{"id":19392,"date":"2015-12-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-20T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/why-god-became-man-2015\/"},"modified":"2015-12-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-20T06:00:00","slug":"why-god-became-man-2015","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/why-god-became-man-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Why God Became Man – 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[103],"series_event":[440],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19392","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-hebrews","series_event-christmas-sermons","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Why God Became Man - 2015","sermon_date":"20151220","sermon_month":"12","sermon_year":"2015","sermon_notes":3225,"sermon_slides":3226,"sermon_mp3":3227,"sermon_id":"1220151023142","series_or_event":440,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":103,"chapter_and_verse":"2:5-18","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\nWhy God Became Man\n12-20-15 Hebrews 2:5-18 Christmas Sermons\n\nIf we could open our Bibles this morning to the book of Hebrews, chapter 2, and verse 5; the book of Hebrews chapter 2, verse 5. This morning we\u2019re going to be moving quickly, we\u2019re going to cover verses 5-18 and the title of our message this morning is Why God Became Man. And of course, as you\u2019ve figured out, probably, we\u2019re taking a little break from 2 Timothy this morning; we\u2019re bringing a special message related to Christmas, which is coming up this week. Now my wife, as that verse was being read earlier, Hebrews 2:14 about Satan being rendered powerless, she kind of look at me as that verse was on the screen like are you crazy, what does this have to do with Christmas; where\u2019s Isaiah 7:14, where\u2019s Micah 5:2, where\u2019s Luke 1, where\u2019s Luke 2. You put up Hebrews 2:14, what is the matter with you? I\u2019ve got to be careful, it\u2019s her birthday today.\n\nBut I think, as you\u2019re going to see this morning as we look at Hebrews 2:5-18 you\u2019re actually going to see this is a very Christmas passage because what exactly are we celebrating at Christmas time? What we\u2019re celebrating is Jesus Christ, the eternally existent Second Member of the Triune Godhead, stepped out of eternity into time and took on human flesh. That transaction took place at the point of the virgin conception. The moment Jesus was miraculously conceived in Mary\u2019s womb is the moment that humanity was added alongside deity to Jesus Christ, the Second Member of the Trinity. And as the pregnancy process took place, roughly nine months later Jesus was born into this world.\n\nSo what we are actually celebrating at Christmas time is this incarnation, enfleshment, if you will, of the Son of God. And then the question really becomes this: Why was it so necessary for God to become man? I mean, why did it have to happen this way? And that\u2019s where the book of Hebrews, chapter 2, verses 5-18, gives us tremendous, tremendous insight. Had Jesus Christ, the Second Member of the Triune Godhead not become man eight things, or realities, could not come into place for the human race. These are blessings, or realities, that can transpire no other way other than through the incarnation, the enfleshment of the Son of God.\n\nAnd so what I\u2019d like to walk you through this morning very quickly are eight reasons, they\u2019re laid out in chronological order in the book of Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 5 through verse 18, eight reasons why God became man, because after all, He is \u201cthe reason for the season.\u201d And in this hustle and bustle of this time of year, in the midst of gifts and wrappings and family reunions and Christmas parties, as you know and as I know in this business of this time of the year it\u2019s so easy to lose sight of what God did and we kind of forget the reason that we\u2019re celebrating.\n\nBut Hebrews 2:5-18, through these eight reasons gives us eight reasons why we need to keep Christ in our Christmas. And I think as we look at these we\u2019re going to grow in great gratitude and appreciation for what God has done for us through the birth of His Son into the world which we commemorate this time of the year.\n\nAnd before we look at these I want to also invite you to our Christmas Eve service this Thursday; we recognize here at Sugar Land Bible Church that Christmas Eve is more of a family time and so we try to keep our service fairly short; I do give a brief message that lasts about twelve minutes, not that I have it timed or anything, some of you don\u2019t think I can preach for only twelve minutes so you might want to come just to validate that that\u2019s true, it actually can happen. Actually last year we got out a little early. So we\u2019re going to be singing some traditional Christmas songs; we\u2019re not going to rock out for Jesus or anything like that, traditional Christmas songs! We\u2019re going to do some candlelight, candlelight service and we\u2019re also going to have a short message from the Scripture. But it\u2019s just a great opportunity to keep Jesus in the foremost of our thinking during this time of the year where we can get so easily distracted. So if you don\u2019t have plans I invite you to that, Thursday night from 6:00 to 7:00.\n\nWhy did God become man? Reason number 1, God became man to restore God\u2019s original purpose for man. Notice, if you will, Hebrews 2:5-9, notice what it says: \u201cFor He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. [6] But one has testified somewhere, saying, \"WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? [7] \u2018YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CORWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS. [8] YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.\u201d For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subjected to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. [9] But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus Christ, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor\u2026.\u201d\n\nWhy did God become man? Reason number 1, to restore God\u2019s original purpose for man. This is really a foundational question. When God created our forbearers, Adam and Eve, what was His original design for them? And if we can figure out what His original design was for them we can figure out why God brought man into existence. And to answer this question the author of the book of Hebrews, because we really don\u2019t know who the author is, the author of the book of Hebrews quotes Psalm 8 and verses 4-6, \u201cWhat is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? [5] For You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!\u201d Now watch this, Psalm 8:6, \u201cYou make him to rule over the works of Your hands\u2019 You have put all things under his feet.