God Almighty in a Manger

Every year people all over this country hear the Christmas story, and what a beautiful story it is, but they never quite grasp it because they don’t understand what was really going on with that baby in a manger. They don’t understand who Jesus really was, what He did and why He did it. What did it mean for the angels to declare a savior is born?

Philippians 2:1-11 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I. Who was Jesus?
There is a picture taken a while back by a satellite from the edge of our solar system. Now some have looked at this photo and have concluded that the earth is insignificant. “Look how small we are in a vast universe.” However, they miss the point. The universe isn’t about us. It is about God!

The heavens declare the glory of God. It is about His greatness! As we grow in technology and see just how big the universe is, we see how small we are, but the bigger picture is that we should see just how big the God is who created it all!!!

That is God. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. If nothing else was, God would be. He is the only one who has the right to simple call Himself “I AM” as He did to Moses in declaring His self existence and deity.
God is omniscient (He knows all), He is omnipotent (He is all powerful), He is omnipresent (He is present everywhere), and He is sovereign (He is in complete control of everything).

So, Philippians 2:6 states that Jesus was in the form of God.

Hebrews 1:3a He (Jesus Christ) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word (Jesus Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

So the same God that made the speck called earth, including your little molecule of an existence… the God that created this vast universe to declare His glory… Jesus is THAT God. Yes before Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem, He eternally existed as what we call the second person in the triune God.

As Jesus told the skeptics in His day, “Before Abraham was, I AM!”

II. What did He do?

Here is the ultimate act of Humility. Jesus; the great I AM had every right to stay put, right there on His heavenly throne, but He did something unfathomable. Have you ever seen Horton Hears a Who? Horton is an elephant who finds a speck that lands on a flower. It turns out that this speck is a whole world consisting of microscopic people called Whos. Horton does all he can to ensure their safety. But Jesus entered the speck! He became one of us… a microscopic blip on the radar compared to the rest of His created universe.

What did Jesus inherit in taking on Human form? Though He was still God, He now took on attributes of humanity. He began as a helpless baby; unable to speak, walk or talk. He grew in wisdom with a human mind. He thirsted and hungered. He was open to the temptation of sin, though because He was still God, he was able to resist. He wept. He became weak. He was fully God, but chose to become fully human with all of its weaknesses. Ultimately, just like all humans, he was able to die.
Jesus was still God and the Bible says that at any point he could have exercised every bit of that right, but He had a mission. He could have called legions of angels to His aid, but chose not to.
We are sinners. God cannot look upon sin because of His good and perfect nature. In order for God to have a relationship with you and me, there had to be justice toward our sin. That is where Jesus came in. If we are not to perish, then somebody had to perish in our place. In order to take our place, He had to live the sinless life that we could not. He could have exited stage left, but He continued in perfect obedience, even unto death on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins.
It didn’t end there. God raised Him from the dead and restored His position as King. Now Christ reigns once again from heaven still as fully God and fully man. He now can act as a high priest for the sake of us. As God, he represents God to us and as man, He represents us to God. He not only reconciles us to God through faith in Him, but he relates to us, because he has been there and done that and overcame that. What an amazing God who entered this speck and overcame sin and death that we might have eternal life with Him!


III. Why did He do it?

He did it for us, but ultimately He did it for the glory of God the Father who loved us. (John 3:16)

God will be glorified, either by His merciful love or by His justice. Whether we trust Him by faith or not, we will all bow before Him in the end in either heaven or hell.


IV. What does this mean for us?

Jesus didn’t think Himself better than God, but instead became His servant. He considered you significant, though the Bible says we were His enemies lost in our sin. He came to serve you. God served you?!? Put that into perspective. By His grace through faith in His atoning work on the cross and resurrection, He gave you eternal life and restored your relationship with God. Amazing!

Now the Apostle Paul says that we get to do the same thing. Christ was our example. Not that we can save souls, but we can point them to the Christ who can. It takes work. It takes an act of humility to go out into a world not knowing who will fall down in tears before the throne waiting for forgiveness and who will in unrighteous anger put you to the sword; figuratively or literally.

