WEBVTT 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:18.879 First Timothy three, verse sixteen reads as follows: Great indeed we confess is the mystery of godliness. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:34.000 He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, and this is our phrase for this Christmas time, believed on in the world. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:37.759 And then finally taken up in glory. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:48.159 Last week, well, Wednesday, a few days ago, my family went to Sasqueahana State Park up in, I don't know, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:50.240 They all blend together right around there. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:52.640 And we hiked a loop. 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:55.600 And it's important to me that you visualize this with me. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:57.759 It's personally significant here. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:02.159 Imagine a clock, you know, from 12 all the way around, back again. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:04.799 The loop goes, you know, starting from 12 and goes around. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:06.319 We parked at the 11 on the clock. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:07.359 So you're following with me? 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:08.480 We're at the 11. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:12.719 Now there's a bridge between the 11 and the 12 that you couldn't see from the parking lot. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:16.400 Google Maps said the bridge was out and you couldn't complete the circle. 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:21.040 But it made it sound like it was for cars, and you don't consult Google Maps for hiking. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:23.359 So we wisely went a different way. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:27.200 We went 11 all the way around to circle back to the top. 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:28.480 Wisely. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:35.439 In fact, on the way, I see a guy playing Frisbee the Dogs, and I ask him, I was like, hey, is the is the bridge open and we go around the loop? 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:36.640 And he's like, I don't know why it wouldn't be. 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:37.760 I'm like, all right. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:41.359 The guy had dogs, he must be wise. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:45.840 And then we so we go down from the 11, you know, 109876. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:47.519 There's a bridge across the river the first time. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:48.239 That one's just great. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:50.640 Little trestle bridge, railroad style was perfect. 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:51.439 Across it. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:57.840 Now we're walking up along the river, and it's starting to get dark, and you know, I just have that nagging thing. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:00.959 I don't know, people might call it a conscience, I guess, in my mind. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:07.439 And so I found some other guy, like an older gentleman with a walking stick and like a marmot jacket. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:08.879 He looked like the real deal. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:11.039 And I asked him, hey, is the bridge open up there? 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:13.840 And he says the same thing, like, yeah, I don't know why it wouldn't be. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:14.800 All right. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:17.039 So we press forward. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:25.840 But as we got around like the one o'clock part, you could start to see the bridge to the trees, and you could see that significant amounts of it were missing. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.599 And you could hear construction equipment, like vrrrrrrrrr. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:34.639 And uh, so at that point, my family is like, the bridge is not there, okay? 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:40.639 Like, okay, you guys wait here and I'll run ahead and check because I needed to see with my own two eyes. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:43.199 And yeah, the bridge wasn't was not there. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:52.479 Uh so at this point it is significantly dark, and now we have to walk all the way back around, all the way to the very beginning. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:58.719 I want you to file that story in your minds because we will return to it later. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.360 The short version is never doubt Google Maps. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:03.199 It knows all things. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:12.240 Christmas is a time of celebration, and of course, it is a time of mystery. 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:18.319 It is very difficult to explain what Christmas is to somebody who's not familiar with the Christmas story. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:39.599 Uh, I'm even talking about basics, like, so you're telling me that God became man, and you say, yes, but you know, not all of God became man because the Father didn't become a man, and the Holy Spirit didn't become a man, but yes, all of God, because all of God is in the Son, and so yes, in that sense, but no in another sense, and you, you know, you and it's confusing right away. 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:43.199 That's the paradox or the mystery of Christmas. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:58.240 I want to walk us through this little phrase in the middle of verse 16 here, how we see the mystery of Christmas, how we see the mystery of Christmas, and I'm focusing particularly on the phrase towards the end of verse 16 that Jesus was believed on in the world. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:00.000 Now, this is an early Christmas hymn. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:04.639 It's the oldest Christmas hymn as it goes through these six declarations about Jesus. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:08.080 All six of these declarations, there's part of a song about Jesus. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:09.919 All six of them are in the passive voice. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:13.039 In other words, they're all six things that happened to Jesus. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:20.319 Most Christian songs sing about things that people do or singeth about things specifically that God does or that Jesus does. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:22.639 But this song is opposite of that. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:26.800 This song is singing about things that were done to Jesus. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:29.519 For example, he was manifested in the flesh. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:32.560 Somebody acted upon him to reveal him. 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:34.959 He was vindicated by the Spirit. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:37.759 The Holy Spirit acted upon Jesus to vindicate him. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:39.600 He was seen or beheld by angels. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:41.040 Angels looked at him. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:43.040 Jesus is not active in this verse. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:46.480 The angels are the ones acting by looking and contemplating him. 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.759 And then last week we saw that he was proclaimed among the nations. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:54.480 The people took the news of Jesus Christ and launched it into the world. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:59.279 In this morning's passage, he was believed on in the world. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:02.000 First of all, you see the mystery of Christmas. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:03.120 It's seen in Jesus. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:04.160 He's the he here. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:07.439 He's the one on whom people believe. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:09.759 The action here is done by us. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:12.399 People are believing on him. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:16.480 And it's odd to see that phrase, the verb believed, paired with on. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:22.720 You might believe in something, or you might believe of, you know, this or that, but here your belief is going on to somebody. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:24.000 That's because it is passive. 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:25.600 You're believing on him. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:29.600 Like you would sit on a chair, or like you would sleep on a bed. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:31.360 You are believing on him. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:36.319 You're putting your belief, what you have inside of you, on Jesus Christ. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:38.319 Your belief goes on him. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:40.480 It's a motion word. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:45.040 Your belief is going from you, it's transitive, it's going on to something else. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:47.279 And that picks up with the flow of this whole song. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:58.079 Remember, this song started in heaven with God, our Father in heaven, acting upon Jesus, the eternal Son of God, to manifest him. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:03.600 And if you remember from the beginning of our studying this song, Jesus was not eternally manifest. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:10.480 He was eternally the Son of God, he's eternally the second person of the Trinity, but he was not eternally a human. 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:15.920 He wasn't revealed on earth until a particular point in time, that first Christmas day. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:18.560 So God the Father acted upon Jesus. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:22.399 The Holy Spirit knits Jesus together in Mary's womb. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:26.160 Jesus is born, and God goes from heaven to earth. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.839 The Son of God is revealed or manifest on earth. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:36.160 So you want to know what God looks like in human form with a human body and a human soul and a human nature. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:40.240 You look at Jesus, the eternal God, now manifest in earth. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:41.680 That happened to him. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:47.519 So from heaven to earth, and then on earth, Jesus lives his sinless life. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:57.920 We saw the Holy Spirit aided him in the virgin birth, and the Holy Spirit aided him in his humanity, making him spirit-filled, making him walk in the spirit, so to speak. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:00.720 And so Jesus led a sinless life. 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:02.560 He led the perfect life. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:11.360 He was above reproach in every sense. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:16.800 The Holy Spirit reveals his deity to the world at his baptism by settling upon him like a dove. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:22.000 But beyond that, the Holy Spirit aided him as Jesus led a sinless life. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:26.160 And of course, the sinless life ends in his death. 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:30.560 He was put to death on the cross as a substitute for sin. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:37.439 God took our sin and placed it on Jesus and then punished Jesus for our sin. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:41.040 Jesus dies bearing the penalty from God for our sin. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:42.720 He is put into the grave. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:51.279 His soul descends into Sheol, and then he resurrects, regains his body, launches out of the grave back onto earth. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:55.199 This is what Paul means when he says he was beheld by angels. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:58.959 The angel, if you recall, was sitting on the tombstone that rolled away. 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.519 The angels saw Jesus down in the grave. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:04.240 The angels now see Jesus back on earth again. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:06.560 The angels saw Jesus in Sheol. 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:08.480 The angels saw Jesus throughout his life. 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:21.199 The angels saw all of this and they saw Jesus go from heaven to earth, from the earth to the cross where he bore the penalty for our sin, down to the grave, back out of the grave, and starts walking on the earth again. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:22.319 The angels saw all of that. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:25.759 That's what he means in the middle of the verse that Jesus was seen by angels. 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:29.759 And then finally, Jesus was taken up to heaven in the company of angels. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:35.039 If you remember in Acts chapter 1, the angel saw Jesus rise back up into heaven again. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:37.120 So there's a lot of movement here by Jesus. 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:42.639 Heaven, earth, sinless life, cross, grave, resurrection, ascension. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:44.720 The angels see it all. 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:55.279 He's now at this moment back in heaven at the right hand of God our Father, where he remains at this very second, making intercession for us, praying for us. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:58.320 Now, why is that Jesus' role? 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:01.919 And the answer is because Jesus is our mediator. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:09.759 God has requirements to be in a right relationship with Him. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:11.679 We don't meet those requirements. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:15.759 Namely, for to be a person to be in a right relationship with God, they have to be holy. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:18.799 We fail in that, so we're separated from God. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:21.840 God doesn't lessen his requirement to meet us. 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:26.960 Rather, God sends Jesus as the mediator to make peace between God and man. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.799 You know, you might my youngest has no concept right now. 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:37.440 My youngest daughter has no concept of currency or what it means or its value or how many dimes are in a dollar at all. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:39.120 It's incredible. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.759 She's very easily swindled. 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:44.159 Do not take advantage of her, please. 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:51.919 You know, so she might negotiate something like, I will give you$500 for your dessert. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:53.120 Like sold. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:09:59.360 She wouldn't know where to acquire that. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.639 She's looking at like five dimes and thinks she can think, how much is this? 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:04.159 Well, it's not enough. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:05.360 It's not enough. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:07.759 And so there has to be some kind of mediation. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:11.200 Now, one place I could go is I could lower the standard and go like$500. 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:13.440 What I meant is 50 cents. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:17.120 And then my wife would say, Are you really selling your dessert to your daughter? 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:18.639 Shh, come on. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:21.279 I could lower the standard. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:25.360 That is not what God does for us with Christ. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.799 God has a standard of what it takes to be in a relationship with Him. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:30.159 We cannot meet this. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:31.840 And our currency makes no sense to God. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:33.279 You know, we're coming up with pennies. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:34.720 Like, does this get it done? 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:35.360 No. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:37.039 We're sinful. 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:40.720 So God could respond by lowering the standard and saying, you know what? 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:45.039 The best you got, bring what you got, bring your loose change, and I'll accept you. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:47.519 But that's not what God does. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:54.000 Instead, God meets his own requirements in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:54.879 He's the mediator. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:58.480 A mediator cannot be of one party, a mediator has to be of both parties. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:00.879 And so Jesus comes as the mediator. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:02.559 He's God in human flesh. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.120 He's manifest, meaning he puts on flesh. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:08.240 He represents us to God. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.480 But he's more than merely a mediator. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:16.639 He also meets all of the requirements in his own body. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.360 He is perfectly holy. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:21.279 He is perfectly righteous. 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:25.120 So he meets God's requirement to be in a right relationship with him. 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:28.720 Now, what good does Jesus meeting the requirement do for us? 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:33.440 Well, it does no good initially, it's just that the requirement is met in Jesus. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:38.799 But it is going to become good when it becomes our acceptance. 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:43.360 But for now, the very terms that God requires, he meets in himself. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:45.120 And that's so fortunate for us. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:47.600 You know, we are bankrupt, God is rich. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:49.279 We make a great partnership. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.960 We are lost, God is the way. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:54.879 Again, a great partnership. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:57.759 We have nothing, we are empty, God is full. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:00.000 It's the perfect partnership. 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:02.720 The first way you see the mystery is in Jesus. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:06.080 He is the mystery of godliness manifest in human flesh. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:09.279 Secondly, you see the mystery of Christmas in belief. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:23.600 God's granting of Jesus, his God's receiving from Jesus the sacrifice, God fulfilling his requirement in Jesus can become ours through that set for the first word in English here, believed on. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:26.639 He implied was believed on. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:29.759 The mystery of Christmas is seen in belief. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:33.840 God meets the conditions to be in a right relationship with him. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:41.200 We receive those conditions as met on our behalf by believing that Jesus did that in our place. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:45.519 Again, I mentioned this earlier, but it's odd to see believed as passive. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:47.039 Normally you believe something. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:48.799 You're the one exercising the belief. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:50.399 Here Jesus is believed on. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:52.480 That's why it's a clunky phrase here. 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:55.840 It's a little bit in contrast with the verse or the phrase before it. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:57.600 He was proclaimed among the nations. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:12:59.679 The proclamation goes to the world. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:04.960 The whole world knows about Jesus' victory over the grave, but not the whole world believes. 