On Mission Part 1, Week 1 - Missio Dei

  The show, Mission Impossible, never made much sense to me growing up. The premise of the show was that every mission the agents were sent on would be an impossible mission to accomplish. If you wanted something as simple as an assassination or something stolen, you could send in an agent like James Bond; he could wine and dine his way in, but by the end, things were blown up and people knew who he was. But if you wanted things to be truly covert, you sent in the likes of the IMF, the Impossible Missions Force. If the assassination had to look like an inside job, or if the thing that needed to be stole had to be willing given up, you sent in the IMF. They were the covert of the covert.

They always got the impossible jobs, because they were impossible for anyone else, it’s literally in their name. And yet, they had an almost 100% accomplishment rate. Apparently, the missions were not impossible. In fact, I could only find a few instances where the IMF’s perfect streak could be said to have been broken. But even in those circumstances, the job was basically accomplished in the end. 

It’s also interesting to me that the tropes they used, impossible missions, messages blowing up, made their way into other shows, such as the A-Team, Charlie’s Angels, and the cartoon Inspector Gadget. The idea that a team of specialized agents who could accomplish the impossible is seen in all sorts of shows, from NCIS to Criminal Minds to the Avengers.  At the core on all these types shows, and really most of all story telling, is the mission and the need to accomplish it, even if it takes everything from you. 

It’s this idea of mission that brings us to our New Year’s sermon series where we are going to first look at the Mission of God and then narrow that down to how we can grow into fulfilling are calling within that mission. This sermon series will be a little different than those we’ve done in the past. Usually our series cover an overarching topic like our look at the attributes of God for our Christmas series. This series will cover two topics, God’s mission and our relationship with him, showing how both are linked together, giving us a fuller understanding of our place within the work of God.

Part one, are the Missios, the missions. In part one, we’re going to cover God’s mission, Missio Dei, the Church’s mission, Missio Ekklésia (ek-klay-see'-ah), and the individual disciple’s mission, Missio Mathétés (ma-thay-TAYS). 

So let’s start where we should always begin, with God himself and his mission. 

God’s overarching mission is woven throughout the whole of the Scriptures. From Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, God discloses his work. This disclosure happens over centuries of time, with Paul remarking in Colossians 1:25-26, “25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.”

God did not disclose his full work and plan at any one time, but rolled it at over the course of human history. The writer of Hebrews, would open their letter with, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. (1:1-2)”

Paul would also write that this hidden mission was even before God created time itself. Paul writes to his protégé in 2nd Timothy 1, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. (2 Timothy 1:8-9)”

We can only fully know God’s mission, because we are on this side of the cross. Only through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus can we understand the fuller scope of God’s work. So it’s fitting that this series comes after our Christmas series on who God is, because his mission is rooted in who he is.

Now to understand God’s mission, we have to have a clear understanding of the overarching story of Scripture, which can be broken down into three milestones.

The first milestone is what takes place from Genesis 1 through Genesis 3. In the creation account of chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis, we get two focal points, the first of which is creation in general, which we’re told in Genesis 1:31 that, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” The second focal point is the creation of humanity in Genesis 2 and God’s establishment of law within the creation for his image bearers. God sets boundaries by which his creation is to live by. Within these boundaries, there is the idea there are two forms of knowledge: one which leads to life and is with God, and that which we seek on our own apart from God and which leads to death. God’s intention in this whole work is to pour out his presence and allow lesser beings to experience his holiness and love. 

From here the story continues of humanity’s downfall and separation from God by their act of rebellion, which comes by way of their choice to accept a different truth than God’s. They rebel against the created order and try to become like God. This leads to both a physical death and the more egregious spiritual death. It is why God gives Adam the warning in Genesis 2:17, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. (Genesis 2:17)”

This milestone shows us both God’s intent and the state of reality we’re in. God’s intention was that this creation experience his holiness and love. That through their relationship with him, they would grow and mature into beings worthy to carry his image. Yet through their desire to achieve knowledge on their own, they fall into a state where they can never achieve what they desire most. Because their desire can only be fulfilled in connecting to the God who created them for purpose.

This leads us into the next milestone. From Genesis 4 onward, God is working on many different levels as he deals with the sin of rebellion that humanity is in. He works with Cain before and after he kills his brother. He works with Noah to stop the rampant death and destruction of humanity upon each other and the world. He then begins to work with Abraham where we get one of the first major insights into God’s mission. We read in Genesis 12:1-3, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

In other words, God is going to use Abraham’s lineage to bring about his ultimate fix for the problem of humanity’s sin, and through Abraham it will be a blessing for everyone. This is important because God gives us both a hint and a goal. The hint is that the fix comes through Abraham. The goal is that God desires to bless the all people. This shows us that the wrath of God to punish evil is not his end desire. His desire has always been for the blessing of his creation, but with that blessing, he has to deal with the issue of sin. 

