Why Did God Have to Become Man?

 

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent. Christmas Day is only a few days away. So, I begin today’s message from Matthew’s gospel. (Matthew 27:27-46) “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him and led Him away to crucify Him

. . . And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews” . . . . Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Matthew 27:27-46

 

This text might seem an odd text during the Christmas season, but in truth, it is not out of place. God’s plan for Mankind’s redemption predates Christmas Day by eons of time. His plan extends backward into infinite eternity itself. Peter tells us in his first epistle: (1 Peter 1:20, ASV) “[Christ] was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake.” In Revelation 13:8 we read of the Lamb who was slain “from the foundation of the world.”

 

It's easy to get distracted by twinkling Christmas lights, colorful decorations, the carols, the food, the gifts. But Christmas Day was not the culmination of God’s plan and purpose for our redemption. Calvary’s cross, which overshadowed the Baby’s manger was that culmination.

 

On Christmas Day 2000 years ago the incarnate Son of God was born into our sin-shrouded world. Three decades later, on Good Friday, the incarnate Son of God clothed Himself with that shroud when He became sin for us. St Paul tells us: (2 Corinthians 5:21) “[The Father] made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

And it was on Resurrection Sunday when the incarnate Son of God tore that shroud to shreds; “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

 

From the first chapter in Genesis to the last chapter in Revelation, Scripture reveals God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: One God, but three distinct Persons, each co-existent, co-eternal, and co-equal. We call this the Holy Trinity. There never was a time when either the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit did not exist.

 

The Incarnation of God the Son is the theological bedrock upon which true Christian faith rests. Remove that foundation through lies, spurious fabrications and deception – and Biblical Christianity crumbles to dust.

 

The word, ‘Incarnation,’ derives from the Latin meaning ‘to be in flesh,’ or, ‘to make flesh.’ It was in the incarnation that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on Himself human flesh. At His conception He became fully human, while remaining simultaneously fully God.

 

Such is one of the mysteries of Christian faith. And that word, ‘mystery’, should not cause us to stumble. Neither should that word give us reason to object. It is the unmistakable mark of human arrogance to think we should be able to understand the infinite mind, purpose, power, and authority of God.

 

Scripture tells us of the incarnation this way: “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.” (John 1:1,14)

 

Let’s be clear about this: God took on human flesh and lived as a man in first century Israel. He got hungry and thirsty. He got tired. He perspired. He needed to bathe or He’d smell badly. And – (and not wanting to be offensive) He needed to toilet Himself as everyone else needs to do. 

 

Fully God. Full Human.

 

Scripture emphasizes the point through St Paul’s latter to the Christians at Philippi: “Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8)

 

So, why did God have to become flesh? That question is the crux of my message on this fourth Sunday of Advent during which we celebrate the birth of Jesus who is God-in-the-flesh, ‘Emmanuel’ – which means ‘God with us.’

 

There are certainly many reasons God became flesh, but for the sake of time I must limit discussion to only these four:

 

First (and not in any particular order): The incarnation shows us precisely who the Father is – not in some abstract way, but we know exactly who the Father is because the incarnate Son of God IS God.

When the apostle Philip asked Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? (John 14:8-10)

 

If we want to know if God loves us, we only need to look at Jesus, who is God-made-flesh, for our answer. It was He, after all, who told us the story of the Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine safely in the fold and diligently seeks for the one who’s gone astray. We only need to look at Calvary where God-incarnate outstretched His arms to beckon all who are lonely and hurting and weary and burdened and frightened. Because God became a man, we know the answer to the question – “Does God know what I’m going through?”

Because of the incarnation, WE CAN KNOW without a moment’s hesitation that God actually, physically, emotionally, psychologically knows what it’s like to be you and me – because as a flesh and blood man He experienced all ups and downs and sideways of life as you and I experience them – yet He remained without sin.

 

The incarnate God can entirely identify with us when we experience various and sometimes heart-rending struggles. He knows from personal and actual life EXPERIENCE what it’s like to feel abandoned or betrayed by friends and family. He knows from experience what it’s like to lose someone you love to death. He knows what it feels like to be tempted to sin. Yes! Almighty God personally knows what it is like to be human.

