A Divine Gift
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A Divine Gift
A Divine Gift
Welcome
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Prayer
Announcements
lets stand and sing...
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Good morning again my friends,
Thank you to each of you who checked on us, prayed for us this week. We really appreciate you all so much.
Today, we prepare our hearts for what our Father was doing long ago to prepare the world for the coming Savior.
The Christmas story is one of the greatest, one that speaks to our heart like a love story, for it is...God loved us, He has and He always will...
So this morning I want to share with you the the message that God sent to the world..
1 The Angel’s Appearance...
You know, an angels appearance is one that would leave us all with a bit of hesitation.
And rightly so, an angel is not something people would expect to see… I mean, they are God’s messengers but I mean, we just don’t have a lot of personal experiences interacting with them.
But at the same time, I think we would all be excited if God allowed us the opportunity to see these servants first hand.
Well, part of the Christmas story is a young maiden’s experience being greeted by the angel Gabriel. lets look at Luke chapter 1, verses 26-29. Luke 1:26-29
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
Now I really love reading from Luke, he just gives you an incredible amount of detail to examine as you look at the story.
Luke begins by telling us it was in the sixth month, now what does this mean exactly? Well it’s not a reference to the months of the year, no.
Remember the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth from Luke chapter 1.
The angel Gabriel met Zachariah in the temple and told him that their prayers have been heard and his wife Elizabeth will bear them a son who they will name John.
Now, we know this for certain because of the testimony of Gabriel to Mary later on in verse 36 Luke 1:36
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
Now, John is important… while through their mothers he would be considered a second cousin to Jesus.. he will play a greater role in preparing the world for Jesus…
Now, you can read more of John’s story later, lets move on…
So coming back to our text, Gabriel is sent to the home of a young lady, who is not married yet, she is just engaged if you will, betrothed is the more accurate term.
And we know the place where she lives, in the region of Galilee and in the city of Nazareth.
And look at what Gabriel says to her…
“...Greetings, O favored One, the Lord is with you...”
What does that really mean?
Greetings , O favored one… The favor spoken of here also has the meaning of:- the one full of grace, it is not her own grace. It is not any qualities that Mary herself would have, this is the grace God has extended to her at the moment for his Divine purposes.
She is favored by God, the Father knew she was the one who, being a descendent of David was the one to bring Jesus into our world.
The Lord is with you - this is not a wish, this is a statement Gabriel brings to her, God’s mighty power was present with her, it was upon her life.
And with Gabriel’s greeting, she is troubled, she was caught off guard. This was a shock to her - this usually doesn’t happen, let alone to a young lady.
Looking at Mary, just from the outside, he was like everyone else, she wasn’t anyone special but , remember His children, each child is special and she was the one the Father had chosen for his purposes.
Now Gabriel, he knew this troubled Mary and he told her not to be afraid, you have found favor with God.
So twice in just a few moments, Gabriel tells her she is favored. Too see this twice, well its important, she was the one, the one God chose
God’s favor was extended to her in that moment...
Now stop right here for a moment my friends, I want to remind you, God’s favor has rested on you, upon your life.
What do I mean? He extended grace to you when he called you, God extended an invitation to come and know him as Lord and Savior and you answered.
You see there, it wasn’t our work , None at all, it was all the Father’s. He extended his love toward us a sinner and saved us.
Think my friends, think on this… He loved you and called you. His Holy Spirit visited you, convicted you and called you to come and see, and know that the Lord is good.
And you did… but if you are here and you did not, or have not yet… you can today..
2 Gabriel’s Message...
On this particular day, we find this young lady, unmarried but promised, betrothed to another there in her home perhaps..
And the angel greeted her, without a doubt she wondered about his message and purpose there. Hey you know, the Lord’s sends his angel to you, you are wondering what this is all bout.. But for certain, he has your attention.
Lets look at what the angel would say to her next.. Verses 31-33
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Now look at that text with me, in one verse, Verse 31 there are 3 powerful words… Mary, you young lady would be able to Conceive, Bear and Call.
A. Mary, you will conceive. You will be found with child, This baby will be placed there in your womb..
There in that place he will develop, and grow and prepare for the next phase of life.
B. You will bear a son.. This child will be a son, but not just any son, this little baby would be the eternal one from glory.
You know we have had some babies born lately, and we have seen them Mom’s go the distance, Mary would receive the Lord out of glory and placed in her by the Holy Spirit and she would carry him the 40 weeks until the time was completed and He would enter this world, the world He created. This baby would be fully God and fully man.
How wild is that one who created the world, becomes man and enters the world in flesh, the world he created and does so to now save this world, humanity.
C. You will call his name, Jesus! Jesus would be the name given to him by His Father in heaven. And when Joseph named him in the temple, on the 8th day, it was the fulfillment of what God had planned.... we see this in Luke chapter 2.
Jesus would be more than just a baby given to a young lady and her betrothed, He would be Savior…
A Savior is one who saves, who rescues people from their sin.
You see, we were that people, those before us and those who come after us, we ( all of humanity) were dead in our trespasses and sin.
We entered the world, as a son or daughter of Adam, as his descendant, we bear a sin curse, we bear the mark of failure of this world…
This sin separates us and alienates us from God, and sadly without Jesus, we are destined for hell.
But thanks be to God that the second Adam, Jesus, He came as a baby to live, and later die upon a cross to redeem us from our sin. He would be buried and would rise again on the third day.
And the Bible declares that God loves the world and has given us the Son so that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
And the day you called, is the day you were changed.
Aren’t you glad Jesus came, aren’t you glad he saved you, took you were you were and made you into His own image, forgiven, redeemed and heaven bound instead of hell-bent.
