Sermon for 12/7/2003
Psalm 22:9-10
I Brought You into This World, I’ll Take You Out
Introduction:
It is a miracle of God that we are all here; we have lived to this point.
When we think about conception, many embryos just pass out of the uterus. 3/4th of all fertilized eggs are lost.
When we think about those cells that actually do attach to the uterine wall, there are many things that could go wrong and many never see birth.
There can be a miscarriage. If the mother does not take care of herself. Drugs, heavy smoking, other physical problems like diabetes or older age.
Many times it is because the fetus has a serious problem. Genes and Chromosomes are messed up. Infections, thyroid problems, uterine abnormalities, or unexplained production of antibodies can cause miscarriages.
If the mother does not want the baby, she can have an abortion.
Thankful that we live in the US, we have proper prenatal care. Many countries do not have this.
Any delivery before 20 weeks will not survive. After 20 weeks, any premature baby is at great risk.
When it comes time for delivery, several things can happen. The baby seems to be doing great but is stillborn. The cord can get wrapped around the head. The heart cannot take the stress. The lungs do not develop. The mother can have serious physical problems with the strain of delivery. No doctor present and so complications with breach babies or transverse babies that have difficulty.
When we are born, a little baby is defenseless. Might be born with AIDS and so get a sickness and die easily.
Not properly vaccinated. Can have polo, whooping cough, diphtheria, hepatitis, pneumonia, small pox.
Can have other common things that lead to death. Ear infections, Chickenpox, flu, dysentery, the common cold.
Have a birth defect and die.
In third world countries, starvation leads to deaths. Diseases in the water.
Child abuse, exposure, violence.
Even in developed countries, babies still die. SIDS
Toddlers get into poisons, into situations that are deadly, pool out back, etc. Choking, etc.
The chances of survival to the 4th birthday worldwide are against us. More do not make it from conception to the 4th birthday than do.
WBTU:
A. Discussion of Psalm 22:9-10.
1. This psalm was penned by David. This is not about David, it is about the Messiah.
2. It reminds me of Isaiah 53.
3. These words and thoughts come straight out of the mouth or mind of Christ while he is on the cross. It is a song about his death. It describes the scene in great detail.
4. The gospel writers make frequent mention of it in all 4 gospels. Many parallels.
5. Jesus looks down from the cross. He sees not only the eyes of hate, but He sees eyes of love. He sees His mother with John the future apostle down there.
6. (John 19:26 NIV) When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son,"(John 19:27 NIV) and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
7. As Jesus looks at her, we have in these two verses the thoughts that were on his heart. He went back to his birth.
B. Details of the Christmas story.
1. Angel Gabriel appears to Mary.
2. He appears to Joseph
3. There is a census of the world so Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem from Nazareth.
4. Mary is forced to give birth in a barn, stable in Bethlehem. The issues from conception to delivery. The uncleanness of the barn.
5. Angels sang, shepherds came.
6. He survived his birth and then wise men came from the East. Herod the Great slaughtered all of the babies in Bethlehem from 2 years old and younger. God had protected him from all of the complications in the womb and all the sicknesses (I am sure that he did get sick. Suffered in every way that we have suffered.) and now the Lord has protected him from the violence.
7. Trip to Egypt. Survived the entire rigor of travel.
8. When Herod died, they went to Nazareth. Another journey.
9. Jesus could truly say, “(Psa 139:13 NIV) For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.(Psa 139:14 NIV) I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
10. (Isa 46:3 NIV) "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth.(Isa 46:4 NIV) Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
11. No, Jesus did not know all about his birth, he was there but like a baby he was not fully aware. He emptied himself. Parents told him.
12. Jesus had good parents, but even parents cannot stop miscarriages, sicknesses, evil people, or SIDS. God the Father is the one who sustained him and brought him to this point. Babies cannot do anything on their own.
13. We should say the same things. Not that we were conceived of the Holy Spirit but that at conception God created us, he sustains us, and he will take us.
Thesis: God created us, he sustains us, and he will take us.
For instances:
1. God created us.
A. Our parents were there but God is the one who created us.
B. (Gen 1:27 NIV) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
C. Our parents could not make cells divide, they could not make body parts, and they could not make our personalities or souls.
