The Church of Eleven22 - What Child is This? - Christmas Eve 2024 - When He Asks - Wk 6

Episode Date: December 22, 2024

This Christmas Eve, we ask the question posed by the beloved carol: "What Child is This?" This child, born in a manger, lived a perfect life, fulfilled every prophecy, and offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. The question of His identity is the most important one we’ll ever answer: Who do you say that He is? - The Church of Eleven22® is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To find out more about how God is moving at Eleven22, go to CoE22.com

Amen and amen. Merry Christmas, church. How we doing this morning? You look good. You look a little better than normal. So, well done. Hey, if you got your Bible and I hope you do, we're going to be in two different places. We're going to be in Luke 2 like Dr. Paul just read. We're also going to be in Matthew chapter 16. And hey, Merry Christmas, man, three sleeps and it all goes down, right? So I hope you're pumped. I'm pumped. I'm pumped. We're going to get focused really on this series that we have been a part of. If you're a guest with us, welcome. I'm pumped that you're here. I'm so glad you're here. I hope you'll come back next week. We do this every single week.

And I would just say if you don't normally go to church except like on Christmas, be careful, because I didn't grow up in church either, either. Only went on Christmas and Easter and look at me now. So he could get on you. Be careful. We've been in this series called When He Asked, that in the Bible, Jesus asked us over 300 questions, like 370 questions. But he only answers about one out of 100. He only answers about three of those questions.

And we're going to deal with two questions today in this series. and one comes from an old hymn, and then Jesus does a follow-up question where he basically asked the same question that the hymn writer is asking. And the question that we're going to get from the old Christmas carol is, what child is this? And so for those of you that if you're watching online and you skip to the sermon and you missed the whole video or some of you just got here, welcome, I know you were trying to get here on time. That's all right. Merry Christmas.

What we covered in that video was the story behind this Christmas Carol. There was this guy in 1865 named William Chatterton Dix, and he became seriously ill, got very, very sick, and he thought he was going to die, and then he went into what we would call a depression. And in that dark time of his life, he ran to the Lord, he ran to the scriptures, not away from him. And a part of the reason I bring that up is because oftentimes Christmas time can be a dark time. Right? And I think oftentimes the holidays, what it does is it magnifies any of the pain or the problems that are going on in your life. And I know that some of you, some of you are walking through some really tough times, maybe just like our boy Willie here that wrote the Christmas Carol. For some of you, you've had the loss of a loved one, and this is the first Christmas without. Or maybe some of you have some serious financial stress.

Or maybe she left, and now you're trying to figure out how to do family this Christmas. and it doesn't look like what you think it ought to look like. And every time you turn on a commercial and you see a Publix commercial, man, God bless Publix, thanks for letting us park there all the time. If you ever notice every family in Publix commercials always looks perfect, but your family, might not look perfect?

Well, I've got some good news for you. If your Christmas is a mess, then you've got a much more biblical Christmas than the Publix commercial. You see, we don't get to different, determine what happens to us, but we get to choose how we respond. Amen? And so, I mean, I can tell you some of my, some of my greatest memories as a kid are Christmas. They are. I mean, I remember when I was in the sixth grade, I got a motorcycle, my very first motorcycle for Christmas. I crunk it up in

my grandma's house, filled up the whole place with smoke at 4.30 in the morning. She came out like a zombie going, ah, and I was like, hang again, can't hear you. It was awesome. Last year, Gretchen got me a motorcycle for Christmas. I felt like I was in the same. sixth grade again. It's the same. Some of my greatest memories around Christmas and some of my most painful memories are around Christmas. I mean, one of the hardest things at Christmas time is when it's not going good, but everybody doesn't know it's not going good yet, and you're still trying to put on a face and act like it's going okay? You know what I'm talking about? I mean, some of y'all did it this morning. Don't lie. You try to get ready, and you tried to get here on time, and you were late,

and you got in the minivan and you're screaming and yelling, and you threw your kids into child care, and you're hoping you don't have to get them until Tuesday. And then you're trying to find a place to get a seat, and somebody's like, Merry Christmas, how are you doing? And you put on that fake church face. We're just blessed and highly favored, right? Yeah, I can remember, man, one of the worst times of my life, ninth grade,

my parents were getting, they just split up, but they weren't divorced yet. And you couldn't do that in the 80s. It wasn't allowed yet, not in South Carolina. and nobody knew. They split up in September, and they hadn't told anybody, and Christmas got there, and they hadn't told my grandma yet, and Santa Claus thought we lived at Grandma's house,

so if we wanted presents, we had to go do Christmas there, so that's where we always went. And I can remember, we all piled into the car, and we acted like everything was okay, and it wasn't okay. That's a lot like the first Christmas. Mary and Joseph, first of all, Mary did not plan to be pregnant without having sex with Joseph, to be, to conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit. They did not expect to have to travel from where they live all the way over to Bethlehem.

