Christ Came to Save Sinners

We’ll be getting to 1 Tim but open your Bibles to Matt 1

Intro

As Christians, we can do a lot of Christian Christmas routine and in doing so, can actually lose the importance of what Christmas is.

We have nativity scenes

We go to plays or concerts

Someone says Happy holidays and we hit em back with “Merry Christmas”

We sing Christmas carols

Some sing “happy birthday” to Jesus

Facebook posts like:

“Keep Christ in Christmas”

“Jesus is the reason for the season”

And those arent bad or wrong but we can actually miss the weight and gravity of the reality behind these things

What is the ‘reason’?

Why did Christ come at Christmas?

Turn to Matt 1

Matthew 1:18–24 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 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. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,”

Turn forward to Luke 2. KEEP IT MARKED

Luke 2:8–12 “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.””

Now turn 1 Tim 1

Context

Paul writing to young pastor Timothy at Ephesus

False teachers with different doctrine

Immediately into thanksgiving & praise over the gospel

Judged me faithful… though I was…

Pauls background & conversion

Pharisee, jewish elite teacher

Persecutor of Christians

Acts 8:3 “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”

Jesus said, “I am the way” & Paul said “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women”

Paul is converted. On his way to persecute the church Jesus knocks him down and saves him

Received mercy because he had acted ignorantly

Not an excuse for ignorance.

Paul is going to say he’s the chief sinner & that he was saved

In fact, Peter says to the Jews who killed jesus

Acts 3:17–19 ““And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,”

Contrast the false teachers who were not ignorant

Similar to Jesus plea “Luke 23:34 Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”…

Stephens stoning

Acts 7:54–8:1 “Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

Emphasis is not on his ignorance but rather God’s grace and mercy

MOVE TO TOO BAD TO BE SAVED

Like to think Perhaps Paul is reflecting back on stephens stoning

Acts 7: 54

“Lord do not hold this sin against them”

Here we see Paul saved

The saying is trustworthy & deserving of full acceptance

The who

The what

How

The why

Christ Jesus

King

Angel to Mary

Luke 1:31–33 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.””

Creator

He is God

Came into the world

Think about that for a second..

God took on flesh and came into this world

Explain incarnation

John 1 Here or under Christ Jesus

As a baby

Had to be God & man

“If I were God”

Grandiousness of God

To save sinners

This is the reason

To save sinners

NOT:

To make you happy

To give you what you want

Make you healthy & wealthy

Ground you

Simply be an example of a “good person”

He came to save sinners

This is why this is something you don’t expect

Came to earth to save SINNERS, not saints

Meaning, he came to save his enemies

Save those who hate him

He did not come down to save his friends, his comrades, his teammates but rather he came into the world to save those who hated him.

Romans 5:6–10 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

That is you and me

Fall into one of two camps

Rebelion

Religion

Rebellious being those who seem so far away from God

Look up to vs 8

Ungodly, sinner, unholy, profane, strike father & mother, murderer, sexually immoral, homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, contrary to sound doctrine

“I don’t need God”

Prodigal son

Religious

My fear is not so much that of rebellion in here but religion in here

The sin of religion is that of thinking your works and religion have saved you

Paul foremost

“Blameless”

Yet he says he is the foremost of sinners

Obs he says that on this side of conversion. He did not think himself a sinner before.

You good deeds cannot save you.

Good deeds are filthy rags

None is righteous no not one

If righteousness were through the law, christ died for no purpose”

This is what you functionally say when you live in religion

Older brother

How

Virgin birth

Perfect life

Substitutionary death

Victorious resurrection

Eternal Plan

Lamb was slain before the foundations of the world

Ephesians 1:4 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love”

Revelation 13:8 “and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.”

Foremost of sinners

Perfect patience as example

Obs

You need to be saved

You cannot save yourself

This is why he had to come

Lost in woods, solution isn’t start walking, its cry out for help

Jesus can save you

Because he was the only one born of a virgin

He was the only one to live the sinless life

He bore under the wrath of God

He rose 3 days later

Believe the Gospel

Trustworthy & True

Go forth

New year

What would it look like if we lived like that were true

Our service

Our time

Our resources

Our decision

Doxology

Dont yawn over this