Jesus Christ Really Is That Awesome

December 22, 2019 · Hebrews

Listen Transcript Study guide Save

Series · Hebrews · Week 44 of 69

Scripture referenced 16 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

John 3:16-17 read aloud during the Advent candle lighting as the candle of Love reading

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse

Hebrews 1:1-4

the Exordium, used as the primary text to show that Jesus Christ really is that awesome

1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.

3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

4 having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Psalm 2

listed as one of the Old Testament proofs in Hebrews 1 pointing toward Christ

1 Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,

3 “Let’s break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision.

5 Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his wrath:

6 “Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”

7 I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.

8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

9 You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

10 Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

11 Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

12 Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

2 Samuel 7

listed as one of the Old Testament proofs in Hebrews 1 pointing toward Christ

1 When the king lived in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies all around,

2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but God’s ark dwells within curtains.”

3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart; for Yahweh is with you.”

4 That same night, Yahweh’s word came to Nathan, saying,

5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Yahweh says, “Should you build me a house for me to dwell in?

6 For I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt, even to this day, but have moved around in a tent and in a tabernacle.

7 In all places in which I have walked with all the children of Israel, did I say a word to any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’”’

8 Now therefore tell my servant David this, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over Israel.

9 I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make you a great name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.

10 I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will not afflict them any more, as at the first,

11 and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh tells you that Yahweh will make you a house.

12 When your days are fulfilled, and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up your offspring after you, who will proceed out of your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;

15 but my loving kindness will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.

16 Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.”’”

17 Nathan spoke to David all these words, and according to all this vision.

18 Then David the king went in, and sat before Yahweh; and he said, “Who am I, Lord Yahweh, and what is my house, that you have brought me this far?

19 This was yet a small thing in your eyes, Lord Yahweh; but you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come; and this among men, Lord Yahweh!

20 What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Lord Yahweh.

21 For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it.

22 Therefore you are great, Yahweh God. For there is no one like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

23 What one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, and to make himself a name, and to do great things for you, and awesome things for your land, before your people, whom you redeemed to yourself out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods?

24 You established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever; and you, Yahweh, became their God.

25 Now, Yahweh God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, confirm it forever, and do as you have spoken.

26 Let your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies is God over Israel; and the house of your servant David will be established before you.’

27 For you, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found in his heart to pray this prayer to you.

28 “Now, O Lord Yahweh, you are God, and your words are truth, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.

29 Now therefore let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, Lord Yahweh, have spoken it. Let the house of your servant be blessed forever with your blessing.”

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Deuteronomy 32

listed as one of the Old Testament proofs in Hebrews 1 pointing toward Christ

1 Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

2 My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb.

3 For I will proclaim Yahweh’s name. Ascribe greatness to our God!

4 The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he.

5 They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children, because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation.

6 Is this the way you repay Yahweh, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.

7 Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.

8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.

9 For Yahweh’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

10 He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye.

11 As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers.

12 Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.

13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;

14 butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.

15 But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation.

16 They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations.

17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread.

18 Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.

19 Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

20 He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.

21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

22 For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.

23 “I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.

24 They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.

25 Outside the sword will bereave, and in the rooms, terror; on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the gray-haired man.

26 I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;

27 were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this.’”

28 For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.

29 Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

30 How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?

31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves concede.

32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter.

33 Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps.

34 “Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures?

35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”

36 For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone; that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.

37 He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge;

38 which ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection.

39 “See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.

40 For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever,

41 if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me.

42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.”

43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people.

44 Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.

45 Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel.

46 He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

47 For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”

48 Yahweh spoke to…

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Psalm 97

listed as one of the Old Testament proofs in Hebrews 1 pointing toward Christ

1 Yahweh reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of islands be glad!

2 Clouds and darkness are around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 A fire goes before him, and burns up his adversaries on every side.

4 His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Yahweh, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

6 The heavens declare his righteousness. All the peoples have seen his glory.

7 Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you gods!

8 Zion heard and was glad. The daughters of Judah rejoiced, because of your judgments, Yahweh.

9 For you, Yahweh, are most high above all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods.

10 You who love Yahweh, hate evil. He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

12 Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous people! Give thanks to his holy Name.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Psalm 104

listed as one of the Old Testament proofs in Hebrews 1 pointing toward Christ

1 Bless Yahweh, my soul. Yahweh, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty.

2 He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.

3 He lays the beams of his rooms in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.

4 He makes his messengers winds; his servants flames of fire.

5 He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.

6 You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains.

7 At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away.

8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them.

9 You have set a boundary that they may not pass over; that they don’t turn again to cover the earth.

10 He sends springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains.

11 They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12 The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches.

13 He waters the mountains from his rooms. The earth is filled with the fruit of your works.

14 He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth:

15 wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man’s heart.

16 Yahweh’s trees are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted;

17 where the birds make their nests. The stork makes its home in the cypress trees.

18 The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

19 He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set.

20 You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest prowl.

21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.

