1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 in Hebrews chapter 2 this morning. 2 00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:13,020 We've been in Matthew for such a long time and 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:20,840 today will be my last Sunday, actually this year, the next two Sundays my wife and children and I will be with her family 4 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:23,320 there in West Texas. 5 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:28,560 So I wanted to, I know Pastor Kyle will be preaching next Sunday morning and then Sunday night communion, 6 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,680 obviously on the Advent story as well, and I wanted to do the same this morning. 7 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,560 The text we have chosen is Hebrews chapter 2 8 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,720 verses 14 to 18. 9 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:47,240 I've said this before, I think Christmas and Easter sometimes as a pastor 10 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,080 it can be hard because 11 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:57,000 you are obviously expected to speak about in Christmas His birth and Easter His resurrection. 12 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:03,040 And that is a great topic, I mean both of those extremely important in our holy faith, and yet at the same time 13 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,900 there's only so many passages that will speak about these things and yet this morning 14 00:01:06,900 --> 00:01:09,760 I believe that this will be a help to us as 15 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:16,320 we look to the Lord and just ask Him for His help. If you would join me in reading or looking at verses 14 through 18, 16 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:19,680 all the scripture references should be on the wall behind me this morning. 17 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:22,760 The writer 18 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:27,880 says, inasmuch or therefore as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, 19 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,240 He that is Christ himself likewise shared in the same, 20 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:38,480 that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil. 21 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:43,400 And He would release those who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. 22 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,920 For indeed He does not give aid or help to the angels, 23 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,120 but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 24 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,240 Therefore in all things He had to be made like His brethren, 25 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,640 that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. 26 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,840 To make propitiation, some will say to make atonement for the sins of the people. 27 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,600 For in that He Himself has suffered being tempted, 28 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:12,080 He is able to aid those who are tempted. 29 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:15,600 Let's go to the Lord in prayer and as we first do, 30 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,760 would you take, let's have a moment of silence and ask the Lord to speak to you and to prepare our hearts 31 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:24,880 to receive His holy word. Let's go with a moment of silence please. 32 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:44,640 Father in Lord, Your word tells us to be still and know that You are God. 33 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:49,440 That we would quiet our hearts in the stillness of the moment Lord as Your people. 34 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,120 I pray Lord with rapt attention not to the words of man, 35 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,920 Lord Your people have not assembled to hear me Lord. 36 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,320 We desire to be fed from in heaven with the bread of life with Christ Himself. 37 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:05,680 Lord You offer us Him in the table, but Lord even now through the preaching of the word of God, 38 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:08,480 may we set forth Christ. 39 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:11,920 Lord our faith is a holy faith. 40 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:16,240 Lord help us to grow and understand Lord exactly what You have done. 41 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:24,240 May we appreciate more Your love and Your grace that has made our redemption possible. 42 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,400 Lord God we would ask for the aid of the Holy Spirit for His help. 43 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:31,760 God we beg of You Lord to meet with us this morning. 44 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,760 Praying that Christ would receive all the glory that is due unto His holy name 45 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,440 and we pray this in the name of our risen Lord Jesus. 46 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:41,940 Amen. 47 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:49,520 So we're in the third week of Advent and the theme actually is joy. 48 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:55,680 Joy because we are to recall the joyous angelic announcement that the shepherd, 49 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,480 the joyous angelic announcement that they made to the shepherds there in Luke chapter 2. 50 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,760 Do you remember Luke 2 10? It says do not be afraid the angel Gabriel says to the shepherds 51 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:11,360 do not be afraid the angel Gabriel says for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy 52 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:17,760 which shall be to all people for there unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior 53 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:20,560 who is Christ the Lord. 54 00:04:21,280 --> 00:04:26,400 The angel is announcing to the shepherds that the darkness will soon be passed. 55 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,360 The light of the world has now been born. 56 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,680 So this is good tidings and it's good tidings of great joy. 57 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:40,880 And every week of Advent has a theme week one was hope week two last week peace and today the theme 58 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:47,760 is joy yet it is ironic that so many people in this time of year do not have joy. 59 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:50,240 There are many reasons for that. 60 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,040 I think of some the Christmas season just a reminder of loss. 61 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,800 They remember the former years that did seem so joyous. 62 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,480 But now at their table it's loneliness and it's sadness. 