Last week we began a miniseries titled The Virgin Birth. And essentially last week we dealt with the subject of possibility. That is to say, is it possible that what we know about God from the scriptures is in keeping with the idea of God coming to earth as a man? If Jesus claimed to be God in flesh, and he did, First, who was the God he claimed to be? And second, does this God allow for the possibility of coming to earth as a virgin-born man? Last week, again, we looked at the attributes or characteristics of God, three of them, the transcendence of God, that is to say that all that we can know about God surely is how and from the way God has revealed himself in scripture. We also looked at the oneness of God and we also looked at the threeness of God. And so last week, if you weren't here, I encourage you to go online and listen, we really dealt with the subject of possibility. The possibility of God becoming a man. This week we want to consider the idea of promise. Last week possibility, this week promise. Does God in his word promise to come to earth as a man? Does God, in his word, promise that the coming Messiah would not only be the son of David, but would also be divine? Does God, in his word, promise the incarnation that God would take on flesh? Does God, in his word, promise a divine Messiah? And when I say God in his word, we're talking about the Old Testament. God's word prior to the coming of Jesus and the writing of the New Testament. And so this morning, really it's all about did the Old Testament promise that God would come to earth as a man? Did it? I'll remind you that by and large, ancient Israel didn't anticipate that the coming Messiah would be incarnate, God in flesh. Son of David, they would say yes. Son of God, that was something, for whatever reason, was beyond their imagination. Promises. Does the Old Testament promise, did God promise, that he would come to earth as a man? Before we look at the text, let me remind you of three things briefly. First of all, according to scripture, there are only three kinds of beings in the universe. You have divine beings, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinity, we refer to it. You also have, according to scripture, angelic beings, angels. You have holy angels. You have archangels, seraphim, cherubim, powers, rulers, fallen angels, which are referred to as demons. And then you have us, human beings. Three kinds of beings, divine beings, angelic beings, human beings, which eliminates, by the way, any idea of ghosts, or aliens, or zombies, or vampires, and I guess it's Christmas, I should say, it eliminates any idea of elves, or abominable snowmen. Three kinds of beings, three kinds of beings. I want to also remind you that in the Old Testament it is amazing that God reveals himself in scripture with human characteristics and traits. Anthropomorphisms, big word, means that God reveals himself with human physical traits. The scripture will speak of God having eyes and ears, God's lips, God's face, God's feet. God's hands, God's hair, even his back, his fingers, his nostrils, his shoulders, I could go on. Then you have what is referred to as anthropopraxism, that is God engaged in human activities. Where in the Old Testament God is described as sitting and standing and speaking and laughing and walking and hearing and holding and carrying and smelling and watching, I could go on. You also have what are called anthropopathisms where we see God in the Old Testament revealing himself with human emotions. God grieves and God is jealous and God can hate and love and regret. God can experience joy and anger. God can be pleased and I could go on. And a third strange characteristic in the Old Testament, it's another $10 word, You see this idea of concomitance, the idea of God accompanying or attending or God escorting. The best biblical nuance meaning to concomitance is God in the Old Testament promising what I would call alongside-ness. Not us on earth and God way up in heaven, but concomitance, God alongside us, with us. with us. This morning I'm gonna invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me, if you would, to the second Psalm, Psalm 2. Where we'll look at verses one through 12. Psalm 2, verses one through 12. And if you have found your way there, would you join me as we stand together for the reading of God's holy, inerrant, and infallible word. Again, did God in the Old Testament promise that he would come to earth as a man? Psalm 2, beginning at verse 1. Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury, saying, but as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and shall shatter them like earthenware. Now therefore, O kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son that he not become angry and you perish in the way. For his wrath may soon be kindled, how blessed are all who take refuge in him. Let's pray. Our God and our Father, again, we thank you for this season where we celebrate the greatest miracle in the history of the world, that God entered time and space, did not desire to clutch or cling to his privileges of of divinity, but emptied himself and took on the form of a man, became obedient, willing to die, even death on a cross. We thank you, Father, for the miracle of the incarnation. And help us to treat your