22 The sun rises, and they steal away, and lay down in their dens.

23 Man goes out to his work, to his labor until the evening.

24 Yahweh, how many are your works! In wisdom have you made them all. The earth is full of your riches.

25 There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals.

26 There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.

27 These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season.

28 You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they are satisfied with good.

29 You hide your face: they are troubled; you take away their breath: they die, and return to the dust.

30 You send out your Spirit and they are created. You renew the face of the ground.

31 Let Yahweh’s glory endure forever. Let Yahweh rejoice in his works.

32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.

33 I will sing to Yahweh as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

34 Let my meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in Yahweh.

35 Let sinners be consumed out of the earth. Let the wicked be no more. Bless Yahweh, my soul. Praise Yah!

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Psalm 45

listed as Old Testament proof in Hebrews 1 pointing toward Christ

1 My heart overflows with a noble theme. I recite my verses for the king. My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.

2 You are the most excellent of the sons of men. Grace has anointed your lips, therefore God has blessed you forever.

3 Strap your sword on your thigh, mighty one: your splendor and your majesty.

4 In your majesty ride on victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness. Let your right hand display awesome deeds.

5 Your arrows are sharp. The nations fall under you, with arrows in the heart of the king’s enemies.

6 Your throne, God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.

7 You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

8 All your garments smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia. Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.

9 Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women. At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir.

10 Listen, daughter, consider, and turn your ear. Forget your own people, and also your father’s house.

11 So the king will desire your beauty, honor him, for he is your lord.

12 The daughter of Tyre comes with a gift. The rich among the people entreat your favor.

13 The princess inside is all glorious. Her clothing is interwoven with gold.

14 She shall be led to the king in embroidered work. The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you.

15 With gladness and rejoicing they shall be led. They shall enter into the king’s palace.

16 Your sons will take the place of your fathers. You shall make them princes in all the earth.

17 I will make your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Psalm 102

listed as one of the Old Testament proofs in Hebrews 1 pointing toward Christ

1 Hear my prayer, Yahweh! Let my cry come to you.

2 Don’t hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Turn your ear to me. Answer me quickly in the day when I call.

3 For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a torch.

4 My heart is blighted like grass, and withered, for I forget to eat my bread.

5 By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones stick to my skin.

6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I have become as an owl of the waste places.

7 I watch, and have become like a sparrow that is alone on the housetop.

8 My enemies reproach me all day. Those who are mad at me use my name as a curse.

9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,

10 Because of your indignation and your wrath, for you have taken me up, and thrown me away.

11 My days are like a long shadow. I have withered like grass.

12 But you, Yahweh, will remain forever; your renown endures to all generations.

13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for it is time to have pity on her. Yes, the set time has come.

14 For your servants take pleasure in her stones, and have pity on her dust.

15 So the nations will fear Yahweh’s name; all the kings of the earth your glory.

16 For Yahweh has built up Zion. He has appeared in his glory.

17 He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.

18 This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise Yah.

19 For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, Yahweh saw the earth;

20 to hear the groans of the prisoner; to free those who are condemned to death;

21 that men may declare Yahweh’s name in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

22 when the peoples are gathered together, the kingdoms, to serve Yahweh.

23 He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days.

24 I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations.

25 Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.

26 They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed.

27 But you are the same. Your years will have no end.

28 The children of your servants will continue. Their offspring will be established before you.”

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Psalm 110

listed as one of the Old Testament proofs in Hebrews 1 pointing toward Christ

1 Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”

2 Yahweh will send out the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule among your enemies.

3 Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth.

4 Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

5 The Lord is at your right hand. He will crush kings in the day of his wrath.

6 He will judge among the nations. He will heap up dead bodies. He will crush the ruler of the whole earth.

7 He will drink of the brook on the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Psalm 8

quoted in Hebrews 2 to contrast the smallness of mankind with the greatness of Christ

1 Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who has set your glory above the heavens!

2 From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;

4 what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?

5 For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet:

7 All sheep and cattle, yes, and the animals of the field,

8 The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

9 Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Hebrews 2:1-4

briefly noted as verses to skip over and return to later

1 Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away.

2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense;

3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation—which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard;

4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Philippians 2:5-11

read to show Christ emptying himself, taking on human form, and being exalted above every name

5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,

11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Galatians 4:4-5

used to show that in the fullness of time God sent his Son so that we might receive adoption as sons

4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,

5 that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

John 3:17

cited as the Advent reading, noting God did not send his Son to judge the world but that the world might be saved through him

17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

1 Thessalonians 5:23

used as the benediction, praying that spirit, soul, and body be preserved complete at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ

23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

This Christmas Sunday message stayed in Hebrews rather than moving to Luke or Matthew, working through the opening verses of the letter and into chapter two to show that the Christmas story is bigger and stranger than the familiar manger scene. The pastor used a simple refrain throughout: Jesus Christ really is that awesome. The whole sermon was an attempt to let that claim land with its actual weight.

What was said

The sermon opened with a question about why Christmas carries such high expectations, and the answer given was not sentimental. The reason Christmas matters is not that people need hope and find it comforting to place that hope somewhere. Jesus Christ really is that awesome. That is a factual claim, not a feeling, and even those who have trusted Him their whole lives have not come close to grasping how true it is.

