He Gives a King
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
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Claim - Jesus is the King, the Son of God, in the live of David, over all Jacob’s descendants, for all time and was be born to a virgin.
Focus - Praise God - Jesus really is the eternal King - Proven by fulfilled prophesy
Function - Cause us to Glorify God for His incredible plan of salvation, fulfilled in the birth of King Jesus
Salvation plan does not rely on great people
People’s salvation relies on a great God
God’s salvation plan creates a great people
- How terrible the social future of Mary would have looked - but a picture of the great God of salavtion, whoes wordnever fails brings hert o simply say (at the age of 13-15)
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
luke 1 38
1 luke 1 38
PRAY
PRAY
Illustrations?
Illustrations?
Did you know you can already buy tickets to go to Mars.
You wont come back,
and they haven’t finished the technology,
but Mankind plans to colonise Mars.
Man has already walked on the moon,
invented aircraft and cars,
can perform incredible surgical procedures,
can cure diseases.
We can perform incredible stunts,
survive incredible climates,
teach and learn unbelievable things.
Write incredibly loving and moving novels and
recreate the impossible in films.
Mankind is extraordinary.
But today’s passage from is going to show us
us that in the department of being in a good relationship with God - or even believing in God at all - we are far from extraordinary, in fact we are totally useless.
that in the department of being in a good relationship with God -
or even believing in God at all -
we are far from extraordinary,
in fact we are totally useless.
So we know John is on his way, in-fact, to be presise he’s been cooking in the womb for 6 months now as we start todays passage.
John is the one who would ‘prepare the way’ for a greater child to be born to Mary and Jospeh, and his name is Jesus.
But these passages are not about how wonderful the parents of these 2 children were, these passages are about the quite incredible love of God, who has made a plan restore to himself, a people of his own.
People, that without God’s intervention would never seek the only God of the universe. A people who would rather bury their heads in the sand and live however they want to, rather than lift the eyes the truth of a Righteous God of the Universe, whom they must serve.
People like you and me. People like you and me, who can’t save themselves, in fact in the department of eternal salvation, we are all totally useless!
Ed, last week, helpfully pointed us to the reality of
YOu see God has....
Ed, last week, helpfully pointed us to the reality of
And this weeks passage focuses in on
Forget for a second whether you believe in God or not,
A plan that does not rely on mankind
A plan that does not rely on mankind
just let’s imagine that he does exist.
Well what a mess we have made of his world.
Right along side amazing surgical procedures
and building aircraft
are the invention of bombs and
the devastation they cause for doctors to patch up.
Right along side an epic novel of perfect love is angre,
divorce, temper, hate in our homes and in our heads.
Right alongside our acts of compassion and care
are selfish desires to be more comfortable,
to provide for self before others.
And right beside an Almighty God,
who knows exactly what is best for mankind
is you and me with our own little crowns on,
trying to ignore His Rule or even his existence.
The bible is clear that God,
xxx
being Good, just, perfect in every-way,
cannot tolerate any hint of rebellion, or selfishness in his presence.
So, if there is a God, mankind, you and me have a big problem.
And none of us can fix it!
Luckily, God can, and he has a...
1 - A plan that does not rely on mankind.
1 - A plan that does not rely on mankind.
If you were here last week then think back to Zechariah and Elizabeth.
God is going to use their son to ‘prepare the way’ for Jesus.
The Jesus who is going to be the ‘Saviour of the World’.
The plan fulfiller.
All they have to do was have a baby -
- but they couldn’t. Elizabeth was barren.
God would have to open her womb.
They may have been obedient to God as best as possible,
but when the angel told Zechariah of the plan,
he didn’t believe the angel!
God would have to intervene and make it happen anyway.
It’s almost as if God finds the most unlikely people to use
for his great plan of salvation so it is clear,
God is to be glorified, not mankind.
Then in comes Mary and Joseph this week.
A young lady, aged somewhere between 13 and 15.
Engaged (as was normal at that time for that age)
to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David we’re told in v27.
Ah, so Joseph’s our human hero -
he’s descended from the great King David,
who the OT promises will lead to King to rule for all eternity!
But the OT did promise another eternal king, speaking of David...
