Advent: God With Us, Become Like Us
Date: 11/27/22
Preacher: Trent Chambers
Scripture: 1 John 3:23-4:6
Main Sermon Points
1. The doctrine of the humanity of Christ (v.2)
• He is God, the eternal Son
• He took on our humanity
• He continues in the flesh in a glorified body
2. HOPE in the humanity of Christ:
• For those who WAIT: He is Emmanuel, God with us.
• For those who HURT: He is our God who understands.
• For those who FALL SHORT: He advocates for us.
• For those who FAIL OFTEN: He fights temptation with us.
3. Challenge: How do you need to grow in your understanding of Jesus this Advent season? How do you need to find greater hope in the humanity of Jesus Christ this Christmas?
Psalm
Psalm 44 (When singing or praying this Psalm, we enter the hearts and minds of faithful believers before Christ, understanding their grief and anticipation as they trust God’s Word and wait for the first Advent. As we begin our 4 week observation of Advent, we also look back to the redemptive deeds of God (v.1-8), we mourn and question as we look at the sin and pain in this world (v.9-22), and we join the people of God from all ages in patient complaint (v.23-26), asking our God to send Jesus our Redeemer to save his people.)
Read the Passage
Read the Scripture passage aloud as a group. When you’re done reading, take some time to share observations about the passage. Try not to move into interpretation or application yet. Just spend some time observing what the text says.
Discuss and Apply
In Psalm 44 we hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of God’s people waiting for the first Advent. Today, we continue to wait, but for the second Advent of Christ at the end of this age. Dr. Michael Horton encourages us, “for now, situated between the first and second Advent, we must be content with the Messiah’s gift, the Comforter who himself is no less divine than the Son himself.” (“Comforter” or “Helper” is Jesus’s name for the Holy Spirit in John 14:26.)
1. Do you feel like you’d have an easier time waiting for the first Advent or the second? What is most difficult or most comforting for you during the church’s Spirit-reliant wait for Christ’s return?
Hebrews 4:15 assures us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Spurgeon preached on this verse, “Jesus has so identified Himself with His own redeemed, that He must forevermore be in living, loving, lasting sympathy with them!”
2. Do you struggle to believe God understands your pain? What hurt(s) do you need to bring to Jesus now?
Consider yourself in a moment of great temptation, weakness, and failure. Now, think of Jesus–right at that moment–standing before the Father, pleading your case, and winning the verdict: Not guilty on all counts! Perfectly righteous in the Judge’s eyes!
3. In that moment, how does this heavenly reality refresh and re-shape your heart and your mind?
Closing
Re-read 1 John 4:4. This Advent season, consider the baby who was born in Bethlehem: Jesus who came to us in a weak, impoverished, infant body–He is greater than the evil one who enslaves the world. And his Spirit is in us.
1. How is God leading you into finding greater hope in the humanity of Christ this season?