John Piper talks about taking good risks in his book, “Don’t Waste Your Life”. With us being human and not God, we don’t know the outcome of choices and therefore life is full of risks. A good risk is trusting God and then entering into other people’s lives in order to point them to Christ.
I’m challenging you to bring God to others. Trust the Holy Spirit. Esteem others above yourself, even those who are difficult to like. Take risks and watch the Holy Spirit work.

AM I REALLY SAVED? ...a child of God?

AM I REALLY SAVED? …a child of God?i

by James McDonald

If you have it, you have everything that you need… but without it, you don’t have

anything—no matter how much you have.

• Many people think they have it but they don’t, and sadly many people who do have

it, take it for granted.

• Recognized in its entire splendor you would die for it, but ironically unless you

have it, you will die twice… spiritual death as well as physical death.

What is it that I’m talking about?

• It is the story of Scripture… it’s the miracle of the age.

• It is the reason that Jesus came, died, and rose again.

Sinners call it conversion; theologians call it justification.

• Children call it, asking Jesus into their hearts… and Jesus called it, being born

again.

• The Bible calls it salvation.

Rightly understood, salvation is the crown jewel of Christianity… the constant comfort of

the Lord’s people.

• But it can also cause much confusion.

• In fact, surprisingly even in churches that preach the biblical messages of

salvation, a lot of people are confused about exactly what salvation is and how it

works.

In Romans10:9-10 and 8:16 we read, “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.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that

you confess and are saved. The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”

Can we be absolutely certain that we’ve been saved?

If you’re saved, you belong to God.

• God has made a mark on you… he has sealed you.

• What is that assurance that you belong to him?

READ… Ephesians 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you

heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having

believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy

Spirit,

So there it is—if you’ve been saved, you have the Holy Spirit.

• If you’re not saved, you don’t have the Holy Spirit.

• So the question then is, how do I know if I have the Holy Spirit?

If you’re saved, the Holy Spirit is doing these six things in your life.

• There are many more biblical truths that could be on this list but these are six main

ones.

1. The Holy Spirit is growing you. (Galatians 5:22)

If you’re saved, you’re more godly than you used to be... you’re changing.

• You might have symptoms of your old problems but you don’t give into them like

you used to.

• You’re being set free from addictions… your character is growing.

• When you are saved, the Spirit is developing in you “... love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control”—are the fruit of his

character.

I’ll use myself as an example here: I’ve got problems; I’m not perfect, I continue to sin.

• But the people who know me best, my family, my close friends, the people that I

work with, I believe, would say in unison, “Dan is definitely not who he was five

years ago… God’s growing and changing him.”

• If God is growing and changing you? …That’s the work of His Spirit in you!

Galatians 5:22-23b says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness and self-control.”

2. The Holy Spirit has gifted you. (1 Corinthians 12)

When the Spirit of God comes into your life He gives you the desire and the ability to

serve God.

• If you’re saved, he has gifted you with a specific way you can serve the body of

Christ.

• You are prompted to get beyond selfish consumer Christianity and into the center

of what Jesus is doing to build His kingdom in and through a local church that he

has chosen for you.

1 Corinthians 12:4,7,11 tells us, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit…

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good… All these

are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he

determines.”

3. The Holy Spirit convicts you of sin.

READ… John 16:8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt

in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment

You’re like, “It’s the craziest thing… before I knew Christ I could lie, and steal, take

God’s name in vain, and be mean to folks, but never even felt bad about it.”

• “Since I got saved, every time I do anything wrong this siren goes off inside me.”

• That’s the Spirit at work, convicting us of sin.

• If you can sin and not be grieved… ask yourself if you’re really saved.

3

In 1 John 1:8-10 it says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth

is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and

purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to

be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

4. Hunger for truth. (1 Corinthians 2:11-14)

Was there a time when you could have cared less about the Bible?

• If somebody said to you, ‘Are you reading the Bible?’ you would have replied,

‘No, I’m reading a “best-seller” right now.’

But when you were saved, your desire to hear God’s Word exploded in your heart.

• If that’s going on in your life, that’s a very good sign.

Ephesians 1:13-14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of

truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal,

the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the

redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.”

