SERMON GMT14-022
SERIES: Topical Messages:
Christmas
SETTING: North Kelso Baptist Church
SERVICE: Sunday AM (Dec 7, 2014)
SUBTITLE: The Real Meaning of Christmas (Part 1)
SCRIPTURE: Philippians
2:5-7b
SUBJECT: God became a man
SUMMARY: God became man in order to redeem the human race from sin.
SCHEME: that believers appreciate the incarnation of Jesus Christ
_____________________________________________________________
Our theme is: God became a man
This
is a good reminder for us all that as the Christmas season approaches with all
of its frenzied excitement, we do not lose sight of the true or the real
meaning of Christmas.
Proposition: God
became man in order to redeem the human race from sin.
Interrogatory Sentence: What does God want us to know
about the incarnation of Jesus Christ?
Transitional Sentence: The
passage before us identifies four (4) aspects of the incarnation of Jesus
Christ. As we develop our theme we will clearly see the real meaning of
Christmas.
The
Real Meaning of Christmas is seen in:
1. The Person of the Incarnation 3. The
Purpose of the Incarnation
2. The Product of the Incarnation 4. The Prize of the Incarnation
The Real
Meaning of Christmas
Philippians 2:5-7b
(Part 1)
INTRODUCTION
1. What do people think the modern
day Christmas is all about?
In a survey conducted by ComRes on behalf of Theos in October 2011 the following results were obtained to tell us what people about Christmas:
·
83% agreed that Christmas is a about spending time with family and
friends (Nothing religious, not about Christ – family & friends)
·
62% agreed that Christmas is a time when we should be generous to
people less fortunate than ourselves. (one time a year think of poor)
·
41% agreed that Christmas is about celebrating that God loves
humanity. 24% disagreed with this (Christmas isn’t about God or about God’s
love)
·
40% said Christmas is a good excuse for taking time off and
doesn't really have any meaning today but 34 % disagreed with this. (It
has meaning)
·
Americans’
initial estimates of the total amount they will spend on Christmas gifts this
year point to an above-average holiday season for the nation’s retailers. While
Gallup’s October spending forecast is a warm-up to its key measure in November,
it finds Americans expecting to spend $781, on average, up from $704 last
November. (2014 numbers)
·
Of course holiday
spending does not end there. There are
trees to put up, packages to send out and decorations to buy. The following numbers are from a Forbes
article about what an average American typically spends during a Christmas
season…
·
Christmas Tree:
$41.50
·
Cards And
Postage: $32.43
·
Floral
Arrangements: $22.61
·
Food And Candy:
$95.04
·
Decorations:
$51.43 Travel: $960.50
A. DEVOTION TO CHRISTMAS
(Let’s look at the
devotion to Christmas both culturally & in Christianity)
[So,
let’s look at this devotion…]
1)
Culturally – our culture is devoted to Christmas
a)
The Christmas tree – the annual selection & decoration is epic
b)
The Decorations – inside & outside the house (contests, viewings)
c)
The Celebrations – family get-togethers & parties
d)
The Giving of Gift
2)
Christianity – is devoted to Christmas
a) Devotion is depicted in the
Nativity scenes & Manager scenes
b) Devotion is demonstrated in annual
pageants & programs
c) Devotion is displayed
towards Jesus Christ thru special worship
d) Devotion is defined by
special rituals & traditions
Most people are devoted to
Christmas. Especially those whom we come in contact
with in the church family. It is a fun time that produces lots of good and warm feelings among
families, churches, and communities. But misplaced
or miss defined devotion can cause us to miss the real meaning of Christmas.
[Culture
& Christians are devoted Christmas. But, Christmas can be desecrated also.
We can see Christmas and the Christmas season desecrated in at least three (3)
ways:]
B. Desecration of Christmas
1)
In the Commercialization of Christmas
a)
Price of Christmas economically
1)
Toys & gifts (thousands are spent on gifts)
2)
Decorations (bows, wrapping papers, ornaments, etc.)
