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Voddie Baucham - Dr. Voddie Baucham preaching at Kailua Baptist Church on Oahu · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: As we think about this time and this season, there's
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  Speaker 1: a passage of scripture that always comes to mind for me.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: It was alluded to earlier. And it is there in
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  Speaker 1: Galatians chapter 4. We're familiar with the story of Christmas.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: And the story of Christmas is incredibly important. But the
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  Speaker 1: story of Christmas, like a lot of stories, has become
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  Speaker 1: very familiar to us. And it's important every once in
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  Speaker 1: a while, perhaps more than every once in a while,
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  Speaker 1: to be reminded not of the story of Christmas or
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  Speaker 1: not just of the story of Christmas, but of the
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  Speaker 1: theology of Christmas. Because without the theology of Christmas, the
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  Speaker 1: story really loses the bulk of its meaning. The world
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  Speaker 1: is trying desperately to... to hold on to some kind
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  Speaker 1: of meaning at this time of year. And we see
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  Speaker 1: Christmas specials all over the place. The world's attempt to
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  Speaker 1: hold on to the significance of Christmas is usually based
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  Speaker 1: around the idea of families and families coming together. You
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  Speaker 1: watch enough of these Christmas movies and these Christmas specials
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  Speaker 1: It's always about somehow are they all going to be
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  Speaker 1: able to get to that place that they need to
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  Speaker 1: get to? Are they going to be able to do
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  Speaker 1: that thing that is the big family tradition that this
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  Speaker 1: year looks like it won't happen, but maybe hopefully they
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  Speaker 1: can do it? And so that's the idea. That's the hope.
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  Speaker 1: That's the one bright spot that the culture at large
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  Speaker 1: has been able to sort of latch onto in their
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  Speaker 1: attempt to continue to make this season meaningful. But that's
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  Speaker 1: not it. Those things make us feel good, right? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: it's fine. It's great. We all sit and we watch
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  Speaker 1: the movie and, you know, we're excited when, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the person who wasn't going to make it makes it. And,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and when they all, it's all, it's great.
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  Speaker 1: And the people... Fall in love and, you know, just go,
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  Speaker 1: that was wonderful. That was great. But if that's all
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  Speaker 1: we have, there's very little hope in that. There has
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  Speaker 1: to be something more. And, in fact, there is. And
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  Speaker 1: we have it here in Galatians chapter 4, beginning there
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  Speaker 1: in verse 4. Let me read verses 4 through 7.
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  Speaker 1: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent
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  Speaker 1: forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law,
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  Speaker 1: to redeem those who were under the law, so that
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  Speaker 1: we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons,
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  Speaker 1: God has sent forth his spirit, the spirit of his son,
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  Speaker 1: into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are no
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  Speaker 1: longer a slave, but a son. And if a son,
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  Speaker 1: then an heir through God. The theology of Christmas. What
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  Speaker 1: is this theology? Why is it so significant? The most significant, really,
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  Speaker 1: event in world history. And I say that not because...
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  Speaker 1: I'm a Christian. I say that not because I look
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  Speaker 1: at it from my perspective and with my biased lens on.
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  Speaker 1: I say that because the entire world has acknowledged it
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  Speaker 1: whether we want to or not. The entire calendar is
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  Speaker 1: split in half between B.C. and Now, we've tried to
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  Speaker 1: get around that. Now we talk about BCE and, you know, as,
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  Speaker 1: you know, before Common Era. But you still go, okay, fine. Fine, Mr.,
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  Speaker 1: you know, atheistic academic. You want to call it BCE, right?
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: That's fine. Before the Common Era. Riddle me this, Batman.
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  Speaker 1: What is the event... That marked the beginning of what
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  Speaker 1: would now be the common era. Is it some random
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  Speaker 1: scientific thing that you... No, it's actually not. It is
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  Speaker 1: the incarnation of Christ. That is it. It is the
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  Speaker 1: God-man entering our world. That is it. And so it is... Sunday,
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  Speaker 1: December 8th, 2024, A.D. Anno Domini, the year of our Lord.
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  Speaker 1: There is nothing else in history that has had that
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  Speaker 1: kind of global impact that changes the way Every human
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  Speaker 1: being thinks about their very existence. Every human being on
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  Speaker 1: planet Earth. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care.
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  Speaker 1: With the Chinese, they have a different calendar, right? And
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  Speaker 1: they have the Chinese New Year and all this. That's great.
