“Sending Help” signed -- God
Does anyone here have a birthday right around the holidays? How do you like that?
(The Little boy and his prayer for a bike joke)
Two weeks before Christmas a little boy had a birthday, and before his birthday came, he prayed, “God please give me a bike on my birthday.” His is birthday came and there was no bike. So, since Christmas was right around the corner, and he didn’t get what he asked God for on his birthday he got a little mad. That’s when he looked around the house and found a stature of Mary, so he got a great idea. He took that stature of Mary, and he wrapped it up in a blanket, hid it inside a drawer, and said, “God, if you ever what to see your mother again, give me a bike for Christmas.”
How many of us have ever found ourselves trying to bargain with God? God, if you’ll do this, then I’ll do that.”
Well, one of the important lessons I’ve been relearning this year is that God doesn’t have to do what I say but I can count on Him to do what He says He will do. Are you learning this too? And when He does come through, I need to be ready…
(Prayer)
If you would like, you can turn to a Scriptures in your Bible. We're going to be looking Luke chapter 1 and Luke chapter 2.
Luke 1:26-38 The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative (The wife of Zechariah he was of the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron brother of Moses.) is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Three reasons why Jesus had to come:
#1. To save humanity from sin.
Jesus came to save humanity from the consequences of sin.
Awareness that things are not as they should be.
Theodicy – The term theodicy combines the Greek words Theos (God) and dikaios (justification). It is an attempt to justify or vindicate God for the existence of evil.
Sending Jesus was God’s answer to the big Question: Does God care? And if he does, what is He willing to do about it?
The truth is, God does care and, and Jesus was and is God’s answer. The answer to our brokenness was not of this world, the answer had to come from above. Even Creation itself was broken in the Fall so it’s remedy could not come from the earth. The earth couldn’t heal itself nor could mankind. They both needed saving.
1 Corinthians 15:45-47, 45 For the scripture says, “The first man, Adam, was created a living being”; but the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit … 47 The first Adam, made of earth, came from the earth; the second Adam came from heaven.
The great late Dr. Adrian Rogers recounted a story he had heard, about a schoolhouse fire that happened down in South Carolina. The children were trapped inside that schoolhouse. The bells rang, the alarms went off, as the strong men of that community gathered to try to rescue the children from the fire. But they were barricaded by too many fiery obstacles. It was an inferno. They tried to get the children out, but it was too late. Mortal flesh could not rescue them. One father was there, and he could see through the flames, and he saw the face of his little boy. His little boy could also see his father. The little boy, said Daddy can't you save me? Can't you save me?
The men outside the burning building had to hold the father back. It would have been suicide for him to run into those flames.
It was reported that the father had to stand there and watched his precious son wither like a flower.
He said, in the days after, that that fathers’ hair turned white almost overnight. All the fathers could see or think about for the next two years in his mind’s eye was the face of his little boy in those flames.
The father, although he was young himself, he only lived for two more years.
According to the Bible, flames of “Sin”, was destroying us, it separated humanity from God, but God sent his only begotten, Jesus's to be sacrificed on the cross. His sacrifice was an offering of Jesus’ sinless life for our sinful lives, provided a way for people to once again, become reconciled with a Holy God. In sending Jesus, God was about to offer Salvation to humanity.
2 Corinthians 5:19, “that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
Only Jesus can save this old hell bound sin soaked, drunken world. It needs saving, doesn’t it? Most people are willing to look to anything else, but the Savior God has provided them.
Many people look to their own good works to save them, but according to the Bible only the work of God through Jesus can save them. And they are trying to do what Christ has already done’ for them on the cross if they would only believe.
This world looks to science and says science. Can't you save me? Solomon knew all about science. The science says I can tell you how far it is from the Earth to the sun. But I can't save you.
And this time the world looks to culture and says culture, can't you save me? Culture says I can teach you how to equate. I can teach you how to make the world a better place to go to hell from. But I can't save you.