3)
Parties (food, alcohol, candies, treats, etc.)
4)
Travel (busiest time of the year to travel)
5)
Food (3,000 calories; 22 M turkeys;1,76 B candy canes)
(Christmas
can be desecrated in the economically, but it can also be desecrated in the…)
b)
Production of Christmas socially
(1) Movies are made of “the
magic” of Xmas
(2) Much emphasis is placed on
the social aspect which distracts attention from the real meaning
[Christmas
can be desecrated by its commercialization, but Christmas can be desecrated…]
2)
In the Condemnation of Christmas
a)
Atheists – denunciation of Christmas
hymns or songs that mention Christ, the nativity, or anything remotely
connected to Christianity. Rudolph & Frosty are in, but heaven help the
little child say a Christmas prayer or sing Away
in a Manager.
b)
ACLU & Courts) – successfully barring
Parks, City Squares, Schools, and in some cases churches from displaying any
type of depiction of the Christmas story.
c)
Apostates – unrighteous man rejoices
in the giving of a savior but denounces the reason the little baby by was born
in Bethlehem in the first place – the fact that man is sinful and wicked
requiring a savior.
The
desecration of Christmas can be seen in its commercialization and in its
condemnation. But it can be desecrated…
3)
In the Condescension of Christmas
[The
condescension of Christmas can be see two ways. First in the…]
a)
Active Condescension of Christians
This is where
believers succumb to the world’s view of Christmas. They take on the meaning of the
fantasy and the mythology of Santa Claus,
the commercialization and etc. Some believers participate right along with those who would
destroy the holiness, the sanctity and the preciousness of this wonderful
historical event.
They get so wrapped
up (no pun intended) in the gift giving, receiving of presents, office parties, school parties, neighborhood and family get
togethers and the race into debt, rather than looking to the fact that our debt
of sin was settled because of the incarnation in Bethlehem almost 2,000
years ago.
[In
addition to active condescension by Christians, there is also the…]
b)
Passive Condescension of Christians
This is when
believers fail to defend Christ Jesus. Believers fail to uphold
the incarnation by failing to give witness to the real meaning of
Christmas. It is easy to say Merry Christmas, though I don’t know why you
would want to, or happy holidays to every person encountered, to enjoy
all of the sights and sounds of Christmas, give expensive and exotic gifts and fail
to mention the real meaning of the holiday.
Well,
since there is a prevalent devotion to Christmas by both believers and unbelievers,
and since we can discern a desecration of Christmas through commercialization,
through condemnation, and through condescension, do we as believers have any
relationship or duty towards Christmas at all? I think the answer is yes, so as
we finish up this introduction let’s look briefly at the believer’s
C.
Duty towards Christmas
I think believers have some important duties in regards to Christmas. I
think we can enjoy the season
and I don’t think we need to be the Grinch that stole Christmas. I think we do need to realize and recognize our
responsibilities or duties toward
Christmas. I think there are at least four (4) duties that believers have towards Christmas:
1)
Refuse to cheapen or degrade
Christmas by participating or promoting pagan rituals, mythology, and
celebrations. Start by teaching children that all gifts come from the Father of
lights or the Father above, not from Santa Claus or the North Pole. Santa
Clause does not watch them when they are sleeping nor does he know when they
have been bad or good. And he is not coming to town.
2)
Resist the temptation to listen to
godless philosophies, psychologists, or worldly advice givers who say it is
morally right to make up for years of hurt or parental mistakes by going bust
on extravagant gifts.
3)
Rescue at any at any cost the
holiness and sanctity of the real meaning of Christmas, or the reason for the
season. Be loyal and vocal and verbalize the message of God’s gift salvation
for His people.
4)
Remind our children,
grandchildren, family members, each other, and the members of our community at
large how to participate biblically and strategically in this cultural event
with the ability to worship and adore Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives.
Now, I know that some might object and say that
takes the fun out of Christmas. Critics may say that devotion to duty reduces Christmas
to a sterile ignoring of what is going on around us.