63 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:07,440 For them Christmas is a reminder of what used to be and no longer is. 64 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:13,200 And then for others there's no joy because of stress. 65 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:16,320 They have to have everything perfect. 66 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:23,600 They need the perfect house complete with the perfect tree perfect decorations perfect place 67 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:29,120 settings perfect gift wrapped in perfect paper. 68 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:34,880 Everything must be perfect and so it's just a self-imposed stress. 69 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:42,080 And for others for many in our culture it's the crushing debt that they assume to make sure the 70 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,360 Christmas is perfect that keeps them from joy. 71 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:51,360 The cost of gifts holiday expenses they just add financial pressure especially to those with 72 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:58,240 limited incomes. But what about conflict in families during this time of year family dynamic 73 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,640 and unresolved issues come to the fore and they seem to be more pronounced during the 74 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,840 holiday seasons and gatherings then can lead to tension. 75 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,880 It leads to conflict and people don't want it. 76 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:14,560 So admittedly there is stress and there's all these expectations that come upon us. 77 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:16,720 Some from without and some from within. 78 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:25,840 She have stress and loneliness isolation and all these combine to bring depression and anxiety to 79 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:30,480 many. Now you're saying well what does any of this have to do with the Christmas story then. 80 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:33,520 Well the story is a story of great joy. 81 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:36,000 The Savior has been born. 82 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:41,600 But it's not a story that is free of pain or free of struggle. 83 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,520 I sometimes wonder if we have not sanitized Christmas. 84 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:48,480 I mean for most of us the Christmas story is very familiar. 85 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:50,240 It's very cozy. 86 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,040 It's Norman Rockwell-ish if you will. 87 00:06:53,920 --> 00:07:00,240 We see images of the child in paintings and you see that child lying in a manger completely clean 88 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,240 with a halo floating above his head. 89 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,760 We sing songs about his empathy. 90 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:11,920 The little Lord Jesus no crying he made. 91 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,920 I was telling the church Wednesday night I'm like are you kidding me no crying he made. 92 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:19,920 Have you ever ever heard of a newborn who did not cry. 93 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,440 A newborn who does not cry is not human. 94 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,240 And see the only way a baby has to communicate is through crying. 95 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:30,960 So the Christmas story may be familiar. 96 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,600 Yes it may be cozy but the circumstances are far from pristine. 97 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,880 Think with Joseph as he peers into the manger what did he see? 98 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,880 A baby more than likely still slightly bloody from birth. 99 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:49,680 He looked over his wife Mary. 100 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:52,880 No doubt she's exhausted from labor. 101 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:55,120 She's so tired. 102 00:07:55,120 --> 00:08:00,480 And yet she still has to muster the strength to nurse her child. 103 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:02,000 Where are they? 104 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:03,040 They're far from home. 105 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:04,800 They're in Bethlehem. 106 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,360 They're not in Nazareth and they're staying in some pretty rough accommodations. 107 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,640 So why did God allow his son to be born into these circumstances? 108 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:19,520 Now I think it's always probably very dangerous when we start saying why did God 109 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:21,120 to things he has not revealed. 110 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:26,720 Author Gavin Adams says why didn't God clean up the story to match our he calls it petting zoo nativity. 111 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:27,920 Which I agree with him. 112 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:29,920 He said here's what I think. 113 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:37,920 I believe God allowed Jesus to be born into a mess because it represents his willingness to enter our mess. 114 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:40,800 Our lives are a mess outside of Jesus. 115 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,960 They look nothing like the polished marble manger seen on our mantle. 116 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,640 Rather our life is pretty filthy. 117 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,440 Excuse me pretty filthy. 118 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:53,120 Gross and smelly. 119 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,520 It looks ironically similar to the manger scene in which the savior of the world was born. 120 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,440 The manger puts Jesus at the center of a mess not a masterpiece. 121 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:10,240 Jesus came to the manger because humanity needed to be rescued. 122 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:16,960 Not rescued from a sanitized petting zoo but from a filthy dirty stable. 123 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,360 It was a mess just like us. 124 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:22,320 And yet in this mess we're to rejoice. 125 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:27,360 We rejoice because the light of the world has entered our darkness. 126 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,360 The rich one assumed our poverty. 127 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:36,160 The holy one assumed our sinfulness. 128 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,320 And God became a man and lived among us. 129 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:42,800 We're to rejoice in all those things. 