brings out very painstakingly some salient truths. Mary is approaching the end of her pregnancy and as they arrive in Bethlehem there is no room for

Transcription

1 IV. Advent in Biblical Perspective The Advent Names of the Redeemer A Savior, Who Is Christ the Lord Luke 2:8 20 Dr. Harry L. Reeder III December 21, 2014 Morning Sermon We will be in Luke 2 and I will begin by reading Luke 2:1 7 but our focus for this study will be on Luke 2:8 20. This is God s Word and it s the truth. Luke 2:1 7 says [1] In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. [2] This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. [3] And all went to be registered, each to his own town. [4] And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, [5] to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. [6] And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. [7] And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. The grass withers, the flower fades, God s Word abides forever and by His grace and mercy may His Word be preached for you. Glad you are with us and I want you to know you don t have to be a Presbyterian to get to heaven. Now when you get to heaven you will get to be a Presbyterian for the rest of eternity. I did not come into the Presbyterian Church by birth and not even after my second birth but after some consideration. I want to give you three reasons I ended up there. I finally found a church where every minister, leader, member and church was accountable to somebody so we could all be submissive to one another. Secondly I found a church that embraced covenant theology and that is we re saved through the covenant of grace for there is one Mediator between God and man. It is the Man, Christ Jesus and His covenant of grace unfolded through a series of covenants in your Bible with Adam, then Noah, then Abraham, then Moses and David. Then there was the fulfillment of the covenant of grace in the New Testament with the one Mediator that did not need a Savior which is Christ the Savior. Thirdly, was because the church was confessional. Today I want to take this opportunity to go to a text that gave birth to the very first confession of the New Testament church. It is not the only one. Titus 2:11 14 and Philippians 2:5 13 are other passages that give various forms of confessions that were used by the early church. Then that gave birth to the Apostle s Creed and the Nicene Creed and the Westminster Confession of Faith that we hold to but all of them started with a confession that gives birth in the New Testament Church that we ll look at in this study. We will see this as we work our way through it. It comes to us in a very interesting setting. It is a setting we just read, a decree that came from Rome directly from Caesar through a governor named Quirinius. The decree was that all the world was to be registered and the governing state and religion of the world was Rome. In fact, every time you greeted someone it was to be with this phrase; Caesar is Lord. As this decree goes out throughout all of the world we find that Mary and Joseph end up in Nazareth in response to this decree. As I read this text it

2 brings out very painstakingly some salient truths. Mary is approaching the end of her pregnancy and as they arrive in Bethlehem there is no room for them in the inn. Notice how it says in the text what Bethlehem is. It is the city of David and that is the place in Judah. It is the city of the David who came from the tribe of Judah. It is there that these two whom we have seen in the genealogy in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 that are of the lineage of David that have come there to be registered and taxed. In the context of that moment Jesus is born. As He is born another decree comes and this decree is not from Rome. The decree is from heaven. It is from the King of Kings. This decree is to be given to all the world. It is announced not by a governor but by those divinely designed and called to make the announcement, the angels of glory. This decree is announced in the evening upon the birth of Christ and is then given as a very unique birth announcement with many salient features with its announcement. There was the decree to all the world from Caesar through Quirinius register and be taxed. Here a decree goes out from heaven, King of Kings through the angels and it is not for taxation but salvation. This decree is issued as a unique birth announcement. I want to look a bit closer at this. Let s look back at Luke 2. Luke 2:8 20 says [8] And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. [9] And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. [10] And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. [11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. [12] And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. [13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, [14] Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! [15] When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. [16] And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. [17] And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. (Notice the announcement they received that they now announce.) [18] And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [19] But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. [20] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. The shepherds hear this and respond. Stop and think about this. Jesus is being born of Mary and Joseph in this stable being laid in a manger and the first announcement of this goes to the shepherds. I m sure some word had gotten out in this small town that a woman had given birth but no one knew who this was except the two there. They had already been informed by the angels. Joseph knew this was Yeshua, Yahweh saves for he had been told and that He would be called Immanuel, God with us. Now that the birth has come Mary and Joseph are fully aware of who this is. Yahweh has come to save His people from their sins and His people will call Him Immanuel, God with us. God has come to us to be with us, to become one of us, to take the place for us on the cross that we might be saved from our sins by Yahweh.