word seriously within our minds, our hearts, and therefore in our lives. Help us to see and hear the truth that we might be set free by it. We do pray for the one who preaches. His sins, unfortunately, are still many. But the one that we look at and think about this morning was sinless. And so we would ask, Father, that this morning we would not just be challenged by your word but changed, not just confronted by the truth but conformed to the image of that son, the one you promised so many years ago. And we ask these things in Jesus' name and all God's people said amen. Please be seated. As I pointed out last week, ancient Israel understood that the promised Messiah would in fact be the son of David. That is to say, that the Messiah would have royal blood running through his veins. That the coming promised Messiah would be a descendant of King David. Why did they expect the Messiah would be a descendant of David? Because the scriptures declared that he would be. Without ambiguity, the scriptures of the Old Testament promised that the coming Messiah would be a Davidic heir. That being said, I want to suggest to you that the Old Testament, with equal unambiguity, promises that the coming Messiah would not only be a son of David, but would be, in fact, the son of God. That he would be divine. That when we think of Jesus, we must think rightly of Jesus being God in flesh. And I would suggest to you that one day when we reach heaven, we will not see the invisible father. The God we will see will be Jesus Christ with scars in his hands. He will be the centerpiece, the divine centerpiece of heaven. Did the Old Testament promise it? Let's identify some of the truth claims that are made in this single Psalm, Psalm 2. Psalm 2, as you'll see, is really the beginning of a series of critical revelations concerning the promised Messiah. Truth claim number one, Psalm 2, a messianic psalm, promises that the Messiah will be identified as God's anointed. Verse two, the kings of the earth shall take their stand and the rulers shall take counsel against, here it is, the Lord and against his anointed. That is the word Messiah, the anointed. Truth claim number two, that the promised Messiah, verse six, would be identified as God's king. Verse six, as for me, God says, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. Truth claim number three, Psalm two, verse seven, that the promised Messiah would be, in fact, God's son. Stop there. God's son. Verse seven, I will surely tell the decree of the Lord. He said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Truth claim number four, that the promised Messiah would be identified as, listen to this, God's equal. God's equal. Verse 11 and 12, Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son that he may not become angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are those who take refuge in him. Verse 11 through 12, this promised Messiah, not only God's anointed, God's King, God's Son, but God's equal. Worship God, how? By doing homage, by worshiping the Son. Worship God, how? With reverence, rejoicing and trembling as you bow down before the son. Worship the son, how? By bowing down before him and fearing the son's anger and wrath lest you bow down. Worship God, how? By taking refuge in his son. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. Psalm 2, God's anointed, God's king, God's son, God's equal. Psalm 2, written by King David before the Old Testament prophets. Written a thousand years before the birth of Christ. One is coming who will be God's anointed, God's king, God's son, God's equal. Question, did God promise? I'd say this is quite a promise. And by the way, Psalm 2 is a critical point in God's revelation of the coming Messiah. It is critical to the unfolding revelation about this promised Messiah. How so? Because it is David that brings into reality the formation of the Davidic throne. It is David who brings about the Davidic dynasty. That dynasty, that throne, that king, is identified with and purposely connected to the promised coming king. All of this comes into view with David, Psalm 2. In particular, it is with David that we see God's revelation shedding light and declaring that the divine king, the God-man, will one day rule on that throne. I want you to think with me for a minute. Prior to David in Psalm 2, we have prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah. And those prophecies typically take place in one of two forms. You have what are called verbal predictive prophecies, where God would say such and such is gonna happen. Verbal predictive. And there's a lot of them. The second kind of prophecy you have is what are called typical prophecies, where you have types, pictures of the coming Messiah. Those types involve people, they involve events, Old Testament events, objects, Old Testament objects. For instance, we have people like Adam, Abel, Noah, Moses, Melchizedek, Abraham, et cetera, who were types, types of Christ, pointing to Christ. Certain things about each of these individuals that pointed to Christ. You also have objects, lambs and sacrifices. The Ark, the prophets, the priests, the kings, sacrifices, all of that, that pointed to Jesus. You also have events, the Sabbath, the Exodus, the Day of Atonement, man in the wilderness, water from a rock, all kinds of events that pointed to Jesus. Typical prophecy, not just predictive prophecies, this will happen, there's plenty of them. but also types, people, objects, events that pointed to Jesus all through the Old Testament. I say all that to say this, to the best of my knowledge, with the possible exception of Genesis 3.16, it isn't until Psalm 2 That is, with the Davidic dynasty and throne and all of that, that a divine God-man king comes into view. So the passage we just read really is the first place in the Old Testament that God begins to show that the coming Messiah will be divine. Again, it is beginning with Psalm 2. David, the Davidic throne, the Davidic dynasty, that the coming Davidic Messiah, not only the son of David, but also will be God's anointed, God's king, God's son, and God's equal. And from Psalm 2 onward into the Old Testament, the scriptures, listen to this, progressively, progressively declare that the promised Messiah would be, in fact, God in flesh. Again, I'm going to say this because it's important. It is Psalm 2 that launches the Old Testament promise of a coming divine king. Coming divine king. And it is particularly important because with David comes this kingship, this throne, this dynasty, this kingdom that are part and parcel of the promised Messiah. You're in Psalm 2, look with me if you would at Isaiah chapter 7. As you're turning to Isaiah chapter seven, let me remind you that the prophet Isaiah served as God's prophet during the reign of four kings, four kings of Judah. Isaiah was there when Uzziah reigned, Isaiah was there when Jotham reigned, Isaiah was there when Ahaz reigned, Isaiah was there when Hezekiah reigned. As you look at Isaiah seven, this is very interesting. In Isaiah 7, the situation is this. Ahaz is king of Judah, again, a descendant of David. And Ahaz, as king of Judah, is facing a war that he cannot win. Through Isaiah the prophet, God tells Ahaz the king that he must, the nation must take certain actions. They must take certain actions to prepare for this attack, this invasion. And God tells Ahaz that if he doesn't take these actions, the kingdom will be destroyed. And God essentially says to Ahaz, and this is so important, that if you're having a difficult believing what I'm saying to you through Isaiah, go ahead and ask me for a sign. Go ahead and ask me for a miracle. Go ahead and ask me to do something to prove the truth, the veracity of what I'm saying. And Ahaz doesn't respond, he's afraid to ask for a sign. And God says, okay, if you won't ask me for a sign, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna give you my own sign. I'm gonna give you a sign that will show you and declare that my people are not gonna be destroyed, that this kingdom will not end, that this Davidic royal line will not come to an end, and that I will preserve this kingdom and this throne. If you don't ask me for a sign, I'll give you my own sign. And here's the sign, notice verse 14. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Emmanuel, which translated means what? God with us. Let me read that again. You won't ask me for a sign, I'll give you a sign. The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son and she will call his name Emmanuel. God's sign is a sign of unimaginable proportion. It is a supernatural sign. It is a miraculous sign. It is miraculous really on two levels. Miraculous in terms of the how a future virgin born son And it is miraculous, even more miraculous in terms of the who. The son will be Immanuel, God with us. The name Immanuel is a compound Hebrew name. Im means with, al means God, literally. Immanuel means God with us or with us is God. A virgin, no father, will have a son, and he will be God with us. Or with us is God. What a sign. A sign. that promises my people will not be destroyed, a sign that the Davidic royal line will not end, a sign that I will preserve the Davidic throne and kingdom, a sign, the sign is a virgin born son who has no earthly father, whose name is God with us. Did God promise? I'd say this is quite a promise. You're in Isaiah seven, move forward a few more chapters to Isaiah nine. And again, the context is the same. God is assuring this war-torn king and this war-torn kingdom that he will preserve them and that there is a glorious future coming and the glorious future will be realized in the divine Messiah. Again, a promise written to a threatened, war-torn king and kingdom of future glory. You're in Isaiah 9, look at it, beginning of verse 1. But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. That's talking about Israel in earlier times. He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt. But later on, he will make it glorious by the way of the sea on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness, that is now, will one day see a great light. And those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation. You shall increase the gladness. There will be gladness in your presence, as with the gladness of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For you will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle of Tumal, the cloak rolled in blood, will be burning for fuel for fire." Listen, all of this war is one day going to end. How? Verse six, again. For a child will be born