Amen. Well, as we are in the midst of the holiday season with Christmas just seven days away, boys and girls, we pick up where we left off last Lord's Day, reading from Romans chapter one, verses one through four, and we'll be concentrating on verse three. And perhaps when the resurrection day comes, we'll deal with verse four. But as it is today, we'll read verses one through four and deal with verse three. As the Apostle Paul began to write this wonderful letter addressed to the church in Rome, he, of course, in an economy of words, summarized the gospel, setting up the framework for the entire letter. Packed in the few short verses of this prologue are mountains of theological truth concerning salvation, each word. And each phrase bursts with this truth concerning that upon which our salvation stands. It is then impossible to overstate the implications of what is declared here. Either these words are true or there is no salvation. And either we believe these things or we are not saved. So as we read this text, I want you to consider your faith. Do you trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, as the scripture here teaches? Well, giving our utmost attention then to the word of God, let's now stand for the reading of Romans 1-4. We want to stand because we want to honor God for his word. Amen. Romans 1-4. This is the word of the Lord. Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning a son who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. Would you please bow with me in prayer? Our gracious Lord and God, we bow before you in worship for you are the only great and true God. You alone love us and you have loved us perfectly like no other. You gave your only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to be born in time and space, born of the Virgin, born as a babe of humanity, the unique incarnate God. We thank you, Lord Jesus, that you are God, truly God, the Christ of God, who came to earth in the flesh to live a life whereby, as the God-man, you fulfilled the law of God, and then, being the perfect Lamb of God, you laid down your life to save us from sin and death to peace with God the Father and life eternal. As we have opened to your word, we ask you by your Holy Spirit that you would make your truth known to us, revealing yourself to us, that we would believe upon you and know your saving grace. By the preaching of your word, may we accept the truth of who you are, believing in our hearts that God sent you to earth to die for us, to be raised from the dead, to save us from our sins. May we hear your word and believe, and be moved then to confess our sinfulness to you, and in that realize your forgiveness. And having come to believe upon you, may we now, from this day forward, follow after you. I pray, Lord, for every one here, whether they are the youngest or the oldest, all in between, children, youth, adults, that we would all listen to your word intently, that we would believe, and that we would live our life in obedience to you. Grant us this, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. God bless you. You may be seated. Well, as we consider this morning's text, we will follow this outline. First of all, God's son is the gospel. And then God's son was born of a descendant of David. And lastly, God's son was born according to the flesh. God's son is Jesus Christ, and the church said amen. If Jesus is to be our Savior and Lord, our personal Savior and Lord, whom we have a personal relationship with, then we must believe on him as the eternal God who was born in time and space of a descendant of David according to the flesh. God's son is the gospel. As the apostle opens this letter, he states that he was set apart for the gospel of God. Now we talked about that extensively last week. The gospel of God is God's good news or glad tidings whereby he determined and then brought to pass what was necessary to save us from sin to himself. As was said last Lord's Day, the gospel is God's good news, his gospel of redemption. It is the only true gospel. The only message of glad tidings that when believed actually saves the soul from sin and death to peace with God resulting in everlasting life. There is no other gospel like this. Some people might say this is good news, but this is the. Exclusive good news as Paul wrote that he was set apart for God's gospel He then defined this gospel is that which concerns God's Son? That's verse 3 aside from God's Son the Lord Jesus. There is no gospel There is no saving grace. There is no redemption from sin. No adoption into the family of God without Jesus There is no gospel Well, the gospel of God is good news that overcomes the bad news of sin and death. The good news only exists because of Jesus. Take Jesus out of the equation and we would only have bad news with no possible hope of any sort of glad tidings. All would be ruined in death with no expectation of redemption in life. Jesus is the good news of God. And thanks to God, Jesus cannot be taken out of the equation for he is the eternal son of God sent by God to save us, redeeming us to himself. The gospel of God then, along with the entirety of the Christian faith is unique in so much that it is founded upon the only begotten Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. No other faith or religious system depends upon a person as does Christianity. To explain, the late J. Anderson, who was a missionary to the Middle East and fluent