They didn't expect to not be able to find a room in the end. It was a mess. It was an actual mess. In this guy, William Chatterson Dick's life, his life is a mess. And in the mess, he asked this question that maybe you asked during Christmas time. what in the world is this baby in a manger have to do with anything that I'm actually going through in my life? What child is this? What does he have to do with me and my financial problem, my relational problem, or the fact that my kid won't talk to me anymore, or the sickness that I'm going through?

What child is this? And so he very famously pins this hymn and asks this question, what child is this? That's what we're here to talk about. And I'll tell you what child this is. this child has been prophesied about in the Old Testament from all the way back in the very beginning. This is the child that after God creates everything that is, and Adam and Eve are in perfect right relationship with God, but then they reject God and they do what they want when they want

with who they want, and they rebel against the almighty God, and God chases them down and says, what have you done? And because God is holy and because God is just, he judges their sin. but before he cast him out of the garden, he gives this announcement. It's called the Proto Evanglion. I mean, he's the first gospel. And God Almighty looks at Eve, and he says this, and I will put enmity between your offspring of this enemy,

this serpent, this Satan, this snake, this deceitful one. And one day this single Jewish man is going to show up on the scene, and this enemy is going to try to take him out. And in so doing, he's going to bruise him. his heel and he's going to get his head crushed. That's the child that we're talking about here. This is the child that was foreshadowed on every single page of the Bible. This is the child that when Abraham takes his son Isaac up to the mountain to sacrifice him, it's foreshadowing this child. This is the child that foreshadows when Moses goes before his people and says,

tonight we're going to shed the blood of a spotless lamb and put it on the doorpost of the house and the angel of death is going to pass over everyone who has the blood of the lamb on the doorpost. This is the child that is going to fulfill that. This is the child that the book of Leviticus is talking about, which I'm sure you all got up and prepared your hearts by reading Leviticus this morning so that you'd be ready for church. And the entire sacrificial system with the substitutionary penal system going on, this is the child that was going to fulfill all that. This is the child that the prophets all throughout the Bible in the Old Testament spoke. about. This is that child. Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. Isaiah the prophet says this, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name

Emmanuel, which means God with us. Which by the way, if you're new to Bible study, pretty much the whole Bible can be sunned up by that name. Emmanuel, God with us. In the beginning, in the garden, in creation, God, out of an overflow of God's love for God's self, creates image bearers to be in a right relationship with them. And in the garden, before sin corrupts anything, it was God with us. And then when Adam and Eve sin, and they are kicked out of a garden, then God establishes a temple system so that the blood of animals will be slain so that God's presence could be with His people.

That's God with us. And then we get to the Gospels, and the Word becomes flesh. This is what we celebrate at Christmas. that word becomes flesh and God literally walked among his people that is God with us. And then in the church age, the age that we live, it's actually even better than the time of the Gospels. Because Jesus ascends to the right hand of God, the Father, but he sends the spirit of his son, the Holy Spirit, not to just live next to us, but to live inside each and every one of us, God with us. And then one day when it's all consummated and the trumpet blasts and the heavens rip open

and God comes to take us back home with Him, then we get to live in heaven where there are no tears, there is no pain, there is no hunger, but what makes heaven heaven heaven is that we get Him God with us. This is the child that came. Isaiah later, two chapters later, verse 9, verse 6, he says this, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders.

And his name shall be called, wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace of the increase of his government and of the peace there shall be no end on the throne of david and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore the zeal of the lord of hosts will do this that's what child this is and i know that we get all caught up in the hustle and bustle Okay, I get it. But what we want to make sure that we know is what child is this that we celebrate this Christmas? Listen, man, and I'm not the grumpy anti-Christmas preacher.

That's not me. I love it. I love all the stuff. I love Santa Claus. He says, the great guy's always been good to me. I love the movies. I'm still in the camp. The die hard is the best Christmas movie ever.