\u201d\n\nYou\u2019ll notice that the writer to the book of Hebrews there in verse 6 says, \u201cBut one has testified somewhere, saying,\u201d now I tell the students when I give them an exam at the college, that\u2019s not going to pass for an answer. If I ask you where a Scripture is you can\u2019t say we\u2019ll someone has somewhere said something saying. You\u2019re going to have to give me a specific Scripture.\n\nSo why did the author of Hebrews say someone has said something? Because the book is the book to the Hebrews; Hebrews were Jewish Christians, Hebrews by definition knew the Old Testament, what we call the Old Testament, backwards and forwards. So for the author to quote Psalm 8 would be an exercise in redundancy to the Hebrew mind. Everybody knew where Psalm 8 was and were well familiar with it.\n\nAnd in Psalm 8, what you discover is God\u2019s original plan for man. You have \u201cmade him to rule over the works of Your hands\u2019 You have put all things under his feet.\u201d Now this should ring a bell because this is how the book of Genesis reads. Genesis 1:26, God\u2019s original instructions to man on day six of creation. It says, \u201cLet them,\u201d that would be Adam and Eve, \u201crule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.\u201d Genesis 1:28 says exactly, almost exactly the same thing. [Genesis 1:28, \u201cGod blessed them; and God said to them, \u2018Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.\u201d]\n\nWhen God brought Adam and Eve into existence what was His purpose? What was His design? It was to create an office and the fancy name for it is the office of theocratic administrator which simply means someone who governs for God. God gave Adam and Eve, because it says \u201cthem\u201d authority, and He gave them authority over the physical world; it talks there in Genesis 1 about cattle and creeping things that fly; and He\u2019s speaking there of the physical world that God created. And then in day six of creation God created Adam and Eve and gave them authority over the earth, and they were to govern the earth, not for themselves, but they were to govern it on God\u2019s behalf. And that\u2019s what we call the office of theocratic administrator.\n\nAnd very quickly, what you see in the book of Genesis is Genesis 3, the fall of man, where Satan comes into Eden, now remember, Satan is an angel, a fallen angel, but he came into Eden in Genesis 3 as a talking snake, a talking serpent, an animal that spoke. And people say that\u2019s a very strange way for Satan to operate, why is he operating that way? The answer is there\u2019s a specific strategy Satan is using; he is trying to pervert or destroy or unseat the office of theocratic administrator. He\u2019s trying to create a scenario whereby Adam and Eve are no longer governing the animal kingdom for God, but they are actually listening to the animals, and in the process rebelling against God, because this talking serpent, or this snake told them you\u2019re not going to die if you eat from the tree of knowledge. And they ended up believing the serpent, that they were supposed to be governing on God\u2019s behalf, and in the process they rebelled against God.\n\nAnd the moment that sin took place in Genesis 3 is the moment this office of theocratic administrator disappeared from planet earth. In fact, it was at that specific point in time that Satan was given the keys to this world; he was given the authority. That\u2019s why 2 Corinthians 4:4 calls Satan \u201cthe god of this world.\u201d [2 Corinthians 4:4, \u201cin whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.\u201d]\n\nThis is why Satan, in the temptations in Luke 4:6 says to Jesus, \u201cI will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to whomever I wish.\u201d Now when Jesus answered Satan at that point Jesus never argued that what Satan said wasn\u2019t true because it is true. Who handed the keys of this world, if you will, over to the devil? It was Adam that did, and the office of theocratic administrator consequently disappeared from the earth, Satan became, as John 12:31 calls him \u201cthe ruler of this world.\u201d [John 12:31, \u201cNow judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.\u201d]\n\nThis is why insurance companies\u2026 I always get mad at them because they talk about earthquakes and hurricanes being acts of God. Why don\u2019t we give credit to where credit is due once in a while; it is the devil that is controlling many of these things that go wrong in the world because he is the god (little \u201cg\u201d) over planet earth in the interim. It\u2019s not that God isn\u2019t sovereign, it\u2019s not that God doesn\u2019t work His purposes out through His sovereignty, but by and large the world system is under the control of the former archangel, Lucifer, now known as Satan.\nAnd so then, what is the point of the Bible? What is the storyline of the Bible? What is the Bible all about? What the Bible is all about is how this office gets restored to planet earth. When will this office be restored to planet earth? Answer: In the millennial thousand year kingdom, which is where human history is moving. You see, human history is not accidental, it\u2019s not coincidental, it\u2019s not random, it\u2019s not serendipitous, it\u2019s actually what we call linear (when you understand it from the biblical point of view), linear meaning it\u2019s moving somewhere, things are going somewhere. God is guiding this earth somewhere and what he is guiding it back to is the office of theocratic administrator which He created in Eden, which Adam forfeited.\n\nAnd you see, in the millennial kingdom of God, which will exist for a thousand years on planet earth, God the Father is going to govern, not the first Adam but the last Adam. I used to call, many times, Jesus the second Adam, but that is a great mistake. The Bible never calls Jesus the second Adam; it calls Him, 1 Corinthians 15:45, the last Adam, because if I say second Adam there could be a third Adam, there could be a forth Adam, there could be a fifth Adam. But when you say \u201cthe last Adam\u201d there is nothing that can follow. [1 Corinthians 15;45, \u201cSo also it is written, \u2018The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.\u2019\u201d]\n\nJesus is \u201cthe last Adam.\u201d Jesus will be governed by God the Father and Jesus will govern creation for God for a thousand years. And God simply cannot allow this earth to go out of existence until this great feat of human history is accomplished or else God loses. There has to be a time in history where what was lost in Eden is restored. And we, as Christ\u2019s bride, are destined for that authority. Revelation 5:10 says, \u201cYou have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.