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  Speaker 1: That's great. Go to China and ask them what day
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  Speaker 1: it is. It is Sunday, December 8th, 2008. 24 AD.
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  Speaker 1: Everywhere on the globe. That's what it is. That's how
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  Speaker 1: significant this event is. And most people have no idea
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  Speaker 1: of the underlying significance. Just some glimmer of, you know,
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  Speaker 1: this is important. This is meaningful. And because we've been
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  Speaker 1: able to get away from the theology of Christmas, the
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  Speaker 1: world has been able to latch onto it, to hold
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  Speaker 1: onto it, and to make it whatever they need to
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  Speaker 1: make it in order to be comfortable. In fact, the
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  Speaker 1: Christmas tree has become so ubiquitous and so universal and
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  Speaker 1: so divorced from Christian theology and doctrine that the most
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  Speaker 1: expensive Christmas tree in the world is in a country
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  Speaker 1: where it's illegal to convert to Christianity. It's in the
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  Speaker 1: United Arab Emirates, in Abu Dhabi. Millions and millions of dollars.
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  Speaker 1: They set it up every year in the mall. They
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  Speaker 1: decorate it with Rolex watches and diamonds and jewels and
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  Speaker 1: It's unbelievable. Huge tree. Millions and millions of dollars. This
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  Speaker 1: Christmas tree in a country where converting to Christianity would
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  Speaker 1: be against the law. Why? Because they have Christmas. They
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  Speaker 1: have the story without the theology. And the story without
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  Speaker 1: the theology is virtually meaningless. Meaningless. So what is that theology?
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  Speaker 1: Glad you asked. Galatians 4. Look at verse 4. When
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  Speaker 1: the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son.
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  Speaker 1: There's the first thing. That we celebrate the birth of
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  Speaker 1: the son of God. Not just the birth of a
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  Speaker 1: baby in Bethlehem. Newsflash. probably more than likely, we can
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  Speaker 1: say with a great degree of certainty that he wasn't
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  Speaker 1: the only baby born in Bethlehem that day. Amen? So
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: it wasn't the location, right? It wasn't even necessarily the
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  Speaker 1: day that made this significant. What made it significant is
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  Speaker 1: that this is the son of God. That Jesus is
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  Speaker 1: not just like God, close to God, Jesus is not
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  Speaker 1: just almost God, that he is God, that he is
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  Speaker 1: the second person of the Trinity, that he has existed
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  Speaker 1: throughout all eternity, eternally begotten of the Father. And the
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  Speaker 1: Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, took
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  Speaker 1: on flesh, took on a second nature, and was born.
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  Speaker 1: That's what makes it significant, that this was God. that
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  Speaker 1: this is the Son of God. Not just a baby
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  Speaker 1: who reminds us. of hope and the future like all
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  Speaker 1: babies do. Amen? Not just a baby that just makes
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  Speaker 1: us smile like babies do. I mean, there's nothing like,
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  Speaker 1: you know, that small, new, swooshy, you just... The smell
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  Speaker 1: and the everything. I just, yes. Amen? And even if
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  Speaker 1: they come out like, not ugly. Even if they come
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  Speaker 1: out like, less beautiful. They're still awesome. They're still awesome.
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  Speaker 1: But that's not what was significant. That's not what split
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  Speaker 1: time in half. Not that the cutest baby ever to
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  Speaker 1: be born was born. In fact, the scriptures tell us
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  Speaker 1: he had no form or beauty that we would have
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  Speaker 1: been attracted to him. He's the son of God. That
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  Speaker 1: the son of God became a man, became a baby.
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  Speaker 1: That the son of God was incarnate. The son of
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  Speaker 1: God was born That's what we commemorate. But not only that,
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  Speaker 1: when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth
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  Speaker 1: his son born of a woman. The son of God
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  Speaker 1: born of a woman. Why? Why the son of God
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  Speaker 1: born of a woman? Why not just the son of
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  Speaker 1: God miraculously appearing Why not the Son of God just
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  Speaker 1: in angelic form? Why not the Son of God just
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  Speaker 1: showing up? Why the Son of God born of a woman? Well,
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  Speaker 1: in order to understand that, you have to go back.