in Arabic, wrote, in Confucianism and Buddhism, It is the teachings and principles of Confucius and Buddha, which represent the essence of the religions, rather than the teacher who first enunciated them, or the facts of his life and death. Even in Islam, the towering figure of Muhammad finds his paramount importance in the divine revelation, which it believes was given to mankind through him. A Muslim would point to the book and the traditions, rather than to Muhammad himself. In stark contrast, Christianity does not depend upon the words of Christ as if he were merely a wise man or prophet, but upon Christ himself. It is because of Christ that his words are significant. He is the eternal God. He is the one who came in the flesh. He is the one who was crucified and risen from the grave. So to be careful and clear, if Jesus is not who he says he is, if he is not the eternal son of God come in flesh, crucified on the cross, risen from the grave and seated at the right hand of the father, then his words are mere philosophy and non-saving. The gospel depends upon Jesus And that's why we say Jesus is the good news of God. Let me illustrate the point in another way. Concerning the law of Moses, the truth and efficacy of the law does not depend upon Moses, his birth, life, death, and resurrection. Though God used Moses to deliver the law, and we're very grateful for that, it is God's law. independent not upon the messenger, but upon God himself. God could have communicated his message through anyone he chose, for it is his law and dependent upon him. The law of Moses is not about Moses, but God, and therefore dependent upon God. We can say the same thing about the gospel that Paul preached and we read. While Paul was chosen of God, and we very much appreciate Paul, The truth of the revelation he communicated to us is not dependent upon him, his birth, his life, his death and resurrection. Paul's message is not about Paul, but about Jesus Christ. The truth and efficacy of Paul's gospel message is not dependent upon him. God could have chosen anyone to convey the message. The truth and efficacy of the gospel message then is dependent upon Christ Jesus, whom without there would be no message. In both cases, and in all cases, we do not need nor are we asked to believe upon Moses or Paul, as in trusting them to save us, forgiving us of their sin. Neither of them were come where God come in the flesh to die for us a substitutionary death. We are never instructed to believe upon them. We are instructed to believe upon the Savior of whom they write, the Lord Jesus. In the book, Basic Christianity, perhaps you've read it, John Stott wrote, The person and work of Christ are the rock upon which the Christian religion is built. If he is not who he said he was, and if he did not do what he said he had come to do, the foundation is undermined and the whole superstructure will collapse. Take Christ from Christianity and you disembowel it. There is practically nothing left. Christ is the center of Christianity, all else is circumference, expressing. the necessary and vital importance of Jesus, his person, and his work to the Christian faith, the Apostle Paul wrote, 1 Corinthians 15, 14, and 17, if Christ has not been raised and our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Without Christ, there is no Christian faith. We could preach all day long, but if he did not come as the God man, and he did not live a perfect life, and he did not die on the cross, and he did not raise from the dead, then what we're doing here is nonsense. But he did come, amen? Verse 17, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. So do you see then how Christ Jesus is necessary to our faith? Not just that he taught us a faith, but that our faith actually rests upon him. upon his eternal being, upon him being born God incarnate, upon the life he lived in the flesh and the death he died in the flesh and upon his resurrection and ascension as he sits at the right hand of the father. One cannot talk about the gospel of God without talking about his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the substance of the gospel, without him there is no gospel. So this then is why Jesus himself said, and I so often like to quote John 14, six and seven, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father but through me. Let me emphasize that. Jesus is saying, I am the, the exclusive way, the only way. I am the way and the truth and the life. I'm the only one through whom you can come to the father. You have to come to me in faith believing to get to the father. And he goes on to say, if you had known me, you would have known my father also. To know Jesus is to know the father. Jesus is the good news of God. And this is why the apostle Peter said in Acts 4.12, and there is salvation and no one else for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. You can go to Muhammad, he can't save you, he's dead. And he didn't raise from the dead. Same with all other religions, all other prophets. Jesus is the only one who came from heaven, being eternal, lived the perfect life, fulfilling the law, the requirements of God. dying on the cross as our substitutionary atonement, being raised from the dead, sitting at the right hand of the Father. He is the only one who can save. There is no other name anywhere by which we must be saved, and it is by his name alone that we must be saved. So Christianity is unique among