Joy Series, Part 4
Luke 2:1-21, John 19:28-30, Hebrews 12:2
Introduction
“Joy to the World”
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
- Recap of last 3 week’s messages:
- 1. What steals joy the fastest? The afflictions others bring upon us (gossip)
- We all face accusations and rumors; esp. as you do the work of the Lord
-- Don’t let the devil turn your focus from the One who commands your loyalty
- Remember that even in that, God desires our worship and our focus to be on Him
- The juicier the gossip is … the less likely it is to be true
- 2. How do I get joy?
- Jesus’ teaching in John 15:11, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you”
- We were taught these things that we might have HIS joy within us …
3. A Joyous Prediction
- Using the OT we walked through from Genesis 3 to Isaiah 53 God’s plan
- His plan was always to restore the relationship with His creation. How?
- Through the literal crushing of His Son for the debt of sin we owe
- The debt is sin something you will NEVER be able to pay for; it is too expensive
- The debt of sin cost Jesus His life; and in turn costs you yours without Jesus
- Open your bibles to Luke 2
- This morning, we conclude our series on joy with the ultimate gift
- The gift God has given us is Jesus, and today we celebrate His birth
- The birth of a baby brings joy; but this baby was born to die; it is our focus
- This is the revelation of the joy God has given us; we must never lose focus
- Pray
Point 1 – A Joyous Announcement (Luke 2:1-21)
- If you’ve read the Christmas story you are most familiar with this passage
- What we are going to is just walk through this text and set the stage for later
- We understand that Caesar decreed a census to be taken of the Roman world
- This decree is what brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, the town of David
-- Genesis 49:10, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.”
-- Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
- Last year we went through this prophecy at length and so I won’t reproach it
- It is available online if you missed it and wish to understand its meaning
- So, while they are there we see a glorious birth announcement to all
- But this birth was not just announced in the Montgomery Advertiser
- It was not just a blurp on the news; the entire HEAVENS rejoiced … LOUDLY
- Read Luke 2:13-14 … it drove these men (shepherds) to GO and SEE
- What drives us to go and see? What makes us leave the couch and GO out?
-- A movie preview? A concert announcement? A big sale? A street sign?
- Put yourself in this position – there are no outside distractions; no “noise”
-- These men are simply tending their sheep and they are MOVED to GO
- APP: When we hear about the Savior; we too ought to be MOVED to GO!
-- We should desire to see Jesus; we should desire to know more about Him
- GREAT LESSON: If you do not desire to know more, you don’t know Him
-- It is when we come face to face with the Messiah that God draws us closer
- Most importantly, notice v19 … Mary pondered these things in her heart
- Mary considered all that she had seen, heard, and experienced … did she know?
- For the believer, this must bring incredible faith for Mary started His ministry
-- The wedding in Cana … she revealed to Jesus that His ministry is to start
-- As His mother, she saw all that was happening and her soul rejoiced!
- TRANS: So, we know about the birth; we know about the joy; now we see why
- Turn in your Bibles to John 19
Point 2 – Jesus’ Life Purpose (John 19:28-30)
- Read John 19:28-30
- Following Jesus’ three years of ministry we now see the real reason of His birth
- In living color, in explicit detail, the Holy Spirit reveals to us what God intended
- Remember Isaiah 53 from last week; remember God’s desire to crush His Son
- This is the revelation of what God has done to His only son – FOR you and I
- v28 demonstrate Jesus’s supreme knowledge of His purpose
- NIV: “Knowing that all was now completed”
- KJV: “Knowing that all things were now accomplished”
-- Greek word for “knowing” is “eidōs” – present tense
-- Greek word for “have been finished” is “tetelestai” – past tense
- Jesus had total, and complete knowledge of what He was sent to do, and why!
- It was always His will to obey the Father; from the beginning He knew the plan
- TRANS: If Jesus knew the plan; knew He’d face death, why does it bring joy?
- Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 12
Point 3 – Why Does Death Bring Joy? (Hebrews 12:2)
- Hebrews 12:2 (KJV), “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Why did Jesus endure the cross?
- Jesus endured the cross because it was His Father’s will to crush Him (Isa 53:10)
-- “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer …”
- Jesus endured the cross so that you and I would have access (John 14:6)
-- “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
- Jesus endured the cross so that you and I would have redemption (1 Pet 3:18-22)
-- “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits; to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”
- Jesus endured the cross because we could NOT do it ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9)
-- “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Conclusion
- The blood of Christ had to be spilled for our sin; EVEN your sin right now!
- We must look to the cross and the one who died on it to see total joy
- The joy of Christ through His death is what brings us into complete restoration
- We cannot earn our way to Heaven; our good works will never be good enough
- There is nothing; absolutely nothing; but the DEATH of Jesus that atones for sin
- It is because of what Jesus has done on the cross that God brings us total joy
- This Savior, this man, was both fully God and fully human; died for you and I
- His birth was heralded (proclaimed, rejoiced, shouted) by the Heaven’s
- His purpose was to come and complete all that God had given Him to do
-- He was not sent to perform miracles and glorify Himself
-- He was sent to do the will of the Father to RESTORE the creation to God
- Do you celebrate Him today? Or are we worried about the turkey’s temperature?
- It really is a gut check that you and must be willing to make … honestly
- The joy that you need comes only from the Savior who was born this day!
- Pray
