1. God’s plan for a pure redeemer (18)
2. God’s plan for a public redeemer (19-20)
3. God’s plan for a perfect redeemer (21)
MATTHEW 1:18-21
I’ve got an old Massey Ferguson tractor at home. I have a nice place all cleaned out for it in the barn. But it’s not in the barn. It’s sitting out in the weather, right outside the barn. The reason it’s sitting there is because, earlier this year, I started it, put it into gear and backed it out of the barn. There were only a couple of problems. As it was backing out, I realized I had no control of the steering. I could crank and crank on the steering wheel and it wouldn’t turn. So, as it was backing out, the front wheels began to drift toward the side of the barn. Simple solution, right? I’d just stop until I could get the wheels turned. Not so simple. I stepped on the clutch. Nothing happened. I couldn’t get the clutch to engage. Well, luckily, the front of the tractor just skidded along the side of the barn and out into the field before I got the thing killed. And there it has sat. I started it once just to watch the field mice run out. But other than that, it hasn’t moved. Now, as you’ve probably guessed, I’m not a mechanic. And I don’t have the tools, time, nor patience to be one. But even someone as mechanically inept as I can figure out what the problem is. I have a hydraulic problem in the steering and my clutch is out. It’s not rocket science figuring out what the problem is. All you have to do is open your eyes and you can see it. The problem is what to do about it. I can identify the problem, but I am utterly incapable of doing anything about it. I’m pretty good at a lot of things. I’m a pretty good carpenter—but a circular saw won’t do anything for it. I know telephone cable and communication systems like the back of my hand—but the tractor’s problem isn’t circuitry. I can teach—but for some reason that old tractor just doesn’t want to learn. So, there the tractor sits. In our society today, it’s easy to see what’s wrong with it. It’s easy to look around and see what’s broken. The problem is, knowing how to fix it. As I was preparing, I came across something that really sets the stage for our text this morning. I don’t know who wrote it, but it’s called Our Greatest Need.
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator;
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist;
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist;
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer;
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a redeemer.
See, all too often, we try to fix the world’s problems with the wrong tool. There’s nothing wrong with information, technology, money, and pleasure when used the right way. They’re just the wrong tools to fix the problem. We’re trying to fix the tractor with a circular saw. Just like me with that tractor, we don’t have the capability to fix the problem. We can throw information and technology at it. We can throw money at it. And we can try to cover it up with pleasure. But the problem won’t go away. God knew that our problem wouldn’t go away. Ever since the Garden of Eden, man has tried all kinds of ways to fix his problems on his own. But we can’t. It’s impossible. We don’t have the capability. That’s why He sent us a redeemer. A redeemer to save us from our problem which is sin. I want each of us here this morning to recognize Jesus Christ as our Savior, the redeemer God planned from the beginning. In order to do that, we’re going to look at three characteristics of Jesus as our redeemer. His first characteristic is that He is our pure redeemer.
MATTHEW 1:18
Jesus is our pure redeemer. One of the most attacked doctrines of the church today is the doctrine of the virgin birth. It’s hard to understand. Scientifically, it doesn’t make sense. Biologically, it seems impossible. So, why do we even worry about it? If it seems so silly to other people, why do we even need to bring it up? Well first, because it’s in the Bible. And second, because there must be a reason it’s in the Bible. Satan doesn’t spend his time attacking things that don’t matter to him. So, since he spends so much time trying to discredit the virgin birth, it must be pretty important. So, why is the virgin birth so important? First, let’s talk about what it is. It is exactly as the Bible says it is. Mary got pregnant before she and Joseph had marital relations. She conceived of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit did not impregnate her. He miraculously created life in her apart from the seed of a man. That’s what happened. No more, no less. Whether science or biology can explain it or not, that’s what happened. But once again, we’re left with the question, Why is it important? Why does it matter one way or the other? Why did Jesus have to be born of a virgin? To answer that question, we have to go back to the Garden of Eden. To the beginning of sin. The Bible says that sin entered the world through one man—Adam. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” We know that Eve was the first to eat of the forbidden fruit. She was held accountable, but Adam, as her head, was held responsible. As a result, death entered the picture. 1 Corinthians 15:22 says, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” So now, thanks to Adam, we are double sinners. We are sinners by action. Every human being that has ever lived commits sin. We are also sinners by birth. Our sinful nature has been passed down generation by generation since Adam. The Bible calls it the “flesh”. So, even if it was possible to live life without committing a single sin, we would still be condemned because of our inherited sinful nature. The nature that has been passed from father to son and father to son and father to son since Adam was kicked out of the Garden of Eden. That sin nature was passed all the way through that list of begats that we talked about last week. All the way till it got to Joseph the carpenter. Then it stopped. It stopped because that’s where the male bloodline stopped. See, the Bible says the sin nature comes from Adam. “For as in Adam all die.” The sin nature is passed through the seed of the male. It could have been conceivable for Jesus to live His life without committing any sin. But there was no way He could have escaped that sin nature if He would have had an earthly father like the rest of us. But He didn’t.
LUKE 1:26-35
The only way Jesus could have been pure enough to be our redeemer was if he had no human father. By being conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin Jesus was born free of the sin nature that all people have possessed since the Fall. By being conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, Jesus was born pure. By being born pure, He is able to be our pure redeemer. But not only is Jesus a pure redeemer, He is a public redeemer.
