Immanuel, God with Us

[0:00] and that that is that is certainly i think what each of us want in our life with the lord is that god would be glorified through us so i had started working on a different sermon for today continuing on in genesis i was just going to pick it back up and man i couldn't get this one out of my out of my head out of my heart so i thought about it prayed about it and i'd already put it up put it in the folder in the binder and i went and got that baby out and dusted it off a little bit and i said i've got to preach this thing it's one of those deals where you get your sermon ready and it's in you and you got to get it out some of you who've taught or preached you know how that is so this is a it's a good reminder though it's something that i put together for the purpose of coming together on christmas eve morning last last sunday and keeping us reminded that the gospel that we live and that lives in us is the most important thing about who we are as christians as believers so that we can fill our minds with bible facts and knowledge about god but if we miss the joy and the glory of jesus living in us and you and i being conformed to his image every day every week every month we miss the point of the christian life as we talk about genesis and work our way verse by verse through the book of genesis genesis chapter one right now we don't want to forget that this great creator who made everything in six days which is a supernatural thing right a miracle of miracles that this same creator is also our redeemer and it's both and not an either or we want to worship jesus as creator as redeemer as savior as almighty god fully human fully god walking on the face of the earth what a miracle so i want to preach this message to us today just in the way of keeping us reminded of these beautiful truths about who christ is and what christ is doing in you as a christian as a believer in your family maybe in your in your kids in your loved ones even even in those whom we're praying for who don't know christ people that we care about our friends and family members our co-workers we're asking god to save them and keep them from a devil's hell we just want to stay reminded that these are the reasons we're still on the earth and not in heaven yet where everything's perfect we've been left down here to show the joys of living in an imperfect world with christ so we'll talk about that in more detail this morning the title of my message is immanuel god with us immanuel god with us immanuel god with us now you and i both know let me get a drink here this is uh i'm gonna be a bit of a battle you and i both know that christmas time that we just celebrated together keep in mind this was something i prepared for last sunday morning christmas is a celebration of the miracle of god coming to earth as baby jesus now you you guys know that's the root of it right it's not about santa claus it's not about presents it's about the greatest gift that god ever gave

[4:02] and we're actually celebrating not just the fact that a baby was born in a manger what are we celebrating what are we saying to the world in our celebration our savior that god became a man that god became human that's christmas god became a human being now you think about that it's just as hard for me to think about god living in me god living in a human being but he did that in christ and the the miracle of all of it just like trying to get your mind around the trinity which we believe father son and holy ghost three persons in one we understand that jesus was fully god and fully human it's not a cup half full of god and half full of humanity it's a cup full of humanity full of deity now you figure that one out right that's a big god that you don't just put in your little match box and hold him there this is a god that transcends time and space a great big god that became a growing embryo in a woman's womb god held in the womb god delivered as a human person and we have to ask why in the world would god leave the glories of heaven to be like us who wants to be like us i wouldn't want to be like me i don't i want you to be like jesus in me we all know that we celebrate that miracle when it comes to christmas time but here's something we also know celebrating jesus's birth isn't something that most of the world recognizes as the reason for the christmas season and even if they do talk about this is jesus birthday i think very few people give careful thought to the fact that we're talking about the incarnation we're talking about the fully god fully human person who walked this earth and why did he do that why was that necessary for humanity that god become a human being well even though most people don't acknowledge that don't think about that i think even many christians don't take that into their heart during this this time nevertheless there are many many faithful believers all around the world who are taking time who had taken time this past christmas to celebrate a baby born 2 000 years ago and those believers celebrate that and think about that because they know by faith why that baby was sent from heaven that's what i want to address this morning i want to talk more about creation a cradle and a cross and what they have to do with christmas because i don't want grace church to ever neglect or allow to fade into the background of their mind the truth of this great gospel that we're all about when we gather we're celebrating that gospel aren't we when we're gathering together and fellowshipping together whether it's here or in our living rooms together or out doing something together we're celebrating the truth that we are blood-bought kin we are truly brothers and sisters in the lord and one day when we are gathered into heaven together that will be the ultimate proof that we all share the same blood the blood of christ that washes away all sin that is that is so wonderful and that's worth preaching and it's worth living the singer songwriter michael card how many of you are familiar with michael card

