will call Christ! Just like the psalm we went through last week, the situation would have seemed hopeless, because of God’s absence, but a wise person knows to wait for God, and you will praise Him for His great works. So, we and all those with their eyes open praise God for sending salvation on that first Christmas day, when Jesus was born. You too, need salvation, freedom from the slavery of sin, and Satan and all his wicked power and armies. Yet, nothing all of mankind can muster or make will pierce or wound evil. No, it takes the infinite and almighty God to come against such an enemy, you are reliant on God. So, Understand and rejoice that in your need for God, He came to us. And sent those that would take it, salvation.

Another word to see that describes what God did when Jesus came to earth is that He provided: Fulfillment 24-25

24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

These two scriptures are simple enough in appearance, when you sit down and think about it, it shows a lot of things. Joseph awoke from his sleep, and did just as he was told. This would have been a culturally bold and unusual move. That’s right on top of accepting that your wife is pregnant with someone else’s child (even if it is God’s), he would have had to break the norm, and brought Mary in to live with him and come under his protection, even before the year was up, which was taboo at the time. He also fulfilled everything else, taking and naming God the Son, Jesus, showing that he accepted the earthly fatherhood of this child, and everything that entails, in essence, with the act of naming he adopted Jesus as His true son.

This fulfilled yet another messianic prophecy found in Isaiah 7 that reads, Therefore, the Lord himself will give you[c] a sign: See, the virgin will conceive,[d] have a son, and name him Immanuel.[e] God was indeed fulfilling His promise to mankind from oh so long ago, and every other prophecy, some 322 and some would even say more, from within our bible’s, about this God-Man, Jesus. Can you imagine how unlikely it is for this happening to the one person and we miss identifying someone as the Christ, as some misguided anti-Christians do. Now, these numbers don’t come from me (i’m not that smart) I heard another pastor researching it and gave it these ods, that it is one in 10 raised to the power of 157. Or 1 in other words 1 with 157 zeroes behind it odds. What for all intents and purposes does this mean? That it’s impossible for these to happen without God being very real and very active in the process. With God is the mix, we go from a 1 in 10 with 157 0’s chance to an absolute guarantee. So, which do you think is more likely, the choice is clear and only one is logical.

10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

It’s clear to anyone who wants to hear the facts, and has the faith to trust those facts, that God is at work. God is Jesus, Jesus is God. And God sent the fulfillment in oh so many ways, that we can’t even understand them, but importantly, He sent the fulfillment of His promise to mankind that one day, from the seed Eve, would come a person who would defeat the serpent (Satan) once and for God, the serpent for a short while will think he would prevail, but his head will be crushed and destroyed by His (Jesus’) foot. So, you believe Understand and rejoice that in your need for God, He came to us. God with us, Emmanuel, Jesus the Christ is the fulfillment of all the world and you have been waiting for.

Conclusion

So, because of these things that God sent through Jesus, Mercy 18-19, Salvation 20-23, Fulfillment 24-25, we sing this years Christmas song, come thou long expected Jesus, Born to set thy people free, from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth thou art; dear desire or every nation, Joy of every longing heart. This Joy, this joy, can only come from Immanuel, God with us, Jesus, who was born that He might die so that man will no longer be doomed to separation from God, but know the second birth of being reunited with God. And so, we celebrate His first coming to earth, and wait with Hope for His second coming.

With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.

With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.