Birth of Jesus leads us to the Death of Jesus
Christmas 2020 • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 74 viewsNotes
Transcript
The last two weeks we have spent time building some strong beliefs or another word is doctrine. The first week was the Incarnation meaning that God became man and lived among us. He was fully God in the Flesh. Last week, we talked about the importance of the Virgin birth and that we believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin birth fulfills prophecy and also shows us that Jesus was not created but that Jesus always existed and came in the form of a baby.
These two beliefs bring us to the point that we can’t say that Jesus was just a good man and we should be like Jesus. These beliefs bring us to the place to say Jesus is Lord or for us to deny that he is Lord and resist Christianity all together. There is no middle ground here. Either He is Lord or He is not.
The incarnation of Jesus (Christ coming in the flesh) and the virgin Birth (showing that Jesus was not created but he was with God in the beginning) are extremely important doctrines for us as Christians. It is likely, the birth of Jesus might not be celebrated if Jesus had died a normal death and his body remained in the tomb.
Thursday night is our Christmas Eve service outdoors in the Village. One of the first years in my lifetime where I say Christmas is finally here!
I was scrolling through my phone pics yesterday and I was amazed at 2020. Some of the photos were from the beginning of the year and I thought really that was only a year ago. It really does feel like one of the longest years of my life.
So, this week we will finally celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. I want to look at the genealogy of Jesus and then look at the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Open to Matthew 1
Jesus has some messed up people in His family tree. Some of you immediately thought now this is something I can identify with because I have some messed up people in my family tree!
Tell me more pastor because I am about to go visit them and I know they are messed up so tell me more right?!?
Every family has some messed up people in the family tree but if this morning you are saying that no my family does not have that then you might be that person in family tree.
If you can’t think of anyone else, then it could be you. Lol
1 The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
2 Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers,
Abrahamic Covenant
1 The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.
2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”
4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”
5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
I remind you of what happened after this promise.
The Sin
1 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar.
2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
The Davidic Covenant
11 ever since the day I ordered judges to be over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. “ ‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord Himself will make a house for you.
12 When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
14 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod and with blows from others.
15 But My faithful love will never leave him as I removed it from Saul; I removed him from your way.
16 Your house and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’ ”
Matthew the tax collector immediately connects Jesus to Abraham and to David.
1 The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
2 Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram,
4 Aram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon,
5 Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse,
6 and Jesse fathered King David. Then David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife,
Some messed up people
Judah and Tamar
11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He might die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
12 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to the sheepshearers.
13 Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”
14 So she took off her widow’s clothes, veiled her face, covered herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
16 He went over to her and said, “Come, let me sleep with you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me for sleeping with me?”
17 “I will send you a young goat from my flock,” he replied. But she said, “Only if you leave something with me until you send it.”
18 “What should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your signet ring, your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she got pregnant by him.
19 She got up and left, then removed her veil and put her widow’s clothes back on.
20 When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get back the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.
21 He asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “There has been no cult prostitute here,” they answered.
22 So the Adullamite returned to Judah, saying, “I couldn’t find her, and furthermore, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’ ”
23 Judah replied, “Let her keep the items for herself; otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”
24 About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law, Tamar, has been acting like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah said. “Let her be burned to death!”
25 As she was being brought out, she sent her father-in-law this message: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Examine them. Whose signet ring, cord, and staff are these?”
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her intimately again.
27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand, and the midwife took it and tied a scarlet thread around it, announcing, “This one came out first.”
29 But then he pulled his hand back, and his brother came out. Then she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.
30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread tied to his hand, came out, and was named Zerah.
Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute and then her father-in-law goes to town and says come let me sleep with you.
They sleep together.
Let’s draw our attention to two things here
1. She is acting like a prostitute.
2. He sleeps with someone thinking it’s a prostitute.
3 Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram,
5 Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse,
Rahab the prostitute is also listed in the family tree of Jesus.
6 and Jesse fathered King David. Then David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife,
David and Bathsheba
2 Samuel 11:1-15
David and Bathsheba are listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
1. David should be out to war with his men
2. David commits adultery
3. Gets Uriah drunk
4. Kills Uriah
Bathsheba
1. Cheats on her husband while he is at war
2. Commits adultery
3. Has a child
So why did Jesus come?
So why did Jesus come?
20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Jesus is actually Jeshua which is Joshua
What does the name Joshua mean?
Savior
Andy Stanley says, “We often reduce this down to say that Jesus will forgive them of their sin and not Jesus will save them from their sin”
you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins
His name is Joshua meaning he will save his people from their sin
Jesus did not come on this earth and born of a virgin to leave you in sin
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.
This is a command so therefore he is saying that it is possible to not let sing reign. Sin does not have to be your king. You don’t have to be a slave to sin. You don’t have to be captive to sin.
These are some messed up people in the line of Jesus but Jesus did not come so that they would stay messed up and stay broken.
They said give him the name Joshua because he will save his people from their sin.
13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.
14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.
For sin shall not be your master
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sin always kills something. Relationships killed because of sin, finances killed because of sin, Forgiven sin kills. There are people in prison this morning who have been forgiven of their sin but they will still die as a result of the sin that they committed and spend the rest of their life in prison from this sin.
The cost of sin is that something dies. Sin kills.
Jesus came in to this world not to simply to forgive us of sin but Jesus came in to this world not just to forgive us of sin but to free us from the power, dominion, kingdom of sin.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The birth of Jesus did not save us from Sin. Had Jesus been born and lived his life and died a normal death then there was not salvation for us in that.
1 Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it.
2 You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose.
3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope!
19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ.
24 Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power.
25 For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.
N.T. Wright
This new body will be immortal. That is, it will have passed beyond death not just in the temporal sense (that it happens to have gone through a particular moment and event) but also in the ontological sense of no longer being subject to sickness, injury, decay, and death itself. None of these destructive forces will have any power over the new body. That indeed may be one of the ways of understanding the strangeness of the risen body of Jesus. The disciples were looking at the first, and so far the only, piece of incorruptible physicality.
N.T. Wright
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption;
43 sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power;
44 sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
45 So it is written: The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.
47 The first man was from the earth and made of dust; the second man is from heaven.
48 Like the man made of dust, so are those who are made of dust; like the heavenly man, so are those who are heavenly.
49 And just as we have borne the image of the man made of dust, we will also bear the image of the heavenly man.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!