For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11

Luke 1:26–38– Luke
Fourth Sunday of Advent – December 20, 2020 (am)
   

Each year, the Christmas season offers believers an annual opportunity to remember and to ponder and rejoice in who God is and what He has done for us to accomplish our salvation.  In particular, we again consider the truth that the Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, became a man. And because Jesus is the God-Man, He is our Lord and Savior.

Jesus Christ is truly God & truly Man; and as the God-Man, as God Incarnate, as God in the flesh, Jesus reveals God to us - and He works on our behalf to save us from our sins. 

These truths about the Person & work of Christ Jesus are all part of God’s eternal plan.  And our focus this morning is to be reminded from God’s word that the plan of the True and Living God is that the Eternal Son of God would Himself take on human flesh, take on a human nature - and then live many of the experiences of life that you and I experience regularly, in order that He would be our great high priest, our Savior, our brother, and our Lord. The result is that you and I can live in God’s very presence both now and forever. How can sinners like you and I live joyfully in the very presence of an infinitely holy God, for all eternity? Let’s remember why we have to answer this question.

Our God, who is all-good, created a world that was very good, with Man created in God’s own image, that male & female would both resemble & represent God on this globe - all for Man’s good & God’s glory.

But we know what happened - Adam & Eve sinned against their Creator. They rejected God’s loving provision in the Garden, and they followed the lie of the devil - resulting in their condemnation, their separation from God, leading to their eventual death - and the death of all mankind. But God is good, God is love, and He is the Sovereign Lord of all - and in eternity past He had designed a good plan to rescue sinners from sin & death.

In Gen 3:15, God promises that an offspring from the woman would defeat Satan. So we ask, who is this Person who will defeat Satan? Who is this Person whom God will send to rescue us?

The 4th century deacon & pastor, Athanasius, spoke of a scenario describing what God did in saving His people who were lost. Athanasius speaks about a good King who loses one of his cities because a cruel enemy has conquered the city and subjugated its citizens as his own servants. Athanasius asks, “What will that good king do? Will he allow his subjects, whom he loves, to just suffer under the rule & torments of their enemy? No! He will call out his army, and he will rescue his people from their enemy.” 

This is what God has done for us, He has rescued us. We have all inherited a sin nature from Adam; we all are born into this world as sinners, held captive by our enemy the devil. But our Creator God - who is good & gracious & loving & merciful - implements His eternal plan of salvation, by sending a Savior to rescue us from sin & self & death. The God, who is our Creator, is also our Redeemer!!

So we read in Luke 2:10 that on the night that our Lord Jesus Christ was born, an angel of the Lord, surrounded by God’s shining glory, appears to some humble shepherds and proclaims; “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” God sends a Savior born in Bethlehem to all peoples of the Earth, in order to rescue us from Satan’s power.

We sang about being rescued by Christ just last Sunday - in God Rest You Merry Gentlemen:

“Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan’s power, when we were gone astray Oh tidings of comfort & joy” and
“This Day is born a Savior, a blessed, holy sight
To free all those who trust in Him from Satan’s power & might”

Who is this Christ, this Savior? Which family does He belong to? Where was He born? What did He do to rescue His people, to save us from the kingdom of darkness? And how do we enter into God’s kingdom and receive the eternal salvation that He gives to His people?

1.      Prophecy Fulfilled

Let’s look at our passage (Luke 1:27; 2:4) - Joseph was of the house of David. Why is that important? Well, it goes to answer the question of Where this Savior, this offspring of a woman, would be born - and from what people and family would He come? Scripture teaches us that God’s Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham. God promised to Abraham that in him all the peoples of the Earth would be blessed (Gen 12:3, 18:18, 22:18) which promise was repeated to Isaac (Gen 26:4) and then to Jacob (28:14). Then in Gen 49:10, Jacob prophesied that the tribe of Judah would be like a lion, and a ruler who holds a royal scepter would come from the tribe of Judah. And then even more specifically God promised King David that He would establish one of David’s own sons on “the throne of his kingdom forever.” In 2Sam 7:16 God said to David, “your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever and ever.” So we understand that this Savior will come from the Jewish people, the tribe of Judah & specifically He will be of the house and lineage of King David.

