The Incarnation
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Hey everybody my name’s Louis I’m one of the pastor’s here at the church, it’s great to be with you, great to be celebrating our 1st Christmas Eve with you. We’re only 4 months old as a church so this is our 1st Christmas Eve and we’re glad you’re a part of it. Now I don’t know about you but I just love December. I love it. I love the weather, the food, the Christmas lights, the smell of fresh Christmas trees. I love it all. I love this entire month. It’s a month that’s full of celebrations and not just Christmas celebrations. I know Christmas dominates the headlines as I think it should, but there’s also some other major holidays people celebrate in December. It’s some pretty serious, some pretty major holidays like: December 5th = Na tional Ninja Day. Some of you are like, “Man I didn’t see that coming.” That’s why it’s Ninja Day. If you saw it coming, it wouldn’t be Ninja Day. It’s a great holiday where you get to dress like a Ninja, walk like a Ninja, talk like a Ninja, and watch Bruce Lee movies like a Ninja. It’s National Ninja Day. It’s a real holiday celebrated on December 5th. December 16th = Chocolate-Covered-Anything Day, which all the chocolate lovers said amen?...I missed it this year but I’m on it next year. I can care less what Paleo or Whole 30 says, I’m on it next year. It’s a real holiday celebrated on December 16th. December 18th = National Wear a Plunger on your Head Day...Because apparently there’s a lot of people who want to wear plungers on their heads...It’s crazy right? It’s crazy some of the things people celebrate. I mean wearing a plunger on your head sounds crazy. If that’s your thing have at it, just make sure it’s a clean plunger. But I’m yet to meet somebody who says “I can’t wait for wear a plunger day!” It sounds crazy right? Some holidays sound a bit crazy...and that’s exactly how some people feel about Christmas. That’s exactly how some people feel about the Christmas holiday, about the incarnation of Jesus. They think it’s crazy.
Listen that’s what we’re here to celebrate today. We’re here to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus, and by incarnation we mean that God became a man. When you hear me say the word incarnation that’s what I’m talking about. I’m talking about how God became a man, how Jesus was God who put on flesh to live, die, and rise again for our sins, and that’s what we’re here to celebrate today. We’re here to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, our savior, our Immanuel, our God who put on flesh to live, die, and rise again for our sins, and for some people that sounds just as crazy as wear a plunger day, but it’s not. It’s not crazy, it’s not ignorant, and just like an atheist or skeptic will say, “Let us reason,” I’m gonna ask the atheist and the skeptic in the room to reason. All of us need to reason, all of us need to examine our deepest beliefs so we can learn more about who God is, and who God isn’t. So let us reason when it comes to the incarnation of Jesus. Let’s turn our bibles to Matthew 1:1-25 and let’s reason. The title of today’s message is “The Incarnation.” It’s the incarnation, and it’s all about how the incarnation is true, and how that truth can give you hope. I’ll give you 3 reasons why.
Context:
Here’s your context. The Gospel of Matthew was written by a man named Matthew who was a tax collector, he was a bookkeeper hired by the Roman government, and what we hold in our hands is his bookkeeping record of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He was an educated man fluent in at least two languages Aramaic and Greek, and as a bookkeeper for the Romans he would’ve received training in accurate record keeping and scribal techniques which means we can trust it. We can trust it. Because of his educational and professional background, we can trust his bookkeeping record of Jesus, and here’s what he says about the birth of Jesus.
The Word:
Matthew 1:1-25, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.” Jesus was born. He was born. It’s all historical. Jesus was born, and reason #1 for believing the incarnation is true, is history. It’s history. The incarnational birth of Jesus is all deeply rooted in history. Matthew doesn’t start things off like a myth or a fairytale, he starts it off like a bookkeeper, he starts it off with historical facts. It’s real people, with real names, that lived during a real period of time. It’s the reason I read all those names. I didn’t read them to put you to sleep, I read them so you can see that Jesus’ birth is deeply rooted in history. It’s real people, with real names, that lived during a real period of time and one of those names is Jesus. It’s Jesus. He’s not a myth or a fairytale, he’s a real person in history who lived, died, and rose again. Matthew’s letting us know right from the beginning that it’s not a myth or a fairytale, it’s all deeply rooted in history.
