Amen. Thank you, Paul. I do want to say how much
we appreciate the work that you and your music
team did in the program on Monday night. You
enabled our worship to be one that was thrilling
to our hearts. I thank God for the gifts He's
given to you and the heart that He's given to
you to use those gifts for His glory in such
a magnificent way. Amen. Do you agree with that?
I don't know about you, but Johnny Hart is one
of my favorite cartoonists. He has a way of saying
things very succinctly, and I think it's today's
cartoon that was handed to me this morning from
DC. I won't take time to read you the whole strip,
but the first two frames are just marvelous.
There are two ants that are talking on a hill.
And the one ant says, who is Jesus, Dad? Daddy
Ant says, he's the reason for the season. The
little ant says, I thought Santa was the reason.
Daddy Ant responds, he is, if you prefer Nintendo
to Everlasting Life. Says it pretty well, doesn't
it? We've been looking together at the names
with Christmas glory from the Gospels. And this
morning we're going to turn again to the Gospel
of Luke in the second chapter, to the 11th verse
once more as well. The words of the angel to
the shepherds in the fields outside of Bethlehem.
Luke 2 verse 11, Today in the town of David a
Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the
Lord. He is Christ, the Lord. There are some
folks who are surprised to learn that Christ
is not Jesus' family name, that he was not born,
in fact, to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Christ. The name
Christ is actually a title. It is a Greek word
that represents the Hebrew word, Messiah, or
Messiah, as we say it in English. Whether you
say Christ or Messiah, the meaning is the same.
It is the anointed one. The anointed one. The
whole of the Old Testament. Do I need to use
something else? Okay, we'll do that. Thank you,
sir. A man of many gifts, including helping me
out of tight spots. In the Nelson Study Bible,
excuse me, this is the New Ungers Bible Dictionary,
it says, the whole of the Old Testament is to
be looked upon as bearing a prophetic character.
The idea underlying the whole development of
these scriptures and the life dealt with therein
is that of God's gracious manifestation of himself
to men and the establishment of his kingdom on
earth. This idea becomes more and more distinct
and centralizes itself more and more fully in
the person of the coming King, the Messiah. What
the writer in that article is pointing out is
that the Old Testament itself is prophetic in
character, but as you move through the Old Testament
the content becomes more and more focused on
a person, on a coming King who is called Messiah.
Let me give you one example of this in a book
that was written toward the end of the Old Testament
revelational period, the book of Daniel. Daniel
lived in the 500s, the 400s, or excuse me, the
500s early on, and some of the 600s. And this
book that bears his name was written either during
his lifetime by him or shortly thereafter reflecting
upon some of the things that he said and taught.
And Daniel, in the ninth chapter of his prophecy,
Has an amazing statement. I invite you to turn
there with me Daniel chapter 9 He is given an
understanding regarding the future of his people
the Jews the angel says to him Or the Lord says
to him through the angel Gabriel Seventy -sevens
are decreed for your people and your holy city
to finish transgression, to put an end to sin,
to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting
righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most holy." And so Daniel is
given this understanding that there is a period
of time to be numbered 490, and we understand
that to mean 490 years. for all of this to take
place regarding the Jews. And then it goes on
to say in verse 25, know and understand this,
from the issuing of the decree to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem, notice the words, until the
Messiah, until the anointed one, the ruler comes,
there will be seven sevens and 62 sevens, or
69 sevens, 483 years. An amazing prophecy. It
goes on to say, it will be rebuilt with streets
and a trench, but in times of trouble. And after
the sixty -two sevens, the anointed one will
be cut off and will have nothing. And the people
of the ruler who will come will destroy the city
and the sanctuary, and so on. Daniel has given
information here regarding two coming rulers.
One of them will be a ruler who will destroy.
We understand that ruler to be the yet coming
antichrist. But he mentions also the anointed
one, the Messiah. And he says that from the time
of the decree to allow for the rebuilding and
the restoration of Jerusalem until the coming
of the Messiah would be 483 years. Now folks,
that prophecy was literally fulfilled. That was
the period of time. But notice how Daniel here
is pointing toward a man, a coming ruler, the
Messiah. There was an expectation of the Jews
that one would come to deliver the nation of
Israel from her oppressors. One who would restore
the line to David's throne. A writer has said
in Jewish thought the Messiah would be the king
of the Jews, a political leader who would defeat
their enemies and bring in a golden era of peace
and prosperity. I'm going to take this microphone
off so I can at least be a little more free.