 

The second reason God had to become a man is this: Consider the staggering truth that the almighty CREATOR of the entire universe, galaxy after galaxy, humbled Himself to take on human flesh so He could DIE for our sins! God had to become a man so could become a propitiation for our sins – the big sins, the little sins, the purposeful sins and the unintended sins.

 

All of them.

 

I remind you of the definition of that fancy word, propitiation, It means to appease someone’s anger or wrath. In the Bible, the word applies to the sacrificial death of the incarnate Son of God who, by His substitutionary death for sinners, bore on Himself the Father’s wrath that was rightly meant for each of us.

 

Now think how that demonstrates for us in the most graphic detail not only God’s view of sin, but ALSO His incomprehensible love for the sinner – for you and me in this sanctuary.

From the beginning of creation, God set down the unchangeable rule that only blood can take away or atone for sin. That’s the whole point of the Levitical sacrificial system.

 

And that brings us to the next reason God had to become man. The incarnation makes the way for the holy and just God to forgive the sinner, while at the same time unleash His wrath against the sin.

 

Yes, God is love. Scripture assures us of that immutable truth from one end of the book to the other. But Scripture also warns us that God hates sin because sin destroys what God created in love. Therefore, it should make complete sense to anyone with eyes to see why God demonstrates His wrath on all who persist in their sin.

 

It was at the Cross, and specifically on His incarnate Son, where God’s love and His wrath came together. God’s wrath was fully satisfied by the death of the sinless God incarnate. At the same time, His love and mercy were fully offered to sinners who come to Him in faith and repentance.

 

Now please get this: ONLY the incarnate God, because of His humanity AND because of His holiness and sinlessness, only the incarnate God could be the sinner’s substitute. Only the incarnate God could satisfy the holy requirement of Judgment against our sin by receiving that wrath on Himself.

 

Did you ever wonder why the incarnate Son of God cried out on that cross: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1).

 

At that moment, and for the first time in eternity, the Father turned away from His Son, because at that moment, the incarnate Son of God BECAME our sin – as we read in that verse earlier from 2 Corinthians 5: “[The Father] made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf . . ..”

And when Jesus quoted from that 22^nd psalm, He drew the attention of the Jews on Golgotha’s hill – most of whom were very familiar with the Psalms – Jesus drew their attention to this particular Psalm to reveal His fulfillment of that prophecy right before their eyes.

 

Listen to these texts from Psalm 22: “All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him . . . . Be not far from Me, for trouble is near . . . I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.” (Psalm 22,1,7-8, 11, 14-18)

 

Without Christ, men and women will die for their own sins. But the sinless Son of God did not need to bear the Father’s wrath for His own sins. He had none. That’s why we also read in the prophecy of Isaiah: “But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)

 

Let me say it again: it is because of the incarnation of God in Christ, the penitent sinner not only receives God's complete, total, and irreducible forgiveness of his or her sins, but also receives God promise to FORGET those sins were ever committed.

 

Here is the prophecy of Jeremiah: “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord . . .  “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people . . . [and] I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

 

Because God the Son took on Himself the full wrath of the Father for ALL our sins, the penitent sinner has –present tense, ‘has’ – complete remission of our sins. Listen to what the Lord Jesus said at the Last Supper when He took the cup: “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28)

 

I’ve shared this before and I do it again for emphasis: The Greek word translated ‘remission’ essentially means God obliterates the penitent’s sins. Not a shadow remains. God treats the confessed sin as if it was NEVER committed.

 

And God’s incomprehensible forgiveness extends even to those sins for which the humble are unaware. A quick look at the Day of Atonement sacrifices in Leviticus, and the apostle’s words in Hebrews 9:7, and elsewhere in Scripture demonstrates that glorious reality. Even for the sins of which the Christian is unaware, Christ’s blood washes them completely from their account.

 

That is why the idea of purgatory is so egregiously wrong. There cannot be judgment of any sort laid against the true Christian because all of his sins have been wiped clean by the blood of the incarnate Son of God.

 

A fourth reason God had to become a man – and the last we will consider today because of time – the fourth reason for the incarnation of Christ was to open the door of God's very throne room for everyone, anyone, who comes to Him by obedient faith in Christ’s substitutionary atonement for their sins.

 

When Jesus took His last breath on that cross, God tore the veil of the Temple – the huge curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the people. (See Mark 15:37-38) Only the High Priest could enter behind that curtain, and only that once a year.