Now the reason I say history’s a reason to believe the incarnation is true, is because some people claim Jesus is a myth. If you’re a college student you’ve most likely heard a professor say that before. They’ll say Jesus is a myth and that Christians stole from pagan mythologies like Isis, Osiris, and Adonis but it’s not true. History matters in this stuff, and historically we know the story of Jesus pre-dates most pagan mythologies that are attributed to Jesus. For example some claim Adonis rose from the dead like Jesus, but the story of Adonis didn’t happen until over 100 yrs after Jesus had already risen. So Christianity didn’t steal the resurrection from pagan mythology, it’s pagan mythology that stole the resurrection from Christianity. “Well what about Isis and Osiris? The story of Isis and Osiris existed over 2,000 yrs before Jesus was born and Isis rose Osiris from the dead. So it appears Christianity stole the resurrection from Isis and Osiris.” No that’s not true either, because it’s a misinterpretation of the story of Isis and Osiris... (PG)...I mean when Osiris dies his body’s scattered into 14 pieces throughout the world. Isis then tries to put Osiris back to together but she can’t put him completely back together, because she can only find 13 of the 14 pieces. He’s incomplete. Osiris is incomplete. On top of that Osiris doesn’t become the god of the resurrection he becomes the god of mummies. Only Jesus is the God of the resurrection. The resurrection begins and ends with Jesus, not Osiris. Look do your homework. If someone claims Jesus is a myth or that Christianity stole form pagan mythologies do your historical homework, and you’ll find those claims are false because of historical dating and misinterpretation. Myths aren’t true, but Christianity’s true because it’s deeply rooted in history. Christianity’s origins don’t begin with mythology they begin and continue with history. All the names in Ch. 1 are historical. It’s real people, real names, that lived during a real period of time, and bookkeeper Matthew says Jesus was born, he’s called the “Christ,” which means he’s our anointed savior who’s come to live, die, and rise again for our sins. It’s not mythological it’s historical. The incarnational birth of Jesus is true, and that truth can give you hope.
Again vs. 26, “...and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” That’s a reference to the virgin birth. It’s a reference to the virgin birth, which again is different from pagan mythologies where gods have physical intercourse with women. That’s not what’s happening here. God’s not having physical intercourse with Mary, He’s miraculously impregnating her while at the same time keeping her a virgin. But how do we know it’s true? How do we know it actually happened? Reason #1 is history. Reason #2 is the eyewitness testimonies. It’s because of the eyewitness testimonies that say it’s true. See the bible consists of 66 books, written by 40 different authors, during a time span of 1500 yrs, and they all point to Jesus. All 66 books, all 40 authors point to Jesus, and because these books were written over a time span of 1500 yrs, it means most of them never knew each other, so they couldn’t have plotted to make their stories align, which is impressive to me. I mean the fact that we have 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over a time span of 1500 yrs that all point to Jesus is impressive to me. I’ll put it like this.
Before I became a pastor I wanted to be an attorney. I was actually going away to Ohio Northern Law School before I felt called to be a pastor. So let’s talk courtroom. I want you to picture this. Picture yourself in a courtroom...Picture yourself in a courtroom, and John Doe’s on trial for murder...You’re the jury...You’re the jury, and the entire world’s watching as one by one 40 different eyewitnesses take the stand. Most of these eyewitnesses never met each other, never seen each other before, but they saw what happened...and one by one each of these 40 eyewitnesses take the stand, share their testimony, saying the same thing, “Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.” All 40 of them say the same thing, all 40 eyewitnesses say “Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty” and your verdict as the jury is, everybody said?...Guilty! He’s guilty right? John Doe’s guilty. Why? Because all 40 eyewitnesses are saying the same thing. They’re all saying he’s guilty... Jesus is on trial...Jesus is on trial in our world today...and you’re the jury...You’re the jury, and the 40 different eyewitnesses are here in this book, they’re all saying the same thing, they’re all pointing to Jesus saying he’s our God, our Savior, our Messiah who put on flesh to live, die, and rise again for our sins. They all point to that same conclusion, they all point to Jesus, and if we’re willing to say the 40 eyewitness testimonies that point to John Doe are true, then how much more should we be willing to say that the 40 eyewitness that point to Jesus are true, especially when these eyewitness testimonies were written over a time span of 1500 yrs?...Listen they all point to Jesus, all 40 of the different eyewitness testimonies point to Jesus, and one of those testimonies is even from a medical doctor by the name of Luke who said the virgin birth and the incarnation actually happened. Dr. Luke, one of the 40 says the virgin birth and the incarnation actually happened. He says the incarnational birth of Jesus is true, and that truth can give you hope.
