Thanks, Gene. Please keep our musicians in prayer.
Tomorrow night is the biggest night of the year
for them in terms of ministry. And some of them
are not feeling well, including that guy right
there, although he didn't want you to know that.
But he has a bad cold and is weak in his throat.
So pray for all of them, that God will give them
strength for a wonderful evening of ministry.
I want to thank you for working especially hard
to be out for the first service. This is a...
a larger group than I thought might be here.
Last night my wife and I were at someone's home
in Victoria when this thing hit and what took
us 40 minutes to drive to took us an hour and
45 minutes to get back from and some of you had
the same experience I think. But we thank the
Lord for your safe arrival here and I imagine
we'll have others who will be coming in for the
second service. this morning who normally are
in the first service. Yesterday I was visiting
in a hospital in an elevator and started giggling
to myself and I was the only one in the elevator
at the time that's why I was free to giggle because
I was recalling something my wife and I heard
on a talk radio program about a week and a half
ago. Do any of you ever listen to Garage Logic?
Joe Soushery in the afternoon some of you are
able to do that normally I can't but I happen
to hear it this day and and he was he was reading
something he had gotten from a listener called
fun things to do in an elevator and That's what
I was remembering as I was giggling yesterday
So I thought I would share a couple of these
with you this morning. These are fun things to
do when you're in an elevator Grimace painfully
while smacking your forehead and muttering shut
up in there all of you just shut up or you might
want to crack open your briefcase or your purse
and while peering inside ask got enough air in
there or you might want to greet everyone who
gets on the elevator with you with a warm handshake
and ask them to address you as Admiral And then
he suggests you might want to meow occasionally.
These are all fun things to do in an elevator.
And then you might want to wear a puppet on your
hand and use it to talk to the other passengers.
Now just suppose you were in an elevator with
someone acting that way. What would you want
more than anything else? To get out of there.
Of course, you would want, let's get out of here.
You would want to run. And you wondered how I
was going to get to my sermon this morning, this
is it, because we're going to talk about a wonderful
Christmas name, and that is the name for Jesus
of Savior. Because the Savior is someone who
comes to rescue you, to get you out of that situation
that is more than uncomfortable, that is right
down dangerous and perilous to your soul. I invite
you to open your Bible with me to Luke chapter
2. Here we have the familiar account of the birth
of Jesus. And to the shepherds in their fields
outside the city of Bethlehem, the angels appeared
and made an announcement. In verse 10, the angels
said to them, do not be afraid. I bring you good
news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been
born to you. He is Christ the Lord. Notice that
statement, a Savior has been born to you. A Savior
is one who rescues another. It may mean pulling
a person out of a burning house or dragging an
unconscious individual out of a wreck. It could
involve paying off a debt that jeopardizes another
person's future or intervening to get someone
out of prison. There are many ways in our contemporary
culture in which a savior might be illustrated.
I think we have a good one in the New Mexico
congressman Bill Richardson, who was this week
appointed to be the new UN ambassador. Mr. Richardson
has gone around the world in several situations
to negotiate for hostages and most recently was
able to secure the release of a young man who
was imprisoned in North Korea. Apparently he
was a Christian, a new Christian, and in his
zeal to serve the Lord he went to Korea and broke
some laws and witnessing and passing out literature
and they put him in prison for it. And this congressman
was able to rescue him. Well, there is an illustration
of a savior. But the word savior is used uniquely
of one person, really, in the history of the
world. This one was also given the name Jesus,
or Jehoshua, which means Jehovah saves. And the
reason, said the angel, that he was given that
name was that he would save his people from their
sins. When we talk about this glorious Christmas
named Savior, we're talking about it in reference
to one who was in another class of Saviorhood
altogether than the illustrations I used earlier.
For Jesus, in a singular way, is God's only Savior
for the condemned human race. There is no other
Savior but Him. and there is no other salvation
for the human race but that which this Savior
provided for. As it says in Acts chapter 4 and
verse 12, salvation is found in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given
to men by which we must be saved. This morning
before we go our way and shovel some more snow,
I suppose, I'd like for us to consider three
facts, three crucial facts, about this one who
is our Savior. The first fact is this, that a
Savior is aware. A Savior is someone who knows
the need. He's able to grasp the peril that another
person is in. Not only does he know it, but he
He feels it, and he cares about it. Now this
may seem to you rather obvious, but I want to
reiterate that it is a crucial fact. For one
who would rescue must first know the facts of
the peril before he can rescue. The first occurrence
of the word savior in the Bible underscores what
I'm saying. The first time the word savior is
used is in Deuteronomy chapter 32. Let me read
to you some verses from that chapter. The Lord's
portion is his people, Jacob, his allotted inheritance.