3 They also know this is the Christ. We have covered all three of these names Jesus, Yeshua and the Christ. He is the Anointed One. He is the Prophet, Priest and the King. This is God having come in the flesh and fulfilled all those offices necessary for us to be saved. He is the Word of God, the Word has become flesh and the One whom the Word spoke of and the One who spoke the Word has now come among us. God has finally spoken in His Son, the Prophet greater than Moses. Here is the Priest who does away with the Levitical priesthood because He is of a greater order, the order of Melchizedek. This is the One who can come for us and take the sacrifice for us, who doesn t need a sacrifice Himself. He is the Sacrifice for us, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is this One who will go into the holy of holies and lay Himself down to take upon Himself our sins. Therefore this is the Priest who redeems His people and this is King the Kings, Lord of Lords. He comes into this world and lays asides His privileges. He goes to do battle for His people to conquer His and their enemies of sin, death, hell, the grave and Satan. He defeats them and then rises in His triumphant. He ascends as King to intercede for His people and will come again as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is the King who now says to His people all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth, go make the announcement to all the nations. Now a decree goes to all the world, not for registration and taxation but a calling unto salvation to the entire world. This is the Christ. Now the shepherds hear this with this unbelievably brief, clear announcement. It is almost like as one preacher said that the angels were being paid to see how you can say the most with the fewest words. The angel said Fear not, I bring you good news, the Gospel, of great joy, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, Yeshua, Immanuel, the Anointed One, who is Christ (now He adds another name) the Lord. It is not a lord but it is Christ the Lord. The angels proclaimed it and the people heard. The shepherds then proclaimed it and people wondered. Now the shepherds then worshipped. These shepherds in these fields that their father David had been a shepherd in are taking care of these sheep. Their industry is to care for the sheep that will be sacrificed five miles away in the temple at Jerusalem. They are the first ones to hear this announcement. Note the brevity of it. Note the clarity of it. Note the uniqueness of it. I want to give you five ways that it s unique. Here s the first way it s unique. It s unique because it is the announcement of a birth that has been brought forth by two parents a father who was assigned to be the legal guardian and overseer from the line of David whose name is Joseph. We have seen this affirmed in the Matthew 1 genealogy and here s Mary who is also of the line of David. At the point of David they diverge for Joseph comes through Solomon and from Luke 3 we see that Mary comes from another son of David who is Nathan but both trace their lineage back to David. So both come to the city of David, Bethlehem, to be registered for they are both of that lineage. So one parent was assigned by God, Joseph and one parent was prepared by God, Mary, who was full of the grace of God and ready for this moment. So there is the legal parent who was assigned, Joseph and the biological parent through whom the humanity of Christ is going to be given so that we have the perfect God Man, one hundred percent God, and one hundred percent Man. So here are the unique parents given to fulfill this Messiah.

4 Secondly, it is unique because of the place. There they are in Bethlehem, a forgotten home of kings. There they are giving birth in a stable, in a manger, translated he trough that would feed the animals. I m certain it was cleaned out as a mother would do. There was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn when they arrived so now this King of Kings comes in obscurity, unattended. We have no record of a retinue of angels there. They are out there announcing but here is Mary and Joseph unattended as far as we know, in this manger, giving birth to the King of Kings. Here they are obscure, in humility and our Savior is humbling Himself to come for us. Isn t God gracious? To make sure that the shepherds don t get diverted they received a sign. It s kind of like when I go around neighborhoods today I can spot houses that have had a birth because of the blue or pink ribbons or balloons that is on the mailbox or door. That is our sign but that is not the sign given here. When you find Him you ll find Him in Bethlehem in a stable in a stone trough, wrapped in swaddling cloths. This was actually a practice up until about the 18 th or 19 th century of our forbearers. When the baby is born I know we all tend to say Oh isn t he/she beautiful? The answer is no. They are red, wrinkled and kind of look like a lizard more than anything else. The head will seem to be all out of shape and all. One of the practices they used to do when the baby came from the womb is take strips of cloth that they had prepared and they would wrap the baby to simulate the security of where the baby had been. They would wrap them tight to help to straighten them out. In other words, you ll find this Baby ordinarily cared for like every other baby. The uniqueness was not in the birth but the uniqueness was in the conception, born of a virgin. It was a virginal birth but a very ordinary birth and taken care of like other babies in swaddling cloths. Here you see Him in a manger but 33 years from now you ll see Him in a stone tomb, wrapped in a linen cloth, your Savior, about to rise from the dead triumphant. You have seen Him in that stone trough and what you have seen is the Christ, the Savior, the Lord. Thirdly, it is the uniqueness of the prophecies. The Bible says the Messiah will come from the seed of Abraham. Mary and Joseph come from the seed of Abraham. The Bible says the Messiah will come from the tribe of Judah. Mary and Joseph are both from the tribe of Judah. The Bible says they will come from the line of David and both of them are from the line of David. In Isaiah 7:14 it says this is Immanuel God with us and that this will be a virgin birth. The virgin has conceived and given birth. In Micah 5:2 there is another prophecy that He shall be born in Bethlehem. The decree from Caesar announced by the governor to bring registration and taxation brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Now the Scripture is fulfilled that the Messiah is born in Bethlehem. All of these prophecies and promises are coming to fulfillment. This is the Son of God. There is a third genealogy in John 1. The Word that becomes flesh was with God. He is God and He has come for His people to save them from their sins. A fourth uniqueness is the purpose of His coming. Perhaps this is the most unique aspect of all. Birth announcements I think are becoming increasingly popular. These announcements generally tell us who the baby is born to and gives the baby s name. This announcement doesn t say who Jesus was born to. It is a Savior to all the people that has been born. Notice what it says. Beginning with the shepherds, including Mary and Joseph, to wise men who are Gentiles, to Simeon an old man, to Anna an older woman and to all that are there, this One is the Savior of His people. The southern