You should watch it if you don't have real young kids, okay? I'm into the presents. I love them. You should get me stuff. My new favorite 1122. A guy gave me a cowboy hat this morning. I don't know where Blake is, but he's my new favorite 1120. If you want to be my favorite 1122 or you've got to do better than a cowboy hat, okay?

So, no problem. Do all this stuff. Watch elf. Praise Jesus. Just don't miss this question. What child is this? This child has been foreshadowed on every page of the Bible who's been prophesied about. This is the child that Luke and the angels announced at his arrival.

Luke chapter 2, the verses that Dr. Paul just read for us. I love when Dr. Paul reads the Bible. Every time he reads it, I just think about the wise men, you know. Dr. Paul's not young. He may have been there. Eyewitness, I'm not sure. You see, for all of the Old Testament, for all of the Hebrew scriptures, there's been a prophecy, prophecy, prophecy, this child is coming.

This Messiah, this anointed one. And Christmas Day, we celebrate the arrival. There's prophecy, there's arrival. Prophecy's cool. Arrivals better. You know this to be true. Here's what prophecy is. You're sitting on your couch, you get on Amazon, and you click by now.

That's prophecy. It's coming. And then when the guy shows up and goes, ding, dong, that's arrival. That's better. This is what's happened for thousands of years. These prophecies about this child, this Christ. And now they celebrate their arrival. Luke chapter 2, verse 8, and in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field,

keeping watch over their flock by night. This is incredible. The greatest announcement of all time that it's going to, to affect all things does not made in the Holy City of Jerusalem with the religious guys with the funny robes and the funny hats. No, the group of people that God decides to make this announcement to or the nobody's the rejects. You see, most shepherds were probably teenage boys. They were actually probably indentured servants working for people that their parents owed money to. These were not a respectable group of people whatsoever. And it's this group of nobodies that God's decides to

meet right where they are and tell them this great message. Verse nine, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear for a number of reasons. And the angel said to them, how about this announcement? Fear not. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Here's one thing you've got to understand. You see, the shepherds understood.

They weren't closely with the temple and the temple system. I'll tell you about that in just a second. And they thought that this story of God and his redemption was for those people, was for temple people, was for Jewish people, was for religious people, was for people that only lived in Jerusalem and could get their act together. And now the angel of God shows up and says, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. You see, God sent us exactly what we need.

He didn't send us a banker, because that's not ultimately what we need. He didn't send us a lawyer. He probably didn't have any of sin, but whatever. Good gracious, he did not send us a politician as if that was going to fix anything. He didn't send us a professor, and he didn't send us a doctor to just fix our bodies. He sent us a savior to save us from sin, from ourselves, from the wrath of God. That's what he sent. And the angel says, and this will be a sign to us.

for you, you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And here's what you have to understand. The shepherds would have said, a what? A baby. Don't you mean a lamb? They're like, no, no, no, you're going to find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. I just found this out last year. You see, Bethlehem was only about five miles from Jerusalem, and two times a day on non-holidays,

there is a lamb is sacrificed in the temple. She started adding this thing up, and these are thousands of lambs over the year gets sacrificed in the temple in Jerusalem. And so the way they would set up these shepherd fields is that the lambs that you would sell to the temple to be sacrificed had to be perfect spotless lambs. And so every time these shepherds would be with the little mama sheep and she would have some babies, they would immediately scour through them and they would pull out the perfect spotless lambs. and then they would swaddle them, they would wrap them up. You remember like when your kid was born and they'd swaddle them in that little thing? The reason they do that is not so that you don't fumble on the way to the car, you can get a good grip, that's not what it is.

The reason they do that is so they don't like scratch up their face with their little fingernails, right? Same thing, when you got this perfect spotless lamb, you would swaddle it up, and then you would place it in the food trough, not amongst all the other animals so they didn't dirty it up or beat it up or bruise it, so you would have this perfect spotless lamb swaddled in the food trough so that when the Levites from the temple would show up to pay for the perfect spotless lambs to be slaughtered in the temple, they would find a lamb swaddled and in the food trough. Now, if you've been around Bible study for a little bit, all the lights on your dashboard should be going off.