\u201d\n\nJust as Adam governed with his wife, Eve, Jesus Christ is going to govern with His wife, the church. And this is why the Apostle Paul says things to the Corinthians, like you silly Corinthians, you\u2019re suing each other, you\u2019re having little squabbles with each other, do you not know that you will judge the angels one day, speaking of that authority that the born again Bible believing Christian is headed for. [1 Corinthians 6:3, \u201cDo you not know that we will judge angels?...]\n\nAnd in the book of Revelation Satan will be deposed and Christ\u2019s kingdom will be installed. That\u2019s why Revelation 11:15 says, \u201cThe kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.\u201d And yet how can God\u2019s purpose for man be restored unless God Himself becomes a what? A man! You cannot restore God\u2019s purpose for man unless the second member of the Triune Godhead becomes man himself. And this is why the author of Hebrews, in verse 5, says, \u201cFor He did not subject to angels the world to come,\u201d [Hebrews 2:5] the author\u2019s point is what angel ever did this? What angel will ever accomplish this? This is something unique to Jesus Christ.\n\nNow one of the things that\u2019s happening in the book of Hebrews is that the writer is showing that Jesus is higher than the angels. Why would he have to make the point that Jesus is higher than the angels? Keep in mind who this is written to\u2014Hebrews, Hebrew Christians\u2026 Hebrews, Jews, Old Testament Jews, revered angels. Why? Because angels were the messengers of God. In fact, you might want to jot down Daniel 9:20-23 which is a very critical prophecy called the prophecy of the seventy weeks, and that prophecy was given to Daniel through the angel Gabriel. [Daniel 9:20-23, \u201cNow while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, [21] while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. [22] He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, \u2018O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. [23] \u201cAt the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.\u2019\u201d]\n\nThat is a key piece of the prophetic jigsaw puzzle, given by God to Daniel through Gabriel. This is the pattern of the Old Testament; the Old Testament always holds up the angels as messengers of God. And yet if the writer can show that Jesus is higher than the angels he can show them very clearly that Jesus is a higher revelation than what you find in the Old Testament, because this crowd that the writer is speaking to was thinking of defecting; they were thinking of leaving the higher truths of Christianity to avoid persecution and go back into the temple system and its rituals, which was still functioning at the time this book was written. And if the author can show that Jesus is higher than the angels, he can show that Jesus is a higher form of revelation, and therefore leaving Him and retreating back to something else is leaving the best for something that, in fact, is inferior.\n\nAnd the author says which angel accomplished this? Number 1, Jesus became a man to restore God\u2019s original purpose for man, which would be an impossibility unless God became man Himself. And you see, what has happened through the first coming of Jesus Christ is the whole foundation is laid for this great victory that\u2019s coming in the not too distant future, where this office of theocratic administrator will be restored.\n\nYou know, so many times we as Christians can be such, what I like to call pessil-millennialists, pessimistic about the world, pessimistic about our lives, and yet we should be the greatest optimists out there, because we have hope that what was lost in Eden is going to be restored because the foundation has been laid as God, the second member of the Trinity, became man.\n\nThere is a second reason why God became man. Notice, if you will, the second part of verse 9, \u201cso that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.\u201d The second reason God became man is to \u201ctaste death for everyone.\u201d What is the penalty for sin? Going all the way back to the Garden of Eden, you know God\u2019s instructions at the tree of knowledge, \u201cFor in the day you eat from this tree is the day you will surely die. [Genesis 1:17, \u201cbut from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.\u201d.]\n\nAnd the moment that win was committed was the moment death came into the human race. Ezekiel 18:20 says the soul that sinneth shall surely die. [Ezekiel 18:20, \u201cThe person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.\u201d]\n\nJames 1:15 says, \u201cThen when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.\u201d Romans 6:23, \u201cFor the wages\u201d which is a cost, \u201cthe wages of sin is death\u2026\u201d Hebrews 9:27 says, \u201cit is appointed for men to die once, and then comes the judgment.\u201d The last time I checked the mortality rate is still 100%.\nNow there are always little exceptions in the Bible: Enoch was translated to heaven before he physically died. [Hebrews 11:5, \u201cBy faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP\u2026.\u201d The same with Elijah. [2 Kings 2:11, \u201cAs they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.\u201d]\n\nPerhaps if we are the rapture generation, which I can\u2019t guarantee we are, I hope we are, there\u2019s a whole generation of Christians, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that will not see death. [1 Corinthians 15:51-52, \u201cBehold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but will all be changed, [52] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.\u201d]\n\nBut absent from these little exceptions here and there death is an ironclad rule; death is the great equaler, death is the great leveler of the playing field. The mortality rate is 100% and this is what the human race is under. It is under this terrible prospect called death, and here I\u2019m primarily speaking of physical death. And yet what did Jesus do? He experienced death in our place!\n\nNow this raises an interesting question, doesn\u2019t it? How can God die? I mean, can you kill God? I don\u2019t think so. Well, how can God die? The answer is God becomes man so that He dies. Had God not become man it would have been impossible to kill God; had it been impossible to kill God He would not have tasted death for every man. And that really becomes the purpose of the virgin conception, the virgin birth. John 1:14 says, \u201cAnd the Word\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201cbecame flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory\u2026.\u201d He was born into this world to die. Now fortunately He had the final victory because He rose from the dead, but He came into this world to taste, verse 9, death for every man. [Hebrews 2:9, \u201cBut we do see Him who was made for us a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.