Has this promise been fulfilled? Yes; Mary’s husband Joseph was of the house of David (Luke 1:27; 2:4). And when the Angel Gabriel speaks to Mary and tells her about her firstborn son, look what he says to her in Luke 1:31-33; “you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Jesus fulfills this promise made to Abraham and David.

So God has set in place His eternal plan to save His people; beginning with Abraham, then through Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David - and now in Jesus, who was born of Mary, God is implementing His plan. God has sent a Savior to defeat Satan, and God’s Messiah will sit on the throne of David forever.

But where will this Savior be born? More than 700 years before Jesus was born, God revealed through the prophet Micah that this small insignificant town of Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Messiah; “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for Me one who is to be Ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4). And when the angel of the Lord appeared to those shepherds to proclaim that good news of great joy which will be for all people - he then said, “unto you is born in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11) and then we read that “the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.” (Luke 2:15).

So we’ve seen already in Scripture that God had prophesied about the Messiah’s family - starting with Abraham and going through David to Joseph; and God had also prophesied about the actual birthplace of His anointed Savior - Bethlehem, the city of David.

Now the fact that Jesus was born into a specific family and in a particular village shows us that God’s Messiah is a man, a true human being. But there’s a unique aspect of Jesus’ humanity that we need to understand. And that is this: Jesus has a sinless human nature.

2.    Holy Humanity

Luke’s gospel teaches us about this unique aspect of Christ’s humanity by presenting Christ’s divine conception and holy humanity. (Luke 1:35) Notice Gabriel’s answer to Mary when she asks how this birth could happen, since she was a virgin; “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Child to be born will be called holy - the Son of God.”

Two things to notice here: 1st, Mary conceived & gave birth, even though she was a virgin. Now the fact that a virgin would conceive and bear a son is another fulfillment of Messianic prophecy, as we read in Isa 7:14 - “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.” 

Secondly, Jesus was born with a holy human nature - the angel Gabriel said, “the Child to be born will be called holy - the Son of God.” Scripture teaches that when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her - God was conceiving within Mary a Person with a holy human nature, the same human nature that God had created Adam with at Creation. Look what Luke says about Adam in Luke 3:38 - “son of God.” ‘Son of God’ in Luke 1:35 corresponds to 3:38. Jesus was truly and fully man - but a man with an original holy human nature.

And because Jesus is God’s Messiah sent to rescue us, His virgin birth was actually necessary. Had Jesus been born naturally of two human parents, two sinners - then just like you and I, He would have inherited a sinful human nature.  Meaning that He would have died for His own sin. But since His conception was accomplished by a direct work of God - Jesus had a sinless and holy human nature - again, just as Adam had at Creation. And Jesus can then be the perfect sacrifice for our sins, because - as Peter writes - we’re ransomed not with gold & silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Now when we speak of Jesus being truly God & truly man, you can ask about where does His Deity come from, and where does His humanity come from? Certainly His Deity would come from His own divine nature as the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity; while His humanity would be the result of the miracle of God to directly create within Mary a holy human nature, as we read in this passage. Jesus is fully God and fully man - at the same time. Two natures in one Person.

3.   Divine Nature

Now as to the divine nature of Jesus Christ our Savior, beginning in Luke 2:9 notice what the angel of the Lord said to the shepherds - “behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” The term “Lord” in v9 certainly refers to God Himself - so also the term “Lord” in the phrase “Christ the Lord” in 2:11,15 refers to God Himself. Jesus the Christ, born of Mary, born in Bethlehem - is God. So from these verses in Luke, we understand that Jesus Christ is both truly God & truly man.