 

But the death of the incarnate Son of God opened FOREVER the way to God’s throne. Everyone and anyone who holds obedient faith in Christ has immediate access to God. Clergy or laity, rich or poor, popular or unknown, scholar or illiterate, across races and nations and cultures – the death of the incarnate Son of God opened forever immediate access into God's very throne room.

 

That is why we read in the letter to the Hebrews: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

 

God took on human flesh so that all who follow Christ as their Lord can be certain that our Creator really DOES know from personal experience what it’s like to be ‘me.’

 

God took on human flesh so that you and I can have no doubt about the inevitable judgment of sin – any sin, big or small or in-between. God was incarnate in Christ so that He, as the righteous and utterly holy Judge could pour out His wrath against sin on the God-Man, whose sacrificial blood obliterates all traces of the penitent’s sins. God became man so that we could have direct access to His Holy throne.

 

These reasons, and more besides, are why God had to become a man. These reasons and more besides are why Christmas is an integral part of Christian faith. These reasons and more besides are why ‘we wish you a merry Christmas’ has infinitely deeper meaning than what our pagan culture thinks it means.

 

Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, is the reason for the season.

A Sacred Lighthouse

Today is the second Sunday of Advent, the time provided us by the Church to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christ’s birth.

 

As I said last week, although we celebrate Christ’s birth of December 25, Jesus did not become flesh on that Christmas day. He actually took on human flesh nine months earlier – in March of that year – when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin womb of Mary, His mother. It was at His conception that Jesus became fully human while always remaining fully God. This is not an insignificant point - especially in our culture when so many millions of maturing babies are destroyed by abortion in their mother’s womb.

 

A few weeks ago, as I began to prepare myself for the Advent messages, I thought this season would be a good time to remind us of some of the more than 300 Old Testament prophecies that promised humanity a deliverer from the spiritual darkness that has metastasized like a deadly cancer originating in the Garden of Eden and thoroughly infected the whole of Creation itself.

 

Last week we looked at the first of those prophecies – the one in Genesis 3:15. Today we’ll examine a few more prophecies, these from the early chapters of Isaiah and directly linked to that promise in Genesis.  

 

First, Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”

 

The human eye is drawn to light. But we know from experience that just because people see light doesn’t guarantee they’ll walk toward or in that light – especially when that light directs us to God.

 

I chose to ignore that ‘light’ 53 years ago. I’ve told the story before, and I do it again to make the point. I was a happy atheist in my late teens and early 20s. I did what I wanted, when I wanted, and with whom I wanted. I was all about ‘Me’ – doing what was right in my own eyes.

 

Now then, my attitude was not and is not unique to me. Every honest person in this sanctuary will testify that such things were also true of you.

 

I remember I was stopped at a traffic signal and a question suddenly broke into my thoughts: What if there IS a God? The light was still red, so I had time to ponder the idea. But then, as suddenly as the question crossed my mind, a realization roared back. If God exists, then He does not approve of my lifestyle. I need to change.

 

But I didn’t want to change. And so, when the light turned green, I told myself, “There is no God.”

 

You and I meet people like that all the time, people who make irrational decisions to turn away from God’s light, all the while their lives are shrouded in deep darkness. They struggle with addictions, loneliness, heartache, chronic illness, deaths of loved ones, and on and on it goes. And many of them crawl into bed at night, no longer expecting or even hoping tomorrow will be better. They know from long experience that it won’t.

 

Yes, they put on their happy face, they tell others that they’re okay. But when they’re alone in their apartments or homes, reality catches them off-guard, and they know they can’t escape the inescapable truth: They’re living a shadow existence. A hopeless existence. An empty existence.

 

Does that remind you of something in the 23^rd Psalm? We studied that Psalm some time ago. Listen again to verse four: (Psalm 23:4) “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”  You may remember the Hebrew word David used for the ‘valley of the shadow of death could be translated ‘the valley of deep shadows, deep darkness.’

