From the Manger to the Cross #1

Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello, I'm Bill Wright. Thanks for joining us as we continue teaching God's people God's Word. Don begins a new message today, so without further delay, let's join him right now in the Truth Pulpit. Well, as we come together this morning to remember the birth of Christ and the death of Christ all in the next 45 to 60 minutes, what we have in front of us today is really beyond the capacity of the greatest human intellects to be able to comprehend, and yet at the same time it is within the grasp of the simplest child who trustingly believes. To contemplate the incarnation of God, and to contemplate that God in human flesh went to a human cross, an instrument of torture and death, to contemplate that he did that on behalf of his people, his sinful people, in order to save them from their sins, to put all of that into our minds in a short time like this is really beyond the capacity of humans to grasp it all. And so we must come in a manner that is dependent upon the Holy Spirit, dependent on God to enable us and to help us somehow appreciate something of the magnitude of what it is that is before us as we come to this passage in Matthew chapter 1, verses 18 through 25. In our English Bibles, it's really the opening statement of the entire New Testament, and the opening statement of the entire New Testament is that God became a man to save his people from their sins, and those of us that know Christ are the direct beneficiary of what happened in time and space so many years ago.

It's important to remember that, to remember that we're talking about actual historical events. Christianity is based on historical events that happened in time and space, and the New Testament interprets the significance of those events for us. We're not simply following myths or cleverly devised tales, the Scriptures say, and we're not following a mere philosophy or a system of ethics as Christians. We are following, as we sung earlier, we are worshipping the Son of God who was the babe in the manger in Bethlehem.

We are serving the God who came to save his people from their sins. The themes that are before us today are lofty and magnificent, and what I want you to be mindful of as we hear the Word of God here this morning is that we're moving toward a climax as we take the Lord's table together in a short while, that the remembrance of the birth of Christ this morning is designed to lead us to a remembrance of the cross, which was the price of your soul. And that's what we're going to remember here this morning. We're going to look at this passage in Matthew 1 around three main points this morning.

Each one would be the proper study of months of teaching, but we're just going to try to summarize it here quickly in the time that we have here this morning. If you're going to take notes this morning, the first point that I want you to see, quite simply, as we contemplate what it is about the coming of Christ that we are to remember, we remember first of all that Jesus came to forgive our sins. Jesus came to forgive our sins.

This was no random birth in Bethlehem. This was the direct outcome of the eternal plan of God. His redeeming purpose was now being set into action with the birth of Christ because Jesus came to forgive our sins.

That's the most fundamental thing that we can remember here this morning. Look back at verse 18 at the passage that we read just a moment ago. Verses 18 through 21. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

There you have already the supernatural indication of this birth. A child conceived in the womb by the Holy Spirit. Verse 19. And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child who is being conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

And here in verse 21 we see the point, the focal point of the passage. She will bear a son. You will call his name Jesus, for, because, for this purpose, he will save his people from their sins. The angel stated the purpose of this miraculous birth. He will save his people from their sins. Beloved, let the clarity of that statement sink deep into your hearts here this morning. The understanding, the recognition, the remembrance that you and I, the nation of Israel, men throughout the world, without exception, need to be delivered from their sins. This was the purpose of the Incarnation. The Bible teaches, clearly, unambiguously, that men throughout the world go about life with insanity filling their hearts.

The insanity of rebellion against God, the insanity of being unable to comprehend divine revelation, the insanity of ongoing conflict and sin and disregard for God and His Word. And that is no small matter. It's not a matter of small consequence. The Bible teaches that our sins separate us from God, and that places us under His judgment. Write this verse reference down if you're taking notes. Isaiah 59 verse 2. Isaiah 59 verse 2 says that your sins have made a separation between you and your God, and your iniquities have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. It is not true that there is this general disposition of kindness of God toward humanity. What I mean by that is humanity can approach God on their own terms and in their own way, and in their own righteousness. God is good to men who are even His enemies, but there is a separation that is caused by sin because of the holiness of God. And the sins that you and I have committed throughout the course of our life and the very nature of our sinful hearts make it such that a holy God cannot receive us into His presence.

Men cannot come to God on their own merit at all. You and I have broken God's law, and there is guilt that is attached to the human soul as a result of that rebellion. And it creates a barrier, that guilt creates a barrier that forbids access to God. That's what we remember here today, that there is this barrier of sin, the guilt, the stain of sin on your souls that you could never erase.

That no launderer could ever make white on your behalf. That no tears could wash away. That no works could re-establish some kind of merit before God.

You and I were utterly, totally, hopelessly lost, blind, deaf, mute, helpless. Scripture goes so far as to describe it as dead in trespasses and sins. And so when we come to this passage this morning, beloved, and hear that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save His people from their sins, I trust that the Spirit would open to your mind and make you appreciate fresh all over that that is the most precious thing that could ever fall on human ears. That there are no sweeter words to the lost soul to be heard than the fact that Jesus Christ came to save His people from their sins.

Nothing else really matters. And beloved, if you're here today as a believer in Christ, you know that the Lord has redeemed your soul, that your sins are forgiven, then you have the most precious gift that could ever be received. And the impact that that should have on your thinking, on your affections, on the way that you carry your disposition is one of great, profound, wandering gratitude toward the God who made that initiation toward you and on your behalf. Jesus came to forgive us of our sins.