[8:03] so michael card was was big back in our day 450 years ago so michael card wrote a wonderful song called emmanuel god with us and i want to start by putting these verses up here and just rehearsing them with you a sign shall be given a virgin will conceive now how in the world does that even happen a human baby bearing undiminished deity the glory of the nations a light for all to see that hope for all who will embrace his warm reality emmanuel our god is with us and if god is with us who could stand against us our god is with us emmanuel for all those who stumble in the darkness behold your light has come emmanuel our god is with us and if god is with us who could stand against us our god is with us our god is with us emmanuel so what will be your answer will you hear the call of him who did not spare his son but gave him for us all on earth there is no power there is no depth or height that could ever separate us from the love of god in christ emmanuel our god is with us who could stand against us our god is with us emmanuel that's a miracle science can't explain that can it we need scripture and we need gospel faith to believe that that god is with us in the person of the lord jesus christ and it started with that baby in that manger emmanuel means god with us and again that's just a miracle it's a miracle of god's love but it's also a truth it's a truth established for us now listen to this before god ever created the world before god ever did any of the things we've been rehearsing from genesis 1 over the past few weeks or whatever it's been couple of months before god ever did any of that he loved us in christ you say you sure jeff i'm absolutely positive jesus christ is god with us and the bible the bible puts a fine point on this relationship by telling us this it tells us that jesus the son of god comes to live in us not just come to the earth come to live in us that baby grown into a man come to live in us that is miraculous abounding sacrificial love that god would do that it it never needs to grow old for us and we need to constantly rehearse it to our souls so we're going to make much of jesus together and here's how we're going to do it this morning just three quick life giving truths about jesus related to christmas even though i know we just celebrated it let's just be reminded and let's take this let's take it as kind of a christmas new year's eve theme as we launch into the new year to tell ourselves this year i want more than ever for my life to make much of the gospel every day i'm alive and have breath for life and i want more

[12:11] more for that gospel truth that jesus is the savior of the world to to show in my life i want to be more and more conformed to who christ is in the way that i speak to other people in what i value and prioritize every day in my life and the way that i lead my family and serve my family my spouse and my kids the way that i work in my job environment that i want people to see the humility and meekness kindness and gentleness of jesus christ i want them to see the heavenly focus that jesus had about everything in life what a great way to start 2024 and we need to encourage each other in that so here's where we begin jesus is god with us as creator now i have to go there we have to start with creation we have to start with who he is as he began everything that we know is our universe jesus christ as creator now i want you to think about that with me this is a god who stands over all that he's made so that we understand that jesus is not in a tree he's not in a flower he's not in the sun or the moon or anything else he created save the miracle of him living in us but he's not in the stuff of the world we're not we're not pantheists we don't go for that kind of thing jesus is not nature jesus made nature he created it and stands over it as almighty god and sustains it in his hand but he's not on a par with creation he is the creator all right we we understand that we know that scripture makes that clear but now think about this think about this god that stands beyond all of that and think about the nature of what it's like for us to leave this atmosphere this protected environment where we have just the right amount of sunlight just the right amount of distance from the sun to warm us just amount right amount of cold although greg and i would like for it to be cold more often and a little longer we we will see this whole thing i'd rather dress like this than not wear stuff and be sweltering but all of that god sustains for us in a planet that he made for us to live in and live on god made that for us and we'll see as i bring the message next week god willing we'll talk more about what it means for us to be the the people who rule over this planet who have dominion over it but god made this world for us to live in we're the peak of all of that again more of more about that next week god willing but think about this as you leave the atmosphere that we enjoy what do you encounter well listen friends space space is a hostile unforgiving place it is a brutally hostile place space space is dark utterly silent and cold it is very very cold how cold absolute zero they had to come up with a different way to measure that kind of cold called kelvin named after the scientists that invented it if we translate that into fahrenheit we get about 495 degrees below zero that's deep space scientists estimate that it would take about 90 seconds for you to die in space without a space suit the cold would put its icy grip on you and begin squeezing the life out of you immediately you would feel and be arrested by the immense cold it would be hard for you to even hold

