Title: What’s So Special About Jesus?
Text: Matthew 1:18-23
Truth: The incarnation is essential to our salvation.
Aim: I want to persuade them of the truth of the incarnation and its necessity for salvation.
INTRODUCTION
It must be difficult to be an atheist at Christmas. Maybe one hides behind some scientific theory, even though it falls apart under close inspection. Or it might be some philosophical proposition which honest thinking reveals to be inconsistent. But the real problem an atheist has in rejecting God is not scientific or philosophical. The greatest problem a person has in rejecting God is Jesus Christ.
The world’s population increases at more than 70,000 a day. It is estimated that the total number of people who have ever lived has been around 60 or 70 billion. Of those 70 billion who have lived and died, 99.99% are virtually unknown. In 1999 when I was in Africa, a young man was wearing a red T-shirt that had a picture of the famous basketball player Michael Jordan imprinted on it. I asked him if he knew whose image was on his shirt; he did not.
Some who have lived have influenced millions, a generation, or even an entire country. But when you take inventory of those who have left a permanent mark on this planet, you have a very small list. One person dominates them all. You could say He is one in 70 billion.
What makes that even more remarkable is the context of His life:
• We have no record of the date of His birth, yet all the world’s chronology is linked to it.
• He never wrote a book, yet more books have been written about Him than any other person in history. The output of books about Him is accelerating. The story of His life has been translated into over 2,000 languages.
• In His brief life He never ventured outside of His country, with one exception. His country was no bigger than the state of New Jersey, which is the fifth smallest state in America.
• He had no formal education, but thousands of universities, seminaries, colleges, and schools have been founded in His name.
• He never raised an army, yet millions have laid down their lives for His cause, and every year thousands more will do so.
• Even the most dyed-in-the-wool skeptics, people like TV journalist Peter Jennings, acknowledge that this man is someone special and deserves meticulous study and consideration.
Jesus Christ presents an enormous problem to the unbelieving atheist or agnostic. Some have tried to solve this problem by saying Jesus Christ never existed. I will not spend time on this argument. No credible historian supports this position. We have more evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ than any other person of ancient history.
Though no truly honest person debates the existence of Jesus Christ, they do debate the unique circumstances surrounding His birth. It is called the incarnation; God became a human being. The incarnation is essential to our salvation. Let me support that with two points: The Incarnation Explained and The Incarnation Experienced.
First, The Incarnation Explained.
I. THE INCARNATION EXPLAINED
Let us talk about the opponents of the incarnation, and then we will talk about the proponents of the incarnation. I want you to see the reasonableness of our belief that God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ.
A. Opponents of the incarnation
One opponent is the Talmud. The Talmud is a book of authoritative traditions for the Jewish people. The Talmud says that Jesus is the offspring of a Roman soldier named Panthera and a woman of the gutter named Mary. Their explanation is Jesus is the consequence of fornication. That is an admission that unusual circumstances surrounded His birth.
The pseudo-scientists point to the biological world to explain the unique circumstances of Jesus’ birth. They tell us about fungi and algae that propagate by unfertilized spores and eggs. Therefore, Mary is one of those unusual aberrations of science. Jesus was conceived by self-fertilization. What they do not go on to explain is that if Jesus were the product of self-fertilization He would have been a female. You must have the contribution of a y chromosome for a child to become a male.
The pseudo-intellectuals look back into Greek and Roman classic history. They point to the mythical tale of Hercules. The god, Jove, transformed himself into the likeness of the husband of Hercules’ mother, Alcmene, and Hercules was born. Alexander the Great is also used as an example. His mother was in the temple, and a god transformed himself into a serpent, and Alexander was conceived. You might say that makes my skin crawl. Another example pseudo-intellectuals use is the tale of the conception of Augustus Caesar. His mother fell asleep in the temple of Apollo and a god ravished her. The result was August Caesar being born. These pseudo-intellectuals liken the birth of our Lord to these obvious myths.
Lastly, the liberal theologians of our day have discounted the miracle as a myth. They say that the incarnation is not a miracle but a teaching story. They have been partners with the pseudo-scientists in pushing this line of thinking. To say there can be no miracles is as much a statement of faith as saying there can be. Science studies events that have occurred. Miracles are events that have never occurred. This line of thinking is why one leading scientist in Britain, writing to the London Times, said that science can have nothing to say on the subject of miracles. Liberal theologians do not seem to see the contradiction in telling God what He can and cannot do in His universe.
