Who is this Child?

If you would join me in Matthew chapter number 1 this evening, Matthew 1, I want to read a few verses there. We read the Christmas story this morning out of Luke's Gospel account tonight, Matthew chapter 1 verse 18 through 25. I would encourage you with your family Christmas morning, it's a great thing if you celebrate that morning, to have a head of your home just to read maybe the Luke chapter 2 verse 1 through 20 or Matthew 1, 18 through 25 and reflect upon that.

Maybe have a couple questions of what children sitting around with your family, what they could say about Christ and giving thanks to him. The Bible says here in Matthew 1, 18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when as his mother Mary was espoused, that doesn't mean they were married yet, they had a legal ceremony somewhat that were binding before they were actually married and it was during the year interval that they would basically test the woman to make sure she was sexually pure and it was during this time that she's found with child and Joseph knows it's not him and so it's in this period where women were being basically test for purity over that year's time of waiting until they got married that she's found with child. It says before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost, so God the Holy Spirit places this child into this womb of this young virgin. Verse 19, then Joseph her husband being a just man and not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privately or privately but while he thought on these things behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying Joseph thou son of David fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. I always read that and I think Joseph must have thought could you not have told me before?

You know what I'm saying? And I think God doesn't because it wasn't about Joseph. He'll let us know things in life when we need to.

It's not always about us, is it? Verse 21, and she shall bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying behold a virgin shall be with child shall bring forth a son they shall call his name God with us. That's the name Immanuel is what it means which being interpreted as God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep that is the angel of the Lord had bidden him took unto him his wife and he knew her not until she had brought forth her first born son and called his name Jesus.

You may be seated tonight and what a joy to be able to reflect upon the birth of Christ. 2000 years ago something that was the most miraculous thing that has ever happened when it comes to children and childbearing happened in the town of Bethlehem and it has impacted the world more than any other single birth that has ever happened in human history and it's really something to think about. You would think the most influential person that ever lived would be someone that has maybe 444 billion dollars like Elon Musk right now the richest man in the world. Very influential but you need to understand that Jesus Christ has influenced the world more than anyone that has ever existed and it's almost a comical thing sometimes people will say did Jesus Christ even exist? Really the encyclopedic Britannica literally has more space given to it about the person of Jesus than any human being that's ever lived. Why do 25 million people on Google search engine alone every month ask the question who is Jesus Christ? Name somebody that lived 2000 years ago that that's being said about. This is the most impacting person that has ever existed in the planet. Now for most people in history the question is of who they are really is not that critical whether you're accurate about your assessment of them about their life and death really isn't that big of an issue it's not that monumental it's not really absolutely necessary but with Jesus it is a incredibly essential reality.

Jesus said this in John 8 23 he said you are from beneath I am from above I mean just stop and think that that statement for somebody to say you are from the earth I am not you're from below I'm from above I said therefore that you will die in your sins if you do not believe that I am he you will die in your sins. Who makes a statement like that? It always cracks me up when people are like oh I think he was a good teacher do you know what he said? Do you know what he said? He said that where you spend forever is literally at the issue of who you believe him to be.

Who makes a statement like that? Either you're an absolute madman who drinks way too much Nyquil and Clorox or something either you're a lunatic or you're a liar you're trying to gain some kind of a following or it's true and you're Lord. You're a liar you're a lunatic or you're Lord and you have to take your pick and would a lunatic become the most influential person that ever lived? Could a liar cause the 12 disciples who lived with him for three years heard him say let's go to Jerusalem I'm going to be crucified and then three days later I'll raise my own dead body out of the grave.

Why do you think they left? What caused these men to go on and we have the record from history it's not like we don't have written history from that time. We have more written history about Jesus the disciples than anyone else that existed more than Caesar Augustus more than any other anyone else. We have multitudes of more information and so they wrote about these guys and they went around and they preached that Jesus Christ lived died and rose again and they said they saw him rise from the dead and as a result of that you know what they got in return? They were crucified burned at the stake tortured crucified upside down as Peter was. Andrew was crucified in an x-shaped cross and we don't even comprehend the level of torture that is.

