Morning. It's good to see each of you this morning. It's a thrill to be in the house of the Lord. I hope you feel that way. Just want to remind you, next Sunday night is the Christmas program, and we take up an offering during that Christmas program. That is to go to missionaries. So I've reminded you of that. You'll remember that, right? And come prepared to share. Turn, if you would, to Luke, the second chapter. Luke, the second chapter. I want to talk to you today about the awe of the Incarnation. The awe of the Incarnation that God would send His Son. That's what we're talking about this week. Next week it will be the awe of the Incarnation that Jesus would come. So, let's look at this second chapter. I'll read through verse 14, then we will ask our Heavenly Father to minister this word to us. Luke 2. Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and family of David. in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over the flock by night. An angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. Loving Heavenly Fathers, we consider Your grace, Your love displayed to us this morning. Would You, through Your Holy Spirit, minister the Word in a powerful way? Through Your Spirit, through the Word, may we see Your Son exalted. And would You, Father, help each of us to understand that which You would want us to know. In Jesus' name, Amen. John 1.14 says, "...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory. Glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Well, December is here, right? And that means that Christmas season is upon us. If you're anything like most people, you'll need to make a mental note that all the activity of the season, the expectations that perhaps some have of you or others, or you would have of others, need to be kept in a proper place. We need to remember not to let this time of year become something that it ought not to be. And we need to be careful of that. We need to look to our Lord and rest our hearts there. We need to remember the heart of our God. in sending His Son to redeem us. And I'll tell you that God would take the time and effort to do so, to me, is truly amazing. That He would condescend to subjecting Himself and His Son to what He knew it would take in order for us to be saved is incredible. It really is. His love displayed and poured out is something that has not lost its marvel and amazement to me. And I hope it hasn't you either. And if I'm in the right place, In my thinking, in my looking at the Lord, I don't think that this story ever gets old. And that the thought of what our God has done should ever lack in what it truly is. I don't know about you, but the degree to which God loves us leaves me, and I hope you, in awe. I want to ask you a question to begin with. And I've read you that story. I'm not going to really preach out of Luke 2 today. I wanted you just to see what God had done. I would ask you to turn to 1 John, but I want to ask you a question. Turn to 1 John, the fourth chapter. And put your seatbelts on. We're going to be running around a minute. And this isn't for the week, so hang on, okay? We've got a lot to think about here in a short time. And I'm not going to... I don't know if I should say it, dumb this down. I'm not going to do that. You guys are students of the Word. You know Him. And I believe you can grasp what I need to say. But why would God love us so? Look at 1 John 4. Why would He send His Son? Why would He do that? 1 John 4, verse 8. 1 John 4, verse 8. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is Love. Why would God love us? Why would He set His holy affection upon us? Why would He love us to the extent that it would be expressed in the sending of His Son for sinful man? It really makes no sense when you think about it. Contrary to what many think, God can survive and get along just fine without you and I. He didn't need man to love Him in order to complete any perceived or supposed need that He had. He didn't need us to adore Him because the angels just weren't enough. He didn't need that. God is perfect and altogether holy. So He needs nothing. He's all-knowing, all-powerful, unchanging, a consuming fire, a merciful and kind and loving God. He didn't send His Son because of a need that He had. He sent His Son because of a need that we had. And to me, that is awe-inspiring. It just is. It's immeasurably gracious, loving, and kind of Him. Why would He do this? Well, because love is who He is. Love is who He is. The Bible defines God as love. And God defines love as the sending of His Son. It's evidenced in what He did. The advent of Christ is God's love story for each of us. The Bible is a history of that story. The first verse in the Bible, in the beginning, God. We're introduced to Him as the Creator. He made man. And the fact that He's made us tells me that He owns us and we are accountable to Him. And after man was created, God interacted and fellowshiped with him unhindered. They had a perfect relationship. And that all changed. You know the story. Man sinned. He fell. And the world groaned and would bear and continues to bear the consequences of that one sin. But God, in His love and grace, provided for man to have a relationship restored and to have a relationship with Him. In Adam and Eve, He fostered this and moved in providing for them the shed blood and the skins that covered them. In Genesis 3.15, He promised a Messiah, a Redeemer. And the prophets throughout the Old Testament continued to express this promise. And then in Bethlehem of Judea, we read about it. He delivered. The Promised One is born. Why would God love us? Because love is who He is. It defines Him. And He defines it. And because of this also, He has set His affection on us. You're familiar with John 3.16. God so loved the world that what? He gave. He gave. His love was manifested or made known to us. Look at verse 9 here in 1 John 4. We remember in verse 8, the last part, it says, God is love. And then in verse 9 it says, By this the love of God was manifested or made known in us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. There it is. He has set His affection on us. He so loved us that He gave. He manifested it or made it known to us. God is love and love is a verb. And we see that in action in the sending of His Son. He gave. God so loved that He gave. And He did this. Think about it. He did this with full knowledge of the heart of man, of all your sin and all of my sin. He did that knowing all that and knowing what His Son would experience. He sent Him. You know, when we love someone, think about this with me. When we love