D. One man many years ago had the idea that Jesus while he was hanging upon the cross had the thought that this body that was so beaten and battered was made by the Father, when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and so it was not his to begin with. However, we all can say that. We help to maintain this body but it is not ours.
E. God created each of us. He created the different personalities, the different temperaments, the different bodies, etc.
F. Some people who are going through rough times might say, Why did not we die at birth? We would be better off if we were never born. Not the first people to think this. (Job 3:1 NIV) After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.(Job 3:2 NIV) He said:(Job 3:3 NIV) "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ’A boy is born!’
G. We did not ask to be created (like we were there).
H. Like to say here that babies and little children are innocent. They are in the hands of the Father, they are in heaven. I went to a funeral for a still born baby and they played Jesus Loves Me This I know. It was very sad for the people, for the parents, but we have the consolation.
I. Why doesn’t God cause all of us to die as children, then we would all be going to heaven.
J. (Eph 2:10 NIV) For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
K. I love the story of It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey wishes that he was never born and God grants the wish.
2. God sustains us
A. We are here for a purpose.
B. We have reached this stage of our lives for a purpose. God has caused us to grow up to live out his purpose for us.
C. What is life? All life comes from God.
D. We are all distinct from God. Must address the thought that the goal of life is to be one with the force, cosmos, or one with God.
E. It is our life. No, it’s not. Life came from God.
F. (Luke 17:33 NIV) Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
G. Why has God sustained us? Why are we here? What is our purpose?
H. Rick Warren in His Book “The Purpose Driven Life” says, “Philosophy is an important subject and has its uses, but when it comes to determining the purpose of life, even the wisest philosophers are just guessing. Dr. Hugh Moorhead, a philosophy professor at Northwestern Illinios University, once wrote to 250 of the best-known philosophers, scientists, writers, and intellectuals in the world, asking them, “What is the meaning of life?” He then published their responses in a book. Some offered their best guesses, some admitted that they just made up a purpose for life, and others were honest enough to say they were clueless. In fact, a number of famous intellectuals asked Professor Moorhead to write back and tell them if he discovered the purpose of life.
I. You are not an accident. Even before the universe was created, God had you in mind, and he planned you for his purposes. These purposes will extend far beyond the few years you will spend on earth. You were made to last forever! Self-help books often suggest that you try to discover the meaning and purpose of your life by looking within yourself, but that is the wrong place to start. You must begin with God, your Creator, and his reasons for creating you. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense.
J. Find your purpose in Christ. Come and join the reapers All the kingdom seekers Laying down your life to find it in the end Come and share the harvest Help to light the darkness For the Lord is calling faithful men.
K. Life is wasted not from a lack of skill or talent. Life is wasted from a lack of purpose.
L. Why does he sustain us? So that we will give Him the glory. So that we will share our lives with others and with Jesus Christ and God the Father.
M. Selfishness is a waste of life.
3. God will take us
A. I love Bill Cosby. I have only seen one of his comedy routines. It is Bill Cosby Himself. In talk about his relationship with his father, he said that one time his father said, “I brought you into this world, I’ll take you out.”
B. Most parents have felt that way from time to time.
C. Our parents didn’t create us. Our parents will not take us out. God will.
D. (Psa 139:16 NIV) All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
E. Whether we live or whether we die we will be with the Lord. When our purpose is fulfilled on earth, God will take us home. (Acts 13:36 NIV) "For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.
F. Discussion of euthanasia. Why can’t I go out and shoot someone like I shoot my dog? We have dominion over the animals. God has dominion over us.
G. (Gen 9:6 NIV) "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
Conclusion:
Discussion of Psalm 22:30-31- There are others who come behind us, who grow up into adults. Why are we here? May all who come behind us find us faithful, may the fire…
God created us with free will. We can choose to remember our Creator or forget him. We can choose to use the life God has sustain to share with Him and others or we can be selfish and use it for our own ends. When God determines it is time to take us home, what will he say to us?
The only way that we can come into his presence and go home with Him is through the blood of Jesus Christ.