5 translation is To all ya ll is born this day. It wasn t just His parents, for they were the instruments through which God sent His Son and what was born for us, this One who is the Lord is the Savior of all of His people rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, male and female. It is an announcement unto you, sinners throughout the whole world, there is Savior born who is Christ, who is the Lord. Think of that name Lord. In the Bible there are three words translated Lord. One of them is the word Adonai and it means the God of glory Jehovah God of glory. There is another word that is Despodes where we get the word despot from it. Three times that word for Lord used in your Bible to describe Jesus. The word used most of the time is Curios which stands for the sovereign Lord. In Psalm 8:1a it says [1] O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! The first part of this verse is not being redundant because in the original language it was two different words. It is the word Adonai, the God of glory and Curios, Lord, sovereign, sufficient, singular, supreme Savior. So what that verse says is O Adonai, O Lord, God of glory, O Lord, our Lord and our Sovereign Savior, Curios. It is that word used here, born for you is a Savior who is the sovereign Lord of glory. Do you remember all the theophanies, prophecies, promises, types, signs, and symbols in the Old Testament, those 39 books are all pointing to this moment, to that trough. There is the Lord. Here is the fulfillment of all those promises of the Promised One. Here is the Prophet, Priest and King, the Anointed One that everything has pointed to. Five theophanies or Christophanies of the pre-incarnate appearances of Christ were there for a moment in time and then moved away. They are all fulfilled in an incarnation of Christ. Now look at that trough. There is the Lord who has irreversibly taken upon Himself a body, not a momentary theophany, as the second Person of the Trinity and will live a perfect life. In that body He will go to a cross, take our sins, be buried and that body will be raised again. That body will be seen in forty days, ascend in forty days and in that body He shall come again in glory. In that body you will now be able to see your Savior, Behold the Lamb of God! It is the purpose of God to send His Son that we might be redeemed. It is the Son of God, this unique Person which is the fifth unique thing about this. There has never been a Person like this full of history to this point that is pointing to this birth and all of history will be affected and shaped by this birth because the One who made the prophecies has now come to fulfill them. The One of whom the prophecies are about has now arrived in fulfillment. The One who made the promises of redemption is the Promised One. It is the Word Himself that has become flesh and He is the Lord. O Lord our Lord how majestic is Your Name in all the earth. All the threads of Scriptures in 39 books have come to this moment in time in this manger, in this trough and you will find the God of glory for He has come for you to save you. He is the Lord. That is the announcement that came from heaven with brevity and unmistakable clarity. Here is the takeaway. I want to ask you two Christmas questions in light of the Christmas announcement. The first one has two parts to it of necessity. Here is the One who has come to save His people from their sins, born for sinners throughout all the world. It is a trustworthy statement deserving acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. There in Bethlehem on the first Christmas, the first announcement in the brevity and clarity of it, a Savior who is the Christ and He is the Lord. So what does that mean to you?