\u201d]\n\nAnd that\u2019s why this doctrine of the incarnation is so important. We sometimes call this the hypostatic union, if you\u2019re interested in big words. What that simply means is Jesus, at the point of the virgin conception, becomes the unique God-man. What does that mean? He is the only being that has ever walked this planet who is both God and man, 100% God, 100% man. In essence what happened at the virgin conception is humanity was added alongside eternally existent deity. And there is rampant confusion about this today. People think Jesus just kind of switched from one to the other, He quit being God when He became a man, kind of like you change jackets. And they look at the incarnation as a subtraction. The incarnation, when properly understood is not a subtraction, it is an addition. He never stopped being God, something was added alongside deity.\n\nJohn Walvoord, the great scholar, says this: \u201cThe act of kenosis,\u201d now kenosis is a fancy word in Greek which means emptying; \u201cThe act of kenosis as stated in Philippians 2 may therefore be properly understood to mean that Christ surrendered no attribute of deity, but that He did voluntarily restrict their independent use in keeping with His purpose of living among men and their limitations.\u201d [Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord, 143-44]\n\nJesus gave up nothing in terms of deity, attribute of deity; He gave up nothing in terms of His ability to perform miracles. What He did in His incarnation is He submitted the privileges and the use of His attributes of deity to God the Father and He lived in total submission to Him. In fact, had Jesus not submitted the attributes of deity to God the Father He could have called off the whole resurrection, had He chosen to do so. But because of the emptying of Christ, because of the kenosis, because of the incarnation, humanity is added alongside eternally existent deity so God can die. Verse 9 once again, \u201cSo that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.\u201d He died in my place. He died in your place. And yet without the virgin conception God can\u2019t die, can He?\n\nNow there are many people today that say well, you know, brother, Jesus only died for the elect; He only died for some chosen group of people, He didn\u2019t die for the whole world. This is a doctrine in Reformed Theology called limited atonement, Christ died only for the elect. May I just say to you, look again at verse 9, \u201cSo that by the grace of God He might taste death for\u201d the elect? No, it doesn\u2019t say that; \u201cHe might taste death for everyone.\u201d [Hebrews 2:9]\n\nChrist\u2019s death was for everyone on planet earth, everyone that has ever lived, everyone that will ever live. It\u2019s for the rich person; it\u2019s for the person that\u2019s there on the freeway with alcohol in his breath at the overpass, asking for money that we\u2019re embarrassed a little bit about and we drive by quickly, the death of Christ is for him as well. It\u2019s for the wealthy, it\u2019s for the poor, it\u2019s for the healthy, it\u2019s for the sick. It\u2019s for all races, people of all socioeconomic groups. It\u2019s not even just for Americans; it\u2019s for the entire planet.\n\nAnd so consequently what we teach and what we believe is the entire world is savable. Everybody on planet earth can be saved. Now they are not actually saved until they trust in the provision of Christ. They don\u2019t move from savable to saved until they trust in what Christ has done. But the fact of the matter is everybody is savable. 1 Timothy 4:10 says, of Jesus, \u201c\u2026who is the Savior of all men, especially believers.\u201d \u201cEspecially believers\u201d but it broadens it to all men. 1 John 2:2 says, \u201cHe Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.\u201d Why did God become man? To taste death for every man.\n\nNumber 3, third reason God became man. It is to bring many sons and daughters to glory. Notice if you will verses 10-13. \u201cFor it was fitting for Him for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing\u201d watch this, verse 10, \u201cmany sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. [11] For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, [12] saying, \u2018I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE.\u2019 [13] And again, \u2018I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM.\u201d And again, \u2018BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME.\u2019\u201d\n\nNotice, it\u2019s very interesting here the repetition of the word \u201cbrethren.\u201d You see that in verse 11, you see that in verse 12. What does that even mean? Christ\u2019s brethren, Christ\u2019s family, Christ\u2019s brothers, Christ\u2019s sons, Christ\u2019s daughters? We have an answer to that in Matthew 12:46-50, which says this: \u201cWhile He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. [47] Someone said to Him, \u201cBehold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.\u201d [48] But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, \u201cWho is My mother and who are My brothers?\u201d [49] And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, \u201cBehold My mother and My brothers! [50] \u201cFor whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.\u201d\n\nWhat Jesus is revealing here is a spiritual family that he was on the precipice of creating, a family which transcends normal physical family relationship. We have our physical families but once you trust in Christ you are adopted into a spiritual family where you have commonality with people that you don\u2019t necessarily share a bloodline with. And this is the great work of God whereby He begins to call people His sisters, His brothers, and so forth.\n\nRomans 8:29 adds an interesting detail to this. Romans 8:29 says this: \u201cFor those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He,\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201cwould be the firstborn among many brethren.\u201d Isn\u2019t it an amazing thing that we are part of the spiritual family of God.\n\nYou may have had a lousy experience with your physical family; maybe you\u2019re in conflict today with a brother or a sister physically and it gets rough this time of the year because Christmas time is when families get together. You may have been isolated from your parents. You may have been isolated from your own children somehow. But isn\u2019t it interesting that in the midst of these various failures that we have with our physical families we do not lose hope, although it can be discouraging. We do not lose hope because we are part of something that is much grander and bigger, which transcends normal physical family lines, the spiritual family of God.\n\nAnd as Christ\u2019s brethren we experience exactly what He experienced. What did He experience? Momentary suffering, and yet where is Jesus now? He is in a position of glory, isn\u2019t He? In fact, in John 17:5 Jesus says, prior to His death, \u201cNow Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.