God With Us • Week 1
Matthew 1:18-25
18This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20But 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. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
God was so crazy in love with us, He came down to earth to be with us…
So here’s what the Christmas story is all about: a willing Savior is born to rescue unwilling people from themselves because there is no other way.
He was willing to go through the pain of his father’s rejection.
He was willing to die.
He was willing to rise and descend to be our constant advocate.
Jesus was willing.
There was a problem… SIN.
And no one has escaped it, no one is exempt.
Rom 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
What is Sin?
Transgression: having crossed the line
Sin: having missed the mark
Iniquity: having lost our way; perversion – when God sets out to do 1 thing and we do another
John 8:1-11
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said.“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Bottom Line:
God doesn’t hate you for your sin, and He doesn’t want you to sin.
Luke 18:10-14a NLT
10“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ 13“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God.
Unwillingness:
One of the dark character qualities of sin that we don’t recognize as much as we should as unwillingness.
So what do I do with my sin?
Acknowledge it - Confess
We don’t confess so we can obtain forgiveness, we already have forgiveness.
We confess so we are reminded we need forgiveness and remain aware of our constant need for a Savior.
1 John 1:9 ESV
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Acknowledge your need for a Savior
Receive & walk in Forgiveness… we call that freedom!
Romans 5:8 NLT
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
1 Peter 2:24
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
The willingness of Jesus then, is your guarantee that He continues to be willing today.