Notice that in Jewish thought there would be
a political leader. They understood the Messiah
to be primarily political. And in the centuries
surrounding Jesus' lifetime, there was in fact
a messianic fever among the Jews and the non
-Jews as well due to the Jewish influence upon
them in their cities. We observe this messianic
fever, for example, in the Pseudepigrapha, a
collection of writings, of Jewish writings from
the 300 -year period surrounding Jesus' birth.
In those writings, there is a key theme, and
that theme is the Messianic age and the coming
of a great ruler. We see it also suggested in
some secular literature. For example, the writings
of Virgil, the Latin poet who died in 19 BC.
By the way, that was the very year that King
Herod began the building of the temple in Jerusalem
that came to be known as Herod's... temple and
was the temple in Jesus' day. Virgil died in
the year that work began, but he wrote in his
fourth echelon of a child who would bring peace
to the world. Now that pagan poet probably picked
up that concept from the Jewish people who were
in the city where he lived. You see, there was
this expectation of a coming Messiah. But when
he came, He was not what they expected him to
be. They wanted a Messiah who would fulfill their
agenda. But Jesus came to fulfill God's agenda.
I come to do your will, O God," he said. Another
writer has said, Jesus understood that the Messiah,
God's anointed one, was to be the suffering servant.
The fact that Jesus was a suffering Messiah,
a crucified deliverer, was a stumbling block
to many of the Jews. They saw the cross as a
sign of Jesus' weakness, powerlessness, and failure.
They rejected the idea of a crucified Messiah.
Of course, the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians
makes it very clear that that message was a stumbling
block to the Jews and foolishness. to the so
-called wise Gentiles. This title of Christ was
not one that Jesus frequently used of himself.
He chose other titles that were also messianic,
but not the title of Christ, and yet consider
these words from Matthew chapter 26. The high
priest said to Jesus, I charge you under oath
by the living God. Tell us. if you are the Christ,
the Son of God?" He replied, Yes. It is as you
say. But I say to all of you, in the future you
will see the Son of Man sitting at the right
hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds
of heaven. Jesus understood exactly who He was.
And when He was asked, Are you the Christ? He
said, Yes. And they understood that because it
was for blasphemy then that they claimed that
they crucified him. Although Jesus did not use
the title himself, nonetheless it is one that
is clearly attributed to him in the Bible. The
one who was born and laid in a manger, who was
later crucified and who offered himself for our
sin, was none other than Christ. the Lord. Now
in Luke chapter 2, there are two significant
statements using that word Christ that I want
you to note. The first one is in the verse we've
read that the one who the shepherds were invited
to come and see was Christ the Lord. This is
an unequivocal declaration of His deity. He is
not merely Christ the coming ruler or Christ
the babe. He is Christ the Lord. He is God. But
let your eyes fall down a few more verses to
verse 26, where regarding Simeon, Luke says this,
it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he would not die before he had seen the
Lord's Christ. You see the difference in the
way it's put? First it is Christ the Lord. Now
it is the Lord's Christ. It's a different statement.
It means something different. Here we have the
unequivocal declaration of the distinction of
Christ from the Father. He who is God is also
God's Christ. And so we have a bridge into the
truth of God's triunity. that in God's oneness
there are three persons. By looking into the
Old Testament at the context of this name Christ,
we will understand even more what its significance
is for us. That context of the Old Testament
speaks of Christ the Anointed One as having three
offices. These offices align with the three offices
for which the Jews anointed people. There were
three of them. They were prophet and king and
priest. Those are the same offices that the anointed
one, Christ, fills. And so my first point this
morning is this, is that Jesus who is Christ
the Lord is prophet. He is the prophet. I invite
you to turn your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy
in the 18th chapter. Deuteronomy chapter 18.
Moses speaks to the people of Israel. And he
says in verse 15, for you a prophet like me from
among your brothers. You must listen to him.
For this is what you asked of the Lord your God
at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you
said, Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our
God, nor see this great fire anymore, or we will
die. The Lord said to me, What they say is good.
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from
among their brothers. I will put my words in
his mouth, and he will tell them everything I
command him." Moses, you see, foretells a coming
prophet like him. And the Jews anticipated this
prophet. I'm sure they did not fully understand
all that it entailed, but they believed that
there would come to them a prophet like Moses
who would deliver to them the pure words of God.