And the kids, the shepherds are like, we're looking for a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. They're like, yep. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace among those

with whom he is pleased. And when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. And when they show up,

it was as described. a baby in a manger. Now, here's the problem with Christmas, okay? It's that oftentimes we've grown way too familiar with our manger scene, right? I've told you in years past, your manger scene's not accurate, but that's okay, don't tear it down. The wise men shouldn't be there,

they don't show up for about two years. You should have a dragon. You'll have to see previous sermons, and the shepherds don't have beards because they're little boys, all right? But here's the thing. Imagine what Mary is thinking in this moment. She's just given birth to her firstborn son.

Imagine. The Bible says she treasures all these things up in her heart. Some of you don't have to imagine because some of you've been there, okay? All of those of us who have had kids, especially you mamas, you remember? Do you remember those feelings? I mean, you know, I've lived an incredible life in two of the happiest moments of my entire life is having kids. Probably the singular happiest moment of my life is, you know,

Gretchen was pregnant, and I went to all the appointments, everyone. I didn't miss a thing. I don't think I was any help at all, but I showed up to all the stuff. I didn't want to miss anything. And we went to the one where we find out the sex of the baby, all right? And so we go into that little place, and the little doctor, man, she was a tiny little thing. She was about this big.

And she put that goopy stuff on Gretchen's belly, and then she starts with that little machine, you know? And Gras is like, you see anything? And I'm looking at the TV. And I'm like, oh, no, honey, I have terrible news. I think we're having E.T. This is not even look like a human being. I don't, this is from your bloodline.

My people don't look like this. What are you? This is not good. And I remember that little lady was like, congratulations, Mr. Martin. It's a boy. And I said, you dang right it is. That's what I said.

Because, Dad, listen, man, when you find out your wife's pregnant, you always have to say, as long as it's healthy, but you're actually praying us, boy, boy, boy, that's what you're praying. And we had a boy, and I scooped up that lady. I picked her up, my hugged her.

I said, put her down. So I put her back down. And I high-fived her, and I called my daddy. And the daddy answers. He said, hey, bud, I go, daddy, I made a boy. He said, I knew you had it in you, son. That's what he said. So he named me Joseph Perry Martin, the fourth.

I'm the third. My daddy's junior. I was almost junior, junior, junior. That happens a lot where we're from, okay? But we're into me at my house, whatever. A few months later. man, we're in the hospital, and it's on, it's on. The day is here.

And J.P.'s on his way. And I was there for all of that, too. And anybody that tells you that's a beautiful thing, they're lying. It is not. It is not. There ain't nothing beautiful. I mean, I was not prepared, all right? I didn't know.

I've gutted plenty of deer, but this was different, man. This was not. This ain't it. It's ain't it. And, uh, whew. And so finally, that's all I say about that. that, all of that's over, you know. And I'm kind of in shock.

And then remember, they clean them off because it's quite the mess, and they clean them off, and they wrap them up, they swaddle them up, kind of like Jesus, and they, remember, they put them in that little thing to keep the French fries warm over there. And then I look at Gretchen, I'm going, are you okay, baby? She's like, I'm all right, so high five, and then they hand you your kid, and you hold that little thing. For the first time ever, you think, whoa. I thought I knew what love was.

I thought I knew what love was. I mean, because I love my wife. I mean, all the way. I love her like crazy. If I talk about her too much, I'll get a little quiverly. You know, I do, man. I'm tender with that girl, all right?

But something else, there's like another gear. I didn't know we had in here. And I looked at him, and I had all kind of thoughts. I mean, think about this, that out of an overflow of God's love for God's self, he created image bearers of himself. And I looked at my wife and thought, just because I love you and you love me and we have united together as one.

Out of our love for one another, we have an image bearer right here. And I took that little hat, you know, they got a little hat thing, and I popped that little thing off. And JP had a skullet. You know what a skullet is? It's like balled on top, mullet in the back, look like a little Hulk Hogan. And I remember thinking, well, you could take a boy out of Dylan, but along him, that's mine, son. Listen, for all you kids, man, whether you're like a teenager or a college kid or a little kid or whatever. and your parents sometimes will tell you,

you have no idea how much I love you. They're right. And you know why you don't know? You know why you don't understand? Because you're dumb. You're dumb. You're so dumb. Kids, teenagers, you.

You're so dumb. Dumb, dumb. One day when you're about 24, you're going to get smart and realize what a genius your parents are. But until then, right now, you're just dumb and you should just trust that they're smarter than you and they love you more than you know. That's just true.