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  Speaker 1: You have to go back to Genesis. You have to
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  Speaker 1: go back to Genesis chapter 3. You have to go
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  Speaker 1: back to the fall. You have to go back to
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  Speaker 1: Adam having been given this law from God a law
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  Speaker 1: written on his heart and then a particular precept and
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  Speaker 1: that particular precept was that there was a tree in
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  Speaker 1: the garden from which he was not to eat and
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  Speaker 1: that if he ate of it he would surely die
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  Speaker 1: and he violated that law and he ate from that
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  Speaker 1: tree and he brought the penalty of death not only
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  Speaker 1: to himself but to all his posterity. In fact, in
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  Speaker 1: Romans chapter 5, before we look at Genesis 3, in
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  Speaker 1: Romans chapter 5, if you have your Bibles, look there,
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  Speaker 1: Romans chapter 5, beginning in verse 12. Therefore, just as
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  Speaker 1: sin came into the world through one man and death
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  Speaker 1: through sin, and so death spread to all men because
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  Speaker 1: all sinned. So Adam eats. Death comes into the world,
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  Speaker 1: not just for him, but for all men. He is
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  Speaker 1: our federal head. And because of him, we all sin
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  Speaker 1: and we all die. We inherit sin from Adam. Every
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  Speaker 1: human being born from natural generation, as our confession says,
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  Speaker 1: inherits Adam's sin and suffers the penalty of death because
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  Speaker 1: we inherit Adam's sin. Verse 13, for sin indeed was
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  Speaker 1: in the world before the law was given, but sin
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  Speaker 1: is not counted where there is no law. Yet death
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  Speaker 1: reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning
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  Speaker 1: was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a
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  Speaker 1: type of the one who was to come. And so
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  Speaker 1: here we have sin coming to us because of Adam.
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  Speaker 1: A sin nature that we inherit, all of us who
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  Speaker 1: are born from these human unions. And so all of
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  Speaker 1: us deserve to die and will die. But more importantly
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  Speaker 1: than that, All of us deserve to die and will die,
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  Speaker 1: not just because of Adam's sin, but because we act
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  Speaker 1: upon that sin nature and we sin. The really bad
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  Speaker 1: news is because we sin, we don't just experience physical death.
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  Speaker 1: We also experience a spiritual death, a separation from God,
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  Speaker 1: wherein we must pay the penalty that we owe because
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  Speaker 1: of our sin. And because God is completely, utterly, perfectly,
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  Speaker 1: and infinitely righteous, our sin deserves and must receive just
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  Speaker 1: as complete, just as infinite, and just as perfect a condemnation. But,
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  Speaker 1: Genesis 3, as I said, beginning at verse 14. This
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  Speaker 1: is after the fall. Curses are being handed down. Verse 14,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have
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  Speaker 1: done this, curse to you above all livestock, above all
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  Speaker 1: the beasts of the field. On your belly you shall go,
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  Speaker 1: and dust shall you eat all the days of your life.
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  Speaker 1: And then here's the key. Verse 15. I will put
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  Speaker 1: enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring
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  Speaker 1: and her offspring. He shall bruise your head. You shall
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  Speaker 1: bruise his heel. There's the promise. There's the promise in
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  Speaker 1: the form of a curse on the serpent. That the
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  Speaker 1: offspring of the woman, by the way, that's glorious news.
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  Speaker 1: What God says to Eve as he speaks to the
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  Speaker 1: serpent is, you're going to die, but not today. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: Because otherwise she would have no offspring. The other thing
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  Speaker 1: that he says to her and to the rest of
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  Speaker 1: us is that there is going to be offspring from
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  Speaker 1: the woman who will crush the head of the snake,
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  Speaker 1: who will reverse the curse, who will undo what the
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  Speaker 1: first Adam has done. But he has to be the
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  Speaker 1: seed of a woman. Back in Galatians 4, when the
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  Speaker 1: fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son.
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  Speaker 1: We're not going to be redeemed unless God redeems us.
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  Speaker 1: So God sends his son. So this is God. This
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  Speaker 1: is God who's coming. His son born of a woman.
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  Speaker 1: The redeemer also has to be a man who is
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  Speaker 1: born of a woman. However, born only of a woman. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because if he's born of a woman and a man,
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  Speaker 1: he inherits Adam's sin. And he's got sin of his
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  Speaker 1: own to deal with. But because he's born of a
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  Speaker 1: woman who was a virgin... and not born of a man.
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  Speaker 1: He is born without Adam's original sin and therefore has
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  Speaker 1: no sin of his own that has to be paid for.
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  Speaker 1: This is the theology of Christmas. The virgin birth is
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  Speaker 1: significant for theological reasons because it's the only way that
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  Speaker 1: a man can be born of a woman and not
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  Speaker 1: inherit Adam's sin. It's the only way that man can
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  Speaker 1: be born of a woman and have a human nature,
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  Speaker 1: but also be the son of God and have a
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  Speaker 1: divine nature in what theologians refer to as the hypostatic union.