\u201d Because He is the firstborn among many brothers we experience what He experienced. Right now we go through a season in this life of momentary suffering and yet we do not lose hope because this season or momentary suffering will be replaced with eternal glory. Why is that? Because we\u2019re fitting into the paradigm; we\u2019re fitting into the pattern. That\u2019s why Jesus is the firstborn amongst many brethren.\n\nRomans 6 tells us that the moment we trust Christ we are baptized, this is not speaking of water baptism, it\u2019s speaking of identification, we are baptized or identified into Christ. [Romans 6:3, \u201cOr do you now know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?\u201d] What does that mean? It means what He experienced we experience. He died on the cross, He was buried, He rose from the dead, He ascended.\n\nWhat happened to you the moment you trusted in Christ? You died, Romans 6. Your old self was buried, you were raised, just like Christ\u2019s resurrection, to newness of life. And consequently your legal position, you may not feel like it is, it may not look like it is, it may not work its way out factually in daily life but legally what you are and where you are currently is at the right hand of the Father. Ephesians 2:6 tells us this. [Ephesians 3:6, \u201cand raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.\u201d]\n\nWhy are we legally at the right hand of the Father? Because that\u2019s where Jesus is. Jesus, by making me His brother, by making you His brother, by bringing us into the family of God has brought us into a family which transcends the physical family lines but it puts us into a pattern or a paradigm. We largely experience what Jesus experiences and the way it all works out is momentary suffering in this life but eternal glory to follow. Notice again Romans 8:29-30, \u201c\u2018For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren\u2019 [30] and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.\u201d Is it not interesting that the very last word in verse 30 is \u201cglorified.\u201d Did you catch the tense of that word? It\u2019s in the past tense. It\u2019s looked at as something that has already happened.\n\nYou say well, I don\u2019t feel glorified today, and you all don\u2019t look very glorified either. [Laughter] But the fact of the matter is legally this is something that has already happened to you; you are destined for glory because of what Jesus did in our place, and absent the incarnation of Christ, absent the virgin conception of Christ, such a phenomena, such a reality, such a thing could have never, could NEVER take place.\n\nThis is why at Sugar Land Bible Church we preach the doctrine of eternal security, because if my glorification as a result of being Christ\u2019s brother is etched in stone to such an extent that God can speak of it in the past tense, although it factually hasn\u2019t happened yet, how in the world would I ever get a silly notion or idea in my mind that anything can derail my salvation. Satan can\u2019t derail it. My own bad decisions, of which they\u2019re manifold, can\u2019t derail it either. It is a positional reality because you are part of the spiritual family of God.\n\nThere is a fourth reason why God became man. Number 4, it is to break Satan\u2019s rule over the human race. Notice, if you will, verse 14, this is the verse that Ed Jones read and my wife looked at me like I was crazy. Verse 14, \u201cTherefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.\u201d Now earlier we said that Satan currently is the ruler of this world; that was the repercussion to the fall, that was the repercussion to the unseating of the office of theocratic administrator by the serpent.\n\nThe moment Satan became the ruler of this world simultaneously is the moment that the title deed to the earth was transferred from Adam to the devil. The title deed is ownership; Satan has custody, possession, of this title deed to the earth at the present time. You say well, this title deed to the earth, where is it spoken of? I\u2019m glad you asked, the book of Revelation, chapter 5, verses 2-4. It\u2019s called the seven sealed scroll.\n\nRevelation 5:2-4, John writes what he saw in a vision and he says this: \u201cAnd I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, \u2018Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?\u2019 [3] And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.\u2019 [4] Then I,\u201d that\u2019s John, \u201cbegan to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.\u201d John sees the title deed to the earth in this vision and he starts to understand that no one can open it.\n\nSo what does John do? He starts to cry, the Bible says; he starts to weep uncontrollably. Well, what\u2019s he crying about? He\u2019s crying because if nobody can open this title deed the world, as we know it, goes on and on and on and on and on in its current trajectory. It goes on and on and on under Satan\u2019s grasp, because Satan is the permanent ruler. In other words, drive by shootings, ISIS attacks, terrorist, cancer, earthquakes, death, disease, having your heart broken, emotional travail, cannot be opened.\n\nNow would that make you cry? It would make me cry. That\u2019s why John, when he sees this starts to sob uncontrollably. But there\u2019s hope, you see. Revelation 5:5-7, \u201cand one of the elders said to me, \u2018Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.\u2019 [6] And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. [7] And He\u201d that\u2019s the Lamb, \u201ccame and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.\u201d\n\nSuddenly things are better now because there is somebody that can open the scroll and that somebody is Jesus Christ. Why? Because He\u2019s qualified to do it. Why is He qualified to do it? Well, John says, number 1, He\u2019s from the tribe of Judah; the kings come from Judah\u2019s line, in the Old Testament, Genesis 49:10 indicates that. [Genesis 49:10, \u201cThe scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler\u2019s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.\u201d]\n\nAnd number 2, Jesus did something which qualified Him even further, He entered human history to die in our place. He is this world\u2019s\u2026 not only is He this world\u2019s Creator, He is this world\u2019s Redeemer. And had it not been for His death He would not have been qualified to open the seven sealed scroll. And had God not become a man, added humanity alongside eternally existent deity in the virgin conception He could not have died in our place, He would never have been qualified to open the scroll and the scroll continues within the grasp of the devil throughout the ages and the eons of time.