The Mystery Of The Baby Part 1

Reese Flores looking to Jesus phone number for the apostle Paul wrote a deep mystery. Great is the mystery of godliness.

God was manifest in the flesh at Christmas, we remember a night like no other night Jesus was born on planet Earth today. Part one of the story from the Moody Church in Chicago this with Dr. lutes or was clear. Teaching helps us make it across the finish line 3rd today.

You begin a Christmas series on the mystery of Bethlehem probing the wonder of the coming of Jesus into the world.

Give us a preview day for years. For centuries, actually theologians have tried to probe this mystery and the mystery is the fact that Jesus had a divine nature and human nature. All fused together, but we can say with confidence, he was God in the flesh. That's why a ministry that emphasizes the birth of Jesus and the death of Jesus is so critical because it is a mystery but thank God, it is also our redemption I'm holding in my hands a book entitled the Bible code finding Jesus and every book of the Bible is a wonderful book for you to begin the new year and you'll be able to understand how Jesus is the centrality of Scripture for a gift of any amount. It can be yours. Here is what you do go to RTW offer.com and by the way we want to thank the many of you who support this ministry and during this Christmas season. We thank you for your generosity in helping us get the gospel of Jesus Christ to so many go to RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 and now let us contemplate the mystery words are very familiar. We know them all.

Don't way and she brought forth her firstborn son and laid him in a manger wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in the manger, because there was no room for them in the not Christmas we sing songs like what child is this what we sing. Who is he in yonder stall at his feet. The shepherds all in the amazing thing is that the answer that you give to that question determines your eternal destiny.

There is no question on planet Earth that is more important than that one who is this child. Well, we know that there are different answers to that question. The answer of popular culture is that this child is a baby at best a teacher but he's harmless is one that puts his arms around everybody and tells us that we should simply love everybody. But he's not the kind of Jesus who would interrupt your lifestyle is not the Jesus who might offend you know he's not the Jesus who might point out your sin. He's not bad Jesus is the Jesus of popular imagination and as long as he stays as a baby.

Nobody fears him.

In fact, there are all kinds of warm feelings that we have about this Jesus is a wonderful universal man and he applies himself to everyone and all that we need to do is to take him like a book.

At Christmas we bring him down at Christmas and then we put him back on the shelf and that's it for another year. That's the answer. Popular culture and then there's also the answer of Islam. Islam says that Jesus was a prophet, a very revered prophet.

Islam mentions Jesus 93 times in the Quran, Jesus is referred to but it also teaches that Jesus didn't die on a cross sura four, 157 and following says that they thought that they were crucifying Jesus, but they were wrong. They didn't fire him as a matter fact, Islam says that they revered Jesus more than we do, because God love him so much he never allowed him to die, and a matter how we might understand that the fact is that this sincerely and greatly misunderstands who Jesus is and why he came and why the cross is the best expression of God's love. Then there's also the answer of the merchants who is Jesus for the merchants.

Jesus is a commodity to be advertised and he's one who can be sold. Yesterday I was riding in the car and on the radio. It said that this year 1/2% or more has been spent up until this time. Christmas than last year really all that matters is the bottom line Christmas on the news is not about the birth of Jesus Christmas on the news is what the retailers think and how much are we going to spend on our cell at Christmas time will that's the answer is that we have floating around in our culture. But what is the biblical answer. The biblical answer is that Jesus was God, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful Counselor, mighty God, Jesus is God and the apostle Paul says great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.

Almost every Christmas I tell you about our oldest daughter when she was about seven years old and she asked me this question. She said who is taking care of the world when God is a baby.

It's an excellent question is the only the kind of question that a child would ask who is taking care of the world when God was a baby going to be answering that question.

In a few moments, but I'd like to spend a few moments today giving you a rationale for the fact that Jesus of necessity must be on if we are to be redeemed from our sins and the Bible says that he came to redeem his people from their sins. If we are to be redeemed from our sins. Why does God have to do it.

Can somebody else can some other creation, do it.

Why God couple of reasons.

First of all because of the extent of our predicament because of the extent of our problem with sin.

You see, Horus was a playwright and he commented on the various plays that were used in Rome in the theater of his day and he said that the writers sometimes brought God onto a stage.

You see, what happened is as the plot developed, it became so complicated that no human being could resolve it.

So what the playwrights would do is they would bring God onto the stage and a God would do a miracle and then the plot would be resolved.

