Exodus 19:1-25 "Setting the Stage"

                Aside from the cross, there is quite possibly no image or symbol in all of Christianity that is more widely-used or well-known than that of the Ten Commandments.  Especially here in the south, it’s not uncommon for us to ride by various buildings and businesses and see a bronze statue with two curved tablets with the Roman numerals for 1-10 written on them.  As a side note, this is usually done incorrectly, seeing as the two stone tablets were actually carbon-copies of the Commandments.  After all, the Commandments were in essence a contract between God and Israel.  Therefore, each party was to be given a copy of the contract, and so each tablet contained all ten of the commandments and not just half of them.  Either way, it doesn’t take anything away from the meaning of the Ten Commandments as they apply to the Christian faith.

                Now, we will spend the next ten or so weeks, maybe even more, looking at each of the Ten Commandments and seeking to find the meaning behind each of them.  We will see that with each command, there are actually two commands.  There is a command against something, but there is also a command to take certain actions.  For example, not only are we not to commit murder, but we are to do all that we can to prevent it as well.  However, our time for looking at each commandment will come.  For today, what I want us to focus on is the condition and circumstances surrounding Israel at the time of the giving of the Ten Commandments.  It is my hope that in doing so, it will help us to gain a sense of clarity and understanding in our own approaching, understanding, and applying of the Ten Commandments to our lives today.  I’m hoping that we will see the premise and reason behind the Ten Commandments instead of just seeing them as a list of do’s and don’ts and a way of keeping score as it pertains to our faith and salvation.

                Our text for today is the preparation of Israel for the receiving of the Ten Commandments.  God is telling the people of Israel that what He is about to give them are the ways in which they are to live in order to remain faithful to His covenant with them.  We find in verse 8, that the elders of Israel responded to God by saying, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.”  In other words, they were saying that all God had to do was to tell them how they were to act and they would do it down to the very letter of the law.  Now, obviously, we know that although they may have wanted to obey all that God commanded them, the reality of the situation is that they did not and were not able to do so.  We also have to remember that we are looking at this through the lens of the New Testament, through the lens of Christ.  As we get deeper into our study of the Ten Commandments, we not only need to pay attention to the actions that we are called to have as a result of them, but also the amount of forgiveness for failing to keep those commandments that is found in Jesus Christ. 

                I want you to notice how so much attention is given to Israel making themselves ceremonial clean.  They were to cleanse themselves and prepare themselves both physically and spiritually for coming before God.  The people of Israel were to set themselves apart from sin and their ordinary daily routines in order to dedicate themselves more fully to God.  They were to get their hearts and minds ready to meet with God.  There is a certain mindset that they had to have.  They were not just working this time before God into their schedule, but this was the epicenter of their existence as of that moment.  Nothing else in their lives was of any consequence at that moment aside from coming before God.  The impending encounter with God was their focus and nothing else.  How true should this be about our worship and daily time with God?  How much should be center our lives around our time with God instead of our time with God just being worked into our schedules like it’s just some other task or item on the to do list.

                Then, beginning in verse 16, things begin to get very real for the nation of Israel.  “On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.  Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.”  When I read these verses, I get chills just thinking about what that must have been like.  Israel had been wondering in the desert for a while after being delivered from slavery in Egypt via that miraculous scene at the Red Sea.  They had been told that God was coming and that they would hear Him speak with Moses.  They had been making themselves clean (both physically and spiritually) in preparation of God’s arrival.  Finally, the sky begins to darken, and a thick cloud forms on the mountain in the midst of thunder and lightning.  Then, Moses, the leader of Israel and covenant mediator between Israel and God, comes to the people and tells them that it is time to meet with God.  It was time for them to see the magnitude and the glory of the one who delivered them from slavery in Egypt, even if it’s only a glimpse of that glory.  Now, the rest of this chapter has to do with setting up limits as to how far up the mountain anyone other than Moses could go.  You see, the people of Israel were so eager to meet God (or at least they thought they were) that God had to forbid them and threaten them with death if they got too close to him.  I’m going to hold off making any comments about this here and save them for the conclusion of our look at the Ten Commandments in a few months, but I want to finish setting the stage for what is to come for Israel, and what we are going to begin seeing starting next Sunday.