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:08.159 He was proclaimed to the nations, but nations don't believe. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.360 Nations don't have the capacity to exercise belief. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:14.000 But individuals do. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:21.919 Human beings exercise belief when they receive the sacrifice of Christ in their place. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:27.279 They exercise faith, they place their faith and their confidence and their belief in it. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:29.039 A little picture here. 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:30.879 Noah preached the gospel to the whole world. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:32.559 There weren't even nations in Noah's lifetime. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:37.919 He preached the gospel to the whole world, but only a handful of people believed. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.759 Jeremiah preached the gospel to one nation, the nation Israel. 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:43.840 Almost nobody believed. 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:48.960 Now the contrast is that Jesus goes where Jeremiah and Noah couldn't. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:50.559 Jeremiah preached to one nation. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:51.919 Noah didn't even have nations. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:54.639 Jesus, the message of him, goes to all nations. 00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:58.080 He's preached to the Gentiles, He's preached to the world. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:03.519 And there are people that will believe. 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:11.120 Belief just means you recognize what Christ did in your place. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.200 And you say, that was true. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:14.480 That was for me. 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:16.080 He died in my place. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:17.840 I cannot get to heaven on my own. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:20.320 I can't meet the requirements on my own. 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:23.120 So I receive his sacrifice in my place. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.080 This is the very thing that a lot of people don't want to do. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:36.639 I was sharing the gospel with a Catholic recently who said, The reason I cannot believe what you believe is because there's nothing for me to do to meet make salvation mine. 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:38.799 There's nothing I can do to make it mine. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:40.559 I want to do something. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:52.799 It's like the old, you know, the easy-baked cakes, you know, or the pancake mix, and they they used to say just add water, and then they they said, you know, if you say add water and an egg, the one you add an egg to sells more. 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:54.240 I don't know. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:57.519 Some ladies feel like they the pancakes taste better if they crack the egg a certain way. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:14:58.960 So they they're adding something to it. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:00.480 The egg does nothing. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:06.159 The question, what must I do to be saved? 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:10.720 That is the question of every works righteousness person. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.919 I want something to do. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:17.120 Tell me what to do and I'll do it. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:18.559 I'll comply, God. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:21.840 I mean, that attitude might make a good athlete or a good soldier. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:23.679 Coach, tell me what to do, I'll do it. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:26.080 Give me an order, I'll carry it out. 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:28.720 But it cripples you in your relationship with God. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:30.080 Cripples you. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:35.440 Because there's nothing you can do to be in a right relationship with God. 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:38.080 God's command to you is not do this or do that. 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:40.960 God's command to you is believe. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:44.960 Hear the news of Jesus Christ and believe in it. 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:45.840 Just believe. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:46.879 That's it. 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:49.519 Not believe and run a marathon. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:54.960 Not believe and discover a new element for the periodic table. 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:57.919 Not believe and get your finances in order. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:01.039 Not believe and discipline your kids properly. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:02.960 Not believe and get better fashion. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:04.320 Not believe in anything. 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:06.320 Just believe. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:07.759 That's it. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:11.440 That's all you have to do to be saved. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:15.679 You are lost, and God knows the way because he is the way. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.879 And the way is through belief. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:24.399 Now you're believing here the message of verse 16 of 1 Timothy 3. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:28.240 You're believing that God was manifest in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:29.519 That's the first part of your belief. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:37.759 You're saying, I hear the Son of God, the second person of eternity, came to earth born that Jesus had was truly God and truly man. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:39.679 I hear that and I believe it. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:42.720 You believe that he led a sinless life. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:48.399 You believe that he died on the cross and was beheld by angels in his resurrection. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:52.559 You believe that that is the only news by which somebody can be saved. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:55.039 That that's the message of salvation, priests of the nations. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:56.879 That's what you believe. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:06.319 I contrasted this with Jeremiah and Noah earlier, because one of the mysterious things about the gospel is that people do believe it. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:09.119 You know, the first reading of this, it seems straightforward, right? 