130 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:44,880 But what does it mean? 131 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,200 What bearing does it have on our lives this morning? 132 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:49,200 We'll turn back to the text of Hebrews 2. 133 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:52,160 And you're going to see about identification. 134 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:57,200 I personally like it when people have gone through something before me and they can kind of give me a heads up. 135 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,000 You want to know what you're getting into. 136 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:06,240 I appreciate being able to speak to someone who can relate to me because they also have experienced it. 137 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:14,000 If you've ever gone through a trial, is there something uniquely comforting about someone who's gone through that trial or is going through that trial right now as well? 138 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:18,480 Because there's something about our human experience. 139 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,440 We want to be able to talk to someone who just naturally gets us. 140 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,440 But I think that's why so many people are reluctant to turn to God in times of suffering. 141 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,960 They think or they reason certainly God could never understand our pain. 142 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:37,440 I mean he can't understand suffering or our plight. 143 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:39,520 I mean after all he's God. 144 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:40,640 He's absolutely perfect. 145 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:42,400 But what about God? 146 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:44,400 Can and does he sympathize with us? 147 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:46,400 You're like well I know he created us. 148 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:48,400 But does he get us? 149 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:54,400 And the writer of Hebrews comes along and with an emphatic declaration says yes God does. 150 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,400 And this is one of the many blessings of the incarnation of God's son. 151 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,400 God gets us. 152 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:06,400 The very fact that God took on flesh. 153 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,400 Church it means that God knows everything about you. 154 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,400 God cares about you. 155 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:18,400 God understands you because he's been there. 156 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:20,400 I love what J.C. Ryle said. 157 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,400 He's a great author that I'd like to read after. 158 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:32,400 He said Jesus Christ is not only the son of God mighty to save, amen, but he's the son of man able to feel. 159 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:34,400 And that is helpful. 160 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:38,400 In other words God understands us because he became one of us. 161 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:40,400 Look at verse 14 of the text. 162 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:50,400 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same. 163 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:54,400 Now friends this is what's absolutely mysterious. 164 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:56,400 God became a man. 165 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,400 The son of God. 166 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:00,400 The eternal son. 167 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:02,400 Eternally proceeding from the father. 168 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:04,400 Took on flesh and blood. 169 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:06,400 Why? 170 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:08,400 You and I are flesh and blood. 171 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:14,400 Now he became a man and although he became a real man, he did not cease being divine. 172 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:22,400 There's an ancient saying that says what he was he remained and what he was not he assumed. 173 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,400 What he was he remained. 174 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,400 Well what was he? 175 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,400 Christ was God. 176 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:30,400 And he remained God. 177 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:32,400 What he was not was flesh and blood. 178 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:34,400 He was not a man. 179 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:36,400 And he assumed humanity. 180 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,400 But he assumed humanity without ever giving up deity. 181 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:52,400 The Nicene Creed says for us men and for our salvation he Christ came down from heaven and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man. 182 00:12:52,400 --> 00:13:00,400 It's Gregory of Nazanthius who said that which is not assumed cannot be healed. 183 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:06,400 So Christ assumed our humanity in order to heal us. 184 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:08,400 Now how would he heal us? 185 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:12,400 By his stripes you were healed. 186 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:20,400 He would heal us by defeating the greatest enemy that ever lay before the people of God which is death itself. 187 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:26,400 British author Tim Chester he said we owe God everything. 188 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:28,400 I think that we understand that. 189 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:30,400 The whole world belongs to him. 190 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:32,400 So what could we give? 191 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:36,400 The only thing greater than the world is God himself. 192 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:38,400 Only God can make satisfaction. 193 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:42,400 This creates an apparent dilemma. 194 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:46,400 It is humanity who must repay the debt. 195 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:50,400 But only God has the resources to pay it. 196 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:54,400 God's radical solution is Jesus. 197 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,400 The God man. 198 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:58,400 Anselm in the 11th century said the same thing. 199 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:06,400 None but God can make satisfaction for sin and none but man ought to make it. 200 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:12,400 So it is necessary for the God man to make it. 201 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,400 Friends this is the mystery. 