Horus said that they were bringing God onto the stage too soon. He says God should not be brought onto the stage on till the plot is so incredibly difficult until there is absolutely no way out and only then should God be brought on stage. My dear friend, today our situation.

Our predicament was so difficult that only God could unravel it to see if you are sick, you need a doctor if you are drowning. You need a lifeguard but if you are dead.

You need a God to resurrect you and the Bible says that we were dead in our trespasses and in our sin and as a result of that we need God to deliver us and not only do we need God to deliver us, but at this moment.

I also need to drink because of the frailty of the human body. My throat was saying, I need water and it could say the same thing again and so we need to keep in mind folks that we needed God to resolve our problem. Only God could come and you see the problem is that if sin were only eating chocolate. We might be able to redeem ourselves we might be able to better ourselves. But the Bible talks about is not only being dead in trespasses and sins, but not knowing that we are dead in trespasses. Like Luther says, the natural man is blind and deaf and dead, but he perceives himself to be able to see and to be able to year and he sees himself as being alive because physically we are, but we are separated from God and only God and enter into our world to redeem us. There's another reason and the other reason is because of the fact that God's holiness demanded his justice see in Islam a lot of forgiveness and there's no sacrifice for sin, he just chooses to forgive but let me ask you a question the other day I read an account where somebody was so angry at somebody else that they took a car and rammed it in a parking lot to hurt the other person to try to kill them now.

Should we just simply say, well, you know he's asking forgiveness and so we just granted know there's something in us that says this person must pay justice must be satisfied. Now you multiply that and you magnified in the case of God and what you discover is that God God must be satisfied, justice must be a PI sacrifice for sin must be given. Somebody needs to pay. The question is who put an angel have paid no one angel could not of paid and let me explain to you because the person who pays has to become one with the people whom he is redeeming and angels are not human being so very immediately disqualified.

What about a perfect human being could God have created a perfect human being and said you died on the cross. You make a sacrifice for humanity because I created you perfect the answer is no. Even if that human being could redeem one person, one human being in the place of another human being, even if that were possible. You couldn't have one human being there for sin of millions and billions of human beings now. God had to do it. God says I'm going to become one, like those so I'm going to redeem I'm going to become a man to redeem humanity and all that perfect person will be laid in the iniquity of the world, your awful sin and your inability to even realize your sin will be laid on him the iniquity of us all, and in six hours time.

He is going to endure the suffering of an eternity of L so that you and I could go free and that's the gospel and thank you, whoever you are over here saying thank you I appreciate that because all of us should say thank you father for that gift Jesus Christ and so you see, God was in flesh perfect humanity perfect deity to do what no human being. And of course if God delegated it to some created creature we get that created creature honor and glory and God would receive the honor and the glory, but God receives it because the Bible teaches so clearly that God is a redeeming God Jehovah is salvation. He doesn't.

Now the question is how did the two natures really together some time ago I was in a panel discussion, a Muslim asked me this question in a panel discussion. An excellent question.

That's why we need more dialogue. We need more discussion with those who disagree with us because sometimes there is standings and this Muslim said to me he said you believe that Jesus Christ is God.

I said yes to believe that Jesus died on the cross.

Yes, if that's the case, then you are saying that God died, how can God die will the answer that question is, of course, God didn't die is God's unthinkable to see Jesus died in his perfect humanity. His body died but God didn't die and that actually is the answer to my daughter's question who is taking care of the world when God was a baby when you held that baby in your hand and there was a part of the baby much more to him than you could've possibly seen with the human eye because God was doing what God does upholding the universe in governing the world's and he continued to do that. He continued to do that.

All throughout the redemptive process. God cannot die� But Jesus is a man died, humanity died in on him was laid the iniquity of us all. Now that background, I want us to see just briefly what Jesus has to say about himself in the book of Revelation chapter 22. What does Jesus have to say about himself and let's spend a moment. Contrasting this with the fact that Jesus also was a baby. Let's notice this. First of all, you'll notice that Jesus is speaking there in verse 12 behold I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay everyone for what he has done and then he says verse 13, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

That's what Jesus said of himself, you could say in terms of figures of speech that this is an alpha radical figure of speech. I am Alpha that is the beginning I am Omega that is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. We would say I am a and IMC notice he says the first and the last, the beginning and the end Jesus is affirming here is deity as it says in the Old Testament, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God thou art God and Jesus here is emphasizing his eternal analogy. The fact that he is the Lord. The fact that he is God.