Hebrews 1 laid out the foundation. God, who spoke to Israel through the prophets, has in these last days spoken through His Son. That Son is not just a teacher with good advice about loving neighbors. He is the one through whom God made the worlds, the brightness of God's glory, the exact imprint of God's person, upholding all things by the word of His power right now. Every one of those phrases was treated as a real description, not a poetic one.

When He had purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. That sitting down matters. The work was finished. It did not need our help, only our faith. And what He is doing now, seated there, is interceding for everyone who has placed their trust in Him.

Moving into Hebrews 2, the sermon shifted to Psalm 8 and the question of humanity. God crowned mankind with glory and honor and put all things in subjection under human feet, a tremendous responsibility handed over from the very beginning. The obvious follow-up question is how that is going, and the answer was plainly no, it is not going well. The world is not under humanity's wise and good authority in any way that anyone could honestly claim.

But the next move in the text is the pivot: "but we see Jesus." He was made a little lower than the angels, took on flesh, was born, grew, suffered, and died. Philippians 2 was read alongside this to fill in the picture of what it meant for an eternal divine being to empty Himself of His divine rights, take the form of a servant, and become obedient to the point of death on a cross. That is what Christmas is: the entry point of that self-emptying.

The "so that" clauses in the text were given careful attention. Christ tasted death for everyone, and His blood was entirely effective to pay the penalty for sin. But the "might" in those verses is grammatically subjunctive. The gift is given, but a gift has to be accepted. The pastor put it this way: his wanting Florine to play the piano does not make the piano make noise. The will of the recipient has to meet the will of the giver. The good news of great joy is going forth to all peoples, but it still stands on each individual soul.

Galatians 4:4-5 was brought in to close the argument. When the fullness of time came, at exactly the right moment, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that those under the law might be redeemed and so that we might receive adoption as sons, with all the rights of the heir. The adoption language was noted as significant: in that culture, adopted sons received the inheritance. Male and female together receive what belongs to Christ the heir. That is what is on offer, and that is why Christmas is worth what we make of it.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The pastor said that even those of us who have devoted our lives to Christ still don't fully grasp how awesome He is. Where in your own life do you find it hardest to hold onto that reality, and what tends to crowd it out?
The sermon described Jesus as the 'brightness of God's glory' and the 'express image of His person,' meaning Christ is exactly what God looks like in flesh. How does that change the way you read the Gospels and the way you think about God's character?

and 3 more questions in the guide

Open the study guide

Read the full transcript 6,541 words

Find in this transcript

0:02 Alright. Alright. Good morning, everybody. How are we? Good to see you this morning.

0:09 Shall we sing now of Christmas? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed?

0:15 No one.

0:15 Motion passes? Just kidding. Let's sing together.

0:57 Shepherds on a hillside, earthy angels sing. Oh, we honor praises due the infant king. Sing we. Sing we know where the king is born nowhere. Sing we now of Christmas.

1:22 Sing we now know where. In the town. In the town they found the son of Mary Mile. Sleeping in a manger was the holy child. Sing we know well, the king is born now.

1:49 Sing we now of Christmas, sing we now know well. Wise men sought. Wise men sought and found him. Treasures did they bring. By wing down they worship Christ the king of kings.

2:12 Sing with me. Sing we know well. The kings won't know where. Sing we now of Christmas.

2:39 Amen. Y'all can have a seat? I'm a borrow your mic for

2:42 a second. Please.

2:44 So, for some reason, y'all were singing with us and then you quit and then you started back up again. That was my fault. No. No. No.

2:51 That I would much rather be doing my job than doing your job, Blake. So, announcements this morning, here they come. Monday nights at First B. No, Monday nights. Oh, yeah.

3:03 It's it's we're going to do a Tuesday night this week. How about that? We're doing a Christmas Eve service, Tuesday night. It'll be two services, 04:30 and six in the evening. So, no Monday night service, no Awana this week.

3:15 The snowmobile retreat is still happening. We're not cancelling that for Christmas but January 24 through the twenty sixth is when that happens. Angel Tree, amazing. Sorry. Sorry.

3:37 This is our minute of silence apparently. We have had, there are so many different angles to this and not many people get to see all of em. I, it makes me anxious. Gift giving makes me anxious. I will say that.

3:52 That's that's one of the few things that I just have horrible gift giving exotic but my wife doesn't and she is the one that's kind of the center point person for this. So, the stories of your generosity and the stories of need that have been kind of we're we're in a position to hear more of those than anybody else and it's overwhelming. So, thank you for taking care of that. The last one of the last things for this Angel Tree is that we had shop with the cop has kind of morphed and evolved and instead of going to Kmart with a policeman, there was a dinner here the other night and Ashley Hull and Andy Pearson and a few other police or sheriffs that go to this church had all the rest of em here and they had some families with them and as they were leaving, all the policemen in town took the rest of the tax. Yeah.

4:44 And they brought most all the gifts have come back. So, the distribution, just pray that God would bless. He's blessed and physically obviously but that God would bless spiritually to to these families in need at this time and to those givers too. The generosity has been amazing. So, yeah.

