Christmas Joint Service 2017 (12/24/17)

ATTN: I want to look at one verse and three words. And draw out three implications from those three words.

The verse I want to look at is Luke 2:11, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” The three words I want to focus on are: 1) The city of David. 2) Savior. And 3) the Lord

1. The city of David – God’s preparation/provision
2. 11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David…” The significance of this word is God’s preparation for our salvation. God has been preparing a long time to save us. Our rescue was not a last minute effort by God, but something that God has meticulously planned. The city of David, Bethlehem, is where the Messiah was predicted to be born.  So, when the Magi went to king Herod to find out where the new king was to be born, the scholars told the king that the king is to be born in Bethlehem. This is predicted by the prophet Micah when he said in the book by the same name, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. (Micah 5:2).” This was at least 700 years before Jesus was born. God has been methodically planning for our rescue.

ILL: let me ask you ladies, when -do you feel more loved? When your man on the day of the anniversary sees a commercial about some restaurant and askes, “hey, I just remembered it’s our anniversary and that sounds like a good place to eat at. Wanna go?” Versus, he takes you to a place that he has been planning for weeks, and he planned every detail of the night – making reservations, ordering your favorite food, right down to the flowers in the room and the room number that matches your anniversary date! There is something to be said about spontaneity but true love is expressed in planning, thinking about it all along the way, and executing it. That is what God has done for us this verse says. Christmas communicates to you and me from God: “I have been planning for you. I have been thinking about you for a very long time.”

2. Savior – Our condition he came to overcome

The next word is “Savior”. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior.” This implies our need to be saved. It points to our dire condition as lost sinners utterly hopeless without the Savior. Do I really need convince us again that we are sinners? I don’t need to look at the condition of our society to know that we need a Savior. I simply need to look into myself to know that I need a Savior. The problem is not out there. But the problem is in here. When I didn’t know myself, I thought, “if the world was more like me, then it would be a better place to live.” Now that I know myself a little better, I think, “the reason the world is what it is is because it is full of people like me.”

Please, if you are thinking at this point, “I am really not that bad a person. I just need to work on a few flaws in my life and I will be good!” Tim Keller, a pastor in New York city, has said, “a Christian is someone who repents not only of his unrighteousness but also of his righteousness.” What does he mean? He means that whatever reason we think God will accept us because of, we need to repent of it. Don’t we think that the reason why God does not accept us is because of the few sinful things we do? And if we can just fix them, we will be fine and God will accept us? The good in us are already acceptable to God and so we just need to fix our bad part and then God will accept us. But the Scripture tells us that even the good part of us are really bad. Isa. 64:6, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” Why? Because the righteous deeds I did, I did not for God’s sake, but for my sake. I help the poor not so that God will be glorified, but so that I will feel good about myself and I can tweet about it to let people know what a good Christian I am! That’s exactly what the Pharisees were doing, and Jesus only had scorching and condemning words for them! So, I need to repent not only of my unrighteousness, but of my righteousness that I thought would justify me. Only Jesus justifies me!

ILL: We are like men who are trying to wipe dirt off them with bloody rags. All we are doing is replacing one sin with another when we try to clean ourselves. We need a Savior. Only Jesus’ pure blood can wipe us clean.

3. Lord – Restoration of relationship. /Relation

The third word is “Lord.” “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” He is Lord. That means He is our master. He is our boss. He’s the one who sets the agenda for our lives. He tells us what to do and how to live. Now, if you are an average American, you do not like having someone over you. You want to be your own person. No one tells you what to you. So, God being our Lord and Master, we feel uncomfortable because we feel like our freedom will be violated and he will make us do things we don’t like.   

         That’s because all the lords, masters, and bosses we’ve known were evil – in comparison at least. When we hear the words lord, master, we are thinking of slave masters, dictators, and hard teachers with no compassion. But what if He’s a wise and loving king? What if He knows what is good, truly good for us better than we do? How many times we have gotten ourselves into something that we thought would be good for us only to regret a few months later? But what if our Lord and Master was someone who would not only bend over backwards but even to have nails go through his hands and feet and a spear through the heart for our sake? What if that kind of king was our Lord? I don’t know about you. But at age 17, I realized that I’d make a terrible boss of myself. And if I got everything I ever wanted, I would be the most miserable person in the world. At age 47 now, looking back, I must give credit to God for that because a normal 17 year old would not think like that. I need someone else to be in charge of my life. Someone better than me. Someone who knows me better than me. Someone who loves me more than I love myself. Someone who knows the future and controls the future for my sake…. That kind of Lord I would gladly submit to.

CONC: “For unto us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

God has meticulously planned a long time to cure us of the deadly disease called sin so that we will gladly and joyfully submit to Him, and in the end, He will be glorified. Let us make this season and every other season about Jesus.