We see this, for example, in the first chapter
of the Gospel of John. I'd like you to turn there
for a moment. John chapter 1, where I'll begin
reading in verse 19. Now this was John's testimony
when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites
to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess,
but confessed freely, I am not the Christ. And
they asked him, then, who are you? Are you Elijah?
He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered,
no. Notice that. Well, if you're not the Christ,
then you must be Elijah. No, I'm not Elijah.
Well, are you the prophet? You see, they understood
that a prophet was coming. Finally they said,
who are you? Give us an answer to take back to
those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet,
I am the voice of one calling in the desert.
Make straight the way for the Lord. Some of the
Pharisees who had been sent questioned him. Why
then do you baptize if you are not the Christ,
nor Elijah, nor the prophet? You see even the
Pharisees, the religious leaders, were looking
for this prophet to come who would be like Moses,
then consider with me the correlation between
Moses and Christ. There are three of them. First
of all, they both revealed God. They both revealed
God. Moses revealed God through the law, Jesus,
in fullness of grace and truth. Secondly, they
both mediated a covenant. Moses mediated the
covenant of law and established the priesthood
of his brother Aaron and the sacrifices of the
Old Testament. He delivered the Ten Commandments
and the standards of God for personal morality
as well as for civil behavior among the people
of Israel. It was a covenant that was established
by blood. But Jesus also established a covenant.
A covenant based upon his own blood that was
shed. It's called the New Covenant and it's a
better covenant. But both of them mediated covenants.
Third, they both delivered their people. Moses
delivered the people of Israel from their bondage
in Egypt and Jesus delivers his people from bondage
to sin. So you see how Jesus is the prophet who
is like Moses. However, having said that, it
is important to realize that Jesus is greater
than Moses. As the author of Hebrews states in
the third chapter of that book, Jesus has been
found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just
as the builder of a house has greater honor than
the house itself. You see, Moses was a part of
the people of God, but Jesus was God who was
calling a people to himself. And so, as Christ,
my first point is this, that Jesus holds the
office of prophet. As prophet, he reveals God
to man. He is the full and perfect expression
of all that God is. He is the final and supreme
revelation. of God to humankind. The Apostle
John puts it this way in the first chapter of
his Gospel, verses 17 and 18. For the law was
given through Moses, grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ. No one has seen God, but God the
one and only who is at the Father's side has
made him known. And so Jesus is the full revelation
of God. He has led God who is invisible out into
view so that we can see Him in the person of
Jesus' life and His words. He is the expounder
of God to us. He is the prophet. And there is
no prophet that is greater than Jesus Christ,
and there is none in this sense. who comes after
Him. He is the Prophet. You and I live in a day
in which we're being told that all religions
of the world have some piece of the truth. That
if you're a person who is a follower of Allah,
a Muslim, that you're following God as you understand
Him and that's the truth for you. And if you're
a follower of Buddha, then you have a piece of
the truth as well. In Christians, we have a piece
of the truth. Everybody's got a piece. And in
the end, if we just follow that truth that we
have, we'll all come to the same God. My friend,
that is a lie out of hell. That is a lie out
of hell. Jesus Christ is the unique revelation
of God. And no one comes to God except through
Him, who is the prophet who has revealed God
to us. He is Christ, the anointed prophet. Secondly,
He is Christ, who is potentate. He's the King.
He is the powerful ruler whom God has appointed
as sovereign over all of creation. There's a
psalm that I want you to turn to. There's a key
messianic psalm. written by David. It's number
110 in your hymn book, in your psalter that is,
the book of Psalms. Number 110. The Lord says
to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make
your enemies a footstool for your feet. That
is an oriental expression. Kings who were conquerors
would ceremonially put their feet upon the necks
of those they had conquered. It meant that they
were supreme, that they were victorious. And
so the Lord says to my Lord, David writes, sit
here until I make your enemies a footstool for
your feet. The Lord will extend your mighty scepter
from Zion. You will rule in the midst of your
enemies. This is a statement regarding the fact
that Jesus Christ is the King, the potentate.