Listen to these words now. In a desert land,
he found him. God found Jacob, Israel, in a barren
and howling waste. He shielded him and cared
for him. He guarded him as the apple of his eye,
like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers
over its young, that spreads its wings to catch
them and carries them on its pinions. Notice
all of those verbs that describe God coming to
the rescue of his people. Later in the paragraph,
it says, however, that Jeshurun, which is a poetic
name for Israel, it means the beloved one, Jeshurun
grew fat and kicked. Filled with food, he became
heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made
him and rejected the rock his Savior. That's
the very first time the word Savior is found
in the Bible. And you see it's in conjunction
with how God intervened for Israel, although
Israel did not in the end submit to him. It's
referring back to the time when God delivered
Israel from Egypt. Listen to these words again
from Exodus chapter 3. Then God said, I am the
God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. At this, Moses
hid his face because he was afraid to look on
God. The Lord said, listen to this now, I have
indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.
I have heard them crying out because of their
slave drivers, and I am concerned about their
suffering. So I have come down to rescue them.
You see my point here? The one who would be a
Savior must be aware of the situation. We see
the illustration in the fact that God was aware
of Israel's trouble in Egypt. God had seen their
misery. He had heard their cries. His heart was
concerned about their suffering. He is the Rock,
the Savior of Israel. But I want you to know
that our Savior was aware of our need when He
came into the world. Of course, as the eternal
God Himself, He understood fully the judgment
we were under because it was His own judgment.
It was the condemnation that He Himself had to
pronounce upon us because of our sin and rebellion
against Him. He knew. He knew the peril of our
souls. And He was concerned for us. And that's
why He came. That's why he came down to rescue.
He was aware. But the second crucial fact for
a Savior is that a Savior not only knows the
situation, he is able, he is qualified to do
something about it. Both things are necessary.
One who would be a Savior not only has to understand
the danger, he has to be able. to do something.
Jesus' mission was to rescue sinful sinners from
God's holy wrath. This rescue that he came to
carry out must necessarily mean his own death.
And why is that? Because nothing will avert or
deflect or nullify God's judgment. God's judgment
calls for death upon the sinner. The soul that
sins, it shall die. The wages of sin is death.
And that judgment must be carried out. God's
wrath must be satisfied in order for those that
are under the judgment, under the wrath, to be
rescued from it. That is the only means by which
a sinner can escape his peril. God cannot merely
overlook the sin God cannot merely ignore the
sin The sin has to be dealt with it has to be
paid for Someone must die the sinner or his Savior
And when Jesus came he knew that for Jesus to
be able to act as our Savior He must have to
essential positions. First, he must be in a position
to represent us. He has to be in a position to
represent the interests of humanity. When he
would die, he could not merely die for one man.
He had to die for all men. He must be a man who
could act as a representative of all of the rest
of his race. just as Adam did in the garden when
he was tested and failed. The one who would come
to be our Savior had to come in the likeness
of Adam so that he could represent all of us.
He had to be in a position to represent man.
That's why he was born in the manner that he
was. For unto you is born this day in David's
city, a Savior. He had to come into the human
race as one of us. He had to be in a position
to represent our interests. But the second position
that he had to have was that he had to be in
a position to represent God's interests. This
one who would be the Savior had to be righteous
according to God's holy law. He had to be one
who was undefiled by Adam's sin. He had to be
one who would voluntarily accept the role as
a substitute for the guilty. He had to represent
the interests of God. The wonderful truth is
that Jesus perfectly and uniquely filled both
of these positions through the miracle of the
incarnation. He came to live, to exist as man.
And as we've talked in the last couple of weeks,
without our sin, because of his unique virgin
birth. But he was born as a man, yet without
our sin. At the same time, he continued to exist
as infinite God, as infinite God. Therefore,
He was infinitely righteous. And when he, the
infinitely righteous one, would suffer and die,
he would die an infinite death, thus satisfying
the wrath of God for all of humanity, not just
one. And so the Apostle John writes, he is the
atoning sacrifice. for our sins. And not for
ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world. Later he says, this is love, not that
we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His
Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. That
new international version translation, atoning
sacrifice, means propitiation. He is the propitiation.
for our sins. That is an old word for us. It
comes out of the old English as a matter of fact.
It means to appease. Thus, propitiation expresses
the idea that when Jesus died on the cross, he
died to appease God's wrath. He died to satisfy
God's wrath. He died to pay the price for sin,
which a holy God demanded of man the sinner.
Originally the idea of propitiation was a pagan
idea. In pagan thinking, one who would appease
their gods was one who would bring a sacrifice
of his own hands or offer his own blood by splitting
himself or doing something to appease God's wrath.
In putting this word into the New Testament,
God picked up that word and washed it off and
sanctified it and gave it a new setting. For
in the New Testament, it's not what we do to
satisfy God. It is this wonderful truth that
God demanded the price and then paid it himself.
This holy God pronounced the judgment of death
upon sinners, but then came into the world himself
to pay that price and to satisfy His own judgment.
There's a wonderful truth. A Savior must not
only be aware, He must be able. Jesus Christ
is supremely able because of His unique person
as God and man to represent both and thus to
rescue the sinner justly. But there's a third
crucial fact I want to get to regarding saviorhood.
A savior is aware, a savior is able, and thirdly,
a savior is actuated. That is, he's not only
able to save, he does save. He is motivated to
intervene. He takes the steps that are necessary
to rescue those who are in danger. And the wonderful
good news that we have from God's Word is that
Jesus did all that was necessary. Listen to the
words of the writer of Hebrews. When Christ came
into the world, he said, quote, sacrifice and
offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared
for me. With burnt offerings and sin offerings,
you were not pleased. Then I said, here I am.
This is God the Son speaking to the Father. And
He is recounting what happened when He came into
the world. And He says, you were not satisfied
with the burnt offerings and the sin offerings.
And my response, Father, was, Here I am. Here
I am. And you prepared a body for me. It is written
about me in your scroll. And I have come to do
your will, O God." What a wonderful response
of our Savior. For he not only understood the
peril of our souls, not only was he able to save
us, but he actually came and undertook that work.
I have come to do your will, O God, and the writer
of Hebrews goes on to say, and by that will,
we have been made holy through the sacrifice
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. By
God's will. We have been made whole Listen to
the words of Jesus in John chapter 10. I am the
Good Shepherd I know my sheep and my sheep know
me Just as the Father knows me and I know the
Father and I lay down my life for the sheep Again
he says later I lay down my life Only to take
it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay
it down of my own accord He acted on our behalf.
He laid down His life. He went to the cross.
And there He made the propitiation. There He
pleased God. There He satisfied God. Just demand
His condemnation upon us so that He might save
us. Not only did He die though, But what? He
rose from the dead. He was raised from the dead.
His saving death was necessary, but so was his
resurrection, and now he lives to apply the salvation
that he purchased at the cross. So the writer
of Hebrews says earlier in the book, because
Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.
Therefore, He is able to save completely those
who come to God through Him because He always
lives to intercede for them. Our Savior was actuated.
He was motivated. He came down. He offered the
sacrifice. He was raised from the dead. He was
exalted to the heavens. And today, He is carrying
out the work of saving those who come by faith
in Him. Jesus is God's only Savior for the world.
I began with that and I close with that. That
Jesus is God's only Savior for the world. The
human race, and that includes all of us, is under
the just condemnation of God for its rebellion
against him. The human race is under the sentence
of eternal death in hell. And that includes you
and it includes me. But Jesus is aware of our
peril. He is able to rescue us from our damnation.
He is actuated to intervene. And He is able and
available to save anyone who will come to Him
right now. As I envisioned this Sunday morning
and prepared this message. I envisioned a larger
crowd than this, and I envisioned Christmas visitors
who would be here at this season and who would
need to hear this message. But you know something?