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  Speaker 1: Fully God and fully man. God sent forth his son,
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  Speaker 1: born of a woman. He would not have been fully
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  Speaker 1: man had he not been born of a woman. He
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  Speaker 1: would not have been fully man had he not started
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  Speaker 1: as an embryo. But he started as an embryo so
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  Speaker 1: that he might be fully man. By the way, he
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  Speaker 1: also started as an embryo so that he could sanctify
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  Speaker 1: human life from the moment of conception. Human life is
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  Speaker 1: set apart. Human life is holy unto God from the
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  Speaker 1: moment of conception. Not at some later point, but from
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  Speaker 1: the moment of conception, which is why the Son of
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  Speaker 1: God himself experienced that moment of conception so that he
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  Speaker 1: could be fully human. When the fullness of time had
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  Speaker 1: come God sent forth his son, son of God, born
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  Speaker 1: of a woman, son of man, born under the law.
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  Speaker 1: Born under the law. Why is this important? Well, Jesus
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  Speaker 1: is the God man. Jesus is born of a woman.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus does not inherit Adam's sin. He has no original sin. However,
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  Speaker 1: He's born under the law because in order for him
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  Speaker 1: to be righteous, he has to keep the law. Not
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  Speaker 1: just be born without original sin, but keep the whole law.
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  Speaker 1: Adam was born without original sin. Amen? But he fell.
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  Speaker 1: Now the second Adam is born without original sin. And
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  Speaker 1: he is born under the law. And in order to
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  Speaker 1: be fully righteous, to be completely righteous, absolutely righteous, in
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  Speaker 1: order to have righteousness that he can impede to us,
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  Speaker 1: he has to keep the whole law. All of it.
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  Speaker 1: So God sends forth his son, born of a woman,
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  Speaker 1: born under the law. Go back to our passage in Romans.
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  Speaker 1: Romans chapter 5 we left off after seeing that Adam
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  Speaker 1: was a type of the one who was to come
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  Speaker 1: that's Jesus now look at verse 15 but the free
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  Speaker 1: gift is not like the trespass for if many died
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  Speaker 1: through one man's trespass much more had the grace of
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  Speaker 1: God and the free gift by the grace of that
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  Speaker 1: one man Jesus Christ abounded for many For the free
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  Speaker 1: gift is not like the result of the one man's sin.
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  Speaker 1: For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the
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  Speaker 1: free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if because
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  Speaker 1: of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man,
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  Speaker 1: much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
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  Speaker 1: and the free gift of righteousness reign in life. Through
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  Speaker 1: the one man, Jesus Christ. Verse 18. Therefore, as one
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  Speaker 1: trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act
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  Speaker 1: of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
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  Speaker 1: For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were
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  Speaker 1: made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many
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  Speaker 1: will be made righteous. by the one man's obedience to
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  Speaker 1: the law, the many will be made righteous. As a man,
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  Speaker 1: as our new federal head, Christ had to be born
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  Speaker 1: under the law so that he could keep the law
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  Speaker 1: on our behalf. Verse 5. So again, back in verse 4,
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  Speaker 1: when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth
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  Speaker 1: his son, born of a woman, born under the law,
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  Speaker 1: to redeem those who were under the law. It's very
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  Speaker 1: easy to quickly pass over that. He's born under the law,
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  Speaker 1: and he keeps the whole law. And he redeems those
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  Speaker 1: who are under the law. Please don't miss the significance
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  Speaker 1: of that statement. Because now we've gone from his active
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  Speaker 1: obedience in keeping the whole law to his passive obedience
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  Speaker 1: to his death on the cross on our behalf. In
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  Speaker 1: Christ's active obedience, he keeps the whole law on our
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  Speaker 1: behalf and he is fully righteous and thereby can impute
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  Speaker 1: to us righteousness so that we can stand before God
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  Speaker 1: as righteous. But in his passive obedience, he lays down
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  Speaker 1: his life on the cross and dies a death that
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  Speaker 1: he does not owe. A vicarious death. A penal substitutionary death.