Fast forwarding, it’s in the Servant Song passages of Isaiah that we begin to see that God’s fix is through both the nation of Israel and a particular servant. But his fix isn’t just for the people of Israel, because we read in Isaiah 49:6, “[God] says: ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

This very passage would then be recited when an old man saw Jesus, the Word become flesh, as a baby being presented in the temple. Simeon would declare over Jesus, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel. (Luke 2:29-32)”

Jesus, the God-man, the holy Word of God become flesh, was God’s solution to the problem of humanity’s sin. Paul would make the comparison between Adam, being the cause of sin in this world, with Jesus, who pays the penalty for sin. As we stated in our Christmas series, for a human to pay for sin, they would have to live a perfect sinless life. They could not even say the smallest of white lies. But even then, that would only possibly cover one other person’s sin. This is why the infinite God had to descend, to make a perfect and infinite sacrifice for all people. 

Jesus’ payment for our sin leads us into the third milestone in God’s mission. The goal of Jesus’ sacrifice was for people to be freed of sin and walk in God’s eternal life. Paul would reference this in chapter 6 of Romans declaring this when he writes, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

“5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

“12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (6:3-14)”

This is God’s goal for us now. God created us to be with him, that’s the point of Genesis 1-2. God created a universe where his presence could be experienced with a creation of his own image. But for those image bears to embrace God’s presence, they have to be of free will to do so. They have to accept to be a part of his presence, and that comes through a desire to live within the holy order that God creates. Adam rebelled against that order, but even then God forgives our rebellion through Jesus and ushers us into a new creation where his presence can be experienced by all those who choose it.

This is why at the end of human history as we know it, we’re told this in Revelation 21:1-7 by John, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’

“5 And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ 6 And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’”

God’s intention is to restore our ability to be in his presence, this is the end goal of his mission, this is the Missio Dei. God creates a place for his creation to experience his holy and loving presence, redeeming us from our own sin, that we might then experience his holy and loving presence for eternity in a new creation.

We are now living in the time before all things are made new. Within this time frame there are two sub-missions, that those who have called on Jesus’ name are to be a part of, these we’ll discuss in the weeks to come.

My challenge for you this week is to re-read, Revelation 21:1-7, and see the great holy and loving presence that God has called you into. Then see how his mission is accomplished in all those who have trusted in him as their Savior. 

Let us be found in that presence, where no eye will tear, nor heart will morn, and no pain will be felt, because our lives will be set for eternity in the presence of our God. Amen.

God in the Manger Sermon Series - Wk 4 - Life to the Lifeless

  One of the most memorable things I ever experienced in school was life science. Growing up we would do a series of science experiments where we would have to put water in jar, then cover it with cellophane, put it in the sun and and see it condensate. Or we would have to get several handfuls of dirt and see what was in them. But by far my biggest wow moments came from watching a seed germinate on a paper towel.  So I wanted to take a moment and just watch a time lapse video of a seed growing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w77zPAtVTuI

Just amazing isn’t it? It might be mundane, but when we see plants, animals, the people around us grow over time, we’re experiencing life happen. Its when you haven’t seen a kid in a while, and you’re amazed at their growth. Or when you go into a city you used to live in and see the new homes and business where once only fields rolled on. Growth is a part of life, change is a part of life.

And it’s the idea of life that brings us to our final week in our God in the Manger series, where we’re going to end with God’s attribute of life.

But before we get into this last attribute of God, let’s recap the last three weeks. In the last three weeks we’ve talked about three attributes of God. His infiniteness, his personableness, and his holiness. God’s attributes are the things he is, not what he does. They are things that he has always been and always will be. God is the Savior of the world, but that is a role that stems from his attributes. When he makes all things new, God will no longer need to act in a saving manner, because he would have completed his task of salvation.

So the first attribute we covered, God’s infiniteness, which incorporates his all-powerful, all-knowing, and eternal nature, is seen in the Christmas story with God the Word, Jesus, being wrapped in flesh. This wrapping of God’s infiniteness in finite material, leads us to God’s infinite forgiveness when Jesus sacrifices himself on the cross. An infinite payment for sin.