                The Ten Commandments were given to Israel through Moses by God as a way of leading them to a life of practical holiness.  Through the Commandments, Israel could see the nature of God and His plan for how they should live.  They were the laws given by God as to how we are to live in community with one another and still honor God along the way.  However, somewhere along the way, even before the time of Jesus’ coming to earth, the Commandments had become corrupted from their original purpose.  They were seen as a means to prosperity.  It was thought that obeying each one of these commandments was the way to earn God’s protection from earthly troubles and disasters.  The keeping of the Commandments became an end in-and-of themselves, and not just the means to fulfill God’s ultimate law of love.  Sadly, there are many Christians today who view the keeping of the Ten Commandments as the means by which we are saved.  We can ask these folks what it means to be a Christian and they will give an answer that somewhere along the way says that being a Christian is about keeping the Ten Commandments.

                As we look at the Ten Commandments in greater depth and we begin our study of the Law, I want to warn all of us against falling into this common trap.  We cannot look at the Ten Commandments as the end-all-be-all when it comes to being a Christian.  The Ten Commandments are designed for guiding and shaping our living within a Christian community.  Ultimately, looking at them through the lens of Christ, we will see just how far short we have fallen for keeping what is required with each commandment.  As we see the great chasm that exists between what is expected and what is achieved, hopefully we will see with even greater clarity our need for Christ.  After all, Jesus fulfilled this Law down to the very smallest of details.  What I want all of us to do in preparation for this study is to take time and truly give thought to how many shortcomings that we have that the grace found in Jesus Christ overcomes.  I want all of us to see that, like Israel, we are given exactly what we are to do, but yet we still fall short every time.  However, unlike Israel, we know that there is one who has lived this Law to perfection and paid the price that was owed for our breaking of it.  Let us rejoice this day, that Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Law on our behalf.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Hebrews 2:14-18 "Jesus Christ: Son of God"

                When we think of the book of Hebrews, some of the words that come to mind are things like better, more, supreme, and superior.  This book was written to an audience primary made up of Jews who had converted to Christianity and were in danger of falling back into their Jewish tradition after seeing that the Christian faith isn't all sunshine and rainbows.  After seeing just how truly difficult living the Christian faith can be, especially during a time of rampant and continuous persecution, these Judeo-Christians began to long for the comfort of their lives prior to conversion.  The writer of Hebrews, (who in my humble opinion is the Apostle Paul, although that is the subject of much debate) offers encouragement to these Judeo-Christians and urges them to continue on to spiritual maturity.  He encourages them to not give up on the process, but to continue to look to Christ daily.  He does so by pointing to the supremacy of Christ above all others, mainly the angels, Old Testament prophets, and even Moses himself.  It is in the midst of his words about the superiority of Christ over the angels that we find ourselves today; a very fitting place seeing as how we began our service today with the lighting of the angel’s candle.

                Our text for today begins with the words, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things.”  Now, the first thing that we have to do is to kind of wade our way through the Bible-speak here and decipher exactly what this verse is telling us.  What this verse (or half of a verse) is telling us is that God became man.  He didn't just seem to be a man, but he became actual flesh and blood.  He was faced with the same infirmities that plague you and me.  And this is mind-blowing, especially given what we just said about this coming in the context of stating that Christ is superior to the angels.  Jesus is superior to the angels, but he is like us in every way.  God knows what it’s like to live in our skin or walk in our shoes, and he knows what that’s like beyond even what we can imagine.  There are perhaps no greater and more powerful words in the English language than the consoling phrase, “me too.”  When we hear these words, we are immediately comforted by their sympathy and empathy.  We know that the person saying them can relate to what it is we’re going through.  Well, in essence, God is saying “me too” when it comes to our dealing with temptation and suffering.  He can understand what it’s like because He too has experienced it, and experienced it in an ever greater manner than we ever could imagine.

                In fact, we catch a glimpse of that aforementioned temptation in the second half of this verse and into the next one:  “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”  In other words, in order for Jesus to fulfill his mission and pay the price for our sins and see his life all the way to the cross, he had to overcome temptation.  He had to resist temptation his entire life, and not just a few weeks in the wilderness in a face-to-face confrontation with Satan.  Ultimately, as a result of this resistance and the completion of his mission, he has conquered death, the greatest tool used by the enemy for twisting us and turning us away from God and placing us in, as the author of Hebrews says, “lifelong slavery” to sin.