202 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:16,400 This is not about gifts. 203 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,400 It is not about family celebrations. 204 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:20,400 It is not about love with Mariah Carey song on repeat all the time. 205 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:24,400 It is about the incarnation of God. 206 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,400 Jesus one person. 207 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,400 Two distinct natures. 208 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:30,400 Human and divine. 209 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:32,400 They come together. 210 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,400 They never mix but they are not separated. 211 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:36,400 It is called the hypostatic union. 212 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:38,400 Christ the God man. 213 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:40,400 The God became a man. 214 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,400 Now what this means. 215 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:46,400 When Jesus was an infant in the arms of his mother Mary. 216 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,400 He is God. 217 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:50,400 But he had the mind of an infant. 218 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,400 It is not as though Jesus was there as he is being held in the arms of his mother. 219 00:14:54,400 --> 00:15:00,400 Saying oh wow you are holding me but I am the actual creator of all that you see. 220 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,400 He was a baby. 221 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,400 He thought like a baby. 222 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:06,400 He was helpless as a baby. 223 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,400 Do you start to see the condescension of God here? 224 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:16,400 He subjected himself to all that human nature entails with the exception of sin. 225 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:22,400 That means he subjected himself to human development and human expression. 226 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:24,400 When he was a baby he thought like a baby. 227 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,400 When he was a toddler he thought like a toddler. 228 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:28,400 An adolescent like an adolescent. 229 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:30,400 I will use a big term here. 230 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:34,400 Jesus remained ontologically God. 231 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:36,400 Ontology is being. 232 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:38,400 Ontologically God. 233 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:40,400 Ontology is being. 234 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,400 Ontologically he is God. 235 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:44,400 He has always been God. 236 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:46,400 At the very same time, this is the mystery we confess. 237 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:50,400 He was ontologically man. 238 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:52,400 He was God. 239 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:54,400 Truly God. 240 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:56,400 He was man. 241 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:58,400 Truly man. 242 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,400 Not half God half man. 243 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:02,400 Not a demigod. 244 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,400 True God. 245 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:06,400 True man. 246 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:08,400 Tim Chester. 247 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:10,400 Jesus is God just as the Father is God. 248 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:14,400 Yet you would not think so to look in that manger. 249 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,400 What you see in the manger is a fragile baby. 250 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,400 Totally dependent on his parents. 251 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:24,400 Wait long enough and it won't be long and you'll see Mary dabbing away some sick. 252 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,400 That's spit up in England. 253 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:28,400 You'll see her dabbing away some spit up. 254 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:32,400 Or changing the first century equivalent of a diaper. 255 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:34,400 This is the miracle of Christmas. 256 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:38,400 True God became true man. 257 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,400 But why? 258 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:44,400 He took on flesh in order to save us. 259 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,400 Look at verse 14 again. 260 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:50,400 That through death he might destroy him who had the power of death. 261 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:52,400 That is the devil. 262 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:58,400 And he would release those who through fear of death all their lifetime were subject to bondage. 263 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:00,400 Alright. 264 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,400 Death. 265 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,400 Death. 266 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:06,400 It is a universal fear known by all men. 267 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:10,400 There are many reasons why people fear death. 268 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:14,400 First of all, we fear death because it is an intruder. 269 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:18,400 Death was not a part of God's good creation at the beginning. 270 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,400 At every funeral I preside at I tangibly feel that. 271 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:24,400 Death is an intruder. 272 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:28,400 This is not the way that God desires. 273 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,400 Death is also inescapable. 274 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:32,400 Try as you might. 275 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,400 You will not avoid it. 276 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:36,400 It's no respecter of persons, right? 277 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:44,400 Every man, woman, boy, girl, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, in all countries of the world, in all time, will die. 278 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,400 It's universal. 