Sermon Tone Analysis

For all of humanity, sin in our live separates us from the presence of God.

So, it is common for people to feel as if God does not exist or if He does exist he doesn’t care about us as individuals.

Even as Christians, we can allow ourselves to take on beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that cause us to question God’s presence with us and even the faithfulness of His love toward us.

Our Scripture this morning, shows us how the Father sent His Son to prove that our heavenly Father is with us and cares for us through coming to us a human being.

Today we will see God in human form in three portraits:

· Jesus is God’s Message Given to Us in Flesh

· Jesus is God’s Glory Given to Us in Flesh

· Jesus is God’s Majesty Given to Us in Flesh

Each portrait shows us a different perspective that leads us to adore Jesus Christ the Lord.

Sing with me,

O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,

O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

Jesus is God’s Message Given to us in Flesh

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”

(Hebrews 1:1–2, NIV)

The first thing to notice here is that God wants to communicate with us.

He wants us to understand exactly who He is.

He wants us to understand his nature, his character, his purposes, his will, and how he works in the world and in our lives.

God revealed himself at many different times and in many ways in the past; but now, “in these last days” he has spoken but one time and in one way by His Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is God’s message to all humanity in flesh, blood, and bone.

This Son of God who came to speak with us is . . .

The appointed heir of all things (v.2)

This designation of the Son as the heir of all things, does not imply that at any moment the Son did not possess all things.

As the Son of God all things were His.

The phrase magnifies the position and status of the Son when he enters the world.

Jesus said, “All that belongs to the Father is mine.”

(John 16:15)

When Jesus entered this world as a baby lying in a manger; that baby already owned all creation.

Jesus was Lord at his birth because the Son was

The one through whom God created the universe (v.2)

God, the Father created the world through His Son.

The Father spoke his will “let there be light” and through the miraculous power of the word of the Son of God, there was light and then everything else which exists.

O come all ye faithful, to come to Bethlehem and behold him.

Come to Bethlehem, the City of David where it was foretold the Messiah would be born.

Come to Bethlehem and see the creator of the universe, the one who owns it all – a baby wrapped is swaddling clothes and laid in a manager, because there was no room for the Lord of all.

Sing:

O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,

O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

As we adore the Son, what does the Father require of us?

The Father requires that we receive and believe that Jesus is His message to us human flesh.

· When we doubt that God cares about us, we must receive and believe Jesus is God’s message that He cares for us enough to send his Son to die for us.

· When we are confused about what we believe, we must receive and believe that Jesus is God’s message of the way, the truth, and the life.

· When the troubles of life tempt us to give up on Jesus; we must receive and believe that Jesus is God’s message in flesh that He will never give up on us.

· When people treat us badly because we belong to Jesus, we must receive and believe that Jesus is God’s message to us in the flesh as Jesus overcame all the evil in the world; so shall we triumph over all evil.

We must receive him and believe in Jesus, for the life Jesus give us is our only way out of our doubt and confusion.

The life of Jesus in us the only way we will successfully endure the troubles and persecutions of this life.

How is that we can receive and believe Jesus as God’s message in flesh and blood to us?

That too is a merciful act of God’s grace.

We come to receive and believe in Jesus when the Father draws us to believe in the Son.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—” (Ephesians 2:8, NIV)

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.”

(John 6:44, NIV)

The apostle Paul wrote,

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

(Romans 8:16, NIV)

Therefore, when the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s child; then we know that we have received and believed that Jesus is God’s message to us.

If we do not yet, believe that Jesus is God message to us, we can pray that God will draw us to Jesus.

If you can willingly and sincerely ask God to draw you to himself, that is already evidence that God is at work in your life to do just that, because you could not pray that prayer with out His gracious mercy causing you and helping you to do so.

Because this baby in a manger is the creator of the universe and Lord of all that exists,

Jesus is God’s Glory Given to Us in Flesh

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory

Jesus contained all the perfections of God in his character.

Jesus was perfect in goodness, perfect in love, perfect in grace, perfect in mercy, and therefore Jesus was perfect in judgment.

Jesus radiated the perfect character of God, which is the essence God’s glory.

Remember, when Moses asked the Lord, to show his glory.

The Lord told him; I will cause my goodness to pass before you.

The visual image of the Greek word translated “radiance” is one of the brilliant rays of light of a glorious sunrise.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a new day glorious day broke on all the darkness of humankind, because God himself was here in flesh and blood to tell and to show us that he loved us and does not want any of us to perish for our sins against but want us to have eternal life this is the radiance of God goodness – it is His glory.

Jesus is exact representation of God’s being

Nothing is lacking in Christ’s representation of the Father to us Everything we need to know about the Father is fully represented to us in Jesus.

In John 14:9 Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me, has seen the Father.”

In Jesus, the Father has caused his glory – his goodness to pass before us.

We first see God’s goodness in the act of creation – all that he created was good and that which was good was create through the Son.

Jesus sustains all things by the power of His word

That same miraculous powerful word of the Son of God now sustains all that he created - including you and me and everything good comes to each of us.

Jesus never turns his attention from us even for a second if he did, we would cease to exist.

This teaches us that our heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ is active and laser focused on delivering everything that is necessary for our well-being.

The point of it all was to show that our good . . .

The Father sent the Son to provided purification for sins

Here is the message of God in Jesus’ on words,

“I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.

From now on, you do know him and have seen him.””

(John 14:6–7, NIV)

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

(John 10:13–15, NIV)

“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

(Matthew 26:28, NIV)

“I am the resurrection and the life.

The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;” (John 11:25, NIV)

“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” (John 8:28, NIV)

“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.

This command I received from my Father.”

(John 10:17–18, NIV)

“Knowing that everything had now been finished, . .

.. Jesus said, “It is finished.”

With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”