5:04 I think that's it. There is a paper bulletin and there are lots of things listed in that. The main one for this coming week, Tuesday, 04:30 and six. If you want to seek, get here early. These are typically standing room only type events but also, if you are a member, regular attender of the church and you come often, would you please sit up front because that's the least used area of a church is the front row.

5:31 So, come on forward. In the overflow. And or go to the overflow. We'll have a room down here in the fellowship hall. There'll be overflow and you can sit down there, sing the songs.

5:42 It'll be live simultaneous with the other. So, just try to make space for visitors because there are some some sometimes in the year where there going to be a lot more of us here that are not normally here. So, make yourself uncomfortable so that they may be comfortable. Is that okay? Alright, thank you.

5:59 When do I want to do that right there? Let's do that right now. How about this is our fourth Sunday of Advent. So, I'm going invite our family forward. Here's Katie and Jeff and Annabelle Sage.

6:12 Alright.

6:44 God's inexpressible love are we not live now? The candle of Love. God's inexpressible love was demonstrated in the sending of his son. His love has led to our salvation, and we respond by loving and living for him.

7:06 John three sixteen to 17 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God's did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

7:38 Amen. Would y'all stand and greet one another?

11:21 All right, let's sing angels from. Angels from the realms

11:28 the world.

11:43 And worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn king Shepherds in the fields abiding Watching over your flocks by night God with man is now residing He undershines the infinite light Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ, our newborn king. Nations we have seen in little sire Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the new born king. Saints before the altar bending, watching long in hope and fear. Christ the new born king. Come and worship.

13:32 Worship Christ the new born king.

13:39 May I pray? God, we are here to worship you, to give you praise, to give you thanks, to remember your first coming, to look back at your first, to look forward to your next. You truly are the great desire of every nation. That one just struck me as we sang it. That all around the globe, your saints are worshiping you.

14:02 Why? Because you are worthy of praise. Amen.

14:19 In the bleak midwinter, all creation groans for a world in darkness frozen like a stone. Light is breaking in a stable full throning heat. And he sharing nevermore. And he sharing rivermore, rivermore unto us the child is born king of I would travel far. And if I were a shepherd, I would do my part before I am.

15:24 I will give to him my heart. And he shall reign forevermore, forevermore. And he shall reign forevermore, evermore. Unto us a child is born, the king of kings, lord of lords, and he shall reign forevermore,

17:15 Amen. Y'all can have a seat but I will invite the frontline team to come forward. God, thank you for this beautiful, beautiful season of the year when we do remember you that lord, we celebrate communion and we celebrate the life that you live but lord, it had it had a start in time and place though you are the agent of creation and though you were Lord Jesus, eternal from forevermore in the past to forevermore into the future. Lord, you have a time that you spent here and the fullness of time. God, I I thank you.

17:50 For those of us who are right now bound to it. We can't think of anything except for in this context of past, present, and future. Lord, we pay that we pray that you would use everything that has happened to us in our past. That you would apply it in the present, lord, for a great and glorious future, not just for us, trusting in the incorruptible hope of Jesus, but that we would be reflecting your light onto a world that is bleak. And dark.

18:23 And searching. And Lord may our lives highlight you in such a way. That it's undeniable. Why it is that it is. God, I thank you that you stepped in the time.

18:37 You stepped into this space. You left the glories of heaven and you came humbly to Earth. Lord, thank you. We celebrate that this season that as we will eventually be with with you lord and it's a hope that is an absolute certainty that has not yet come. Lord, we pray that on this Earth, we would submit your spirit and that we would humbly, humbly lay it before you.

19:04 Whatever it is, we would cast our cares and our anxieties upon you because you care for us and we would trust in you and that we live by faith in such a way that it would draw people to you. In Jesus name, we pray that you take these tithes and offerings that are going to be placed in these plates and that you do your will and your way from here to every people group on earth. Lord, do your will through us this morning. Amen.

19:34 Would you sing with it on this one?

22:06 Alright. It is time Children's Church is starting up downstairs. I'm sure they have a Christmas extravaganza going on. So, Oh boy. Is the first slide up So, have y'all ever updated your computer?

22:43 Have you ever been forced to update your computer? You got to a place where you just couldn't wait any longer. So, that's what had to happen this week and you know, the black screen and the loading and all that sort of stuff. That's been happening but we are at that place where we have updated and this was to be and will be, I hope. A responsorial or participatory participatory worship gathering.

23:13 So, it's not liturgy where it's a call and response exactly but if it's come up on the screen, there's a one particular slide I'd like you to read along with me but we are going to have our moment of silence right now. If you would, can we just center on Christ because Jesus Christ really is this awesome. God, I thank you for the way that you work. Would you? Would you do it?

23:44 Right here, right now, lord. Would you work in our hearts? I know that the spirit is to illumine scripture, to convict us of our own sin, to convince us of your righteousness, and to move. And direct us, Lord. May we be submissive to your spirit and the direction.

24:05 I thank you that your spirit is the power by which Jesus was raised from the dead and it resides among us. Lord, it resides in us. For those of us who have put our trust in Christ, you've promised it. So, lord, I pray that we'd be overwhelmed by your spirit this morning. In Jesus name.