You don't die suddenly you're like two to three days sometimes hanging on a cross. These men believe to the very nth degree of everything they believe and as a reward of it they died for their faith. It was so monumental that men like NBC's Dateline their top cold case criminologist Jay Warner Wallace who was an atheist put his skill set to the test of the New Testament to find out if it was true. He said I was an atheist I was not a believer but I wanted to take my skill sets as one of the nation's top leading cold case criminologists to verify if the New Testament was authentic. He said what I found was it was so verifiably true that it literally transformed Wallace he ended up becoming a believer. His expertise are of the sort that we don't have. I'll just give you an example we had a we had a kid one time over in Chillicothe. My brother's a pastor there and 20 some years ago we started a church and there was a teenager that would always wander around the halls and somehow he snuck into the somehow I don't know how he broke into it but he got into where they keep the money after the service and he stole like 800 bucks and we're like we know it's this kid man we don't have a camera system up but we're like we this kid had to be the one that did it we have hundreds of people in the church and so we we sit down with the dad and he's like there's you know I believe my son my son will never lie we're like we know it's him we just we know it's him we don't have the fingerprints we don't have the camera but I'm telling you you're so so we actually had a it's the only time we've ever done anything like this we said we said um we're gonna we're gonna hire a guy that basically um can give him a written test and he fills out the test and the guy from that test can verify whether this kid's lying or not so the kid's like okay I'll do it he fill it out turn it into this guy the guy came back and said there's a 98 percent chance the kid's lying just based on how he answers these questions I don't have the skill sets to determine that some people can do that and so I just want you to know anybody who digs into the bible to actually find out is this true or not the problem is most people ask questions not to find the answer they ask questions to stay away from the answer does it make sense because they're afraid of it because they know the implications right I mean right if it's true if Jesus is actually who he said he was it changes everything I mean why you're here everything changes nothing can stay the same the rest of my life is transformed if Jesus is the son of God Larry King one time said if I could ask Jesus one question I would ask him are you the son of God like is that true because if it is everything changes and so when Jesus came to earth he said things like this if you do not believe that I am he you're going to die in your sins you must believe I am the one John 14 6 Jesus the day before he died said I am the way the truth in life no one will come to the father but by me I'm the only way people say you know you Christians are narrow-minded of course Jesus was the most narrow-minded person that ever lived think about what he said he in essence said I am right and if you ever disagree with me you're always wrong either it's true or it's not right I mean he didn't kick around the bush he didn't come with suggestions right Jesus didn't come say yes let's let's think about this a little bit Jesus Christ came and said I am truth I am not guessing at anything omniscience has come to earth the only God man and I'm letting you know what reality is people say well there's a lot of religions yeah have you studied them right a lot of people use religion as a distance keeper well you know there's a lot of religions well the difference is if you dive into them and begin to study them you begin to find out there's some pretty big holes you've studied Hinduism and Buddhism you read about their creation accounts they don't really have one but they talk about how the earth is on the back of elephants that earthquakes happen when they bend down and get a drink of water whoever the God was that incorporated that into the Hindu Vedas cannot be the true God because he doesn't understand simple things like that and I'm not trying to be aggressive toward other religions I'm just telling you that's false because they're false religions or they say an earthquake happens because one of the giant catfish swimming in the earth causes an earthquake the Bible never says ridiculous things like that 700 years before the 700 years before Jesus Christ is born 2,700 years ago the Bible says in the book of Isaiah the earth is a circle and hangs on nothing you know the whole hydrological cycle is detailed how the rain like people used to always wonder like how does the where does the rain come from and how does how does it come down and where does it go and how I mean are we ever going to run out of water and all this stuff the whole hydrological cycle had it goes into the clouds comes down goes into the rivers the rivers drain into the oceans and lakes and then it goes back up that whole process is detailed in the book of Job the oldest book of the Bible I could just continue to walk through the Bible talks about the stars in sky being in like equivalents to the sand of the seashore in a day when people could read the number of stars in the sky is about 7500 you can see with your naked eye now we know by the advancements in our area of astronomy that you can go out and you can look with the Hubble telescope and go out and they say the number of stars are like equivalent to the sand on the seashore it's just innumerable number of stars how did they know that whoever the God was that wrote the Bible has to know truth and you will never find one scientific aberration in the Bible it's always lines up with what is true and so so the God who