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  Speaker 1: Dying in our stead so that we might be redeemed. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: we owe God righteousness, and Jesus gives us that, but
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  Speaker 1: we also owe God the penalty due to our sin,
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  Speaker 1: and Christ takes upon himself that. Christ died for sin
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  Speaker 1: once for all, the just for the unjust, in order
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  Speaker 1: that he might bring us to God. God made him
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  Speaker 1: who knew no sin to be sin for us so
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  Speaker 1: that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
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  Speaker 1: That's the significance. That's why it matters. And every bit
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  Speaker 1: of this matters. It matters that Jesus is the son
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  Speaker 1: of God because only God can take the wrath of
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  Speaker 1: God and endure the wrath of God. It matters that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus is born of a woman. Amen. And not of
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  Speaker 1: a woman and a man because he has to be
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  Speaker 1: fully human but not have Adam's curse. It matters that
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  Speaker 1: he's born under the law because Christ has to keep
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  Speaker 1: the whole law on our behalf so that he can
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  Speaker 1: impute his righteousness to us so that it can be
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  Speaker 1: credited to our account. And then he has to redeem
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  Speaker 1: us by receiving in his body the penalty that we
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  Speaker 1: owe to God. And it's the only answer. Listen, folks,
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  Speaker 1: every religion in the world can basically be summed up
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  Speaker 1: like this. You have to have some kind of religious experience,
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  Speaker 1: then do more good things than bad things and hope
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  Speaker 1: for the best when you die. That's it. Oversimplification, only slightly.
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  Speaker 1: Only slightly. That's every religion in a nutshell. You have
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  Speaker 1: to have your religious experience, whatever that is, however they
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  Speaker 1: define that, right? You have to have that religious experience.
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  Speaker 1: But then after that, there's a list of things that
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  Speaker 1: you have to do, the list of things that you
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  Speaker 1: don't do, and you spend the rest of your life
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  Speaker 1: working hard to do these things and not do those things,
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  Speaker 1: hoping that in the end, when the scales come out,
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  Speaker 1: it balances in your favor. And ultimately what that means
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  Speaker 1: is you spend the rest of your life lying to
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  Speaker 1: yourself because you know you're not righteous. But here's the
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  Speaker 1: other problem. What about the stuff you did before your
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  Speaker 1: religious experience? Like, you're going to spend the rest of
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  Speaker 1: your life trying to do more good things than bad
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  Speaker 1: things so that the scales balance out, but you started
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  Speaker 1: out with the scales out of balance. Where do you
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  Speaker 1: catch up? There is no answer anywhere in the world
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  Speaker 1: that will suffice other than. All we like sheep have
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  Speaker 1: gone astray, as Isaiah says. Each of us had turned
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: to his own way. But God hath laid upon him
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: the iniquity of us all. So that as Paul says
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: in Romans chapter 3, God can be both just. He
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: has to be just. He has to punish sin. And
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: the justifier of the one who places faith in Jesus Christ.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: God has to punish sin. And we know this. Every
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: human being in the world know this. I don't care
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: where you were born or what language you grew up speaking.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: One of the first things that you learn to say
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: with conviction is that's not fair. Because there is a
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: sense of justice in every human heart that has to
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: be made right. And you're correct. It has to be
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: made right Sin has to be paid for. God's wrath
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: has to be poured out on sin. You know it.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: You know it in your bones. Everything in you cries
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: out for it when you see injustice. In fact, sometimes
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: you shake your fist at God because you want to
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: see it right here, right now. How does that person
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: get to live? And that person doesn't. How does that
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: person get to succeed and that person doesn't? You may
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: have even run away from God because of your sense
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: of justice and your desire to see justice in the
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: here and the now. And you look at circumstances around
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  Speaker 1: you and it seems to be unjust, so you run
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: away from God. But before you run away, can I
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: just put one little tidbit of information into your calculation?
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: if God meted out justice, and if everybody got what
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: they deserved, every last one of us would have died
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: last night because of what we thought, said, and did
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: on yesterday. Be very careful with that because what we
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: tend to do is look out there and demand God's
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: justice for them and excuse ourselves. You're a hypocrite. Because
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: here's what I know. You don't lay your head in
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: your pillow at night and you don't pound your fist
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: on your pillow at night saying, God, how could you
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: possibly have given me another day to live? Because his
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: justice demands your death. His justice demands you in hell
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: for eternity paying for the sins that you've committed against
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: the perfectly righteous God. So be careful with that. And
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: know that justice is coming. Every sin will be paid
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: for Nobody gets away with anything. It will either be
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: paid for by you for eternity in hell or it
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: was paid for on the cross at Calvary. When the
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son,
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: those who are under the law. And this is where
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: it gets good. So that we might receive adoption as sons.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: That's where it becomes extravagant. You know what could have come?