[16:16] your breath which is what you would want to do naturally because there's no oxygen but the the cold would begin squeezing all of that right out of you you'd pass out from oxygen deprivation very quickly and then you'd be a popsicle in short order why do i say any of that and what does that have to do with the creator those are fun facts they're just fun facts no none of that's a problem for the lord jesus christ as a creator of the universe the same god who made all of that the same god who isn't threatened or challenged in one iota by any of that the god who puts his foot on top of all of that and stands above it and made it no problem that god became a human baby that big powerful god became a helpless little baby so that i imagine unless he did a miracle if jesus was in space without a space suit he'd have been a popsicle too because he was a human being but this is the same god remember that walked on the water and told the storm hush be still so i'm sure that he could form some kind of bubble around him and breathe and do whatever or he just doesn't even need air or whatever i don't know what he'd do the point is he's a human being the god who made all of that and made that environment that that is so threatening to us as human beings no problem for him at all jesus christ exists beyond space and time he sits at the right hand of the father in heaven above and beyond beyond what you and i know as space beyond that the heaven above the heavens can you even conceive of that no i can't either but that's what we're told in my messages i've been preaching from genesis chapter one we've been rehearsing jesus's role in creation now i don't have any single text for you this morning we're going to rehearse a number of different texts which i i realize is a little bit outside the norm for me we usually take a passage and work our way through it verse by verse but let me offer you some of these truths as we kind of take all of this in together under this first point jesus is god with us as creator look at what paul tells us also in colossians one it's a parallel to what we're learning about christ in genesis one as creator look at this in jesus in him all things were created both in the heavens and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities look now all things have been created through him and notice for him all of this is about him it's not about us even though he made the world for us to live in and gave us dominion over it this is all about jesus and for jesus all of creation and everything that we know testifies to the reality of this wonderful and marvelous creator and again as we rehearse this together it just makes the whole idea of jesus christ the creator becoming a human baby all the more miraculous in my mind and i don't want that to get stale for you i don't want us to see these manger scenes that we've been looking at around and all and on the tv and everything i don't want that to take away from the reality that this baby is the creator of the entire universe

[20:19] so all of this that he's done through him for him all of that listen includes us you're included in all of that he's made all of that and done all of that and become all of that so that he could rescue us he has suffered all of that to rescue us that miraculously marks out the people jesus christ saves from sin and death through faith in him as their savior and lord that's who's being marked out here as jesus comes to do what paul talked about in him all things were created both in the heavens and on the earth visible and invisible look we have thrones dominions rulers authorities all of the human institutions around the planet all these things have been created through jesus christ and for jesus christ including us friends listen before jesus christ the creator ever laid the corners and foundations and measures of the earth and before he set the corners of the universe in place jesus christ the creator knew who that he would be born live on the earth and die on earth to love those who are his chosen ones all of that was in place in the heart and mind of almighty god if you will before he ever created anything that you and i know about as our universe our world all of that was in the heart of god before before long before he became a baby long before he ever made the world he said jeff are you sure let's say that again long before he set any of this in motion jesus knew he would be born live on the earth die on the earth all due to his love for his chosen ones and that's the language of scripture if you'll go to ephesians now it's time to dig in a little bit will you go to ephesians with me we'll look at chapter one we'll begin after paul's salutation in verses one and two with verse three blessed then be the god and the father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ so all of the blessings you and i enjoy enjoy are the blessings that are from through and in the lord jesus christ just as he chose us in christ before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before him in love by predestining us to adoption as sons through jesus christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace which he graciously bestowed on us in the beloved that is in the lord jesus christ god chose us in him before the foundation of the world before jesus stepped forward to create the world before he created the people he would come to save at the cost of his own life god gave these chosen people to jesus as a gift a gift of what a gift of his fatherly love

[24:21] friends jesus christ repeatedly taught and affirmed these very truths to his own disciples before he went in to be at the right hand of the father if you look at john with me john chapter six i just want you to marvel with me at these miracles of god's grace in christ before he ever made the world while he walked on the earth our creator our creator christ john chapter six and we'll begin in verse 37 remember the point that we're making here from scripture is this idea that god gave these chosen before the foundation of the world people to jesus as a gift of his fatherly love does the scripture verify that does it say that yes in verse 37 of john 6 all that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me i will never cast out for i have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me now this is the will of him who sent me that of all that he has given me i lose nothing but raise it up on the last days talking about these people for this is the will of my father that everyone who sees the son and believes in him will have eternal life and i myself will raise him up on the last day if you travel with me then to john chapter 17 we have another reference where jesus is speaking to the reality of god giving him these people as a gift and guaranteeing their salvation john 17 beginning in verse 1 jesus spoke these things and lifting up his eyes to heaven he said in this prayer now he's praying father the hour has come glorify your son that the son may glorify you even as you gave him authority over all flesh that to all whom you have given him he may give eternal life the father gives to the son and the son gives eternal life then over in verse 24 as jesus continues this prayer on behalf of the disciples that were with him and for us those who will become disciples in the future verse 24 father i desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where i am so that they may see my glory which you have given me for you love me notice before the foundation of the world this is wonderful miraculous astounding soul arresting truth that before the foundation of the world the father loved the son and the father loved his chosen ones and gave those to jesus as a gift of his fatherly love and guaranteed and sealed their salvation now me standing before you today as a sinner look into your eyes and say how in the world did he choose me why in the world would he choose me and the answer comes back from scripture because of the kindness of his will that's it that's the answer that we give or we get and receive from scripture why did god do this