wrote the Bible is the true God he doesn't say silly things like some of these other world religions do in their systems and so you have to ask the question who is this God who is this Jesus Christ and the claims of Jesus Christ move him from the category of interesting to the point that you will spend forever somewhere based on what you do with him that's that's massive isn't it I mean those are huge implications so now what I do with this one called Jesus of Nazareth will determine what happens to me forever yeah so what are you going to do with him what are you going to do with him you know Romans chapter 1 I've been going back through my goal this next five months is to try to get the whole book into my head and and as I've gone through Romans 1 again you find them the desire of men is to distort the truth so Romans 1 verse 19 and 20 lets us know that creation proves there's a creator it says the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made two things that creation evidence is Romans 1 20 is his eternal power and God had so that it leaves man without excuse the problem was verse 21 says because that when they knew God they would not glorify him as God and that's the problem it's not that men doesn't don't know that there's a God it's just that they don't want to glorify him as God you know why because man wants to be their own God don't we they want to be in the driver's seat and so because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imagination their foolish heart was darkened and and they began to profess themselves to be wise they gave themselves PhDs and God says they became fools and then they did this they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like an incorruptible man we turn God into us that's why when people say stuff like this they'll say you know well to me I just believe that God is and they'll begin to define it it's like oh really so what what allowed you to sit on the stool and tell us what God is like what brought you to such a high level of elegance and glory and majesty and omniscience to be able to tell us who the God is and why is it that your God looks so much like you why is he okay with fornication and adultery and sexual sin and temptation and he's okay with some sin here and some other stuff over there why is he why is he okay with that he looks just like you we create God in our that's why we study Roman and Greek gods you ever studied any of that stuff don't don't waste your time so I mean you read about Hercules and Zeus I mean these guys are sick and weird and twisted and it's just a wreck I mean their gods would would get drunk and it was sexual they had temple prostitutes and basically when you slept with the prostitute you're sleeping with a deity it sounds like a religion man would create like it's sexual in nature you get drunk you get high there's all this that's what men does with their religions they turned God into themselves and and because of that the Bible says God gave man over to sexual sin he gave them over to their own wickedness you know a culture has descended when there's a sexual revolution when did that happen in America 1960s right Woodstock I wasn't there okay it wasn't my fault I'm a millennial we got our own problems but I'm telling y'all some of y'all yeah some of these elegant ladies walking around the long dress down to the heels you pull that you pull that dress up to their ankle and their little little Woodstock tattoos still hanging on there we know it yes sir yes sir look at you sweating right now don't talk about that preacher Bible says God gave them over to that and you know what the next thing it does it says they change the truth of God into a lie and they worship the creation more than the Creator has America done that 68 through 70 1968 through 70 we took the Word of God out we rejected the Word of God ripped the Ten Commandments out and we began to love Mother Earth over Father God is that true do you really I just saw a thing on recycling the other day I don't want to hurt your feelings they say recycling doesn't it's a it's totally fictitious it doesn't mean anything if you have questions about that I can send you the video about it it's it's it does it's not true only five percent of what we recycle actually gets recycled everything else just goes back into the system and so we try to say we have all these things we try to do these things and again I'm not not against that stuff I'm just saying the only reason the world up is upheld is because God keeps it and the last thing the Bible says is God gives it because of that God gives them over to homosexuality that's what it says in Romans chapter 1 verse 26 and 7 God gave them over to the lust of their own heart to defile them their own selves between themselves women with women men with men working that which is unseemly and then it says even as God even as they did not want to keep God in their minds they could not stand having God in their mind mind God gave them over to a reprobate mind it's literally what that means is this it's a conscience that no longer functions they have a mind that doesn't work anymore in the sense that there's no morality there's no they don't feel bad about anything they could get in a car and plow through a crowd of people over in what Germany and they don't care it's it's it's women just letting their children die and just all the wickedness and the things that you can see in a culture men abandoning their families and just these unnatural things and the Bible says they just descended more and more and more and have we seen a homosexual revolution in America friends we are seeing the judgment of God upon a nation and and it seems as though there's been somewhat of a reprieve in the last like six months it seems there's been a turning back to the things of God and and it's and it's only because of God's grace that such