279 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,400 And the scriptures tell us that Christ, the eternal son, 280 00:17:50,400 --> 00:18:00,400 He comes as a man to destroy the one who had the power of death and to release us from our fear and our bondage. 281 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:11,400 Because the incarnate son died in our place and rose again, you and I need not fear death any longer. 282 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:13,400 Why? 283 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:22,400 Satan and his demonic hordes have been stripped of their power to hold us in our bondage to the fear of death. 284 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:24,400 Why don't we fear death any longer? 285 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,400 We're still going to die. 286 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:36,400 Because death is a conquered enemy that wields no eternal power or control over us. 287 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,400 Yes, one day this mortal will give up. 288 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,400 We will die physically. 289 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:49,400 But we will rise again to new life because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. 290 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,400 See, the God man destroyed the devil who had the power of death. 291 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,400 And notice the word destroyed there. 292 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,400 It says he destroyed Satan. 293 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:01,400 Doesn't mean annihilated as though Satan doesn't exist. 294 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:05,400 To destroy means to counter him, to negate, to abolish. 295 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,400 It can also mean to deactivate, if you will. 296 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:17,400 Christ deactivated, he disarmed the power of Satan by destroying the only weapon that Satan had in his arsenal. 297 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,400 And that's what we feared so much, which was death. 298 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:23,400 You're saying, why thought God had the power of death? 299 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:24,400 He does, ultimately. 300 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,400 But here we're told Satan had the power of death. 301 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,400 What's the writer of Hebrews referring to? 302 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:37,400 Satan was the instrument used to bring death into the world by tempting our parents in the garden. 303 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:38,400 He was the instrument. 304 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:40,400 He was the immediate cause. 305 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:49,400 He's the one who accuses mankind before God, demanding death as the payment for our sin. 306 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:52,400 His domain is a domain of darkness, and death was a part of that. 307 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,400 So you're saying, well, then how did Christ destroy it then? 308 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:57,400 Now, I want you to notice something. 309 00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:59,400 This is the wisdom of God. 310 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:03,400 This is great irony, but it's paradoxical. 311 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:13,400 Christ destroyed Satan and the principal weapon that Satan had, which is death, by his own death and resurrection. 312 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:18,400 So in other words, death was destroyed by a death. 313 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,400 That's the wisdom of God. 314 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:27,400 Sin led to death, and death led to our condemnation. 315 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:37,400 But the Lord Jesus, he paid the payment of sin, which means then he took the condemnation away. 316 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:51,400 You and I, united to Christ, don't have to fear death anymore, because we now know there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 317 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:53,400 Why? 318 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:55,400 Our sins have been remitted. 319 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:56,400 They're gone. 320 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:57,400 They've been taken away. 321 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:06,400 Satisfaction to God has been rendered by Christ, and God the Father is satisfied with what Christ has done for his people. 322 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:11,400 Therefore, the people of God are acquitted in the courtroom of heaven. 323 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:13,400 So we don't have to fear anymore. 324 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:21,400 The Lord Jesus came to destroy the kingdom of Satan and to set up another kingdom in its place, and he's done just that. 325 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:27,400 Satan and his kingdom were disarmed, effectively destroyed at the cross. 326 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:34,400 The keys that Satan had were taken away, snatched out of his hand, and Christ now holds them in his hand. 327 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:36,400 Revelation 1, 18. 328 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:38,400 Listen to the words of Jesus. 329 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:45,400 I am he who lives and was dead, not anymore, and behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen? 330 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:50,400 And I have the keys of hell and death. 331 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:57,400 See, the Lord Jesus not only defeated Satan, he inaugurated a kingdom where death will no longer rule. 332 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:08,400 It's a kingdom of life, a kingdom of light, and by his resurrection, victory over death, he established this kingdom of life. 333 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:18,400 Jesus, the God-man, has risen victorious over death, removed its sting for all those who are united to him by faith. 334 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:22,400 Which means now for the people of God, there is a rest. 335 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:30,400 You and I can rest in victory knowing what Satan has been disarmed and death has been defeated. 336 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:34,400 That's what Paul wrote about in that great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15. 337 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:38,400 He says, oh death, where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory? 338 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,400 Verse 57. 339 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:46,400 But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 340 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,400 This is what Christmas is about. 341 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,400 Now look at verse 16, if you would, of Hebrews 2. 342 00:22:52,400 --> 00:23:00,400 For indeed, he does not give aid or help to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 343 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,400 Now the scriptures tell us clearly Christ did not come to redeem angels. 344 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:11,400 But I want to remind you, there were angels who had fallen into sin, and they are eternally lost. 345 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,400 They're shackled, waiting judgment. 346 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,400 Christ did not come to save them. 347 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:22,400 In fact, he made himself lower than the angels, and he became a man. 348 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,400 He was a man who sinned. 349 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,400 He was a man who owed the debt to God. 350 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,400 He was a man who could not repay that debt. 351 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:36,400 And in love, Christ our Lord took on flesh. 352 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:42,400 He became a man to satisfy the debt we owed. 353 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:47,400 And then these precious words, give aid to the seed of Abraham. 354 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,400 That seed of Abraham is very significant. 355 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:55,400 Now Christ came in the physical lineage of Abraham, the physical descent of Abraham. 356 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,400 He came as a Jew to fulfill the law. 357 00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:58,400 We know that. 358 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,400 He came to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant. 359 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:03,400 What is the Abrahamic covenant? 360 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,400 Genesis 12.3 is a summary. 361 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:10,400 And in you, Abraham, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 362 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:17,400 So how are all the families of the earth going to be blessed in one man, Abraham, and his descendants? 363 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,400 Well, this is the story. 364 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,400 This is what I'm sure Pastor Kyle will trace out next Sunday night. 365 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:24,400 From Abraham came Isaac. 366 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,400 From Isaac came Jacob. 367 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,400 From Jacob came Judah, and I'm skipping some. 368 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,400 From Judah comes David. 369 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,400 From David comes Christ. 370 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:39,400 And in Christ, sinners around the world find life and salvation. 371 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:44,400 All the world has been blessed in this one seed of Abraham. 372 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:49,400 But the scriptures tell us Christ came to offer aid, to help the seed of Abraham. 373 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,400 Now listen, I want Jesus' help. 374 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:54,400 So I want to know, who did he come to help? 375 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,400 He said he came to give aid to the offspring of Abraham. 376 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,400 Who are they? 377 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,400 Does this mean just for the Jew? 378 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,400 Galatians 3. 379 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,400 Paul clearly answers us. 380 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:15,400 Verse 7, Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 381 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:17,400 Look at verse 29. 382 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:23,400 If you are Christ, and he's speaking to us today, if you are Christ, meaning you belong to him, 383 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:28,400 then you are Abraham's seed, and you're part of those heirs. 384 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,400 You're heirs according to the promise. 385 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,400 Do you see what Paul's saying? 386 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:40,400 The New Testament is clearly teaching the true descendants of Abraham are not the physical lineage. 387 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:46,400 It's not merely physical descendants, but rather the men and women who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 388 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:50,400 are the true sons and daughters of Abraham. 389 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,400 Now that's great because you're saying, for whom did Christ come? 390 00:25:53,400 --> 00:26:00,400 He says, well, he came, I'm not making it up, look at verse 16, he came to offer aid to the seed of Abraham. 391 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:02,400 That's what the verse says. 392 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,400 Who are they? 393 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:10,400 They are the spiritual descendants who walk in the same path of faith as Abraham once walked as well. 394 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:12,400 Galatians 3.14. 395 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,400 That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles. 396 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:18,400 How? 397 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:20,400 Listen, in Christ Jesus. 398 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:27,400 That you and I might receive the promise of the Spirit through him. 399 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,400 Christ, what he's saying, so Christ came for the seed of Abraham. 400 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,400 Who is the seed of Abraham? 401 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,400 Those who have faith in Christ. 402 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:39,400 So Christ came to help his people. 403 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,400 Do you remember what the angel said in Matthew 1? 404 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,400 You shall call his name Jesus. Why? 405 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:46,400 For he will save whom? 406 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,400 He will save his people from their sin. 407 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,400 Who are his people? 408 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:54,400 The seed of Abraham. 409 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:58,400 Christ came for his own. 410 00:26:58,400 --> 00:26:59,400 Who are they? 411 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:03,400 They are those who are united to him by faith. 412 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,400 And friends, this is what makes the incarnation so important. 413 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:13,400 Because it was through God, the son, becoming a man that the devil was disarmed. 