“Immanuel came to bring us to glory”
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Good morning, we hope that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. I am so glad that you are here with me today to bring to a close this final Sunday of the year. It’s crazy that the next time we will meet will be 2026. I am so thankful for you church family and I am thankful for your love for Jesus. My prayer is that as we enter a new year we would see the importance of being faithful to God and His bride the church.
There was a time in my life where I was very young and I remember not being very nice to my mom. I think I smarted off to her and said something I shouldn’t have. My dad made it very clear to me that I should never treat my mom like that. Although this was my mom it was also my dad’s bride, his wife. He was not going to just stand there while his disrespectful son said these things. I didn’t really think about the fact that my mom was my dad’s wife. I was very young and very foolish. He had a great love and passion for her. Men, let me just say this. The church is not only the very body of Christ, it is the bride of Christ. Do you think Jesus cares about the way we treat His bride? Yes He does. Do you think His bride matters to Him? Of course. Do you think He passively looks the other way when we disregard His bride? Let us give the bride of Christ the attention she deserves. My prayer is that we would do just that and as we do this will help us to take serious the Word of God, prayer, and sharing our faith with others. This is what the bride of Christ has been called to do.
This past Wednesday as we gathered together on Christmas Eve to remember and celebrate the birth of Christ we looked at how the Gospels record for us the good news about Jesus and even more specifically about His birth. In Matthew chapter 1 and verse 23 we are told about some news that is quite amazing!
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
The name Immanuel speaking about the child Jesus here shows us that He is God, and He is with us. The Bible uses the name Immanuel in different ways but mostly in the context of the incarnation of Christ. The incarnation means that Jesus was fully God, but He was also fully man. That may be hard to wrap our minds around but it needed to happen. Jesus had to come to this earth and put on flesh and take to himself a human nature. He had to come and live and die for our sin. In other words, Jesus took to himself the same flesh you and I have except for the fact that while he lived here on earth He was without sin. Now why do we need to know this, and why is this so important???
Well, because as Christ grew up and became a man He understands what you and I are going through. Jesus knew what it was like to suffer, to go through trials, and deal with unfair treatment. Jesus also came in order to reconcile us as sinners to God. Jesus came to guide and strengthen us as believers as we journey through this life. This reminds us that we are not alone. Jesus also came to comfort His people as Nate shared with us last week. Today, I want to help you understand how Immanuel came to bring His people to glory or too heaven. Today I want to remind us of 3 things we can take hope in when it comes to glorification. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 21 and let’s take a look at this Revelation that has been revealed to John.
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Jesus is God-with-us to bring His people to glory. We read here in Revelation of the new heavens and new earth, where God himself shall be with his people. The important lesson church is that God does not create us and then just leave us to fend for ourselves as we go about our lives. God is with you today. We are reminded of this in Philippians chapter 1.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
God’s word tells us that those whom God foreknew he also predestined, those he predestined he also called, those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8-29-30) As believers we have been justified by God. We have been adopted as God’s children, and God continues to work in our lives or sanctifies us. So, glorification is the completion of our sanctification, the fruit of justification, and the enjoyment of adoption. As we see from Revelation chapter 21 when all things are made new, our lives will finally be free from several different realities. Let’s look at this first reality.
1. Someday We will be without suffering.
1. Someday We will be without suffering.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
There is coming a time church where there will be no more tears, no more death, and no more pain. Ever since Adam and Eve took of the fruit in the garden of Eden our world has been dealing with tears, suffering, and pain. Ultimately these are the consequences of sin. In heaven we will be free of the trials of life and the pains and presence of sin. Still we will not have all that Jesus has won for us until our bodes are raised incorruptible and they are reunited with our spirits. This is how Paul sums it all up.
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
Our full experience of glorification will happen only at the Lord’s return, but you need to know that it is a sure thing. Those whom God has justified He has glorified. As believers we are to trust in Christ alone and when we do we know that there is no chance that God will fail to glorify us.
2. Someday We will be without sin.
2. Someday We will be without sin.
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Its hard to imagine what things were once like at the beginning of creation. Remember that there was a time where there was no sin on earth.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
There was a time where everything was good in our world including man, but with one decision Adam and Eve rebelled against a holy God and sin entered into the world and everything was broken. Sin brought brokenness into every area of life. There was a curse for Eve and Eve was broken, Adam was broken and dealt with a curse, marriage was broken, and all of creation was broken. And ever since then we have lived in a broken and fallen world. Along with this came murder, adultery, idolatry, lying, coveting, and many other sinful things. And the consequences of sin are pain and brokenness. If you have ever read through God’s Word this is something that we read about over and over again.
But there is good news. When we come to the gospels we are reminded that we have been given a Savior to save us from our sin and to reconcile us back to God. There is coming a day church where we will be without sin. All will be holy and right and perfect in the holy city the New Jerusalem. When the Lord finally glorifies us, He removes the presence of sin form us and allows us to see Him. There is coming a day that we will finally and fully be like Jesus in that it is possible for human beings with human natures to resemble Jesus, lacking all our sinful desires, and being confirmed eternally in our love for God and for His people. John describes it this way.
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
3. Someday We will be without separation.
3. Someday We will be without separation.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Also look at chapter 22 and verse 4 with me.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
When I was about 8 years old we were at the mall shopping with my Mom and i got lost. I remember wondering around the store looking for my mom, but I could not find her. As a child it is the worst feeling in the world to be separated from your parents. Finally a store employe helped me find her and everything was made right in the world. As we go about our lives here on earth I think at times it can feel as if we are separated from God. This can often be the result of sin in our lives or even fear or worry. Maybe there as been a difficult crisis that has hit in our lives and we have wonder where is God??? While we journey here on earth there may come times or seasons where we face this. However, there is coming a day where we will be without separation. There is coming a day where God will dwell with us as believers, we will be His people, and we will see His face.
It is hard to imagine what heaven will truly look like. There have been many scholars and theologians who have written about it. This final perfection is sometimes called the beatific vision where we will see God in all his blessedness. Paul talks about this vision in 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
9 But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
What has God prepared for those who love Him? Well this vision should bring us great joy because it helps us to know for sure that someday we will have glorified bodies, but more importantly our joy will come from the possession of God himself. He will be our great and wonderful blessing. Down through history we have seen many Creeds and Confessions and the one that stands out to me the most when we think about glorification is the Belgic Confession. It states that the reward for God’s people is that the Lord will make them possess a glory such as the heart of man could never imagine.
The hope of the believer is centered in Christ Jesus coming again the second time. Paul calls this in Titus chapter 2 and verse 3, “the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Christ Jesus.” For every believer who knows God and he has trusted in Him and loves Him says, “Amen, come Lord Jesus.”
Immanuel is God with us, so the next time you go through suffering, the next time you are tempted to give into sinful things, and the next time you feel far from God lean unto Him and know that He is with you.
(Close in Prayer)
Closing Benediction:
17 May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
May people be blessed in him,
all nations call him blessed!
18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and Amen!
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
(Close in Prayer)
(You are Dismissed)