24:28 We'll see. And if not, y'all can have another moment of silence while I go print out my notes. Because my notes are on the screen. I'm kinda trying to be honest with y'all about that. So, I'm gonna go get em.

24:53 I will. But I have a testimony that they'd like to share? Yeah. So, Blake's going to give me a thumbs up when we're when we think we're ready. Merry Christmas.

27:59 So, the expectations are so high this time of year, right? Have you all found that to be true? Why? Why? It's heightened.

28:10 We know that. So, why Christmas? Why is that? Well, I mean, it's obvious that it's Christ mass. It's Christ is why but it don't look like that necessarily.

28:20 It don't look like that everywhere but why Christmas for us, okay? Why is it that we're here this morning? Because Jesus Christ really is that awesome. He really is and it's true that he really is. Jesus Christ really is that awesome.

28:39 So, it's not just this existential feeling that we need hope and so we've placed it in something and it's helps us. No, he really is that awesome and I think even for those of us who have put our trust in him, we still don't get how awesome he is. We still don't completely understand how amazing Christ is but Jesus Christ really is that awesome. And the gift that God has given should inspire us. I mean, whether it's a cultural tradition that gives gifts or not, it should inspire us to be giving.

29:17 Christ gave of himself and my prayer a few minutes ago, I said, he left the glories of heaven. An eternal being that was outside of all this that we can see, the finiteness of what we can see. I mean, the heavens for crying out loud. The heavens, we cannot get to the end of but we have an a feeling that they end, right? And that's mind blowing to think about that to think that a divine being spoke them into existence.

29:49 Jesus Christ really is that awesome. He really, really is and Imma go back today. It's not going to be from Luke two. It's not going to be from Matthew one. I am doing a Christmas message but it's not from there.

30:05 Hebrews is what we've been studying. We're in the hall of faith of Hebrews right now. If we're going through but I'm going go back to the Exordium, the first four verses of Hebrews and just start right there with this gets at Jesus Christ really is that awesome. He really is and it's true and the truth of it like I know what the world says. I understand that they say, well, whatever you need.

30:33 It's a crutch. Religion is a crutch. I agree but we're broken. And if you got a broken leg, what do you need? You need a crutch.

30:42 It's a good thing. It is a it allows you to heal. It allows you to rely on it where you cannot rely on yourself and we need that. We are not that awesome. Merry Christmas.

31:01 Why? Here we go. We'll catch up with what I've just said. This is your slide, okay? Jesus Christ really is that awesome.

31:09 Jesus Christ really is that awesome. Imma ask you, when you see it come up, y'all just go ahead and say it, alright? If you believe it, he's outside of what, even those of us who have devoted our lives to him, he's outside even more awesome than we can express but if you believe it, express it, okay? I'm giving you the chance. Here it is.

31:30 God. God, almighty God. God, who at various times and in various ways has spoken in time past. So, this is God who's completely outside of time. He's the author of it, spoken into existence and God almighty who is awesome.

31:50 Has at various times in the past spoken. He spoke to our fathers by the prophets. That's Old Testament stuff. He has in these last days spoken to us through his son. Think about that.

32:06 I mean, people say, well, I don't I don't know. I'm not a Christian or anything. Jesus's teachings are, yeah, that's pretty good. I love your neighbor and stuff. That's sweet.

32:16 No. This is almighty God who's taken on human flesh and he is the message He has spoken in these last days. God's message of love is through Christ. That's what Christ came to share and that's why we celebrate Christmas. Why?

32:32 God speaks through Christ. He did and he does. He's given us propositional truth in his word. He's given us the New Testament which is about Christ. The Old Testament which is about Christ.

32:45 He's given it to us. Amen. God speaks through Christ. Why? He really is that awesome.

32:55 He really is that awesome. That's the truth. So, whom Jesus, whom he, God, has appointed heir of all things. So, Jesus Christ is the heir of literally for whom, by whom, in whom are all things. Why?

33:13 He really is. He really is. There's not, it's no joke. It's not just for you or just for me. He really is that.

33:20 If we only understood it, if we only completely understood it and we will, we've got an incorruptible hope that we will know just as we are known but Jesus Christ really is that awesome. So, through whom he also made the worlds. I've already mentioned this. He's the agent of creation. There were nothing that was made that was not made through Christ.

33:40 Everything God creates ex Nihilo out of nothing and he did it through Christ, Jesus. Agent of creation. Amen. Why? He really is who being active word there, being the brightness of his glory.

34:03 I've changed versions on you. I've been using the New American Standard but y'all have heard this recently. So, I've changed versions on you just to mix it up. Think about that. He is the brightness, the radiance of God's glory.

34:14 He's the active, brilliant God. Active, at work, still. Right now, well, we'll get to that. He's the express image of his person. Express image.

34:25 He is the imprint or the stamp of God. So, he's the brilliance going out but he is the stamp inwardly too. Exactly God. So, Christ is exactly what God looks like in flesh. His answers that often surprise people were God's answers.

34:42 Why? Because Christ really is that awesome. He really is. Upholding all things by the word of his power. It's one thing to be the agent of creation and some people would say that God, okay, if there's a god, he started the world but obviously, he's turned his back on it because it's not going all that great.