Every one of us who knows the Savior not only
loves to hear this message again, but we need
to hear this message again. We need to fall upon
our hearts with a certain freshness. Because
we hear this and have heard it so much throughout
the course of our lives, that it becomes almost
common and ordinary. It is good for us to be
reminded, I hope in a fresh way, that we have
a Savior because we needed one. And that Savior
who delivered us from the guilt of our sins when
we trusted Him is able also to deliver us from
the power of sin. You see, He was not only the
Savior when I was nine years of age and trusted
Christ, and when you trusted Christ of whatever
age and wherever that was, but He is still our
Savior. He is saving us today and every day from
the power of sin in our lives. And one day, thank
God, He's going to come again and save us from
the presence of sin. As we enter into this very
heart of the Christmas season, I hope that you
and I will be able to look up to the Lord afresh
and say, Jesus, thank you for being my Savior.
And Jesus, thank you for saving me today. from
the impulses of the sin that still is at work
in my body. Thank you for saving me today from
the transgressions where I have failed. Thank
you for saving me today from the circumstances
and situations I have gotten myself into in my
life. Because you see, not only was He your Savior,
He is. your Savior in mind. And He will continue
to be that until that day that we are safe at
home in glory with Him. Martin D. Hahn, who has
inherited the work of the radio Bible class,
a great ministry in Grand Rapids that many of
us are familiar with, from the Day of Discovery
television broadcast wrote an article a couple
of years ago in which he was talking about D
-Day in Europe and what it meant to the Europeans
to have the Allied forces land on the beach.
Within the course of just a few weeks a million
soldiers from the Allied forces were there to
liberate Europe. Let me have this to say, each
year in December we celebrate the anniversary
of another D -Day. Although it was also the beginning
of a campaign that would liberate millions from
the most evil empire the world has ever known,
this invasion army controlled space did not begin
with the roar of amphibious troop carriers or
the deafening explosions of incoming fire. This
invasion, he says, began with the cry of a newborn
baby. Through the unwitting actions of a godless
king and the confusion of a young couple whose
dreams were interrupted by an unplanned pregnancy,
Kevin established a beachhead in Bethlehem. And
30 years later, that son would sacrifice his
own life to carry out the greatest liberation
the world would ever know. That's a savior. That's
a savior. And I like his statement, that God
established a beachhead in Bethlehem and 30 years
later carried out the liberation and the ramifications
of that are still being felt around the world
and can be felt in your heart today if you have
not experienced that liberation if you have not
yet experienced what it means to be rescued from
the guilt and the condemnation of sin you may
experience that today. And there only may be
one person here in this small crowd this morning
who has not done that. But Jesus knows your situation.
And He loves you. He cares. And He's able to
do something. He has acted on your behalf and
now He's available for you. Just one person.
if you will open your heart and receive Him as
an act of faith. Will you do that today? Will
you trust Him? Will you receive God's Christmas
gift to you? For unto you also, to you, a Savior
has been born. Let's pray together. And if there
be someone here who does not have that personal
relationship with Christ who has not experienced
his saving act in your own life. I want to invite
you to come up afterward and to greet me. And
to say, Pastor, I'd like to know more about what
you were talking about. I'd be glad to make an
appointment with you to talk later today or this
week. To give you an opportunity to You don't
need to wait until later this week. You can do
it right now. You just open your heart and say,
Lord Jesus, I invite you to come in. I understand
that you're my Savior. You're God's only provision
for my salvation. So I receive you into my life.
Forgive me of my sin. Wash me make me clean your
eyes Friends when you do that Jesus begins to
live in you And he will keep on saving you from
the ravages of sin and the patterns of sin in
your life And one day will take you home Where
you won't need to deal with sin at all anymore
Father, I thank you for Jesus, that he was born
for us, that he might rescue us from the condemnation
we so richly deserve. Thank you that in him we
have been liberated. Help us to live that way
this week. Help us to experience the saving life
and power of Jesus as we walk through the week
ahead and and show Him, and demonstrate Him to
others around us. Would you stand with me please,
and with our heads bowed, let's sing this little
chorus. All of my heart, take all of my heart,
Lord Jesus, let's sing that. All of my heart,
all... All of my heart, take all. You are worthy
of all of our devotion, all of our hearts. So
receive our worship and receive our devotion
as we go from here this morning. Thank you for
bringing us safely here to worship. And now would
you bless as we continue in fellowship or get
on the roads and travel, would you bless with
the joy of your presence. God bless you. Thank
you again for being here this first service this
morning.