Christmas's Jesus: Savior, Christ, Lord

Jesus: Savior, Christ, Lord

Chuck Sligh

December 15, 2013

TEXT: Luke 2:7-11 – “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

INTRODUCTION

Illus. – Years ago there was a popular Country and Western song sung by Johnny Cash titled “A Boy Named Sue.” It was a story set to music about a boy whose father left him, and before he did, he gave him the name of Sue. Sue hated the name and was taunted all his life about it, which caused him to get into fights over his name. One day he met an old man who teased him about his name and he got into a fight with him and beat the tar out of the old man. It turned out the old man was his long lost daddy and it was revealed that the father gave him his name to make him tough to be able to survive without his daddy.

Well, we certainly don’t agree with the sentiments of child abandonment in that song, but it was a funny song that taught an important truth: THAT NAMES ARE IMPORTANT.

Over the years, I’ve preached a number of series on names in the Bible. I preached a series of sermons on “Names for the People of God.” We’re doing a series now on Sunday mornings on the 5 titles for the Messiah found in Isaiah 9:6: Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

The reason for this is that in our culture names serve merely to distinguish one person from another, but in Bible times, names had other significant functions. In Bible times, someone's name not only designated who the person was, but suggested the traits of the person.

This is especially true of the many titles given to Jesus from the Old Testament. Several of them are prominent in the Christmas story, and they each tell us little nuggets of truth about Jesus and who He is and what He came to do.

So we are going to look at three of these names today. Next Sunday we’ll interrupt this two-week study and give you a Christmas I.Q. Test (which will be fun, by the way). On the last Sunday in December, we’ll finish this two-part study by looking at the name “Immanuel.”

In our Scripture reading this morning, we read part of the Christmas story from Luke 2. In verse 11 we read these words: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

Here in this little verse are three titles for the Jesus. We use such terms as SAVIOR, and CHRIST and LORD quite frequently. But what do they actually MEAN? If you understand WHO it was who was actually born in the city of David almost 2,000 years ago, you’ll enjoy and appreciate Christmas so much more.

So let’s look at these three titles today. Our verse tells us three things about Jesus:

I. FIRST IT TELLS US THAT JESUS IS “SAVIOR.”

The word Savior in verse 11 is the Greek word swtnr (sōtēr) which means: “One who makes safe, delivers, or preserves from harm.” That’s what Jesus came to this earth to do—to make you safe, to deliver you, and to preserve you from sin and hell, and a life of sin and sorrow.

Note three quick things about this title Savior:

• First, “SAVIOR” implies a need for help.

Help is not needed—that is, we don’t think we NEED a savior—if there are no threatening circumstances.

D.Q. – What threatens us spiritually, revealing our need for a Savior?—There are actually many, but the Bible emphasizes 4: POSSIBLE ANSWER: Sin, Satan, judgment and hell.

You need to be SAVED from these things—to be delivered and preserved from them!

• Second, “SAVIOR” holds out the promise of hope.

Jesus, the Savior, is our hope today. He is the promise of hope.

From what?…

From the PUNISHMENT of sin (hell). (EXPAND)

From the POWER of sin. (EXPAND)

From the PRESENCE of sin in heaven. (EXPAND)

• Third, “SAVIOR” suggests a better way of life.

It’s hard to believe anyone would turn a savior away.