Since the incarnation is essential to our salvation, what do the proponents of the incarnation have to say?
B. Proponents of the incarnation
The word incarnation is Latin and it means, “becoming in flesh.” Chili con carne means, “chili with meat.” Incarnation means God literally became a human being in the flesh. The term incarnation is not found in the Bible, but it does convey the truth taught about Jesus Christ. The incarnation teaches that the second person of the trinity, God the Son, took on a human nature without diminishing His nature as God. What took place in Mary’s womb was God united with human nature in the historical person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus Christ is one person who is 100% God in nature and 100% man in nature; it is a miracle. Jesus is the one and only God-Man.
John Piper wrote of the incarnation:
The Son of God leaves the bosom of His Heavenly Father and nurses on the breast of an earthly mother. The Son of God becomes (also) the son of Mary. Thus, the Most High God becomes the most nigh God. The Infinite becomes an infant! The Infinite becomes intimate—with us! The Infinite becomes definite—in a baby! The God who had always been only pure spirit now adds visible and tangible substance—the substance of actual human flesh—to His nature.
Jesus was the Heavenly Child of an earthly mother, and the earthly child of a Heavenly Father! In eternity, He had a Father, but no mother; in time, He had a mother, but no father! He made His own mother! He was older than His own mother, and exactly as old as His Father (Father and Son were eternal.) He was co-eternal, co-essential, co-existent, and co-equal with His Father—but now He is also human! “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail His incarnate Deity.” No wonder the “herald angels” sang!
Matthew Henry, the Bible commentator of the 1600’s, said, “The God who took a motherless woman out of the side of a man to make Eve, took a fatherless man out of the body of a woman to produce Jesus.”
The first to question the Virgin Conception was not a liberal theologian but Mary. Luke 1:34 says, “Mary asked the angel, ‘How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?’” She does not question that she could give birth to the Messiah. Every Jewish maid prayed to be that mother. But she did not understand how it could happen without a man’s participation. She understood exactly what God was saying about the unique nature of this conception.
Gabriel answers her as far as he is allowed: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy One to be born
will be called the Son of God.” He tells Mary what the angel told Joseph in Matthew 1:20: The Holy Spirit will perform this miracle. The angel does not go beyond that. The conception of Jesus is due to the mysterious, miraculous work of the Holy Spirit.
God the Son, the second member of the Trinity, has always existed. He became Jesus of Nazareth, when He took on human nature. The Holy Spirit prevented Him from receiving a sin nature like ours. The Bible is full of examples that stress Jesus is the God-Man. Let me give you two additional texts besides the Matthew and Luke story.
Galatians 4:4 – But when the completion of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (5) to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. He Who was equal to the Father left heaven, came to earth, and yielded to the same requirements as His creatures.
Philippians 2:6-7a – who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage. (7) Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men.
What Jesus refused to clutch to was equal function with God. He did not give up any of His divine nature, but He willingly placed Himself in the servant’s role to the Father. By taking on a human nature, He willingly accepted certain limitations on His functions as God. For example, God is present everywhere. When the Second person of the Trinity accepted human nature as Jesus of Nazareth He could not be everywhere at one time, but He never surrendered His essential nature of deity.
God knows everything. A human being’s knowledge is limited. Jesus accepted that limitation on earth. He said He did not know the hour of His return; only the Father knew that. That was a surrender of function, not nature. It was a surrender of action, not His essential character.
Why am I taking your time on Sunday morning to talk about this abstract theological idea? Since Jesus is the center of the Christian faith, His identity is of surpassing importance. The incarnation reveals absolutely necessary information about His identity. This makes it a foundational belief upon which doctrines are built. It teaches that God exists and can be known. Without the incarnation, to talk about knowing God is pure speculation. How could you ever understand that God is Trinitarian, three in one, without the incarnation? Salvation is possible and assured because our substitute for sin, the God-man, is able to reconcile holy God with sinful man. The incarnation touches and affects virtually every single area of Christian theology and belief. If you want to change or destroy Christianity you have to change or destroy the identity of Christ. This is why this teaching has been so attacked by the opponents of Christianity and defended by the proponents of Christianity.
