Latest revision as of 01:44, 20 December 2023

Theological Proposition/Focus: God is transcended but approachable through God the Son.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: As we celebrate Christmas let us take time to gaze upon God and remember that it is only because of Christmas that we can do so.

Introduction:

Need: We need to remember that Christ's birth gives us unprecedented access to God.

Preview: God is beyond us, separate from us but through Christ we have access to God.

Text: Matthew 1:22-23

Setting the Stage:

Today we are going to begin with Matthew 1:22-23

Joseph had a problem, actually, it was a pretty big problem. All evidence suggested that his wife-to-be, Mary, had betrayed him. As Joseph contemplated what to do, an angel came and told Joseph that in fact Mary had not betrayed Joseph. The baby that Mary was carrying was a special Baby.

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

But what is so significant about the phrase "God with us?" Why does that matter so much?

Body

Apart from Christ, God is beyond our capacity to look upon.

Image: Networking and Introductions

I was a young assistant professor just starting into my career and while attending a dinner in DC one of the more senior professors I knew called me over and introduced me to the president of the Mathematical Association of America. Normally, there would have been no reason he would have taken notice of this young guy, but because of that introduction, I had a unique opportunity to pitch some of my ideas.

In so much of the professional world, it is not about what you know, but really it is about who you know. Getting access to the right people is often the key to career advancement. But in reality, this is just a microcosm of a much more important reality. We don't have anything that warrants a relationship with God. However, Christ has given us access to God.

God is holy and as such completely separate from us (John 1:18)

To start with let us consider the holiness of God. John writes in John 1:18,

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Apart from the incarnation, God is spirit and hence cannot be seen in the physical sense of the word. But there is more to it than just the physical component. Consider what God told Moses, in Exodus 33:30. We see that

We are incapable of looking upon God (Exodus 33:20).

Look at the text

But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

Moses, while talking with God made an interesting request. Moses asked God to first be with him in verse 13, second Moses asked again for confirmation that God would go with them in verses 15 and 16. Finally, Moses asked God to show him His glory. God's response is very interesting. God allows Moses to see some of His glory but reminds Moses that a full dose of God's glory would be fatal. God is so much more than us and we are incapable of fully looking on God.

But through Christ, we have the opportunity to see the un-seeable (Col 1:15)

Look at Colossians 1:15,

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

If you read through the Gospels something that I have never found is Jesus telling His disciples that Jesus is unapproachable. No, in fact, Jesus is very approachable. He says suffer the children to come to me. I love kids but if I were saying "suffer the children to come unto me" I would have to add "suffer the children to wash their hands and then come unto me!"

But seriously, I want us to consider just what happens in Jesus. We, with our dirty, grimy hands, are invited to come to God. The God who dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16), the God who cannot be contained by the heavens. Jesus give us the opportunity to gaze upon God in an unprecedented way.

MTR: This Christmas, take time to gaze upon God.

Apart from Christ, God's holiness demands separation.

we need to start by first looking at God's holiness. We could have an entire sermon devoted to God's holiness. In fact, we have. God is unique and separate. Everything God does is right, true, and just. God's holiness is a statement about not just his righteousness but his being. God is pure in every way. Ultimately, what we know is that

God is holy and we are called to live in a holy manner (Leviticus 19:2).

Look at what Leviticus 19:2 states

Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

God called on his people to be holy. In fact, that is the standard that God expects of all. The problem is that we all fail, sin, and the Bible tells us exactly what the penalty is for that failure

Sin brings about death (Romans 6:23).

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That sin that warrants death leads us to separation from the Holy God. Ultimately, we see that

Sin alienated us from God (Colossians 2:13-15).

Colossians 2:13-15 describes the state

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Before Christ, we were dead in our sins. The idea of death here is that we are separate from the life-giving God. Life does not come to be in a spontaneous way no life comes from the giver of life, God. Sin separates us from that giver of life, the result is death. Both physical death eventually and spiritual death. However, hope is not lost, God condescended to save us.

But Christ came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).

Paul writes to Timothy

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Image: We have a tendency to neglect the relationships we have.

We tend to take for granted so much. Think about it, family, friends, these relationships that we have are easy to neglect. One of the wonderful things about holidays is that we tend to place special emphasis on relationships that we often otherwise neglect. We get together with people we have not seen in a long time etc. In fact, we also tend to neglect our relationship with the God of the universe.

MTR: This Christmas, take time in relationship with God.

Apart from Christ, we would not have the access to God that we have today.

In Jeremiah chapter 17 verses 5-8, the prophet writes a short poem that contrasts the ways of the righteous with the ways of the wicked. Within this poem Jeremiah talks of the curses of following man's ways and the blessings of following God. The question that one might ask next is "if the way of blessing and cursing is so obvious why would anybody choose curses?" The answer, in Jeremiah 17:9, is that our hearts are deceitful.

We need divine guidance (Jeremiah 17:9).

Look at the text,

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

We don't need to follow our hearts! We need divine guidance. The issue is that

God does not owe us any sort of supernatural guidance or care (Psalm 51:5).

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

From the moment we are conceived we are sinners. Today my nephew is visiting. When he was born I told Emily was a cute sinner. From the very moment we are born we are enemies of God. God owes us nothing! We need divine guidance because we are so broken but God does not owe it to us. We need to seek God's will but he is not obligated to reveal it to us. The solution is Jesus.

Jesus came and provided us His guiding Spirit (John 14:26).

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you

Before I say anything here I want to jump to the next point

Jesus has promised to be with us even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20).

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

So here is the situation. Jesus came, Jesus taught, Jesus died, Jesus rose, but now what? The answer is that Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to indwell those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior. This is the ultimate Christmas present. Through the Holy Spirit our deceitful hearts are being transformed and we can go to God to seek his guidance. We have unprecedented access to God through prayer, and we have the promise of eternal life with Jesus himself.

My hope is that this Christmas you take sometime to reflect on the fact that Jesus is God With Us!

MTR: This Christmas, take comfort in the unique access to God that you have today.