35:03 So, God turned his back. No. Wait a second. This says that he upholds all things by the word of his power. So, everything that was created, natural stuff, all the stuff that God said was good in the beginning.

35:16 None of that stuff would continue to be without Christ. In fact, I'll say here, nothing would continue to exist without him. Everything is defined by who he is. Y'all are baptist but you're catching on. The liturgy, the liturgy stuff is kind of an unusual thing in my tradition but so are big screen TVs.

35:44 So, I'm clicking and nothing's happened. There we go. When we when we when he had by himself, I love that. When he had by himself purged up our sins. This is for everyone who's put their trust in Christ.

36:02 When he had by himself, he did it alone and what he did didn't need your help. It does need your faith. It does need, you have to place your faith in the fact that he did it but when he had by himself purged our sins, he alone handled that sin. He sat down. The work was done.

36:22 He sat down. He's at the right hand of the majesty on high. In fact, it says that we are at what he's doing right now is interceding on behalf of all of those who put their faith in him. He's still the active brilliance of God and he's sitting right at his hands saying, help them get through the difficulty. Help em help their neighbors.

36:45 Help em love their neighbors. Help em love their enemies. When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He alone handled a sin and then he sat down. It's kind of looking at the finished work of He really is.

37:07 You're not going to you're not going to hit the end of it during the sermon, okay? He really is that awesome. So, having become so much better than angels. We sing a lot and we see a lot of Christmas cards about angels. Angels are great.

37:19 I don't have any argument with angels. They're great. They're messengers of God. They serve God but he's so much better than angels. He does carry a message.

37:27 So, he's similar. That's why this writer of Hebrews points out that He is God's active speaking. His active brilliance. He's the emperor. He's exactly what he is.

37:40 Having so become so much better than the angels. He's way more awesome than angels. Christ really is that awesome. So, he has he has by inheritance. Oh, it's by inheritance because he's God's son.

37:57 He's God's son. He has the inheritance of a son. The angels are servants and they're ministering servants and it makes that very clear but Christ is the heir of all things by inheritance. He has inherited a more excellent name than they. So, he is a son.

38:17 Angels are ministering service because Now, the author of Hebrews launches into a series of Old Testament proofs. I'm not going to go through all these like y'all are used to me doing and I did em a few months ago. If you want to hear you can go back online and hear that but Psalm two, Psalm second Samuel seven, Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 97 goes Psalm 104. All of these things that are forecasting and describing who Christ is and the writer of Hebrews is recognizing that, applying it. Psalm 45 goes on more Old Testament proof.

38:55 More Psalm 45. Psalm one zero two. Psalm 110, all of these are pointing towards Christ because. Jesus Christ Amen. So, we get up to Hebrews two.

39:09 We've already been all the way through Hebrews one. Took me weeks to go through that the first time but let's skip these four verses. We'll come back to them. So, where were we? There we, that's where we were, right there.

39:21 He really is. So, y'all have convinced me he is awesome. Okay, I keep hearing y'all say that but the writer of Hebrews goes on. So, Christ is awesome but what are we? The writer of Hebrews has started off with Jesus Christ really is that awesome but when it gets to Psalm eight, Old Testament proof, it's about us.

39:43 What is man or mankind, humankind? What are humans? What is man? That you're mindful of him at all or a son of man, one born human that you take care of him. We've got the contrast between Christ who really is awesome and angels who are also awesome but we've got this humanity and it says, what is man?

40:03 I mean, we're little specs. Just little specs. What's man that your mind flow of him or? Son of man that you take care of him because God does. He sustains us.

40:12 He upholds all things by the word of his power. You've made him a little lower than the angels. Would you agree we're a little lower than the angels? Yeah. We're less awesome than angels.

40:25 I sit in my study sometimes and wonder how this is going to go. We are less awesome than angels. If if we were not, we wouldn't hear him say, fear not so often. If you're wondering Daniel and Luke and Genesis and Luke and Matthew and Acts, every time we see an angel virtually, every time we see em, they say, fear not, chill, it's going to be okay. I know.

40:50 I'm awesome. No, they don't say that. Jesus is awesome. That's what they're supposed to do but we're less awesome than angels but the verses go on and it says, if you, that's God. You, God, have crowned him, man, mankind, humankind.

41:07 At this time, they use men and women together was a group that was just him, you know. You have crowned man kind with glory and honor and you've set mankind over the works of your hands. Now, that sounds like, well, he started this thing spinning and then he let it go. Well, he not quite. He upholds all things by the word of his power but he does grant them authority.

41:31 So, mankind, all the way back to Adam was put in charge. So, you've put all things in subjection under his feet. That's that's pretty big. Angels are awesome but we have a tremendous responsibility as man mankind. For in that, he put him in subjection under him.

41:54 He left nothing that's not put under him. It really is a big responsibility that God has seeded to mankind. So, if I get there, we, people, we matter because God has crowned us with glory and honor and authority. He's put a spark of the divine within us, okay? He has created us to be creative and he has handed over responsibility for a lot.