MATTHEW 1:19-20
Jesus is our public redeemer. How does that song go? “This little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine. Hide it under a bushel—no! I’m gonna let it shine.” What is that talking about? It’s talking about Jesus being a public redeemer. He didn’t come in hiding. And He didn’t come to be hidden. His coming was a public event. It was never meant to be a private, hidden thing and it still isn’t today. There should have been no surprises when Jesus came. Virtually everything about His coming was foretold by the prophets. The ones who were truly looking for Him like Elizabeth, John the Baptist, Simeon, and Anna recognized Him immediately. They recognized Him because they knew the Scripture and they believed the promises God had made in it. Jesus’ coming wasn’t a secret. It was a truth that had been publicly foretold since the Garden of Eden. But just because it was a well-documented public truth doesn’t mean that people believed it. Joseph believed it. He just didn’t know his part in it. But God didn’t keep that a secret either. God sent His angel to tell him about it. Now, notice how God told Joseph. He told him in a dream or in a vision. Today, the need for God to speak to people through visions and dreams has passed since He has given us His complete Word in the Bible. But before Scripture was complete, God commonly spoke to His prophets through visions. Now, these visions weren’t dreams like you and I have today. They were encounters with the Living God or one of His spokesmen. This time, God sent an angel as His spokesman. Notice how the angel communicated with Joseph. He used words. Concrete words with definite meaning. He didn’t use smoke and mirrors and vague words with double meanings. It wasn’t like reading a fortune cookie or looking at a horoscope. The angel told Joseph exactly what was going to happen. No secrets. No hidden meanings. Nothing left to interpretation or misunderstanding. “Joseph, go ahead and take Mary as your wife. She didn’t do anything wrong or immoral. The Child that is in her was conceived of the Holy Spirit.” Clear, concise, and to the point. But hearing the angel’s words was the easy part. That was something between Joseph and God. Then came the difficult part. Now he had to publicly follow the Lord’s command. He had to publicly take Mary to be his wife. He had to publicly put up with the fact that his wife was pregnant and he wasn’t the father. And He had to tell people that that was OK because God was the father. He had to publicly endure his buddies giving him a hard time. He had to publicly announce the coming of the redeemer. Now that God had revealed the truth to him, Joseph had two choices. He could either obey God, take Mary to be his wife, and publicly profess this baby Jesus as the coming redeemer. Or he could avoid all the hassle and put Mary away quietly. Nothing public. Sweep everything under the rug and there would be no hassles. But he obeyed God. He obeyed God just as we should do when God reveals the truth to us through His Word. When God reveals His truth to us in His Word, we are faced with the same choice Joseph was. We can either avoid the hassle and try to sweep the truth under the rug. Or we can obey God by publicly professing Jesus Christ as our redeemer. And publicly professing Jesus as the redeemer to those around us. Jesus is our pure redeemer and He is our public redeemer. He is also our perfect redeemer.
MATTHEW 1:21
Jesus is our perfect redeemer. When the angel told Joseph that Jesus will save His people from sins, he said three things. First, he acknowledged the sinfulness of people. He said that Jesus will save people from their sins. The Baby that we celebrate at Christmas didn’t come to give us another holiday. He didn’t come as another opportunity to make money for Hallmark. He came to save us from our sins. But in order to save us from our sins, that has to mean that we are all sinners. God gave us the Ten Commandments and the Law to show us the fact that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is not one of us in this room today that have kept the Ten Commandments. And I’m not just talking about messing up one or two of them. None of us have kept any of the commandments. If you don’t believe me, skip on over to Matthew chapters 5-7 and read the Sermon on the Mount sometime. Especially the part where Jesus tells us that we are to be perfect just as God in heaven is perfect. We are all violators of God’s Law. And not just part of it—all of it. The Bible says in James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” According to Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, we’ve not only offended in one point—we’ve offended in all of them. Oh how we need a redeemer. Apart from Him we are lost and dying in our sin. Apart from Him we only face judgment. Apart from Him we have no hope. But the angel not only acknowledged the sinfulness of people, he assumed Jesus’ possession of people. He said that Jesus would save HIS people. One time Jesus went to the temple and talked to them about what it meant to be His people. It was about this time of year because it was the Feast of Dedication—we know it as Hanukkah today. Jesus told them in John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them to me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” When Jesus saves us, He never lets us go. When He truly saves us, nothing will pluck us from His hand. He owns us and what He owns, He keeps forever. When He saves us, we are His possession forever. The angel acknowledged the sinfulness of people, he assumed Jesus’ possession of people, and he assured Jesus’ salvation of people. He said that Jesus would save. Jesus Christ—the One who this time of the year we celebrate as the Baby in the manger… The One who was born of a virgin… The One the angel announced to Joseph… The One who, 33 years after these events willingly shed His blood on the cross of Calvary. That Jesus—is still in the saving business today. He is still our pure redeemer. He is still our public redeemer. And He is still our perfect redeemer. So, who is He to you? Is He just someone you have tacked onto your life with no real commitment or change? Do you treat Him like a plastic figurine that you only bring out at church or at Christmastime? Is He a decoration in your manger scene, or is He your redeemer? Is He your pure redeemer? As the sinless Son of God, He is the only One who can be. Is He your public redeemer? He came in public and you need to profess Him in public. Is He your perfect redeemer? When you turn from your sin and turn toward Him, you will be His forever.
