Sermon for Sunday December 14th, 2008

A King is Born by Scott Kircher

Matthew 1:18-1:25

A King is Born

Born to a Woman who was a Virgin
Born to a Man who was Virtuous
Born in Fulfillment of a Vision
Born to be God with Us

Slide
Intro
As the ushers collect our offering, I want you to listen to this story.

There were hundreds of people that were gathered outside to get a glimpse of the royal newborn. There were thousands more that were at the palace to hear the announcement of this royal birth.

One young man remembered the royal birth this way.

“I was aged eight and we were all assembled in the school hall to be told the news and to celebrate the birth. Our headmaster stood proudly at his lectern and announced that "a very special baby boy" had been born.

He explained that this baby boy was different to other baby boys because he had been born to rule over us. He was a Prince and one day, when we were all grown up, he was going to be our King.” Neil Welton, United Kingdom

The date is June 21, 1982 and this is how the birth of Prince William is remembered.
BBC online – on this day – Accessed 11/26/2008 @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/june/21/newsid_2984000/2984020.stm

This is a bit different than the birth that took place nearly 2000 years earlier out among the animals with a manger for a bed for the birth of the One who came into the world as the King.

There were no crowds of people waiting outside.
There were no assemblies of kids being gathered together to be told the news.
There was the loneliness of a stable in the still of the night along with a few shepherds.

But even though there were not thousands gathered around for the birth of this King, God had been planning so that the birth of this King would truly be special event.

This morning we are continuing our series, “A King like no other” and we are going to look at
how the birth of this King was special and
what this birth means to us today.





Turn with me to Matthew 1:18-25 (p. 681)
Slide

Last week Andy did a great job in taking us through the genealogy of Jesus and showing us that Jesus really is the One that was foretold from long ago and that because He is the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning his earthly ancestry, He is our hope for our future eternity.

This morning, we will continue on in Matthew from the Genealogies to how this King was born.

Let’s read
Matthew 1:18-25
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"-which means, "God with us."
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Pray.

Even though there were no crowds around to rejoice, there are several things that were very special and unique when this King was born.

First, we find in this passage is that Jesus’ birth was special because He was…
Born to a woman who was a Virgin
Slide
Matthew 1:18, 25
In Matthew 1:18, he tells us that “before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” And in verse 25 it says, “he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. “

Matthew even tells us in verse 23 that this fulfills the prophecy in Isaiah that says, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son.”

God made the birth of His Son unique in all of history, in history past and in history future, by seeing that He would be born through a miracle of the Holy Spirit through a woman who as a virgin.

I want to talk for a second about this woman who was a virgin.
God did not just choose any particular virgin, but He chose Mary, this particular virgin, to carry into this world, the very Son of God.

Now some churches will argue that this virgin, Mary, is actually the Mother of God and they exalt her to a status that is equal with God making her sinless and even a co-redeemer with Jesus.

Now I will tell you plainly that is 100% wrong. Mary is not the Mother of God in the sense that she birthed God. She is the human vessel that brought into this world Jesus in His humanity. Jesus was God for eternity past. He did not become God at His birth through a virgin. It was at His birth that He took on flesh and became man.

Mary, like you and me, needed the salvation that Jesus provided through his death and resurrection.

The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

Now while I believe that the view that Mary is the mother of God is wrong and that they overemphasize Mary, I think the evangelical church has de-emphasized Mary in the past to teach that who she was didn’t really matter, only the fact that some woman was a virgin.

I think this too is wrong.

God, in His Sovereignty, could use anyone to do what He wants.

But He didn’t.
He chose Mary.

And I believe that we find in some of the accounts of Jesus’ birth some of the reasons why she was chosen.

I believe that she was chosen because she was a Woman of Faith and she made herself available to God.

In the birth account in Luke, Mary makes one of the most extraordinary statements of faith I believe that have ever been given.

In Luke 1, an angel visits Mary and tells this girl that while she is a virgin, that she is going to be pregnant and give birth to a child that will be Son of God.

Now imagine for a moment, this girl, a young teen, knows that if she is found to be pregnant out of wedlock she could be stoned. While at this time, it was not as common, you were certainly ostracized from society.


Application
What if God came to you and said, something is going to happen to you that will be so great in the long term for the whole world, but for you, for most of your life,
you will lose your family and friends,
your neighbors will always look at you funny,
your fiancé may leave you.

Now it doesn’t matter if this is actually what is going to happen.
This is your reality right now and what you think is going to happen.

Would you be able to say in that moment like Mary did…
"I am the Lord’s servant ... May it be to me as you have said." (Luke 1:38)

“I trust you Lord that whatever you have planned is good for me.”
Lord, I trust you in my marriage, even though it is hard for me, I am your servant and I trust you enough to stick it out because I believe you are good.

Lord, I trust you through the loss of my job. I don’t have to cheat or steal to provide for my family because I believe that you are good and true to your word.

Lord, I trust you in the midst of this cancer diagnosis. Glorify yourself.
I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you have said.

Lord, I trust you in this call to the mission field even though I am scared of going.
I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you have said.

That is the kind of faith Mary had and it is because of her faith that she made herself available to God and she was used by God in an extraordinary way.

God wants us all to have that kind of faith. Many of us don’t and that is why I believe He used Mary; to give us an example of great faith and it is one of the things that made the birth of Jesus so special.

God made the birth of this new born King special by choosing to use this virgin girl, this woman of faith, to bring into human form His One and Only Son.

