Why God became Flesh, part three

 

Why God Became Flesh 

part three

 

You can watch this message here:  https://youtu.be/OyfubpFRh-o  

I will begin my message today reading portions of Genesis 1 which records the history of Creation. I begin here because this text forms an important backdrop for the theme of today’s message, which is part three of our look at the reasons Jehovah God became incarnate in the Person of Jesus.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . . . Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters . . . and it was so.” Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. . . . Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.” 

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night . . . and it was so.” Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heaven . . . .” [and it was so]. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind . . . and it was so . . . Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . .[and it was so].” (Genesis 1)

Orthodox Christians and Jews “understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3) We understand God created everything in the universe, visible and invisible, by doing nothing more than simply SPEAKING them into existence.

To use the word ‘incredible’ to describe how God created our universe and everything in it by simply speaking it into existence – ‘incredible’ is a grossly impossible understatement.

 

I mean, just think of it for a moment: All God needed to do to create everything that is seen and unseen was to simply speak it into existence. 

 

Which brings us now to the incarnation.

 

Why should it seem so preposterous – as it does to many – that this One who created the entire universe with a word, why is it so absurd to so many people that this same One became incarnate as Jesus – fully human and fully God – who lived for a time with us? Why should such truth seem so ludicrous? I mean, we’re talking about God here – the omnipotent One who does whatever He pleases.

 

But I think there is something even more incredible than God simply speaking creation into being. Even more incredible than being incarnate in Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity.

 

What is that? I’ll tell you:

 

This same God who created humanity, then permitted that same humanity to spit on Him, punch Him with their fists, pull out His beard, and mercilessly whip Him until His back was a mass of shredded flesh.

 

And then this omnipotent, All-Sovereign Creator and King of the universe permitted them to nail Him to a cross.

 

And why did He let His creation do that to Him? That is yet another inexplicable truth. He did it because, as Scripture tells us again and again, because He loves YOU. And me.

 

But some will wonder, “I wasn’t even born when Jesus died. So how could He love me?”

 

Well, we must remember, God created not only creation, but He created the very concept of time itself. He CREATED time. That is why the future is as clear and open to Him as is the past and the present. For example, here is the psalmist David in his 139th psalm: “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.”

 

To Jeremiah, God said: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) We could look at other prophecies about the future births of specific people whom God would use for His purposes, such as King Josiah (1 Kings 13:2), or King Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28). But doing so would take us too far afield from the primary point of this message. Suffice it to say that from God’s omniscient point of view, and as I said a moment ago, the future is as clear to Him as the past. And both are as clear to Him as the present.

 

That is why I think it fair to say that when the God-Man Jesus hung on that cross, He STAYED on that cross because in His omniscient eyes He looked down through the millennia and saw YOUR face. And mine.

 

He saw our faces, and our needs, and our hurts, and our heartbreaks, and our lostness. Jesus stayed on that cross so He could, for all who call Him Lord, Master, and Savior, He could save us, heal us, nurture us, and embrace us. Right now. Today. Two thousand years after He saw your face as He hung there.

 

Incredible? Unimaginable? Inexpressible? There are no adjectives accurate enough to describe what God has done for you and for me.

 

Now, all that I just said is my lead-in to today’s theme – part three of the series, “Why did God become flesh and live with us?” To answer that question, let’s look again at Jesus’ own words when He visited a synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth. He picked up the scroll of Isaiah and read from chapter 61:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18-21) 

Jesus came to proclaim good news to the poor. That doesn’t necessarily mean the materially poor. The ‘good news’ of God is sent to everyone, regardless of their financial status. In fact, the Holy Spirit made it clear more than once in the gospels and the epistles that the wealthy need to be cautious that they do not think their riches indicate God’s pleasure. That idea is nonsense and is the stuff from which heresies are born. And as Solomon said, ‘There is nothing new under the sun.” Most of us are familiar with the modern counterpart to the first century idea of ‘Riches equals God’s pleasure.” Today it’s called the ‘Name-it-and-Claim-it” heresy. I can’t count how many false prophets of recent decades who got very wealthy – and remain very wealthy – by promising their biblically illiterate sheep, “God wants you healthy and wealthy.”