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: It could have said this. But when the fullness of
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: time had come, God sent forth his son, born of
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: are under the law, so that you might not receive
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: what you deserve. And that would have been enough. Amen?
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: But instead, so that you might receive adoption as sons.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: God sent his son to lay down his life for you,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: so that you might not only receive his righteousness and
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: receive forgiveness, but so that you might also receive sonship
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: like him. So that you might become an adopted child
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: of the most high God. I don't care what you
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: thought about Christmas. It wasn't enough. And because you are sons,
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. crying, Abba, Father.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: So you are no longer a slave, which would have
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: been enough, but a son. And if a son and
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: heir through God, what do you inherit? Eternal life. Eternal life. Listen,
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: if there was more clarity about the theology of Christmas
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: contained in this text, there would be no Christmas trees
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: in Abu Dhabi. There's no way. Like, there's no way.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: They don't put that up because they understand this. They
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: put that up because they have no clue that this
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: is what it's about. But it most assuredly is. By
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: the way, I'll leave you with this. As our brother
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: said earlier, one of the aspects of my life in
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: ministry over the years has been my participation and commitment
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: to the pro-life movement, the sanctity of human life. And
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: in this text, we see the sanctity of human life,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: not just From conception. We do. We see that. The
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: incarnation of Jesus. Settles the question. As to when and where.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: We put the sanctity of human life. It is at conception.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: But not only that. But. One of the things. That
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: people are arguing is. That we need to consider. Um.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: ignoring the sanctity of human life in certain circumstances. For example,
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: if that child is going to suffer, if that child
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: is going to suffer, then we say it would be
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: appropriate just end the life in the womb so that
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: the child doesn't suffer. This text obliterates that argument. God
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: sends forth his son knowing that he's going to crush
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: him and kill him on the cross. Greater suffering than
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: any human being has ever suffered or will ever suffer,
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: and yet it was worth his boy being born. It
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: was worth his boy being born. Not potential suffering, but
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: guaranteed suffering. And it was worth his boy being born
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: or how about those who say you know not not
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: into this world is this world is so mixed up
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: this world is so messed up who would bring a
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: child into a world like this this text obliterates that
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: argument because God sent forth his son from glory from
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: heaven and To inhabit this dark sinful world. And to
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: take on its sin upon himself. And to die for
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: its sin. This text obliterates that argument. How dare we
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: make that argument. Staring in the face of a God
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: who sends forth his son from heaven. Into this world.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: You can't make that argument. You can't make that argument. Well,
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: how about this argument? It's an inconvenient time for a baby.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: How about first century Bethlehem when you're not married yet? Amen, somebody.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: It was an inconvenient time for Mary to be pregnant.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: This was the ultimate unplanned pregnancy. And so we can't
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: make that argument. I think it's incredibly important in the
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: day and age in which we live to remember the
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: theology of Christmas, both from the perspective of reminding people
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: of why the birth of Christ is significant in terms
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: of our redemption, but also in the midst of our
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: culture of death that is becoming more and more rabidly
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: pro-death and anti-child It is important for us to remind
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: this world in which we live that in the incarnation
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: of Christ, human life is sanctified from the moment of conception,
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: regardless of suffering, in spite of convenience or the lack thereof,
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: and in spite of how dark and difficult our world
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: has become. All of that. Because in the fullness of time,
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: God sent forth his son. Born of a woman. Born
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: under the law. To redeem those who are under the law.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: And if you are here this morning, and you have
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: not fled from your sin, and fled to the foot
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: of the cross and pleaded with God to redeem you
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: and to save you from your sin, recognizing that that
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: is your only hope. And my prayer for you is
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: that today is the day that you do that. Recognize
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: that God's justice is coming. And the only question is,
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: will it be poured out on you or by faith
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: poured out on Christ? Let's pray. Our gracious God and
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: our Father, we thank you and praise you for your
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: goodness and kindness and mercy toward us. particularly through the
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: person and work of your son and our savior, the
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you and thank you for
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: orchestrating history in such a way that in the fullness
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: of time, you sent forth your son. For your grace
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: and your mercy, in providing us a way of escape
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: and a means of redemption. Though every one of us
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: deserves your wrath, thank you that Christ is our righteousness
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: and paid for our sin. And that that is true
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: for all of us who flee to him by faith,
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: who trust in him and him alone for our salvation
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: and our redemption. Grant by your grace that we might
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: do that here today so that Christ indeed might have
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: the fullness of the reward for which he died. We
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: pray and we ask these things and we believe these
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: things in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen.