John Lloyd - Emmanuel God With Us Pt.1
/Music and singing by the congregation.
The Message
God With Us Changes Everything
Matthew 1:18-23
Pastor John Lloyd
December 17, 2017
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Principle: Immanuel means God has come into our lives through His son Jesus. Because Jesus is with us, it changes everything!
I. Jesus Christ is God.
Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Luke 1:36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:35, John 8:41)
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
“The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say God became Man. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this. …If the thing happened, it was the central event in the history of the Earth – the very thing that the whole story has been about. …In the Christian story God descends to re-ascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being in time and space and down into humanity; down further still if the embryologists are right, to recapitulate in the womb…down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him.” C.S. Lewis
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 1:2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Colossians 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
Psalm 130:8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Because Jesus is God, it changes everything!
II. Jesus Christ is human.
Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Isaiah 53:2b He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature [8] and in favor with God and man.
“For the Son of God to empty himself and become poor meant a laying aside of glory; a voluntary restraint of power; an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment, malice, and misunderstanding; finally, a death that involved such agony—spiritual even more than physical—that his mind nearly broke under the prospect of it. It meant love to the uttermost for unlovely men. . . .” J.I. Packer Knowing God
Philippians 2:5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Hebrews 2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Have you been lonely? Have you been betrayed? Have you been destitute? Are you grieving a great loss in your life? So has Jesus!
“The claim that Jesus is God also gives us the greatest possible hope. This means that our world is not all there is, that there is life and love after death, and that evil and suffering will one day end. And it means not just hope for the world, despite all its unending problems, but hope for you and me, despite all our unending failings.” Timothy Keller
Because Jesus is human, it changes everything!
III. God is with us through it all.
Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Mark 3:14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him
May we realize that God did all of this so we could be with him.
Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
No problem we face will ever be bigger than God who is with us.
Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
“Christianity says God has been all the places you have been; he has been in the darkness you are in now, and more. And, therefore, you can trust him; you can rely on him, because he knows and has the power to comfort, strengthen, and bring you through.” Timothy Keller
John 14:5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
"Despite our efforts to keep him out, God intrudes. The life of Jesus is
bracketed by two impossibilities: a virgin's womb and an empty tomb. Jesus
entered our world through a door marked 'No Entrance' and left through a
door marked 'No Exit.'" -Peter Larson, Prism (Jan/Feb 2001)
Because Jesus is with us, it changes everything!
Special Readings for this week:
Sunday: Matthew 2:7-8
Monday: Matthew 2:9
Tuesday: Matthew 2:10-11
Wednesday: Matthew 2:12-15
Thursday: Galatians 4:4-5
Friday: Ephesians 2:8-9
Saturday: 1 John 4:7-16