Christ's Journey for Sinners

Introduction

This is the first of our regular three messages series celebrating the Advent, the coming of Christ. This year we will spend our time looking at various reasons Christ came. What is it that our Savior and Lord came to do? This series is based on a devotional - 31 Meditations On The Incarnation: Why Christ Came by Joel Beeke and William Boekestein. I have been using these short readings as personal devotions and decided several of them were worthy of exploration and further discussion in their own right. I have and will adapted the titles although the content will be my own. My goal for this series is for us to gain a greater appreciation for the coming and work of Christ. Christ Jesus our Lord accomplished many things and it is my prayer that he will grow in our eyes and hearts as we mediate on the many facets of the incarnation of our blessed king.

Save the resurrection, there is no greater miraculous act than that of the incarnation. Charles Spurgeon in his work on the incarnation penned this wonderful words: “But sing, sing, O universe, till thou hast exhausted thyself, yet thou canst not chant an anthem so sweet as the song of Incarnation! Though Creation may be a majestic organ of praise, it cannot reach the compass of the golden canticle, Incarnation! There is more melody in Jesus in the manger than in the whole sublime oratorio of the Creation. There is more grandeur in the song that heralds the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem than there is in worlds on worlds rolling in silent grandeur around the throne of the Most High.” Theologian Wayne Grudem actually declares it to be the greatest miracle in his systematic theology: “It is by far the most amazing miracle of the entire Bible—far more amazing than the resurrection and more amazing even than the creation of the universe. The fact that the infinite, omnipotent, eternal Son of God could become man and join himself to a human nature forever so that infinite God became one person with finite man—that will remain for eternity the most profound miracle and the most profound mystery in all the universe.”[1]

Background

The apostle Paul made clear the coming of Christ, specifically his death, was the demonstration of God’s love for us (Rom 5:8). The God of heaven was not context to leave us in our sin and under His judgment and wrath. Rather He sent His Son to save us and bring men to Himself. The great 4th century church father Athanasius from his classic work, On the Incarnation, gave these words: “Now in dealing with these matters it is necessary first to recall what has already been said. You must understand why it is that the Word of the Father, so great and so high, has been made manifest in bodily form. He has not assumed a body as proper to His own nature, far from it, for as the Word He is without body. He has been manifested in a human body for this reason only, out of the love and goodness of His Father, for the salvation of us men.” Indeed, our savior did many great things. We will turn now to exploring some of these things.

Exposition

Christ’s Journey to save sinners

Our text makes clear the reason for Christ’s coming: He came to save His people from their sins. This originally applied to people of Israel. Christ came to the Jew first (Matt 10:5-6;15:24) and then for the Greek (Matt 28:18-20, Rom. 1:16). Whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, the problem was the same: sin.

The Problem of Sin - It has created a barrier between the Father and us (Is. 59:2). Where there is ongoing sin there can be neither relationship nor fellowship. Sin came into the world because of the disobedience of our father Adam. It spread from Adam to all his descendants, down to this day (Romans 5:12). When sin entered into the word the LORD casts us from His presence. This was an act of mercy so that we would not eat from the tree of life and live forever in sin (Gen. 3:22-24). It also meet that we were cast out of the first tabernacle on earth, Eden where we freely meet with Yahweh in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8). We are separated from God, totally enslaved, and apart from Christ that separation is permanent.

The Effects of Sin - The effects of sin are comprehensive. Sin corrupts our hearts (Jer 17:9), perverts our way of life(Gen. 8:21), distorts human nature (Rom 8:5-8), and totally enslaves us (Rom 6:12-13;16).

The Penalty of Sin - Scripture is clear that sin separates from God. The wages of sin is death, both physical and spiritual (Rom. 6:23). Those who live in sin shall not have eternal life (Gal. 5:20-22), but rather eternal death (Rev. 21:8). The unrepentant sinner is casts into outer darkness (Matt 22:13).

Christ’s Response to Sin - The response to the problem of sin, in order to save sinners, was sacrifice. This is clearly seen in the OT sacrificial system. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin (Is. 53:10, Matt 20:28, John 11:51-52). The problem of course is if our own blood is shed, we are lost for we could never satisfy the infinite wrath of a holy God. In manifestation of the Father’s great love, Christ gave His life to free us from the penalty, release us from the effects, and provide new life in Him. He achieved the goal. Of course this means He must retrieve us.

Christ’s Journey to retrieve sinners

One of the efforts of sin is that the sinner is lost. Without the living Word and the written word we don’t know the way to God. We don’t know and can’t find the way to eternal life. We don’t know and have no desire to find and live in a way pleasing to the Father in Heaven. We are left to seeking and /or making our own paths to God. We are left to hoping, or worse, believing God will or must accept our efforts and what we offer Him. Far too many believe no effort is required. This was Paul’s point in Romans 3:12 (cf Ps. 14:2-3; 53:1). We like sheep have gone astray and our only hope was the good shepherd to come retrieve us. This is the point of the Parables of Lk 15 and Christ’s words in Lk 19:10. Christ came to save those whom wanted no relationship with Him. He came to restore what was lost, yet provide something greater. Yet it began with a message of repentance.

Christ’s Journey to call sinners (to repentance)

The Gospel of Mark is generally considered the first gospel to be written. This gospel begins with a straight forward message: Repent and believe the gospel (Mk 1:15). It was not a message that we are already good and just need some improvement. It wasn’t a message that ‘I loves you and have a wonderful plan for your life!’. It certainly wasn’t a message that all is well and I am taking you to heaven. It was a message of repentance. It was a message that we have broken God’s law and are subject to His wrath and judgment. It was a message that our default situation is eternally precarious. We are in need of saving and he is the savior. He is an exceedingly great Savior but we must repent. We must see the need to repent and that repentance must be in thinking and action, not just emotional sorrow. This was Paul’s point in 2 Cor 7:10. All those whom see their sin and need for a savior will find all they need in Christ and receive his righteousness (Lk 18:13-14). This is the promise to all those who believe on His name (John 1:12-13, Romans 10:13)

Practical Application

For the Glory of God, God the Son journeyed from heaven to earth for us. The one through whom all things we made willingly left the glories of heaven and the praise and glory he received in heaven to take on flesh. He did so for the glory that was set before him, to bear the wrath of God for us and to manifest the love of God towards us. We mustn’t ever lose sight of these great things. The king of the universe laid in a manger so that we could again be in His presence and one day lay our crowns at his feet, giving glory to the triune God forever. Saints of God let us keep this great truth before us and may it always impact every aspect of our lives. The king has come. Let us worship him, Jesus Christ our Lord. Glory to God in the Highest, peace on earth among men with whom He is pleased! God bless you all is my prayer.

Gospel Application

What is your reason for celebrating this unique season? I submit to you to only reason to celebrate is if you know the savior and have been saved from your sin. If that is not you than I do what Christ came to do and commands me to do, I call you to repent and believe the gospel. This season of Advent will be truly one of celebration.

Bibliography

1. Grudem, W. (2020). Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Second Edition, p. 700). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic.