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Voddie Baucham - God With Us · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: If you have your Bibles with you, open them to
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  Speaker 1: the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter four, Galatians chapter four.
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  Speaker 1: My assignment tonight is to address the subject of God
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  Speaker 1: with us. the incarnate God. Jesus Christ, the God-man. This
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  Speaker 1: is one of the most crucial, critical, and neglected aspects
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  Speaker 1: of our theology. and we neglected for a number of reasons,
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  Speaker 1: not least of which, is people love Jesus as long
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  Speaker 1: as we're not too clear about who he is. Amen, somebody.
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  Speaker 1: If you want evidence of that, Christmas is the ultimate
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  Speaker 1: evidence of that. Amen. I'm not here to be a
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  Speaker 1: Scrooge or anything like that. God bless you. I know,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the people who love Christmas, Christmas favorite time
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  Speaker 1: of the year and everything else. And that's great. God
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  Speaker 1: bless you. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord for all of that.
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  Speaker 1: But here's what's interesting. I want you to imagine something. Imagine,
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  Speaker 1: you know, in a few months, pastors standing up in
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  Speaker 1: their pulpits and saying, listen, at Easter, Jesus is the
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  Speaker 1: reason For the season. Pastors don't say that at Easter. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because unlike Christmas, nobody's tempted to make anything else the
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  Speaker 1: reason for the season. Or, imagine a pastor around Easter
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  Speaker 1: time saying, hey, make sure we keep Christ in Easter.
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  Speaker 1: It's laughable to think that a pastor would say that,
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  Speaker 1: but how often do we hear, make sure to keep
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  Speaker 1: Christ in Christmas? Why? Why? Because everybody loves Christmas. Not everybody. Everybody.
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  Speaker 1: That's beyond everybody. Amen? You don't believe me? Listen to this.
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  Speaker 1: It's from the Guinness Book of World Records. The most
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  Speaker 1: expensive Christmas tree decorated. 16th December, 2010. The most expensive
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  Speaker 1: dressed Christmas tree was valued... at $ 11, 026, 900 and was erected
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  Speaker 1: and displayed by the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, United
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  Speaker 1: Arab Emirates from December 16th to December 29th, 2010. That's right.
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  Speaker 1: That's right. We have so diluted Christmas, that a Muslim
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  Speaker 1: country has the Guinness World Record for the most expensive
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  Speaker 1: Christmas tree ever in the world. Erected in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of a mall in a country where you bet not
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  Speaker 1: convert to Christianity. Why? Why? Because everybody loves Jesus as
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  Speaker 1: long as you don't define who he is. As long
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  Speaker 1: as you don't get into the nitty gritty of what
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  Speaker 1: it means for Jesus to be the son of God. Listen,
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  Speaker 1: if Jesus is just a good man and a good teacher,
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  Speaker 1: even a good prophet, He is completely acceptable. Mormons and
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  Speaker 1: Muslims alike love Jesus. Hindus and Buddhists are very happy
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  Speaker 1: with Jesus. As long as he's just a teacher who
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  Speaker 1: offers sage wisdom, then Jesus is fine. But the minute
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  Speaker 1: you step across that line, and argue that Jesus is
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  Speaker 1: more than prophet, more than teacher.
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  Speaker 2: That he is actually God incarnate, God with us.
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  Speaker 1: Now, all of a sudden, those who were more than
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  Speaker 1: willing to gather with you scatter. Because everybody Love Jesus
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  Speaker 1: as long as you don't define him. And there are
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  Speaker 1: so many places that we could go. When the assignment
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  Speaker 1: came down, I was like, really? How? Where? Can you
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  Speaker 1: just like? But here it is, right here. We'll talk
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  Speaker 1: about a lot of passages, but I want us to
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  Speaker 1: concentrate here in Galatians chapter four. I'll begin there in
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  Speaker 1: verse one, but really we get into this in verse four.
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  Speaker 1: I mean that the heir, as long as he is
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  Speaker 1: a child, is no different from a slave, though he
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  Speaker 1: is the owner of everything. But he is under guardians
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  Speaker 1: and messengers until the date set by his father. In
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  Speaker 1: the same way, We also, when we were children, were
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  Speaker 1: enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. And here's
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  Speaker 1: our text. But when the fullness of time had come,
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  Speaker 1: God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born
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  Speaker 1: under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.