someone, it costs us something. There are those at times that will say, you know, I'm done loving others because it hurts when things happen and there's this riff and oh, it tears my heart. But you know, whenever we love someone, it costs something. God demonstrated his love in sending of his son at an incredible effort and cost. His son, whom he loved, would be humiliated, he'd be beaten, he'd be spit upon, kneeled to a cross. There was a lot of cost there. He promised the Messiah, he delivered his son. He initiated this relationship. And it's in His love that He has done this. He's pursued us to the degree that we would turn to Him in faith. This is our God. He set His affection upon us, upon each of you. He set His affection. You say, how do you know that? Because the Scripture says, because of what He's done. He sent His Son to bear the sin of the world. That was for me and for you. What an amazing fact. What an amazing fact. Why would God love us? Because love is who He is. And because He has set His affection on us. What does this say about Him? What does this say about Him? The fact that God would send His one and only Son speaks to the following truths. He places value on us. Look at verse 9 again. By this the love of God was manifested in us that God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. He's put value on us. Do you realize that? Others may think so little of us at times. They may think really rotten things about us at times. Maybe treat us terrible. You know what? God has placed a value on each of you. You are something special to Him. It is an inestimable worth that He has placed on us. It cannot be measured. The fact that God loves me to the extent that He would give His Son for me is one of the most incomprehensible truths of the Scriptures. I believe one day I'll know it fully. It is humbling and awe-inspiring. It really is. We're just flat out left in awe because of this. God's love is displayed for all the world to see. at the end in an obscure place in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. The birth announcement wasn't sent out by Joseph or Mary. It came directly, think of this, it came directly from the lips of an angel. He said this, the angel said this, a Savior is born for you. You know, we needed a Savior. Someone to free us from the penalty of our sins and God delivered him Galatians 4 4 says in the fullness of time God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who are under the law That's us That's his love displayed. That's what God has done. Not only that but he pursues us not only Does he place value on us? an incredible value But He pursues us. He's made this known to us. Again, 1 John 4-9, by this the love of God was manifested to us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. He pursues us. God has never given up on us. He continues to chase us down time and time and time and time again. I praise Him for that. He, the Word, God and Christ and the Word enlightened by His Spirit. He's preserved and proclaimed the message of the Gospel. It's for all of us to see. We didn't first love Him. He first loved us. And He pursues us. Some of you may be here today and God's been banging on your heart. Knocking on the door. And He's saying, you know what? You've got this going on in your life. And it's not right. And the Spirit has brought conviction. He continues to pursue us. Respond to that. Others, you may be here today, and you've yet to trust Christ as your Savior. And you know what the Word says. And you know who you are. And you know your need. You're thinking about others. You're thinking about what it will cost you. And I want to say to you, run to Him. Because what He has far outweighs all that other stuff. He pursues us. And He desires the best for us. Do you know that? Do you know God is for you? You need to hear that. God is for you. He loves you. He wants the best for you. He desires the best for us. That God would place incredible value on us, would pursue us, displays the fact that He desires the best for us. The best for us is to know and serve Him. It really is. We know what the Scripture says. He's not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. That's His heart toward man. That's the heart of our God. First Timothy 2, 3 and 4 says this, this is good and pleases God, our Savior, who wants all men to be saved. And to come to the knowledge of the truth, he wants the best for us. He loves us to the extent that he would send his son on a mission, on a mission to rescue and redeem us. Well, what does this say about us? What does this say about us? I want to ask you to turn to Ephesians, the second chapter. I think it's a familiar chapter to many of you. What does this say about us? Ephesians 2, 1 through 3. He's writing to believers and the apostles looking back at what used to be in their lives and where they were. He says this, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2, 1. You were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked. This is where they were. This was their conduct. They walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. That's the devil. That's Satan. The spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them, we too all formerly lived in the lusts of the flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." And he's saying, look, this is where you used to be. This is what it was. You were dead. There's a saying, you can't kick a dead horse. You know that saying, right? Think about that. Why would you kick a dead horse? And if you kick a dead horse, what happens? Nothing. There's no life there. Thus the saying. You can't kick a dead horse. You know what we were before Christ? Before we came to faith in Christ? We were dead in that place. No response. No pulse. No life. As a matter of fact, it says we were children of wrath, verse 3, even as the rest. You know that's where we used to be before Christ? See, it says without Him we're helpless. We're just helpless. Can't bargain our way into His presence. We can't say, God, listen, I'm going to make a deal with you. I'll live like this if you'll just take me in. That doesn't work. God has placed the parameters of what it is to be saved and how it is that we must come to Him. So we can't say, I'll do this service like no one else. God, you really need me. He doesn't need us. It's by His grace that we have this opportunity to serve Him. It's nothing that we deserve. It's by His power that He enables us even to do that. It doesn't work because He stands in need of nothing. See, you can't bargain your way into heaven or into a relationship. You'll be a debtor to no man. But we were helpless. That's what it says about it. That God would go to the extent that He would send His Son, say something about us. We really need His Son. See, we are helpless and we're without hope. Apart from Christ, look at verse 12 here of this second chapter. Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ. Excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. Strangers to the covenants of the promise. Having no hope without God in this world. No hope. We were hopeless. Without hope. And that's what we were. Apart from Christ. That's who we were. And without Christ, that's who we are. Helpless. Hopeless. The unbeliever stands before God in line to incur the wrath of God. They are helpless and hopeless in and of themselves. That's why God went through all that to send His Son. That's why His love displays to us. You have value to Me. I want you to respond to what I've done. So it says this about us, apart from Christ, we're helpless and hopeless. But with Him, there is help. With Him, there is hope. Look at Ephesians 2.4. Here's His heart. This is our God. He's good. He's loving. He's kind. He's merciful. But God being rich in mercy, Because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead, in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you've been saved. And raised us up with Him. Where's our Lord today? He's at the right hand of the Father. How does God see those in Christ? He's raised us up with Him. and seated us with Him in the heavenly. You know, our conversation, our citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3.20. It's in heaven. God sees you and I today. Sure, He sees us here. But positionally, guess where He sees us? There. That's our true home. That's where we will spend, after we're done here, our eternity. He sees us there. How deep the Father's love, huh? Is this something? to undeserving, sinful, rebellious sinners. He takes us as His own. You know, it's easy to love someone when they're loving, right? When they respond, they're good, they've got kind words. Man! Yes, people, we like to be around them, right? Those rebellious, cantankerous, get under your skin kind of people, rub you raw. They'll see things like you. They're a little tougher. You know, God loves us knowing everything about us. That's amazing love. He says here, He seeded us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Do you know we're going to be on display for all eternity the glory of God? Sinners made right by the Savior because of a great God who loved us enough to send His Son. Forever will be trophies of His grace. And then he says this, verse 8. Here's how it happens. For by grace you've been saved through faith." Grace is just God's unmerited favor that He pours out. You can't earn it. You can't work your way to it. By grace you've been saved through faith, not of yourselves. You can't work your way. There's no religious practice or something you can do to get there. No, it's not that at all. By grace you've been saved through faith, not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works. lest anyone should boast." And boy would we boast if it was of works, wouldn't it? I'd stand up here and tell you. I was on my knees, crawled all the way to whatever, and did this and that, and I'm saved. And you'd have something like that? The only thing I can tell you this morning is I'm a sinner. I'm a deserving sinner. Saved by the grace of God, who offered me the gift of eternal life, and I took it by faith. So with Him, there is hope. There is great hope. We can draw near to God and rejoice in Him. We've come to Him by faith in His Son. He is sent. We're set free from the wages of sin. Set free to worship. Set free to live as He has intended us to live. He has given us life and life more abundant. There's joy because we were hopeless. and helpless, and now we have hope. And we have His help. The psalmist said it well. Psalm 16 and 11. You will make known to me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy. At Your right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. Someone shared another verse with me in this past week, and it did touch my heart. It's Romans 15 and 13. I want to ask you to turn back there. I want you to see this. It is just beautiful. The discussion is that God has taken in the Gentiles. It's not just that God is for those who are Jewish descendants. But He, according to the prophets, had in His heart all the time that the Gentiles would be brought near to Him as well. They would have that same opportunity to be saved just like the rest. In Romans 13, it says, Now may the God of hope the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace in believing. You know, we believe and we keep on believing. And in our hearts is joy. And in our hearts is peace. We're made right with God, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. You know what I've been saying to you today? Isn't something that just when we die, we experience. It's not just that God saves us and boy, I can't wait for heaven. Is that ever going to be good? But in the meantime, down here, it's kind of, yeah, it's just kind of cruddy. and there's really nothing here for me but to endure. It's not that. Jesus said, I came to give them life and life more abundant. And there can be joy and peace here. Think about it. The God of the universe not only has sent His Son, but He's given His Spirit to empower us to do His bidding, to make a difference here and now. And God has something for me every day to do. And that's pretty good. I have purpose, see. Our God is great. And we have hope. Hope for today. Hope for the eternity that's before us. What great hope we have. And joy. Can we say amen to our great God? Amen? We can. Certainly. I want to finish with this, if I can get through it. Pastor Wes and the group is going to come lead us in a song that is very dear to me. And I will get through it. I'm going to just give you the first verse of the lyrics of this song. how deep the Father's love for us. I might have to have Pastor Wes read it. It's so good. You're just going to have to sing it. I've got to close. I can't read it, so we'll do that. Loving Father, we thank You That is so small, but in our hearts we thank You. That You would love us as You do is so incredible. Thanks for sending Jesus, who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. We praise Your name as we sing this song May it be from hearts that have been touched deeply by your great love. It's through Jesus we pray. Amen. Stand with me please as we close with how deep the Father's love for us.