The Incarnation of Christ - Zack Morgan

Lesson Transcript

All right, so in light of Christmas, um, I'm going to be talking about the incarnation of Christ. And, uh, first of all, Merry Christmas to everyone. I'm going to be reading out quite a few passages from the Gospels. And I'm going to start with the Christmas story in Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2, verse 1 through 16. "And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quinarius was governing Syria.

So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign to you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.' So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said one to another, 'Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.' And they came with haste and found

Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger." So why is this story good news of great joy?

What made this royal announcement so important? And if you look at, uh, verse 10, it talks about the good tidings. And the Greek word for this is evangelion, which is the word for gospel. So what made this gospel such good—what made this such good news, this arrival of Jesus? So we hear during Christmas—I don't know if you've heard someone tell the Christmas story—and, you know, you hear the Christmas story, and it ends with, "But he didn't stay in the manger.

He became a man, and he died on the cross." And what I have noticed is that the modern church has regulated the gospel, the good news of the coming of Jesus Christ. It starts at the cradle, and it ends—or it starts at the cradle, and it skips directly to the cross. And it missed Jesus's life in between. So the rationale that we are left with to celebrate Christmas is, if Jesus never was born, he would have never been able to die. He would have never been able to die for our sins.

And so today, my hope is to, uh, share a deeper meaning on the good news of Jesus Christ, the good news of the incarnation of Christ. So I'm going to be reading a lot of scripture today. Um, we're going to read from five accounts from the Gospels. And I want to, um, as we read this, I want you to look at this and understand why Jesus here on this earth, why it was good news. All humanity, the shepherds, the Magi, Simeon, and Anna would all be blessed by his coming. Mark 5:1 through 20.

I will read this, but you can turn to Mark 5:1 through 20. "Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gergesines. And when he had come out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one could bind him, not even with chains. Because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces, neither could anyone tame him.

And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out, cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him. And he cried with a loud voice and said, 'What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

I implore you, by God, that you do not torment me.' For he said to him, 'Come out of the man, unclean spirit.' Then he asked him, 'What is your name?' And he answered, saying, 'My name is Legion, for we are many.' Also, he begged him earnestly that he would not send them out of the country. And now a herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged him, saying, 'Send us to the swine that we may enter them.' And at once Jesus gave them permission.

Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine. There were about 2,000, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea. For those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that they—that had happened. Then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the Legion, sitting and clothed in his right mind, and they were afraid.

And those who saw it told him how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed and about the swine. Then they began to plead with him to depart from their region. And when he got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with him.

However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, 'Go to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you.' And he departed and began to proclaim into Capelus and all that Jesus had done for him, and all marveled." So a child that had been captured by the devil. Jesus frees. Luke 8:2 through 3. You don't have to turn there. And it just talks about Mary Magdalene, who took care of Jesus, who traveled with him, who Jesus had cast out seven demons.

Luke 13:10 through 17. This will be the last passage from the Gospels. Luke 13:10 through 17. "Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, 'Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.' And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God.

But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. And he said to the crowd, 'There are six days on which men ought to work. Therefore, come and be healed on them, not on the Sabbath day.' The Lord then answered him and said, 'Hypocrite, does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it?

So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, think of it, for 18 years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?' And when he said these things, his adversaries were put to shame, and all the multitude rejoiced for the glorious things that were done by him." So when Jesus was born, the Jews were servants to the Roman Empire. There were many Jews that were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, who would free them from the chains of the Romans.

The Jews were enslaved to Caesar against their will. But there was a bigger problem than Caesar. Satan appears to have unbridled power. It appears that Satan captured people against their will and enslaved them. So in these stories, these stories don't imply that these people had chosen to be servants of the devil. And I understand that when we sin, we are choosing who we serve, serving the devil. But to me, it appears that the devil was taking liberties.