to us. A son will be given. The government will rest upon his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. And there will be no end to the increase of his government or of his peace and on the throne of David over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. Is that possible? To which God says, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. Make no mistake, God says. the promised virgin-born divine Messiah. Not only will his name be Emmanuel, God with us, but his name will also be wonderful counselor, mighty God, eternal father, prince of peace. This virgin-born son will be God. Frankly, if Jesus wasn't God, These verses that we're reading would be blasphemous. Everybody got that? To ascribe to a mere man the name Emmanuel, to ascribe to a mere man the name Eternal Father or Mighty God or Prince of Peace or Wonderful Counselor would be blasphemy. Future born son, virgin born son will be God. You're in Isaiah 9, look at Isaiah 40. Beginning of verse 1, and by the way, I've said this before, if you read Isaiah all the way up to chapter 39, it's all judgment, woe, war, doom, and then comes chapter 40, promise. Begins with the words comfort. Oh comfort my people, after 39 chapters of wrath, judgment, war, and doom, comfort. O comfort my people, says your God. Speak kindly to Jerusalem and call out to her that her warfare has ended. You get that? Davidic king, the kingdom, threat, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed and that she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice is calling out, clear the way for who? The Lord. By the way, that's all capitals, that's Yahweh, Jehovah. Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make smooth in the desert a highway for our, who, God? Let every valley be lifted up, every mountain a hill be made low, let the rough ground become a plain, let the rugged terrain become a broad valley, and then, then what? The glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together, again, Can that really be? Notice how verse five ends, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Every time God makes one of these promises, he has to say something like, the zeal of the Lord will accomplish this, or the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Why? Because it's beyond human imagination. Only God can do this. And by the way, all four gospels, Matthew 3, 3, Mark 1, 3, Luke 3, 4, and 6, John 1, 23, all of them say that Isaiah 40 verses 1 through 5 is fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist preparing for the way for Jesus to come. And in coming, what happened? A highway was made ready by John for the coming of God. And when Jesus came, the glory of the Lord was revealed, and all flesh saw it together. Did God promise? I'd say it's quite a promise. The promise of a virgin-born divine king, not only will his name be Emmanuel, God is with us, but his name will also be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, and according to this text, he will be the manifestation of the glory of God. Did God promise? I'd say this is quite a promise. You're in Isaiah right now. The next book in the Old Testament is the book of Jeremiah. Turn there with me. Jeremiah chapter 23. Beginning of verse one, Jeremiah 23, God says, woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture, declares the Lord. What's that reference to? These are Israel's false, unrighteous leaders. Verse two, therefore, thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are attending my people. Again, false, unrighteous leaders. You have scattered my flock and driven them away. You have not attended them. Behold, I am about to attend you for the evil of your deeds, declares the Lord. Again, false, unrighteous leaders. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the countries where I've driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply, and I will raise up shepherds over them, and they will tend them, and they will not be afraid any longer, nor terrified, nor will any be missing, declares the Lord." And then here comes verse five. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David. A righteous branch, can you say that with me? A righteous branch, say it one more time, a righteous branch. And he will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. Ah, at last, a true righteous leader. In his days Judah will be saved, Israel will dwell securely, And this is his name by which he will be called, listen to this, the Lord our righteousness. Jehovah, all caps, Jehovah, our righteousness. Another name. In addition to Emmanuel, God with us, in addition to a wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Here we have another name for this virgin-born son. He will also be Yahweh, our righteousness. God, the Lord, our righteousness. You do realize that Romans 3, 9 and following tells us that we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, just as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. No man in this world, apart from the original Adam, has ever come into this world as righteous. We're still not righteous. You're not righteous. I'm not righteous. And yet here's Jeremiah 23, it says, Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a, what? A righteous branch. And he will reign as a king, and he