Theme: Joseph, human and God in action
Text: Isaiah 7:10-16; Rom. 1:1-7; Matt. 1:18-25
Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent and next Sunday is Christmas. Although we are all looking forward to the celebrations we need to spend time meditating on the birth of Christ. Before His birth God chose and prepared a family to take care of the child through His formative years. The home has always played a major role in the upbringing of children. It is to be a place of intimacy, unity, love, and understanding. The home is to be a place where children would grow up to know their heavenly Father and thereby their own identity and value as children of God. It is to be the place to learn total trust in the Lord and obedience to His commands. It is to be the place of absolute safety and security. God chose such a home for His Son Jesus Christ. He chose Joseph to be Jesus’ earthly father who would provide Him a fitting home.
God chose Joseph because he was a just man. He was devastated when Mary told him she was expecting a child. Joseph knew that the child was not his. However, he was prepared to do what was right, despite the pain he knew it would cause. Joseph was not only a just man but also merciful. He not only tried to do the right thing, he also tried to do it in the right way. He decided to break the engagement but in a way that would not hurt Mary and expose her to public shame and ridicule. His intention was to act with justice and love. Joseph weighed his options. One was to divorce Mary quietly, the other would be to have her stoned. God, however, had a third and better option - to marry her. He sent a messenger to Joseph to confirm Mary’s story and to go ahead and marry her. Joseph obeyed God and married Mary.
Joseph was chosen to live his role as Jesus’ earthly father. He did this in very difficult circumstances. Consenting to marry Mary would cast doubt on his own innocence regarding the pregnancy and leave them with a social stigma they would have to bear. In spite of this, Joseph served as a role model for God’s Son. Children learn a lot from the home and the ones who make the most impact on children are their parents. They learn from what they see their parents do more than from what they say. There is a story of a young couple returning home from work one afternoon. They met a friend in their neighbourhood and invited him in. They opened their front door only to hear their nine-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter yelling at each other at the top of their voices. Alarmed they all rushed in to find out what was going on. “What on earth is going on here?” the parents asked. Their son looked at them with a surprised expression on his face for a moment, then smiled and replied, “Oh, there is nothing wrong. We were just playing daddy and mummy.” Children are very good learners and the people who influence them most are their parents. Is it any wonder that they grow up becoming like their parents? Let us follow Joseph’s example by allowing God to direct our lives.
When we yield to God He will give us revelations to understand spiritual truths. There are however spiritual truths that can not be understood and can only be received by faith. God revealed the supernatural conception of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and Joseph accepted it by faith. If we accept the supernatural conception of Jesus Christ by faith we will have no problems accepting the Virgin birth. Today with advances in medicine test tube babies are being born to virgins but there is nothing that can even come near to a supernatural Conception. This makes Jesus Christ clearly the Messiah, God’s beloved Son. Jesus means ‘the Lord saves’. Jesus came to earth to save us because we cannot save ourselves from sin and its consequences. No matter how good we are we cannot eliminate the sinful nature present in all of us. Jesus came to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah that He is Emmanuel, God with us.
The only one who can save us is Jesus. He did not come into the world to help people save themselves; He came to be their Saviour from the power and penalty of sin. When Adam sinned the whole human race was contaminated and since all have sinned no descendant of Adam could pay the penalty for sin. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and was therefore without a sin nature. He was the only One who qualified to pay the price for sin. He was not only born without the sin nature, He also lived without sinning. “He was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin’. (Heb. 4:15) . Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, became sin with our sinfulness that we might become righteous with His righteousness. We cannot even begin to imagine a sinless person bearing the sin of the whole world, past, present and future. We cannot even begin to imagine the enormity of the price Christ paid for our sin. Jesus Christ came as God in the flesh to live among us and pay the penalty for sin. Today Christ is still present in the life of every believer through the Holy Spirit. Have you received the Holy Spirit? He will come to live within you when you confess Christ as Saviour and Lord and invite Him into your life.
God has given fathers the responsibility to care for their children and bring them up in the love of Christ. The example of Joseph teaches us that we are not only to care and be fathers to our own biological children but to other children as well. There are many children around us who need the care of loving fathers and we can help care for them and meet their needs. Children have many needs. Today many fathers think that they have fulfilled their duty by providing education for their children. Although this is important the times fathers spend with their children is their most treasured memories. In today’s busy world many fathers, instead of spending time with their children, have abdicated this position and left it to teachers, television and other time occupying entertainment. The most important responsibility of fathers is the spiritual up building of their children. God has given children to fathers as a sacred trust, to name them and to shape them to live the life of Christ. Joseph not only provided a home for Jesus but also taught Him spiritual values by observing and fulfilling all the requirements of the Law. Eight days after his birth was the circumcision and naming. On the fortieth day were the presentation of the firstborn as ‘holy to the Lord’, and the offering of two birds for Mary’s purification. God’s laws are for our benefit and our special moments of consecration in obedience to His commandments are important, both to Him and to us. They are occasions for Him to bless us and for us to receive His blessings.
Many problems facing the world today result from a break-up in family relationships. This is mostly because father’s have failed in their spiritual roles. The home should be the place where a child learns the Word of God. The Scriptures declare in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The Word of God again clearly declares that if we fail to teach our children to carefully observe and obey the commandments of God “we shall have sons and daughters but they shall not be ours; for they shall go into captivity” Deuteronomy 28:43. When parents disobey God’s commandments, they invite a curse upon their families. When they obey His commandments, they invite a blessing. The curse of disobedience to God’s word is that parents will not enjoy their children. Are we enjoying our children or have they gone into captivity? Can we honestly say that our sons and daughters have not gone into various kinds of satanic captivity? Can we deny that they have not gone into captivity to alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality, the occult and various types of cults? The reason is our failure to teach our children to observe the commandments of God. Fathers have a God-given role in the family. They have the responsibility to pray and intercede for their families, teach them and take care of them as they grow to become responsible adults.
Jesus grew up in a loving home. The home determines the future of the family and the family the future of the Church as the smallest unit of the Church is the family. Every Church resembles the families that make up the Church. The spiritual growth of families affects their Church in the same way the spiritual growth of the Church affects the families that make up the Church. Our spiritual goal is not about what we do for God but more importantly about becoming like Christ. Christian character is not about honouring or impressing man but about living out our faith with reverence and respect for God. Every godly home should manifest love, joy and peace. This is only possible under the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us prepare for Christmas by inviting Christ into our lives and by living the life of Christ to the glory and praise of His Holy Name. Amen!