a thing can happen but tonight you just need to understand there is there is a God who is real and he comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ and so who is this child of Christmas and there's just a couple things I want to point out here look at verse 18 the first thing we see here is Jesus is heaven's child who is this child that comes to us who is this one called Jesus of Nazareth verse 18 says the birth of Christ was on this wise when his mother Mary was a spouse to Joseph not yet married so before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost and so verse 20 says that Joseph verse 19 he's a just man he's not going to put her public away you know in that culture they could actually had her put to death and the judgments and the systems of their legal society for that kind of sexual in their minds promiscuity but instead he wasn't going to do that he was compassionate merciful she was obviously pure verse 20 says while he thought on these things behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying Joseph thou son of David fear not to take him the Mary thy wife that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost and so we see here that Jesus is heaven's child and Jesus knew that Jesus knew though he subjected himself to a human birth he did not originate from earth in John 6 51 Jesus said I am the living bread which came down from heaven John 6 62 what if you see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before who says that kind of stuff John 8 23 you are from beneath I'm from above you're of this world I'm not of this world John 17 5 he says I will ascend up to the Father with whom I was before it father restored unto me the glory which I had with you before the world was this is this is this is the Son of God that's why Malachi 5 2 when it talks about where he was born it says he's born in Bethlehem Ephrata and his goings forth are from old from everlasting so Jesus is heaven's child secondly he's a saving child verse 21 says and she shall bring forth his son this is again Gabriel telling Joseph he says she Mary will bring it forth the son and call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins now the reason he says for he shall is because again Jesus Hebrew Yeshua simply means salvation you shall call his name salvation for he shall save his people from their sins would be the way they would understand it and so what did he come to do he came to save us he came to deliver us from sin first John 3 5 says you know he was manifested to take away our sins first Timothy 1 15 Paul says this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners that's why he came Jesus said in Luke 19 10 I've come to seek and to save that which was lost you know there's so much beautiful about Christmas you know we have the decorations the cards we have all the scenes and and the lights and everything's just like a beautified thing but let me just say this behind all the beauty of Christmas is the ugliness that Christ came to cure the only reason there is a Christmas is because of sin if there was no sin there would be no need for the Savior to come behind all the glorious beauty and the wonderful lights and all the scenes and the images is the cancerous terminal evil black wicked nasty plague of sin that has spurned itself through all of society and life sin is the ugliness this is a true saying he came into the world to save sinners it's why he came and so sin is is breaking God's law first John 3 4 says whosoever commits sin transgresses his law sin equals lawlessness it's living thinking and acting in ways that oppose God and we've all done this if you and I sin three times a day that's a that's a thousand sins in a year doesn't take long to commit see three sins in a day especially if you're a Tennessee fan recently right oh that that's kind of cold isn't it not really I feel okay to say it actually now sin leaves man you need to know this in a hopeless condition Ephesians 2 12 defines hopelessness it says this it says that at that time you were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers of the covenants of promise notice what he says having no hope you don't have the verse but having no hope and without God in the world godlessness is how the Bible defines hopelessness if you don't have God you don't have hope it's it's a thousand miles in the middle of the Pacific and you have no no hope you you need a savior a rescuer somebody to deliver you and that's that's spiritually what Jesus has done man is adrift it's like a stage four cancer patient I just I just remember literally leaning into a bed with the precious 80 year old life with her hand in mine and she knows she's days from death and and and and she's calling out the Christ for salvation and and I wasn't sure of all the details of her of her situation I didn't know if maybe she'd be able to maintain for a while or but she said you know it's it's cancer and it's it's spread everywhere and and she knew her time had come to an end and you know friends stay for cancer cannot be remedied by good works by health eating by changing your behaviors stage for cancer you needed some kind of remedy you need a miracle and and if we can't fix our physical in this why would we think we can fix the spiritual ones friends we we are stage four it's terminal it's you need to know that tonight this is this is the bad side of Chris this is the bad news that Jesus came to cure it's terminal it won't be fixed and you will face eternity without Christ we're adrift we're lost until 2,000 years ago hope was born in the form of a child in the form of of one who needed to be cared for other religions could not even a man could never have created Christianity it's impossible I mean just look at the thorns and everything that they come up with anybody can imagine people that do the things that the that the false