[28:24] why did the father choose these people why did he choose me i know i'm chosen now because i'm saved i'm born again i i've grown to love the lord and love the things of the lord and the evidence of god's salvation is on my life and i thank god for those evidences that fruit that gives me hope that helps me stand firm in the conviction that i'm born again as i continue to walk with him i hope you have that too that same conviction that same certain certainty about your salvation if you don't we can help you with that as you listen further but what i have to say jesus christ creator of the universe your creator had to come to us in a manger in a cradle in bethlehem why why because jesus is god with us as a human jesus is god with us as a human notice some of these references that i want to share with you the bible doesn't make this ambiguous at all it doesn't leave it ambiguous it makes it very very clear look at this behold the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call his name immanuel which translated means god with us now why why why was it so important for jesus to be both fully god and fully human though that's the teaching of the true christian church and it's what we believe here not half god and half man fully god and fully man why was it so important for jesus to be both fully god and fully human now here's where it gets a little bit tricky so you have to follow the argument carefully with me look for if this is the apostle paul speaking in the book of romans for if by the transgression of the one meaning adam death reigned through the one much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness thus speaking about god's chosen ones they will reign in life through the one jesus christ what's he talking about the transgression brought spiritual and physical death to every person on the earth we'll get there lord willing in genesis 3 we will see the fall of man that's how christians and christian theologians speak about what's wrong with the human race today why is there evil in the world why do good things happen or bad things happen to quote unquote good people we'll talk about that phrase when we get there as well people want to know why do we suffer why do we rape each other why do we murder each other why do we steal from each other why do we lord it over each other why do we whip each other to death with our tongues why do we sin against each other where did all of that come from where did all of that happen they think that the answer to those dilemmas is science and technology that one day we will be able to smart our way out of sin and death and that's never going to happen it's not going to happen not with mankind and their wisdom you know that and i know that and we're confident of it if that were the case if science and technology and smarts could get us out of sin then we wouldn't need a savior would we this is what's at stake the gospel is at stake in all of this the world is deceived i lived in that same deception before the lord used his word to open the eyes of my heart and show me the truth about myself so that i would come to him and say please forgive me please forgive me for the sin

[32:30] that i've lived against you and the rebellion that i've lived against you lord in many ways i didn't even know i was doing it in plenty of ways i knew that i was living from will you please forgive me will you make me your child and help me to live with you and for you will you forgive my sin and cleanse me will you help me to walk with you as your son and learn to love you that was the prayer that i prayed something to that effect because god helped me recognize my personal need i didn't pray that prayer for my wife or my friends or my pastor i prayed that for me because god made it personal my sin was personal personal to me and personal to him sin is what he's talking about in this passage that transgression plunged the entire human race into sin and so now through the grace and gift of righteousness in the one jesus christ we can have hope well how does that work how does that even happen look for as through the one man's disobedience that's adam the many were appointed sinners that's us we're the many even so through the obedience of the one christ the many us will be appointed righteous now we're getting somewhere now we're seeing a one-to-one substitution being made if adam's sin plunged all of the human race into sin and death then is it possible for a second human being to come and undo what the first one did and replace it with something else is it in god's economy the answer is yes and we call it the gospel the good news of jesus christ and that's what we herald it's what we celebrate every lord's day when we come together and sing i've greg and i have said this over and over again in the years that we've known each other and in the five years that we've been a church every lord's day every sunday we gather is easter sunday for us now i know we have a special day we set aside and say this is the day that we celebrate there we celebrate the resurrection of jesus every single sunday we gather every single sunday we're celebrating an empty tomb because without that empty tomb we have no hope the hope that we have is that in the one man's disobedience the many were appointed sinners in that now another man will come and through his obedience many will be appointed righteous that's the hope and of course he's talking about these chosen ones look for since by a man adam came death by a man jesus also came the resurrection of the dead for is in adam all die so also in christ all will be made alive isn't that glorious that's the hope that's the truth that's the truth and it's the truth that the world needs to hear but please friends understand that's the truth the world hates now you might be sitting here thinking how in the world could how in the world could the world hate that why would the world hate that message i'm going to give you one word and it sums it all up authority because that message brings a message of authority that message puts us on our knees and humility asking our authority for forgiveness and then seeking to live a life under the authority and in that forgiveness and our sinful prideful hearts rebel against that you don't have to be american you can be any person on the face of the earth and your heart is going to naturally decline the offer of