all faiths and religions in so much that it fully depends and rests upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, his birth, his life, his death, and his resurrection. The son of God is the gospel of God. So to be sure, who is this son of God of whom God's gospel consists? Who is he? Note that the apostle spoke of Jesus in Romans one, that as he spoke of me said that he presents him as God's son who was born or made a descendant of David according to the flesh. Please note, note please that this does not say, does not say that the gospel of God concerns the descendant of David who was born God's son, doesn't say that. But it concerns his son, who was born a descendant of David. The manner in which this is written presents Jesus as preexisting his birth. He is the son who was born a descendant of David. He is the preexistent one who was before he was born. Now that's a concept to try to take in. He was before he was born. John 1, 1, unquestionably speaking of Jesus says, in the beginning was the Word, capital W, right? The Word, designating Jesus as the Word. Jesus is the communication of God. God communicates his gospel, his message through Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He, the Word, was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. Verse 11, John 1, 11. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. In contrast, as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name. In whose name? His name. His name is the only name under heaven by which we must be saved. Those who believe in his name are given the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. Being born of God. John chapter three, you must be born again. You must be born of the Holy Spirit. You must be born by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. You must be born of God. Jesus was in the beginning, as scripture declares, Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now in the creation account, the term Elohim, translated God, is plural. It speaks of the one supreme God who is triune of the one true God, who is God, the father, God, the son, and God, the Holy spirit, the Godhead being active in creation. This is why in Genesis one 26, God said, let us, let us Elohim, said, let us, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. And again, after the fall in Genesis 3.22, the Lord God said, the Lord God, Yehovah Elohim said, behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. God the Son was there working as one with God the Father and God the Spirit in creation. Jesus pre-existed his birth as a descendant of David. He already and eternally existed as a second person of the triune God before he was born of flesh, long before, ever before he was born of flesh. As he pre-existed, he is God, very God, eternally God, and always God. Jesus never stopped being God. This is why John the beloved can write of him saying in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. This is why it is said that all things came into being by him and apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being. This is why it is true that as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God, even those who believe in his name. Jesus then is the gospel of God because he is the second person of the triune God, himself being fully God, true God. As Isaiah 9, 6 says of him, for a child will be born to us, you know the verse, a son will be given to us and the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, eternal father, Prince of Peace, what I'm declaring to you is the deity of Jesus Christ. If Jesus is not divine God, truly God, then he cannot save us. Only God can fulfill his law, being without need of a savior and salvation. Only God then can make a way to redeem us who sin and fall short of His glory, us being in need of the Savior and His saving grace. Being truly God, eternal God, Jesus is perfectly holy as the Father and the Spirit. As God truly God, Jesus in his Godhood is omniscient as is the Father and the Spirit. As God truly eternal God, Jesus is love as the Father and the Spirit. All that is in and of God is in and of Jesus as Colossians 119 states, in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. As Isaiah 17 foretold in Matthew 1.23 confirms, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. Not a pretend God with us, but God himself with us. Jesus is God with us. He is not God represented to us, but God himself with us. He is not God typified, but he is true God, eternal God himself with us. He is not a shadow of God, but himself eternal God with us. Romans 9.5 speaks of Jesus Christ being born according to the flesh, identifying him as God blessed forever. So there in that one verse, he identifies Jesus being born in the flesh and says he is God blessed forever. When was Jesus God? Always was, always is, always will be, forever. Titus 2.11 speaks of Jesus saying that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. And in verse 13, Christ Jesus is identified as our great God and Savior. Listen, if Jesus wasn't God, then the scripture is blasphemy for identifying him as God. As a matter of fact, It is because Jesus said, I am the father of one, that they thought he committed blasphemy, and one of the reasons why they wanted to take him to the cross, besides the fact that they were just jealous of him. Jesus, the divine son of God, is true eternal God, and he himself is the gospel of God. God, the Father's eternal