Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Last week we learned about humanity’s great need for Christmas.

That when humanity’s great sin comes into contact with a holy God we have a great need of Christmas.

And this week now we are focusing on the arrival of Christmas.

How did God provide the promised savior?

How did the messiah come to us?

And we are quite used to the idea that Jesus came to us as a baby.

But there is nothing tame or familiar about the truth that God Almighty took on flesh and submitted Himself to the body of an infant.

My hope this morning is that we will see this very familiar story with new eyes that leave use marveling and worshipping our Great God.

That’s the goal.

Towards that goal this morning we will consider the I.

The Humility of Incarnation, II.

The Great News of Incarnation, III.

The Gospel Proclamation of Incarnation.

First, let’s read the passage together.

We are in Luke 2:8-14 so if you have your Bible go ahead and turn it there.

God’s word says...

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”[a]

Let’s first take a look at the Humility of Incarnation...

The Humility of Incarnation

12 “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

The fact that God became human is shocking.

The fact that God truly became human starting as an infant is even more startling.

In the incarnation we see God the Son submit himself to infancy.

And this is shocking for no other reason than its great humility.

The Christ coming into the world as an infant—was not shocking because infants are vulnerable.

Because God is sovereign—he had been speaking through his prophets for centuries about the messiah, the Christ who would come.

This child may have felt fragile in his parent's arms, but there was no danger that Jesus would not grow to be the man that he was to become.

Jesus’ life was full of “danger”.

Herod tried to kill him, he got “lost” in Jerusalem, but while these things would have been scary in the moment we have the outside perspective to know that the Father would protect the messiah so that he could accomplish his purpose.

God wasn’t taking a risk by becoming a baby.

Are you tracking with me here?

The truly shocking thing about this is the great humility of it!

And we are so familiar with the story of baby Jesus that we miss it.

I call it the Air Conditioning Effect—when we treat something amazing as if it is commonplace.

For nearly all of human history when it was hot you sweat, when the sun went down things got dark, but you and I live in an age where it can be 105 degrees outside and 65 degrees in our house.

The sun goes down and we flip a switch.

Need water?

We don’t make a trip to the river—we turn on the faucet.

But how many times do you stop and marvel at the light switch, the faucet handle, or the thermostat?

We don’t because we’re used to it.

But really all that goes into getting you freshwater, light on demand, and a climate-controlled home is pretty amazing.

Now I’m not suggesting that you start worshipping your utilities—but I’m pointing out that we are such a blessed people who live in a world of what would be “miracles” to our ancestors that maybe the shock of Christmas has worn off.

Lord, help us to see it anew.

Keep in mind this God in the manger is the same God who descended onto Mt.

Sinai before the Israelites in the wilderness.

Let me read you this passage.

And I know I’ve read it to you before, but it is the perfect example of God’s majesty and holiness coming to bear on this world.

Read with me Exodus 19:16-20

16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire.

The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.

19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.

20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain.

And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

This God burns the mountain with His presence.

This God is worshipped by angels who cry out, “Holy, holy, holy!”

Moses, being in the presence of our God had to wear a veil over his face because it shined with the glory of God!

Our God commands the stars, he rules the galaxies, He’s the master over all creation...

And He becomes a baby...

as a baby, he is in great need of care.

He screams when he’s hungry.

He thirsts.

His diapers need to be changed.

He spits up.

His muscles are too weak to do what he wants them to do.

He can't speak.

And even as a man with all the faculties of a grown man—we have to recognize that these pale in comparison to the freedom and control of exercising His divinity.

And this is the mystery of the God/Man Jesus Christ.

He is both fully God and fully man.

The $10 dollar seminary word is the in Jesus we see the hypostatic union.

That Jesus is both truly God and truly man.

Both natures are contained within one personality.

Jesus being divine has equality with God.

The members of the trinity of God are equal in substance and glory, but Jesus doesn’t walk the earth to be worshipped.

He walked the earth in obedience under the law.

The Law that he gave to Moses on the Mountain.

Why?

So that he could be a substitution for you and me.

So that he could pay for our sins.

So that he could cover us with His righteousness.

He was born as we are—he truly is one of us—he didn’t have a “super Jesus body”.

He had a human body.

He hungered, he hurt, he got cold.

And in a body just like ours, in the same fallen world that we live in.

Jesus prevailed where Adam failed.

Jesus is what Adam was to be.

Adam before the fall was to live forever from the moment of his creation, but brought death to all by his sin—and Jesus fixes this.

Church, can we see that there is more to this baby?

There is more to the Christmas story?

It’s shocking!

Jesus was like us in his humanity—not in sin—but in every other way.