Jesus and Mary

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:04.719 Lord now, that you would bring the light of light by Your Holy Spirit 2 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:09.669 into our hearts that we might see, that we might see things as they 3 00:00:10.269 --> 00:00:15.429 truly are, that we might know and believe in Jesus Christ, the son 4 00:00:15.550 --> 00:00:20.309 of God, and have life. In his name. Lord, we ask 5 00:00:20.390 --> 00:00:26.460 that you would open to us your word that we might be born again and 6 00:00:26.940 --> 00:00:32.100 saved by it. Be At work here among us today, and we pray 7 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:38.130 this in Jesus name. Man, please remain standing and let's turn our attention 8 00:00:38.210 --> 00:00:43.329 to God's word. First in Galatians chapter four, and then I'll read another 9 00:00:43.609 --> 00:00:52.840 passage from Luke. I'm so first Galatians for a verse for four through seven. 10 00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:59.960 As I began last week preaching on this verse, we thought first in 11 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:04.109 the morning last week about the fullness of time, I'm Jesus in his relationship 12 00:01:04.150 --> 00:01:10.670 with time, and then about his relationship to the father on last Sunday evening, 13 00:01:10.709 --> 00:01:15.230 and then this morning we will consider what Paul means when he says that 14 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:22.060 Jesus was born of a woman, and then tonight him who was born under 15 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:26.500 the law. So let's give our attention to God's word. Now, glacians 16 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:30.659 for verse for but when the fullness of time had come. God sent forth 17 00:01:30.739 --> 00:01:36.209 his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem 18 00:01:36.290 --> 00:01:40.769 those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 19 00:01:41.170 --> 00:01:44.609 And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son 20 00:01:45.129 --> 00:01:49.079 into our hearts, crying Abba father. So you are no longer a slave 21 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:55.000 but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. 22 00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:08.030 Now let's turn to Luke Chapter One. Luke One verses twenty six through thirty 23 00:02:08.069 --> 00:02:25.900 eight. Luke One, verse Twenty Six, in the sixth month, the 24 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:31.050 Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to 25 00:02:31.169 --> 00:02:36.610 a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the House of David, 26 00:02:37.330 --> 00:02:40.009 and the Virgin's name was Mary, and he came to her and said 27 00:02:40.409 --> 00:02:45.840 greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was 28 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:49.879 greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might 29 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:53.039 be, and the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, 30 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:58.590 for you have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive 31 00:02:58.750 --> 00:03:02.830 in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 00:03:04.830 --> 00:03:07.189 He will be great and will be called the son of the most high, 33 00:03:07.949 --> 00:03:12.860 and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 34 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:16.740 and he will reign over the House of Jacob Forever, and of his 35 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:22.979 kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, how 36 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:27.409 will this be, since I am a virgin being? The Angel answered her, 37 00:03:28.289 --> 00:03:31.250 the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high 38 00:03:31.330 --> 00:03:36.889 will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, 39 00:03:37.490 --> 00:03:40.879 the son of God. And behold, your relative, Elizabeth, is 40 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:46.240 in her old age at has also conceived a son, and this is the 41 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:51.080 sixth month with her, who was called Baron, for nothing will be impossible 42 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:54.280 with God. And Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the 43 00:03:54.360 --> 00:03:59.430 Lord. Let it be to me according to your word, and the angel 44 00:03:59.750 --> 00:04:26.009 departed from her phrase. Be To God, you may be seated. So 45 00:04:26.089 --> 00:04:30.610 in the apostles creed this morning and in other places, we confess that Jesus 46 00:04:30.329 --> 00:04:36.930 was born of a woman, born of Mary. The Jesus Christ, our 47 00:04:38.089 --> 00:04:46.319 Savior, was once a baby. He was