[36:36] salvation it takes a miracle for you and i to be born again in christ jesus a miracle you can't gut your way into salvation and faith listen i'm going to say it this way you can't even believe your way into salvation and faith now i know doesn't it say if i believe in christ we're also taught in ephesians that the ability to believe faith is a gift faith is a gift from god everything that we need to believe on jesus christ as our savior and do what i'm about to describe to you in just a moment all of that comes as blessings from god through jesus christ do you remember now now why is it so important for us to understand that as creator all things are for him and through him all things even your belief you're believing it's you doing the believing but the gift for you to do that comes from god and we can talk more and more about this is one of my favorite subjects in all the world and i never tire of talking about it i'm not going to claim to you that i understand all of the nuances of what i'm telling you i understand enough of it to know that i need jesus christ to forgive me for my sins and i know how to call on him for that purpose and that's what i want you to know before we all leave here today in adam came death by jesus came the resurrection from the dead as in adam all die so also in jesus all will be made alive friends jesus became a uniquely sinless human being he came to deal once for all with our uniquely sinful human dilemma the animals don't have to worry about this it's human beings who have to worry about this jesus was conceived by the holy spirit and then he was born of a virgin those are critical doctrines that are hills for us to die on why he did not have the sin nature of adam that you and i inherited as human beings from our parents adam and eve the sin nature we're all born with jesus had to become as we are he had to become human but without sin if jesus had been born in sin as we are he could not have been a sacrifice for us a substitute he would have had the same need that you and i have we need somebody who's sinless to die in our place that god will accept because god won't receive sin to himself and he never could have received jesus the same issue that separates you and i from god our sin if jesus had been born in sin would have separated him from god as well but being born of the holy spirit conceived of the by the holy spirit and born of a virgin he did not inherit the sin nature that adam gave to each of us listen friends when we read about the cradle in bethlehem we can think of jesus as the creator the creator who laid aside the glories of heaven and came to you and i in human form in the form of a newborn helpless baby god a helpless baby i've heard people say that it wasn't until jesus was a teenager and he was in the temple that he realized that he was a deity hogwash he was born deity and he's god he didn't have to have an awakening moment it's so crazy how when we want to humanize some of these things we we take it to the wrong limit we we forget the fact that this is a human being who's fully god

[40:39] from from the moment of his conception this is what's going on with our lord now listen why the cross why the cross why did he have to go to these extremes why did jesus give himself to be tortured and killed if he was indeed god's son and he had indeed committed no wrong why did he have to go to the cross the instrument of torture and death and die a death like that well because of what we know in this third point jesus is god with us as savior this is where it all begins to converge this is where the the creator and the cradle and the cross all come together paul said it this way for there is one god and one mediator also between god and man men the man christ jesus from first timothy chapter two verse five where paul is speaking to his protege his young man in the faith raising him up to be a pastor and in part of that teaching he told timothy there's only one mediator between god and man and it's jesus we needed a perfect sinless person to act as mediator between us and god why well i just mentioned it to you because friends our sin separates us from god and that separation is spiritual now you say man i don't know if i'm tracking with this spiritual separation from god yeah now listen to me please let let me try to help you with that it's a spiritual separation and you feel it and you have felt it if you've lived for very long at all you have felt this if you're young if you're older you feel it you sure yeah i'll help you get in touch with that you feel it in your loneliness you ever been lonely you feel it in a sense of disconnectedness from people and from the world from yourself who am i why i don't even know why i'm here anymore sometimes i get so lonely and i feel so disconnected from everybody that i don't even i don't even want to be around anybody i don't even know how to talk to people i don't even know if i know me man i have lived there those were dark times you feel it in your doubts you feel it in your fears you feel sin's effects of separation from you and god in your insecurities and in your emptiness you feel it now you may not have recognized it as a separation from god but that is exactly what it is now please hear me you were not originally designed to feel any of that adam and eve knew none of that before they rebelled against god and fell into sin they were perfectly connected to god and to each other in such harmony that you and i can't even imagine what it would be like because all we've ever known is sin all we've ever known is the fight against that separation from god himself you see this spiritual separation that i'm describing at work in yourself as it works its way out how in anger you ever been angry with people and no justification for it just angry you just carry it inside it's just waiting for an opportunity for you to explode on

