Christ is Our Hope: From Beginning to End!
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
If you’d like to follow along, we will be in Luke 1 this morning.
I am looking forward to sharing a meal together as a church after the service.
A wonderful Christmas fellowship meal that I truly enjoy.
Christmas, is by far, my favorite time of year for many reasons.
It is a time of great hope.
It is a time to reflect upon the goodness of God manifest in our families, friends, loved ones.
It is a time of prayer that our loved ones that know the Lord would be strengthened…
And, our loved ones who do not know Christ would come to know Him.
It’s a time to celebrate.
And all of our celebrations should prompt us to the worship of the Lord.
And, what undergirds all of these emotions, delights, and prayers in this time of year…
—> And, what makes hope, in this time of year, possible…
Is the grace of God in the incarnation of the eternal Son of God.
Without this historical event, without this gracious plan of God…
—> Executed and fulfilled perfectly in Jesus Christ…
Not only would the Christmas season be hopeless…
But, all of the rest of the year would be as well.
As we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the hope that we have.
And, that hope is not an emotion.
—> That hope is a person, and our hope’s name is Jesus Christ.
This morning, what I want to do is look at the message that the Lord speaks to Mary, through Gabriel.
And, then I want to emphasize the significance of the participants of this visitation.
So, I want us to read…
Read
Read
Luke 1:26–38 (ESV)
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 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.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
The Greeting
The Greeting
We’ll come back to the persons of this story later…
But, the angel Gabriel comes to Mary, and says…
28 … “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
This is not like our hello or good morning.
The word translated Greetings is actually an imperative verb.
It is a command.
It is a common greeting, but it is more properly a command to rejoice or behold as in pay close attention.
“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
This word for favored one is from the root word translated grace.
It is used in the NT as a divine act of God bestowing grace upon someone.
So, this is not to be understood as Mary somehow earning a favor from God.
Or Mary somehow living such a meritorious life before the Lord that He chose her based on her qualifications.
This is a message from the Lord that Mary has been blessed by God’s grace being poured out upon her.
Grace is receiving what you do not deserve.
Now, in what way has the Lord’s grace appeared to Mary.
Gabriel tells her…
“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
This is the most gracious words one can hear.
The Lord is with you.
Is there better company than the Lord?
Is there anyone you’d rather have on your side?
Is there anyone you’d rather serve than the Lord?
Is there any other mission you’d rather pursue?
This kind of message is one that comes when the Lord has a work for you to do…
—> And, you can be guaranteed of the success.
This message came to the Judges when they were to judge.
This message came to the Kings and warriors when they were about to win the battle because the Lord was fighting ahead of them.
Mary’s attention is not being directed to a what…
—> Not a circumstance to hope in.
But, to a person.
—> To the personal agency of the Lord who is with her.
And, now this message has come to Mary.
—> No details yet.
A profound, magnificent message that God’s grace has fallen upon her and that He is with her for the success of the mission.
—> Her mind has to be racing.
What kind of mission am I about to be given?
I’m just a young woman in, what was considered, an insignificant town.
She’s not of royalty.
She’s not wealthy.
She’s not from a powerful, political family.
What could this message mean for her?
We’re told…
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
Why is this happening?
What can this mean?
How is my life about to change?
Then we read…
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Do not be afraid is an imperative.
Gabriel is commanding Mary to fear not.
Fear not because the grace of God is upon her.
favor same word as before, it is the word for grace.
The grace of God is upon Mary.
And, now we’re told the mission that God has graced Mary with…
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Lots of details here that we’ll zero in on…
But, first look at Mary’s response…
Luke 1:34 (ESV)
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
Mary is thinking…wait I’m not pregnant.
—> So, how can this happen?
How am I supposed to have a child?
I’m a virgin, and plan on staying this way until my marriage to Joseph.
Now, I want us to look at the persons of this message from the Lord…
The Virgin
The Virgin
In v.27 we’re first told some qualities of the recipient of this message.
The Lord sent Gabriel…
Luke 1:27 (ESV)
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
Now, the details that we are reading are not mere information that is new to this revealing.
It’s new—> that these details will occur to Mary.
But, these details, had long ago been promised by the Lord.
Matthew states it like this, when speaking to Joseph…
Matthew 1:21–25 (ESV)
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). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
So, the word virgin being used by Luke three times of Mary is meant to take our minds back to a promise God made that would be a sign to the house of David.
