Our Savior

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, December 18th.

Are all those parties and shopping sprees keeping you from appreciating the true meaning of Christmas? Let's begin a series that takes you to the manger and far beyond. Here's part one of Good News of Great Joy. Good News of Great Joy is brought to you by the Good News of Great Joy is brought to you by the Good News of Great Joy is brought to you by the And the angel said to them, Now, who is and what is this baby lying in the manger we keep talking about? Who is this Savior?

We say Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Who is this young child whom we call the Son of God? And I believe as you and I begin to understand who he really is, something happens to our boldness and something happens to our faithfulness in sharing the gospel. For the more certain I am of who he is, the more bold I'm going to be in sharing him.

The more confident that I understand who he really is, the more willing I'm going to be to share him. And the more I understand who he is, the more excited I'm going to be about telling someone else that Jesus Christ is their only hope. I want you to see what this verse says. Today in the city of David, there has been born for you, someone has done something for you. There has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Now, what I want us to understand here is this very important. You get this, that Jesus Christ did not begin his life on that evening. Jesus Christ was and is the pre-existent Son of God.

That is, he didn't begin living on this particular night. In fact, he did not even begin when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. For Jesus Christ was the eternal Son of God. That means in eternity past, Jesus Christ was with the Father. If you'll turn to John chapter 1, I want us to look at three passages. John chapter 1 and look, if you will, in the very beginning of this gospel as John writes for the purpose that you and I may believe that Jesus Christ is God's Son.

Listen to what he says. He says, in the beginning was the Word. Now the Word here, if you'll notice in your Bible, is a capital W, referring to the person of Jesus Christ. When he says, in the beginning was the Word, here's what John was saying.

He who had existed in eternity past in the heavens with the Father now had invaded earth in the form of a child. The Son of God who is the eternal Son of God in the past was now the eternal Son of God in the presence of these shepherds and of that period of time in the history of humanity. Now if you'll turn to Hebrews chapter 1 for a moment, and here's another passage that's very important.

In the first chapter, these first three verses, notice how the writer begins this epistle. He says, God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, referring to the revelation of God, that is how he revealed himself in times past through the prophets, he says, in these last days, God has spoken to us in his Son, now watch, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. Now Jesus Christ, you and I see him first on earth as a baby. Had he not been pre-existent, not as a baby but the eternal Son of God, he could not have made the world. He says, in his Son whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world, and he is the radiance of his glory, the exact representation of his nature, meaning that whatever the nature of God is, Jesus Christ was that, and upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Now, if you'll turn to Philippians chapter two. In this familiar passage, Paul says in the second chapter, beginning in verse five, speaking of the attitude we should have, he comes to unfold for us something of the pre-existence of Christ, having this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Now watch, who although existed in the form of God, that is, he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant. The verse before says, he existed in the form of God, but now he exists in the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the death, even the death of the cross.

What he's referring to is this, that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who was in the form of God, in the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, emptied himself, now watch this carefully, emptied himself not of his deity, at no time in the life of Jesus Christ, whether in eternity past, on his earthly life, or in eternity future, did Jesus Christ, or will Jesus Christ ever become less than God. Jesus was not born a baby to become God. Jesus Christ in Bethlehem was the eternal Son of the living God, who took upon himself the form of human flesh, becoming a servant of man and a servant of God the Father, in order to bring us to God. Jesus was the pre-existent Son of God, with a mission to earth. Now it's interesting, turn to John chapter 16, that while Jesus was here, though all of his deity, listen, all of his deity was not expressed while he was here, Jesus was indeed conscious of the fact that he was the pre-existent Son of God. Listen to this 16th chapter of John verse 28.

Listen to what Jesus says. He says, I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. I am leaving the world again and going to the Father. In John chapter 17, which is his priestly prayer, look at verse 5, and now glorify thou me together with thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Jesus was conscious of his pre-existence, even as he was ministering here on earth.

So when you and I look in that cradle and see a babe, we need to understand who that was. He is and was the pre-existent Son of the living God. That is, he had existed for eternity past, which means there has never been a time before time began that Jesus Christ was not and was not God. He did not become God, he was always God. Not the created but the uncreated, conceived of the Holy Spirit, coming into the world as God. And as Philippians says, he became a servant of man and a servant of the living God. So when you and I look into this passage, and we look to see what the Bible says about who Christ is.

So often people talk at Christmas time about the babe in Bethlehem. They don't really understand that he's God. And oftentimes when people confront us with our sharing the gospel, sometimes because we are a little hesitant, because of our lack of understanding, we may be intimidated.

But I want to tell you something, my friend, as a child of the living God, you need never be intimidated by this world, because you're offering them their only hope. The pre-existent, eternal Son of God who came into this world for the specific purpose of saving mankind. Now it's interesting that 33 years after he was born, Jesus answered Philip, who said to him, Lord, would you show us the Father? And this was Jesus response. He that had seen me have seen the Father.