 

On the other hand, those who see the light AND walk in the light discover a marvel they could not have imagined. They discover their Creator, whom we call God. They discover He loves them despite whatever they’ve done and for how long they’ve done it. That’s precisely why He promised us a Redeemer in that passage in Genesis 3:15; It is precisely why He sent His Son, Jesus, to receive in Himself the wrath of the Father that OUR sins deserve. You might remember God’s promise in Isaiah 53. Speaking of the Redeemer, the prophet tells us: “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)

 

Yes, our well-deserved punishment for our sins fell on Him – Messiah Jesus. As St Paul reminds us: (Romans 5:8) “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

Those who see the light and walk in the light discover a new life-direction, a totally new life-trajectory. They discover hope where they had none, peace of heart where they had only unrest. They discover a full future – a GOOD future – where only empty promises and a fearful destiny now abound.

 

What was the light that the people who walked in darkness would see? Isaiah reveals the answer a few verses later. (Isaiah 9:6) “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

 

And in case you’ve forgotten, the child of chapter nine is the same child of chapter seven: “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

 

Yes, the context of chapters seven and nine applied to a local event in the 8^th century B.C. But that’s how biblical prophecy typically works – a two-fold (or even a three-fold) fulfillment. First there’s the immediate fulfillment, and then there is the fulfillment further out in time. A person can’t read the Old Testament quotes found in the New Testament without recognizing the undeniable truth of prophetic Biblical interpretation.

 

That’s also why the promise of light in darkness applies even to 2025. Whether in pulpits or pews, whether in the dining room or down the street – many think they’re on the dark periphery of God’s attention. Their concept of self-worth always defaults to interpret bad things that happen to them are because God is not paying attention to them; Or that He is perpetually angry with them; Or that God doesn’t even exist and bad things are nothing more than the so-called ‘Luck of the Draw.”

 

But those who believe the Scriptures such as Genesis 3:15 we keep referring to, and the passages in Isaiah 9 and 7 – those who trust God’s infallible word KNOW that they are always at the center of God’s attention. That’s why they’ve learned to interpret bad things that happen to them as the result of God’s loving discipline, guidance, and/or instruction. They learn to understand on a deeper level the words of the Psalmist: “Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep Your word” (Psalm 119:67), and “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.”  (Psalm 119:71)

 

In all Biblical history, God never inflicts ‘bad’ things on ANYONE capriciously, maliciously, or cruelly. “Bad things” as we might call them are ALWAYS divinely designed to bring good to those who suffer.

 

Listen to Hebrews 12:7-11 “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

 

All things, even suffering, are ALWAYS divinely designed to bring good to those who suffer. That’s likely why St Paul wrote to the Christians at Ephesus and at Thessalonica – as I shared with us a few weeks ago – (1 Thessalonians 5:18) “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” . . . AND (Ephesians 5:20) “Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” 

 

Let’s return for a moment once again to last week’s Scripture text in Genesis 3:15 - “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.” (Genesis 3:15)

 

That text, along with today’s Bible references, is part of God’s many promises of a Rescuer who, at His first Advent shredded sin’s dark veil that shrouds much of humanity. And Bible-believing Christians can rightly ask unbelievers the reasonable question: “How do people miss the inseparable connection of Christ’s first advent with Genesis 3, Isaiah 7 and Isaiah 9?”

 

The only way they can do that is to engage in Olympic-level theological contortions to ignore, avoid, or willfully obscure the clear truths of Biblical prophecies that point to that first advent.

 

In the Gensis 3 passage, God promised a Redeemer who would crush the head of the supernatural and super powerful creature known as Satan, the Serpent, the Devil, and Lucifer. No rational human could ever seriously hope to overpower that evil one. Only God could do that. Only God, who became Man and whose name is ‘Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – only He could crush the Serpent’s head and bring overwhelming light into his darkness.

 

As the Holy Spirit tells us: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5, NIV)

 

And while we’re on the wondrous subject of the redemption and rescue linked with Christ’s first advent, let’s not forget that His first advent also guarantees the fulfillment of prophecies regarding His second advent. Listen to this promise in Isaiah 25 – God’s promise to all who not only believe in His first advent, but who also follow the Christ in obedience. I add that important qualifier because multiple millions of men and women – even in churches – ‘believe’ in Christ, but they do so only with their minds and not their hearts; Otherwise, their belief would result in a godly lifestyle.

 

Here is that passage from Isaiah 25: “The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, refined, aged wine. And on this mountain, He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” (Isaiah 25:6-9)

 

Today on this second Sunday of Advent we’ve looked briefly at three more prophecies of God – promises of God – that foretold Messiah’s first coming.