son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the essential element of the gospel. He is the word of the gospel, and without him being God, true God, there would be no gospel. Salvation is in His name. This means that in Him, in His being, in His being who He is, in all that He was and did, in all that He is and does, we find salvation in Him. To believe in the name of Jesus is to believe that He is all that the Bible says of Him, that He is God, true God, eternal God, divine, blessed God forever and ever. As the scripture plainly presents, Jesus being divine was not enough for our salvation. Our salvation must be purchased by the means which God determines, and beloved, our sin debt was not and could not be paid until the divine Jesus was born of flesh and died a true death. As the old song says, he paid a debt he did not owe. I owed a debt I could not pay. I needed someone to wash my sins away. And the church said, amen. Sinful mankind needed the Savior, not just a Savior, but the Savior. And according to the eternal plan of God, as God promised beforehand through His holy prophets and holy scriptures, our Savior would be born a descendant of David. So number two, God's son was born a descendant of David. In 2 Samuel 7, the prophet Nathan spoke to David, spoke the word of the Lord to David saying this in 2 Samuel 7, 11 through 13. The Lord also declares to you, So Nathan is speaking to David, King David. The Lord also declares to you, David, that the Lord will make a house for you. The double emphasis on the title Lord in that verse assures us of the certainty of what is being said. The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you. When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you who will come forth from you and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Now we understand that this prophecy, as many prophecies are, that there are near and far implications and near and far fulfillments. We understand that. The near fulfillment was in Solomon. Which is why verse 14 says, I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me when he commits iniquity. Well, he can't be talking about Jesus, can he? So he's talking about Solomon. When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men. But my loving kindness shall not depart from him as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. So the Lord is saying to David, In your loins, from your seed, there's going to come a son, this Solomon. Solomon's gonna build a temple for me, but he's gonna sin. I'm gonna correct him, but I'm not going to take my hand off of him. Your line will continue on. And he says, I'm not gonna do with him, I'm not gonna depart from him as I took it away from Saul, as I departed from Saul. And we recall that the end of Saul, this Saul's line came to an end. In Israel, they don't wanna be related to Saul. They want to be related to David. So God promises that David's house and kingdom would be established forever. That is, there will be a greater son than Solomon, born of the descendants of David. While Solomon built a house for the Lord, verse 13, that's 2 Samuel 7, God promised to build a house for David, verse 11. And in verses 12 and 13, God promised to establish the Davidic kingdom forever. Though God removed his loving kindness from Saul, and his line came to an end, God promised David that his line would endure forever, far beyond Solomon through all eternity. Because God is a covenant God, and he is a God of his word, it was necessary then, according to his word and his plan, that as he promised the Savior, the Christ, to be born of the descendant of David, so must it be. In the 89th Psalm, the Lord spoke saying, verse three, I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn to David, my servant. I will establish your seed forever and build up your throne to all generations. Verse 27 of the 89th Psalm. I also shall make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of heaven, of the earth. My loving kindness will keep him forever. and my covenant shall be confirmed to him, so I will establish his descendants forever and his throne as the days of heaven, as the days of heaven forever. Isaiah 7, 13 and 14, then he said, listen now, O house of David, 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. Isaiah 9, 6, and 7. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. One more. Maybe, maybe two more. I'll see when I turn the page. Jeremiah 23, five and six. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall raise up for David a righteous branch and he will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. And this is his name by which he will be called the Lord, our righteous one. Paul establishes that as scripture foretold, Jesus was to be born a descendant of David, and Paul says he was. That's just what happened. Now, I wanna stop for a moment and talk about that word translated born in that verse. Jesus would be born a descendant of David. In Romans chapter one, verse three, that word translated born can rightly be translated made or become, and that might help us a little bit. made or become. Romans 1.3 can rightly be translated as concerning a son who was made of a seed of David, according to the flesh, or who became a descendant of David. At that point, the eternal God became something he previously was not. Though he was eternally pre-existent, he came to exist in time and space as the God Man, which he previously was not. It was at that time that the second member, the eternal second member of the Godhead was made or became flesh. To emphasize the point, the word translated born in our text is translated became in John 1.14. Listen to this, reading John 1.1 and 14. In the beginning was the word, you've heard this already, and the word was with God, and the word was God, verse 14, and the word became, or was made, or was born flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Again, to try to emphasize the point so we can see it, Philippians 2.7, the word translated born in our text is there translated made. Listen to this, Philippians 2, five through seven. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, what is that talking about, his preexistence? He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. Jesus, who in eternity past was not a descendant of anyone, was made or became a descendant of David. It was at the right time. according to God's eternal plan that the second person of the Godhead became what he previously was not, being made a human descendant of David. He who preexisted David, who created all and gave David life, took on flesh, and in that regard was born a human being of flesh and blood. It was then in time and space that the second person became God's son. just as it was determined before the foundation of the world that Christ would be slain, and then he was slain in time and space, so it was determined even before the foundation of the world that the eternal second member of the triune God would be born a descendant of David, and so it came to pass in time and space. He was in all eternity, but there was a change, not a change of mind, no, this was the eternal plan of God, but a fulfillment of the eternal plan as he took on a different form. He existed in the form of God. He didn't regard equality with God, the father thing to progress. So he emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant being made in the likeness of men. This Jesus then at that time conceived by the Holy Spirit born the unique God-man, no other like him. In that sense, God the Father is not like him, and God the Holy Spirit is not like him. Jesus alone became the God-man, thus Jesus is the only begotten of God. He's the only begotten of God, at once God and man, truly God and truly man in one person. William Hendrickson wrote, now what is this son who without laying aside his divine nature assumed the human nature? Though he was rich yet for our sake he became poor in order that through his poverty we might become rich. Throughout his earthly sojourn he was indeed a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Exactly how this was possible for the completely intact and glorious divine nature of the Savior to dwell in intimate union with his human nature, the latter burdened with a load of guilt and all the unspeakable agonies of this condition implied, this surpasses human comprehension. Amen. When you study that in the books of theology, you're studying the hypostatic union. And I won't talk about that anymore. Who can explain it? Who can comprehend it? We can only declare it. The eternal one of God entered time and space fulfilling the prophecies of old in the new being made a descendant of David. And he was born in Bethlehem, the city of David. Isn't that fascinating? I think it's fascinating. Not only was Jesus born a descendant of David, but at the time of his birth, a census was being taken, the first of its kind, being taken where each Jew had to register at the place of their ancestry. To add the miraculous oomph, you can look that up in the Greek dictionary, the oomph, to add the miraculous oomph to the fact that Jesus was born a descendant of David, it was by order of the Roman, the godless Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, that Joseph, as a descendant of King David, was forced, compelled to go to Bethlehem, the city of David, to register. As only God would ordain and could orchestrate, Jesus was then born a descendant of David in the city of David. Great is the Lord our God, amen? God's eternal son was made a descendant of David, and now God's son was born according to the flesh. Galatians chapter four, verses four and five. But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son, born, made of a woman, born under the law, in order that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. God, the son, the eternal second person of the Godhead, by whom creation was created, by whom we have life, was born, he became He came in the flesh, he became flesh, born of a woman, born under the law. Why was he born under the law? So he could redeem us who were born under the law. You see, if Jesus didn't leave the splendor of heaven, if he didn't become the God man, if he wasn't made a descendant of David, then he would not be able to redeem us because we're under the law and he wouldn't be. He was made all things as we, yet without sin. Jesus was born. He entered the human race. Jesus, the eternal son, had to be made a man so he could suffer and die in the place of men. and not just suffer, but suffer in all ways as we, again, without sin, and die the death of the cross, which was as real and tormenting, if not more so, a death as we would die if we went to the cross we deserve. The eternal God who could not die was made flesh so he could die, giving his life for us. God is spirit. God became flesh. God cannot die, amen. So God becomes flesh so he can die. As Hebrews 10, four explains, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That's why in the Old Testament system, they're slaying bulls and goats and bulls and goats are sacrificing left and right. It's a nasty bloody mess. By the hundreds of thousands of animals, they're slaying them. Why over and over and over, year after year after year after year by the millions, why? Because a bull and a goat can't pay for my sin. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when he comes into the world, he says, sacrifice and offerings thou has not desired. God isn't wanting from Jesus the sacrifice of bulls and goats. And he says, but a body, thou hast prepared for me. That's what God wants. That's what will appease his wrath. The substitutionary atonement for mankind. A body thou hast prepared for me. And verse seven says, to do thy will, O God. A body God prepared for Jesus so that Jesus could carry out the will of God. If we are to be saved from our sin, then the eternal God, must be made of the flesh of man to pay the price men owe. Thus Philippians 2.8 says, and being found in the appearance of as a man, he, Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So we see and we understand that God had to become a true man so he could live and fulfill the law to perfection and then suffer and die in our place. Eternity past, look forward to this event and all eternity since looks upon it. God's son was born according to the flesh so as to suffer the sin debt owed by sinful mankind. When Jesus was born, he was born of a virgin. Why? So that the curse of sin was not upon him. So he had no sin nature. This is why when the angelic announcement came to Mary and she asked Luke 1 34, how can this be since I'm a virgin? How is it that I'm going to have a baby since I'm a virgin? The angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. And for that reason, the Holy offspring, the Holy offspring, the set apart offspring shall be called the son of God. This is why Matthew in his genealogy so carefully states in chapter one, verse 16, that to Jacob was born Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ. Now all through that genealogy, as Matthew records, and by the way, Luke also in the third chapter, through the genealogy, we read as one, this one begat that one, and that one begat this one, and this one begat that one, all the way through until we come to verse 16. When it comes to Joseph, to Jacob was born or begat Joseph, but when it comes to Joseph, there's no begat, but only that he was the husband of Mary by whom was born Jesus. So we see that Jesus is in the line of David, the royal line, but he is conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the woman, to be truly perfect, without a sin nature, and yet truly able to suffer and die. It was absolutely necessary for Jesus to be made a man of flesh, for the God-ordained penalty of sin is death. You know, Romans chapter six, verse 23, for the wages of sin is death. And Hebrews 9, 22, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Jesus being made according to the flesh, he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness for by his wounds you are healed. By his wounds on the cross, by him giving up his life on the cross, you are healed from your sin. Second Corinthians 521, he, God the Father made him, Jesus, the second person of the Godhead, who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him. The holy, preexistent God became sinless flesh, the perfect spotless lamb of God, who could and would then sacrificially lay down his life for us, actually really dying in our place. This must be believed. The holy eternal second person of the triune God became in flesh and he died in the flesh that he rose again. This is a doctrinal truth that is absolutely necessary to saving faith. If you do not believe that Jesus is divine, and you do not believe he became a man of flesh, who died in the flesh, who died a man, then you do not believe in the one who saves. These things are essential to saving faith. 1 John 4, two and three. By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh is from God. Every spirit that says that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from where? From God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, John the Beloved writes. It is essential to salvation that we believe that the holy, eternal, second person of the Godhead was made flesh. Shortly after the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, false teachers entered in claiming Jesus did not come in the flesh. And of course, this is what's gonna happen, right? Redemption comes and Satan's gonna try to throw a wrench in it and get somebody to believe something that's not true so that they lose that which is true, that which is saving. So they're entered in false teachers who claim that Jesus actually did not come in the flesh and that heresy is known as docetism, docetism. Now, Kevin and I talked about this as last week and he helped me out by sending me a little short, clear and concise article explaining the heresy. Quote, docetism was an early heresy that promoted a false view of Jesus' humanity. The word docetism comes from the Greek word which means to seem. According to docetism, Jesus Christ only seemed to have a human body like ours. Docetism allowed that Jesus may have been in some way divine, but it denied his full humanity. Hardcore docetist taught that Jesus