We Need A Savior
Luke 2:11
December, 1999
I. Introduction
A. Not a day in has ever compared to the birth of Christ.
B. Many important men born, none so important as Him.
C. From the first promise in Gen. 3:15 throughout OT men waited for that day.
D. Read Luke 2:11
E. On that day a Savior was born. The angels announced Him, the shepherds watched Him, the wise men sought Him, King Herod feared Him, the world needed Him, and still does.
F. Of all the titles given to Christ, perhaps none so embodies the great need that only He could fulfill as does Savior.
G. Without the Savior, there would be no eternal life, no heaven, no mercy, no grace, no salvation.
H. We need a Savior! From before the foundations of the earth God’s plan for the redemption, the saving of man was in place. He ordained before the world was even created that Christ would be our Savior. The world needed this Savior.
I. There is now pill, no drink, no act of man that could do for man what this man did. There was never a book written, never a course designed that could help man as this man did. We needed a Savior.
II. The World Needed A Savior
A. Because man was lost
1. God gave Adam only one rule to keep, only one consequence too.
2. Adam broke that rule and brought the curse of death upon himself
3. It didn’t stop with him though
4. Ro. 5:12 “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.”
5. The second chapter of Eph. teaches us that by nature we are sinners.
6. Ro. 6:23 “The wages of sin…”
7. “But” He 2:9 says, “we see Jesus, who made a little lower than the angels for the sufferings of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
8. Man needed a Savior. He needed Jesus to redeem him. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”
9. And without Jesus our Savior, there could be no redemption.
B. Because families are lost.
1. Just as man was created in perfection, so was the first family.
2. Sin entered picture, dysfunction entered also.
3. Adam and Eve, the crowning achievement of creation. Finger pointing, blame shifting, arguing, shame, hurt.
4. Not long after, envy, strife, murder.
5. Given a little more time we find incest (Lot), adultery (Abram), deceit (Isaac).
6. By the time Jesus came on the scene the religious leaders had so corrupted the law that divorce was a way life. Matt. 19:8 Jesus scolds the people for the hardness of their hearts.
7. Now, child abuse, neglect, divorce, rape, incest, murder, abortion, euthanasia, and much more make the news.
8. What about strife, envy, neglect, emotional abuse, and the everyday problems that riddle the best of marriages?
9. Families are lost and are trying to find their own way.
10. Drugs, psychologists, therapists, counseling, all the world’s way.
11. Families are lost, but Jesus has a plan. He is the way to restoring God’s plan for families, who are representatives of God on earth.
C. Because government is lost.
1. God established in the beginning that man would govern himself.
2. He allowed priests and prophets to lead the people.
3. When the people grew discontent, He allowed them a king.
4. No matter what form of government was, man found a way to corrupt it.
5. Government was corrupt in the Bible, and yet Scripture says of Jesus, that the government would be upon His shoulders.
6. Jesus said that He is the way, Applies to every walk of life.
7. Even today, in the greatest of all our modern form of government, America has a corrupted a system established on Biblical values and principles.
8. I don’t have to convince you that government is corrupt. And yet if man would look beyond himself and his ability to fix things, he might see that men and women living by the Scripture could have good government.
9. Government needs a Savior, and one day in the future, when Christ sets up His kingdom, we will know perfect government and national leadership.
D. Because religion is lost.
1. In everything we have discussed, God set up His standards for man to follow. Man is lost, families are lost, and government is lost.
2. No different is religion. From the time of Cain and his unsatisfactory sacrifice to our time today, man has sought to reach God on his own merits.
3. God gave the Israelites a perfect law to follow, and they committed themselves to following that law, but they failed. They chose rather to worship golden idols, the false gods of the Canaanites and sometimes a mixture of them all.
4. The Pharisees had perverted the law into something that only satisfied their own egos was a religion based on looking good to man rather than being acceptable to God.
5. Religion needed a Savior, and when that Savior came, religion crucified Him! He didn’t measure up to their expectations.
6. Religion today is still just as messed up as it was then. Most people think and teach that God needs help saving you.
7. Many leave God out altogether.
8. Many who have the right plan of salvation never know the power of God transforming their lives like the gospel was intended to do.
9. Religion needs a Savior.
E. Because hope was lost.
1. Consider for a moment a world where man is corrupt. He has now capacity for love or concern for his fellow man. A world where people look out only for themselves, where I am the most important person I know.
2. Consider that in this world, man is just like the animals. He believes that, like the animals, he has only till the time of his death to enjoy the pleasures of this world, because after that, there is nothing, just as before birth.
3. In this world, families are a wreck, because men and women in them do not care for one another properly, nor do they love their children as their words might indicate. The government creates more and more laws to tell families how to be better families. Religion is the facet of life that helps you to come to a greater awareness of yourself, but has little to do with accountability or reaping the consequences of your actions.
4. This is the world of childhood, work, marriages, kids, retirement, paying taxes, and death. People are drowning in despair.
5. This is also a world without hope. It is the one we live in.
6. This is a world in need of a Savior. It is in need of Jesus Christ.
7. It is a world of saved people who must fall in love with Jesus once again and allow him not only to save their soul, but to save their lives while we wait for that better day that lies ahead.
IV. Conclusion
A. Do you know that Savior?
B. Does your family know that Savior?
C. Do you allow the Savior to influence you in government, how you vote and participate in it yourself?
D. Are you looking to the Savior in religious affairs? He alone is the way.