Perhaps this psalm was written by David as a
coronation song for his son Solomon, to whom
he was about to hand over his kingdom. Whether
or not that is true, we don't really know. What
is true? is that when David wrote it, the Holy
Spirit was causing him to write about a greater
descendant of his than Solomon. He was writing
about his son, the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus
understood this Psalm to mean that he was indeed
the Christ. in Matthew chapter 22. It says, while
the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked
them, what do you think about the Christ? Whose
son is he? They replied, the son of David. He
said to them, how is it then that David, speaking
by the Spirit, calls him Lord? For he says, the
Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until
I put your enemies under your feet. If then David
calls him Lord, how can he be his son? No father
who is the king is going to call his descendant
his Lord. And yet that's exactly what David does.
And it says no one could say a word in reply,
and from that day on no one dared to ask him
any more questions. In that context, they've
been trying to trick Jesus in some questions.
You don't trick the one who is wisdom incarnate.
And he turned around and asked them a question
that put them on the spot. They did not know
how to answer this question. But his use of that
psalm shows that he understood that psalm to
refer to him, himself. This truth that Jesus
the Christ is King is the bedrock of the Apostle's
faith. Jesus asked the question of his disciples,
who am I? Peter answered, you are the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Peter's understanding
grew of that, and when he stood on Mount, on
Pentecost Sunday and preached, He said, You see,
Peter. understood that Psalm 110 referred to
Jesus. And then he concludes by saying, Therefore
let all Israel be assured of this. God has made
this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.
Both Lord and Christ. He is Christ the Lord who
is potentate. He is the ruler. and one day he
will return to the earth and will deal with all
of those opposing him and claim his rights to
the throne of David. His scepter will be stretched
out in Mount Zion as it says right here as he
rules over the earth. In the book of Revelation
we have a view of that day when the seventh angel
sounds his trumpet and the loud voices in heaven
say the kingdom of this world has become the
kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he
will reign forever and ever. You see, as Christ,
Jesus holds the office of potentate, and as the
potentate, he reigns over all. There is nothing,
absolutely nothing, that is outside the realm
of his authority and reign. Even though we do
not yet see all things subjected to him, They
one day will be, because God has already declared,
sit at my right hand, and one day I will cause
all of your enemies to be a footstool under your
feet." That's the Christ. Now the third office
for which the Jews anointed was the office of
priest, and Jesus, as Christ the Lord, is also
priest. He's the anointed priest. Notice in Psalm
110 that David's kingly son is also appointed
and installed as priest. Look in verse 4. The
Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.
You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
The order of Melchizedek. Now you remember, as
I said before, there was a priesthood under the
law. and its duties belonged to the sons of Aaron,
who was of the tribe of Levi, the family of Levi,
one of Jacob's sons. Let me ask you, is Jesus
a Levite according to his birth? He is not. He
is not a son of Levi. He cannot be a priest according
to the old covenant, and he doesn't need to be,
because he has a greater covenant that he's put
into place. But Jesus is of the tribe of what?
Of Judah, exactly. Christ is not a priest according
to the law of Israel. Jesus is a priest according
to a higher law. His duties are aligned with
a superior order of priesthood, namely that of
Melchizedek. You remember from the Old Testament,
Genesis 14, that Melchizedek was a king -priest
of ancient Salem. In the Bible, he has no record
of lineage. There is no account of his death
or his birth. He has thus made a picture or a
type of an eternal priest, one who is forever
in that office. He's a picture of that. And Christ
now is a priest in his order. And it fits. It
fits because Jesus is one who is eternal. He
is appointed to a priesthood that is eternal.
Hebrews chapter 7 follows up on this by saying,
and what we have said is even more clear if another
priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has
become a priest not on the basis of regulation
as to his ancestry. But on the basis of the power
of an indestructible life, for it is written,
you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
The former regulation is set aside because it
was weak and useless, for the law made nothing
perfect. And a better hope is introduced by which
we draw near to God. And it was not without an
oath. Others became priests without any oath.