was only a phantasm or an illusion, a ghost. appearing to be human, but having no body at all. Other forms of docetism taught that Jesus had a heavenly body of some type, but not a real natural body of flesh. We understand then that this heresy was ruinous as it held that Jesus only seemed to be made a descendant of David. and only appeared to be born according to the flesh, and only seemed to suffer in his body, and only appeared to be nailed to the cross, and only seemed to die a true human death. It is in denouncing docetism that John the Beloved opens that first letter, 1 John 1, verse one, saying this, what was from the beginning we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have beheld in our hands handled, He's saying we touched Jesus and our hand didn't go through Him. He's not a ghost. He's not an illusion. We beheld Him and our hands handled Him concerning the Word of Life. Jesus. John declares that Jesus was no illusion, but had a real human body that could be touched and handled. And then in the seventh verse of 1 John 1, in the seventh verse, he states that it is the blood of Jesus, the real human blood shed from his real human body that cleanses us from all sin. It is only because the eternal God became real flesh and really died on the cross, shedding his real human blood that if we will confess our sins, then He is faithful and just. He is able. He has paid the price to forgive us our sins, cleansing us from all unrighteousness. As John the Beloved stated in chapter four, verses two and three, that the eternal God became flesh, that that fact must be believed, then church, we must believe it to be saved. There is no salvation aside from the truth of Jesus. He is the eternal preexistence son of God, born according to human flesh, becoming the incarnate God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. I want to ask you today then, do you believe? Have you believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, For salvation is in his name only. Why? Because he is the God-man. He is the one and only way to the Father. So lastly, as this Christmas season is upon us, let it be known here and now that God's son is the gospel. He was made a descendant of David, born according to real humanity, given a body of flesh so he might die for us. I'm at times emotional and I know you don't think so because I try to act tough in front of you. But on the way over here I was listening to the song Away in the Manger and it brought tears to my eyes. That little babe in the manger, the little innocent babe of the manger, born of the virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit, was made God in flesh, born like all people, going through childhood, going through his teen years, living the perfect life, fulfilling the law of God to perfection, so he could die. Though Christmas seasons come and go, and they do come and go, 66 of them for me, May the truth of Jesus the Christ ring fresh in your heart. It is an old story and thank God for that, it does not change. I love to hear the story which angels voices tell, how once the king of glory came down on earth to dwell. You'll recall with me the precious words of the lyrics of that great Christmas hymns written by Charles Wesley. These songs we sing, listen to the theology presented in them. Hark, the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies, with the angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem. Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold he come, offspring of a virgin's womb, veiled in flesh the Godhead see, held incarnate deity, pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. Hail the heavenly prince of peace. Hail the son of righteousness. Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings. Mild he lays his glory by. Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth. Believe upon Jesus, for as the scripture teaches, he is the eternal divine one who became flesh who in the flesh suffered and died for us. Believe upon the one who came as a babe in the manger, for veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity. He was born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. You must be born again. Believe in the Jesus of the scripture. Would you bow your heads with me, please? We thank you, our heavenly father, that you have so loved us. that you gave your son for us. And we thank you, Lord Jesus, that you so loved us that you left the splendor of heaven and became, was made, a descendant of David. You who descended from no one subjected yourself for the purpose of glorifying the Father through the saving of the people like us. How you have loved us and how perfect and full your love is. Jesus, we declare today what your word says. Jesus, at once you are the eternal second person of the Godhead, God, the very God, true God, and yet you were made In the flesh. You took on flesh. So that you could save the people like us. We give you praise. We give you glory. We give you honor. And Lord, it is my sincere prayer today for these people here in our family and those who couldn't make it today. That during this season and Lord for all the seasons of our life. That we will trust in you. As the eternal God. and the Savior of our soul. Grant these things I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. We're going to sing another song. Please stand to your feet. And this one is Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.