[44:42] somebody a few weeks ago suzanne and i were out driving we were headed to this one place we were taking back roads because it was a pretty drive we just like to do that and we came up on an accident where they had blocked it off on this road and we didn't get to see around the bend as to what it was so she looked it up later and found out that somebody with road rage a middle-aged man with road rage had run a woman off the road and turned her car over and then fled on foot just angry just full of rage over what maybe cutting him off so what not driving fast enough so what this is who we are we're petty people and we punish each other and we feel justified in it you punish your spouse you punish your kids you punish your friends why do we do that all of that is evidence of a separation between you and god even if you're a christian in that moment you might not be separated from god in terms of you being his child but you you're not acting like you're not acting like you're not acting like you know the lord and that you love the lord and that you desire and all that you say and do in that moment to be pleasing to him in all respects that's not how you're acting in that moment this is the power of sin this is the power of evil at work in our hearts we need help we are desperate for this help it also comes out in apathy have you ever been apathetic about spiritual things about the things that are important to god and you're just kind of whatever well i lived like that for a long time before i was saved and i can be tempted to that even now can't you what about pride you showcase this separation whenever you're prideful boy we think too much of ourselves you've you've heard psychology tell us that our problem is self-esteem i agree we have too much of it it's not a lack it's too much you love yourself so much that you're willing to hurt other people for what you want you're willing to deprive them manipulate them control them cut them down ignore them you and i are like that friends i'm just trying to rehearse the bad news that this is what sin is and all of this is a result of being separated from god on a spiritual level this is all spiritually rooted it's all spiritually rooted we live in self-willed rebellion against the lord and his will for us according to god our deepest problem which we all have in common me greg you guys we all have this in common is that each of us has fallen far far short of the glory of god in other words another way to say that you and i have missed the mark of being holy we're not holy people without jesus we're not holy people sin is our issue not self-esteem sin not how your parents raised you that's not your problem your problem is your sin let me let me give you some insight here when you stand before the lord to give an account of the life that you've lived the words that you've spoken how you've talked to each other and other people the priorities you've had in life how you've spent your money how you've lived your when you come to give an account to god for all of that the lord is not going to let you say this but my parents that's going to be shut down because what god's going to deal with in you is what did you

[48:44] choose to do with your life every moment of your life listen we were all raised in dysfunction amen because we were all raised by sinners i raised a dysfunctional family i did as hard as i worked to be holy why because i had to fight my sin do you know i've had to go to my kids and i've had to say to my children in right to their faces please forgive me for the times when daddy showed more of himself to you than jesus to you please forgive me for the times that i robbed you of the opportunity for christ to minister through me to your life and love you in those moments i was guilty of that or i made it more about me than i did about jesus ministering to them through me why do we do that why is that so real for us why is sin with us it all points to the reality that we need a savior and god gave us one in jesus christ we see these things made new we see new hope new freshness a life a life as we battle against sin yes can we know joy in it yes can we know his forgiveness in it yes we can but sin is the issue the bible also tells us that the payment for that sin that you and i do deserves death it deserves death that's god's penalty for all sin if you ever only committed one sin you would deserve the death penalty that's what god's word says the wages of sin is what church death the payment for sin even one is death sin is lawlessness and so in god's eyes we're all made criminals in our sin that's the bible's explanation for why you and i are dead to god spiritually we are separated from god and this is also the reason that human beings die physically the fact that you and i die physically means that sin is operative in our lives and we all know we're going to face death none of us are going to escape death friends emmanuel came to us to remedy our death dilemma at the cost of his own perfect holy life therefore since the children share in flesh and blood he himself likewise also partook of the same that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death that is the devil and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives what is he saying the children that are being talked about here are those whom he's chosen for salvation those children share in flesh and blood in other words we're all made as human beings we're all made up of flesh and blood we all share that and what does it say next jesus christ himself likewise partook of the same jesus became flesh and blood he became human like us in that regard that what purpose was was served through that that through jesus's death he might render powerless him who had the power of death that is the devil folks the power that satan has is death that's the power he uses death against us he holds us in death he holds us in spiritual death separated from god we are the walking dead before jesus christ are we not

