Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Special Services / Advent 1998

1998 Week 5

Intro: My dad's bigger than your dad. Oh, yeah, my dad's faster than your dad. Well, my dad is stronger and can beat your dad up. Maybe so, but my dad is a lawyer and he can sue your dad. Sound familiar? We live in a society fixated on 'one up-manship'. The need to run faster, jump higher, to have suffered more or to have more to boast about than anyone else.

Exp: As your pastor, I want to say that no matter how tough your life may have been and no matter how problematic and hard your life is now... MY heavenly Father can top anything you may have suffered in life. Because His Son, Jesus, took the Ultimate Journey on your behalf.

Trans: Tonight, Christmas Eve, I want to briefly examine the journey taken by Jesus according to John 1 and Phil. 2.

I. It was a Painful Journey.
    A. Practical
         No one has taken a more painful journey than our Savior, Jesus. No one has ever made more drastic changes in their life than Jesus, our Lord.  Let's consider the facts. He went from heaven, a place of perfection to earth, a place of utter sinfulness, from freedom to limitation,  from adoration to humiliation, from King to Slave, from the eternal to the temporal.  He went from life to death.
Jesus took the Ultimate Journey.

    B. Biblical
Read: John 1:1-3
        Jesus, the infant in the manger, was, is and always will be God. Not A god or LIKE a god. The words A and LIKE are not found in the Greek text. Jesus IS God.

 Read: Phil. 2:6-8
         Jesus, before He created all life as we know it, was God. and as God He lacked nothing. He had all the praise and glory of Heaven yet, the text tells us He didn't consider all that to be something selfishly held onto. He was willing to take the painful journey, to give up heaven...for what? Being misunderstood, ridiculed, hated, lied about, beat and killed. He was willing to give up the glories of heaven for the shame of mankind.

APP: And we don't like to give up a little sleep on Sunday morning to come to worship services. We don't like to give up any of the money we have been given by God to further His work thru His church. We don't like to give up anything. Do we? No, It hurts too much. And even if you do, you can't give up for God more than Jesus gave up for you. The great thing is...you are never asked to! Jesus accepts you just as you are when you receive Him for who He is. And any changes that God desires after that will be His work in you.

Trans: Jesus' Ultimate Journey from heaven to earth was painful, but  not without purpose.

II. It was a Purposeful Journey.
Read: John 1:4, 10-12a
         The text tells us Jesus was the True Light, a beacon of hope to a dark and desperate world. Jesus' purpose was to bring those in darkness to the light. To make them children of God. That's the true Christmas Story. Not Santa, not gifts, not a Christmas Tree and a decorated house. How do I know this? It's in the text.

1. Those who received Him.
    To 'receive' is an intimate term used when Joseph took    (received) Mary as his wife in Matt. 1:24.

2. God gave them
    To those who received Jesus, took Him in,  God gave. God is abundantly gracious and giving to those who receive Him.

3. The right to become Children of God
    The full authority to have one's status changed to the place of being adopted, with all rights and privileges of a son and heir.
     To become part of God's family by sharing in His divine nature.

Note: By the way, the phrase is children of God not child of God. We are saved into a family with family responsibilities, not made an only child.

4. To those who believe in His name.
   We receive Jesus when we believe in His name. Savior, God with us. Not in our heads but in our hearts. When we believe
   Jesus is the One who saves the sinner from their sin. To believe enough to place our life on it.

App: That's what Christians mean when they ask  'Have you received Jesus as your Savior?'
        They are asking if you have acknowledged God's purpose in sending His Son.
        They are asking if you have 'taken' Jesus into your heart as a husband would his wife. To have and to hold forever.
        They are asking if you believe Jesus took this ultimate journey to the cross of Calvary on your behalf.  How about You?

Trans: Jesus' Ultimate Journey was both Painful and Purposeful. We also see that...

III. It was a Powerful Journey.
Read: John 1:12b-14
         God became flesh. Think about that for a moment. That is powerful! He was born of the flesh so that we might be born of the Spirit. And this is what being 'born again' is all about. You will often hear Christians use this term to describe their salvation experience.  You see, we did nothing to contribute to our physical birth...right? Well, in the same way we do nothing to contribute to our 'spiritual' birth .

         The text says our new birth, our salvation, is not the result of blood ties to our parents, not the result of anything I did physically or any decision I made. No, the text, God's Holy Word states that we are born again, saved by God. It is His Purpose, His Work. His Power. And His power is over all creation.

Read Phil. 2:9-11
         Jesus not only has the power to save those who receive Him. He has power over those who don't and won't as well. One day, all creation will bow at the feet of Jesus and proclaim Him to be what He said He is.. God, Savior and Lord of all. Who will bow before Him? The Believer, the politician, the leaders of all religions, the living and the dead, you, the Angels even Satan and his demons. That will be the demonstration of the power of His journey.

Conclusion: It was a personal Journey.

         Let me recap. No prophet, no word from God in over 400 years in history. Silence, nothing. then BAM, God speaks louder and more clearly than He ever had in the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. The Word became flesh and restored the glory of God on the earth. Yet, most didn't see it and most still refuse to even look.

         Jesus' obedience to the purpose of God resulted not only in His  birth in Bethlehem but in His death at Calvary.  What an end to Jesus' Ultimate Journey! ...don't you believe it! It was not the end. Three days later God raised Jesus from the dead and He now lives so that those who receive Him might have eternal life. Now, what a glorious end to the ultimate journey  ...again, don't you believe it!

         He's coming back again one day. Jesus' Ultimate Journey won't end until all His children are with Him in heaven and sin and death is defeated once for all...AMEN! Jesus is coming back and according to our text we will all bow before Him.  But will you bow in love and adoration, gratefully to the one who died for you?
or
will you bow by compulsion as you are forced to your knees by the angels of God moments before you are removed from His presence forever?

         On this eve of Christ's first coming, Christmas Eve, won't you receive Jesus, take Him into your heart and begin your own Advent Adventure...before He returns and it's too late.