Jesus, of course, had other ideas about wealth and a person’s relationship with God. For example, Luke 16:13-15, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

Or in Matthew 19:24-26: “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

St. James, writing to those who were not particularly wealthy, told them: “Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?” (James 2:5-7)

So, while the context of the Lord’s reading from Isaiah could be understood to mean God came to bring good news to the materially poor – the text can also be understood to say, God came to bring good news to the ‘spiritually’ poor – to those of humble spirits. After all, isn’t that what the Lord told the crowd during the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3)?

We only have to remember the incident recorded for us in Luke 18 where we find the Pharisee and the Tax Collector – both of whom were likely to have been financially comfortable. The Pharisee stood praying this way, “I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:12-14)

Third century Jewish Talmudic scholar wrote: "Why are the words of the law compared to water? Because as waters flow from heights, and settle in low places, so the words of the law rest only with him who is of a humble heart." 

So, Jehovah God became flesh in Jesus to preach the good news of the kingdom, the good news of forgiveness and the assurance of eternal life to the humble, to those who know they must rely on God for everything good in life.

Does that describe you? Do you know you must rely on God for everything good in life?

And why else did God become flesh? Let’s return to the Lord’s reading in the Nazareth synagogue: He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

We’ve talked during the past several weeks about sin and the misery sin brings with it. And most of us here know the truth of the adage: Sin will bring you where you do not want to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.

But the God became incarnate in Jesus to offer us not only a better way to live, but to give us the POWER to live a better way.

The first step in that transformative power in our life is to recognize the power sin still has over us. We must name that sin or those sins. Be specific. If you are Catholic, be specific in the confessional. Generic confessions do not help us get to the heart of our need for a changed life. Next, ask God’s forgiveness and healing. And then determine, with the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit, to live your life from now on in obedience to His word. 

That last point is just as important as the first. Our ability to overcome the power of sin in our lives originates from God alone. The hymn writer described it this way: “Would you be free from the burden of sin? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Would you o'er evil a victory win? There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb, there is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb.”

I’m almost out of time, so let me move quickly to yet another reason God became flesh and dwelt among us. The Lord Jesus told the congregation in Nazareth that He also came to bring “recovery of sight to the blind.”

God became flesh and lived among us to open blind eyes – not just physically blind eyes – and Jesus did heal the blind. We read of some of those times the gospels. But Jesus also came to open spiritually blind eyes, those who were blind to their bondage to sin, blind to the destruction and the eternal disaster facing them because of their sins.

Spiritual blindness was the desperate condition of the rich farmer Jesus spoke of in Luke 12. You might remember the story. The farmer was running out of storage space for his crops. We pick up the story in verse 18: ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21)

Do you want God to open your spiritual eyes? Of course, you do. Then seek spiritual sight from the only One who can give spiritual sight – God Himself.

When I began this series several weeks ago, planning to look at the many reasons Jehovah God became incarnate in the human body of Jesus, I did not realize how many reasons there are for that ineffable miracle of grace. I didn’t realize it because I had never, in all my 49 years of walking with Jesus, I never took the time to think about those reasons. And I hope that through this series your own spiritual life is being enriched.

Next week we will continue this series, examining the reasons God became flesh and dwelt among us.

Protection

 Frenchie, our Bichon Frise puppy, is not yet five months old. At our last visit to the vet, he weighed 6.8 pounds. He stands no more than 11 inches from the ground at his shoulders.

Frenchie is skittish about falling leaves. And cardboard boxes. Watering cans. And sudden noises.

The other day I took him for his evening walk. Coming toward us was a large greyhound accompanied by his mistress. As we got closer to each other, the greyhound barked and strained at his leash to cross the street and get to us.

Frantically, Frenchie tried to scoot away, but I had him tethered to his own leash. So, as the greyhound continued barking, I bent down, gathered Frenchie in my arms and carried him until we were half a block beyond the greyhound. As I put him down to continue his walk, I said to him, “Don’t worry, Frenchie. I love protecting you.”

And immediately, before the last syllable left my lips, I heard the Holy Spirit say to me: “And Richard, I love protecting you.”

I hope to never forget what He said to me. I hope to never forget His promise: “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes." (Isaiah 40:11)

Oh, how often I need to be carried. How often I need His protection.

.

Why God Became Flesh - part two

 

Sermon October 10, 2021

Why Did God Become Flesh and Live Among Us?

Part Two

(You can watch the video here: You can watch the 30-minute message here:

https://youtu.be/RRaGwIURySE ) 

 

  

Over the last three weeks we looked at the Bible’s unequivocal teaching related to the co-equality and co-eternity of Jesus with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In other words, Jehovah God took on flesh and blood and lived awhile among us as a human being – 100% human and at the same time, 100% God. We also looked at the Bible’s unambiguous that belief in the incarnation of Jehovah God as the man Jesus necessary for our salvation.

 

Scripture also teaches us that all religions, faith groups and people who do not believe in the incarnation are not saved. It doesn’t matter how good a person might be. They will all die with their sins because they never let God in Christ take those sins to the cross.

 

Last week we examined some of the reasons Scripture tells us WHY Jehovah God become incarnate in Jesus to live – and die – among us.

 

Today we continue our examination of the reasons God became incarnate in Jesus and dwelt among us. As you might expect, many of the reasons overlap each other.

 

First, Jesus came to do the Father’s will. “Then I said, “Behold, I have come; It is written of me in the scroll of the book. I delight to do Your will . . .” (Hebrews 10:7) And now in John 6:38: “For I have come down from heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” We could look at another dozen passages in the gospels that attest to this purpose, but let these suffice for now, because the point begs the question: “What is the fathers will?”  It is to THAT question we now turn because the answer affects each of us on this planet.

 

About 50 years before Jesus was born, an unknown Jewish writer penned these words in what is called the Book of Wisdom: “For God created us to be immortal and formed us in the image of his own nature. But as a result of the devil’s envy, death entered the world, and those who follow him experience it.” (Wisdom 2:23-24)

 

God’s primary goal and desire for humanity is that no one perish and spend an eternity in the Lake of Fire, the eternal dwelling prepare specifically for Satan and his demons. You find that reference in Matthew 25:41.

 

God created Adam and Eve, and all – ALL – their progeny to spend eternity with Him. We only need to look at the passage nearly universally known among everyone who owns a Bible: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) 

 

We can also look at St. Peter’s second epistle: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9-10); And in his letter to Timothy, Paul reminds anyone who cares to listen, God “wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)

 

And because sin ETERNALLY separates us from God, Jesus, in coming to do the will of the Father, proclaimed to all who had ears to hear and hearts willing to be changed: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

 

Why does God appeal to us so often to repent? Because He knows what sin does to us in this life – and where sin brings us in the next. Who does not know the heartache and the unthinkable horror and tragedies sin has wrought on humanity? How has sin scarred and altered your own life? It certainly has scarred and altered mine.

 

Think about it. How would your life be different today if you had not committed that sin – those sins – that ultimately worked to change your life for the worse? Or what would your childhood have been like if sin had not been entrenched in your family? Drunkenness, abuse, anger, sexual immorality . . . the list goes on and the scars remain. All because of sin.
 

Here is how St. James speaks of it in his epistle: “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is the source not your pleasures that wage war in your body’s parts? You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”  (James 4:1-4)

St. Paul certainly knew from experience how Jesus can set us free. The murderous first century religious terrorist originally made it his aim in life to decimate the Christian church and execute as many followers of Christ as he could find. But it was this same man who wrote to Timothy: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (1 Timothy 1:15)  

 

I said it last week, and it deserves repetition, sin has so corrupted our minds, our conscience, and our ability to discern right from wrong, that unless we maintain a DAILY intimate walk with Christ, we don’t know we’re walking in darkness when we are walking in darkness. The Lord Jesus was not joking when He told His disciples: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)

 

The Christians in the churches at Sardis and at Laodicea didn’t take our Lord’s words seriously – and in neglecting His commandments, they lived in a kind of self-deception about their relationship with Christ. Those at Sardis thought they were alive. They didn’t know Jesus considered them to be dead (Revelation 3:1). The Laodiceans thought they were rich. They didn’t know Christ considered them wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17).

 

And self-deception will be the cause of horrified shock at the Judgment Seat of Christ when those who thought they were walking with Christ – attending worship services, teaching Bible classes, preaching sermons, singing songs, tithing their income, doing all the right religious things – when they hear the King tell them: “Depart from Me, you who worked iniquity. Depart into the eternal lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” You will find those sober warnings in Matthew 7, Matthew 25, and Luke 13.