42:28 So, how's that going? Next verse, but now, we do not yet see all things put under mankind, do we? Do you think that we're doing a good, oh, let me just go forward. Do we see humankind as a whole exercise in our glory, honor, and authority for good? Do y'all see that?

42:49 Spotted instances of greatness. I think that occasionally, we see something good and we want to hang on to it and the triumph of the human spirit is good. Is everything alright with the world? I think that's obviously a no. A big no, hey?

43:09 But next verse, but but we see Jesus. So, mankind is not doing all that great with the authority that's been given to him and I think that most people would agree with that. Don't matter what side of the political spectrum especially here where it's so polarized, your own, you can recognize that it's not like it ought to be. But we see Jesus who's made a little lower than the angels. Well, Jesus actually, as far as time and space concerned, he took on though he really is that awesome and angels are less so and it's already been stated and will be explicitly stated again.

43:50 Jesus was made a little lower than angels. He took on this flesh. He started his earthly life just like us. As a baby. In a womb than has a baby and then he grew in wisdom and in stature.

44:08 He started his earth and that's what we celebrate at Christmas is there's a humanity to this divinity. So, merry Christmas. Why? We see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for for the suffering of death. He was crowned with glory and honor.

44:26 It said that God already had given us glory and honor and then put all the things in subjection up under us but we failed. Old covenant stuff we kept on failing actually. For the suffering of death, Christ was crowned with glory and honor. He didn't have his own sin, didn't have original sin, didn't have his own sin to deal with but he was living that perfect life and died that sacrificial death and that is what crowned him glory and honor. Though he was God.

45:00 Stepped out of eternal being into this temporal geography bound. He had to really walk for the suffering of death. He was crowned with glory and honor. This reminds me of Philippians two five, one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Imma read it quickly.

45:19 It is Christmas not the highlighting just as decorative, okay? It's not the Mexican flag but it kind of looks like it. Philippians two five, I changed the version on you again but have this attitude in yourselves. Have this attitude in yourselves. Which was so in Christ Jesus who although he existed in the form of God, he was by his very nature, God, the exact imprint and the brilliance of God.

45:53 He didn't regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped. He wanted righteousness more than to be right or to prove he was right. Consistent application over time eventually. People see righteousness. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus who although existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped but he emptied himself.

46:19 This is Christmas. We're talking about him coming into our world. He emptied himself of his divine rights. And taking the form of a bond servant or slave, being made in the likeness of men, took on our humanity, and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient.

46:45 Obedient to the point of death, even the death of a cross and for this reason also, God has highly exalted him. He's highly exalted him and he's bestowed on him the name which is above every name. Why? We don't celebrate Mary Ramas. We don't celebrate Mary Marymas.

47:04 We don't. It's Mary Christmas. Okay, merry Christmas. His name is above every name. So that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow.

47:14 Old Testament quote. Every knee will bow. Of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is lord to the glory of God the father. It would be true for everyone. Whether they won't admit it in this temporal life or not.

47:32 It will be obvious because is it coming up? Yeah. He really is. When I say really, I mean, it's actual, true, real. He really is that awesome and you can deny it all you want to to get to do whatever you want to do here but when the truth of the matter comes down, Jesus Christ really is that awesome and he deserves so much more than what we give.

47:56 We see him. He was made a little lower than the angels. For the suffering of death, he was crowned with glory and honor and so that. This tells, oh, I love it. Preachers love this stuff.

48:06 When when you hit a henna clause in Greek, it's a so that clause. It tells us the purpose of the why. So, he was made a little lower than angels. Why? He was crucified.

48:17 Why? So that he, by the grace of God, the goodness and grace of God crucified his own son. We gotta keep going in that verse, don't we? By the grace of God, he actually deserved to live forever, eternally both in both directions. He actually deserved that but he took on death so that we might have life actually may go on.

48:43 So that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. His blood was totally effective, totally effective to pay the penalty for sin for absolutely everyone. It was absolutely laid out there but then, we see this little word that was, this does sound like Easter not Christmas and I have had a couple people say, I hate it when preachers preach an Easter message at Christmas. Well, if it ain't all Easter and all Christmas, are you really proclaiming what it says? You know, Christ stepped out of the glories of heaven and he did so for a temporal time, thirty some years.

49:23 Lot of us in this room are older than that. So that he by the grace of mice taste death for everyone. The it does sound like Easter not Christmas but that might right there. That's what I'm going for. That's actually in your bulletin.

49:41 It only had a couple verses and there's a might in those verses too. Couple em. That might right there is a grammatical clue that this is subjunctive. If that don't matter to you, grammatically, I think that this matters. He did it for a purpose and the purpose was effective but it's contingent upon the recipient's own will.

50:06 Jesus Christ really is that awesome and he will be proven to be so. It will come. Though it tarry, wait for it. It's happening. It's coming to pass.

50:15 You can experience it now by faith. Or not. The might there is contingent upon the recipient's will. If I say, I want for Florine to play the piano, that's great but that piano doesn't start making noise until Florine gets up there and starts tickling those ivories, right? My will and his will have to coincide for that to happen.

50:41 Thank you for doing that by the way. So that he, Christ, might taste death. It's not like it might work. No, it works because Christ really is that awesome. The might puts it in your lap concerning Christmas.