6 The first question is this. Will you this day confess that you are a sinner in need of the Savior, the Lord? Will you this day confess that you are helpless and you cannot save yourself? I know religious ritual can t save you. The ritual of Christ s church can t save you. I know I cannot save myself and no one can save myself. No one born of Adam can save me. No religion of man can save me. I am helpless, hopeless and I confess I am a sinner. I have sinned against God and I am rightly under His judgment and I m helpless and hopeless to do anything about it. Then there is a second one. I confess with great joy the Good News that God has come to save His people from their sins. I confess Jesus as my Savior and Lord. He is Lord. If you finish reading this and you haven t made that commitment, do know this. You will search through all the religions of the world and there will be a sameness to everything you ll find. Everything you find will tell you what you have to do and give to maybe get saved. Today I offer you something unique in this birth announcement with all of its elements of uniqueness and that s a God who saves His people. It is not a God who tells you to save yourself but a God who says you need a Savior and I have come to save you. It is the uniqueness of a glorious message of grace and mercy that we who are helpless and hopeless God has sent His Son and He is unstoppable. He tells us in John 10:35, [35] If he called them gods to whom the word of God came and Scripture cannot be broken All these prophecies, promises, and signs are fulfilled in Him. He tells you He is coming again and He is coming again. He says in John 6:47, [47] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. That can t be broken. If you receive Christ as Lord and Savior you belong to Him. He is yours and you are His for all of eternity. That is what He says in His Word. This wasn t that Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to make sure that the Messiah was born there and make sure that prophecy would be fulfilled. No, this is the Lord of glory who takes the arrogance of Caesar s in their effort to control all of the world and uses them to put these two people in Bethlehem where the Savior will be born according to the Scriptures. This is the sovereign Lord of glory who has orchestrated all of history, who is sovereign and ruling even to this very moment that all of His Word will be fulfilled and nothing will be broken. The Bible says in Romans 10:10, [10] For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. A man believes unto salvation and with the mouth he confesses Christ as Lord. When you believe and confess then He Himself in His Word says you will be saved. [13] For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13 ESV) And it cannot be broken. That is the unique thing I offer you today. Governments can t save you for they will only take from you. Here is your perfect example. From Caesar, from Rome, through Caesar, by Quirinius, comes a registration for taxation and the religions of this world, political or otherwise always take and control. Here is an announcement from heaven, from the King of Kings through the angels, who have come in a manger, unattended, in obscurity and humility and it is this One who makes the announcement, not of taxation to control and take, but of salvation to set you free from the power and penalty of sin. This is the glorious message that is here. The first question I have is will you confess yourself as a sinner and will you embrace this God of glory who mild laid aside His glory that the sons of earth might be

7 brought to a second birth? This is the God of glory who has brought all things that He might bring all of His people to glory. That is the second thing I ll ask you because I know many who are reading this have done that today. Those of you who have surrendered and embraced Christ as Savior and Lord, will you join the angels to announce Him as Lord to this world? Will you join the angels that your life will be governed by one thing, that you will go praising God and glorifying God with all your heart and soul? Stop and think about this. These are shepherds. What are they doing? They are raising sheep to be sold for sacrifice five miles away in the temple. They come to a manger and find not themselves but they find the Good Shepherd in the manger who will lay down His life for the sheep. They find the Lamb of God that puts them out of business. It is not the blood of bulls and goats but the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. That s what they were looking upon. So will we join with them to shout to the world, Fear not the Savior, the Lord has conquered His and your enemies and He is the Lord? Do not leave here today thinking Jesus is a pretty good teacher or a wonderful role model or a good life coach. No, He comes as the Lord to save sinners and He says I am the Lord! If He is not the Lord you can t call Him a good teacher. C. S. Lewis says you may call Him three things, a liar, a crazy man (lunatic) or the Lord. He doesn t leave us any room on this when you finish reading this today. We have to confess Him as the Savior as Lord. This is the Lord whereby we cry out O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth. With these first century Christians who would walk out into the world and the religion of that day with the threat of death and say you must confess Caesar is lord. On the pages of Scripture is recorded the first confession of the New Testament Church in the face of such a threat and that expectation, they would not say Caesar is lord but they will pay their taxes, serve, do custom to custom and all things appropriately and they will say Jesus is Lord! He is Lord. We don t make Him Lord. He is the Lord. Will you leave here with Him as your Lord and Savior? He came for you. Dear friends, if you have come to Him, go for Him into this world and tell them Great News, Good News of a great joy, Christ the Savior has come and He is Lord! Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord but today you may confess Him as Lord and Savior. Let s pray. Prayer: Father, thank You for the moments we could be together in Your Word. I cannot imagine the startled way these shepherds received this angelic announcement but Father, I also confess that it startles us and we re fearful just like they are. What will this mean if I receive this Savior? It will mean walking by the grace of God in life, forgiven and being changed. All of our history of sin is wiped away by the Savior and a new history is being written. He is Lord and my Savior. Father, for those who by Your grace and mercy have affirmed Him as Lord and Savior, may we now announce Him. The world has many lords that are charades. Would You allow us with humility yet boldness proclaim to the world Jesus is Lord and Savior of all who confess Him for I pray in Jesus Name, Amen.

8 Power Point IV. ADVENT IN BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE THE ADVENT NAMES OF THE REDEEMER "A SAVIOR WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD" LUKE 2:8 20 A UNIQUE BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT 1. The Parents 2. The Place 3. The Prophesies 4. The Purpose 5. The Person LIFE TAKEAWAY Two Christmas Questions