And the fact that God Himself would be the Anointed One who would defeat Satan and rescue us, is also prophesied in Scripture. There’s the prophecy in Isaiah in Isa 7:14 that the virgin born son would be called Immanuel - which means “God with us.” And another popular Christmas passage is Isa 9:6,7 - read this passage = “a son is given… His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…” Here Isaiah makes a direct statement about the divine nature of God’s Messiah - He is the Mighty God, He is Everlasting Father - amazingly, this Son whom God will give to His people is God Himself. And notice that it is God who will establish the throne of David forever - as the Angel Gabriel had said to Mary about Jesus.

There are numerous places in the New Testament which teach plainly that Jesus the Messiah is a divine Person. The Bible is not shy about the fact that Jesus is God. One well-known passage is John 1:1,14; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” This is Jesus’ genealogy in John’s gospel - Jesus is the eternal Son of God.

Paul wrote about the divine nature of Jesus Christ in several passages; in Rom 9:5 Paul writes that Christ is God over all; in Colossians the Apostle Paul teaches us that in Christ the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and that in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And in his letter to Titus, Paul states that Jesus Christ is our great God and Savior. These are just a few of the verses by Paul teaching the truth that Jesus is God.

But I’d like to now look at what the writer of Hebrews says about God’s Son Jesus, speaking about who Jesus is and what He will do to defeat Satan and rescue us. In Heb 1:3, notice what is said about the nature of Jesus - “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” The writer leaves no doubt as to the divine nature of the Son, and then he goes on to show us what the Son has done - “After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Who is Jesus? The divine Son of God. What has He done? He made purification for sins.

In the next chapter, we see the humanity of Jesus and how that humanity was necessary for Him to rescue us - look at Heb 2:14,15,17 - “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself also partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver all those who through fear of death were subjects of lifelong slavery… Therefore He had to be made like His brothers in every respect. So that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” 

Jesus, as the perfect Man, offers Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sins, making propitiation for our sins - meaning that Jesus’ death satisfied God’s wrath against our sins. And His death destroys Satan by overcoming the power of death to separate us from God eternally. Therefore, as believers in the Son of God, as followers of God’s Messiah - we no longer fear death; because for us, death brings us into the glorious presence of our God.

So we understand that for Jesus to accomplish the eternal plan of God pertaining to the salvation of His people, He had to be a Person who is both divine and human. Augustine wrote about this truth: he said, “Now the only way that is infallibly secure against all mistakes, is when the very same Person is at once God and man - God our end, man our way.”

In the garden, God promised to send a man, born of woman, who would defeat Satan & rescue us from sin & death. That Savior was from the house and lineage of David, born in the city of David & He is Christ the Lord. How do we respond to such phenomenal truths, how should these truths about the Person & work of Jesus Christ impact our hearts?

Certainly, for people who are unbelievers - their response must be to turn from their sin and place their faith & trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior. I think about the Philippian jailer, who heard Paul & Silas praying and singing hymns to God, and then when he was in danger, he said to them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

For the believer, the writer of Hebrews instructs us on how to live in light of the fact that Jesus is both God and man. Read Heb 4:14-16. Notice that Jesus is very powerful, as He is our great high priest & the Son of God, and He is also very compassionate, as He sympathizes with our weaknesses - having experienced the very same type of temptations that you and I regularly experience. So when we consider our weakness under trial, or when we recognize that we usually sin too easily when we’re tempted - what should the believer do?

We should remember this: God has fulfilled His promise, He has sent a Savior to defeat our enemy and rescue us. This Savior is Jesus Christ the Lord, who is the God-man. He is both infinitely powerful and moved by compassion, fully understanding the plight of our weaknesses. Therefore, we are to confidently draw near to the throne of grace - where we will receive mercy & grace to help in time of need. 

So the response of all people is essentially the same - turn to Christ, run to Christ, look to Christ, draw near to Christ, and Christ who is our Savior will pour out His mercy and grace upon you abundantly.

Next Sunday: From Nazareth to Nazareth: Celebrating the Humility of Our Savior, Luke 2