Pastor Dave Martin, Cross Creek Community Church, December 11, 2011

“Christmas Miracles” Part 2 of 4

God Encounters

Luke 1, Mt 1 & Selected

God Encounters, defining moments in the lives of people: Noah, Moses, David, Gideon, Peter, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, Peter, Paul, Dwight Moody, George Mueller, Billy Graham, you or me… salvation! 

God Encounters…

1. 1. You Intellectually Know it is God speaking (mind) – Still small voice, gently/lovingly 
2. 2. You are Moved in your Spirit (heart) – Moves 18” from head, you believe in your heart…  
3. 3. You Respond in Obedient Faith (choice) – God does not FORCE you… willing heart 
4. 4. You See Amazing Things Happen (change) – People saved, churches planted, God glorified 

Last week we learned God Sovereignly works out His plans perfectly… we learned about:

400 silent years… Lives of Zechariah & Elizabeth… the Birth of John the Baptist

1. 1. God sends His Angel Gabriel on a Mission… SERVANT Lu 1:26-28

Luke 1:19 [Speaking to Zechariah] The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.

• Angels are literally God’s “messengers”… Their function is to worship and serve Him… Servants…

Hebrews 1:14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

• Many places in scripture we see where God sends an angel to intercede, to carry a message, to reveal message from God, to protect, to encourage/strengthen, etc…

Luke 1:26-28 ²⁶ In the sixth month [Elizabeth’s pregnancy], God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

• Here God sends Gabriel to Nazareth… The town was held in great disrepute, either because, it is said, the people of Galilee were considered rude and a less cultivated class of people. They were thought to be largely influenced by the Gentiles who mingled with them, they possessed a lower class of moral and religious character…
• In the midst of a routine day, busy about her chores… highly favored, Mary’s life dramatically changed
• She was just your ordinary girl next door, there is nothing said concerning her outward appearance, she was simple, Godly, humble, clean heart and pure lifestyle … with God it’s what’s inside -counts!
• Mary’s heart was genuine… without hypocrisy… authentic. A simple girl from a looked down upon region… no one would have chosen her to be the mother of God’s Son BUT God sees her heart…
• God’s heavenly messenger came to Mary, a “God Encounter”… that’ll change history forever

1. 2. Mary’s “God Encounter”… FAITH Luke 1:29-38 

Luke 1:29-38 ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

• Mary was rocked to her core… greatly troubled… wondered what’s happening… then the message
• Mary “found favor with GOD”…  In the perfect position to be used by God… Child, Son of Most High

³⁴ "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" ³⁵ The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing is impossible with God." ³⁸ "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

• How will this be, since I am a virgin? Gabriel then gives Mary additional insight… the Holy Spirit will come upon you… Power of the Most High will overshadow you… will be called the Son of God!
• Jesus was fully human in every sense of the word, His was a perfect humanity—distinct and unique. His miraculous conception… Jesus was supernaturally conceived, being born of a virgin… Religious polls taken over the past several generations reveal the impact of liberal theology in a marked and continuing decline in the percentage of professed Christians who believe in the virgin birth, and therefore in the deity, of Jesus Christ…
• This is giving rise of various “Cults – Twisted Truth” - Mormons, JW’s, Islam… none believe His Deity
• Then the angel tells Mary, “Nothing is impossible with God”… look at Mary’s faith in v38…
• “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said”… innocent, trusting, surrendered - FAITH
• Mary’s God encounter… She knew, she believed in heart, she choose obedience… amazing outcome

1. 3. Joseph’s “God Encounter”… OBEDIENCE Mt 1.18-21, 24-25 

• We read in the book of Matthew about Joseph’s God encounter… giving us more insight in situation

Matthew 1:18-21 ¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit…

• They were pledged and “before they came together”…marriage not yet consummated, pure, holy
• To be pledged is similar to an engagement today but much stronger, they were considered married
• Normally lasted about a year, it tested their fidelity of character… BUT Mary was found with child…
• Joseph was a righteous man, decided to divorce her quietly… He experiences a “God Encounter…”
• God sends His heavenly angel to Joseph in a dramatic dream… take Mary home as your wife…
• What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit!  Can you imagine what was going through his mind

Matthew 1:24-25 ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

• Notice Joseph obeyed and took Mary home as his wife… Also notice v25, we’re told he had no union with her UNTIL she gave birth to a son… Scripture teaches us Joseph and Mary had other children…

Matthew 13:55-56 ⁵⁵ "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?"