When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
In fact the son that Joseph will raise with Mary is clearly the fulfilment of this promise,
look at what the angel says to Mary in our passage today:
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
The resemblance to the OT promise of a king
who will not only reign temporarily,
but who will establish a throne for all time,
a kingdom that never ends for God’s chosen people to enjoy, is undeniable.
This is the roll out of God’s plan actually happening in history!
It’s looking good for Joseph then to be a hero,
he’s from the right family,
Mary is a virgin, so he’s being apparently quite obedient to God’s standards, oh but wait...
but wait,
Jesus is not going to be conceived in Mary by Joseph...
luke 1 34-And look at the way the angel phrases his greeting to MAry,
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Yes, Joseph would be Jesus’s legal and earthly father, but not biologically.
Jospeh is not able to save humanity either.
Jesus will inherit the kingly line legally from Jospeh, but
God has intervened.
Interestingly though,
Mary is actually also descended by blood from King David…
not in the Royal line like Joseph, so no kingly inheritance from her.
but still in his blood line.
But maybe Mary is very special, well yes, she is, but again,
not becasue of what she has done.
Notice how last week Zech and Liz were credited for being goldy people, but other things (bareness and disbelief) were there downfall.
Here Mary is not credited with the same honour.
Look carefully at the way the angel phrases his greeting to Mary,
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
luke 1
And look at the way the angel phrases his greeting to MAry,
HE does not say, Mary, you have earned favour, or have proved yourself favourable.
You simply are favoured!
Unfortunately the Catholic tradition of honouring Mary misses the point of this greeting.
The point is that Mary is nothing special,
but that GOD decides to favour her.
As we are about to go onto, this passage is all about her son Jesus, not her. Unfortunately the Catholic tradition of honouring Mary misses the point of this greeting. The point is that Mary is nothing special, but that God decides to favour her nonetheless. So we glorify God, not Mary or any other man or woman.
So we glorify God, not Mary.
If i show favour to ‘NAME’ by giving him £10, you don’t say wow ‘NAME’ you’re amazing. You say, wow aren't you lucky that Sam favoured you. Isn’s Sam amazing! Sam please show me favour too!
If i show favour to ‘NAME’ by giving him £10, you don’t say wow ‘NAME’ you’re amazing. You say, wow aren't you lucky that Sam favoured you. Isn’s Sam amazing! Sam please show me favour too!
You see God’s plan does not rely on mankind.
God planned it and designed it and intervenes to make it happen!
God was not waiting for the stars to align, PHEW, Zech, Liz, Mary and Jo all seem to have what I’m looking for, I can make this work, that’s lucky!
NO! God had this planned since the beginning and promised it repeatedly throughout the OT,
God needs glorifying for bringing about his plan to save people,
despite the people he needed to use.
GOD planned for the kingly line of David to be a legal inheritance for Jesus through the earthly father of Joseph.
GOD arranged for the blood line of David to be found in Mary.
GOD planned for Mary and Joseph to come to together.
GOD puts it into place through the conception of Jesus by the HS.
God intervenes in the birth of John to a barren Elizabeth, and so it goes on.
.
Ed, last week,
helpfully pointed us to a chorus sung by the angels just after Jesus was born in a chapters time.
The angels are under no illusion whose hard work this plan of salvation belongs to:
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When we think about Christmas we are to rejoice that God’s plan does not rely on mankind
Because judging by all other history, we would mess it up!
We are to say ‘Glory to God!’
And the fact that Jesus is conceived in Mary by God himself through the HS, shows that God is not going to leave his plan of salvation to mankind’s abilities.
Jesus is God, Fully man yes, but fully God, conceived by God himself by His Spirit.
He favours Mary, God becomes man, himself, that is why the HS concieves the child in Mary, not Jospeh. God intervenes intot our messed up world to save a messed up people!
And to make this point ever so clear, God doesn’t even leave the execution of the plan down to any normal man. Jesus is God himself.
The HS, not Jospeh, conceives the child in Mary.
But, there is one man that this plan unavoidably does relies on. Jesus!
It’s true, but while Jesus is fully man, born of a woman.
But if God is does exist, then surely this is not only a possibility that he gave a child to a virgin, but surely it makes complete sense that he would do it this way.
If God is real, then surely this is not only a possibility that he gave a child to a virgin, but surely it makes complete sense that he would do it this way.