So, how do we protect ourselves from deceiving ourselves? That’s an easy question to answer: Repeatedly turn your eyes to Jesus. Day by day, repeatedly acknowledge to him that you need the Holy Spirit to change your heart, to change your life. You need His mercy and His forgiveness every day, and you WANT Him to tell you when you start to go astray.

 

Please hear me! If we are not doing that several times a week, if not several times a day, then we are in danger of slipping into darkness and not realizing that we have slipped until it’s too late.

 

That’s what happened to Demas, one of Paul’s missionary companions. He was doing well for a while, and then something changed his heart. We don’t know what it was, except Paul tells us that he turned back to the things of the world system. You will find that in 2 Timothy 4.

 

As the songwriter told it: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love: Take my heart, oh, take and seal it with Thy Spirit from above.
Rescued thus from sin and danger, purchased by the Savior’s blood,
May I walk on earth a stranger, as a son and heir of God.” (Come Thou Font of Every Blessing)

And so, God became flesh to do the will of the Father and to save us from ourselves. And why else did God become flesh and dwell among us? We look now at Luke 12:51-53 –

 

“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:51-53)

 

I admit, this is a hard truth to accept when we are told repeatedly by false shepherds that God is love, love, love. These are the ones who sugar-coat the clear warnings of Scripture until their congregations can no longer discern the danger their lifestyles place them in. But what Jesus told us about bringing division in families is tragically proven to be true even in some of your own families.

 

Why do some families divide because of Jesus? Because those who do not like the light do not want to be with those who walk in it. Those who do not want to hear about sin do not want to be with those who try to keep themselves from sin. Those who want to live life their way do not want to be with those who want to follow the way of Jesus.  

 

Listen! Make no mistake about it. Jesus came to FORCE a decision from us.  Either He is our only Lord, King, and Master – or He is not. Either we follow Him wherever He leads us, or we do not follow Him.

 

Jesus said what He meant, and He meant what He said when He told His disciples: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37-38)

 

Yes, God knows the heartache of family rejection. His own brothers and sisters did not at first believe in Him. His own nation to whom He came and for whom He died rejected Him.

 

So, where is our heart? Do we decide day by day to follow Jesus, even if none go with us? Those are our only choices – to follow – or not at all. Jesus will abide no partial obedience. Either He is Lord of all – or He is not Lord AT ALL.

Let us then move on to my final point for today -- Why else did Jesus come? He came to seek and save His lost sheep – you and me, our families and friends, our neighbors, and every stranger we meet.

Here’s what Jesus said to the ‘oh-so-religious’ leaders who loved their religious forms and the rituals, but they neglected God’s sheep. In their case, the prophecy of Ezekiel found a fulfillment: “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?. . . [Furthermore] Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.” Ezekiel 34:2-6 

And then along came Jesus who told them: “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. . . .I know My own and My own know Me . . .and I lay down My life for the sheep . . .  This commandment I received from My Father.”  (John 10:11-18)

 

God became flesh and lived among us to shepherd His lost sheep because the religionists of the first century did not want to do their jobs. And neither do many religionists in the 21st century. But listen to Jesus speak this truth to your heart:

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:4-7)

Jesus came for you. And me. Our family. Our friends. Our neighbors. He came for those whom He loves enough to lay down His life.

And so, we come to the close of this message.

 

Last week we saw that Jehovah God became flesh and blood to call sinners to repentance, that He came to serve and not to be served. And He came to save the world, not to judge it.

 

Today we looked at three more reasons God became incarnate in Jesus: He came to do the Father’s will; He came to force from us a choice: either Him or our friends and family; and finally, for today, Jesus came to seek for lost sheep.

Next week we will conclude this series as we continue to examine the reasons why God came for time to dwell among us.

Why God Became Flesh - part one

 

Sermon October 3, 2021

Why Did God Become Flesh and Live Among Us?

 

Over the last two weeks we have looked at the question of Jesus’ deity – meaning His co-equality and co-eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In other words, is Jesus God in the flesh? Did Jehovah God take on flesh and blood and live among us as a human being – 100% human and at the same time, 100% God? We also examined the question, ‘Is our belief in the incarnation of Jehovah God as the man Jesus necessary for our salvation?’

 

We saw from both the Old and New Testament Scriptures that the answer to those questions is an unqualified, ‘Yes.’ Jesus is God incarnate, and yes, belief in His incarnation is necessary for salvation.

