Hello, I am glad to be with you once again to post the Weekend Sermon. Thank you for joining me again this week. It is my prayer that all of you are doing well.
Winter was definitely here in my part of the world this last week. We had a small ice storm, but the roads didn't get bad. Thank the Lord for that. I am just about finished with the rough draft of the book I am working on. All is still on target for a release sometime in the middle of 2016.
In prayer this week, please pray for the families touched by the tragic events in California this week. Pray for an end to the violence, war and terrorism that plagues our world. Pray that many will come to know the Prince of Peace for He is the only one who can bring true peace. Please pray for peace in Syria, South Sudan and Iraq this week.
We have been praying for the last several weeks that the message of Jesus might reach nations where there are not many Christians. With this in mind, let us pray for Jordan, Nepal, Comoros and Qatar.
This is the beginning of the Advent season. It is the time that we celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ came to this earth. As we go into this Christmas season, resolve in your hearts to keep Jesus at the center of your holiday celebrations. It seems to me more and more every year that Jesus is being crowded out of His own birthday celebration. Let us never lose sight of what Christmas is really all about.
As we start our series of Advent messages for this year, I want to focus on the topic this week of why Jesus came to this earth in the first place. As believers in orthodox Christian doctrine, we believe that Jesus is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Before He came to this earth, Jesus lived in the unity of the Trinity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 2:6-8 gives us a clear picture of Jesus before and after His incarnation. These verses state, "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient unto death --- even death on a cross!"
So, why did Jesus leave the glories of Heaven and take up human flesh. Why did He come to this earth to suffer and die on the cross?
Our sin and need for redemption and forgiveness is what brought Jesus to this earth. When God created man, He created him in a perfect environment. There was no sin in the world. God placed Adam and Eve in the garden. All that God asked of them is that they would not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Humanity in its rebellion, disobeyed the commandment of the Lord. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden.
Because of Adam's sin, a sin nature has passed down to all human beings. There is none righteous the Bible says. Romans 5:12 makes the situation quite clear. It says, "Wherefore as by one man, sin entered into the world and death passed upon all men for all have sinned."
The sinful state of humanity brought separation between God and the human race. Because of sin, death and destruction permeated the entire universe. Because of sin, God in His holiness and justice had every right to pass judgment on this world.
However, I John 4:16 tells us that "God is love." Because of His great love for us, God wanted to bring us back to Him. He wanted to redeem us and free us from sin and death. So, immediately when humanity fell into sin, God announced the first promise to the human race that a redeemer was on the way.
Genesis 3:15 states, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." One day, a savior would be born who would bring redemption to the human race.
Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord was working to bring about His plan of redemption. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament that point to the coming of the Messiah. One of these is a favorite verse recited during the Christmas season. Isaiah 9:6 says, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And he shall be called wonderful, counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace."
Hundreds of years went by from the first promise of the Messiah in Genesis 3:15 until the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem. But as Galatians 4:4 tells us, "But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son."
Jesus came on Christmas day to bring about redemption for a world that was lost. He came to live a perfect, holy and sinless life so that we would know the way that we ought to live. Jesus came to bring light into the darkness of the world. He came to bring hope.
Jesus came to die on the cross so that He could bear our sins in His body. He was the Lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world. By His death and resurrection, Jesus came to free us from the curse of Adam's sin. As I Corinthians 15:22 tells us, "In Adam all die, but in Christ shall all be made alive."
Jesus came to free us from sin and the consequences of sin. He came to offer life and light to all who believe.
Jesus has provided all of us with the free gift of salvation and redemption. Now we must decided whether or not we will accept Jesus' offer of salvation. We must decided whether or not we will repent of our sins and turn to Jesus for forgiveness. We must decided whether we will let Jesus be the Lord of our lives.
Today is the day of salvation. If you have never done so, I pray that you will turn to Jesus today.
Next week, we will have another message in our Advent series. I will post the verses on Monday and a review on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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