Christmas Standalone - Incarnation Sermon

TEXT

Luke 2:1–21 ESV

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 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. 10 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. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

LEAD OFF

Today, I want to talk to you about the one of the greatest miracles of all.

This is the miracle: That the divine and all powerful God, ruler of Heaven and Earth, but on flesh, lived in poverty, suffered the greatest depths of human suffering, died one of the most heinous deaths after being falsely accused, all while living a life full of rejection and being misunderstood.

This is the miracle of what we call the Incarnation… or God putting on flesh and adding to his nature, a man nature.

God knew that we could do nothing to save ourselves, so he choose to cross over the chasm created by sin and created by us, to save us.

This is to the glory of God.

INCARNATION

Now before we even begin to try to understand the depths of this fall from the throne to human flesh, let’s discuss what Christ had before.

PHYSICAL

We call him the God of the Universe. So how big is the universe?

The Earth’s diameter is 7,926 miles.

Earth is just one of the 9 planets in our solar system, and is by far not even close to the largest.

When placed up against the sun, the Earth looks like a marble.

Our Sun is a star that is just one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy called the Milky Way.

Galaxies are collections of stars and solar systems.

The Milky Way Galaxy is 621,000,000,000,000,000 miles long.

It would take 100,000 years traveling at the speed of light to make it from one end to the other.

Even at that, The Milky Way Galaxy is only one of 100 billion galaxies that we can see with current technology.

Scientists believe we can only see about 5% of the total universe with our current technology resources.

Voyager 2, the 2nd man-made object to leave our solar system is traveling at speeds of 39,000mph and it will still take 296,000 years to reach the brightest star in our night sky.

HEAVENS

That’s just the physical realm. What about the Heavens?

There is no way to even begin to quantify that because it’s not in the physical realm.

Guys… God the Son left ruling and reigning over all of that, to become a 8lbs 6oz baby (cute and cuddly but still omnipotent) infant born in an animal feeding trough, to two broke, uneducated teenagers in a po-dunk town that nobody took seriously.

He went from the highest to possibly the lowest… by choice.

When we say God humbled himself to put on skin… it really gives no service to the depth of God’s willingness to come save us.

AS JESUS GREW UP

We see that his socio-economic status didn’t change much as he grew up.

When Mary and Joseph brought him to be circumcised, the typical fee was a lamb.

The OT law allowed there to be a substitution for impoverished families of 2 pigeons or 2 turtledoves.

We see in Luke 2:22-24 that Mary and Joseph brought 2 pigeons

JESUS AS AN ADULT

Jesus even comments on his economic status as an adult.

Matthew 8:20 ESV

20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

The Son of God was… homeless.

Jesus ministered however he could.

He preached from borrowed boats.

Multiplied borrowed food.

Rode on a borrowed colt.

Was buried in a borrowed tomb.

Most of Jesus’ material needs were actually met by the women in his life.

Luke 8:2–3 ESV

2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

JESUS STEPS DOWN

Jesus takes the biggest step down possible.

He literally stepped down from the top place you can be to the bottom.

That he would choose to put Himself through that… denying his glory in Heaven to humble Himself to put on skin.

Must we never forget that this is where Christianity began.

It always begins with a sense of need.

The omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God… ALL POWERFUL, ALL KNOWING, AND EVER PRESENT is now a BABY… soiling his diaper and at a complete dependence upon two poor teenagers to care for his every need.

REAL HUMANITY

Understand this is key to our comprehension of the Gospel.

God wasn’t simply among us to appear as a human figure… he was 100% human and 100% God in a way that did not conflict with each other.

While he was looking at his hand as a baby, he wasn’t marveling at his own craftsmanship being the Creator… he was a baby.

He was thinking three things

When do I eat?

Poop

When’s my next nap

He’s not simply the divine God trapped inside a baby’s body, he’s a baby.

Have you ever seen a baby? They’re pretty helpless

It’s not a fun way to live if I’m being honest.

All they do is take, take, take, and their payment is being cute.

Do they help pay bills? No

Do they help do chores? No

They just wear disposable underwear and throw up a lot.

Our Savior… GOD OF THE UNIVERSE… let Himself come into the world as a baby.

He didn’t just arrive on the scenes as a random 30-year old middle-eastern guy with no social security number or hospital records.

He didn’t fast forward the pains and struggles of growing up… he endured it all.

EVERYTHING THAT WE GO THROUGH, JESUS WENT THROUGH.

Acne, Voice cracking, saying words wrong

He felt tired, frustrated, and even grumpy.

I THINK THAT FALLS EMPTY ON US SOMETIMES.

He subjected Himself to his own creation and physical laws.