414 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,400 Death was defeated. 415 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:19,400 And you and I were released from our fear of death. 416 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:23,400 And the promise made to Abraham and the Abrahamic covenant was fulfilled. 417 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,400 I mean, that's incredible. 418 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:32,400 You and I are brought into this wonderful covenant of grace because of what Christ has done. 419 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:38,400 But there's also another very important aspect of the Incarnation found in verses 17 and 18. 420 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:43,400 Therefore, in all things, he had to be made like his brothers, 421 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:47,400 that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, 422 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:51,400 to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 423 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,400 Now here's where we start to see the tender mercy of God. 424 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,400 Why did Christ come? 425 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:02,400 Why would he leave the comforts of heaven and take upon himself human flesh? 426 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:08,400 The Bible tells us so that he could be our merciful and faithful high priest. 427 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:10,400 You have to understand the background here. 428 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:15,400 Jewish law established an elaborate sacrificial system to atone for the sins of the people. 429 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:21,400 It was the duty of the high priest to oversee the administration of those sacrifices. 430 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,400 In fact, the high priest alone was permitted into the Holy of Holies, 431 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:30,400 which was the dwelling place of God, but only one time of year, only one day of the year, 432 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,400 Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. 433 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:39,400 The high priest before the exile would serve in that capacity until death. 434 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,400 Now go to Hebrews 2. 435 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:49,400 The Lord Jesus Christ, he came, he assumed the role of a merciful and faithful high priest. 436 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,400 He is the ultimate high priest. 437 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:58,400 Christ, our high priest, also entered into the dwelling place of God. 438 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:06,400 There he advocates for his people, and there will never ever be a need for another high priest 439 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,400 because Christ is alive forevermore. 440 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:15,400 So we have someone standing in God's presence eternally advocating for us. 441 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:21,400 And it is his name, the Lord Jesus, who's functioning as a high priest of his people. 442 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,400 And the Bible says he's merciful. 443 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:26,400 It's not an emotion. You can feel pity. 444 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,400 You can have the emotion of pity and do nothing to help someone. 445 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:33,400 Mercy is when you actively seek to relieve the suffering of another. 446 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:36,400 Jesus was merciful. Look throughout the New Testament. 447 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,400 You see him, what, healing sickness, casting out demons. 448 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:43,400 He's ministering to outcasts. He even raises the dead. 449 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:48,400 He gives food to the poor, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute. 450 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,400 He's merciful. 451 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:53,400 This merciful flows from who God is. 452 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,400 He sees our suffering. He sees our plight. 453 00:29:56,400 --> 00:30:00,400 And he's motivated to do something about it because he's merciful. 454 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:07,400 He came to give aid to his people, but he's faithful. 455 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:12,400 Merciful is how he relates to you and me, his weak, sinful people. 456 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:15,400 Faithful is how he relates to God, his Father. 457 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:21,400 He was faithful in every way. He completely finished the job. 458 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:25,400 Remember that bitter cup of suffering that the Father handed him? 459 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,400 He drank the last bitter dregs. 460 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:33,400 He was faithful to his calling to be the sin bearer of his people. 461 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,400 Right now, he faithfully executes the office of high priest, 462 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:43,400 and we know from John 17 that he is interceding for us even now. 463 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:50,400 But he's praying for us from a place of experience. 464 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:54,400 He has walked this earth as a true man. 465 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:56,400 He knows what it's like to be you. 466 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:02,400 And as a high priest, it says he came to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 467 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:04,400 What does it mean to propitiate? 468 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,400 It's a word we don't use much. It's kind of gone out of usage. 469 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:09,400 It's a turn away wrath. Satisfy wrath. 470 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:12,400 Satisfaction is also a good word. 471 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:21,400 Because God is holy, he required a sacrifice to satisfy his wrath and justice that burnt hot against our sin. 472 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:26,400 Because God is love, instead of causing us to be sacrificed, 473 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:32,400 he sent his Son and satisfied his wrath at the high cost of the sacrifice of his Son, 474 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:37,400 who took on our sin and nailed it to the cross. 475 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:39,400 What's it mean? 476 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:44,400 Jesus has forever turned away God's wrath from his people, 477 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:49,400 and he's given eternal life to all who belong to him. 478 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:51,400 Let me say this, friends. 