 

Today and for the next week or more we will look at the question, ‘Why did Jehovah God become incarnate in Jesus to live – and die – among us?

 

So, why are we examining these things? Because God tells us through Peter’s first epistle: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

 

We are examining these doctrines under the light of Scripture because it is important not only that we know and understand them, but so that we will also be knowledgeable enough to explain to others why we believe what we believe.

 

When Nancy had her stroke a couple of years ago, she told me as we waited for the ambulance, “I love you.” When I asked her later in the Emergency Department of the hospital where she would spend the next three weeks in ICU bed why she told me that, she said she believed she was dying, and she wanted those to be the last words she said to me.

 

When God became flesh and entered humanity, He did so for the sole purpose of dying on that cross. Here is what He told His disciples shortly before His crucifixion: “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” John 12:24-27

 

As Jesus spread His arms on that crossbeam of wood that He told us in unmistakable language the He loves us, “This much.” He wanted that to be the last image that we would remember of Him.

 

Jesus came to die in our place, to receive God’s wrath for our punishment. So let’s look more closely at that truth as we examine the Scripture.

 

First, and not in order of priority, Jesus did NOT come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” Jesus told the religious people of His day, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-33

 

This is such an important message for us and our families, for our friends and neighbors, and for those with whom we eat our meals in the dining room because many of them feel they have gone too far, done too many bad things, and done them too often that God has given up on them.

 

And that would be a demonic lie straight from hell into their minds.

 

God loves sinner. Romans 5:8 – “God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

Because He loves sinners, because He knows what sin does to sinners, He became a man to call sinners who want to be made new, He calls them – He calls all of us – to repentance. He calls us to healing.

 

Now here is a question that tests the orthodoxy of our Christian faith: Are we sinners because we sin, or do we sin because we are sinners?

I’ve heard pastors and apologists teach as truth the fictitious nonsense that we are sinners because we sin. They tell us we are all diamonds covered with mud. When pressed to how one can remove the mud, they often will tell you the answer is education. If only we can educate sinners as to why they should not sin, sin will eventually be eradicated.

That idea is nothing short of New Age mumbo-jumbo and Age of Aquarius psychobabble. Their bibles tell the truth quite clearly – if only they would read it and believe it: We were dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1); The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:2-3); For there is no man who does not sin)  (1 Kings 8:46); The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9); “Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one!” (Job 14:4); “What is man, that he should be pure, or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? (Job 15:14); “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)

To the contrary of what the false teachers want us to think, God tells us we sin because we are sinners by our very nature inherited from Adam and Eve. Furthermore, sin has corrupted everything in our bodies – including our intellect, our conscience, our ability to reason and to understand truth. Without the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, none of us would be here today seeking to worship our Creator, Master, King, and Lover of our souls.

We were DEAD in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) Dead people can do nothing of their own. Only God can make them alive.

Listen, please. Our thoughts have been so corrupted by sin that if we still don't know we were lost before we came to Christ, then how do we now know we’ve been found? If we still don't recognize how blind we were to truth, then how do we now know that we see? If we still don't know we were walking in darkness before we came to Christ, then how do we know we are now walking in the light?

Those really are important questions to which we must be sure we correctly answer. As St. Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! (2 Corinthians 13:4).

That’s one test we do not want to fail.

Jesus did NOT come to educate us into righteousness. He came to create in us new hearts. That’s why He told the great religious leader Nicodemus: “You must be born again.” (John 3:3)

Jesus did not come to call the righteous, those who think they are alive, but are dead – as Jesus accused the church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1) He came to those who knew they were in darkness. And He STILL comes to those who WANT to see as they should, who WANT to think as they should, to those who WANT to live as they should.

 

I like what the writers of The Chosen television series (you can download their app TheChosen.tv) had Mary Magdalene tell Nicodemus about her deliverance from the demons. She told him, “I was one way, but now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.”

 

Are you completely different today in your attitudes and lifestyle than you were before you met Jesus? If you are not, I urge you to test yourself. See if you are truly in the faith.

 

Jesus came to call the unrighteous, the sinners, those trapped in addictions and demonic influences and yes, even demonic possession – Jesus came to heal the broken and the wounded and the bleeding – who WANT to be healed of their brokenness and their wounds.

 

The second reason – again, not in the order of priority – Jesus came as God incarnate is this: He “did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45).