little and then got bigger and 48 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:50.360 bigger and bigger. The scriptures say he grew in stature until he grew into 49 00:04:50.680 --> 00:05:00.110 a man. If if Mary marked his height on the wall, you would 50 00:05:00.110 --> 00:05:04.149 see multiple marks, a growing up, exactly as many of you have in 51 00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:10.139 your own homes, or perhaps your mother's did for you, Jesus, in 52 00:05:10.339 --> 00:05:15.579 this way and in many other ways, we see that he was fully human, 53 00:05:15.420 --> 00:05:19.660 fully man. This is one of the things Paul brings out. In 54 00:05:19.860 --> 00:05:25.889 Galatians chapter four. He says that when the fullness of time had come, 55 00:05:27.050 --> 00:05:33.810 when time was pregnant and ready, it gave forth a God brought forth his 56 00:05:34.089 --> 00:05:41.639 son, and he did it through a woman, was born of a woman. 57 00:05:41.959 --> 00:05:46.240 The son of God did did not just appear a thirty thirty three year 58 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:54.310 old man out of nowhere. He had a history, a background and even 59 00:05:54.670 --> 00:06:00.829 a birth, as every single one of us here does as well. This 60 00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:09.420 supernatural event is really truly a miraculous Mary herself, when she is receives this 61 00:06:09.579 --> 00:06:15.420 new says, how can this be? This would seem to be impossible, 62 00:06:15.459 --> 00:06:21.569 since I am a virgin. But not only are all things possible with God, 63 00:06:21.810 --> 00:06:28.410 but we've seen him doing this impossible work for a long time and with 64 00:06:28.610 --> 00:06:32.439 many people. Mary's own cousin serves as an example of this to her. 65 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:39.759 He says to Mary, consider Elizabeth. Behold your relative Elizabeth, who was 66 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:45.319 called barren. She was known people, known as not being able to have 67 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:51.670 children, shoes in her old age, and she is with child. These 68 00:06:51.829 --> 00:06:58.029 is the amazing, miraculous work of God, and I want to point out 69 00:06:58.110 --> 00:07:03.339 that this is the very clear testimony of the Scriptures, the Gospels, and 70 00:07:03.819 --> 00:07:12.139 the the Gospels and the letters and other documents that follow the four gospels a 71 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:15.529 test to this point. Jesus, when he was born, that he was 72 00:07:15.649 --> 00:07:23.730 born of a woman and that this was something that was anticipated from long ago. 73 00:07:25.089 --> 00:07:30.879 We remember that Jesus, in Isaiah Fourteen, is prophesied of this way. 74 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:33.480 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the 75 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:40.319 Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name the Manuel. 76 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:46.389 These promises of old and these things that are brought into reality are not a 77 00:07:46.949 --> 00:07:54.269 myth or an idea that is generated, I'm after the fact, by Christians 78 00:07:54.430 --> 00:08:00.259 or the church. It's the clear testimony of scripture. It had been expected 79 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:07.019 in this way, prophesied in this way and then declared to to happen by 80 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:11.740 the Angel Gabriel, and indeed did happen. On top of all this, 81 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:16.129 we don't see the church in the early years and the first and second century, 82 00:08:16.370 --> 00:08:20.329 sort of struggling around trying to figure out what it's going to say about 83 00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:28.319 the origin story, the birth of her savior. The church instead clearly declare 84 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:31.519 us from the very beginning exactly what the scriptures say, that Jesus, the 85 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:37.799 son of God, was born of a woman. It's an amazing claim, 86 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:45.750 a spectacular and some to met some people, and unbelievable claim. They don't 87 00:08:45.830 --> 00:08:50.909 want to believe it, they doN'tn't want to accept it. One of the 88 00:08:50.029 --> 00:08:56.059 things this reminds us of is the supernatural nature of our faith. It's grounded 89 00:08:56.259 --> 00:09:01.419 in history, it has witnesses and facts, people who testify to these events, 90 00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:07.059 but it is supernatural nevertheless. The work of our salvation, the forgiveness 91 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:11.730 of our sins, the promise of the resurrection, all of these things happen 92 00:09:11.970 --> 00:09:20.129 because God comes into the world and does something unexpected, and not just unexpected 93 00:09:20.250 --> 00:09:26.399 but impossible according to the regular natural principles that he himself put in place. 