\n\nThe first coming of Jesus Christ, His death laid the foundation for a future victory whereby in the events in the book of Revelation that scroll will be opened and the judgments will come to the earth and every time a judgment hits the earth Satan\u2019s grip over the world gets a little looser. It\u2019s kind of like with Pharaoh and the ten plagues; as those ten plagues came forth Pharaoh\u2019s grip over the chosen people got a little looser and finally with plague ten he released them. Finally when these judgments in the book of Revelation have run their course Satan releases the earth and the glorious manifold earthly kingdom of God breaks forth on planet earth, the office of theocratic administer is restored and re-instituted and the world is as God designed it once again.\n\nYou want to talk about Christian hope? We\u2019re the only ones that have it. You don\u2019t get these thoughts out of the darkened mind of the human intellect. These are revelations that come from God. Satan\u2019s defeat in the Bible happens in seven stages: first he\u2019s kicked out of heaven, Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28. Then there\u2019s a prophecy given about him in Eden, Genesis 3:15, that there is coming one from the seed of the woman who will crush your head. [Genesis 3:15, \u201cAnd I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.\u201d]\n\nAnd then whatever Satan was doing trying to corrupt the gene pool leading to Christ, in Genesis 6, that was stopped. And then came the cross and this is where Hebrews 2:14, amongst many other Scriptures that we could quote really comes to full bloom. \u201cTherefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.\u201d Satan, as a result of the cross, has been convicted; we\u2019re just waiting for the penalty. Anybody that understands the legal system understands there\u2019s a difference between the guilt phase of a trial leading to a conviction and the penalty phase. In the guilt phase you\u2019re found guilty by a reasonable doubt by a jury of your peers and then the judge, at a later point, imposes sentencing.\n\nYou see, we are living in between the conviction and the sentencing, we\u2019re living right there in number 4, the victory has been won. The sentencing comes in the last three points in this outline; Satan will be removed from heaven permanently halfway through the Tribulation, Revelation 12:9. [Revelation 12:9, \u201cAnd the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.\u201d]\n\nYou know Satan, even in his fallen state, can go into heaven. Ask Job about that sometime. And then once this glorious millennial kingdom is established on planet earth Satan will be bound for a thousand years in the abyss. And at the conclusion of this kingdom Satan will finally be thrown into the lake of fire.\n\nWhat started this whole chain of victory is the virgin conception, the death of the Son of God. And this is an important outline to understand because we have people today that are trying to argue we\u2019re in the kingdom now. My response is I must be living in the ghetto section because I don\u2019t see kingdom conditions. And they\u2019ll use this to say look, brother, we are in the kingdom of God now, it\u2019s in spiritual form, Jesus is reigning in our hearts. That\u2019s what you call replacement theology, kingdom now theology, amillennialism, postmillennialism. It is a false teaching that the church has suffered under since, really, Augustine, back in the fourth century.\n\nAnd most churches today by denominational affiliation believe this and teach this, and yet that\u2019s not our belief because we are the Sugar Land Bible Church; the authority here is the Word of God, and when you look at the totality of the Word of God what you see is a conviction has happened but a sentencing, a punishment for the devil is yet to come. We\u2019re living in between the two, and so the horrors of this earth, the sadness of the earth we look at as Christians as merely temporary, because of the virgin conception and God dying in our place.\n\nThere is a fifth reason why God became man and that is to remove the fear of death. Notice verse 15, \u201cand [He] \u201cmight free those who through the fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.\u201d What is the greatest fear of the human race? It is death. Why are we so afraid of death? We are afraid of death because we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen on the other side. We don\u2019t really know, simply from the human point of view, what takes place after somebody dies. We have no insight into that other than the Scripture.\n\nAnd so death is like a dark cloud, not only because it\u2019s occurring regularly but it holds people in a state of bondage because if their mind is not illuminated by the Word of God death is something to be feared, death is something to be dreaded, death is something that causes great anxiety because of the unknown commodity of it. What exactly happens on the other side? May I just say to you that if you are \u201cin Christ\u201d today the fear of death is gone. Jesus, in John 11:25-26 says, \u201cI am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, [26] and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.\u201d Oh, maybe you\u2019ll die physically, maybe not if we\u2019re the rapture generation, but even if you die physically what does the apostle Paul say? \u201cAbsent from the body is to be\u201d what? \u201cpresent with the Lord.\u201d\n\n2 Corinthians 5:8, did you know that the Apostle Paul had no fear of death at all. [2 Corinthians 5:8, \u201cwe are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.\u201d] Now this is a guy that was almost killed multiple times, as we study the book of Acts. And he was able to put himself in harmful situation after harmful situation to expand God\u2019s purposes upon the earth because the man literally had no fear of death.\n\nIn fact, quite humorously (I think) in the book of Philippians, chapter 1, verses 21-23 Paul says, \u201cFor to me, to live is Christ and to die is\u201d what? \u201cgain. [22] But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. [23] But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.\u201d\n\nPaul says you know, I\u2019m a little bit bothered by this whole thing; if I had my way I would just check out. I\u2019d rather die and go be with Christ which is far better, but for your sake, you Philippians, I\u2019m stuck in this body, serving you, because God is using me to bless you. And so he almost blames the Philippians for cheating him of the joy of death. And that\u2019s why you\u2019re not dead yet. You\u2019re not dead yet, I\u2019m not dead yet because God has something He wants to bring forth through our lives in terms of service to somebody else. But the moment that is accomplished it\u2019s far better to die and be with Christ for that is much better.\n\nThere is a sixth reason why God became man, number 6, to become our merciful and sympathetic high priest. Notice, if you will, chapter 2, verses 16-17. \u201cFor assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham. [17] Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that he might become\u201d watch this, \u201ca merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God.