Over the last few weeks Christians from many churches have been focusing on being ready, being prepared not just for Christmas Day,
but for the second coming of Jesus.
Our worship time has encouraged us to:
Be ready
To listen to God, be turned toward God and have our lives totally influenced by God
And to endure and persevere in bringing the Christian and Christmas message to people even when it is difficult or results in us suffering.
And the question some may ask is why?
Well this week we are encouraged to continue discovering who God is.
This partly reveals why.
Discovering who God is not a once off event, but a life time calling for every Christian.
Our focus is on engaging with God and looking at who is God, in particular who God is in Jesus?
Now the question of who is God
takes a second to ask, but a life time to answer is.
It is a question that every Christian is continually encouraged to ask throughout their life.
Throughout your life God is constantly revealing who He is to you.
This occurs through the bible and
through your interaction with other people who have been influenced by the bible.
However we live in a difficult age for answering the question, who is God.
We live in a time where people would rather use their own understanding to develop their picture of God and how he should operate based,
instead of taking the time to allow God to reveal himself, reveal his ways and what offers, and allow God’s approach to life to influence their approach to life.
However understanding God,
relies on us interacting with God.
Like all relationships, our relationship grows and develops the more we interact with Him.
And our starting point is to take notice of the signs from God.
Starting with the signs that the bible gives us….
So lets turn again to Matthew chapter 1, beginning at verse 18.
This appears to be a straightforward passage about how Joseph found out about Jesus, but there is a little more to the passage.
The first sign of who Jesus is occurs in verse 18
This is something we hear every Christmas.
We hear that Mary was with child through the Holy Spirit.
And in verse 20 this is something that God confirms to Joseph.
That what Mary has conceived is from the Holy Spirit.
This highlights that Jesus is someone special.
This is a sign that Jesus is not only human but He is also divine.
Now scripture reveals something incredible about Jesus,
that Jesus is both completely human and completely God at the same time.
This is one the mysteries of God, something which without scripture we find difficult to grasp.
But there is something significant for you and me in Jesus being both completely human and completely God
As a human he experiences what we experience.
He knows how our good, average and difficult times affect us.
But also as God He knows how God thinks and operates.
And he has the power to deal with many issues in our lives, especially the issue of sin.
When Jesus talks that is God talking.
Jesus’ actions are God’s actions.
And so for us to understand God
it is essential for us to look at and listen to Jesus.
Our entire perception of God can only be seen through Jesus.
Consider some of the stories of Jesus.
Like the times when Jesus mixes with and forgives sinners but is often critical of those who want to judge others.
Or the occasions when he instructs his disciples to forgive others not once but many times.
Think about what that means for you!!
What is God saying to you in the actions and words of Jesus?
How does Jesus influence your perception of God?
Verse 20 also reveals another sign that Jesus is special.
Joseph is addressed by God’s messenger as the son of David.
Now the significance of this is seen when we hear some of the Old Testament prophecies.
Likes those from Zechariah chapter 13,
that the Messiah would come from the line of David.
For the Jewish people one of the tests of whether a person may possibly be the Messiah is whether they were a descendant of David.
But you maybe saying hold on a moment Joseph is not Jesus’ biological father.
That is true.
However there is something we need to understand,
by obeying God’s commands of remaining with Mary
and by being responsible for naming the baby as instructed by God
Joseph acknowledges the child as his own.
Joseph takes on the responsibility of earthly fatherhood.
Joseph is culturally and legally seen as Jesus’ father.
And Jesus is connected to Joseph’s ancestors.
Jesus is connected to David’s family
which is a sign that he is special, the Messiah.
Whilst these two signs from our reading from Matthew point to Jesus being God.
There are some more significant signs in the reading, that reveal to us how God acts.
And these signs are found in His names.
In verses 21 the messenger tells Joseph to call the baby Jesus or Yeshua, if you were speaking Hebrew.
This is important, because it reveals Jesus’ purpose on earth and it reveals how God interacts with us.
The Lord’s messenger says to call the baby Jesus, as the baby will save His people from their sins.
In other words the Messiah, the one God has sent,
main purpose is to save people from their sins.
This is Jesus primary reason for coming to earth as a human.
Unfortunately for many Jews of the time, this was not the type of Messiah they were seeking.
Remember at this time much of the population was oppressed by the Romans.
They didn’t see themselves as the main problem affecting their life,
they saw other people as the problem.
So they wanted a Messiah that would make them happy by saving them from other people.
Aren’t we at times like these Jews?
Don’t we from time to time see that other people need to be dealt with so our problems can be rectified and we can be happy?
How often do we think that other people have the problem?
How often do we think that other people need to change?
They may have a problem, they may need to change.
However keep this in mind
God didn’t come into this world to solve your or my problems by firstly addressing issues in other people!
He primarily came into this world to deal with you and me
by dealing with your and my sin.
This is Jesus’ main focus in life.
This means for each one of us
our relationship with God centres around God dealing with us as sinners.
And he does this by
First revealing our sins to us.
Secondly he makes it possible for our sins to be forgiven.
And thirdly he offers us help and guidance to change towards being more like Him.
God is primarily concerned about saving each one of us from ourselves and the sins we have.
In John chapter 3 Jesus restates this in his ministry.
In other words God is keen to deal with what stops us from loving God and loving others.
Are you listening to him on this point?
Jesus is called Jesus, the one who will save people from their sins
because God wants you and many others to be in heaven with him.
However God is not some distant God that is not interested in our daily lives and how we live now.
In Verse 23 we see another name for Jesus,
which tells us something about how God relates to us.
The name is Immanuel.
This name means God is with us.
As Jesus God comes to earth and God is with us.
However God being with us is not limited to the time that Jesus physically walked on earth,
In Matthew 28 verse 20, Jesus promises to be with us to the very end of the age.
God continues to be with us today.
God is with you as you walk through life.
Each day God is with you.
God being with you means that God is here to help you through life.
And his presence today comes through a number of concrete forms.
It comes through the Christian community
Through Holy Communion
Through individual Christians
And as someone who has heard and been influenced by God’s word,
God is present in you.
All these things bring God’s presence when they are consistent with what God says in His word.
This is the one place we can be assured that God is present with us
and it is the one place that we can be assured that God is constantly revealing signs to us of who God is.
And the beauty of this is that we have access to God every day.
God doesn’t hide from us, he wants us to be constantly interacting with Him in his scriptures and in prayer.
So as you celebrate Christmas remember who Jesus is.
Be like Joseph, listen to the signs, God gives you.
Remember that Jesus is God,
the God who is with you.
And that Jesus main purpose is to deal with your sins.
In a way that Jesus enables you and many others to join him in heaven.
Amen
Let us pray