94 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:35.200 Just as God brought forth Adam out of the dust of the ground, so 95 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:43.230 for so he also brought the second atom out of nothing or something a mysterious 96 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:48.830 way. Where did Jesus get his DNA from? Hard to say. Where 97 00:09:48.830 --> 00:09:54.059 did Adam get his DNA from? Hard to say. Where did a baby 98 00:09:54.659 --> 00:10:01.259 come from in a barren woman? These things are difficult to speak about, 99 00:10:01.059 --> 00:10:07.210 but we don't but we know that they did happen and we're thankful for them. 100 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:13.929 And so is we come to think about Jesus, who is born of 101 00:10:13.009 --> 00:10:18.529 a woman. We are reminded did that. God does miraculous, wonderful things 102 00:10:18.649 --> 00:10:24.320 and he does it for us. He does it for us. God doesn't 103 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:31.960 need to impress anyone. God is not trying to earn extra credit for some 104 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:39.830 teachers test, he's not fulfilling some obligation to something outside of himself. He's 105 00:10:39.830 --> 00:10:43.269 not trying to prove anything to anyone. He simply does it out of love 106 00:10:43.830 --> 00:10:48.269 for us. And that's what the Apostle Paul tells us here. When the 107 00:10:48.350 --> 00:10:50.820 fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a 108 00:10:50.860 --> 00:10:56.740 woman, born under the law, to redeem those who under the law, 109 00:10:56.899 --> 00:11:01.659 I'm sorry, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might 110 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:05.850 receive adoption as sons, so that we might cry out to God, all 111 00:11:05.970 --> 00:11:11.169 of father, so that we might no longer be slaves, but airs through 112 00:11:11.370 --> 00:11:18.570 God, Ares of even eternal life. This is why Jesus became man. 113 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:24.360 We've considered this already. The great love of God, his desire to redeem 114 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.720 us, to rescue us out from under the law, something will consider in 115 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:33.870 more depth this evening. But in order to do that, it was necessary 116 00:11:33.230 --> 00:11:39.549 that Jesus might become like us under the law, that he might fulfill the 117 00:11:39.789 --> 00:11:46.500 obligations that mankind was required to fulfill in order to earn the reward of Heaven. 118 00:11:46.539 --> 00:11:50.220 If you ask people, why do you think you deserve to be in 119 00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:54.259 heaven, a lot of times they'll say things like well, I don't know, 120 00:11:54.539 --> 00:11:56.860 I try to live a good life, I try to do the best 121 00:11:56.899 --> 00:12:03.649 I can. These things always grossly undermine the presence of sin in our lives. 122 00:12:05.769 --> 00:12:09.490 When we are honest with ourselves, when we are honest about this world 123 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:13.009 that we live in and how deep and how dark our sins go, how 124 00:12:13.090 --> 00:12:18.559 entrapped by them, how enslaved we are the none of us could stand before 125 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:22.919 God and say I think I've done pretty well. US, we're lying to 126 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:28.039 ourselves or lying to him or just crossing our fingers and hoping he forgets, 127 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:31.590 or hoping he doesn't know, or he's not as omnipotent as he says he 128 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:37.789 is. But does God know the depths of our hearts? Of course he 129 00:12:37.029 --> 00:12:41.230 does. Does God know how deep our sins go? Of course he does. 130 00:12:41.309 --> 00:12:46.659 Does God know how tricky we are with Ir dollatry and how many Games 131 00:12:46.779 --> 00:12:52.740 we play? He does, he knows at all. There's no way that 132 00:12:52.860 --> 00:12:56.460 we can stand before God and say, justify me, I've done well, 133 00:12:56.419 --> 00:13:01.289 when every single one of us can point to big things and little things in 134 00:13:01.450 --> 00:13:09.169 our lives that we've done that have earned us not heaven but hell, the 135 00:13:09.289 --> 00:13:15.919 wages of in the scriptures say, is condemnation and death. That's what we 136 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:18.879 are under and that's just speaking of our own personal actions. We haven't even 137 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:24.039 begun to consider the state into which