(v.35 as well)
I want to read this specific passage from Isaiah…
Isaiah 7:10–14 (ESV)
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
The once united Kingdom of Israel was divided after Solomon’s death.
The northern kingdom was known as the Kingdom of Israel.
The southern kingdom was known as the Kingdom of Judah.
The northern kingdom aligned itself with Assyria and both were coming up against the southern kingdom of Judah.
King Ahaz is the king of Judah at this time and he was very fearful of the Assyrians coming up against him.
In vv.7-9 the Lord reminds Ahaz that:
the head of the northern kingdom is a mere man.
the head of Assyria is a mere man.
The implication is that Ahaz, the king of Judah, is the son of David.
—> And, David has the promise of God.
And, then God calls Ahaz to trust in Him and he will succeed.
—> Fail to trust and he will fall.
God is patient with Ahaz’s fear and tells Ahaz to ask of Him a sign.
There’s no sign that I won’t give, says the Lord.
I will move heaven and earth as a sign, just ask.
Ahaz then refuses to believe, refuses the Lord’s command to ask a sign.
And, then God speaks reproach upon Ahaz and the whole house of David.
David and his house has failed to produce an heir on their own who is the perfect king, nor the golden age…
But, actually, what has been produced is the opposite.
And, then God speaks in…
Isaiah 7:14 (ESV)
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
The true perfect King who will usher in the golden age will come from Me, says the Lord.
I will cause a virgin to conceive and His name will be “God with us.”
A virgin out from among the people of Israel will bear a son.
Now, there’s another character in the passage this morning that I want us to look at…
The Angel Gabriel
The Angel Gabriel
An angel we know, but know very little about.
The angel Gabriel announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah.
But, another place we know the angel Gabriel from is important to this passage.
We find Gabriel as the angel who interacts with Daniel.
And the message Gabriel delivers from the Lord…
And, the vision that Daniel receives and interacts with Gabriel over is significant, as well.
In this morning’s passage in Luke we read some important words…
Luke 1:32–33 (ESV)
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Here we see the Son who is born of the virgin will be:
the Son of the Most High
the fulfillment of the promise of an eternal Davidic king
the divine King whose kingdom never ends
Now listen to the vision of Daniel, the very book that we know Gabriel from…
Daniel 7:13–14 (ESV)
13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
And, now Gabriel is the angel that the Lord sends to Mary to tell her of the qualities of her Son.
—> This is no coincidence.
This is providence, meant to invoke our belief in the God who moves heaven and earth to keep His promises.
All of these characters, and all of these qualities are meant to paint a picture of the long standing promises of God…
And, His worthiness of our trust in all of His promises.
The final character I want us to look at is…
The Son of God
The Son of God
We’re given qualities of the Son from the Lord by the mouth of Gabriel.
Luke 1:32–33 (ESV)
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
In Isaiah 7, God says the the true idealic King will be from Him through a virgin.
A fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 which says the Savior will come from the seed of the woman.
The fulfillment of the Davidic line is to be the Son of God.
Psalm 2 tells us that the throne will be given to the divine Son.
This divine Son will be great, meaning righteous and good.
And, He will reign forever and His kingdom will endure forever.
No enemies will ever win a battle against it.
NT…I will build my church (my Kingdom) and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
The true and better Adam.
The true Son of God.
The true ideal Man in the image of God.
The true righteous King who will usher in the golden age…
—> Eternal life. Life as it was meant.
—> A righteous, eternal kingdom.
—> Life with God, reconciled and adopted as children.
This is who and what we celebrate at Christmas.
John 1:1 (ESV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 (ESV)
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Closing
Closing
The only proper response to the Lord’s will is what we see in our passage…
Luke 1:38 (ESV)
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.
We, just like Mary are sinners blessed by the Lord to be His servants.
And, we recognize that His will is the best will
The comfort that we have goes back to the beginning promise of God…
Luke 1:28 (ESV)
28 …“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
For everyone in Christ, this is true.
We are favored in that we have been blessed to be in Christ by the grace of God.
And, because of this, the Lord is with us.
He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Let’s celebrate Christ!
Invitation to Fellowship Meal
Invitation to Fellowship Meal
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