The second attribute, God’s personableness, shows in that he comes personally to humanity to reestablish relationship with people. God’s intention has always been to have personal relationships with humans on an individual bases. Jesus’ personal coming and the interactions he had with others, points to this. Jesus’ eventual sacrifice then opens the door for each of us to have that personal relationship with God.

Then last week’s attribute was God’s holiness. God’s goodness and justices are all connected to everything he does and his being perfect. God is holy, and he created the universe and all that is in it to be holy. God’s intention is for us to be good as he is good, so when we sin, and commit acts that are contrary to that good, he seeks to reestablish his holiness in our lives. When the Word becomes flesh, and walks among humanity as Jesus, that holiness continues. Jesus lives a holy life, he is presented temptations from the enemy and the world, yet choses to continue in holiness. When we accept Jesus’ infinite and personal sacrifice on our behalf, God’s Holy Spirit then indwells us, bringing his holiness into our lives. That work of the Spirit then brings us closer and closer into holiness, which we’ll experience in its wholeness, in eternity. 

With God’s infiniteness, personableness, and his holiness in our minds, let’s look at God’s attribute of life.

The Scriptures presuppose that God is the source of all life. In the book of Job, we get this declaration, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. (33:4)”

The Psalmist writes poetically, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (139:13-16)”

In the creation of the first man, we’re told in Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

In the very first words of the Bible we’re told, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)”

When speaking to Moses at the burning bush, Moses asks God by what name should he tell the elders of Israel that he comes by. We read this reply, “I am who I am … Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ (Exodus 3:14)” This is known as the tetragrammaton, with the Hebrew consonants of YHWH, the first of these being sounded out as Yah, which means the creator or source of all life.

God is life, and from him all life comes and is sustained.

This life of God is contrasted with the non-life of other “gods” or idols. The prophet Jeremiah states, “Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. 6 There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might … They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood! 9  Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men. 10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. (Jeremiah 10:5-6, 8-10a)”

Speaking with the Greek philosophers in the book of Acts, chapter 17, Paul states, “For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

Because God is life, he doesn’t see life and death the same way as we do. In fact when he first calls Moses to the burning bush God introduces himself as, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (Exodus 3:6b)”

Jesus would pick up on this when he was talking about the resurrection of the dead. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus states, “And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. (Matthew 22:31-32)”

Though this body may die, that is not real death. Real death is an eternal separation from God’s life. That’s why God is seeking to bring life to us. 

The Christmas story is the life of God coming to bring life to humanity. At the beginning of John’s Gospel we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)”

Jesus would then go on to say in that same Gospel, “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. (John 5:26)”

Then, at the seemingly final death of a woman’s brother, Jesus gives this great statement as to where life is to be found. Jesus states, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26)”

This is the true point of Christmas, it comes down to one question, “Do you believe this?” Do we accept that Jesus is the infinite God wrapped in finite flesh to bring infinite forgiveness? Do we realize that God desires a personal relationship with us? Do we accept that God is holy and our sins separate us from him, yet in his holiness he reaches out to us, lives holiness and then offers his holiness in place of our sin? And because of all this, Jesus offers his life to anyone who would accept it. His life begins now and last through eternity, and though we may die in this corrupted body and world, we will live eternally with him? Do you believe this, is the question.

In reference to this is the question of Christmas, do you believe? Jesus would go on to state, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6b)” This statement brings all things together. Only through the way of Jesus can we experience the truth of our separation and his forgiveness which brings about true life. All the questions of why, are answered in the person of Jesus. All the questions of what’s to come, are answered in the person of God made flesh who walked among us. 

“Do I believe” is the question that we should be asking during this Christmas season. If I do, then I rejoice in the Savior’s birth as the focal point of the season and that rejoicing continues as I read his word, and learn to love him and love the people around me. If I answer no, then I must wrestle with his claims of being God in the flesh. I must struggle against who he is, not against what a pastor, theologian, philosopher, scholar, or joe-sh-mo on the street says. God is personally calling out to each of us to answer the question, do you believe this? Not does you friend, parent, or spouse believe, but you. Because God is personally calling, it’s a personal choice.

If you haven’t thought seriously about the call of Jesus to have your sins forgiven, or if you are just now searching for who God is, do not let this Christmas pass you by without diving head first into knowing Jesus as Savior. If you need to talk as you wrestle through this question of belief, my phone number is on the front of the bulletin and I am willing to meet with you as you wrestle through these questions.