But it was special not only because He used a woman who was a virgin.
Jesus’ birth was also special because He was…
Born to a Man who was Virtuous
Slide
Matthew 1:19
In Matthew 1:19, we find that Joseph was a righteous man, a man of virtue.

Like Mary, God did not just choose anyone to be the earthly father of His Son, who was King of all Creation.

Joseph was His man of choice.
He was a man of virtue. Not sinless mind you, but a righteous man none the less.

Joseph lived a morally upright life.
He was a man was not rich by any standard, but was certainly one that people were not afraid of being ripped off by.

God did not choose to provide His Son with a home that was rich by earthly standards, but one that was rich with the things His heavenly Father knew were important.

Faith
Love
Virtue

Joseph was a godly man who strived to live morally upright in all he did.

Imagine again that this man who has a desire to follow the word of God finds out that his fiancé is pregnant.

You probably are not buying the whole virgin birth thing at this point.
You are facing humiliation and you are probably angry.
And yet you love this woman and have compassion for her.

Most guys I know would want his girlfriend stoned if she was caught cheating.

Yet it says because he “was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” (Matthew 1:19)

He was compassionate and virtuous.

To the Dad’s out here.
If God did not think it necessary for the earthly parents of his son to have money to have a good upbringing, but chose people of great faith, and that were virtuous and compassionate and loving, What kind of parent ought you to be to make the raising of your children a special event?

The birth of the King of kings would be special not because a fickle crowd of people cheered His birth, but it would be special because of the miraculous events that ushered in His birth and the faithful people he chose to parent His One and Only Son in His Humanity.

And it would be special because this new born king would not be just some random birth, some accidental pregnancy, but Jesus’ birth would be special because He was
Born in Fulfillment of a Vision
Slide
Matthew 1:20-21
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

This is the vision that Joseph received from the angel in a dream.
But the vision did not begin there.

God had the plan for Jesus from long ago.

This was the vision from before the creation of the world
1 Peter 1:20 tells us that, “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”

This was the vision for the solution to sin
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

This was the vision through the Prophets for the Messiah
It continued through the prophecies of Isaiah and the Psalms and Jeremiah.

This newborn king is special because it was the ultimate and perfect plan to glorify the Lord and it has been being foretold in visions and prophecies throughout the generations from the very beginning.

This birth was special because it is the fulfillment of the vision of the Heavenly Father.

Now while this birth is indeed special because it is the fulfillment of visions and that it came into being through a woman who was a virgin and a man who was virtuous, the ultimate reason that made this newborn King special was that He was
Born to be God with Us
Slide
Matthew 1:22-23
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"-which means, "God with us."

God with us.

The very God of the universe, who created all things, who sustains all things, came to be with us.

He put on flesh, like you and me, and lived life on earth, like you and me.

He came to be God with us.

Imagine that kind of love.
To give up all the blessings of the eternal in heaven to come to earth to live among those He loves.

Philippians 2:6-7
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

God with us.

He came to be with us and yet was not recognized by us
John 1:10 - He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

He came to be with us to suffer, so He could help us in our suffering.
Hebrews 2:17-18 - 17For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

He is with us to help us in our temptations.
He is with us to help us in our suffering.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

God with us.

Well, Scott that is great that Jesus came to be God with us, but I don’t see Him with us anymore.

Well, you are right. Jesus
did come and
was with mankind and
did the work that He had come to do,
pay the price for sins and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father acting as our High Priest, a mediator between God and man.

But it is precisely because He came to be God with us that we can now have God with us in a way that was not possible before this King was born and died.


Listen to what Jesus says in
John 16:7
7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

Because Jesus Christ came to be God with us by putting on human flesh, he was able to die and pay the price for our sins so that the Holy Spirit could come and indwell us and be God with us, forever.

This is unique in that in the Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit was able to come and go, but because Jesus came and was with us, those who receive and believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, are now sealed with the Holy Spirit permanently.

Ephesians 1:13-14
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-to the praise of his glory.

Because this king was born into this world and came to be with us and because He then paid the price for our sins by dying for us, it made it possible for God always to be with us through the Holy Spirit.

The birth of this King, the King of kings, is truly the most special and glorious birth in all of history because He was born to be God with us.


Conclusion
But
if the birth of this King is going to be special for you,
If you are going to be able to have God with you,
then
you must receive this new born King as your Savior.
You must believe in Him,
you must put your faith in Him,
otherwise
you will never know the victory and freedom that this King has come to give.
You will never truly experience God with you.

How do you receive Him?

Romans 10:9-10
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

This morning, won’t you do that?

You need to recognize that you are a Sinner and that you need a Savior and that Jesus really was born as King of kings and Lord of lords. That He is that Savior.

Then do just what Romans 10:9 tells you to do, confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, that He really is the King, and believe that He lived and died and rose again so that you might experience God with you and have salvation.

Won’t you do that this morning?

For those Believers not experiencing God with Us
And for those of you here who have received Jesus as Savior, but are not experiencing God with you, I have one word for you.

Repent.

The reason we don’t experience God’s presence when we have received Him as Savior, is because of our sin.

I know this because I have been there.

We need to repent, and confess our sin, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, commit to turning from that sin, so we can begin again to experience God with us.

1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Whatever your need, pray with me this morning, either to receive Jesus as Savior and confess Him as Lord and King or to repent and again experience God with you through the special birth of the newborn king.