He would experience the development of human reason and language.

He would be taught things he did not know.

He would talk like a baby before we walked like a man.... BEFORE HE WALKED LIKE AN EGYPTIAN.

The growing pains for the Son of Man were very much like the growing pains that we walked through.

The implications of his are HUGE!

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Make no mistake about it… God in the flesh experienced humanity in every form.

Hebrews 7:25 ESV

25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Jesus intercedes for us on our behalf as we come to God in His name.

He knows us… He knows where we are, and He knows what is best for us.

God listens to His son and He makes his case for us that have faith in Him.

He has unequaled capacity for empathy for us.

It goes far beyond intellectual understanding.

It’s experiential understanding.

Jesus does not just imagine how his children feel… he knows!

DEFINE: INTERCEDE — “come between so as to prevent or alter a result or course of events.”

Think of the dangers he has prevented you from and think of how He has altered the ultimate result of sin by bringing you from death to life.

WHAT WE GO THROUGH

We all are under incredible pressure.

We feel that no one understands, much less cares.

Definitely not anyone who could actually help us!

But our feelings misguide us!

Every chord our life strikes, Christ is there because the same chord was played in His life.

He knows the pitch of the note being sung in our life right now… he’s felt the stress, the pain, the hurt… ALL OF IT

It was because of Christ’s incarnation, the word we use to describe Him becoming flesh...

It was because of Christ’s incarnation, and his perfect identification with humanity, his taking on our nature, though without sin — that could save us.

Whatever our situation, he can deliver us.

The angel said, “Good News” was “for all people.”

Whoever you are, wherever you are… he can deliver you, help you, and save you.

WE WERE DUE ETERNAL DAMNATION, AND WE RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE BECAUSE GOD PUT ON FLESH — THAT’S BIGGER THAN ANY MIRACLE YOU WILL EVER SEE.

THE OTHER REASON

We aren’t finished… there is another reason Jesus put on flesh and came to be amongst us.

It was to show us God.

In the OT we see the righteous and holy divine judge.

In his righteousness He establishes the law.

The law is good, but it’s issue is it condemns us because we failed the uphold the law.

Jesus comes to show us that God through His great mercy and grace has extended to us the best Christmas gift of all.. salvation. Peace between God and man.

Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish it.

Luke 2:1 ESV

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

CAESAR AUGUSTUS

We don’t think much about ole’ Caesar Augustus, but he plays a prominent role in our history.

Caesar Augustus was the ruler of “the entire Roman world.”

In the perspective of the Romans… this meant “the whole inhabited Earth.”

Ancient historians tell us that Caesar Augustus was the nephew of Julius Caesar.

The creator of the Caesar Salad.

Caesar Augustus rose to power be defeated Antony and Cleopatra, and then through considerable genius and force, gave the empire a solidness that endured for centuries.

He was the first Caesar to be called “Augustus.”

Augustus means “holy” and “revered.”

Up until this time, that title was reserved only for God.

Under Augustus’ reign, significant strides were made towards making Caesar’s into gods.

In fact at the time of Luke’s writing this, some Greek cities in Asia had already declared his birthday, September 23rd to be the New Year declaring him as “savior.”

An inscription was placed on his birthplace that said, “savior of the world.”

Historians record that when Caesar Augustus died, people actually were comforted because they saw him and worshipped him as a god and thought he’d live forever.

The world had at its helm a widely proclaimed and accepted god and “savior.”

Luke wants us to have understanding of the coming of the real Savior.

The contrast between the two count not be greater.

The world’s savior is human, with a self-proclaimed divine nature disapproved in his death.

He brought peace only by brute force and violence.

The real savior was only divine, and added man’s nature to save his people.

He died but rose again and lives forevermore, and owns all and has created all.

THE BABY MARY CARRIED WAS NOT CAESAR, A MAN WHO BECAME A GOD, BUT A FAR GREATER WONDER — THE TRUE GOD WHO HAD BECOME A MAN.

CLOSING

What does this show us? Two things:

God shows Himself to the lost, broken, and humble.

He will meet you where you’re at.

What are you going through?

God understands and He’s there to meet your ever need.

We have a tendency like the Romans to elevate things to “god” status in our lives.

We worship money, food, comfort, our family, our opinions… these are things we have a tendency to place about God Almighty.

My question to you today is this… What in your life has become a Caesar?

What is it that you have elevated above this God that has revealed Himself to us.

Christians like to repeat the statement, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.”

Do we say that out of a political response to swaying priorities of culture, or do we really mean it in our lives and with our lives?

Jesus putting on flesh is the greatest miracle this world has and will ever see.... let’s celebrate that today.