but he became a priest with an oath. When God
said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not
change his mind, you are a priest forever. So
the writer says, because of this oath, Jesus
has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
The Lord Jesus Christ is priest and he is able
to save completely. those who come to God through
Him, because He always lives to intercede for
them. As Christ, He is priest. And as priest,
He represents believers before God. You say,
well, why does He need to do that? What is the
purpose of His being a priest that appears before
God on our behalf? The answer to that is very
simple. He is there before God. as an eternal
demonstration of His adequacy in His once -for
-all sacrifice for the sins of the saints. You
see, Jesus will forever appear as the glorified
Lamb of God in the New Jerusalem. The radiance
from His own body will fill this massive planet,
really, that's called a city. and he will bear
the scars forever of his wounds. He will serve
as a priest, therefore, forever, telling all
of creation, all of the redeemed that what he
did on the cross was adequate for our sins. He
is the priest who offered up himself and then
rose from the dead that he might represent all
of us who come to God through him. In closing,
I want to say three things regarding an application
of these truths. That Jesus is Christ the Lord
is in the first place, truth that gains your
salvation. For you see, if he were not Christ
the Lord, he could not offer himself as a sufficient
sacrifice for sin. One writer has said, the message
of the early church centered around the fact
that the crucified and risen Jesus is the Christ.
They proclaim the scandalous gospel of a crucified
Messiah as the power and wisdom of God. John
wrote, who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus
is the Christ? You cannot know God except in
Jesus Christ. You may be a sincere follower of
some other religious leader or a guru But I can
tell you you cannot ever know God except through
Jesus Christ He is the prophet He is the sole
revelation of God by which we may gain eternal
life It is because he is Christ the Lord that
you can gain salvation because of who He is and
what He has done for you. There's a second truth
that Jesus is Christ the Lord is truth that guards
your future. That's truth that guards your future
because He is the King who must and who will
reign over an eternal kingdom. And by His authority
He is moving all of history and all of history's
people toward their appointed ends. And because
of who He is, as Christ the Lord, the potentate,
the King that God has installed, your future
is absolutely guarded. There is nothing that
can prevent you from being a part of the future
reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is
a third truth. That is that because Jesus is
Christ the Lord, your protection is guaranteed.
Your protection is guaranteed. He is a priest,
as I said, who stands before God. You say, well,
what if I fail? What if something comes into
my life that causes me to really wander from
God, and I fail Him, and I fall into sin? You
have a priest who stands before God on your behalf.
Dear friend, we all fail to a greater or lesser
extent every day of our lives, and we need one
who stands before God there as our surety, there
as our guarantee that we are kept safe in Him.
You and I do not have to fear what may happen
tomorrow. We do not have to fear that maybe we
will fail in the end. Jesus Christ stands before
God as our intercessor and our high priest, and
so your protection is guaranteed. As we make
our way through the remainder of this very holy
season of the year, I hope that this name of
Christmas glory is one that will sparkle with
new significance for your life. As you recognize
that he is not Christ the babe, he is Christ
the Lord who came as a babe. And because he is
Christ the Lord, he is God's anointed prophet
by whom we may come to know God. He is God's
anointed potentate who will reign and who is
moving all of history toward God's appointed
future. And he is God's appointed... priest who
stands on our behalf to guarantee that one day
we too will share the glories of heaven because
He is Christ. He is Christ, the Anointed One.
Let's pray together. We are called upon to surrender
to Him, to worship Him, to receive Him, that
we might partake of the benefits of this name.
Friend, have you received Christ as your Savior?
Do you know Him personally? Have you invited
Him into your life and trusted His sacrifice
on the cross as the sufficient sacrifice for
your sins? You cannot know God any other way.
He said, No one comes to the Father but through
Me. Would you in this Christmas season receive
Him into your life? You don't have to do anything
like join a church or be baptized or do good
deeds. Those things are fine in themselves, but
they gain you nothing in terms of a relationship
with God. That relationship is gained by faith
when you believe on Christ. Will you invite Him
into your life now? Allow your heart to be broken
before Him for your sin. Surrender yourself to
Him and receive Him. It's not the word you say,
it's the attitude of your heart. And those of
us who have done that, is He Christ, the Lord
of our lives? Is He reigning on the throne of
our lives now even though He's not yet reigning
on the throne that belongs to Him in the world?
Are you living a life of misery laden with guilt
over sins that Christ has paid for? Will you
recognize that? He is your priest. He stands
before God to guarantee your protection. Acknowledge
your sin. Come back to Him. Walk with Him. Lord
Jesus, help us to remember that You are the Christ.
And all that that means for us, and for the world,
for the universe, we worship You today. And we
receive You. And we surrender to Your Lordship
as Christ. Help us to represent you well in this
season. And as we visit with others and share
our lives, may we share you, the most important
part of our lives, and help others to see your
reality. If we pray in your blessed name, amen.