The Promise of Christmas: A Savior
Notes
Transcript
Handout
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. 34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?” 35 The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 “I am the Lord’s slave,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.
Intro:
Intro:
So we discussed an important issue in humanity that leads up to this promise of a savior. A couple weeks back when we looked back to Adam and Eve, to the great Fall of humanity, when sin was let in, and reshaped the earth. Knowing all of that from the beginning we know that as the Bible says, not a single one of us is righteous, we are all sinners, and the wages for sin are death. Bought and paid for with our sin nature.
So in this passage of Luke, we get from Mary’s perspective the promise of Jesus, our Lord and savior coming into the world in a miraculous manner. Let me just summarize what is happening here
In the sixth month of Elizabeth pregnancy, which you’ll see spoken of prior to this, the angel Gabriel brings a message to Mary. Now she was not married, but she was engaged, and was pure as she awaited her marriage to Joseph. She had found favor with God, the angel tells her, she is not surprisingly troubled that this heavenly messenger came to speak to her, as she was unsure of the message he had for her, but Gabriel calms her down and gives her the news. Your pregnant, by the Holy Spirit, and you will name this son of your Jesus.
Now this is pretty awesome, so before ultrasounds, and the current means to find out if your baby is a boy or girl, Mary already knew!
now the name Jesus was a common Jewish name up to the beginning of the second century AD; thereafter both Jews and Christians ceased to call their children by it. Its meaning, ‘Yahweh saves’, was seen to be deeply significant
I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1978), 67.
Savior. One who delivers or rescues.
If you are drowning, and someone swims out to rescue you, they’re your savior. And that is what Jesus did for all who call upon Him as Lord and savior.
To recognize Jesus as the “Savior” we have to first recognize that we need saving.
We must be able to see the need.
So how do we see the need? :
God’s Word shows us our need. There are so many passages in the Bible, so many reminders, like the Apostle Paul points out that there are none righteous, or that we all fall short. We are all sinners. But I think looking back to God’s Law written out on the Ten Commandments is a pretty easy way to reflect on our need. Lets look at those
The Need
The Need
1. You shall have no other Gods but me.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible The Prohibition of Gods Other than the Lord (Ex 20:3; Dt 5:7)
Anything in life which disrupts that primary relationship breaks the commandment. Foreign “gods” are thus persons, or even things, that would disrupt the primacy of the relationship with God.
2. You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor bow down to it or worship it.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible The Prohibition of Images (Ex 20:4–6; Dt 5:8–10)
To make an image of God, in the shape or form of anything in this world, is to reduce the Creator to something less than his creation and to worship the created, instead of the Creator.
Now this was directly a concern for the Israelite people as the practice of carving out images of a God to worship was practiced all around them. But ultimately, worshiping the creation over the creator is a big no no!
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
This was a prohibition over misusing God’s name.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible The Prohibition against the Improper Use of God’s Name (Ex 20:7; Dt 5:11)
God had granted to Israel an extraordinary privilege; he had revealed to them his personal name. The name, in Hebrew, is represented by four letters, YHWH, which are variously rendered in English Bibles as LORD, Yahweh, or Jehovah. The knowledge of the divine name was a privilege, for it meant that Israel did not worship an anonymous and distant deity, but a being with a personal name.
Many commentaries translate this commandment as to not take the Lord’s name in Vain. Have you ever done this?
4. You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy.
We have seen a transition in this day from the last day to now the first, or Sunday.
Philippians, Colossians, Philemon Concerning Asceticism (2:16–17)
Paul strongly forbade the Colossian Christians to come under these regulations. Such things may appear spiritual, but spiritual life is a matter of relationship with Christ and the heart’s commitment to him.
Significantly, we see Jesus offending the Pharisees on many occasions of their legal observation of the Sabbath by healing people on the Sabbath. What’s important here, is that Jesus be our Sabbath Rest.
5. Respect your father and mother.
this one is pretty easy, you ever disrespect your parents? boom your in trouble. in fact in some cultures this is punishable by death....
6. You must not commit murder.
Self explanatory, except Jesus magnifies this command!
21 “You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. 22 But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Fool!’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You moron!’ will be subject to hellfire.
7. You must not commit adultery.
Yet another Jesus magnifies
27 “You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. 28 But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
8. You must not steal.
Have you ever taken anything, even the smallest of items that wasn’t your own? What does that then make you? A thief!
9. You must not give false evidence against your neighbour.
Now within the context of the court system, it was clear that false testimony was forbidden, however the emphasis on truthfulness is important in all relationships. Tell the truth.
10. You must not be envious of your neighbor's goods. You shall not be envious of his house nor his wife, nor anything that belongs to your neighbour.
The point of these 10 commandments isn’t to beat us over the head with, because I think we can all admit some failings to keep these commands. However it brings us to our knees in recognizing we need a savior!
The Ten commandments define sin for us
The wages for sin are death. as the Apostle Paul tells us
So for a savior to save you, he would need to be sinless, and die for you. Which is exactly what took place at the Cross when Jesus died for us.
Philip Del Re gets it right when he lays it out like this
It is sin that separates us from God (Isa 59:2)
It is sin that Jesus came to save us from (Matt 1:21)
It is sin that necessitated Christs’ death, and served as the payment for our sin (Rom 4:25)
The Savior
The Savior
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us — not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6 He poured out this Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that having been justified by His grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
Friends, we all live in a state of brokenness, and it’s broken because of sin, and we broke it.
but where there is a need, God comes through with an answer for us. He as our savior, came in physical form to be our savior. Humbled to the point of an infant.
What is Paul saying in this passage?
He’s saying a lot, but listen:
He’s saying
God loves you
your brokenness, your sin, your failures, none of that sways His love for you.
He’s saying
you can’t earn it!
Literally, He recognized the need, the reality that none of us can live perfectly and earn a place in His kingdom, and so He made a way. This eliminates any idea of Jesus + anything. Any teaching to that extent is false. (you can’t save yourself)
He’s saying
that He’s totally sufficient for you!
The Holy Spirit supplied to us by the work of Jesus Christ is totally sufficient for the needs of every believer. You can’t be bad enough to be unsaveable!
By His Grace, that we are heirs of the Kingdom of God.
Finally, it is by God’s Grace, His alone, that we can become heirs of the Kingdom of God, meaning we have the hope of eternal life!
Friends, this world is broken, sin has broken it, and it’s in need of fixing. The answer to that brokenness was Jesus Christ, who came as a baby, lived a sinless and perfect life, and died on the cross as our substitute, taking the punishment that we all deserve!
So that we may have the hope that comes with the resurrection, the hope of an eternal relationship with Him and in His kingdom!