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  Speaker 1: so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because
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  Speaker 1: you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his
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  Speaker 1: son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are
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  Speaker 1: no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son,
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  Speaker 1: then an heir through God. Now my official title is
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  Speaker 1: God with us. My unofficial title I know how to
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  Speaker 1: make them burn that Christmas tree in Abu Dhabi. All
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  Speaker 1: you'd have to do is stand there and explain this
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  Speaker 1: text beginning at verse four. And so we will go
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  Speaker 1: and we will stand in front of this tree, this
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  Speaker 1: $ 11 million Christmas tree in Abu Dhabi, decorated with 181
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  Speaker 1: pieces of jewelry, Rolex watches and diamond rings and all
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  Speaker 1: these sorts of things on it. That's why it's valued at.
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  Speaker 1: So you're probably wondering, right? Like what kind of wood
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  Speaker 1: was that? No, it's not. It's not the wood. It's
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  Speaker 1: the things that they put on the tree, which speaks
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  Speaker 1: even more to the heart of the misunderstanding of what
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  Speaker 1: it was about. And so here we are, we're in
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  Speaker 1: Abu Dhabi, we're standing in front of the tree And
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  Speaker 1: we have all of our Muslim neighbors there around this
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  Speaker 1: expensive Christmas tree. And our Muslim neighbors may even look
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  Speaker 1: to us and say, Merry Christmas, as they stand around
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  Speaker 1: this Christmas tree. And so what do we say to
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  Speaker 1: our Muslim neighbors as we stand in front of this tree? Again,
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  Speaker 1: official title, God with us, unofficial title. I know how
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  Speaker 1: to make y'all burn down that tree. First, but when
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  Speaker 1: the fullness of time had come, the birth of Jesus
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  Speaker 1: was providential. The birth of Jesus was providential when the
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  Speaker 1: fullness of time had come. In other words, at the
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  Speaker 1: exact moment when it was right, when it was timed,
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  Speaker 1: In the fullness of time. Because God is never early
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  Speaker 1: and he can't be late. In the fullness of time.
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  Speaker 1: When everything was exactly right. When everything was exactly as
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  Speaker 1: God intended it to be. In the exact moment that
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  Speaker 1: God intended it to happen. God was not reacting to
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  Speaker 1: situations or circumstances. It was in the fullness of time.
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  Speaker 1: God did not decide that things had gotten so out
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  Speaker 1: of hand that something had to be done. This was
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  Speaker 1: in the fullness of time. God did exactly what he intended,
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  Speaker 1: exactly when he intended, exactly how he intended it. birth
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus was providential. In other words, the birth of
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  Speaker 1: Jesus was part of a plan. The birth of Jesus
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  Speaker 1: was part of God's plan. A specific plan for a
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  Speaker 1: specific purpose. We learn a little something about that plan
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  Speaker 1: in the next phrase. In the When the fullness of
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  Speaker 1: time had come, God sent forth his son. We're already
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  Speaker 1: lighting the fire. In the fullness of time, God sent
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  Speaker 1: forth his son. Jesus is not like God. He is
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  Speaker 1: not close to God He is not almost God. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: is God. In the fullness of time, God sent forth
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  Speaker 1: his son. Paul puts it this way in Philippians. Let
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  Speaker 1: this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: who although he existed in the form of God, did
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  Speaker 1: not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped.
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  Speaker 1: In Colossians, he makes it clear that the fullness of
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  Speaker 1: the Godhead dwelled in him bodily. The triune God makes
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  Speaker 1: this clear at the baptism of Jesus. Jesus said, The
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  Speaker 1: son is baptized. And when Jesus, God the son, is baptized,
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  Speaker 1: God the father speaks from heaven and says, this is
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  Speaker 1: my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. So
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  Speaker 1: God the father declares that the one being baptized is
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  Speaker 1: God the son. And God the spirit descends upon him
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  Speaker 1: in the form of a dove. We have God here.