[52:46] i didn't know that i didn't know that did you did you know you were spiritually dead before jesus opened your eyes to the reality i didn't i was deceived i thought i was as alive as anybody could be and i was living my life grabbing everything i could but i didn't know i was spiritually separated from god and that the explanation for the wrong i was doing was that separation from i didn't know that but when god opened my eyes to it i recognized oh my and that was a gift from the lord that i could see that and embrace that truth about myself because it was pride destroying that was not a pleasant moment in the moment that god helped me see the pride and rebellion and sin of my life the darkness of my heart and my need for christ it wasn't pleasant was it pleasant for you in that moment did it get pleasant well the question then what made it pleasant how did it go from something so bad to something pleasant well god immediately showed me that my need was forgiveness i needed to be forgiven by god for the sin that i committed because ultimately that sin was against him yes so i needed his forgiveness later on i was able to go to people in my life and ask for their forgiveness and tell them what happened to me most of them shunned me most of them told me i was crazy or oh my goodness you got jesus you you see i'm glad you didn't know me before christ i'm really glad but some people did some people suzanne met me in sin only i thought i was a christian it didn't take too long for all that to be exposed as well jesus has come to render powerless satan's power over us in death how did he do that he freed us through the fear of death that were subject to slavery all their lives you don't have to fear death i don't have to fear death we have someone who conquered fear and death for us now friends jesus christ did not leave us to wander and die in sin he didn't leave us to be lonely he did not leave us to be fearful and helpless and prideful and full of ourselves and deceived in all of that he didn't leave us to suffer as slaves to that pride selfishness greed and other sins he didn't he came to us he came to us he came to us i did not find jesus he found me there's a profound difference in that theology jesus found me i wasn't looking for christ i hated him i hated him i don't think i knew i hated him but i did and when jesus opened his love to me i realized how much i had hated him and how much he loved me even as i hated him isn't that a miracle this is the creator who came to the cradle grew up and went to the cross while i hated him he did that he didn't do it because i'm good he didn't do it because of what he saw i could be he did it because he saw me for what i am a sinner in need of salvation that was enough that was enough and so he came emmanuel came to us he came to suffer with us

[56:49] he came to suffer for us he made us to be near to him and listen to this as our human brother and savior brother savior jesus knows the pain and heartache that brings sin into your life and into my life he understands all of that do you think jesus had perfect parents was jesus raised in a dysfunctional jewish home was he raised by sinners all right look therefore jesus had to be made like his brothers in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to god to make propitiation now here's where he's dealing with that separation that spiritual separation to make propitiation for the sins of the people for since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered he is able to come to help those who are tempted hallelujah i don't have some aloof god sitting up there with his arms crossed looking at me going really really nope i have a god who left the glories of heaven and became a human being to become like me so that he would understand what it's like for me to live in this skin and relate to me as a human being that's what the bible says propitiation is a big theological word that we use it just simply means satisfaction what does that mean jesus satisfied the demands of god's law for the sins of the people jesus satisfied god's wrath his holy anger against sin in your life that's why you have to die because jesus is angry with that sin that you commit against him jesus dying for you jesus dying for you means that jesus satisfied that wrath that god had toward you for your sin all of that holy anger god spent on jesus christ in the moment of his death on the cross all of the anger god had as a justifiable anger against me in my rebellious sin against the lord he put that on jesus christ as he put my sin on jesus he punished jesus for my sin and spent all of that punishment on his son and that's why he had to die and he had to be human because he had to reverse what the first human did you understand what adam did jesus reversed and replaced so that now i got sin in adam but now i get righteousness in christ it's a spiritual transaction do you see this is all spiritual every single bit of it we're spiritual beings embodied in human frame but these bodies house the spiritual within us jesus is attesting to that and dealing with that in us folks i can say it this way jesus squared your spiritual account with god by living a sinless life and then dying in your place jesus was able to do that for you because he had no sin he was the perfect sacrifice and substitute for you because he is the only person ever born with no sin in him and he committed no sin the scripture attests to this right here at the bottom of the screen for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but one who has been tempted in all things like we are yet without sin jesus understands the temptations that we go through jesus understands you in the night weeping