Ever since that catastrophic day in the Garden of Eden, Sin became an inseparable part of our human nature. Sin incited Cain to kill his brother, Abel. Sin led Lamech to boast of his murders (Genesis 4). Sin resulted in the event surrounding the Tower of Babel. Sin led to the fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sin is why the people have walked and continue to walk in darkness.

 

If not for God’s promise of a virgin-born Savior, a Child born to us, a Son given to us . . . if not for Jesus, you and I and everyone else on this planet could never escape the darkness.

 

God’s promises of a Savior are rooted in world history. And those promises are also APPLICABLE to our personal day-to-day lives. I remember walking in darkness. I said at the beginning of today’s message, my life was all about me, and I didn’t care who I used to satisfy my selfishness. It was a terrible life, one that still fills me with remorse whenever I think about those years.

 

But I also remember when ‘light’ pierced my darkness and I saw myself as I was. I can tell you, it broke my heart. Suddenly, my comfortable ‘atheism’ was no longer comfortable, and my memories of childhood prayers brought me to my knees as an adult, and I prayed.

 

Of course, I didn’t know it at the time – I was completely ignorant of the New Testament – but my prayer modeled the publican’s prayer in Luke 18:13 – “‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ And oh! Was He merciful! Which is why I stand here today, the result of what was – and remains to me – His incomprehensible mercy.

 

But the point of application I want to make now is not about what God did for me, despite my dark history. My point now is about what God has done – and continues to do – in your lives, because you also remember when you walked in darkness and you remember when God’s light shone around you. And you remember when you prayed something similar to what I prayed – for mercy and for forgiveness.

 

And here you are today – the result of God’s incomprehensible mercy toward you.

 

As I bring this message to a close, there might be one or two, or a few here today who now recognize your own past and current spiritual darkness – a darkness that fills you with remorse over wasted years and lost relationships. If that’s the case, you know what you need to do: Ask God for His forgiveness. He will never cast aside any who humbly comes to Him in repentance.

 

Ronnie Hinson wrote these lyrics in 1967. The song describes my life. I pray that they also describe yours:

 

“There's a Lighthouse on the hillside that overlooks life's sea, When I'm tossed about, it sends out a light that I might see. And the light that shines in darkness now will safely lead us o'er. If it wasn't for the Lighthouse,
my ship would be no more.”

 

“I thank God for the Lighthouse, I owe my life to Him. Jesus is the Lighthouse and from the rocks of sin He has shown the light around me, that I might clearly see. If it wasn't for the Lighthouse, where would this ship be?”

 

Truly, if it wasn’t for the Lighthouse – where would our ships be?

 

The First Promise of a Redeemer

First Sunday of Advent 2025

 

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. The Season of Advent is the time provided us by the Christian church to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christ’s birth. The word itself means the ‘arrival of something or someone important.’ Christians gratefully celebrate the Lord’s first advent because He came from His throne in Glory to rescue us from God’s eternal wrath because our sins. And in our celebration, we also look forward to His promised second Advent when He comes to rule on earth with a rod of iron as the Psalmist tells us in the second psalm.

 

Although we celebrate Christ’s birth of December 25, Jesus did not become flesh on that Christmas day. He actually entered humanity nine months earlier – in March of that year – when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin womb of Mary, His mother. It was at His conception that Jesus became fully human while always remaining fully God.

 

As I prepared myself for this message, I thought this season would be a good time to remind us of some of the prophecies throughout the Old Testament that promised humanity a deliverer, a rescuer from God’s wrath against us for our sins. Many Bible scholars count more than 300 such promises. Today we’ll examine the first of those prophecies. We find it in the third chapter of Genesis, the context of which takes place in the Garden of Eden, after God created the heavens and the earth in six days.

 

Chapter three tells us of Satan’s seduction of Eve into questioning God’s word about the Tree of Knowledge. His deceptive innuendos about God’s trustworthiness led to her disobedience. Moments later – or so it seems from the text – Adam joined her in eating the forbidden fruit. As a result, Sin entered the world, and with it, incalculable grief and bitterness, disease, terror and murder, loneliness and death spread through all Creation. St Paul tells of the ongoing aftermath of their sin:

 

“For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:22-23)

 

After our first parents swallowed the Serpent’s bait, God cursed the Serpent, whom Scripture identifies as the Devil, and Satan (See Revelation 12:9), saying “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.” (Genesis 3:15)

 

Many Bible scholars call Genesis 3:15 the ‘protoevangelium’ – meaning, ‘the first gospel.’ It is in this text that God makes His first of hundreds of  promises to send humanity a Redeemer to rescue us from Satan’s chains of physical, spiritual and eternal darkness; Genesis 3:15 is God’s first promise to send a Redeemer who, although wounded by the Serpent, will ultimately deliver a crushing defeat to the Devil.