It appears that the devil had power that he does not possess today. And one thing that I have found interesting, as I've read these stories, Jesus also, he does not heal against people's will. Jesus does not do things that you would not want him to do. He only does according to our faith, as he says, "Do you have faith that this can happen?" And the Father says, "I will, I do help my unbelief." And I believe that Jesus looked at these people with the facade of evil and realized what they truly wanted.

They wanted to be free. So we've been studying, we've been reading through the book of Genesis for our Sunday school. And we've had some discussion on Genesis 6, where the Nephilim, the sons of God, came down. And who was that? What's all this mean? We've had, and I've had personally had more discussion with individuals. And it's really interesting, you know, talking about this and what this meant for creation. What were these sons of God who came down and took women as wives?

It says in Genesis 6 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves, all whom they chose, of all whom they chose. This was a physical incursion by spiritual forces on God's creation. This was the devil's plan to ruin God's world, to ruin what God had made. God then used the flood to cleanse his creation. Noah stepped out of the ark into a renewed world. The evil forces, the evil giants had to die for the rejuvenated creation to take place.

Fast forward to the time of Christ. The forces of evil were not in physical form, but the forces of evil had infested this world and were taking people as spiritual captives. They were taking slaves for themselves of all whom they chose. So what is the good news? Let's look at Matthew 1:22 and 23. And this is talking, of course, about the birth of Christ. Matthew 1:22 and 23.

"So all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophets, saying, 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us.'" The good news, the glad tidings of peace, is that Emmanuel, God with us, is here. God living and dwelling among us. Before the coming of Christ, it appears that the devil had power over people. So we read the story of that young boy.

Ever since he was a child, he had been possessed by this demon. Someone who can't choose, a child who can't choose their master. And he was forced as a slave to this demon. We read about that woman who was bent over for 18 years, who was a daughter of Abraham. She was a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound. She was rightfully God's child, whom Satan had bound. This is the world Jesus entered. And I don't think we can imagine what it was like living in this world under the devil's reign of terror.

We can't imagine that. But when Jesus was born, the devil's reign of terror was coming to a close. As Jesus walked this earth, he started setting the captives free. And as he did so, he knocked holes in the foundation of the devil's kingdom. He was shaking that grip, that demonic grip on humans. He was shaking the kingdom of darkness hold on humanity. Jesus used his life and finally his death to crush the head of the serpent. He used both his life and his death.

So one thing that may confuse us, that may appear to diminish the significance of Christ's power in overcoming sin, in overcoming Satan, is that sin and evil still exist in the world today. How do we reconcile that with what Jesus has done? If Jesus truly defeated Satan, then why does it appear that this world is getting worse? Why is there more, or at least what it seems to be, why is there more evil in this world? Is it even a better place because of what Jesus has done?

Is the coming of Christ actually good news? Good news for all people? The shepherds thought so. 2 Timothy 3:13, I believe, sheds some light on this. It says, "But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." The key, I believe, is that evil men will wax worse and worse. And I believe the medium on how evil is propagated in the world today is through people, is by deceived men, by deceived people. The devil and his angels have lost their power over humanity.

It appears to me that the devil does not possess the same power that he did before the coming of Christ. He now is regulated to seducing people to sell themselves as slaves under his terrible control. And it appears that the way, the only way for the devil to work on this earth is through people. I believe that as evil men get worse and worse, those who practice righteousness will continue to be more and more righteous. Our king has not lost his control on power. Our king was not backed into a corner.

Our king was not forced to use humans to accomplish his will on this earth. But he's chosen to. Jesus has chosen us. Jesus has chosen us collectively to be his body. And when we talk about the incarnation of Christ, we also are talking about the birth of the church. We, the church, now walk the earth in place of Jesus. Jesus left us a perfect example. He loosed the bands of the devil over people the devil had captured. We too are to help people find freedom that have sold themselves back to the devil.

Jesus defeated Satan by his life and finally at his death. We gain freedom as we practice righteousness, and complete victory for the church comes at the end.