As Christians we point to Christmas and say to an unchurched neighbor or a lost family member that God cares for them. How can we say that? He came for them. He is present. He is aware of what is going on in their life. The incarnation speaks volumes to the child who was abandoned by her mother or the sensitive soul who grieves over the evil of this world. Wherever there is grief and pain and guilt and joy, the incarnation says God did not just notice these things. He joined us. The opponents have no such message of hope.
In the assorted building projects we have had in our church over the years, I remember conversations about removing various walls or obstructions. For example, we discussed removing that pole in our auditorium. It obscures a sight line. We were told we could not remove that pole because it was an essential support to the wall. If we removed the pole it eventually would affect the wall and roof and make the building dangerous. It was necessary. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ is a necessary doctrine. I want you to understand it. I want you to be convinced of its truthfulness.
This leads me to the second point of the sermon.
II. THE INCARNATION EXPERIENCED
What is the significance of the incarnation? How do we experience its truth? We experience its truth in salvation.
A. Salvation is supernatural.
Get this straight: we cannot restore our broken relationship with God through good works. The virgin birth points out that we cannot even produce a Savior. It takes an act of God to provide us a Savior Who can restore our relationship with God. Our salvation is totally of God.
In the 2003 Christmas season I was shopping at Penn Square Mall. I went to eat at the food court, and I bought a gyro. The man waiting on me was my age, and he had two crosses hanging around his neck. I asked, “Are you a Christian?” He said he was. I asked how long he had been a Christian. He said he was born a Christian. I said, “You were born a Christian?”
He went on to explain that his family had been Christians for hundreds of years. Frankly, I was caught flat-footed in how to respond. One of my sons-in-law had a good comeback. I could have said I had to be born again to become a Christian. His church background was not Baptist.
Christmas is a testimony that God was born a man because even being born in a religious family is not enough to restore your broken relationship with God. We must have a Savior. Christmas is a reminder that salvation is a supernatural work of God. The incarnation was a miracle.
A Sunday School teacher asked her class if she sold her house and car, had a big garage sale and gave all the money to the church, would that get her into heaven?
“No!” the children all answered.
“If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into heaven?”
Again, the answer was, “No!”
“Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the children, and loved my husband, would that get me into heaven?” she asked again.
The children shouted, “No!”
“Well,” the teacher continued, “then how can I get into heaven?”
A five-year-old boy shouted out, “YOU GOTTA BE DEAD!”
Think about the word salvation. Saved from what? Death! The appeal and attraction of our faith is we speak to people about life. If a person wants to live, really live, then he must come to know the Savior, the Giver of life.
The news is filled with tragedy and death. Lives seem to move from one tragedy to another. But let Christ enter those events or lives and suddenly there is hope and life. Could it be that one reason why the proponents cannot defeat the Christmas message is because it is a message that we are saved from death to life?
The virgin birth is a clear message that no one can earn entrance into heaven by good works; that is the message of Christmas. Salvation is a supernatural work of God.
Because of the incarnation, we experience salvation as a gift from God.
B. Salvation is a gift from God.
Mary was a young woman of godly character, but we are not led to believe she was the only one with such character in Palestine. She was a woman of faith and dedication to God. The truth of the matter is there were probably many young Jewish girls like Mary. There is nothing in the story that indicates she had earned the right to be the one chosen by God to bear the Son of God.
Not only was Mary undeserving of this blessing, she was incapable of providing the Son of God. She did not even have a husband. The incarnation reveals that God’s salvation is strictly a gift. We do not earn it or deserve it.
I want you to picture this scene; nearly every pastor has had this experience: A family calls and asks if you will talk to their father or uncle or grandpa. He has been diagnosed with a terminal disease. He is an unbeliever. You are sitting beside the bed and he gives you permission to talk about eternal matters. You ask what he thinks is required to get into heaven. He believes a person must do more good things than bad. You ask if he is confident that will be the outcome for him. He thinks so. He tried to be fair, pay his bills, provide for his family, and love his wife. But what if the standard of good is Billy Graham? Then he is in trouble. So you share about how God’s gift of salvation cannot be earned or deserved; that idea is completely new to him, and is almost too good to be true. But he wants it and opens his heart to this gracious God of salvation.