gods do no one in the world would say God would send his son in the form of a child born in a manger live a humble life die on a cross man cannot earn salvation every religion says you have to earn it man Christianity says you can't it's all grace it's all mercy it's all given and it comes through you totally surrendering yourself to the truth of it 2,000 years ago the angels came to the shepherds and said unto you is born in the city of David a savior it's Christ the Lord that's what heaven said heaven said there is one savior and it's Jesus Christ the Lord heaven stamped Jesus as the only savior the father sent the son to be the savior of the world first John 4 14 Christ came to the world to be the savior Matthew 18 11 the son of man came to save that which was lost Jesus is the only possible one I could talk about that for a long season but I won't but acts 4 12 it says neither is their salvation in any other there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved he's the only name he's the name of Philippians 2 9 through 11 right above all names that every knee will bow it's it's only through the name of Christ so he's heaven's child he's a saving child he's also the promised child verse 22 says this now all this was done Gabriel still speaking to Joseph that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the notice what he says it's spoken of the Lord by the prophet prophets spoke on behalf of God that's why people say oh that's man's book then you just you just you just call God a liar if you say if you believe that then you believe God's a liar because God calls it his word man did not make it up man couldn't have made it up it's impossible it so so God says this is what I say through the prophet and that's what again the angels are verifying saying behold a virgin shall be with child and bring forth a son notice the phrase that it might be fulfilled which was spoken and so Bible scholars recognize other books claim divine inspiration such as the Quran the Book of Mormon parts of the Veda but none of these books contain predictive prophecy as a result fulfilled prophecies the strong indication of the unique divine authority of the Bible according to Norman Geisler it's there is no other prophecy and I mentioned that this morning you know there's not one prophecy you can ever find in the book of Quran or any of their writings about the coming of Muhammad not not one no no prophecy of Buddha coming there's not one prophecy of any of these religious not one prophecy of Abraham's coming the only out of all the religions of the world there's only one who had a prophecy of his coming and it was Jesus Christ and there's over 300 in the in the Old Testament I would just encourage you to do this read Psalms 22 and tell me who you think it's talking about it opens up like this my God my God why hast thou forsaken me and as you go through it it says they pierced my hands and my feet they wagged their heads at me saying he saved others he can't save himself they cast my garments they cast lots for my garments like this was written 700 years factually known 700 years before the birth of Christ it was written 400 years 300 years before the Persians created crucifixion you know God says I am the Lord Isaiah 46 9 and 10 remember the former things of old I am God there is none else what separates him he said I am God there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning from ancient times of things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand I'll do all my pleasure he's the only one that can say what's going to happen and it comes to pass just like he said for every so Jesus came and fulfilled all 300 prophecies about his first coming for every one of his prophecies about his first coming there's eight of his second coming eight pretty monumental isn't it I could talk about Old Testament prophecy New Testament prophecies about Jesus second coming but we'll be here till midnight and I told you we wouldn't be long so I can't get into that tonight the temptation is real though and so the Lord Jesus Christ the prophecies about his coming I would just say this if you want to know if this is true just seek it I understand like what doubt looks like the guy who helped me start lighthouse was an atheist who made his mom cry for going to church he's a nice guy now and but but when I met him talked to him totally rejected it I mean to the 10th degree rejected it like I led I went over his house his buddies like a big guy and a football player I went to the gospel his buddy kneels down like in tears calling out to Jesus I look at Eric I said Eric you want to get saved man you want to give your life to Christ and I'm thinking this atheist is gonna get saved today he looked at me he's like you think I believe any of that he's like I don't believe any of it his friend just knelt down in tears getting saved he I mean totally rejected it he's like I don't believe any of that I said what would you do if you stood before God he said for me to even answer you he had such disdain for the question he's like for me to even answer that presupposes that I even believe there had there is a heaven and a God which I don't that's what he said to me I said this will be interesting I say can I come back and talk he's like sure so I come back and I did that for about a year and a half what's interesting is this he was he was interested to know and any and he continued to seek the answers and finally when he when he sought them the thing that changed for him is he stopped asking questions to push the truth away and he started asking questions to find out the truth he was wise enough to do what J Warner Wallace did and he began to ask questions because he's like I need to know this if this is true it's life-changing and I told him I said if it's true God will show it to you but if it's not true I said it's nothing