God doesn’t want mankind to mess up his loving salvation plan. And more than that, God wants us to rightfully glorify Him and no-one else.
He is also the son of God, conceived by the HS.
The one man who must be relied upon, is the one man who is God incarnate. The one man who will live perfectly obedient and loving life for God the Father, becasue he is God the Son.
God intervenes into our messed up world to save a messed up people!
All glory goes to God,
People like Elizabeth, Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and maybe you and me, if we are prepared to believe..
OUr second point hangs on that very significant verse, verse 37
And this weeks passage focuses in on
God did not have to wait for the stars to align - Mary, Zecheriah, John, Eleizabeth, Jospeh before he could bring bout his plan!! etc...
For no word from God will ever fail.”
And Our second point will give us confidence to do just that.
And our point is that this is:
A plan that cannot fail
A plan that cannot fail
2 - A plan that cannot fail
2 - A plan that cannot fail
You may have a different bible translation that sounds quite different -
Something like:
For nothing will be impossible with God.”
But in context it means the same thing -
God has said something, it may sound impossible, but it will happen.
I think this is one of the most overlooked,
and underused arguments for the truth of Christianity, becasue it is all to do with the reliability of the bible.
But this is I think one of the most overlooked, and underused arguments for not only the existence of God but the unquestionable accuracy and reliability of the bible.
If every word of God has to come true - and we can see evidence that so far, so good, we can have confidence in every promise that is still to be fulfilled!
Because to b
We’ve already shown how similar v32 and 33 are to a prophesy made 1000 years before this in 2 Samuel.
There is no dispute among historians that these prophesies were written down long before Jesus was born.
There is also no dispute that Jesus was a real person in history.
or that he was put to death on a cross.
Other sources (other than the bible) confirm all these things,
You see, Luke (who was a Doctor, and who wrote this book) did so
so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
He doesn’t just spout random things he’s showing us something incredible,
something that means this plan is not only genuine,
but that this plan cannot and will not fail!
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
He will be great
Not like John the baptist who will be great in the eyes of the Lord v15 - Jesus is simply Great by nature - why…because he is v32
the Son of the Most High.
A Jew who knew his OT would know they were expecting a King to come
who would literally be ‘the son of God’
And the details are at times extraordinary
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
is
Immanuel means ‘God with us’,
Micah 5v2 even tells us that the eternal king would be born in Bethlehem,
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
carrying on in v33
"Behold, a (literally 'the') virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (meaning 'God with us')" (). "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" ().
Perhaps the most explicit verse in this connection is our text. "The LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son" (). Then this marvelous Messianic psalm concludes with this exhortation: "Kiss the Son, . . . Blessed are all they that put their trust in him"
which Jesus really was!
carrying on in v33
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
We’ve already heard that through Jospeh’s adoption of Jesus, he inherits the kingly line of David, and through Mary he is in the bloodline of David as well. Prophesy after prophesy fulfilled in Jesus.
The legal Father of Jesus, through adoption gave Jesus an heirs right to the throne of David. BUt this is no ordibary throne...
and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
The OT is full of promises of God establishing his throne eternally, forever.
I know what some of you are thinking,
Descendant of David
I’m very cynical myself.
So, some wise guy pieced all the OT prophesies together
Rule of Jacobs descendants
and realised that the son of Joseph could at least get away with pretending
to be the promised one, and so they wrote the NT about it.
Eternal King
Son of God
Well you can be as cynical as you like but the bible is just too complex for that to be true.
Conceived by the Spirit
I read the following exert out earlier this year in another sermon, but the summary of how the bible is put together is so good, it’s worth hearing again:
And bear in mind that these general statistics are not disputed by secular mainstream historians.
The Bible contains 66 documents.
The Bible contains 66 documents.
Approximately 40 authors wrote in three different languages over a period of about 1,500 years.
Some of the authors were young, some were old; some were professionals, others were peasants; some were soldiers, others were civil servants, fishermen, farmers, or kings.
They wrote in wildly different genres: history, population statistics, poetry, travel diaries, law, prophecy, family trees, biography, geographical surveys, architectural blueprints, song lyrics.
NO word will ever fail
They wrote in different periods of history, in different geographical locations, to different groups of people.