I have had those conversations, but I have often walked away wondering what I would have said if it were not true. What if you only got to heaven by your goodness? What if that standard was Billy Graham? The incarnation is an historical event that God wrote on the pages of history for the whole world to know that salvation is His gift to sinners.
The incarnation results in us experiencing Jesus as unique.
C. Jesus Christ is unique.
Everything significant about His humanity is unique. He was born, but He was born of a virgin conception. His teachings are unique. People have studied them with profit for 2,000 years and still find new insights. There have been many good people who have lived, but all of them have feet of clay. Somewhere is revealed faults and flaws. No one has discovered one sin that Jesus has committed. He is still “without sin.”
His death was unique. Biographers spend little time on the death of great personalities. But 30% of Luke’s gospel is about His death, 40% of Matthew’s gospel is about His death, 50% of the Gospel of John, and 60% of the Gospel of Mark is about the death of Jesus. In fact, the symbol for His movement is not a creed or a character but a cross, an emblem of death.
What makes His death so significant? The incarnation tells us that hanging on that cross is God Himself suffering in the place of others, and paying the penalty of death for sinners. No other so-called god of any other religion has ever gone to such lengths to just be with sinners. No other religion has a god that has gone to such sacrifice to love sinners. No one other religion has anyone comparable to the God-Man, Christ Jesus.
Years ago a mail boat was returning from the West Indies, and among the passengers was a man who had a small dog. On deck one day, a boy was tossing a stick for the dog to fetch. Predictably, the stick finally caught in the wind and went into the sea. The dog jumped through the rail and overboard after it. Of course, the man ran to the captain and begged him to stop the boat.
“Stop the mail for a dog? I can’t do it,” was the captain’s reply.
“Then you will stop the ship for a man!” blurted the owner, and he jumped overboard. At the cry, “Man overboard,” the ship stopped, and both dog and man were rescued.
More amazingly Christ was willing to leap over the rails of heaven into a sea of sinful humanity so that He might rescue us. Like that man who placed his fate in the hands of the captain to rescue him, Christ totally surrendered Himself to the will of the Father to become an acceptable substitute, a God-man, so we might be rescued from perishing.
CONCLUSION
Steve Brown tells the story of a housewife washing dishes in the sink one day after the children had left for school. As she stopped and stared at one particular plate she asked herself, “How many times have I washed this plate? How many times will I dry this plate again?” She then put the plate down, packed a few things, and left. That night she called her husband to tell him that everything was all right, but that she would not return.
The husband hired a detective who found the wife living out of state in a tiny apartment over a lunchette, where she worked as a waitress. When the husband found out where she was living he immediately went after her. When he arrived the housewife did not say a word, but packed her things and silently followed him to the car. Hours later when the two of them were alone in their bedroom he finally broke the silence and asked her, “Why didn’t you come home before now? Over the phone I begged you to return. Why didn’t you come?”
The wife answered, “I heard your words, but it wasn’t until you came for me that I realized how much you cared and how important I was to you.”
When Jesus came to earth, God showed us all how much He cared and how important we are to Him. That is God’s grace in action. But the greatest sacrifice Jesus makes is not leaving heaven to become a man. If you think this is a great demonstration of His love for you, just wait until He gets to the cross. The necessity of the cross begins with the incarnation, that is why the incarnation is essential to our salvation.
INVITATION
After 9-11 there was a religious service broadcast from National Cathedral. Billy Graham spoke and was heard all around the world. In one of Paul Harvey’s broadcasts after that he quoted from the book of Daniel and the Gospel of Mark, stating that the Gospel would be preached to the whole world and then the end would come. He then paused and said this: “To some of you this brings great comfort. To others of you, if it’s not comforting, you can make it so.”
Today, choose to go God’s way instead of your way. Place your trust in Jesus Christ instead of your good works to restore your relationship with God. What else does God have to do to prove that you cannot and will not save yourself? Exhibit that decision by publicly declaring you are yielding your life to Jesus Christ.
I will be here to help you find His gift of grace that He came to this earth to give you.
1. John Blanchard, Atheist, p.564
2. www.equip.org, Statement CP1201