My challenge for this week is, no matter if you believe Jesus is Savior or not, as you celebrate Christmas, contemplate these two verses of Scripture: John 1:4, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” And John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Think on these two passages, and write down what the implications of that means for your life. If you accept Jesus as Savior what does that mean in light of these verses? And if you reject him as Savior what does that mean?

Jesus is calling each of us this Christmas season to a deeper understanding of who he is, and who he is, is true life of all mankind. Amen

God in the Manger Sermon Series - Wk 3 - The Pure to the Impure

  The rarest type of diamond is said to be a Type 2a, which is means these types of diamonds are lacking in impurities and color. One of these diamonds is called the Regent. It is 140.6 carats and is worth upwards of around 73 million dollars. The legend behind the diamond is that it was mind in India in 1687 by a man who was enslaved. When he found the diamond in its raw state, he knew it was worth the risk of taking. So the man placed the diamond in an open wound he had and smuggled it to the coast. There he met an English sea captain and told him he would split the sale of the diamond for passage on the captain’s ship. But instead, the captain killed the man and took the diamond for himself. He then sold it to a merchant, who sold it to a local English governor named Pitt. Pitt then, in 1702, smuggled the diamond to England in the heel of his son’s shoe. It took two years for the diamond cutter to shape the piece into its current form. In all Pitt had spent about 4.3 million dollars in the endeavor.

Eventually the Regent diamond was sold to a French Regent, hence the same, and was placed in the French Crown in 1717. Both Louis the 15th and 16th wore it, as did Marie Antoinette. During the French Revolution it was stolen, but was eventually recovered, and since 1887 has been on display in the Louvre.

It’s amazing how much we will spend on a piece of mineral. We will spend money and blood, to purchase something that is shiny. And the purer it is, the more we’re willing to dole out the cash. 

It’s this idea of purity that brings us back to our series on God in the manger where we’re looking at the attributes of God and seeing how those appear in the Christmas story. 

In our first week we looked at God’s limitless nature. He is the God of the omni’s, the all-powerful transcendent God. Yet in order to open the door to salvation for humanity, God the Son, the Word of God, a fully divine person of the Trinity, limited himself for a period of about thirty-three years. Still possessing the fullness of deity, he limited himself to walk with his creatures. He allowed his creatures to then crucify him, all for the purpose of providing infinite forgiveness for all those who put their trust in him as Savior.

This purposeful action led us into our second week. Where we looked at how God is personal. He’s personal in that he showed purposeful intent to bring about salvation. He showed intent in that he was working out a plan that began even before the first humans walked the earth. He proclaimed this purposes to Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds via his angels. We also saw God is personal because he has care and compassion for people. He cares that we are fearful, he cares that we are lost. Because of this, God isn’t seeking to deal with us harshly, nor is he indifferent to our sin situation. God has compassion on us, and through his purposeful action, the Son of God descends to take on human flesh and stand in our place, that we might not be condemned by our own sinful actions.

With that in mind, we turn to one of the most talked about attributes throughout all of the Scriptures: that God is the pure one, the set a part one, the holy one. 

The first time the word is used is in Genesis 2:3, where the writer notes, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” 

In Exodus, Moses would learn that where God was, that place was considered holy ground (Ex. 3). As the Israelites entered into covenantal relationship with God, he told Moses, “5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation … (Exodus 19:5-6a)’”

The reason for them being a holy nation is because “26 You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. (Leviticus 20:26)”

The people of God recognized the holiness of God. In the book of Job we’re told, “Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice. (34:12)”

The prophet Habakkuk proclaimed, “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong …(Habakkuk 1:13a)”

In the New Testament James wrote, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. (1:13)”

And when a man who thought he was good came to Jesus, and addressed Jesus as good, Jesus replied with, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. (Mark 10:18)” The implication is, the man didn’t understand what the holy goodness of God was, nor that he was indeed speaking to the holy God.

The holiness of God is where his goodness in rooted in. He is pure and perfect. No sin can touch him, nor can he engage in sinful activity.

This is where the Christmas story picks up. In Isaiah 9:6, a song of restoration is sung, and we’re told, “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.” This song proclaims that the holy God is coming to restore. He will enter into his creation to bring about his holy purposes.

Later in Isaiah, in another song, we are told how this restoration will be inaugurated. The 53rd chapter, starting in verse 4 reads, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all … And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. (v. 4-6, 9)” The holy God-child, who will become a holy God-man, will commit no wrong, yet take on the wrong of all people. He will be beat and killed, not for his own sin, but for the sins of his creatures.