 

But before we move further into the first promise of Christ’s advent it’s necessary to first address the challenge many make regarding the literalness and the historicity of those first chapters of Genesis. We do this

because if Genesis One is anything other than accurate history, if Genesis One does not faultlessly describe the six twenty-four hour days of creation, if Genesis one and the succeeding chapters are simply allegory or metaphor to explain Creation and the entry of Sin into the world, then the promise of Genesis 3 – and ALL the other promises of Christ’s first advent melt into what will easily become deadly spiritual confusion.  

 

In other words, if Genesis 3:15 and chapters one and two are allegory, you and I cannot have any confidence that light WILL overpower darkness. Neither can the child of God have confidence that the promise of Revelation 12:11 is our future: “And they overcame [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” (Revelation 12:11)

 

Many scientists believe Genesis One should not be taken literally. They believe the creation days spanned eons of time. They preach their evolutionary theories as if they are undeniable truths.

 

But what they teach should not surprise us because many of them don’t even believe in God. And because their evolutionary theories comprise a huge part of the ‘religion’ of Humanism, even a growing number of seminary students have been – and are being – seduced by their godless professors to scoff not only at the literalness of Genesis One, but to dismiss the idea of Scripture’s full inerrancy, infallibility, and divine inspiration. Therefore, it is no wonder that so many in the pews are also bewitched into believing lies about God’s promises and His immutable commandments.

 

My purpose today is to not go into a great amount of detail regarding the first chapter of Genesis. We don’t have time to do a proper examination of the contrary opinions about God’s word. And besides, with the easy access many of us have to the internet, it’s simple enough for those who are interested to conduct their own research into the debate on both sides of this question. I suggest using key words in your search, such as, “Creation Science,’  ‘Young Earth Scientists,’ and ‘Creation vs. Evolution.’

 

But while I won’t spend a lot more time with Genesis One, I will ask and then answer two important and related questions: Should Christians really care if Genesis One is literal or allegorical? And should Christians care if the earth is young or billions of years old?

 

Yes. We should care. Why? Well, for example, if earth is billions of years old, that would mean there were billions of years of death and disease before Adam and Eve fell. And THAT would directly contradict the entirety of Scripture’s testimony that sin is the cause of death. Furthermore, if sin was not the cause of death, then Jesus’ substitutionary atonement was completely unnecessary, and the promise of Genesis 3:15 is a non-issue.

 

Secondly, at the end of Genesis one, God called His entire creation “very good.” But if the earth is billions of years old, and death occurred before the Fall, then God called death, disease, starvation, and all other kinds of tragedies ‘good.’ And that would render the promise of a Redeemer in Genesis 3:15 pointless.

 

Thirdly: When God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, the Lord reiterated to Israel: (Exodus 20:11) “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”

 

But if Genesis chapter one is not literal history, then God lied to Moses and to the entire nation of Israel. And if He lied about the six twenty-four-hour days, then what else of the Ten Commandments are untrue? And if God lied to Moses about Genesis chapter one, then we have no assurance that He didn’t lie about Genesis 3:15.

 

And finally, for our purposes today, the Lord Jesus quoted from Genesis chapters one and two when He reminded the Pharisees: “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4)

 

But if Jesus was mistaken about those first chapters of Genesis, then what ELSE was He wrong about?

 

The last several points I’ve tried to make remind me of what the apostle Paul said during his defense before the Roman and Jewish leaders: "Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?" (Acts 26:8)

 

It was a reasonable question: Why is it considered incredible that the Almighty God could raise the dead? And Christians today should ask a similar question of the naysayers and scoffers: Why is it so incredible among you people if God created the heavens and the earth in six 24-hour days? After all, He is God.

 

Every rational person will immediately recognize that the works of Almighty God extend infinitely beyond any human capacity to understand. And that should not surprise us, because if finite and pathetically limited Man was able to understand the infinite and utterly unlimited God, then God would not be God.