\u201d Why did God have to become a man? To become our merciful and sympathetic high priest.\n\nWell, what\u2019s a priest exactly? A priest is a representative; a priest is someone who represents us before God and God before us. What makes Jesus such a sympathetic and merciful high priest? The short answer to that is He became one of us. The moment humanity was added alongside eternally existent deity, the moment He was born into the world through the virgin birth and the moment He began to live as a man is the moment He was subjected to all of the limitations that beset us so regularly. The only exception was He never sinned, although He was tempted to sin.\n\nWhen we pray to Jesus Christ what you have to understand is you are praying to someone who has stood in your shoes. Oh God, You just don\u2019t understand what I\u2019m going thru. Nonsense! God understands all of it because He became one of us and went through the identical limitations.\n\nWhat do the Gospels tell us? Jesus was involved in labor and there I\u2019m using the term of working with your hands; He was blue collar. He was the son of a carpenter, Mark 6:3. [Mark 6:3, \u201cIs not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?\u2019 And they took offense at Him.\u201d] He knew what it was like to eke out a living. He understood financial limitations. He understood what it was like to come home at the end of the day and be so tired all you can do is pass out. He knew what distress was like, Luke 24:44. [Luke 24:44, \u201cNow He said to them, \u2018These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.\u201d\n\nIs your heart troubled today? Jesus experienced trouble Himself in his heart, John 12:27. He knew what it was like to be thirsty, hungry and tired. John 19:28; Matthew 4:2, John 4:6. [John 12:27, \u201cNow My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, \u2018Father, save Me from this hour\u2019? But for this purpose I came to this hour.\u201d John 19:28, \u201cAfter this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, \u2018I am thirsty.\u2019\u201d Matthew 4:2, \u201cAnd after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.\u201d John 4:6, \u201cand Jacob\u2019s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.\u201d]\n\nHe even knew what it was like to lose a friend through death. He knew what sadness was like. He knew what it was like to shed tears. He knew what it was like to weep. John 11:35. [John 11:35, \u201cJesus wept.\u201d] He knew what it was like to experience temptations. And in fact, Jesus has been tempted to points that we will never face because the devil took Him, in the wilderness, through those three temptations, if you understand them correctly, and He pushed Jesus to the furthest degree in temptation that a human has ever been pushed.\n\nAre you ever frustrated with life because you can\u2019t figure things out? Are you ever frustrated because something has happened in your life and you don\u2019t understand why and the question marks swirl in your mind? Jesus understood that, He didn\u2019t know everything in His humanity. He knew everything in His deity but not in His humanity. In fact, Matthew 24;36 says He didn\u2019t even know when He was coming back. Harold Camping knows but not Jesus. [Matthew 24:36, \u201cBut of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.\u201d]\n\nSee, He\u2019s grappled the finitudes of humanity; He knows what it\u2019s like. What does all of this mean? He can relate to us. When you come to Jesus with your problems He doesn\u2019t just have an intellectual knowledge of your problems; He has an experiential knowledge of your problems. He is not a disinterested cold deity. He is someone who has actually lived in our place.\n\nTo my knowledge this concept of the high priesthood of Jesus Christ emanating from His humanity is a concept you will not find in any other religion of the world. You\u2019re only going to find it in Christianity because Christianity is unique in its teaching of the incarnate Son of God. In Islam did Allah do any such thing? Of course not. How different Jesus is.\n\nThe author in the book of Hebrews, chapter 4, verses 15-16 says, \u201cFor we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. [16] Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.\u201d Are you in need? Guess what\u2019s available to you\u2026 \u201cthe throne of grace.\u201d What is grace? It\u2019s unmerited favor that Christ can\u2019t wait to bestow upon you. And He can sympathize with you in your weaknesses, having sympathized with us by becoming one of us.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice in verse 16 the reference again to angels, the writer says what angel has ever done such a thing as the incarnate Son of God. [Hebrews 2:16, \u201cFor assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.\u201d] I played basketball, my short size I realize gives me away. I played basketball from seventh grade all the way through my senior year in college and during all of those years I always had two kinds of coaches; I had some coaches that had never played the game themselves; I had other coaches that had played. And what a coach does is he gets in your face and he says you\u2019ve got to work harder, you\u2019ve got to push yourself, you\u2019ve got to push past the pain that you\u2019re in, you\u2019ve got lift weights, you\u2019ve got to run, you\u2019ve got to work out. And as you\u2019re going through the basic pain that you go through as an athlete, which coach had my respect? Not the one that had never played; what would he know about it, having never experienced it himself. But the coach that had played had my respect because he wasn\u2019t telling me to do something that he himself had not already gone through.\n\nThere is a seventh reason why God became man; number 7, to make a complete purification for our sins. Notice verse 17, actually the second part of verse 17, \u201cto make propitiation for the sins of the people.\u201d What is propitiation? Propitiation means the cross has pacified, appeased and placated God\u2019s anger against sin to such an extent that His anger is diverted from us. Propitiation simply means the wrath of God against me, because of my sin, has been satisfied. This is a wonderful word that is frequent in the Scripture, 1 John 2:2, \u201cHe Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.\u201d Romans 3:25, \u201cwhom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness\u2026\u201d and so forth.\n\nWhat does all of this mean? God is not mad anymore; His anger against sin has been satisfied by what Jesus did. The only attribute that He can express towards you is love. Everything that comes into your life is not coming into your life because of anger; it\u2019s coming in because of love. Sometimes we misinterpret it as anger but \u201cwhom the Lord loves the Lord\u201d what? \u201cdisciplines.