                Later on in verse 17 we find these words, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”  In other words, he became like us so he could deliver us.  He became like us so that he could be the merciful and sympathetic mediator that is needed to stand between us and God.  He became like us so that he could offer up the perfect sacrifice to satisfy the wrath of God that burned because of our sin and our turning away from our Creator.  Friends, there was no other way and no other person capable of paying this debt.  Paul David Tripp, a wonderful pastor, teacher, and Christian counselor says of Christ’s birth, “That baby was more than a baby.  He was God come in the flesh.  Why?  Because what was necessary for redemption could be done by no other.”  God himself paid a debt that was owed to God.  I can’t even begin to put into words the thankfulness and adoration that we ought to have for God based on that fact alone, much less all of the other ways in which he provides for us daily.

                Then there are the words of verse 18, the final verse of our text:  “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”  Christ can help us in our suffering and temptation because he knows all about it; he knows what it’s like to be tempted.  He’s felt it and tasted it and had to battle it himself.  His helping us get through our struggles isn't done from theoretical or academic knowledge, but from actual battlefield or in-game experience.  It’s like this, would you rather have someone working on your home who graduated at the top of his class in engineering, or would you rather have the guy who has being doing it for the last 20 years with a flawless reputation.  When someone you know is struggling with pain of addiction, would you rather have a guy who has read all the books on addiction, or the guy who has been out there working with recovering addicts for his entire life, or even the one who has “recovered” from addiction himself?  Well, when it comes to Christ, we have both.  Yes, Christ knows what must be done in order for us to overcome sin in our lives.  After all, he did have a hand in our creation.  However, he also knows what it feels like to go through the process because he’s been there.  He has experienced all the things that we go through in this life.

                I’ll be brutally honest with all of you here today.  You have absolutely no clue as to everything that is going on in my life and I have no clue as to everything that is going on in yours.  Sure, we know bits-and-pieces and a few details about each other’s struggles right now, but not everything in its entirety.  Not even my wife knows everything that is going on in my life and everything that is on my mind at any given moment (and that’s probably a good thing).  I lean upon her far more than I ought to and she helps me work through many areas of my life where I greatly need it.  She knows more than anyone else, but not everything.  However, she does have her limits, but God does not.  Not only does God know everything about me, and even things that I don’t know about myself, but God understands what it’s like to go through those things.  He understands on an experiential level and not just an academic one.  Friends, one of the distinctives of the Christian faith is fact that our God was willing to lower himself to us for us to have a relationship with him.  The onus wasn't on man to raise himself to God’s level (because he can’t), but God humbled himself to our level.  If Jesus were not the Son of God, God incarnate, then this would not be the case.  If God had not humbled himself, taking the form of a servant, then we would not really know who he is.  Sure we would have the words of the Old Testament, but we would have a relationship with God like we do.  Not only that, but we would not have the wonderful blessing of knowing that God has actual knowledge of what it is we go through as human beings.  We should all rejoice at the fact that the child, the birth, which we celebrate this season, was the Son of God.  This is the moment in time when God humbled himself and came to our level to save us, and so that we could have a more intimate knowledge of him that anyone could have ever imagined.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Luke 1:26-38 "Jesus Christ: Son of Mary"

                Last Sunday, during our look at Jesus as a son of David, we very briefly looked at part of the text that we just read and in doing so I said that we were going to set aside any information about Mary and just focus on Jesus being of the line of David.  Well, today we come back to this text in its entirety, this time with our focus being upon Jesus as the son of Mary.  Now, our last two Sundays (Jesus as a son of Adam and of David) may have been a bit uncommon in terms of their identity.  By that, I mean that when we think of Jesus being a son, we don’t immediately think of it being of Adam or David.  However, that’s not the case when it comes to Mary.  In fact, many Christians throughout history, largely in an effort to distinguish one Mary in Scripture from others, have called Mary by the fuller title of Mary, mother of Jesus.  Some other titles include Saint Mary, Virgin Mary, and Mary, mother of God.  Now, I want you to file away that she is both mother of Jesus and mother of God for just a second.