479 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:57,400 Things may be bad. Christmas may be just a colossal disappointment. 480 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:00,400 And I don't want to be just pessimistic, because I'm not. 481 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,400 The health you have may fail. 482 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,400 Relationships you enjoy may turn sour. 483 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,400 Who knows what the economy will do? 484 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,400 Christmas may be a disaster. 485 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:15,400 But in this, be confident. 486 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:20,400 Because of God's grace, you have passed from death to life, 487 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:31,400 and you will never face the unrelenting wrath of God, because Jesus has made reconciliation for you. 488 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:34,400 Friends, this is what motivates us to persevere. 489 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,400 There's an encouragement. Look at verse 18, the last verse there. 490 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:45,400 For in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, is able to aid those who are tempted. 491 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:50,400 Tempted doesn't just mean tempted with sin. It can, but it can mean those who are facing trials. 492 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,400 In the context, the Hebrews were facing a lot of trials at the time. 493 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,400 Some were losing their lives because of their faith. 494 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:05,400 So I'm wondering, do you ever think that God does not understand, or he couldn't imagine possibly how you feel? 495 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,400 The author of Hebrews has considered Jesus, then. 496 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,400 Did he face trials? 497 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:14,400 Yeah. Did he face temptation? 498 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:18,400 Yes. And he overstood it. He overcame it as a man. 499 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:24,400 Because he overcame it, he is able to help his people overcome as well. 500 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:31,400 It says he came to give aid. Literally, that means literally to run to the cry of a child. 501 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:35,400 To bring help when it is needed. 502 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:40,400 When I'm in my children, I wake up all night and hear them cry, and I don't wait in bed. 503 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:44,400 I don't wake Sandy up. Some of you probably thought I did, but I don't. 504 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,400 I go see what the child is crying about. 505 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,400 I love those children. 506 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,400 I'm going to go run to their aid. They're mine. 507 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:57,400 And this is the message. Christ runs to the cry of his people. 508 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,400 He understands temptation, folks. He was tempted. 509 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:07,400 Except he experienced the full power of temptation and never gave in. He effectively resisted. 510 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:12,400 So that means when you are going through a difficulty or trial, you will. 511 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,400 You're going to go through one. 512 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:21,400 You can fall on your knees and pray to the one who understands you and has the power to help you. 513 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:27,400 He gives aid. He knows what it's like to suffer. He knows what it's like to endure. 514 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:34,400 So this means, yes, God is transcendent, majestically transcendent, but he's not aloof. 515 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:39,400 He will come to you in your need. He's been there. 516 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:45,400 And one of my favorite things about the Christmas season is that it's a reminder that he offers aid to the hurting, 517 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:52,400 to the tempted, to the tested, to the weary, the downcast, the mourning, the afflicted. 518 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:57,400 I'll say, friends, Christ is not like all, don't bother me. He runs to us. 519 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:01,400 This is what then the incarnation signifies. 520 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:04,400 God came near. 521 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,400 Listen, Ryan coming near is not going to do you a lot of good. 522 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:12,400 God coming near, that's fantastic. 523 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:16,400 Because he is near, you can rest, friends. 524 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:21,400 It's a gift. Even when things go differently than what you had planned 525 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,400 or when things go differently than all the expectations you may have, 526 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:28,400 regardless of what next week will hold, regardless of the trial that awaits you, 527 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:31,400 you are victorious, not because of you. 528 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,400 You're victorious because Christ came. 529 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,400 You're victorious because you're in Christ. 530 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:42,400 So my thing is to let the love of God and the implications of the incarnation grip your heart. 531 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:48,400 I do pray, and I really, I fervently pray, Lord, help them to see what exactly you have done for us 532 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:55,400 by sending your son and let that absolutely grip us, that we be mesmerized by it. 533 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,400 And I close with one author saying this. 534 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:03,400 The incarnate, crucified, and glorified Jesus is with us. 535 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:10,400 And he can help us in everything that we go through, even, and I would say especially, 536 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:14,400 when it makes no sense to us. Amen. 537 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:20,400 God has sent his son to be the savior of the world, and he's interceding and advocating for you. 538 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:27,400 Friends, you have a merciful and a faithful high priest who stands ready to help you in your time of need. 539 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:37,400 Praise be to God. Praise be to God. Let us pray. 540 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:51,400 Lord, these are holy wonders and mysteries.