5. The Holy Spirit leads you. (Romans 8:14)

God’s Spirit prompts you to make things right with others.

• Through him you respond to the biblical messages that you hear and while reading

the Bible.

• And you want to do the things that honor and please him.

- When the Spirit is leading you, you know there’s something going on in

your heart.

- Scripture says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God these are the

children of God.” ii

READ… 1 JOHN 3:23-24 And this is his command: to believe in the

name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he

commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and

he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know

it by the Spirit he gave us.

6. The Holy Spirit comforts you. (John 14:16)

Has there ever been a time in your life when you struggled with just about everything?

• But since you came to know Christ, things didn’t bother you as much.

• The Spirit supplies strength that you didn’t have before and you’re now able to get

through things that you couldn’t before.

• God Himself bears you along and helps you get through the tough stuff.

That’s another one of the things the Spirit of God does—he comforts us.

• God wants you to know that you are his child.

Jesus said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he

may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,

because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” John 14:16-18

If you’re wondering, “God, am I your child?” do this: get alone, read the Scriptures that

I’ve mentioned above and pray, “God, do I really know you?” The Spirit Himself will

either bear witness, “Yes” or “No.” You don’t have to wonder anymore.

Real salvation becomes for true believers a Treasure Chest of holy joy.

Your treasure is… Jesus our crucified Savior who pardons all your sins, provides all your

righteousness, and becomes in his own fellowship your greatest pleasure.

• Before we were saved we had no delight in God… Christ was just a vague

historical figure; he was the Christmas story and the Easter story.

• What we enjoyed was food and friendships and productivity and investments and

vacations and hobbies and reading and shopping and sex and sports and art and TV

and travel—and on & on…

• Neither God nor Christ were the center of our happiness… they were not a

“treasure of delight.”

Then something miraculous happens… conversion and regeneration by the Spirit of God,

and then…faith—the confidence that Christ has made a way for me, a sinner, to live in

his glorious fellowship forever.

• It is “in believing” in the real Jesus that you are filled with joy, with peace, with

hope through the Holy Spirit in you.

So now what?

Get this settled right now… no one should be confused about this issue.

• You can… know that you know that you know that you have a saving faith, that

you are saved, and that you are a child of God.

God’s Word says, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear,

but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit

himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then

we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ..” Romans 8:15-17

Now that’s real salvation!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in him, so that you may

overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

p.s. Also see a companion message titled: “Do You Know The Real Jesus… Don’t Be

Fooled”

i By James MacDonald (Edited by Dan Scheel)

ii Romans 8:14

The Grace to Shut Up

by Steve McVey
(www.gracewalk.org)

I just say whatever is on my mind, a person who was expressing an opinion in an animated way recently said to me. I didn't respond to the comment, but couldn't help but think about the Bible verse that says, A fool uttereth his whole mind, but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards? (Proverbs 29:11, KJV).

When I was young man I felt an internal mandate to not only express my opinion, but also to convince others that mine was the right way to see a matter. I'm not sure if it's simply a matter of maturing with age or maturing in grace, or maybe a combination of the two, but I don't feel the need to always make others agree with me anymore. To the contrary, I find myself often saying nothing at times when my thoughts may be in direct contradiction to what somebody may be expressing to me.


The Bible makes it clear that there is a virtue in learning when and how to be quiet. James wrote that we should be quick to hear, but slow to speak. (See James 4:19) Paul wrote to let your speech be always with grace? (Colossians 4:6). Another time he taught that we should study to be quiet and mind our own business. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:11)


Highly opinionated babblers can be trying at times. I know because I used to be one. Maybe I still am at times, I'm not sure. I do know that I'm a verbal processor who tends to sort through things by talking about them. I recognize that I need grace to enable me to shut-up sometimes.


When I see opinionated, non-stop talkers like the one I mentioned in the first paragraph, I occasionally ask myself, Do I still act like that at times?? That's certainly not what I want.


Do you say too much, too often? If so, pray for God's grace to flow through your actions in such a way as to cause you to know when to say nothing and then enable you to do it. Sometimes grace never looks better than when it enable us to simply shut-up.