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  Speaker 1: In the fullness of time, God is executing a plan
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  Speaker 1: exactly when the plan is supposed to be executed and
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  Speaker 1: this time is significant because of the very nature of
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  Speaker 1: the plan. And the nature of the plan is that
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  Speaker 1: God will send God. In the fullness of time, God
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  Speaker 1: sent his son. By the way, this is also significant.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to see that he's born of a woman,
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  Speaker 1: but before we get to born of a woman, I
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  Speaker 1: want you to recognize the implications here. It's not only
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  Speaker 1: an affirmative statement that Jesus is the son of God,
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  Speaker 1: but this is also a very important statement that in
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  Speaker 1: that in a very important sense, he's not the son
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  Speaker 1: of Adam. How so? Well, Adam is our federal head.
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  Speaker 1: And in Genesis, when Adam eats of the fruit, sin
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  Speaker 1: enters the world and death through sin because of the
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  Speaker 1: sin of Adam. And that curse, that sin is passed
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  Speaker 1: to all of us who are born by ordinary generation.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, we are all born in sin and
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  Speaker 1: shaped in iniquity. All of us who are born of
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  Speaker 1: man and woman, all of us who are born the
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  Speaker 1: ordinary way that people are born. When you are the
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  Speaker 1: son of a man and a woman, when you are
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  Speaker 1: born and produced by the union of a man and
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  Speaker 1: a woman, what you inherit is Adam's sinful nature and
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  Speaker 1: you stand under Adam's federal headship. because of that you're
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  Speaker 1: guilty you're guilty because of Adam Paul says this to
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  Speaker 1: us in Romans 5 makes it very clear that we
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  Speaker 1: are guilty because of Adam and because of his federal
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  Speaker 1: headship now federal headship is very important and it'll be
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  Speaker 1: very important in a moment but in order for us
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  Speaker 1: to understand its importance in a moment, we have to
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  Speaker 1: understand its importance now. Because its importance in a moment,
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  Speaker 1: when we talk about federal headship in reverse, we get
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  Speaker 1: to the place where people often want to argue with
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  Speaker 1: federal headship. And they want to say, you know, how
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  Speaker 1: is it that Jesus can die all those years ago?
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  Speaker 1: And how is it that Jesus can die and, you know,
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  Speaker 1: all of us can benefit from that? How is it
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  Speaker 1: that God can punish Jesus and all of us can
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  Speaker 1: benefit from that? In order to understand that later, you
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  Speaker 1: have to understand federal headship now. You have to understand
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  Speaker 1: that Adam is our federal head and that all of
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  Speaker 1: us were in Adam and guilty in Adam. And when
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  Speaker 1: he fell, he stood in the stead of us all
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  Speaker 1: as our federal head. And just like if our federal
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  Speaker 1: head today were to declare war, all of us, by
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  Speaker 1: virtue of being under that federal headship, would be considered
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  Speaker 1: at war. Amen? By virtue of that federal headship. So
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  Speaker 1: what's being said here is important not only in What
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  Speaker 1: it affirms, but what it denies. But when the fullness
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  Speaker 1: of time had come, God sent forth his son. His
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  Speaker 1: unique son. John says, in the beginning was the word
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  Speaker 1: and the word was with God and the word was God.
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  Speaker 1: He was in the beginning with God. Through him all
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  Speaker 1: things were made and apart from him nothing was made
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  Speaker 1: that has been made. And that word became flesh. How
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  Speaker 1: did he become flesh? Not the same way that you
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  Speaker 1: and I became flesh. As Isaiah had foretold, behold, the
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  Speaker 1: virgin conceived and bore a son. And this son is
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  Speaker 1: called Emmanuel, which is God with us. there are those
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  Speaker 1: who have no problem giving up on the virgin birth.
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  Speaker 1: They argue that you can remove the virgin birth, you
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  Speaker 1: can remove the resurrection, you can remove all of these things,
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  Speaker 1: and Christianity won't lose its essence. They could not be
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  Speaker 1: more wrong. If Jesus is born the same way you
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  Speaker 1: and I are born, then he is born having inherited
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  Speaker 1: Adam's guilt, and that's going to become important in a moment.