Praise be the Lord our God..
Now look at what else Gabriel tells Mary...
Verse 32-33 Luke 1:32-33
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
He will be Great… In contrast to the world which is not great, He is great.
He will be called the Son of the Most High… The Most High is a phrase that signifies who God is..
All through the Old Testament he is identified as such.. Melchizedek said he was YHWH the God Most High.
Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, who came and was born in flesh, as God’s own Son.
He will have the throne of David… God had made a promise to David, King of Israel, that he would have a descendant, one from his own line that would once again reign upon his own throne. Listen to 2 Samuel, chapter 7 vv 12-13
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
Listen we have seen this, a shoot has risen from the stump of Jesse and his name is Jesus.
Jesus would come, a lion from the tribe of Judah, who would honor His Father and whom the Father would honor and establish His kingdom forever.
He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and whose Kingdom will know no end. Jesus, the Son of God will reign over Israel forever and forever, God will see to that..
From those days until present time, people, Governments, Dictators, and Kings have tried to silence and destroy the name and kingdom of Jesus… Saul of Tarsus even tried this until Jesus got a hold of him on that Damascus road and he is changed and becomes Paul.
But the worlds efforts are to no avail, His Kingdom is eternal, God promised it, and He told Mary about that day.
He will be a wonderful Savior, and Everlasting Father, He will be the Prince of Peace and the Gov’t will rest upon his shoulders.
Oh we need our Gov’t to rest on his shoulders.. we need our lives, our responsibilities to rest on his shoulders
He is King Jesus and this young maiden would carry him into the world.
Praise the Lord.
But Mary wonders how… She asks the angel, how can this be since I am a virgin...
Look with me at verses 35-37 Luke 1:35-37
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
The angel tells Mary that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and this child, Jesus would be conceived by the Holy Spirit,
This wording is similar to what we has believers experience in Acts 1:8a
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you....”
And as the Holy Spirit comes upon here and the power of the Most High will overshadow you… this is the means by which the pre-existent Son, would come into the world.
Remember what John tells us John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jesus the eternal Son, the second person of the Trinity entered this world by the power of God, Mary is the person God had chosen for the Son of God to make his entrance into the world as one who was fully man and yet fully God.
And just a little message for us to believe, Your cousin Elizabeth, who was older and without child, well she is not with child and is 6th months along,
Nothing is too hard for God, what seems impossible is possible.
My friends, the challenges you face today.. they are not to great for God to intervene in…
A mountain might lie before you, but if you are seeking the Lord and his ways, that mountain can be climbed, it can be overcome and it can be defeated or moved by God’s help.
He can do anything He so chooses in accordance with his will.
Stop right here and ask yourself, what is keeping you from diving deeper with God the father.
What is keeping you from being a greater witness, a greater servant, no matter what it is, ask Him.
He will help you...
He is able…
Won’t he save, Won’t he redeem, Won’t he change, Won’t he use you, wont he… Yes He will..
But will you let him today.
Now just one last thought..
3 Her Blessings...
Mary blessings is that she receives all that Gabriel has told her, She accepts the Word of the Lord.
In truth my friends, there comes a time when we have to give an answer to what God is calling us to do..
We waiver, we pray about the Lord’s word and His leading? But there comes a time we have to stop and just trust God and say Yes God… I am here, do with me as you want too...
Lets look at verse 38 in Luke 1...
Look with me at verse 38 Luke 1:38
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Here are powerful words my friends.
This young maiden, who is betrothed to Joseph, I imagine she wasn’t completely sure how all this would work out, but her heart was God’s and her words are simple.
“I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word...”
She simply said yes… what ever the Lord wants to do with me. I am willing.
That’s a powerful statement my friends, and this young maiden has never been forgotten, she is forever placed in our stories.
Submission is the heart of her voice.
Now think about this my friends, submission is a condition of the heart and mind. it is the place that we are no longer seen in the equation, it is only the Lord that needs to be seen.
And His will becomes our will…
Let me ask you…are you submissive?
When it was all said and done, Mary was submissive and the angel left her.
Friends, Mary submission wasn’t easy.. it caused her to be talked about perhaps, it caused her to perhaps be treated differently. Her obedience had a cost to it… But she was willing to do all that the Lord said..
Now I am not going to spend much time here, but we know in Matthew chapter 1, the angel of the Lord also appeared to Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary.
When she was found with child, he was going to put her away privately, and not marry her. But the Angel of the Lord spoke to him in a dream telling him that the child she carried was the Son of God. All of this was to fulfill what the prophet Isaiah had spoke of 700 years before his birth
And when Joseph awoke from the dream, he did as the angel told him.
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.
He accepted the Lord’s word, he was submissive and cared for his bride but did not know her until she has given birth.
And Joseph, named him Jesus.
Now I tell you about Joseph to remind you, we do not see the full picture at times, but trust that God is at work all around us. If he has called us, then he is at work to bring all the pieces together.
He was at work in Mary’s life and in Joseph’s. God is at work in your life and in those around you. Just hang on, beleive and trust God in the moment.
The coming of Jesus into the world is the most complex and wonderful thing the world has ever know..
The Son was Submissive to the father
Mary was submissive to the Lord as was Joseph, her now husband.
And this allowed Jesus, at the most perfect time to enter the world as the great gift of God.
Is the gift of God, Jesus, present in your life today?
If you don’t know him today, the Scriptures declare all you have to do is call out to him. Today is the day of salvation and today is the day for you to follow His leading...
The call today is to lay down your life, submit to the the Lord and what he is leading in your life.
Are you ready… Mary and Jospeh were
Lets us pray....