 

Never would you find Jesus carried on a richly gilded couch by His followers. But you would find Him riding on a humble, smelly donkey, a beast of burden. You never found the Jesus of the Scriptures clothed in the embroidered finery of the day. But you found Him stripping off His well-worn outer cloak to wrap a towel around His waist as He stooped to wash His disciples’ feet.

 

The people of His day knew Jesus was approachable to everyone who wanted to be close to Him. Lepers and harlots, the educated and the ignorant, the sinner and the religious. He never required those who came to Him to walk on their knees over gravel, or to kiss His hand, or to grovel at His feet. Never. Nor does He require it today. The Jesus who came to serve others is STILL approachable. That is why the writer to the Hebrews tells us: ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16)

And St. Paul, writing to the Christians at Ephesus, tells them they now have bold and confident access to the very Throne of God with boldness and confidence through their faith in Christ. (See Ephesians 3:12)

The Christians of the first century all had bold access to the very Throne of God! And so do you and I today who have made Jesus our Lord. Direct access. We do not need an intermediary to bring us before God because as He Himself tells us through St. Paul’s pen, there is only one mediator between us and God – Christ Jesus Himself (see 1 Timothy 2:5).

That’s another important part of the ‘good news’ of Jesus we can share with our family, friends and neighbors. It is an important message for you and me to remember day after day – that our God is not a distant, aloof Creator. He is always, always as near to us as our very breath.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?” The psalmist asked. “Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me,
and Your right hand will lay hold of me.” (Psalm 139:7-10)

I know I will never forget when my father, Tom Maffeo, adopted me and my sister after he married my mother. I was 12. We’d gone to a local courthouse for the ceremony. At the conclusion, when Andrea and I were told that we were now his legal children, I ran to him with outstretched arms and happily called out, “Hi, Dad.”

Those were my exact words. I remember them to this day, 60 years later.

I expected him to reach down and take me in his arms. He didn’t. Instead, he held me at arm’s length and let out an awkward chuckle. I suppose he just didn’t know how to love his new son and daughter.

But our God-Incarnate is nothing like that. Not only is He approachable, but He stoops down and sweeps us into His big arms and squeezes us to Himself.

We need to know that. Our families and friends and neighbors need to know that. We should never think Jesus is too aloof or too distant or too uncaring to pull anyone to Himself who comes to Him for love and mercy and compassion and forgiveness. 

Jesus came to serve. Jesus came to love. Jesus came to adopt us into His family – harlots and lepers, lovable and unlovable, educated and ignorant, sinner and religious – all who will call on Him will never be disappointed.

 

And, now for the sake of time, let’s look at yet a third reason Jesus came into our world to live among us: Jesus did not come to judge the world, but rather to save the world.

 

Hear that again. Jesus did not come to judge us, but to save us. So why do so many of our friends and family and neighbors think God is standing at the edge of heaven chomping at the proverbial bit, waiting for us to mess up so He can whip us into submission? What kind of Being do they think God is?

 

Sure, if they’ve been taught by parents or clergy who have taken biblical texts out of context in both the old and new testaments, people can end up with a pretty dark case for a malicious and wrathful God. But texts taken out of context are always pretexts to teach error.

 

Instead, let’s take Jesus’ words at face value when He told us in many portions and in many ways, “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” (John 12:47); and again – “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”  (John 3:17)

Do we mean to say God never punishes sin and thereby contradict the testimony of God’s wrath against willful sin and sinners? Of course not. For example, Romans 1:17 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”  Or again, in Ephesians 5:5-7 “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.

But those who seek God with an honest heart, those who confess to Him their sinfulness and their need for mercy and forgiveness – God promises to never cast aside.

No, Jesus did not come to judge you and me or our family and friends. He came to save all who want to be saved. Jesus did not come to BE served, but to serve us and give His life as a ransom, to purchase us with His very life’s blood back to our Creator from whom we had turned away. And Jesus did not come to call the righteous – those who think they are good enough for heaven. Rather, Jesus came to call sinners who KNOW they can never be good enough for heaven without the sacrificial atonement of God-incarnate, of Jesus the Christ.

There are yet more reasons why God-Incarnate came to live for a time among us, but we are out of time to examine those reasons today. So, I am officially making this a series of messages devoted to the question – Why did God become flesh and dwell among us? I promise you, the answers are good news to all who need to hear good news.