\u201d\n[Hebrews 12:6, \u201cFor those whom the Lord loves He disciplines\u2026.\u201d]\n\nDiscipline is not anger; discipline is love. Discipline is designed to not make us bitter but to make us better. Because of propitiation everything that happens to you is a manifestation or an emanation of God\u2019s love towards you. Why? Because the wrath of God has been satiated, propitiation. This is why Jesus, in His final words on the cross says, John 19:30, \u201cIt is\u201d what? \u201cfinished.\u201d Titus 2;14, \u201cWho gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed\u2026.\u201d Colossians 2:13, \u201cWhen you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.\u201d\n\nThis is the difference here between Christianity and religion. Religion says God did most of it but you kick in your part. Well, what\u2019s my part? Pay, pray and obey\u2014God did His part, you do your part. Believing that will send you into hell. Believing that causes you to miss the grace of God. How different biblical Christianity is, at the bottom of the screen where it says Jesus did everything and I simply receive what He did as a free gift.\n\nYou know, you get into the Old Testament and you look at that Levitical system, that\u2019s the Tabernacle, that\u2019s the Mercy Seat inside the Holy of Holies, you know what God said about that whole system that He gave? He said in Psalm 40:6 I\u2019m not satisfied with this system, I gave it but I\u2019m not satisfied with it. [Psalm 40:6, \u201cSacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.\u201d]\n\nWhy was God not satisfied with it? Because it pointed to something greater that\u2019s coming, because this system could not permanently eradicate the sin problem. The only thing it could do is to \u201ckick the can\u201d down the road a year, and that\u2019s what we call the day of atonement; when the blood was applied to the mercy seat, Leviticus 16, on the day of atonement by the high priest the only thing that happened is that God\u2019s anger against sin was pushed down the road for one year, till they did the whole thing again. And that\u2019s why there\u2019s so much repetition in this system, animal sacrifices on and on and on, year after year. And how different the words of Christ are, who said, \u201cIt is finished!\u201d\n\nI have a lot of students that have student loans, and I said try this example on, see if this will work: you graduate from our college, you\u2019ve got student loans, you can\u2019t pay the loan back in a year, it\u2019s due. You go to the bank, basically pleading, and they give you one year of grace. Another year comes and goes and you still can\u2019t pay the loan back and you go back begging and pleading to the loaning institution and they say okay, we\u2019ll give you grace for another year. And then the third year comes and this happens, and the fourth year comes and this happens, and this goes on and on and on and on. That was the Mosaic Law and Levitical system.\n\nBut one day you go to the bank and the banker says you know what, let\u2019s do something a little different this year; instead of giving you another year grace period do you mind if we just pretended like you never borrowed the money at all; would that bother you? NO! That\u2019s grace. Oh, and something else I wanted to bring to your attention, we had a great year here at the bank, we have an extra trillion dollars in our assets and if you don\u2019t mind, I would just like to transfer that to your account. Do you mind if I do that? That\u2019s Ephesians 1:3, where we have been blessed with every blessing in the spiritual places. [Ephesians 1:3, \u201cBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.\u201d]\n\nNot only has the note of indebtedness been cancelled but we have been lavished with unfathomable riches in grace. None of it could have happened without the incarnation. This last one I\u2019ll do very quickly because it repeats a point we made in number 6, to sympathize with those tested, verse 18, \u201cFor since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.\u201d\n\nYou go to Jesus Christ in your private prayer life and you describe your temptations to Him. You describe your heartaches to Him. You describe your disappointments to Him. And what does He become to us? Sympathetic! Why is that? Because as a man, thanks to the virgin conception, He experienced all of those things Himself, yet without sin. Christ doesn\u2019t just have an intellectual understanding of our weaknesses and shortcomings; He has an experiential understanding.\n\nWhy did God become man? What\u2019s Christmas about? To restore God\u2019s original purpose for man, to taste death for every man, to bring many sons and daughters to glory, to break Satan\u2019s rule over the human race, to remove the fear of death, to become our merciful and sympathetic high priest, to make a complete purification for sin, to sympathize with those being tested. Let\u2019s do something this Christmas season, shall we? Let\u2019s keep Christ in our Christmas. Let\u2019s focus on what the whole thing, the birthday of Jesus, is all about. And perhaps you\u2019re here visiting today and you may not even know Jesus personally. Our answer to that is the gospel; the gospel simply means good news, because as I have described Jesus did everything in our place. It is finished! You say well, what am I supposed to do? John 6:28-29 tells you what you\u2019re supposed to do. This is the work you are to do which is to believe. [John 6:28-29, \u201cTherefore they said to Him, \u2018What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?\u2019 [29] Jesus answered and said to them, \u2018This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.\u201d]\n\nThat\u2019s it? That\u2019s it! Believe is another way of saying trust, it\u2019s another way of saying rely upon, it\u2019s another way of saying dependence upon, it\u2019s another way of saying having confidence in, it is a personal decision between you and God as the Spirit of God places you under conviction of your need to trust in what Jesus has done on the cross. It\u2019s something you can do right now as I\u2019m talking. It\u2019s not something you need to raise a hand to do, walk an aisle to do, join a church to do, give money to do, make new year\u2019s resolutions to do. It\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where you respond by faith to what Jesus has done. If that\u2019s something that you have done or something that you are doing you have just altered your eternal destiny. That\u2019s the gospel; that\u2019s good news. If it\u2019s something you need more teaching or information on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray. Father, forgive us for our short-shortsightedness and how we so easily become wrapped up in things that don\u2019t matter. Help us this Christmas season to be fixated on what You have accomplished as a direct result of the virgin conception. We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t