And this world looks to education. It says to education. Can't you save me? Education says I can teach you how to work at your computer. I could teach you the history of the world. I can teach you to ask many intelligent questions and supply you with many temporal facts but in the end the truth will be revealed that, I have no ability to save you.
This world looks to government. Government, please save us! I hope you aren’t counting on Washington and its leaders to save you. How about our homeland security or the Pentagon? Government, in honesty says, I cannot save this world. We all know this. But friend there is one. He is real, greater than any fictional character made up by the minds of men. One greater than Solomon and all the powers of this world who can save us, His name is the name above all other names.
We’re about to celebrate his birth in two weeks from now.
We need to sing with all our heart, Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Our Great Savior, and King.
Now, why did Jesus have to come in the way that he did?
Well, God always lives up to His promises; and He loves to fulfill His every promise to a “T”. And so, it was only natural that Jesus had to come…
#2. To keep His Promise.
It was the way Jesus came that assured he would fulfill numerous prophecies. The promises preceding his arrival, all those made through the prophets in the Old Testament. Prophets such as Isaiah and Micah, each one foretold the coming of the Messiah in such a unique way.
Scholars say that the first coming of Jesus Was prophesied at least 300 times in the Old Testament. Here are a few of them…
• Let’s start with the very first one, the first promise God made in the garden when speaking to the Deceiver when he tempted Eve. And this is what God said to the devil…
Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed; He (speaking of the seed of the woman, Jesus who would come in the future) shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
• 700 years before Christ came… Isaiah said the Messiah would come through a virgin, and that the Messiah would be God himself. And that is indicated even in his name.
Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel. (God with us).
• 400 years before Christ… Micah predicted the precise location of his birth, and that the Messiah predated his own birth having always existed.
Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah (Ephrathah means fruitful),
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”
#3. To reveal God's love and character.
ILL: I heard of a woman who went to her lawyer and said, my husband wants to divorce me.
And the lawyer said to the lady, well, what's the problem and does he have any legal grounds? She said, he has about 20 acres.
The Judge said no, I don't mean that. Does he have a grudge? She said no, I think it's a carport. He said, no, no, no, no, that’s not what I mean, “Does he beat you up? She said no, he likes to sleep in.
The judge said, Lady, what is the actual problem? She said, “My husband tells me that we just can't seem to communicate.
And people today misunderstand who God is because they’ve not realized the clarity by which God has revealed Himself to the world. The clearest picture clear picture was sent in the person of His only begotten son Jesus.
Hebrews 1:1-3 God’s Supreme Revelation
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
The life he lived, the words he spoke and the miracles he performed, the sacrifice he made and the power over of death he proved in His resurrection from the dead.
So many people are mistaken about the character of God because they simply don’t know enough about Jesus. If they don’t know Jesus, then God will in their minds be at best a mistaken identity.
God wants us to clearly see Jesus and what his coming fully meant and the promises of God it fulfilled to us all.
EX: I heard a beautiful explanation about the difference between an eagle and a Buzzard. It says the eagle flies around looking for live things. He can spot a mouse from 2 miles away. However, the Buzzard goes around looking for dead things. Jesus said for us to seek. And promises that if we do, we will find.
And here's the deal. Most of the time you will find what you're looking for.
Jesus is God’s Help sent to us.
For all who will look for him will find him:
Luke 2:22-40 Jesus Presented in the Temple
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord” Exodus 13:2,12 ), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” (side not: Notice they had to sacrifice pigeons; this is an indication to us that Jesus’ family was poor)
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. (He was looking) 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, (Simeon found what he had been looking for) 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: (Who would this baby be?) 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” 33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. (She had lived her life as a widow for eighty-four years) She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
If you are new Christian, I want you to know that the most reliable source of information we have about God is the person of Jesus.
John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Why did Jesus have to come?
• To Save us.
• To Keep His promise.
• And To Reveal God to us so we can know Him… DO YOU KNOW HIM?
Pastor note: This is where you can speak to your People from the heart with an invitation. To commit their lives to Jesus as a Christmas gift to Themselves and to God.
(Closing Prayer)
