200354.ser
Preparations for Christmas # 2
“Jesus, the One Who Will Bless All Nations”
CLBC November 16, 2003 a.m.
Subject: Salvation
Theme: Jesus Christ, the means of Salvation
Passage: Genesis 22: 1 - 18
Text: Genesis 22:18
As I have moved about in the community this summer, I have been reminded once again
that no matter how many Christmas pageants are presented, no matter how often the Christmas
story is told, a majority of people still have no real understanding of why we celebrate Christmas.
They have never understood who Jesus is, nor why he was born in Bethlehem, nor why his birth
was necessary. Many people have no idea how Christianity differs from Buddhism, or Hinduism
or Islam. On the other hand, we who are Christians may feel that we know the answer to all
these questions, but we too need a refresher course from time to time, and so as we draw closer
to Christmas I want to go back and replay the story - the old, old story of why it was necessary
for God to send His Son from heaven as the only means of salvation.
Our story today begins at a place of sacrifice, the strangest sacrifice you could imagine.
Last week, we told the story of Satan’s temptation of our first parents and their fall into sin. Now
move forward through 2000 years of history in which sin grew worse and worse until “the earth
was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” Genesis 6:11. At that time, God
destroyed the world with a flood, but saved Noah and his family. You remember that Noah had 3
sons, Ham, who appears to have become the father of the coloured races; Shem who became the
father of the Semitic peoples and Japheth, who became the father of the white or occidental races.
Move forward a few generations, and you read about God calling Abraham and moving
him to the land of Canaan. Now Abraham was a man who believed God, and God promised that
“I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great and you shall
be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curses you, and in
you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12: 2,3
But how could God make Abraham a great nation or bless all nations when Abraham had
no son? Twenty five years went by before the promise was fulfilled, and Isaac was miraculously
born to an elderly couple. You can imagine that Isaac was the apple of his father’s eye. Here at
last Abraham could see how God would fulfill his promise. Oh, how much he and Sarah must
have doted on this young man.
But then, God gave Abraham the most unbelievable command. He told him that he was to
take that special son to Mount Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice to God. Surely there must have
been a mistake. Perhaps he had gotten the message wrong. But no, this is what God told him to
do and Abraham obeyed. Do you remember that I said Abraham believed God? Hebrews 11 says
that he believed that God was able to raise Isaac up, even from the dead, and so he took the
young man and prepared to take his life. Now if you know the story, you know that God stopped
him and showed him a ram caught in the bushes, which he could offer in place of his son. If you
don’t know the story, then you should read Genesis 22: 1 - 19.
But right here, growing out of this amazing experience, God repeated his promise of
blessing. Listen to it once again, 16 "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have
done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son — 17 "blessing I will bless
you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the
sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My
voice."
I call you attention to verse 18. "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
Now, let’s try to understand that verse. That word “seed” may cause trouble for us, but it
simply means “offspring” - children, great grandchildren... Through the family of Abraham God
promises to bless all nations: not just Jews but Gentiles; people of Canada, people of Africa,
people of China, people of the islands of Indonesia, and Borneo. In other words, God planned
from the beginning to draw people to Himself from all the races, and colours, and peoples of the
earth.
But how did He plan to do it?
To understand Old Testament passages of scripture it is often necessary to see how they
are interpreted in the New Testament.
Would you turn to Galatians 3:8 “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, [saying], "In you all the
nations shall be blessed."9 So then those who [are] of faith are blessed with believing
Abraham .... 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Do you see how the whole Bible is tied together? This is what makes the Bible unique
among all the books in the world. It was written by 40 different writers, over a period of 1,600
years and yet it is all tied together. One part helps us to understand other parts. That is why we
need to read the whole Bible and not just pick and choose our favourite parts.
Now I want you to see something more: Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed
were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to
your Seed," who is Christ.
Ah, here is the real answer to our question. When God promised to bless all nations
through the seed or the offspring of Abraham, He was speaking of one particular person who
would come from the family of Abraham. He was really talking about the coming of Jesus Christ.
It is through Jesus Christ that all the people of the world may be blessed.
Once again, away back in the first book of the Bible we see a promise of the birth of Jesus
Christ. It was not a promise of the birth of Mohammed. Islam recognizes the person of Jesus, but
says he was just a prophet, but Mohammed is the greatest prophet.
The Sikh faith recognizes a number of different prophets, including Jesus. The Hindu faith
has a multitude of Gods and would be willing to recognize Jesus as one of them. The Bahai faith
takes a little from all the religions of the world and includes Jesus as one of the prophets.
But Jesus Christ is not one of the prophets. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus Christ
alone came down from heaven, and became a human being. Jesus Christ, alone, lived a perfect,
sinless life, and offered that life as a sacrifice for us. Jesus Christ alone paid for our sins with His
own blood.
Remember the passage we read this morning about Abraham being told to offer his son
Isaac as a sacrifice? He didn’t have to complete that sacrifice, because he was painting a picture of
another sacrifice; he was showing us a picture of another Father Who would not withhold His
Son. By the way, have you ever heard that Mount Moriah later became part of the city of
Jerusalem? The sacrifice of Isaac took place in the very location in which God would allow His
Son to die. The reason that God did not stop the sacrifice of His Son was because without the
shedding of the blood of Jesus, God could never have forgiven my sin, nor yours. Without the
death of Jesus Christ, we could not have had eternal life, nor could we go to heaven when we die.
And that is why we must come to faith in Jesus Christ. That is why we must trust in Him
as our only Saviour. That is why we must obey Him as our Lord and Master. It is only through
believing in Jesus that people of all nations may be blessed.
Oh, dear ones, listen again to the Word of God. Galatians 3:29 “And if you are Christ’s,
then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Isn’t this remarkable? Those who are true Christians are the true offspring of Abraham
because we share in the same faith that Abraham possessed, except that we know the truth better
than Abraham did, because we live on this side of the cross. He could see the sacrifice of Christ
only dimly, but we can see it in the full light of day.
This is the message of the whole Bible: Isaiah 49:6 “Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a
thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the
preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My
salvation to the ends of the earth.’"
Acts 3:26 "To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless
you, in turning away every one [of you] from your iniquities."
Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ,”
Revelation 7:9 “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no
one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying
out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation [belongs] to our God who sits on the throne, and to
the Lamb!"Revelation 7:11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the
four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, [Be]
to our God forever and ever. Amen."”
Conclusion:
This is why I began by stating that so many people right here in the Cowichan Lake
district have no idea who Jesus Christ is. Even if they have visited “the Bethlehem Walk” at
Parksville Baptist Church, and heard about the birth of a Saviour, they still don’t understand who
He is, nor why they need a Saviour. They don’t understand the difference between the various
religions of the world.
But you understand, and as we come to Christmas, you understand that we are looking at
the birth of a Saviour, who is Christ, the Lord.
Amen.