I said but if I said what do you have to lose you already know what you believe I said why don't you just seek it this is the most impactful book that's ever been written why don't you do this and I challenge you with this tonight if you're an atheist if you're an unbeliever I'm not upset with you I would sit down with you and I would not be offended by any of your questions I guarantee you that and and and ask yourself just just go by yourself with God and say if this is true I need to know this I can't afford to be wrong it's eternal if it's real like we're here in existence we're not figments of our imagination so we're real and I can't believe in evolution it's just too insane then then how did we get here what's our purpose all this stuff and I can ask questions try to make up questions try to say all that's not true but let me just ask what questions have you asked to really find out if it is and I can tell you this if you seek the truth you'll find it if you come with a humble sincere heart saying God I want to know and you open up the Gospel of John and say God if this is true show me show me show me and I told Eric I said if he's real I said he's going to change your life he's a preacher in Honduras this morning an atheist became a missionary because he found the truth someone who would have been a broken man throughout his life has become an amazing father to three kids an awesome husband and has impacted thousands of people preached in probably 30 some states God has a plan for your life and it starts with him and tonight you just need to know that this child of Christmas is a divine child we find out in verse 23 he's a human child it says she'll bring forth a son Jesus Christ lived in a human body he grew like a little child does it's an amazing thing it's just really just unbelievable to me you know he Jesus was 12 years old in Luke 2 he had the appearance of a man you know Jesus his favorite title for himself was the son of man that fascinating what do you want to call it what do you want people to call it call me the son of man it's like kid you not humble yourself anymore you're above us call me the son of man why not the son of God just son of man it's his favorite designation the humility of Christ he does point to his deity as Daniel 9 I understand those passages Jesus experienced all the things we go through he experienced anger Mark 3 sorrow John 11 love John 13 hunger Matthew 4 thirst John 19 fatigue John 4 weakness death he gave us an example to live if you want to know what God looks like God is abstract to us isn't he we are physical entities beings we have a spirit but we just physical empirical things is what we kind of build off of so God became a man he put on human flesh so he could we could see God and he would die in our place and so Jesus said if you've seen me you've seen the father John 14 right and and and he became the perfect example for Christians to follow 1 John 2 6 says we should walk even as he walked Philippians 2 5 let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Romans 13 14 put on the Lord Jesus Christ Ephesians 5 be therefore mementized of Jesus it's a Greek word that means imitators or followers of Jesus Christ and walk in love as he did and if you suffer unjustly it says in 1 Peter 2 for here into you were even called because Christ also suffered for us leave an example that we should follow in his steps how do I trade a marriage well Ephesians 5 25 husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church how are we to love each other John 13 34 Jesus said that you love one another as I have loved you he gave an example how to be humble when disciples were arguing over who's the greatest Jesus puts on a servant's garment starts washing their feet he says do unto each other as I've done unto you could you have created a greater God if you could if you could create a God would it be better than him aren't you thankful that he's not lust driven anger driven wrath driven that he rather he is holy pure righteous and just and true he can't be that good because he is he can be because he's not like us and then lastly Jesus is not only a heaven he's heaven's child saving child a promised child human child but he's also divine child Jesus Christ is God in flesh Matthew 1 23 behold a virgin shall be with child look what he says here in verse 23 shall bring forth the son they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted as God with us the Bible teaches Jesus Christ is totally completely God John 1 1 in the beginning was the word the word was with God the word was God the same was in the beginning with God all things were made by him without him was not anything made that was made John 1 14 says the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glories of the only begotten of the father the word is the eternal God made flesh John 1 18 I read this from the new American it says no one has seen God at any time the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the father he hath declared or explained him the oldest translations have it as the only begotten God he is called by his disciples God 1 Timothy 3 16 God was made manifest in the flesh John 20 28 Thomas said my Lord and my God John 14 9 Jesus said if you've seen me you've seen the father Colossians 2 9 in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily Jesus said in John 5 23 he said you should honor the son just like you honor the father I mean who would say that could you imagine somebody saying you should treat me like you treat God that's blasphemous right there you think you are you know what John 5 22 says the father judge no man but committed all judgment unto the son and you know in the Bible Jesus Christ receives worship when the Magi came from the east the great kingmakers came they fell down and worshipped him Matthew 2 11 the disciples worshipped him in Matthew 