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  Speaker 1: But as the son of God, the unique son of God,
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  Speaker 1: he did not bear Adam's guilt. He was born of
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  Speaker 1: a virgin, we learn. When the fullness of time had come,
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  Speaker 1: God sent forth his son, born of a woman. And
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  Speaker 1: so now we have Jesus who is the son of
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  Speaker 1: God and the son of man. Now we have Jesus
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  Speaker 1: who is fully divine as the son of God and
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  Speaker 1: fully human as the son of man. Although being fully human,
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  Speaker 1: he was not born of ordinary generation. Therefore, unlike other
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  Speaker 1: full humans, he did not inherit Adam's sins. And yet,
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  Speaker 1: he's born of a woman. And the angel comes and
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  Speaker 1: announces this. And it is achieved and happens just as
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  Speaker 1: he says. As Jesus is born of a virgin. You know,
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  Speaker 1: we often talk about birth being a miracle. We shouldn't. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: The birth of a child is a wonderful thing, but
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  Speaker 1: it's not a miracle. We know exactly how it happens,
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  Speaker 1: and if I had time, I could explain it to you.
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  Speaker 1: But I won't. It is not miraculous. It's about the
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  Speaker 1: most natural thing in the world. Miracles are supernatural. The
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  Speaker 1: birth of a child is absolutely natural. It happens every day.
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  Speaker 1: All day long. Amen. In fact, it is so natural
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  Speaker 1: and unmiraculous that we can pretty much tell you when
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  Speaker 1: it's going to happen. And we've become so good at
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  Speaker 1: that that when the birth comes, if it comes before,
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  Speaker 1: you say your baby was early. And if it comes after,
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  Speaker 1: you say your baby was late. Why? Because you know
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  Speaker 1: it wasn't miraculous. It was completely natural, so natural that
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  Speaker 1: you can predict when it's supposed to happen. And you
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  Speaker 1: can predict it so accurately that when it comes, you
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  Speaker 1: don't say the prediction was wrong. You say the baby
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  Speaker 1: got it wrong. Here's the other problem with proclaiming the
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  Speaker 1: birth of a child as miraculous. I believe it steals
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  Speaker 1: glory from God. Because this birth of this child was miraculous.
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  Speaker 1: The real issue is why. When the fullness of time
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  Speaker 1: had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman,
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  Speaker 1: born under the law. And he did this so that
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  Speaker 1: his son could redeem those who were under the law.
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  Speaker 1: All of these things get us here. When the fullness
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  Speaker 1: of time had come, his birth is providential. God sent
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  Speaker 1: forth his son. strategically, this is the son of God.
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  Speaker 1: He's born of a woman. We're making the point here
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  Speaker 1: that Jesus Christ, fully human, born of a woman, but
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  Speaker 1: not born in the same way that all men are born,
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  Speaker 1: because if he was, he would have man's sin problem.
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  Speaker 1: He's born under the law, which is significant and important
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  Speaker 1: as well, because he's born to redeem those who were
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  Speaker 1: under the law. Now let's put it together. Go to Genesis.
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  Speaker 1: And let me make my point and burn this tree.
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  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter three. The serpent deceives the woman and the
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  Speaker 1: woman eats and the woman gives the fruit to the
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  Speaker 1: man and he eats. And so we have the fall
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  Speaker 1: of man as man has disobeyed the command that God
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  Speaker 1: gave him in Genesis chapter 2. And then we have
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  Speaker 1: God cursing in the order of the offense. The serpent
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  Speaker 1: deceived the woman, so he's first. The woman ate, she's second.
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  Speaker 1: She gave the fruit to the man and he ate,
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  Speaker 1: he's third in line of these curses. But for our purposes,
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  Speaker 1: in order to understand our text and burn this tree,
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  Speaker 1: we just need to understand verse 15. Verse 14 says,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have
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  Speaker 1: done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above
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  Speaker 1: all the beasts of the field. On your belly you
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  Speaker 1: shall go and dust you shall eat all the days
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  Speaker 1: of your life. I will put enmity between you and
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  Speaker 1: the woman and between your offspring or seed and and
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  Speaker 1: her offspring or seed. He shall bruise your head, and
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  Speaker 1: you shall bruise his heel. Sin comes into the world,
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  Speaker 1: and judgment comes because of sin, and judgment starts with
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  Speaker 1: the serpent. And the judgment on the serpent has to
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  Speaker 1: do with the fact that the woman is going to
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  Speaker 1: bear a seed. And at some point, we don't know when,
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  Speaker 1: The seed of the woman is going to crush the
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  Speaker 1: head of the snake, even though the snake is going
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  Speaker 1: to bruise his heel. Now the text doesn't tell us
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  Speaker 1: when this particular promised seed is going to come. However,
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  Speaker 1: when the fullness of time had come. The promised seed came.