we are born, the sinfulness that we 138 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:30.230 inherit from Adam simply is belonging to the human, a fallen human race. 139 00:13:30.389 --> 00:13:35.230 In Him, Jesus are, David says, in sin. Did My mother 140 00:13:35.789 --> 00:13:39.990 conceive me? From the very beginning of his life, he recognizes that's where 141 00:13:39.070 --> 00:13:45.620 his sin comes from. It wasn't a bug that got added into his programming 142 00:13:45.659 --> 00:13:52.419 later on by accident. It was there broken from the very beginning. This 143 00:13:52.700 --> 00:14:00.690 is our problem, this is the problem of all of humanity. But God, 144 00:14:01.090 --> 00:14:07.409 being rich in mercy, gave up his great riches to become poor, 145 00:14:07.649 --> 00:14:13.080 to become like us, to become one of us, in order to save 146 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:18.000 us. The author to the letter the Hebrews points out this amazing thing, 147 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:26.070 that Jesus didn't become like the angels. He didn't. Instead, he became 148 00:14:26.110 --> 00:14:30.350 a man. In Hebrews Chapter Two, verse ten, Ass for it was 149 00:14:30.429 --> 00:14:35.549 fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many 150 00:14:35.710 --> 00:14:39.820 sons to glory, should make the founder of the or salvation perfect through suffering, 151 00:14:41.940 --> 00:14:46.940 for he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. 152 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:52.740 And then continues in verse fourteen. Since therefore the children share in flesh and 153 00:14:52.820 --> 00:14:58.610 blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death, 154 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:03.730 he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the 155 00:15:03.809 --> 00:15:09.720 devil, and deliver all of those who, through fear of death, were 156 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:13.600 subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, 157 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:18.759 but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made 158 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:22.870 like his brothers in every respect. So that he might become a merciful and 159 00:15:22.990 --> 00:15:26.470 faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a propitiation for the 160 00:15:26.549 --> 00:15:31.350 sins of the people, for because he himself has suffered when tempted, he 161 00:15:31.830 --> 00:15:39.220 is able to help those who are being tempted. Jesus did as we sang 162 00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:45.379 earlier. Did Not Abhor the Virgin's womb. Jesus didn't say, I'm not 163 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:48.220 going to touch those people, I'm not going to be anything like them. 164 00:15:48.019 --> 00:15:54.889 Instead, he took on humanity, he added a human nature to his divine 165 00:15:54.970 --> 00:16:00.570 nature in order that we might be slave saved. Notice how the author of 166 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:07.480 Hebrews describes our situation. This is important. He says that through death, 167 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:11.720 he destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, 168 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:18.559 and delivered us from what those who, through fear of death, were 169 00:16:18.669 --> 00:16:23.190 subject to lifelong slavery. This is a way of describing this is one of 170 00:16:23.230 --> 00:16:30.230 the Bible's ways of describing our fallenness and Adam as people who buy their fear 171 00:16:30.350 --> 00:16:37.779 of death are subject to lifelong slavery, ending, of course, in the 172 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:45.100 very thing that we fear death. So what did God do? He was 173 00:16:45.259 --> 00:16:51.850 born of a woman so that he might die as a human being, so 174 00:16:51.970 --> 00:16:55.490 that he might die and suffer this death on a cross, so that he 175 00:16:55.610 --> 00:16:59.649 might break the fear of that death, so that he might free us from 176 00:16:59.730 --> 00:17:04.519 that lifelong slavery, so that he might take the sin away from us by 177 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:11.680 being sinless, and this is one of the amazing things about Jesus. Sometimes 178 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.869 people will say that to sin or to air or to make mistakes is human, 179 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:19.910 and this is of course true in our own time and ever since Adam 180 00:17:19.990 --> 00:17:26.430 fell, because we are all fallen in him. But it's not human nature 181 00:17:26.589 --> 00:17:33.619 itself to sin, and we know that because Jesus did not sin himself. 