Again vs. 18 states, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).” Okay there’s reason #3 for believing the incarnation is true, it’s because of fulfilled prophecy. Reason #1 is history, reason #2 is the eyewitness testimonies. Reason #3 is fulfilled prophecy. The prophet mentioned here in the text is a reference to the prophet Isaiah who lived over 700 yrs before Jesus was born. He’s one of the 40 eyewitness testimonies that point to Jesus, and Matthew’s quoting something he wrote over 700 yrs before Jesus was even born, which is that Jesus, our messiah, our savior would come through the virgin birth, and he even mentions the incarnation saying the messiah will literally be “God with us.” It’s all written in the bible, you can read it for yourself in Isaiah 7:14. Bookkeeper Matthew is pointing us to a historical fact which is that over 700 yrs ago Isaiah predicted that the virgin birth and the incarnation would happen, and it did. It’s all historically documented, and the bible consists of over 100 fulfilled prophecies like this. I’m not making this up. Google it. Seriously google it. Google “100 fulfilled prophecies” and you’ll see all kinds of charts on this. You’ll see charts that have what was said, when it was said, and when it was fulfilled. Zack and Aaron read several of them at the start of our service. They read what was said, when it was said, and when it was fulfilled. The bibles full of prophecies like this.
Now what’s even more interesting is that 60 of the 100 fulfilled prophecies in the bible all point to specific things about Jesus. That’s 60 out of 100 prophecies that point to Jesus, and for years the Christian Victory Publishing Company offered a $1,000 reward to anyone who could find someone other than Jesus, that could fulfill just half of those 60 prophecies, not a single person could do it. Not a single person could find anyone in history other than Jesus, who could fulfill just half, just 30 of those 60 prophecies. In fact the fulfillment of those prophecies is so rare, that The American Scientific Affiliation said this: The likelihood of Jesus being able to fulfill just 8, just 8 of those prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. It’s 1 in 10 to the 17th power, which is equivalent to us covering up the entire state of Texas two feet deep in silver dollar coins, then marking one coin, blindfolding a man, and telling him he has one chance to find that coin. Those are the odds the American Scientific Affiliation gave Jesus in fulfilling just 8 of the 60 prophecies. Yet Jesus didn’t just fulfill 8, he fulfilled over 60, which tells us the bible’s true and it can be trusted. Look it’s simple, if the prophecies are true, if they actually happen, then it means the bible’s true and it can be trusted. If the prophecies aren’t true, if they don’t happen, then it means the bible’s not true and it can’t be trusted. We have over 100 fulfilled prophecies in the bible, which means it’s true and it can be trusted. Matthew’s saying we can trust the virgin birth and the incarnation, because Isaiah predicted it would happen 700 years before Jesus was even born. The incarnational birth of Jesus is true, and that truth can give you hope.
Again vs. 23 states, “‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).’ 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.” Skeptic Joseph marries her. Skeptic Joseph marries Mary. Remember Joseph was a skeptic. If you’re a skeptic, you’re not the first skeptic, Joseph was. He was a skeptic, he didn’t believe Mary, he didn’t believe in the virgin birth, he didn’t believe in the incarnation, which is why he wanted to divorce her. It’s because he didn’t believe Mary, he didn’t believe any of it was true. But he ends up marrying her because he can’t deny the truth. He believes the virgin birth and the incarnation are true, so he ends up marrying Mary. Joseph is the first skeptic, but he’s also the first convert. He’s the first skeptic, but he’s also the first convert, and some of you regardless of the evidence you receive, you’ll still be skeptical. You’ll still be skeptical, because for you seeing is believing. You’re like, “I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ll believe in Jesus when I can see Jesus with my own eyes.” So let me press a bit. For those of you who think seeing is believing, let me press a bit.