That is, if you want to see God, Jesus says, look at me. And did we not read in the first chapter of Hebrews that he is the exact perfect reflection of God. You see, if Jesus Christ were not pre-existent, if he were not the incarnate Son of God, where do we get the idea of a trinity? The fact that he's pre-existent, the fact that he was the incarnate Son of God, answers all the questions in the Bible concerning how Jesus Christ could be the creator. Having been pre-existent, having been the Son of God, the incarnate Son of God, the scripture says he was born of a virgin. The virgin born son of the living God. So when you and I look to see what the angel said, the angel said, for there has been given to you today, born to you today and for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Now, that's who he is. He is the pre-existent incarnate Son of God. That is heaven and earth, time and eternity touched in that moment of his conception and all during his life he was God at no moment did that baby ever cease to become God or ever become God. He always was and is God.

If that is not true, you and I have no real hope of salvation. If you don't understand who Jesus is, then your idea of salvation is based on something that may be a little flimsy because you see the pre-existence of Christ is the foundation for our understanding of who our Savior is and his work on the cross. Now, the key word in understanding what Christmas is all about is the word substitution. That baby came as a substitute. That baby came as a gift, oh yes.

That baby came as a gift, no question about that. But the primary reason for which Jesus came was he came to be a substitute. He came to substitute his life, to lose his life, to lay down his life in order that you and I may pick up life, may take life, may receive life, may live life to the fullest and for eternally to be the children of God.

That's why he came. You see, substitution doesn't mean that Jesus came to assist me in my life. He came to give his life, the Bible says, as a ransom, to lay down his life and when he died, all the sin of all humanity was upon Christ's body on that cross. And the wickedness and the vileness of your sin in mind is of this quality that heaped upon him was the sin of humanity. And in that moment, watch this, God the Father with his two principles of justice and mercy, when Jesus Christ was dying on the cross, what did Jesus say?

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? In those moments when he was forsaken, the justice of God was being vindicated and he bore upon his body your sin and my sin and God in that moment turned as if it were from his son who had lived in eternal glory with him. And in that moment of separation, Jesus Christ the Son of God paid the penalty for your sin and mine. That's why the transaction of the cross is absolutely essential to your salvation and mine. And that's what makes Jesus Christ the only savior, the only adequate savior, the only true savior in the world.

That's what Christmas is all about. And you see three things happen on that cross. The Bible says in the giving of his life, he redeemed us towards sin. That is, he paid the price that sin had cost. Secondly, in the giving of his life, he reconciled us back to the Father. Not only have our sins been forgiven and paid for once and for all, but we have been brought back into a relationship of oneness with the Father.

And thirdly, the act of propitiation, that is, the sacrificial price of his son paying for your sin and mine. How could God in his love reach down and save us when we violated his justice and his laws? The justice of God must be vindicated in the coming into this world of God himself and paying the price by giving of himself to bear our sins. Then the justice of God was vindicated and now God can save sinners like you and me.

And having saved us, he can still remain the loving God and the just God because he did not violate his own principle of requiring justice and the penalty of sin be paid for. I want to tell you, my friend, God Almighty left glory in heaven and came into this world the pre-existent incarnate virgin born son of God in order that you and I may have life. Now, interesting what this angel said, back to Luke chapter 2, and how he said it. He said, For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

Now, but if it left out verse 10, we may have a reason to question something. And the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings. Watch this good tidings of a great joy which shall be for all people, not just shepherds, not just Jews, but Jews and Gentiles alike. The gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the good news of the coming of God in the flesh, dying upon the cross and dying for us. You see that word substitution and this whole idea of Jesus Christ dying for us is what Paul meant in Galatians chapter 2 verse 20 when he said, I've been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I that live, but now Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live with the faith of the Son of God who loved me and what gave himself for me. Gave himself for me, substituted himself for me and for all peoples of all ages. Isn't it interesting that when God made his covenant in the 12th chapter of Genesis with Abraham, he not only made that covenant with Abraham to bless him and the nation of Israel, but he also included in that that all the nations of the earth, all the Gentiles of the earth, all the families of the earth would be blessed through the one who would come through his loins, whom you and I know is traced in Luke and in the book of Matthew, those chapters there, as the Messiah. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the prophecies of the Messiah ship. He came as a promise, a covenant promise to Abraham, but one who would bless all the nations of the earth. The Lord Jesus Christ came to die for all men of all races, and we benefit from that only as we accept by faith the testimony of scripture and receive personally into our life Jesus Christ in his person as the payment for our sin.

He came for the purpose of dying that you and I may begin life and have life eternally. Thank you for listening to today's podcast, Our Savior. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.