182 00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:38.539 Instead, he lived a perfect life, and he did so so that he 183 00:17:38.660 --> 00:17:45.730 might live for us. So when we think about the miracle of Christ's birth, 184 00:17:45.809 --> 00:17:52.490 we move to not only think about miracles because sort of sparkling wonderful things, 185 00:17:52.930 --> 00:17:57.680 the things of Christmas movies. We have to think about miracles specifically in 186 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:03.319 relationship to sin. Not that miracles are sin or that miracles are bad, 187 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:08.640 but the miracle of the incarnation, the miracle of Jesus being born of a 188 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:15.230 virgin, the miracle of his works and his works in this world are because 189 00:18:15.470 --> 00:18:22.789 of sin, though he knew no sin. He came into this world because 190 00:18:22.869 --> 00:18:32.420 of sin barrenness. This is often marked in the scriptures as one of the 191 00:18:32.500 --> 00:18:37.740 Old Testament curses. It's a mark of the old covenant, of of death 192 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:42.289 and of law, a lack of life. We remember from the very beginning 193 00:18:42.410 --> 00:18:48.049 the eve and Adam and Eve when they send these are you shall surely die. 194 00:18:48.250 --> 00:18:52.529 This is the end. Humanity is over. And yet, amazingly, 195 00:18:52.730 --> 00:18:57.839 what happens? Eve is called the mother of the living. Why? Because 196 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:03.039 of God's grace. When we think about why this happened, why was it 197 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:08.720 specifically that Jesus was born of a woman? Why that way? There's a 198 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:11.470 lot of different ways that people try to answer that, but I think the 199 00:19:11.670 --> 00:19:15.789 simplest and the best way to think and the best way to answer that question, 200 00:19:15.990 --> 00:19:21.509 why was Jesus born of a woman was because God had promised that that 201 00:19:21.630 --> 00:19:26.420 would be the case. God had promised long, long ago, from the 202 00:19:26.460 --> 00:19:30.140 very beginning of the fall, that Eve would give, would bear forth a 203 00:19:30.339 --> 00:19:36.900 son, that from her seed would come one who would crush the head of 204 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:41.609 the serpent, one who would defeat the devil, who would break the slavery, 205 00:19:41.650 --> 00:19:48.650 who would break our fear of death that's what God promised. That's what 206 00:19:48.769 --> 00:19:53.480 he promised and that's what he did generation after generation. In some ways, 207 00:19:53.519 --> 00:20:00.039 the whole Bible, from Genesis to the very end of revelation, is about 208 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:06.119 God fulfilling this promise, about God preserving that seed. And you think about 209 00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:10.430 this. It wasn't just Elizabeth right before married, but many, many women, 210 00:20:10.630 --> 00:20:15.829 some of the most important women of the Bible, Sarah, Rebecca, 211 00:20:15.869 --> 00:20:22.339 Rachel, all of them struggling to have children, all of them to whom 212 00:20:22.380 --> 00:20:26.740 the promise of life had been given, the promise of a son that would 213 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:30.940 be born. We think about David and what a mess that was, with 214 00:20:32.380 --> 00:20:37.450 his wives and concubines and and children in fighting with one another, the whole 215 00:20:37.650 --> 00:20:44.569 kingdom crumbling, literally is it's being attacked by a first the Assyrians and then 216 00:20:44.609 --> 00:20:48.970 the Babylonians, until the temple itself, this place where God was said, 217 00:20:48.289 --> 00:20:52.680 where God said he would put his name and would dwell, was destroyed and 218 00:20:52.960 --> 00:21:00.000 brought down. Where is the promised King? Where is the hope of salvation? 219 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:03.710 Where is the seed of Abraham? Where is the seed of Eve? 220 00:21:07.069 --> 00:21:12.470 And here he is, here the angels. We turn back to Luke Angel 221 00:21:12.549 --> 00:21:18.619 Gabriel comes to Mary, comes to Mary and says the Lord's favor is upon 222 00:21:18.779 --> 00:21:22.940 you. Behold, you will conceive and in your womb you will bear a 223 00:21:23.099 --> 00:21:29.140 son and his name will be called Jesus. But this son that you will 224 00:21:29.180 --> 00:21:33.450 bear will not only be your son, not only fully human, but he 225 00:21:33.529 --> 00:21:37.170 will also be fully divine. Verse Thirty Two says he will be great and 226 00:21:37.289 --> 00:21:42.609 he will be called son of the most high, and the Lord will give 227 00:21:42.730 --> 00:21:47.359 to him the throne of his father, David. But this is not just 228 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:51.640 the throne of David that had been given before to Solomon and to others. 