Paul would write about this in 2 Corinthians 5:21, telling us that Jesus, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Seeing Jesus’ sacrifice as a holy act of a priest interceding for people, the Hebrew writer states, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (4:15)” That same writer would then later write, “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.(7:26)”

Jesus is the holy God, who became the holy God-child, who became the holy God-man, who lived out his holiness among his creation, so that he could take the place of sinful humanity as an infinite payment for their sin. He understands our sins because he lived along side of them, yet he never succumbed to the allure of sin. He kept himself holy.

This was seen by his closest disciple, and because of that sinless life, Peter would later write, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. ( 1 Peter 2:22-24)”

The Christmas story is that the holy God, who calls his people to be holy, descends to an unholy creation to redeem them and make them holy. The pure enters into the impure to make them pure. Paul would proclaim that the presence of the holy God dwells in everyone who trusts in Jesus as Savior. Paul writes, “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)” 

Through this indwelling God is working to bring about holiness in us. Paul writes to the Roman Church, “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (8:28-30).”

God’s purpose has always been to make people holy. He made all creation good when he spoke it into being. He blessed the Sabbath as a holy day for his creation to rest with him. But with the fall of humanity, holiness was seemingly lost. But God pays the price for sin, thereby opening the door to his holiness once again. That door is Jesus himself. The fully God fully man who lived a sinless life, to pay for the sins of all who would accept the payment on their behalf. The holy God now indwells his people and is bringing them closer to his holiness in this life, and fully into that holiness in eternity.

The Christmas story is that God’s holiness becomes our holiness, through the holy Redeemer and Savior Jesus. Because of his work, Jesus’ doesn’t call his disciples sinners, but rather, saints. Which comes from the Latin word sanctus, which is translated from the Hebrew word holy. Those who have placed their trust in Jesus are his holy ones. And if the holy God calls those whom he has redeemed holy, then we need to walk in that holiness.

So my challenge for you this week is simple. Start your day off, with reciting the words of God from 1 Peter 1:16, “since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” Then make your first request to God for the day, “Lord let me see, more today, the holy work that you have and are accomplishing in my life. I want to be holy as you are holy.”

Let us be saints who walk in the holiness of God so that others might see the mighty work of God in us that is founded in the Holy God, who became the holy God-man to redeem humanity from its sin. Amen.

God in the Manger Sermon Series - Wk 2 - The Personal Transcendent

  An older lady by the name of Mamie Adams loved going to her local post office because of the friendliness of the workers. As she did every year, she went to the post office to get stamps for her Christmas cards. But this year the line was the longest she had ever seen. As she stood there, Mamie struct up a conversation with the people around her. When the young woman behind Mamie heard why she was standing in line, she told the woman that there was a machine in the lobby that sold stamps. “That way you don’t have to keep waiting in this long line. Mamie smiled at the girl, who couldn’t be more than thirty, and said, “I know, but the machine won’t ask me about my arthritis.”

It’s the personal touch that can make the difference in a lot of things. How many of us like to talk to those automated voice recordings you get when you call a big business? When those things ask me what I want, I just keep saying, “A person,” until it tells me “I’ll get you a representative.” 

The personal touch happens when you enter a room where everyone know’s your name. If the jingle to the T.V. show Cheers just popped into your head, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The scene is of a heavier set man opening the door to that bar, and everyone shouts, “Norm!”

The personal is something that is easily lost in our society of drive thru, delivery, and Amazon. So when we experience the personal touch, it means more. 

It’s the personal that brings us back into our sermon series where we’re talking about the God in the Manger. Where we’re looking at several attributes of God and how those can be seen in the birth of the Messiah, and the taking on of human flesh by God the Son. 

Last week we started off this series by talking about the infinite God, who embraced the finite. There is nothing, except the goodness of God that constrains God. God is all the omni’s: omnipresence, omnipotent, omniscient. However it’s hard to grasp the concept of God’s infiniteness because there’s nothing we experience that is truly infinite. We might sing of undying love, but in reality there is an end to all things. What is truly amazing, is that we can grasp the concept of the infinite restricting to the finite. Things like self-control shows us what it’s like when a person holds back what they could do. In fact, one definition of true power is the ability to not respond to something though you could. So we see in the Word taking on human flesh, the infinite God the Son restricting himself for a time to the finite, for the purpose of living, dying and raising from the dead. In doing this, Jesus opens the way to salvation for all those who would accept him. 