[60:49] he understands the isolation the loneliness the doubt the fear he was tempted in all of that and yet in every case jesus triumphed in righteousness and now that life that he lived in victory over sin is what god credits to your spiritual account when you come to him in faith jesus paid the death penalty to propitiate the wrath satisfy the wrath of god against you on the cross jesus was raised from the dead after three days and brought into resurrection life so that over on this side of the cross now god can impute or credit to you that righteous sinless life that jesus lived as if you had lived it jesus got the death penalty because he was punished for the life that you lived in sin as if he lived it and he didn't it was your life that he was being killed for not his and on this side of the cross you now receive the perfect life that jesus lived on your account as if you lived it that's the exchange that's the gospel that's the good news say jeff do we still deal with doubt and fear and lonely yeah you do but now the difference is in jesus christ you have someone who understands every bit of it and he's the same one who made you in his image and chose you before the foundation of the world was ever laid he knows you like no one else he knows the number of the hairs on your head at any given moment he knows everything that's in your heart and every secret that you think you have and this is the god who came to give himself for you friend i can say it this way you matter to jesus how can you be sure of that well he came to you as your creator and made you in his image he came to you as human to share in your suffering and to live a sinless life on your behalf he came to you on a cruel cross to offer himself to god as your substitute now the question is will you come to him will you offer him your eternal gratitude by giving him your life as a worship offering you say well how do i do that well don't take my word for it look up here he who believes in the son has eternal life but he who does not obey the son will not see life but the wrath of god abides on him it's not just about believing and saying now i'm good now i can go out and live like the devil because i'm just saying i believe in jesus and now i can just live my own life no that belief will translate into obedience you'll begin to want to live your life in a way that pleases christ that will become the paramount defining factor in all that you are is i want to live to please jesus if that's not the beat of your heart folks you need to take a careful careful prayerful look at what's really going on with you look at this verse whoever confesses that jesus is the son of god god abides in him and he in god what a miracle you can't make that confession apart from god working in your heart folks we sing and i'll close with this we sing the song oh holy night we sang it several times over the month or so of the holiday time oh holy night it's a song speaking to scripture's declaration about the creator jesus christ becoming a human being so that you and i

[64:50] could gain heaven we sing it and i wonder as i put this verse just one verse up here about it if this is the kind of thing we think about when we sing like this before the lord what a miracle of truth and wonder of god's love look at this humbly he lay creator come as creature born on the floor of a hay scattered stall true son of god yet bearing human feature he entered earth to reverse adam's fall in towering grace he laid aside his glory and in our place was sacrificed for sin fall on your knees oh hear the gospel story oh night divine oh night when christ was born that's the truth and i implore you to embrace jesus as your savior and lord seeking him for forgiveness for your sins and know his love know his joy on your life and his hope his hope and if you haven't known that this christmas if god gives you breath for life next christmas you can by embracing him now let's pray together father thank you for these moments that you've allowed me to endure in this and preach from the scriptures the truth about jesus as creator your son jesus as a baby in a cradle your son and jesus as savior on the cross your son being given in our place for our sin that we might be made saints that we might be your beloved without spot or blemish above reproach no stain standing before you in the holy righteousness of jesus christ himself thank you that as you see us jesus living in us you see the perfect life of your son and no power in heaven or earth can ever change that as we embrace you in faith thank you for the gospel thank you for putting a song in our hearts and thank you for the joy that we share now i pray for my brothers and sisters as they are established in that faith that you would send us out you would help us to understand that as we face a brand new year we face it in blessings of jesus as a church family we pray that you would help us to embrace the gospel with all of our hearts and make our priority about coming together as a local assembly and serving the priorities of jesus for us as grace church williamsburg as you grow us and bring new new souls and new hearts into our midst to share in this family experience help us to be faithful to shepherd each other and encourage each other and see each other growing up and being conformed to jesus in every way thank you for every soul here today lord and for the message that you've given us may we live it to your glory to please you in all respects in jesus name amen