Unexpected Answer

What a joy it is to be together for this amazing time of celebration! Christmas is all about the arrival of Jesus Christ - the true reason for the season!

And tonight is all about worshiping Him, giving thanks to God for the giving of His Son, and showing our appreciation for the greatest gift this world has ever received.

This evening, we conclude our Christmas series called “Unexpected” with a final installment that focuses on the main character of the Christmas story - Jesus Christ.

Unexpected News focused on Joseph and Mary. From this message we learned that when receiving unexpected news we need to remember that no word from God ever fails and with that in mind, we need not be afraid!

Secondly, We talked about unexpected detours. We talked about trusting in God as our navigator and following the path He sets before us - even if that path takes us in unexpected directions!

Tonight we talk about Unexpected Answer. Tonight we focus on Jesus and realize… Jesus is the answer this world so desperately needs.

Let’s stop and consider that statement for a moment. In order for Christ to be the answer… that requires for there to be a problem. What need is Jesus filling? To what problem is Jesus the answer for?

I believe that it is widely understood that this world is facing MANY problems. If we tried to list them out one by one, we might find our selves here till next year!

In general, we face many issues - an out of control virus, civil unrest, political divide, hunger, poverty, fatherless-ness, broken homes, broken lives. In reality, we know this world is facing a deep level of brokenness… a deep level of darkness. And this problem finds itself rooted in… SIN.

Our brokenness - however you decide to specifically label it… is a result of sin. We live in a broken world because we live in a world immersed in sin. This is true today, and it was true the day Jesus was born. BECAUSE GOD SO LOVED THIS WORLD… He provided an answer to the universal sin problem this world was facing. Jesus IS that answer.

But remember… this message is called unexpected answer. Israel was waiting for the Messiah… He had been spoken of in prophecy and they knew… one day… He would come, anointed by God and empowered by God’s Spirit to deliver His people and establish His Kingdom.

In Jewish thought, the Messiah would be the King of the Jews, a political leader who would defeat their enemies and bring in a golden era of peace and prosperity. But when Jesus was born… He was not born in a palace, but in a stable. He was not surrounded by authorities, but by animals. He was laid not in fine linens, but in a manger. Is this really the “answer” they had been waiting for?

The angels confirmed that Christ was in fact the Messiah Israel had been waiting for. When they appeared to the shepherds, an unexecting group of sheep herders, they said this in Luke 2:10-12 Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Jesus IS the Messiah! Jesus IS Lord and Savior! He didn’t come as the world expected… Maybe the lowly and humble state of His arrival threw them off. But Jesus was the answer and the hope they had been waiting for.

The Answer Then… The Answer Now

Jesus came to earth in the form of a babe… not to conquer the world… but to conquer the sin problem that brought darkness to this world - the sin problem that brought brokenness to this world. The sin problem… that brought brokenness to your life.

Label it what you want, but we all know its effects. Sin has damaged us. Sin has hurt us. Sin has broken our hearts, distressed our emotions, and separated us from God. The effects show up in many forms - broken homes, divided families, substance abuse, self-destructive thoughts and actions, hopelessness, despair, loneliness, abandonment, and the list could go on and on.

We often look for answers to treat the surface level symptoms we are facing but the truth of the matter is this - our brokenness is a result of the universal sin problem we face in this world. God so loved you that He sent Christ to be the answer for that problem today.

When Jesus came, He came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. Sin can ONLY be atoned for by blood - the blood of the Lamb. When Christ came, He came not as the conquering King, but as the sacrificial Lamb. Jesus came to give His life that your sins might be forgiven, that your brokenness might be turned to wholeness, and that your soul would be set free!

Many in our culture today do not understand how a relationship with Christ is the answer… but the real issue here is they do not understand what the true problem is.

Listen to me, you cannot drink your sin away. You cannot buy your sin away. You cannot, through multiple dating relationships, love your sin away. You cannot work your sin away. You cannot and will not find an answer to the real problem in anything of this world.

Jesus may not look like or sound like the answer you need today but can I tell you - HE IS THE ANSWER YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!

From the onset of His arrival, the world struggled to see Christ as the answer. John 1:9 reads, “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

What that verse just told us is POWERFUL. To those who recognize Christ as who He is - the Messiah, the Savior… THE ANSWER - to those who believed in His name, they are given the right to become children of God.

What does that mean? That means their sin problem is NO MORE. The blood Jesus shed upon the cross has become their new atonement - their sin covering. ALL sin has been forgiven, all brokenness has been made whole. All hope has been restored and the joy of the Lord has become their strength!

That baby that was laid in the manger, the One the angels told the shepherds about truly was the answer then… and He remains the answer today!

Call on His Name

So what must we do for Christ to become the answer to our sin problem? What must a person do in order to be forgiven of their sins? Romans 10:9 gives the answer to that question. It reads, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

First, we must acknowledge our problem. The REAL problem. All have sinned and fall short of His glory. Sin is a universal problem. Once we understand this, then we understand the next point.

Second, because we have sinned, we understand we need a Savior. Christ is that Savior. By declaring with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, we acknowledge our problem and need. Jesus becomes the answer. When we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, we understand that Christ conquered sin on the cross and death through His resurrection from the grave. In Christ… SIN HAS NO POWER OVER YOU.

This evening we are going to receive communion together… an action we do in remembrance of what Christ came to this world to do.

Before we can remember, we must be in relationship. God wants to heal your brokenness tonight. God wants to forgive your sin… but you’ve got to call on the name of Jesus. You must recognize Him as the answer. PRAYER - Salvation

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.