No, it gives us some much needed guidelines to do
all things decently and in order with moderation wrapped in obedience and
adoration of Jesus Christ.
So,
as we look at Philippians 2:5-11 over the next three (3), I want us to see the
real meaning of Christmas. This passage is probably the greatest and most moving
passage Paul ever wrote about Jesus Christ.
Our theme is: God became a man
This
is a good reminder for us all that as the Christmas season approaches with all
of its frenzied excitement, that we do not lose sight of the true or the real
meaning of Christmas.
Proposition: God
became man in order to redeem the human race from sin.
Interrogatory Sentence: What does God want us to know
about the incarnation of Jesus Christ?
Transitional Sentence: The
passage before us identifies four (4) aspects of the incarnation of Jesus
Christ. As we develop our theme we will clearly see the real meaning of
Christmas.
The
Real Meaning of Christmas is seen in:
1. The Person of the Incarnation 3. The Purpose of the
Incarnation
2. The Product of the Incarnation 4. The Prize of the
Incarnation
This morning, since we have
had such a lengthy introduction, we will only have time to look at the first
point. So without further delay, as we examine the real meaning of Christmas
let’s examine…
1A THE PERSON
OF THE INCARNATION (VSS 5-7b)
“…who, existing in the form of God…”
It is very important for us to see who was involved in
the incarnation. We know that
Mary played a tremendous part by serving as the vehicle of the incarnation. Joseph was a player by virtue of being
the husband and step-Father.
Both Scripture and history teaches us that a historical
person named, Jesus, was born in
Bethlehem about 5 or 4 BC. The question is, who is this person we know as Jesus?
[To discover the person of
the incarnation lets first dig into…]
1B The Concept of the Incarnation (6)
[The first thing we see is that the concept is…]
1C Stated in our text
The Greek word for form is the word morfh. It essentially means the outward display of the inner
reality or substance. Here in verse 6 it refers
to the outward display of divine substance.
It carries the idea of having the
essential attributes or characteristics of a
substance. In this case, it the outward form of inner deity.
[First of all the concept can be
stated…]
1D Philosophically
Aristotle in his definitions tried to distinguish
between form and matter.
But there is a relationship between essence and substance.
The idea of deity taking on
various forms or expressions was not
new with the NT. Greek religion was filled with gods taking on various
forms and even frequently changing forms. Legends state gods were present
in human form and magic, spiritual forces
take on the appearance of human bodies.
Some philosophers tried to deny
that deity would take on human
shape or form as unworthy of gods.
·
Socrates sought
to find deity in works, not a person
·
Plato argues that
the gods kept their own perfect form.
But we’re not dealing with
philosophy or man’s reasoning, we’re
dealing with God’s word and what he states.
[Secondly, the concept can be stated…]
2D Judistically
In the OT the idea of God having a perceptible form
was totally alien.
They did not conceive of God as having an identifiable form.
No prophet have ever seen God –
no image of God can be made.
Josephus in his writings often
scoffed at the idea of painters or sculptors
attempting to depict deity in any form.
The Rabbis had a very clear
sense that one could speak of the form
of God only in a very figurative way.
[For example – God was a…]
·
Pillar of smoke
or fire
·
Voice
·
Lightening
·
Thunder
So, stating the concept philosophically
or judistically can help us understand the idea of the incarnation. Secondly,
we can understand the concept as we see it…
2C Supported in our text
1D “I
and my Father are one.” (John 10:30)
The idea is that they are one
thing, essential unity, they have the same
qualities. Jesus is God because they have the same essential
qualities.
2D “…though
you do not believe me, believe the works that you may know and believe
that the Father is in me and I in him.” (John 10:38)
3D “Do
you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who
dwells in Me does the works.” (John
14:10)
4D “And
the glory which you gave me I have given them that they may be one just as We are one.”
(John 14:22)
5D “…without
controversy great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifested in the
flesh… foranw - ”to make visible” God
was made visible in the person of Jesus Christ.