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:09.680 Believe. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:11.440 It's way easier to understand than the first part. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:12.400 Manifest in the flesh. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:14.000 Like that was complicated. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.160 But believed on? 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:17.519 That's easy. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:18.319 People believe in him. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:22.400 That's when you start thinking about it, like it is very mysterious. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:28.400 Noah preached, God's going to destroy the earth, get on the ark, and people would not believe. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:33.200 Jeremiah preached, you know, the Babylonians are going to defeat this place. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:37.200 You better repent and get right with God and pack your bags and go to Babylon. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:39.920 And they wouldn't believe. 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:43.680 Now here comes a message way more ridiculous than that. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:49.279 That God, the second person of the Trinity, became a human. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:51.200 He took on human form. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.359 He came to the world and people killed him. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.000 And then he rose from the grave, and that's the only way to be saved? 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:03.359 That's a crazy message. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.839 And yet, people believe it. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:09.359 It goes around the world. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:10.640 The way is narrow, of course. 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:11.759 Most people reject it. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:17.920 Nevertheless, people in every tribe, in every nation, in every culture, in every language do believe it. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:18.960 That's the crazy thing. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:23.519 You can imagine Peter preaching the first sermon in Acts chapter 2, thinking, okay, this is a crazy message. 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:25.200 I'm going to preach my heart out. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:28.799 And if five people believe, I'll be astonished. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:31.039 And a thousand people believe. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.480 And the church just catches like wildfire. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:36.000 And it goes all the way around the world. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:37.440 It goes to the four corners of the world. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:39.200 The gospel is preached to the nations. 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:44.400 It goes to the four corners of the world, even to such far-flung places like Springfield, Virginia. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:45.839 I can't believe it. 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:51.359 The third way you see the mystery of Christmas is that it's in the world. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:52.640 Is that it's in the world? 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:56.960 That's what I mean by that is that the gospel goes global. 00:18:57.519 --> 00:18:59.200 This belief happens in the world. 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:00.720 It's paired with the phrase before it. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:04.720 He was proclaimed among the nations and he's believed on in the world. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:06.640 As I mentioned, there's emotion. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:15.599 If you track with Jesus, he goes from heaven to earth, sinless life to the cross, to the grave, resurrects to heaven. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:18.720 However, that's where I ended earlier, but that's not where Jesus ends. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:22.640 The message of him gets left on earth and it goes everywhere. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.119 It spreads everywhere. 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:29.039 It's like water that spills on the top shelf of the refrigerator. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:33.920 That water finds its way in every crevice of the refrigerator, drips down in everything. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.640 That's what happens in the message of Jesus. 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.759 It goes all over the world. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:44.160 Other religions aren't like that. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:47.119 You know, you want to be a Muslim. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:51.359 Islam is an Arab religion about Arab culture. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:54.559 And to drive that point to you, all the mosques face one direction. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:57.200 When you pray if you're a Muslim, you're always facing one direction. 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:58.400 You're facing Mecca. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:19:59.200 That's where you face. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:00.880 It's a very Arabized religion. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:02.960 It's not a religion for Gentiles. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:13.279 In fact, the reason Muslims pray facing Mecca is because the story goes that Muhammad originally was praying facing towards Jerusalem because he was believing the religion of the Jews and Christians in his mind. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:16.000 The Christian religion was Jerusalem focused. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:18.720 And the angels spun him around. 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:21.920 And he faced Mecca instead. 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:25.359 I mean, Hinduism is an Indian religion. 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:31.359 You can be a convert to Hinduism, I guess, but if you're not Indian, you'll be a second-class Hindu for sure. 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:40.240 Even something like Catholicism, you know, you're gonna receive the sacraments and kiss the ring of somebody who kissed the ring of somebody who kissed the ring of somebody in Rome. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:43.759 It traces back to a geographical place. 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:47.599 What a contrast. 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:51.440 We don't face Jerusalem when we pray. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:53.759 We don't face the empty grave when we pray. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:55.359 There's nobody in it. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:20:59.920 Jesus goes to the nations. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:02.880 We sing a song in Spanish. 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:05.440 We sing a song in English. 