229 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:57.599 But this time he will fulfill that promise and he will have, because is 230 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:02.430 he will have a kingdom that is forever, a kingdom that has no end. 231 00:22:03.470 --> 00:22:07.990 Here we see the Old Testament just rushing to its big conclusion, a 232 00:22:07.869 --> 00:22:12.950 flower blooming forth as this one who is promised, this one who is anticipated. 233 00:22:14.549 --> 00:22:18.019 Now he's here, and from the Virgin Birth we see that this is 234 00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:22.859 no ordinary king, and from these words of Gabriel we see that this is 235 00:22:23.019 --> 00:22:29.059 no ordinary man. This is not going to be just another king who makes 236 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:32.890 more mistakes, who gives it to his son, who makes more mistakes and 237 00:22:33.089 --> 00:22:37.450 sins against the Lord most high. This is the most high, the son 238 00:22:37.569 --> 00:22:41.809 of the most High God, Emmanuel, with us and his kingdom can be 239 00:22:42.089 --> 00:22:48.920 nothing but forever. How will this be? She says, because I'm a 240 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:53.359 virgin. And he says the Holy Spirit will come upon you, the Holy 241 00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:59.509 Spirit will overshadow you, echoing that very language of creation in which the Holy 242 00:22:59.630 --> 00:23:07.390 Spirit hovered over those waters and brought forth the world, brought forth new creation 243 00:23:07.630 --> 00:23:12.619 with Adam at its apex, man ruling and reigning over all of the God 244 00:23:12.740 --> 00:23:18.460 had made. It's happening again. It's happening again. The Holy Spirit is 245 00:23:18.619 --> 00:23:25.740 hovering, is overshadowing over Mary, and from her virgin womb he will bring 246 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:30.809 for of a new Adam, a new life, new creation, in the 247 00:23:30.890 --> 00:23:34.369 salvation of Man, a child will be born and he will be called Holy, 248 00:23:36.369 --> 00:23:47.240 the son of God. But this Adam will not fail, he'd will 249 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:56.950 not fail because he is incapable of failing, because the humanity of the humanity 250 00:23:56.150 --> 00:24:04.390 of Christ is united perfectly and completely to the divinity of Christ. He cannot 251 00:24:04.789 --> 00:24:15.460 fail, he cannot sin, not because his humanity is divinized or something, 252 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:21.019 not because it's anything a less or more than humanity, but because Jesus is 253 00:24:21.819 --> 00:24:27.609 one person into natures and as the divine he cannot sin. He, as 254 00:24:27.730 --> 00:24:33.329 the P as the second person of the Trinity, unites in his perfection to 255 00:24:33.569 --> 00:24:41.279 himself humanity. This God with us will not fail. He does not fail. 256 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:47.240 And Satan Tries, Satan tempts and Satan pressures him. We read, 257 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:52.029 or we read in Hebrews, remember that he suffered as we suffer. He 258 00:24:52.269 --> 00:24:56.829 knows what it means to her. He knows what it means to be thirsty 259 00:24:56.029 --> 00:25:02.230 and tired and hungry. He ate, he drank, he was in he 260 00:25:02.349 --> 00:25:07.779 was accused of gluttony. We know he ate. Here's accused of drunkenness. 261 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:11.619 We know he drank. He fell asleep on a bode. He ate with 262 00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:18.539 his disciples. Nevertheless, in his full humanity, he was united. His 263 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:22.849 humanity was united to his divinity in such a way that acts two thousand and 264 00:25:22.849 --> 00:25:32.650 twenty eight says that God shed blood in the person of Christ. First Corinthians 265 00:25:32.690 --> 00:25:38.799 two eight says that the Lord of Glory was crucified. John Thirteen says the 266 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:44.519 son of man came down from heaven. Romans five says that, according to 267 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:52.470 Flesh, Christ came, who is God over all God the Sun is unable 268 00:25:52.549 --> 00:25:57.869 to sin. God The Sun took on a sinless human nature. Therefore, 269 00:25:59.029 --> 00:26:03.700 God the Sun, both human and now divine and now human, is unable 270 00:26:03.819 --> 00:26:10.980 to sin, which means he comes into this world ready, capable, prepared, 271 00:26:11.299 --> 00:26:14.460 which means that, because he is born of a woman, you can 272 00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:19.730 have every confidence in your salvation. One of the reasons, I think, 273 00:26:19.809 --> 00:26:23.369 he was born of a woman and we can say is that God wanted to 274 00:26:23.450 --> 00:26:29.210 build up our faith, to strengthen us, to look at this miracle and 275 