And It wasn’t even like a relay race, with one author handing on the baton to another. Often, the authors wrote centuries apart.
Jesus's birth, life, death and resurrection are historically reliable events that FULFIL predictions made in historically reliable documents written over
1500 years earlier, by 30 OT authors!
This plan of God’s, that does not rely on mankind, will not fail!
The angel is so sure of that,
that when he reassures Mary that she will conceive, he says,
check it out for yourself,
your barren cousin Elizabeth is already pregnant by 6 month,
and as if a throw away line, there is our verse...
For no word from God will ever fail.”
luke 1
This plan cannot fail.
God has said it, it will happen.
So, what are we left with, surely nothing but to see that this is
3 - A plan that is incredible!
3 - A plan that is incredible!
The one God of the universe created all things,
and created mankind that they may enjoy a
glorious, wonderful and eternal relationship with Him.
But we have turned our back on him.
We want to live our own way. Me in charge.
But God isn’t surprised,
he already had a plan in place to truly show you and me
how glorious and loving, and incredible He is.
A plan that does not rely on mankind,
Rule of Jacobs descendants
so that no man or woman can boast, so that no-one can mess it up,
so that all glory goes to God.
Eternal King
He makes a plan that he reveals throughout history in the bible,
so that when he fulfils it,
there can be no denial of it’s truth for any serious enquirer.
IF you don’t believe in the truth of Christianity,
please,
just give it some serious time to investigate!
A plan that simply cannot fail, becasue he is in charge of it, he carries it out in Jesus, by the Holy Spirit.
If it’s true, you simply can’t afford to have checked!
We have a Life Explored Course starting in mid January,
just come along before you dismiss it and regret it!
And if you are a believer, be encouraged, know that it is true!
It simply can’t be wrong - God’s word cannot fail!
We are friends with God through Jesus,
born to Mary, by the HS.
John Chapman
And so, look what confidence Mary had as she trusted God’s promise...
he carries it out in Jesus, by the Holy Spirit.
A plan that none of us deserve,
yet it’s better than anything this world has to offer by a scale of eternity!
But Look at Mary, look how it changes her immediately!
And look at how this plan works in the life of those who believe it.
It is for you and me today. It changes people.
It not only saves people who are terribly lost for eternity to people who are in the preseence of the Glorious God alighty for all eternity.
But Look at Mary, look how it changes her immediately!
she’s about to have to try and explain her pregnancy to her fiancee,
her parents,
his parents,
the whole community.
This is a disgrace, an outrage,
and who’s going to believe her crazy story!
But she’s prepared to do it gladly,
becasue she knows that “no word of God will ever fail”
And it’s becasue we trust the angels was right in v37:
For no word from God will ever fail.”
And so she is able to say:
For no word from God will ever fail.”
I am convinced by the undeniable cohesion of the bible. and so we can trust God at his word.
Friends of Jesus, we too are changed by God’s salvation plan for all eternity, and it starts now.
And it looks like v38
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Do you see, Mary doesn’t think of herself,
she doesn’t want praise,
she doesn’t want comfort,
an easy life,
a Jaguar in the garage,
an ensuite,
the best education for her kids,
respect in the playground,
more money in the bank,
a holiday home in Spain,
never to get ill -
she’s a young teenage girl with life before her-
but because she takes God at his Word,
she trusts Him,
all she wants is
‘To be the Lord’s servant, and she prays, ‘may your word be fulfilled’.
What a wonderful example of how trusting in the promises of God
makes a believer able to serve the Lord in
difficult,
scary,
dangerous and
desperate times.
I’m sure she’ll happily enjoy any of those blessings I’ve just mentioned if they come along,
but they will be secondary,
and in service to the Lord.
And All to the glory of the Lord.
Son of God
All to the glory of the Lord.
Conceived by the Spirit
Don’t we want to be more like that this Christmas.
NO word will ever fail
God has made a plan that cannot fail.
It is incredible - it offers us eternal life, in a perfect relationship with the glorious God of the universe.
Whereas John would be “great in the sight of the Lord” (1:15), Jesus would be great without qualification (1:32) and would be called the Son of God (1:35).