• Joseph’s God encounter… He knew God was speaking, moved in his spirit, obeyed… amazing things

1. 4. Christmas Miracle: God’s Son comes to Earth… LOVE Mt 1:21-23 

Matthew 1:21-23 ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."

This is the great Incarnation (Core Christianity) – Literally, “en-flesh-ment” (Latin word carnis means “flesh”);

• The doctrine that the Son of God became human; the union of divinity and humanity in Jesus.
• Jesus is both fully God and fully man. He took on our flesh with all its problems and weaknesses.

V35 "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

• How the Holy Spirit planted the seed of the Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary is beyond our scope of understanding. Can anyone here explain this to me? No, why? Because it is a miracle – unexplainable by the laws of nature. If we are able to explain it, it would not be a miracle…
• A Divine Person was united to a human nature w/o sin (Acts 20:28; Rom. 8:32; 1 Cor. 2:8; Heb. 2:11-14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Gal. 4:4, etc.). Called a hypostatic union - the two natures are not mixed, and it is perpetual… without surrendering any aspect of His deity, God became flesh…
• Called Immanuel, God with us!  You see me, you see the Father… I and my Father are One… Before Abraham was, I AM… the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us… An Incredible TRUTH!

• Name Him Jesus, WHY?  Because He will save his people from their sins… The reason Christ came…

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

• The purpose Jesus Christ came was to save us from our sins – redemption through His blood
• God taking human flesh to sacrificially die for sin… Without parallel in all of human history…

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

• Jesus was born to die on Calvary’s cross – He needed blood flowing in His veins and He shed it for our sin. He willingly laid His life down for us and became our substitutionary sacrifice. He shed His perfect sinless blood to pay the penalty for my sins. The miracle of Jesus and the Incarnation!

Born to die that I may live!

• Fully God and fully man… Immanuel – God with us! 100% God… doing the miraculous: walk on water, transfiguration, miracles, healing, raising the dead, cleansing the leper, etc… and 100% man where Jesus needed sleep, food, water, He experienced fatigue, sorrow and died a real death at Calvary… the Lord Jesus, the Son of God [Divinity] and the Son of Man [Humanity]! Fully God-Man
• He busted time in half… One solitary figure, He stands alone: Born to die tjat I may live!

• God in the flesh, that is why the Jews rejected and crucified Him for blasphemy. Many people today are willing to recognize Him as a great teacher, a model of high moral character, and even a prophet from God… reglion/cults.  But if He was no more than those things, however, He could not have conquered sin or death or Satan. In short, He could not have saved the world from sin…

• God’s Son came to earth on a Mission of LOVE… to lay down His life for His friends
• Think of His condescension for the world. Love drove Him from the glories of heaven to Calvary.
• The Christmas miracle of the incarnation – God became man is spelled out with His very words…

"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. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. (Jn 3:16-18) ~ Jesus

My Personal Encounter with God…

• We meet here today either in belief or in unbelief… either condemned or forgiven… perish/ eternal life
• Today the greatest “God Encounter” is when a person comes to genuine faith in Jesus Christ…
• The question rests with you individually… no one can do it for you…  God desires to work in your life

Going to give you an opportunity for a God Encounter…

1. 1. You Intellectually Know it is God speaking (mind)
2. 2. You are Moved in your Spirit (heart)
3. 3. You Respond in Obedient Faith (choice)
4. 4. You See Amazing Things Happen (change)

• We’re not talking about joining a church or getting religious or making a new resolution… I’m talking about a new relationship with Jesus Christ – the only one in the UNIVERSE who can forgive your sins
• Let’s bow together… If you are not sure of your salvation, living in doubt and fear… Tired of trying to be religious and failing time and time again… carrying a great burden of sin and guilt… Not sure you are going to heaven if you were to die… you can settle that question today
• Your encounter with God is when the Holy Spirit speaks gentle/lovingly to your heart – repent/believe
• If this describes you, I’m asking you to lift your hand and respond in obedient faith… I’ll pray for you
• I want to give my life to Jesus… Let me lead you in a prayer of believing faith…

Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner.  Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  I open the door of my life and receive you as my Savior and Lord.  Forgive my sins and take control of my life and help me become the kind of person you want me to be…