 

Genesis 3:15 is God’s first hint that He had good news for fallen humanity. The horrific and all-encompassing sin of our first parents did not catch God by surprise. Do we not believe the Omniscient God knew what would happen in that Garden? Of course He did. And that’s why Scripture tells us that His plan for Mankind – trapped by our inherited sin nature – that is why His plan for our rescue and redemption from eternal death extends backward into eternity past – long before He created the heavens and the earth.

 

John tells us in the Revelation that Jesus was ‘slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8) And St Paul reminds the Christians at Ephesus that God “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world.” (Ephesians 1:4)

 

In other words, before God spoke the heavens and the earth into existence, and before our first parents brought calamity to planet earth, God, in His omniscience knew what would happen in the Garden. And already knowing what would happen, He’d already planned redemption and salvation for all who wanted redemption and salvation.

 

And, speaking of God’s omniscience, let’s bring that point home to our own lives. Do we not realize that – even before Genesis one – do we not realize that He knew our names and where we would be on this first Sunday of Advent in 2025?

 

And do you not realize that our omniscient Creator directed your steps throughout your life, even to your decision to move into Ashwood Meadows?

 

Don’t let yourself be fooled into thinking you’re here because you or someone else researched the available independent living facilities, and chose this one. No, you’re here because God orchestrated the research, just as He also orchestrated your decision to come to this service today so you would hear this message.

 

Listen to Proverbs 16:9 “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Several verses later in this same chapter of Proverbs we read: (Proverbs 16:33) “The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord.”

 

Which brings us back to the Almighty and Sovereign God’s orchestration of the events in Genesis chapter three that led to that first gospel message of hope and promise for fallen men and women. We need to know in the depths of our souls that the unfolding story of Adam and Eve holds enormous significance for everyone in the sanctuary.

 

Why?

 

Think for a while of the sheer and incomprehensible magnitude of the consequences and the repercussions of Adam and Eve’s sin. Those ripples have spread like tsunami waves throughout the thousands of years since the creation. Their waves of devastation continue to this very moment and will continue to do so until the second advent when the King of kings returns to create a new heaven and a new earth.

 

But – and this is an extremely important point – although their sin, like an overwhelmingly deadly virus, resulted in overwhelming disaster for all creation throughout history – nevertheless, God‘s grace toward them was greater than their sin.

 

I need to repeat that. God’s grace was greater than their sin.

 

I hope you remember the story in Genesis. God covered their naked bodies with the skins of animals He had to slay. And that picture ought to send our thoughts to Calvary, where God – who became a Man – shed His own precious, divine, and eternal blood to cover the naked sins of every man, woman, and child who comes in repentance to the Cross. God’s own blood clothes the penitent sinner with His righteousness infinitely more effectively than the animal skins that covered Adam and Eve’s naked bodies. And so, Scripture assures the Christian: “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Galatians 3:27)

 

And “He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.” Isaiah 61:10

 

Which brings us now to this point of application: What sins have YOU committed in the past – perhaps especially those whose consequences and repercussions extend even to today?

 

This is really an important question because UNLESS we believe God’s grace was greater than Adam and Eve’s sin, and even so His grace is greater than YOUR sins – unless we believe that Biblical truth, we can never hope to find true rest for our souls.

 

Do you see why it is so important for the Christian to accept the literal and historical Biblical record of Creation and the subsequent chapters in Genesis? If it’s all metaphor and allegory, then we have NO reasonable assurance of hope for forgiveness and eternal life.

Once again, we should ask the scoffers and deniers why it seems so incredible for anyone who believes in the God of the Bible – why should it seem incredible that He created the heavens and the earth in six literal days, as He tells us in that first chapter of Genesis?

 

And why should it seem incredible that the God who loves us so passionately would set in those early chapters of Genesis the first of so many promises of a Redeemer who would, at His first advent, set in motion the divine rescue of men, women, and children from Satan’s darkness?

 

The Serpent introduced seeds of doubt into our first mother’s mind – doubts about God’s commandments and His trustworthiness. And Satan still operates by the same playbook, introducing seeds of doubt into our minds about God’s commandments, His trustworthiness, and the inerrancy, infallibility and full inspiration of His written word we call the Bible.  

 

Christian! For good reason, the Holy Spirit warns us today: “Be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)