Now the Encyclopaedia Britannica is you know has 30 volumes. I think on science and history of philosophy in all of the knowledge of humanity and Jesus of course being the Alpha and the Omega is the a to Z the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and that it has all of this knowledge and it's all communicated in 26 letters Jesus contains within himself all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The Bible and in him is all things while who is Jesus well I can tell you this about Jesus. He's the creator of the stable, in which he was born. All of the elements that went into the building about stable, whether wood or stone he created them. He is the owner of the Inn that rejected him.

He owns the place because he owns everything.

He is the one who is going to be judge and he is the one who is going to rule and so you have Jesus Christ here is the beginning and the end he was here at creation because he was the one who did the creating. He was here at his birth veiled in flesh the Godhead to see you couldn't see everything that belonged to him but nonetheless he was here, always doing his thing. Ruling the world by the word of his power.

Doesn't that take your breath away. The fact that Jesus was still ruling the world by the breath of his power and his word. You know I'm holding in my hand a book entitled the Bible code and this is the last week. We are making it available to you.

The Bible code shows how Jesus is really the central teaching of every book of the Bible.

It's very readable. Each of these sections is about two or three pages. It will help you to understand that actually the Bible is one storyline and of course the story line is Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament as well as the new and I want to thank the many of you who support the ministry of running to win because of you. We are in 20 different countries in three different languages for a gift of any amount. This special offer can be yours.

Ask for the Bible code, you can go to RT W offer.com. Let me give that to you again. RTW offer and of course as you might guess, RTW offer is all one word RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 I'm going to be giving you that phone number again. Hope you have an opportunity to write it down and call us 1-888-218-9337 ask for the Bible code and thank you so much for enabling us to get this ministry around the world. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Luther a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Where do the souls of people go when they die. A listener named Nola is trying to find out she's exploring her Bible to do so. She writes in Ephesians chapter 4 verses eight through 10 it speaks of Jesus descending to the lower, earthly regions, I've heard that he went to Paradise to take the saints that had died back to heaven with him. Is this the way you interpret these verses and if not where are the souls who died before Christ rose from the dead will know that I want to commend you for asking a question about one of the most difficult passages of Scripture in all the New Testament, it is not easy to interpret. But I am going to help you through this and I think it'll take only a moment you're referring to the fourth chapter the book of Ephesians verse eight where it says therefore it says when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives. Nine then read the next verse that you asked about in a moment, but let's just stop there.

The imagery is taken from Psalm 68 and the imagery there is that when a king won a victory. Take David for example, he would not only vanquish the enemy, but sometimes his own. The soldiers would be caught in the conflict and now he would free them so they would rejoice in his victory and he would lead them in victory, having been taken from the entanglements of the enemy. So the imagery is here we are.

We are really slaves of Satan. We are under his domain. Jesus comes and he redeems us and he saves us out from under the hand of the enemy and we participate in his victory when he ascended on high, he let a host of captives and I think that that's a reference to us. He took us, he redeemed us and we are his. Now I'm going to get to the question that you asked in just a moment. But notice it says in the next verse he ascended, what does it mean to but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth, so many Bible teachers teach that Jesus, when he ascended not only took us figuratively speaking to heaven having one of victory, but he actually went into the lower part of the earth, namely Hades and took those spirits with him to heaven at the bottom line is this, many Bible scholars think that it is reading too much into the passage to see that when it says he descended into the lower parts, namely the earth. It may simply be the grave, but the bottom line is this, I do believe that those who were in Hades in the righteous side of Hades and you can go to Luke chapter 16 to see a picture of this in the story that Jesus told I do believe that they are in paradise. Today they are in heaven, there does not seem to be any evidence in the New Testament that there is now a golf and that they can see one another across this golf, and whether or not it was in the ascension of Jesus or exactly when it was that he led them into heaven, I do not know. Maybe this passage of Scripture teaches that maybe it doesn't. Scholars are divided on it.

But what I think all of us can agree on is this that the people who died in Old Testament times, they are now also in paradise with Christ taken with him into heaven, rejoicing in his victory and waiting for the resurrection to take place when they will get their permanent bodies. Thank you Nola for asking. I hope that this clarifies a very difficult text but also encourage you to look at a commentary.

Find out what others upset about it and whatever you do. Keep studying God's holy word. Thank you Nola and thank you Dr. lutes are if you'd like to hear your question answered. Go to our website@rtwoffer.com and click on ask Pastor Luther or call us with your question at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago line 60614 running to win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Jesus is indeed more than just another baby. Next time more about the one who said I was behold I am alive forever and ever to win is sponsored by the Moody Church