51:03 This is Galatians. Galatians four, four, and five but when the fullness of time came. Now, we have been studying in Hebrews lately and we've been seeing a lot of things forecast in Christ from all of the Old Testament and the Old Covenant itself was forecasting a new covenant that was to come but the way that it would come about came about in the fullness of time. It was at exactly the right time. You can argue, you know, why, there, why, in that time, When the fullness of time came, we won't argue about how God did it.

51:39 He did it. When the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son who took on the nature of a servant, took on the nature of man. He was tempted in every way just as tempted yet, He was without sin. God sent forth his son. He's born of a woman.

51:57 He was born under the law. Old covenant law. He's born under that. And it then says, so that, another henna clause. So that, why?

52:10 The purpose for him to be in the fullness of time. Sent forth, born, and born under the law so that he might redeem those who are under the law. His son might redeem those who are under the law. It's an effective call. It really is.

52:33 But the might is on you so that we might receive the adoption as sons so that we might receive. It's out there and the gift has been given but in order gift to be a gift, it has to be accepted too, right? This might, this is certainly an certainly in our time frame, we think of, why does it say sons and not sons and daughters? Well, you can look at it as males and females in a group together would say sons but I think that adoption is not that way. Adoption at the time for sons was different than adoption for the daughters.

53:10 Adoption for of daughters didn't really carry any right. No inheritance passed to daughters but it did to sons. So that we, that's male and female, might receive the adoption of sons and have all the benefits of the heir of all things, Christ, he died and put himself in our place so that we might be accepted and put in his that God would see the righteousness of Christ. John three seventeen is our advent reading. It was part of that.

53:44 Y'all know John three sixteen and it has a henna clause so that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. This is the follow-up that God did not send his son into the world to judge the world. That was first advent. He did not send him into the world to judge the world but he sent him so that the world might be saved through him. When it says good news of great joy shall be to all the peoples.

54:10 It's going forth. It's shall be to all the peoples. The might still stands on each individual soul. I've got tons more slides that I'm not going to go through. I'm going to stop.

54:24 About four slides from end, Blake. Can we get back to merry Christmas? There's a lot more here but merry Christmas. Okay? Why?

54:37 Because wait for it. Jesus Christ really is that awesome. He really is. He really is and we're never going to hit the end of it. It's amazing.

54:51 It's amazing. It's amazing and people that kind of lay the blame at God's feet for all the evil that has happened in the world. Jesus Christ really is awesome enough and he offers peace. He really does. But men resist They resist good news of great joy.

55:17 We resist good news of great joy. Jesus Christ really is that awesome and so there you go. Thank you. Y'all are with me now. Jesus Christ really is that awesome.

55:30 Should we go forward this week? By the power of his spirit, living out what he's done for us. Living out the incorruptible hope that he's placed in us. Now, Tuesday night, we're going to get here. We're to celebrate.

55:45 We're going to sing songs about shepherds and wise men. And we're going to go forward with the Christmas story, traditional Christmas story but I wanted you to get behind all of that and see that Can I get the band back up here? Would y'all stand with us?

56:31 Alright. Good news of great joy. Let's sing of it.

56:50 Alright. Here we go. A good news of great joy for every woman, every man. And this will be signed to you. Alright.

58:15 Unto you a child is born. Unto you a child is born. For me. God's covering. There will be no establishing with his righteousness and his sharing on David's throne.

59:20 And his name shall be from this day on. Wonderful counselor. A everlasting father.

59:41 Let's sing that again. Wonderful counselor.

59:45 Wonderful counselor, everlasting

1:00:55 Steve, it looks like you got something to say.

1:00:59 The benediction first or second? Well, I have the privilege of representing you gracious folks and we are blessed. I would like Blake, could you come up? Bailey, Mike, if you're here. Liz, Owens, if you're here.

1:01:14 Carl and Ray. We get to see Carl and Ray every Sunday, but we don't get to often see the rest of the staff. And you folks, again, have been very generous, we just like to present them. Oh, and Diane? Yes, Diane.

1:01:26 Sorry. Come on up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

1:01:30 But they're so shy. So we just wanna say thank you, and I'm gonna give them their their Christmas gifts that you guys have graciously given them. Let's just pray a blessing over them as we end this year. Heavenly father, we are so very grateful how you have provided gifts and talents to us in various different ways and that through that diversity, Lord, you bring unity through Jesus Christ. Thank you for this message today.

1:01:58 Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for your life, your your your the birth, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ that gives us hope. And we just wanna say thank you in Jesus precious name. Amen. Amen.

1:02:11 Amen.

1:02:11 Alright. For the benediction. Hey, look at there. It came up. Blake's standing up here.

1:02:17 How'd you do that? Oh, look at him. He's on top of things all the time. He's got it covered. By the way, y'all have no idea.

1:02:26 The last person that did Alright. Now, may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely. Amen and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved, complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because.

1:02:56 Amen.

Topics

Christmas Meaning Faith And Acceptance Gift Of Salvation Humanity Of Christ Who Is Jesus

Recap

What was said

Doing a Bible study?

Topics

Share this message

Come find us