6D “By
this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses
that Jesus Christ has comde in the flesh is of God, and
every spirit that denies that Jesus Chrit has come in the flesh
is not of God. And this is the spirit of anti-Christ…” (1 John
4:2-3)
7D “…who
being the brightness of His glory and he expressed image
of His person…” (Hebrews 1:3)
The “Who” here is the Son
(Jesus) referred to in verse 2 and the “His”
in this verse refers to God the Father, who was introduced
in verse 1.
What does the brightness of his
glory and the express image of his
person mean?
1E Jesus Christ emanated the Shekinah glory of God. The majestic
glory of God radiated from Jesus Christ was of the
same form – or essence, qualities or attributes as God.
2E caracthr
- character: impression, stamp, it refers
to an engraved
character or impress made by a die or seal. It also
indicates the characteristic traits or distinctive mark it
means an exact reproduction.
The writer of Hebrews is
stating that Jesus Christ is exactly the Father.
IOW, Jesus is God. The real meaning of Christmas is that the triune Godhead
became a man while remaining God in order
to be the sin offering for mankind. Jesus is God.
These seven different passages
that prove Jesus is God. Seven passages,
well at least 6 prove that Jesus knew He was God and He taught that He was God. The
Person of the incarnation was the
almighty, all majestic, and creator God.
Although denied by
philosophers, and unheard of in the OT and religion of the Jews, the concept is
easily proven and easily understood.
The concept is simple, Jesus
had the same form, quality, and attributes as God. Jesus was God.
Our theme is: God became a man
This
is a good reminder for us all that as the Christmas season approaches with all
of its frenzied excitement, we do not lose sight of the true or the real
meaning of Christmas.
Proposition: God
became man in order to redeem the human race from sin
[So, the second thing we dig
into is…]
2B The Character of the Incarnation (6b-7b)
First of all, not only does it say, Christ being in the form of God
(having all the
same essential qualities and attributes) we read further in vs 7:
“…did not consider it robbery to be equal
with God, but made Himself of no
reputation taking the form of a bondservant…”
The concept which we just looked at dealt with the
issue of the form that Jesus
had, his shape – the form or shape of God, Jesus had all the essential qualities of God.
The character centers on the issue of equality and
the emptying of Christ’s
glory. Jesus considered himself to be equal to or with God, and He laid aside his
heavenly glory in order to enter time and space as a man.
[So, let’s take a minute and
examine…]
1C The Equality of Christ
[I think it will help us to clearly see this equality
if we first see it…]
1D Identified
The word used here for robbery “uarpagmos” is used nowhere else
in the NT. The verb form is used only a few times.
This word was not the common
word for “being.” It describes that
which in any circumstance, remains the same. So Paul is saying that Jesus was
essentialy and unalterably God.
This form does not emphasize
the act of robbing or taking by force.
It refers to that which was robbed or taken. IOW, the prize, the plunder, the
loot. It came to mean something eagerly seized
or appropriated.
According to this definition,
it means something eagerly sought after
or eagerly seized. What is the thing eagerly sought after? Right, equality with God.
Jesus Christ is God! The real
meaning of Christmas is that God in
the incarnation became a man while remaining God in order to redeem
sinful mankind.
The word equal here is the word
isos which means the same in size, number, and or quality.
The RSV translated this phrase on an
equality with God instead of equal with God.
Their translation comes from
the Latin Version (Vulgate) of the NT
and the Latin had no adequate way of representing the exact form and
meaning of the Greek word.
But our rendering is more
accurate to prove in fact that Paul, the
early church and etc. understood Jesus to be God because Jesus
was of the same size, number and quality as God.
But look what God with this
equality. Remember, the word robbery –
which means to seize or eagerly seek after?
Even though Jesus Christ was equal to God or was God, He
did not allow this to stop him
from becoming a man or a servant in the incarnation.
[That should identify it for us, now for even more clarity,
let’s see this character…]
2D Illustrated
Remember the lame man that had laid by the pool of
Bethesda? He
couldn’t get in the pool in hopes of being healed because he was lame
and had been for 38 years. Jesus asks him a very strange question,
“Don’t you want to get well?”