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:08.319 Some of those English words I had a hard time with. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:13.519 The gospel goes global. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:16.880 That's how God wanted to reveal himself. 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:29.119 He came to earth and took on a human form, a human body, a human soul, and led a sinless life and died in your place. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:32.559 Now this is what he wants you to do with that news. 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:36.720 He wants you to, the verse says here, believe in that message. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:40.240 He wants you to hear the news and believe in it. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:47.440 I described earlier the walking around Sasqueahana State Park. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:59.680 My problem, as I think retrace my steps, which I had a chance to retrace every one of those steps, by the way, is that I didn't believe what Google Maps was telling me initially. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:04.640 Secondly, I was informed by nefarious bad actors. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:11.599 And thirdly, I ignored what my conscience was telling me. 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:24.720 At any point though, and there probably was a point towards the end, around the you know, the two o'clock point where I finally settled on the fact the bridge is probably not there, but I kept walking with my feet the wrong direction. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:26.880 That's not that's not saving faith right there. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:27.839 That is not belief right there. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:32.079 If I was like, ah, the bridge probably isn't there, but I keep going towards it, that's not belief. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:36.880 Even when I parked my my family believed before I did, they sat down and I ran ahead. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:43.599 When I finally believed it, spun on my feet, made my way back. 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:48.160 My family's so godly, not a single one of them complained a single time back. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:51.440 There still to this moment has not been a and I told you so. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:03.200 If you're not in Christ, if you've never given your life to Christ, do you understand that you've you've walked past the six? 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:06.559 You're walking around, you're going the wrong way. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:08.960 You're leading your life the wrong way. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:15.680 There are those around you who are telling you, hey, you're going the wrong way. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:20.480 Your conscience convicts you that you're going the wrong way. 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:29.440 Your conscience lets you know that you're a sinner, and your conscience lets you know that God is holy, and your friends are letting you know that Jesus made a way for you to be reconciled to God. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:39.200 The Bible is sitting here in front of you, saying, You've got to open to page 992, proclaiming to you that you can believe this message and God will forgive your sins. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:52.000 That God loves the world is the phrase in verse 16 here, that God loves the world so much that he gave his son that if you believe in him, you will not perish, but you'll have eternal life. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:55.440 And believing in him is not saying, I think the Bible is probably true. 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:59.039 Believing in him is saying, my life is going the wrong way. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:05.200 Jesus Christ is the right way, he is the bridge over the water, he does reconcile me to God. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:10.640 I mean, if you knew anything about Jesus, you would listen to him when he says, all you have to do is believe in me. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:16.559 In fact, if you knew anything about Jesus, you would believe in him even if he told you not to. 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:20.799 If you knew anything about Jesus, you would follow him, even if he said, Stay there. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:35.519 If you knew anything about Jesus, you would see the majesty of godliness in him, the truly God and truly man in a mysterious union in one person, and you would look at him and you would see his life marked by love, his sinless life. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:40.960 You would look at him and just be astonished at what an incredible person he was. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:53.920 If you knew anything about God, you would know that God is love and he wants to be in a relationship with you, and he shows that to you by sending his son to die on the cross to bear the punishment of your sin. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:25:03.039 As I mentioned earlier, God doesn't lessen the requirement to be in a relationship with him, he meets it himself in Christ and then bids you to come join him. 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:08.160 How do you respond to that? 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:11.440 You can't keep walking the wrong way. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:21.039 To walk the wrong way is just at some point it just becomes recalcitrant, at some point it just becomes digging your heels and stubbornness for the sake of it. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:36.240 Rather turn from your sin and believe, take one look at Jesus and believe that he is the Son of God, that he does make a way for salvation, and he does bid you join him in his walk. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:37.680 Come to him. 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:50.319 God, we're grateful that you've given your son Jesus Christ for us to be reconciled to you, to make a way to heaven. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:52.319 We're so thankful for Jesus. 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:56.160 He's the most beautiful person we can imagine. 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:06.799 Through his godliness, his humility, his loveliness, his kindness, his truth incarnate. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:12.079 But in addition to all that, Lord, he's the way. 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:15.279 He's what makes our way back to you. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:24.079 We're thankful for the gospel message that he died for our sin, that he rose from the grave because he paid for it, he ascended into heaven because you received him. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:29.440 Amen. 00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:34.319 And now for a parting word for Pastor Jesse Johnson. 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:35.759 Thanks for joining us. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:37.279 If you're in the Washington, D.C. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:40.000 area, I would love to see you at Emmanuel Bible Church. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:45.200