Let's step back and look at it from a different direction here. Remember that we're talking about events that happened 2,000 years ago, long before you were here, long before I was here. Remember that when Jesus came to earth, that God was God, a wholly offended God, offended by the very rebellion of man dating back to the Garden of Eden, that that wholly offended God was taking the initiative of grace toward undeserving sinners. 2,000 years before you were born, God had taken the initiative to secure your eternal salvation. 2,000 years before you and I were born, Christ had acted on our behalf, acted to save us from our sins.

Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ came to save sinners, you and me, from the judgment of God. And beloved, do you see, is your heart humbled under the reality that this was God taking the first motion toward you, not you taking the first motion toward God? That is fundamental to the disposition of the Christian life, is to understand that and have your heart humbled underneath the truth that God took the initiative, not you, toward him.

That's fundamental. Turn back to the book of Isaiah, to chapter 53, and to just understand that this magnificent Lord Jesus Christ, God from before time began, came to relieve you of your guilt. And beloved, I've got to tell you, I never get tired of that thought, do you? This should never grow old in the heart of a Christian. This should always be fresh and animating to your heart to realize that God took the initiative on your behalf. Look at Isaiah chapter 53 verse 5, and let there be no doubt about where the only place for forgiveness of sins can be found.

Isaiah 53 verse 5, prophesying of Christ, the statement that will one day be made in the future by Jews looking back on their Messiah, saying in a way that applies to us today as well, those of us who are Christians, we can say these words with full confidence based on the authority of the Word of God. Isaiah 53 verse 5, He was pierced through for our transgressions, looking to the cross, pointing to the cross of Christ. He was pierced through for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray.

Each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. As we look back on the birth of Christ, we realize we can look back with kind of a telescopic perspective on it and realize that the birth of Christ was heading directly toward the cross. And there at the cross, your guilt would be placed on a sinless substitute, and he would be smitten by God, the wrath of God poured out on him as he hung, nailed to a human cross by wicked men, so that your guilt, iniquities, sins, and transgressions would be placed on him, and he would receive the stroke which was due on you so that one day you would be set free from your sins.

That the guilt and the eternal punishment that that deserves, that should have fallen on your head and mine, would be removed, placed as it were on Christ, and the wrath of God satisfied in him, so that one day you could hear the gospel and receive the forgiveness of your sins. This is magnificent. This is the most holy truth that we could ever hear. And in a group of this size, I'm so happy that so many of you are here, know so many of you are visiting with us here today. It bears repeating, and it needs to be said, that if that doesn't somehow animate and move your soul, you need to ask whether you're a Christian at all or not, because a true Christian who has the Holy Spirit abiding in him or her never tires of this. This thrills the regenerate soul.

This thrills the redeemed soul over and over and over again. This is an ever-flowing fountain in our hearts that drives us to worship and gratitude for this Lord Jesus Christ who came to forgive us of our sins. And if your experience of Christianity over the years has been one of mere formalism, of mere morality, that has never driven you to love Christ in response to this saving work of incarnation, death, and resurrection, if it's never come to your heart with what you know to be power, you've got to step back and ask and examine yourself. As 2 Corinthians 13.5 says, Examine yourself to see whether you're even in the faith, because these truths are precious to true Christians. These truths are what men throughout the ages of the church in the ensuing 2,000 years have spilled their blood for! Spilling their blood in response to the one who spilled his blood for them.

And so I ask you here this morning, pleading with you as it were through the Word of God, do you love this Christ who came to forgive us of our sins? Mary's baby was destined to become the sacrifice that made forgiveness real to the people of God. Mary's baby was the one who broke down that wall of separation, doing what no one else in the universe could do. There was no one else. It was Christ alone appointed to do this work on behalf of sinners. And there was no one else who could do it.

Your parents couldn't do it for you, were not born of flesh. The greatest, noblest, highest philosophers, teachers throughout the ages were helpless to accomplish what we most needed. I want you to see, I want you to feel the weight and the glory of the reality that Christ alone could do this for you. And that's what we remember here today. And beloved, that's why we worship him. That's why we give him our affection. That's why we gladly give him our loyalty, our allegiance, our obedience. That's why we gladly follow him wherever he leads us to go.

Because he paid a supreme price that no one else could pay. And his blessed willingness to serve us that way is what secures our eternal blessedness. Oh, what we remember here today, that Jesus came to forgive our sins, is the most blessed fact that men could ever speak. Well, my friend, thank you for joining us for yet another podcast from The Truth Pulpit. And we wanted to let you know that in addition to these audio resources that you are enjoying, that there are also written resources from my ministry. The Lord has given us opportunity to put some of the things that I've taught over the years in print.

And I have one book in particular that I would want to call your attention to. It's the most popular book that I've published so far, called Trusting God in Trying Times. It's a book born out of deep personal sorrow and is brought into context, you might say, through the Word of God. How to trust God when you are going through the deepest valleys and the most sorrowful things in life. How do you trust God through those times when you can't see your way forward?

I've been there, my friend. And the book Trusting God in Trying Times speaks to that spiritual experience in the life of the believer. You can find all of my books at thetruthpulpit.com. That's thetruthpulpit.com. Just click on the link there.

You will find links to different books and you will find that they take you to an easy place to purchase them for your reading enjoyment. So thank you once again for joining us on The Truth Pulpit. We'll see you next time as we continue to study God's Word together. That's Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thank you so much for listening to The Truth Pulpit. Join us next time for more as we continue teaching God's people God's Word.