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  Speaker 1: Now it was necessary that the promised seed be born
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  Speaker 1: of a woman. Otherwise, God lied to the snake and
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  Speaker 1: to you and to me. He says, I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: put enmity between you and the woman and between your
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  Speaker 1: seed and her seed. So whoever comes to deliver us
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  Speaker 1: from the sin of the first Adam has to be
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  Speaker 1: born of the seed of the woman. But somehow he
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  Speaker 1: cannot inherit the sin of Adam. That's why when the
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  Speaker 1: fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son
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  Speaker 1: born of a woman. Now, why is this significant? This
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  Speaker 1: is significant because the wages of sin is death. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: That's what we owe. If Jesus has sin of his own,
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  Speaker 1: if he's born of ordinary generation like you and me,
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  Speaker 1: then he has a sin debt to pay And he
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  Speaker 1: can't pay anybody else's. But because when the fullness of
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  Speaker 1: time had come, God sent forth his son born of
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  Speaker 1: a woman. Something else could happen. By the way, he's
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  Speaker 1: not just born of a woman. He's born under the
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  Speaker 1: law so that he might redeem those who are under
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  Speaker 1: the law. And what does this redemption look like? I'm
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  Speaker 1: so glad you asked. Because both sides of this are
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  Speaker 1: incredibly important. He's born under the law because we are guilty.
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  Speaker 1: born in sin, but we are also guilty because this
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  Speaker 1: sin nature is the very reason that we break and
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  Speaker 1: violate the law of God. So we have a double problem.
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  Speaker 1: Problem number one, we have the sin that we were
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  Speaker 1: born with, and we're guilty because of that. Problem number two,
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  Speaker 1: we have this law of God that we are commanded
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  Speaker 1: to keep, and because of the sin that we're born with,
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  Speaker 1: we are wholly unable and unwilling to keep this law.
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  Speaker 1: So any man who Born of ordinary generation is going
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  Speaker 1: to have this same problem. Number one, God requires those
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  Speaker 1: of us who are born under the law to keep
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  Speaker 1: the law and be actually righteous. But you will not
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  Speaker 1: and cannot keep the law and be actually righteous because
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  Speaker 1: you're born under the federal headship of Adam and with
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  Speaker 1: a sin nature. You're in trouble. What has to happen?
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  Speaker 1: The seed of the woman has to be born without
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  Speaker 1: a sin nature, number one. And number two, he has
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  Speaker 1: to be born under the law and keep the whole
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  Speaker 1: law so that he can be actually Which is why
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  Speaker 1: this is God's son. Because he is the only one
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  Speaker 1: who can be born without a sin nature and can
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  Speaker 1: keep the whole law. Why is this significant? I'm glad
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  Speaker 1: you asked. Because he has to fulfill two sides of
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  Speaker 1: the redemption coin. Through what is often referred to as
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  Speaker 1: his active and his passive obedience. In his active obedience,
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  Speaker 1: he keeps the whole law. And he is actually righteous,
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  Speaker 1: which is important because that means he can impute actual
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  Speaker 1: righteousness to you and to me. And you can't stand
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  Speaker 1: before God without actual righteousness. And you can't gain that
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  Speaker 1: righteousness because you're born in sin. So Christ keeps the
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  Speaker 1: whole law and is actually righteous and he can impute
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: that righteousness to you. But then, as a man, Christ
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: can actually take the penalty that we owe to God
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: for our sin and deal with the other side of it.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: So that now there can be a double imputation. My
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: sin imputed to Christ, who was born of a woman
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: and can therefore have my sin placed on him because
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: the sin belongs to man. But because he's the God-man,
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: his righteousness can be imputed to me. so that Christ
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: can die a vicarious, substitutionary, atoning death on my behalf,
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: satisfying the wrath of God against my actual sin and
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: my inherited sin and imputing to me the righteousness that
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: is required for me to stand before God in standing
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: in righteousness. This is why when the fullness of time
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: had come, God sent forth His son, born of a woman,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: born under the law. Why? Because as Isaiah says, all
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: we like sheep had gone astray. Each of us had
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: turned to his own way. We're ruined. We're ruined. But
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: what happens? God made him who knew no sin to
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: be sin for us in order that we might become
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: the righteousness of God in him. Christ died for sin
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: once for all, but just for the unjust in order
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: that he might bring us back to God. This is
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  Speaker 1: why the doctrine matters. Because without it, you can't square
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: this circle. If Jesus is just God, I don't care
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: how good a man he is. A good man who
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: is born of ordinary generation inherits Adam's sin. And because
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: he inherits Adam's sin, he inherits Adam's sin nature. And
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: he cannot obey the law of God. And therefore, Because
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: it is appointed unto man once to die and then
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: face the judgment, even the best of men will be condemned.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: Even if he's a good teacher. Being a good man
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: is not enough. Being a good teacher is not enough.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Jesus is a good teacher. That is excellent. Praise God
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: for good teachers. But riddle me this, Batman. What can
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: you teach me that will take away my sin nature?
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: What can you teach me that will enable me to
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: keep the law when I am completely and utterly bent
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: against it? When I hate God's law and I hate
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: God's righteousness, what is it that you can teach me
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: that can overcome my sin nature? What is it that
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: you can teach me? And by the way, if you
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: boil every other religion in the world down, you boil
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: it down to this. It's an oversimplification, but not by much.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: You need to have a religious experience and then from
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: that moment on, do more good things than bad things
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: and hope for the best when you die. And you
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: and I both know there's two problems with that. Number one,
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: I can't be good. If you can't say amen, you
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: ought to say ouch. I can't be good. I've tried it.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: I can't do it I just can't. And even when
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: I have achievements in the area of trying to be good,
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: I get proud of the fact that I was good.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: And then the pride is not good. I got to
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: start all over again. Here's the second problem. What about
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: all my sin before my religious experience? even if I
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: could possibly balance the tables from here on out, and
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: I can't, I didn't start with a clean slate. So
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: if Jesus is good man and good teacher, his teaching
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: cannot and will not suffice. Even if Jesus is good
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: man and good teacher and good prophet, What can a
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: good prophet do other than to remind me of the
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: fact that I am born under the federal headship of
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Adam and therefore have only death, hell, and the grave
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: to look forward to? Thank you very much. None of
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: that is sufficient. The only thing that will work is
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: if When the fullness of time had come. In God's
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: perfect providence. He sent forth. His son. Therefore escaping the guilt.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: And having the power to obey. Born. Of a woman. Therefore. Representing.
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: The rest of us in humanity who are guilty. Born
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: under the law. Therefore being able to achieve perfect righteousness
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: and impute that righteousness to those of us who have
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: none of our own. So that he might redeem those
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: who are under the law. Therefore being able to to
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: impute our sinfulness to him and to carry it to
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: the tree. All of that's good. But wait. There's more.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: So that we might receive adoption As sons. It would
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: be enough. If we just missed hell. Amen. But he
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: does this so that we might receive. Adoption. As sons.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: In other words. Christ the eternal son of God. wraps
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: himself in flesh, clothes himself in humanity so that he,
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: as the son, can redeem us, pay for our sin,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: reconcile us to God, not just so that we miss hell,
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: so that we too can be adopted as sons. What
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: does that have to do with burning the tree? Well,
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: if the tree's not on fire yet, it's about to be.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: First of all, this Jesus is not just a baby
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: in a manger. The baby's in the manger for a purpose.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: And the baby's in the manger because we are all
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: guilty and alienated from God. and the babies in the
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: manger because it is only through the baby in the
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: manger who grows up, lives a perfect life, dies a
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: substitutionary atoning death on the cross, raises again on the
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: third day, ascends to the right hand of the Father
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: where he ever makes intercession for us. It is only
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: through that that we can actually become sons and daughters
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: of God. You know, one of the reasons people love
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: Christmas Because it reminds them that we're all God's children.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: I don't want to be overly technical and I'm not
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: trying to get messy. But if we're all God's children,
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: I'm not understanding something here. My wife and I have
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: children who came into our family biologically, and we have
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: children who came into our family through adoption. And the
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: ones who came into our family through adoption became our children.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: And they had to become our children because before they
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: were adopted, they were not. our children. So if Christ
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: came to redeem those who were under the law so
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: that we might receive adoption as sons, then that means
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: that we were not sons or we are not sons
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: prior to that adoption. And not only are we not sons,
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: but we're enemies rightly deserving the wrath of God and
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: that may sound ugly And it is. In fact, it's
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: uglier than it sounds. But it's only when you understand
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: the ugliness of that that you understand the beauty of
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: our adoption in Christ. Jesus is God with us so
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: that we might be with God. Verse six, and because
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. By the way,
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: just like we heard earlier, do you see the Trinity here? First,
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: we see the Father, and the fullness of time had come.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: God sent forth his Son. Then we see the Son.