                Mary is an interesting Biblical figure when it comes to our understanding of her.  The range of opinions and importance that is attached to her varies from group-to-group and person-to-person, even amongst the Christian faith.  There are those who view her simply as a vessel that God used for bringing Jesus into the world, folks who view her as simply playing a part like any of the rest of us plays our part in the unfolding of God’s plan.  Then, there are those that have elevated her to the level of sainthood and even offer up prayers in her name.  Now, I would caution against the later for but one reason.  If we remember back in John’s gospel, Jesus himself stated that he was the only way to the Father (John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.).  Praying in Mary’s name gives the impression that Mary might be another avenue that we can take in order to come to God.  Viewing her as another means of reaching God is to contradict and go against Scripture and the very words of Jesus himself.  My observation, however, is that most Christians fall somewhere in between these two extremes.  Most Christians view Mary as important, but not quite to the level of being elevated above all others, and especially not elevated to the level of Jesus or anywhere close.  Whatever the level of importance that is attached to Mary, it is undeniable that she indeed is the virgin who gave birth to Jesus and cared for him during his youth.

                Our text tells us that Mary found herself face-to-face with the angel Gabriel, an angel who had appeared not only to Zechariah prior to this, but also to the prophet Daniel some 500 years prior to both of these occurrences.  Now, at first, Mary is worried.  She is afraid that God’s messenger has come to her because of something that she has either done that she should not have or because she has not done something that she should have.  Gabriel calms her by saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”  Gabriel goes on to tell her that she will conceive a child and that that child will be called Jesus.  He will be the Son of the Most High.  He will be the Son of God.  He will sit on the throne of his father David.  He’ll reign over the house of Jacob and that reign will be everlasting.  I mean, these words from the angel Gabriel are so chopped full of Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah, where do we begin?  There’s the words of 2 Samuel 7 that we looked at last Sunday about David’s descendent being on the throne forever.  There’s the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 17.  There’s the words of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, all of which are coming true in the person of Jesus.  And Mary is being informed by the angel Gabriel that all of this is going to come about as a result of the child that she will conceive.

                Now, given all of this prophecy that was coming true, it’s no wonder that Mary was a bit taken aback by the news that she had just received from the angel Gabriel.  “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”  Notice, she doesn’t ask, “How will this be, I’m a simple, average person?”  No, her hesitation doesn’t come from her abilities, but from the simple biological fact that it is impossible for a virgin to bear a child (that is at least without divine intervention).  This is not a matter of disbelief, but a simple matter of confusion.  She doesn’t try and lower the power the God; she just utters the most basic of problems that she perceives with the news of the angel Gabriel.  However, that question is quickly answered.  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child who will be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”  The Holy Spirit will descend upon Mary and she will have the power of God work to her and through her and upon her and she will conceive of this child, the one who is the long-awaited and promised Messiah.

                I want us to pay close attention to the response of Mary after Gabriel has finished all of his words to her.  Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”  I want all of us to see the complete and total submission that Mary has here as it pertains to God.  There are no excuses.  There are no reasons given as to why she isn’t the best choice for this task.  Mary could have pointed to the fact that she wasn’t married to Joseph yet and that conceiving of a child without being married was opening her up to being left by Joseph or could cause her to face some sort of public shame and humiliation.  She could have given all sorts of reasons why she didn’t need to be the one who gave birth to Jesus.  However, we find none of that.  We find complete and total willingness to do the will of God, no matter what that means for Mary.  When you are faced with God’s calling you to do something, do you respond like Mary or do you make excuses?  Do you tell yourself, “Well, I really should do that, but I just don’t have the time?”  Or do you say, “I know that you want me to do this God, but I don’t want people to think poorly of me or I don’t want to lose what I have.”  Mary is just a person like you and me when we get down to it.  Even though she is the earthly mother of Jesus, she is still a person.  She is a person, however, who was willing to be used by God in any way that He wanted, regardless of what those around her might have thought or said.

                Getting back to the title of this sermon “Jesus Christ:  Son of Mary”, I think that some connections need to be made.  We saw why it was important for Jesus to be the even greater and more complete mediator and king that Adam and David respectively.  The question that we must ask ourselves now is:  why is Jesus being the son of Mary significant?  Well, the answer is found in the very fact that we just stated:  Mary was a woman, a regular woman.  She gave birth to a little baby boy who was fully human, just like she was.  This little boy, Jesus, while he was fully human was also fully God.  No, that doesn’t make sense to us, but we’re finite beings.  There is a level of understanding that we have that cannot be crossed; we are limited in our ability to comprehend.  However, just because it doesn’t make complete logical sense to us doesn’t make it any less true.  Isn’t it completely logical for God (as an infinite being) to be capable of something that is beyond our understanding since we are finite, we have limits.  Not only is it possible, but it is exactly what happened in the case of Jesus being both completely man and completely God.  Because God humbled himself, taking the form of man (in the person of Jesus) he was able to pay the price for our sins through his obedient life.  Also, he provided a means by which we may know God and have a relationship with him.  For us to fully understand God in terms of our knowing that we have a relationship with him, we must come to grips with the undeniable fact that Mary is the mother of Jesus.  This isn’t a text about the greatness of Mary, although it does speak to her willingness to be used by God as an instrument for the unfolding of his plan, it speaks to her faith.  This text is about Jesus.  It’s about the fact that the Messiah was coming.  It’s about the fact that God was humbling himself to the point of taking the form of a servant in order to come and pay the price that was owed for our sins.  Friends, this text is about the fact that our God loves us so much, that he gave his one and only begotten for our salvation.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Luke 1:67-79 "Jesus Christ: Son of David"

                Aside from Jesus himself, there is quite possibly no more intriguing and interesting figure in all of Scripture (at least to me) than that of King David.  Whether it’s the tale of how he slayed the mighty Philistine Goliath when he was just a mere boy, the stories of his military conquests, or even the passion and emotion he displayed when showing repentance or sorrow; David just fascinates me.  David was a man who was born into a very average lifestyle in terms of his status and wealth, but was later called and blessed by God to do some extraordinary things.  I love reading about the love that he had for his dear friend Jonathan.  I laugh (a little) when I read about the craziness and turmoil that existed within his own family.  While I can’t relate to my family trying to literally kill me, I can relate to loving my friends like they’re family while thinking that my actual family is a little bit crazy.  I recently finished my own quick study of 1 & 2 Samuel, and at the end I was even more fascinated with David than I was before beginning that study.  Like I said, I can relate to David.  No, not in the sense of being a king, but in the sense that David was a man filled with flaws, yet still considered to be a man of God.  There was hardly anything around David that went smoothly or exactly according to plan.  In addition to all of David’s family issues, he also struggled greatly to keep himself in line as it pertained to God.  We all know the story of David and Bathsheba, but that’s not the only struggle with sin that existed in David’s life.  I think the reason why I, like so many other Christians, find David so fascinating is because he was a man of God who for the most part lived in accordance with God’s will, yet did have his moments of sin and weakness.  

                Back in 2 Samuel 7, after Saul had died and David had been anointed Israel’s king, God promised David that his kingdom would last forever.  2 Samuel 7:16 says, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.”  Obviously, this didn’t mean that David would live and reign forever (God even told him as much in the verses preceding the one that we just read), but that someone from his line would reign for all eternity.  Now the particulars of how that came to pass, however, are probably not in line with what David had envisioned at the time of God’s promising the eternality of his kingdom.  Immediately after David, his son Solomon was anointed king.  After Solomon, there was strife and division and David’s kingdom was divided in half (into Judah and Israel).  Each of these two kingdoms was ruled by a different person.  During the tenure of most of these kings, the conditions (especially spiritual) of what used to be David’s kingdom could be called nothing short of disturbing, chaotic, or even a complete failure.  However, the words of 2 Samuel 7 don’t pertain specifically to an earthly kingdom or dynastic succession.  If that were the case, then the promise of God to David could be perceived as a failure and a broken promise.  There is nothing in the promise of God made to David that his kingdom will always resemble the political hierarchy that came to mind when thinking of David’s kingdom.  In fact, the kingdom that God ultimately has in mind and is speaking of here is something so much greater than David himself could have ever imagined.

                Our text for today are the words of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, after being filled with the Holy Spirit.  Mind you, this is the breaking of the silence that Zechariah has experienced since first being told that he was to have a child several months beforehand.  After John is born, Zechariah begins to speak of two things:  his son’s ministry, and the one whom his son will prepare the way for (with much more attention being given to the later).  Now, the reason why I have spent so much time talking about King David this Sunday is because of the words of verses 68 and 69, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.”  The first thing that we ask ourselves in light of these words is, “What does the ministry of John the Baptist, and more importantly, the impending birth of Jesus have to do with David’s kingdom?”

                You see, prior to our text for today, in verses 32 and 33 of Luke’s opening chapter to his gospel account, we find the angel Gabriel speaking with Mary about the impending birth of Mary’s child.  As Gabriel is informing Mary that she is with child (which remind you she is completely confused seeing as how she is still a virgin), Gabriel tells Mary that the child she is carrying “will be great and be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end!”  Now, we’re going to set aside all of the details of this account as they pertain to Mary.  We will pick back up on that notion next Sunday, but for today I want us to focus on the part there pertaining to David; “And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David…”  You see, using Luke 3 as our guide, we can trace the genealogy of Jesus back to King David.  Jesus is a descendant of David, born of the house and lineage of David through the line of David’s son Nathan, the third of four sons born to David and Bathsheba.  Now it’s quite possible, and probable, as we mentioned earlier, that David might have thought that the promise from God that his kingdom would last forever was referring to his kingdom in an earthly sense.  However, it’s not unheard of for man to interpret something from God and be thinking on a much smaller scale than God is working on.  The kingdom that God is speaking of is not one of ethnicity, nationality, or a kingdom of finite boundaries.  The kingdom that God is speaking of is the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of Christ.

                David is largely considered to be the greatest and most Godly king in all of Scripture, and quite possibly all of history.  We could sit and list all of the ways in which he and his kingship were blessed by God.  However, much like last Sunday, when we said that Jesus was the more perfect Adam, the fulfillment of even the areas where Adam failed, the same is true when it comes to David.  Jesus is the even better, more perfect, and more complete David.  Jesus is the more perfect mediator than Adam, and he is the more perfect king than David.  Jesus being born of David’s line is a fulfillment of God’s promise in a manner that is so far beyond anything David could have ever imagined.  Zechariah is prophesying here and praising God because the Old Testament prophecies were coming true.  The promised Messiah, which we said last Sunday first began in Genesis 3:15, was going to happen in Zechariah’s lifetime.  What a wonderful celebration.  First, Zechariah is overjoyed that his own son was born, and now he sees that his son’s purpose in life is to prepare the way for the coming Savior.  His son is preparing the way for the one who came to earth and laid down his life for all of us.

                We know that the promises of the Old Testament found their fulfillment in the person of Jesus.  We know, even greater than Zechariah, what Jesus accomplished.  We know the salvation that is made possible to all of us by the death and resurrection of this coming Messiah.  As we continue to prepare our hearts for this coming Christmas day, let every day be a day in which we celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Let every day be a day in which we possess the enthusiasm that Zechariah displayed here and proclaim that Jesus Christ has come, and that salvation is now possible through him and him alone.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

                

Romans 5:12-21 "Jesus Christ: Son of Adam

                As you can tell from the décor around the church, the change in some of the colors around the sanctuary, and most notably, the lighting of the first candle on our Advent wreath, the season of Advent has begun.  I mentioned last Sunday that the English word advent comes from the Latin word adventus (which means “coming”).  Well, the ultimate question that must be asked (and answered) is “Who/What is coming?”  What is it exactly that we are celebrating the coming of during the season of advent?  Well, the simple answer to that question is Jesus.  However, is there ever really such thing as a simple answer when it comes to Christ?  Now, we’ve spoken several times about the fact that throughout Scripture, Jesus is called and referenced by many different names.  In fact, he even refers to himself by a couple of different names.  But perhaps no name or title carries with it greater importance than the title Son.  Now, often times when we hear the name Jesus and the title Son in the same sentence we think of Jesus as the Son of God, and that’s absolutely right.  However, Jesus was also the Son of other people in Scripture as well.  Now his sonship to these others isn’t exactly like that of his to the Father, but each sonship carries with it a certain unique connection.  It’s that concept of Jesus as the son that is going to be our focus during this advent season.  For today, we will be looking at Jesus as the Son of Adam.

There is perhaps no greater or more often asked question in all of the Christian faith than, “What if Adam had never eaten of the fruit?  What if he and Eve had never eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden?”  Well, the short answer is that the Fall would have never happened.  If the Fall hadn’t happened, then there would be no sin and subsequently no death since death was brought about as a result of Adam’s sin.  Now, we could get into all types of discussions over whether or not God’s plan all along involved Adam eating of the fruit, and consequentially sin coming into the world.  Although these discussions can be entertaining and very thought provoking, I don’t think that it’s worth our attention at this time.  Ultimately, like all what-if scenarios, there’s really no point in sitting around and asking the question.  The bottom line is that it happened.  As far as we’re concerned, Adam sinned, fell, and with him we fell.  Since that point in time, the concept of original sin (sin being passed from one generation to another, beginning with Adam) has existed.  Since that point in time it has been impossible for man to exist completely separated from sin, the Calvinistic doctrine of Total Depravity.  We have been non passé, non pecarre  (not able not to sin).  We can’t help it; we’re prone to sin.

In our text for today, Paul begins by stating the very fact that we all fell in the person of Adam.  Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.  After eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were told by God of their “punishment”, several pains that they were going to have to endure, ultimately culminating with the words, “till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  There is a separation from God at this point between the creator and the created.  Not only that, but prior to their sinning against God, death wasn’t the plan.  Man was to dwell for all eternity is the blessings of God, enjoying the wondrous things that God had created.

However, prior to the punishments and curses given by God to both Adam and Eve, there is given what is known as the protoeuangelion (first gospel) in Genesis 3:15.  God, speaking to the serpent, says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  Now, this may not sound like much, but this is the promise of the Messiah, the promise of Jesus Christ, all the way back in the Garden of Eden.  It’s impossible for us to fathom what was lost at the time of the Fall.  It’s completely beyond our abilities to comprehend the closeness of the relationship that we had with God prior to sin entering into the world.  That is, it’s impossible for us to fathom it in this lifetime.

Later on, when Paul is writing his first epistle to the church in Corinth, Paul refers to Jesus as the last Adam (or as some translate it, Second Adam).  There’s no doubt that much was lost in Adam’s sin.  However, as we’re told in our text today, there is even more found in the obedience of the Second Adam.  But the free gift is not like the trespass.  For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.  The gift of grace that is given to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ is even greater than that which was lost in Adam.  The obedience of Christ is parallel, but vastly superior, to the disobedience of Adam.  The righteousness credited to those who are in Christ is parallel, but vastly superior, to the sin attributed to those who are in Adam because of his disobedience.  The life that comes to us who are in Christ through that imputed righteousness is parallel, but vastly superior, to the death that comes to those who are in Adam through that imputed sin.

I know that it seems so simple and fundamental, but everything that we have is because of Christ.  Now, we all acknowledge that fact and not one of us would disagree with that notion.  However, I think the magnitude of what Christ accomplished on our behalf goes largely forgotten.  As one trespass (Adam) led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness (Christ) leads to justification and life for all men.  Jesus is the Second Adam, the Son of Adam, who fulfills the will of the Father that Adam failed to fulfill.  The plan for man to dwell for all eternity is the blessings and wondrous creation of God wasn’t lost forever.  In fact, we might say that it was even upgraded.  Instead of this earth being our eternal home as it would have been through Adam, heaven is our eternal home through Jesus Christ, the Second Adam.  Heaven, a place so magnificent that we cannot imagine all of its splendor.  A place with street paved in gold, with no pain and no sorrow, enjoying the presence of God Almighty for all eternity.  And these are only a few of the glimpses that we are given as to this glorious home that awaits us all. 

As we celebrate the coming of Christ during this season, let us remember that we celebrate the coming of the one who makes it possible to enjoy the free gift of grace that overcomes the condemnation of the Fall.  We celebrate the coming of the one who would fulfill what Adam and all his descendants failed to do and could not do as a result of sin within us.  For as the sins of mankind continue to increase, the grace of God through Jesus Christ increases even more.  We celebrate the one who came into this world and changed everything that had existed prior to that time.  We celebrate the one who came “so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  We celebrate the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.