In the past attempts have been made to explain the origin of the virgin birth story by proposing that the early church borrowed mythical material from pagan sources. Yet it is clear today that one cannot explain the virgin birth traditions as originating from pagan sources. There are simply no clear pagan parallels. The Jewish nature of the virgin birth traditions also make this theory most improbable.41 Attempts have also been made to see the virgin birth traditions as originating from Jewish myths. Yet we find no evidence anywhere of a Jewish expectation that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. If one is open to the possibility of God entering into history and being able to transcend the “laws of nature,” it is not difficult to believe that the God who raised his Son from the dead and empowered him to do many mighty miracles could have sent him into the world by the miracle of the virgin birth.
It’s all achievable through Jesus who lived a perfect life and died to take the punishment we deserve from God, so we don’t have to..
The New American Commentary: Luke Comments
At this time Mary likely was no more than fifteen years old, probably closer to thirteen, which was the normal age for betrothal.
The New American Commentary: Luke Comments
A descendant of David. This describes Joseph, not the virgin as is evident from Luke’s reintroduction of Mary (“the virgin’s name”) immediately following this description. If it referred to Mary, Luke could simply have said “a descendant of David whose name was Mary.” By this comment Luke was preparing his readers for what he would say in 1:32–33. The importance of the Davidic descent of Jesus is evident from 2:4; 3:23–38 (cf. Matt 1:1–17; Rom 1:3; 2 Tim 2:8). Compare 2 Esdr 12:32, where the Messiah is equated with the Son of David.
It’s so incredible it makes extraordinary but USELESS mankind,
and saying with Mary:
you and me,
able to say the most momentous statement possible:
“I am the Lord’s servant,” . “May your word to me be fulfilled.”
The New American Commentary: Luke Comments
Mary had been “graced” by God in that she had been chosen to bear God’s Son (1:31, 35). She had not been chosen for this task because she possessed a particular piety or holiness of life that merited this privilege. The text suggests no special worthiness on Mary’s part.
PRAY
The New American Commentary: Luke Comments
The Lord is with you. Compare Judg 6:12; Ruth 2:4. This is not a wish (“may the Lord be with you”) but a statement and refers to God’s mighty power being present and upon Mary.
The New American Commentary: Luke Comments
You have found favor with God. Here as in Judg 6:17; 2 Sam 15:25 (cf. 1 Sam 1:18) the issue is God’s gracious choice, not Mary’s particular piety (cf. Gen 6:8); for unlike Luke 1:6, nothing is made of Mary’s personal piety either before or after this verse. The emphasis is on God’s sovereign choice, not on human acceptability.
The New American Commentary: Luke Comments
Jesus. Although heaven-given names usually have etymological significance, nothing is made of this by Luke. Contrast, however, Matt 1:21.
If John received Special forces training in the womb - Jesus is simply a special force by nature!
The New American Commentary: Luke Comments
One should not read into this verse the thought that since Jesus was not conceived through sexual intercourse he was as a result “uncontaminated” by such a natural birth. Rather, Luke sought to teach that since Jesus’ birth was entirely due to the “overshadowing” of the Holy Spirit, Jesus would be uniquely set aside for God’s service, i.e., he would be “holy.”
APPLICATION TO US?! - Trust the will of God, bow the knee.
The New American Commentary: Luke Comments
1:38 I am the Lord’s servant.… May it be to me as you have said. Compare 1 Sam 1:18. Whereas Zechariah and Elizabeth provide an example for the reader of true discipleship in their obedience to the commandments and regulations of the OT (1:6), Mary is exemplary because of her submission to God’s will.
The New American Commentary: Luke The Lukan Message
The greatness of Mary’s son is not a result of his human striving. In light of this account no adoptionist Christology can be found in Luke
The New American Commentary: Luke The Lukan Message
Luke sought to show his readers that Jesus, who was already well known to them, was born in a unique way and was already Son of God, Christ, and King before his birth.
Note on v37
Note on v37
Word Studies in the New Testament The Narrative
The Rev. rendering of this passage is, therefore, right, though a little stilted: No word of God shall be void of power; for the A. V. errs in joining οὐκ and πᾶν, not every, and translating nothing. The two do not belong together. The statement is, Every (πᾶν) word of God shall not (οὐκ) be powerless. The A. V. also follows the reading, παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ, with God; but all the later texts read παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, from God, which fixes the meaning beyond question.