will be called the Lord our, what? Righteousness. The Lord our righteousness, this isn't Jeremiah, this is the great New Testament Pauline doctrine of imputed righteousness. You do know this, don't you? That by faith in Jesus Christ, God imputed my sins to him and God imputed his righteousness to me. On that cross, God treated Jesus as if he had lived my life and your life, so that when I stand before God one day, God will treat me as if I lived Christ's life. He who knew no sin was made sin in our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of Christ in him. He is our righteousness. We are clothed, the scripture tells us, in his righteousness by faith. When we die and stand before God, we would be normally in fear and trembling, would we not? but now clothed in his righteousness. He will be called the Lord our righteousness. And apart from his righteousness, we have no hope of heaven. Amazing. Isaiah and Jeremiah are typically referred to as two of the major prophets. That means their prophecies are larger than the minor prophets, not that they're more important, just the works are larger. What about the minor prophets? Let's look at one of the minor prophets, look at Micah chapter five. Did God promise that the coming Messiah would be divine? That's the question. As you're turning to Micah chapter five, although the book of Micah is smaller than the book of Isaiah, Micah, the prophet Micah, was actually a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah. They ministered at the same time. And like Isaiah, whose prophecies about the coming virgin-born divine Messiah take place under impending war, Micah is also written at that same time of impending war. And like Isaiah, in Micah, God is assuring again that he will preserve his people, the throne, the kingdom, the Davidic line. And again, like Isaiah, God reveals to Micah that it will be through a future coming God-man, divine king. Micah chapter 5. Now muster yourselves in troops, daughters of troops. Here's the context of war again. They have laid siege against us. With a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek. And as for you, Bethlehem efforteth too little to be among the clans of Judah. Stop there. What is significant about Bethlehem? It is the Davidic city, is the city of David, is where David was born, where Mary and Joseph returned to, in which Jesus was born. But as for you, Bethlehem, Ephratah, too little to be among the clans of Judah. I don't know what you picture when you picture Bethlehem. I've seen postcards, Christmas cards depicted. You know what Bethlehem was? It was just a little tiny shepherding outpost. There was nothing there. There was nothing there. They had one inn, one inn, not like the Holiday Inn, just some shack somewhere and there was no room for it. If you couldn't get in there, what were you left with? You were left with a manger. Too little, too little, too little to be named among the clans of Judah, just a spot. It goes on to say, Micah 5, that from you, One will go forth to be the ruler of Israel. His going forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. That's amazing. God in the Old Testament promised a virgin born son. whose name would be Emmanuel, God with us, whose name would be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. His name would also be the Lord, Our Righteousness. He would come and be the glory of God. And he who comes is, according to Micah 5, eternal, without beginning of days, from the days of eternity. Did God promise? I'd say that's quite a promise. There are so many prophecies about Jesus. These prophecies that we've looked at specifically deal specifically with the deity of Jesus. We could look at prophecies about his Davidic line, we could look at prophecies about his death, his resurrection, but these prophecies are a line of prophecies in which God revealed that this coming Messiah, virgin born, would be God in flesh. Does the New Testament, did Jesus, did the apostles see Christ as the fulfillment of these promises? For instance, in John 14, just listen, and I'll turn you somewhere at the very end. John 14, verse eight and following, Philip says to Jesus, Lord, show us the Father and it is enough. To which Jesus says to him, have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father. How do you say, Philip, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? To which Philip scratched his head, what? Philippians 2.6 tells us that Jesus is the very nature of God. Colossians 1.15 tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 1.16 tells us that by Jesus, all things were created in heaven and earth, visible, invisible, thrones, dominions, rulers, authority, all things were created through him and for him. Titus 2.13, Paul speaks concerning the birth of Jesus as the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. John 5, 23, Jesus says that the Father has entrusted judgment to the Son so all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father. Anyone who worships God apart from the Son is not worshiping God at all. What about being eternal? What's so interesting? I could go on and on. Jesus constantly referred to being from outside of this world. John 8, 23, you are from below, he says to them, but I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. John 