Of course we all know his
answer, “I don’t have anybody who will
put me in the water. Jesus told him to take up your bed and walk
and what happened? He did!
But remember what day that
happened on? The Sabbath. The Jews
wanted to kill Jesus because he healed on the Sabbath.
But he replied something very
revealing about himself, about his
character and about his own knowledge of who he was – He said, “My father has
been working until now, and I have been
working.”
The Jews wanted to kill him all
the more, why? He not only broke the
Sabbath, but He said God was His father which to them clearly made him equal with God.
Why? Or really how? The son
(child) has the same qualities, attributes,
or characteristics of the Father.
Well, we have seen the
equality of Christ. Let’s finish up with…
2C The Emptying of Christ
“…but made Himself of no reputation…”
1D The Emptying kenwsis
The Greek word is kenow. It is from
this word that we get the word
kenwsis. Jesus became man in the incarnation emptied himself
of several things.
He did not give up his
omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence.
He laid aside his glory but did not give up his deity. He set aside
his glory as God for 33 years. He set aside and
refused to use all of the power he possessed as God temporarily.
This word was used of removing
things from a container, until the
container was empty. Or the pouring out of something until nothing
was left to pour.
Is it becoming a little more
clearer? Are you getting the picture? The
real meaning of Christmas is that God set aside His glory that
depicted God as God and became a man in order to save His people from their sins.
This is unimaginable! It is
unimaginable that God would do something
such as emptying Himself of all of His eternal, majestic,
and heavenly glory in order to take on the shape or form or
characteristics of a human being.
If there is anything such as
“Christmas” this is what Christmas is
all about. We cannot forget nor pervert this tremendous truth.
[Not only do we see the emptying
of glory, but we see…]
2D The Exchange by God
“…taking the form of a bondservant…”
How did He do this? He exchanged His glory for the
body and life
of a man. And not just any man, but a slave, a servant to mankind.
[Once again we see this clearly…]
1E Stated
God took on the form
of a man. This word form is used 3 times
in the NT, twice right here in our passage. God took
on the qualities, essence, nature, or the attributes of a slave or
servant.
[It is also…]
2E Supported
“…just as the Son of Man did not
come to be served but to
serve…” (Matt 20:28, NKJV)
“For who is greater, he who sits
at the table or he who serves. Is it not he who sits
at the table? Yet I am among you
as the One who serves.” (Luke 22:7, NKJV)
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given
all things into His hands, and
that He had come from God and was
going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments,
took a towel, and girded Himself. After that, He
poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciple’s
feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which
He was girded. (John 13:3-5,
NKJV)
The fact that the character
of the incarnation included the humility of Jesus, seen as he washed the
disciples feet like any common household servant, as he set aside his heavenly
glory and characteristics of his deity. God voluntarily for the benefit of His
people exchanged his heavenly position for an earthly slave.
This is the real meaning of
Christmas!
Our theme has been: God became a man
This
is a good reminder for us all that as the Christmas season approaches with all
of its frenzied excitement, we do not lose sight of the true or the real
meaning of Christmas.
Proposition: God
became man in order to redeem the human race from sin
[Well,
let’s wrap this up, shall we?]
CONCLUSION
Well, we didn’t very far today. But I hope you know a little more about
the Person of the Incarnation. It wasn’t just a little baby born in a manager
in a cave. It was God becoming a man while remaining God.
Christmas is a very wonderful time of the year. It carries a very specific
meaning for God’s people. Let’s not let the hustle and bustle, and the
well-meaning wishes of good cheer and happy holidays cause us to forget the
Real Meaning of Christmas.
[Exhortation…]
And So, I
exhort you as genuine believers to remember and be thankful to God
for The Person of the incarnation.
Remember
Isaiah said in Isaiah 9:6a…
“For unto us a Child is born….”
Let’s
pray! J
No comments:
Post a Comment