14 33 the blind man worshipped him in John 9 only God receives worship I so so tonight is as we we wrap this up I just want to ask you what are you going to do with them what are you going to do with them if this is true it changes everything the bingles play today how state played yesterday some of us are off a lot of the week go back to work in January some for some people your teacher you work for the government get five weeks off Nazis now you guys do deserve that hard workers but we think about life we think about things we think about family get together think about all these things it's great it's life the great interruption is this it's all temporary it's all temporary we are on the edge of eternity and one day we're going to step into eternity and the question is what's going to happen to me forever you're here by divine design God doesn't manufacture things on accident you're literally sitting in this room in lighthouse on a Sunday night at six o'clock 557 because God wants you to know this truth he God made you for himself what a glory aren't you glad you're not an accident aren't you glad you're not an accident what if you're an accident why are you here just because you're just by chance you mean nothing you mean nothing because you're by accident anybody glad that's not true right you're here because God made you for himself the greatest made you for himself and you will find fulfillment salvation everything is in him and in a thousand years from now you will be with him friends the only way that we can go to be where God is the only way we cannot spend eternity separate from him in a real place of judgment and punishment called hell is to receive the salvation that he brought through his son Jesus Christ isn't the best thing John 3 16 that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever it's every one of us whosoever believes in him most people don't recognize this but when it says shall not perish the word perish is Apollo my in the Greek it just means they would not be destroyed in hell forever is the idea he so loved the world that if you would believe on him you wouldn't be in hell forever but you would have everlasting life so you're set against eternal glory in heaven and eternal judgment in hell everything is here and it's separated on the person of Jesus Christ remember when he died on the cross there's two thugs next to him two thieves one believed and one totally mocked him and rejected him there is no in between with Jesus you either accept him or reject him and tonight the question is what will you do with this one called Jesus he said this if you do not believe in me you will die in your sins if you do not believe that I am he how what must I do to be saved the Bible says you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ it's not intellectual but you must believe on him and belief affects the will which is the driver's seat of your life so so if I truly believe it it transforms something in here and what that means because because all of us know people who say oh they're a Christian but then it's like are they really good you know they live worse than the unbelievers right so hypocrites have destroyed many things because of that but but the reality is if you truly saved it doesn't mean you're perfect but it means that Jesus sits on the throne of your heart and and the Bible says that you would confess him as your Lord so true belief in Christ results in a surrendered will to Christ and a surrendered will to Christ also means that you repent of your sins that means turning from your sin and turning to Christ Jesus said in Luke 13 3 accepted we repent will perish so tonight you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ a belief that affects your will that says Jesus you sit on the throne and I'm no longer my own I'm bought with the price I live for you now it's not perfection but it's direction you change course and when you're saved Jesus comes in and I'm telling you he'll come out he'll transform your life and tonight if you need to be saved you need to come tonight what what better way to end the year right what better night to trust in Christ than tonight we had a precious heart come forward this morning and gave her life to Christ but you know there were several people that that said you know what I'm not saved but they didn't come that's so heartbreaking maybe that was you this morning you're back tonight or maybe you don't know if heaven will be your home friend I'm gonna be down front web men and women down front you could just come forward and say hey I need to be saved I believe in Jesus I don't believe I'm here by accident I know I've sinned in life I don't have to look very far I've messed up I believe there's a God we're not here by accident I believe the Bible if I'm gonna land somewhere I'm gonna I'm gonna land on that book it's verifiably true I need Jesus to save me I already know what kind of a driver I am I want to give my life to Christ and if that's you tonight why don't you stop running and why don't you start living live for what you were created for to know the God who created you live with purpose and meaning if Eric Woodworth could step into this room tonight he would say I remember when I first met him he was it he was so broken he didn't look but I didn't know he was broken so I met him for like several months and then he began to open up to me about how he just didn't want to live anymore how sin was so miserable and it was all a facade just misery thought about no longer wanting to live but then Jesus came into his life changed everything I don't know where you're at tonight but tonight let it be the night that you commit your life to Christ friends maybe you have a loved one this week that needs to hear about Jesus Christ why don't you come and pray for them be a good night to do that wouldn't let's all stand this evening.