6, 62, what then, if you see the Son of Man ascending, to where was he before? If you see Jesus coming, i.e. at the second coming, where has he been all along? The right hand of the Father. Or John 17, five, where Jesus speaks of the glory with which he had with the Father before the world even existed. Or John 16, 28, where he says, I came forth from the Father and have come into this world. I am leaving this world again and going back to my Father. Jesus, by the way, claimed to control everything, to have authority over everything. That is only God's prerogatives. Jesus claimed to control the eternal destinies of people. Jesus claimed the exclusive right of God to be able to forgive sinners of sin. Jesus claimed authority over the Sabbath, Jesus claimed the ability to answer prayers, Jesus claimed to have the right to receive worship, on and on and on. Jesus called God's angels his angels, Matthew 13, 41. Jesus called God's elect his elect, Matthew 24, 30 and 31. Jesus called God's kingdom his kingdom, Matthew 13, 41. Did Jesus, did the apostles see Jesus as a fulfillment of all these Old Testament prophecies? One final place, look with me if you would at Romans chapter nine. Some of you may or may not be familiar with the name Gerhardus Vos, one of the great Dutch theologians, reformed theologians of our time. Gerhardus Vos said the strongest evidence for the deity of the sun in the scriptures, he said, is Romans chapter nine, verse five. Let me begin at verse 1. And before I start reading, let me tell you the background. Here is Paul, who is mourning the fact that his fellow Jews have rejected Jesus as their Messiah. Mourning. Verse one, Paul says, I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I wish that myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according to their flesh, who are Israelites. to whom belongs the adoption of sons, and the glory of the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple of services, and the promises, notice verse five, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ, that is according to the flesh, who is, that's Christ, overall, who is, that's Christ, blessed God forever, amen. from whom Israel, the Jews, is the Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all and God blessed forever, to which we all say what? Amen. You see Paul's heart, Paul's heart isn't just missing Messiah, Paul's heart is you are missing the God of Israel. the God that we have slain millions of animals to, dragged around the tabernacle, built the temple, the God we claim and pray. You have missed him. You have missed him. And I have sorrow that's inexpressible, unceasing grief. I wish myself accursed and separated from God. I'd give anything in the world if you would know Christ, who is over all. And according to the flesh, God blessed forever. And Paul's heart for Israel is my heart for every sinner, amen? If you would know Christ as God Almighty. Let's pray together. Our God and our Father, again, I feel so small, so inadequate, so incapable. of somehow expressing and attempting to drive home this unbelievable truth. How many Christmases have we celebrated in our lifetimes? How many gifts have we received and cards written and sent and so forth and so on, meals eaten and yet, beyond all of those things, Father, God Almighty, you became a child. and entered a sin-stricken world and was ignored, mistreated, abused, mocked, ridiculed, rejected, spit on, beaten, and crucified in order to redeem sinners like us. That's the message of Christmas. That is the real gift of Christmas. Father, your word tells us that there is only one mediator between God and man, between a holy God and sinful man. And that mediator, in order to be a mediator, must be representative of both holy God and man. In that incarnation, in that manger, came into the world, the God-man, the God-man, who perfectly mediated both sides, who stood in that unknowable chasm between holiness and sin, and being holy God, chose to take on flesh and bear the sins of humanity, our sins. Father, fill our hearts full of wonder, love, and praise this season. I pray even now, Lord, for the person who may be here just listening, visiting, If you have never come to know Christ as Savior, believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as the only hope of salvation offered by God, promised for as long as humanity has existed and has come, and accomplished redemption by dying. If you've never trusted in Him as your Savior, I'm a sinner, I can't save myself, I have no hope, I believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ as promised by God. I encourage you to do that, believe upon Jesus. And if you do that today, come and say something to me. I'd love to pray with you, talk to you. This is the gospel, the gospel of salvation, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious gospel. We encourage you to do that. Father, again, we commit ourselves to you And just pray, Lord, that our hearts, our lives, our minds will be filled with joy, unexpressable for what you have done in order to make us your own. And we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Please join me as we stand together for the benediction. My brothers and my sisters, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace, amen.