Raise your hands if you believe there’s an actual place that exists called Antarctica. Raise your hands for me...Raise your hands if you believe it’s cold there, if you believe it’s actually cold in Antarctica...Now raise your hands if you’ve ever been there. Raise your hands if you’ve ever been to Antarctica...(BLACKHOLE)...Now if you’ve never been there before, if you’ve never been to Antarctica, then how do you know it actually exists?...If you’ve never been there, if you’ve never experienced it’s cold, then how do you know it’s actually cold...I mean if seeing is believing and yet you’ve never been there to see it with your own eyes or to experience it’s cold with your own body, then how do you know it actually exists?...“Well I’ve seen photos of it.” Yeah I’ve seen photos of sasquatch on beef jerky commercials, that doesn’t mean it’s real. I mean photos can be doctored, so we can’t trust that. So why do you believe Antarctica exists? “Because of scientific data.” Okay but you’ve still never done the scientific study for yourself. You’ve never done the scientific study for yourself, you’ve never seen it with your own eyes, so why do you believe Antarctica exists?...Listen the reason you believe it exists is because you trust the testimonies of those who have gone there. You believe it because you trust, you have faith in the testimonies of those who have actually gone there, seen it with their own eyes, and have experienced it’s cold with their own hands. You believe it because you have faith in the historical and the eyewitness testimonies...so it is for the Christian. So it is for the Christian. We believe the things we believe about Jesus because of the historical and because of the eyewitness testimonies that all point to Jesus. If you’re willing to believe Antarctica exists based upon historical eyewitness testimonies, then how much more should you be willing to believe in Jesus considering that we have not only historical eyewitness testimonies, but also fulfilled prophecy?.. If you can believe Antarctica exists based upon historical eyewitnesses testimonies, then you can believe in Jesus based upon historical eyewitness testimonies, and fulfilled prophecy. The incarnational birth of Jesus is true, and that truth can give you hope.
The Big Idea:
Let’s get to the big idea of the message. Here’s the big idea. The incarnational birth of Jesus is true, and that truth can give you hope...The incarnational birth of Jesus is true, and that truth can give you hope. It can give you hope, because it means God can take what’s impossible and make it possible. If the incarnation’s true then it means God can take what’s impossible, and make it possible. I mean the incarnation seems so impossible to us. It seems so impossible, it seems so crazy that God would become a man, but if it’s true. If all this is true, if the incarnation really happened then it means God can take what’s impossible and make it possible and if God can do that. Then it means he can take what you might think is hopeless, and make it hopeful...If God can take what’s impossible and make it possible, then it means God can also take what you think is hopeless in your life, and make it hopeful. But we don’t have to wonder IF it’s true, we can KNOW it’s true because of the historical, the eyewitness testimonies, and fulfilled prophecy. So have hope City Awakening! Have hope this Christmas Eve in knowing that Jesus can take what’s impossible and make it possible, and He can take what’s hopeless and make it hopeful. The incarnational birth of Jesus is true, and we can have so much hope.
Some of you when you came in today you received a little candle. You received a little candle, and I want you to go ahead and turn those candles on at this time. Turn them on and bring them forward, to put them on this board right here...Candles...You struggling with sin?... There’s hope...You struggling with temptation?...There’s hope...You struggling with `being single?...There’s hope...You struggling with your marriage or parenting?...There’s hope...You struggling with fear, anxiety, depression, a diagnosis, or even death itself?...There’s hope... There’s hope...There’s so much to be found in Jesus. So go to him, pray to him, worship him, because he’s God incarnate, he’s God who put on flesh to live, die, and rise again for your sins, and he can make the impossible possible, the hopeless hopeful. The incarnational birth of Jesus is true, and that truth...can give you hope.