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: Now we see what the Son does. Verse six, and
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. In that
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: one verse, we get all three, but in the whole
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: of this passage, we get all three persons of the Trinity.
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: The triune God working this out, saving us and adopting us.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: So you are no longer a slave, but a son.
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: And if a son, then an heir through God. This
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: doctrine is essential. This doctrine is non-negotiable. Without Christmas, you
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: don't get Easter. Without God sending forth his son, born
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: who are under the law, then Christ pays for his
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: own sin at the cross, and thereafter in hell, eternally
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: separated from God, and he has no redemption to offer
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: you and me. But because he is the God-man, because
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: he is God with us, he is innocent of Adam's sins.
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: Because he is the God-man, he can represent those of
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: us who inherit Adam's sin. And because he is the God-man,
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: he can keep the whole law for his people and
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: suffer the punishment due to their sins. Anybody being catechized
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: out there? And because of the beauty of this, We
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: can be adopted. Listen to this. From our confession, Second
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: London Baptist Confession of 1689. Adoption, the forgotten step in
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: the order salutis. Everybody talks about, you know, justified, sanctified, glorified.
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: You're missing a step. And it's an important one. We're justified, adopted, sanctified,
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: and glorified. Listen to this. Just one paragraph in the confession.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: God has granted that all those who are justified would
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: receive the grace of adoption in and for the sake
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: of his only son, Jesus Christ. In and for the
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: sake of his only son, Jesus Christ. My adoption is
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: not only contingent upon me. but it is because of
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: and for the sake of his only son, Jesus Christ.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: By this, they are counted among the children of God,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: and they enjoy the freedom and privileges of that relationship.
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: They inherit his name, receive the spirit of adoption, have
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: access to the throne of grace with boldness, and are
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: enabled to cry, Abba, Father. They are given compassion, protected,
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: provided for, and chastened by him as a father. Yet
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: they are never cast off, but are sealed for the
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: day of redemption and inherit the promises as heirs of
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: everlasting salvation. That's what we get from God with us.
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: And that's why it matters that Christ is God with us.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: That's why it's not enough for him to be good man,
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: good teacher, good prophet. Because there is no salvation in
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: good man. There is no salvation in good teacher. There
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: is no salvation in good prophet unless that good man
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: who was a good teacher and a good prophet was
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: also God. with us. Let's pray. Gracious God, our Heavenly Father,
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: we bow before you, thanking you for your Son, the
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ, and confessing to you That we are
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: guilty of taking him for granted. That we are guilty
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: of thinking too little of him. Grant by your grace
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: that we might have a more full and meaningful understanding
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: of who Christ is as God with us. And a
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: more full and meaningful understanding of our communion with him.
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: As our Lord and our Savior and our Redeemer. And
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: the communion that we have with the Godhead. Communion with
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: the Father. Because of the Son. By the power of
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: the Spirit. Grant by your grace. that we might fully
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: embrace these doctrinal realities so that our faith might be more,
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: so that our lives might be more, so that our
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: walks might be more, so that our worship might be more.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: This is our desire. And we ask it in the
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: name of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, God with us.