00:26:29.329 --> 00:26:33.519 to trust him, to believe and to see and know that what he has 276 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:40.319 done is true. And when we look to Jesus, who is our high 277 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:44.200 priest, who has suffered, as we saw, has suffered and now gives 278 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:49.589 his life to us, you can know that you are saved and you can 279 00:26:49.670 --> 00:26:52.509 know that, because what God has done, you are no longer a slave 280 00:26:53.150 --> 00:26:59.710 but an air you've been redeemed out of your slavery and now have eternal life 281 00:26:59.710 --> 00:27:03.660 in him. So, as you hear me this morning, put your faith 282 00:27:04.019 --> 00:27:10.900 in Christ who, from his very birth, was everything that we needed him 283 00:27:10.940 --> 00:27:15.289 to be, who lived his own whole entire life, in his suffering, 284 00:27:15.609 --> 00:27:19.210 in his death, in his trials, under Satan, all for you. 285 00:27:21.809 --> 00:27:25.890 Why? So that he might give his life to you, so that you 286 00:27:25.970 --> 00:27:29.930 might have eternal life, so that you might belong to that kingdom that is 287 00:27:30.039 --> 00:27:33.640 forever. As you think about your trials, as you think about your suffering, 288 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:40.799 as you think about your sins, if you find yourself weary, put 289 00:27:40.839 --> 00:27:45.549 your faith in him, the one who was, who never gave up, 290 00:27:45.509 --> 00:27:52.549 the one who never sinned and accomplished all. Salvation and for you, let's 291 00:27:52.589 --> 00:27:56.190 pray our father in heaven. We thank you for sending your son, for 292 00:27:56.349 --> 00:28:00.099 sending your son into this world, that we might rest in him, that 293 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:04.180 we might have rest in him. We hear his words as he calls to 294 00:28:04.299 --> 00:28:07.539 us all, who are weak and heavy, late and a lateen, to 295 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:12.809 come unto him and that we will receive his rest. And Oh, we 296 00:28:12.930 --> 00:28:18.329 find that we are full of burdens and sins. The temptation of the evil 297 00:28:18.410 --> 00:28:22.450 one presses, presses, presses against us. We find ourselves so often feeling 298 00:28:22.769 --> 00:28:26.559 overwhelmed, the ready to give up. I'm ready to throw in the towel. 299 00:28:27.960 --> 00:28:33.359 But you a Lord, you promised to give us your own strength, 300 00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:38.200 your own life, to unite us to him who is forever. Even as 301 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:45.069 you have united human nature. Unto Yourself. Lord, this great and marvelous 302 00:28:45.109 --> 00:28:51.269 mystery, as we see in the birth of Christ from a virgin, fills 303 00:28:51.309 --> 00:28:56.460 us with hope. As we look upon the miracle of Jesus's birth, let 304 00:28:56.539 --> 00:29:03.660 us think often about why, why you did this work, about the forgiveness 305 00:29:03.700 --> 00:29:08.619 of our sins, about the redemption that we have from slavery, about the 306 00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:17.890 forgiveness of our sins. Though this world, through Erinness, hard and Difficu 307 00:29:18.009 --> 00:29:22.529 cult work and all kinds of other things, is marked by the troubles of 308 00:29:22.609 --> 00:29:26.359 a world brought into sin, a world characterized by death and a lack of 309 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:33.920 life, a world which is, I'm so constantly a folding in on itself, 310 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:41.349 undoing itself, I'm destroying itself. We look to Jesus, Christ, 311 00:29:41.430 --> 00:29:45.150 and we find a new world in him begun. As we consider not only 312 00:29:45.230 --> 00:29:49.069 his birth, but his his death and, even more, his resurrection from 313 00:29:49.109 --> 00:29:56.779 the dead, we know that victory over death has truly been accomplished. This 314 00:29:56.019 --> 00:30:00.660 great divine warrior has come into this world to save us from our sins. 315 00:30:00.660 --> 00:30:06.059 And so, Lord, let us not be overly wearied by this world, 316 00:30:06.099 --> 00:30:14.009 let us not lose heart and and grow faint and despair. Lord, even 317 00:30:14.009 --> 00:30:18.650 in our darkest hour, we ask that you would shine your light, and 318 00:30:18.809 --> 00:30:22.160 but a little light it takes to help our faith to grow, and what 319 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:27.720 a little faith it takes to receive all the wonders of the things to come. 320 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:34.000 We asked that you would indeed forgive us our sins, that he would 321 00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:38.349 lift US up in Christ and help us to see and to know and to 322 00:30:38.509 --> 00:30:44.750 love him forever. We pray this in Jesus name. Man