This purposeful restricting comes about because of the second attribute that we’re going to discuss. That attribute is that God is personal. Theologian Wayne Grudem states that God “… interacts with us as a person, and we can relate to him as persons.” Another scholar, Erickson, writes “[God] is an individual being, with self-consciousness and will, capable of feeling, choosing, and having a reciprocal relationship with other personal and social beings.”

God being personal is seen throughout Scripture in things like God having a name, the fact that he interacts with his creation, and that God is treated as a being and not an object. We can see this in so many places in the Scriptures, but we’re trying to see this attribute of God being personal in the Manger. So I want to give two personal touches of God in Jesus that shows that God is personal in the Christmas story.

First, God has intended purpose in what is happening with Jesus. God sends an angel to Mary to let her know what is going on. Luke records the angel’s words, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you … Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. (1:28, 30-33)” To the shepherds, the angels proclaimed, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Lk. 2:10-11)” And to the doubting Joseph, the angel of the Lord came and repeated the words of Isaiah, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (Matt. 1:23.)”

God’s purpose was to bring about salvation for people. Non-personal things do not have personal intention. Sure a watch has purpose in what it does, but it didn’t intend to let you know the time. A car has purpose, but it did not intend to take us to the grocery store. But a person does. A person had purpose in starting a job; a person has purpose in getting married. Individuals have the ability to act in ways that have plans to be fulfilled. God is personal because he too has purpose in all that he does, and the coming of Jesus, the wrapping of the Word in flesh, was with the purpose of saving those who would willing accept God’s purposeful action.

In that purposeful action, we can also see another sign of God being personal in the care that he has. God sent the angel to calm Jospeh, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matt. 1:20-21)” God showed care with Mary, telling her do not be afraid. God showed care in the calling of the shepherds, who were of low status in their society. At the same time, God showed care for Gentile astrologers from the east. In inviting the lowly and the high of rank, and both Jew and Gentile, God showed his care in the birth of Jesus for all people.

In an article from Lesley University, they quote from the Greater Good Science Center about how care, what could also be called compassion, or empathy, “… is a building block of morality—for people to follow the Golden Rule, it helps if they can put themselves in someone else’s shoes … It is also a key ingredient of successful relationships because it helps us understand the perspectives, needs, and intentions of others.” Since God is the progenitor of the Golden Rule, we can see that he is truly personal, because he is not only compassionate with his care, but the source of compassion, which stems from his personhood.

Understanding that God is personal, is extremely important because if he isn’t, then we either have a God who is present yet is uninterested in our plight with sin, like the Allah of Islam who demands insane amounts of devotion without the assurance of salvation. Or God would be wholly absent from his creation, like the God of Deism, being indifferent of our sin, and so will not act against injustices, or move to give comfort. Yet the biblical God is very interested in what happens to his creation.

This means that he is interested in you and me. God desires a relationship with his creation. He walked with Adam in the Garden, he wrestled with Jacob, he spoke with Job, he called David a man after his own heart, and he sought humans as friends. God desires an intimate relationship with each of us. This is why Jesus spoke these chilling and life giving words, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 7:21)” These words are chilling in that if we do not know God and he doesn’t know us in a relational way, then we cannot enter into eternity. Doing signs and wonders isn’t the sign of knowing God, rather, it's loving the very things that God loves. Jesus summed up the whole of God’s commands in Mark 12:29-31, with loving God with everything and loving others as ourselves; to love God relationally and to extend that love to the people around us.

My challenge for you is to act on that relational love. In loving God relationally, I want to challenge you this week, that when you pray, to set aside your needs and wants, making them a secondary part of your prayers. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, the prayer started out with God before it got to us. To love God relationally, take time everyday to praise God for who he is. I gave you two things today: God is purposeful in what he does, and as he does it, he is caring. Thank God for what he does, in both little and big things. Take time to focus on God, before moving to your needs and desires. Relationships are based on being interested in the other person, let’s get more interested in God.

Then after that, seek God to love other people. When you go out to eat, write a note that tells the waitress that God loves them, and then leave them a bigger tip. Let someone cut in front of you in the long lines, when you have a lot of groceries and they have one to two items. Do something for someone without the need to be recognized for it. Let us love others as God loves them. He gave the Son on our behalf, what is God calling us to give that others might know love.

Let’s start loving God, by loving people. If we began to love God and love people the way God created us to love, then the Gospel of Jesus would go out as a testimony to all peoples, and our Father in heaven would be glorified in us. Let us be his people, relationally loving him and others. Amen.