Amen. That's my gift to you. Merry Christmas. Three and a half years later, we find out, again, we're pregnant again mostly Gretchen but I was there for part of it and so I'm pumped we go back to the go goopy doctor later and put the thing on there and it's a girl and I go Gretchen says you're going be all right it's like I'm going to be all right now listen man there's nothing cooler than being a girl dad but in 2024 it just takes a little extra you understand what I'm saying and so I'm getting

geared up for that moment and it's leading up to the birth of Reagan Capri and she was born and she was exactly seven pounds on the dot. All you Bible nerds know that seven is the number of perfection in the Bible. Reagan-Capree Martin. But here's something I began to think going into her birth. Now, you can't ask anybody this out loud because then they'll know what a terrible parent you are. I remember thinking, uh-oh, am I going to be able to love the next one like I love the first one? Because I didn't like, I didn't portion out my love very well, if you understand what I'm saying. When I met the first one, I just gave him everything that I have, and will I be able to have enough to love the second one?

Like, you ever go to the Japanese restaurant where they cook it in front of you? I'm always amazed everybody gets the right portion. If I was the guy, the first three people would have a pile of food in the last. I'm sorry, I ran out, because I wouldn't portion it outright. And then that, when Reagan was born, I never went south of the head of the bed. I stayed up there every once in a while, drop in like Spider-Man, give her a kiss, and then whoop, I'm back here out of the, situation. Then finally they got her all cleaned up. They wrap her up in that little

burrito of love and they hand her to me and I thought simultaneously two things. I would die for you Reagan. There could come a day I might make somebody die because of you. I feel like I could run this thing from our union campus all right no problem. And in that moment here's what I realized even though I'd given all my love away that I had to my first one I still had all the love to give to my second one. Why? Because love is an inexhaustible resource because God is love and he is the source of love. You remember what it was like to hold that baby? And the Bible says that Mary treasured up in her heart these things. Now in light of that, think about this verse at Christmas, for God so love the world that he gave.

His only begotten son that whoever would believe would not perish but have everlasting life. Now, listen, church, I love you. I tell you every week, I love you like crazy. And I mean it. I mean it from the bottom of my heart. It's why I stand in the lobby so we can pray and meet and talk and I love you. I love you like crazy. And I wouldn't give up my kids for you for nothing.

I would pile all you in a trash bag and throw you in the trash. for one of my children, just one of them. And yet God would love us enough to send his only begotten son to live a perfect life and to die on the cross for you and for me so that Emmanuel, so that God could adopt us into his family.

What child is this? I'll tell you what child this is. This child is the gift of God given to us that we may know God for who he is, our Heavenly Father. That's who this child is. Later in Jesus' ministry, he asked a very, very similar question. He wants to make sure that we know who he is.

In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus is going to ask his disciples the most important question that you will ever deal with in all of your life. The answer to this question will determine your destiny for forever and ever and ever. In Matthew chapter 16, beginning in verse 12, I mean 13, it says this, Now, when Jesus came to the district of Cessarillo-Philippi, now listen, in the first century, the moment you read Cessarillo-Philippa, you were like, ooh, that place is shady. Cessoraphilippa was like the Vegas of the first century.

Like what happened in Cessaria of Philippa, stayed in Cessarie of Philippa? There was all kind of sexual immorality that would happen there. There was child sacrifice that was happened there. There was a bunch of gambling that would happen there. There was actually a temple to this God named Pan. He was like half goat, half man. and the shadiest of shady kind of immoral things would happen in that place, and that was actually the center of commerce.

This is north of the Galilee, and Jesus is going to make his announcement of the church, and he doesn't do it in the Holy City of Jerusalem. He's going to do it in Cessaril of Philippi, in Sin City. And so he came into the district of Cessori of Philippi, and he asked his disciples, who do people say the son of man is? It's kind of similar to the carol question.

What child is this? And notice what they say. And they said, well, some say John the Baptist and others say Elijah and others Jeremiah are one of the prophets. In other words, people in the first century would say about Jesus what many people today would say about Jesus. He's respectable. He's a religious leader. He's to be admired. But when you get right down to it, he's really nothing special.

He's certainly not God. He's just another person to teach good things to good people. Verse 15. And Jesus said to them, but who do you say that I am? Church, that's the most important question you will ever answer in your entire life. Who do you say that Jesus is? What child is this? Because he did not stay a child.

He grew up. And Jesus says, who do you say that I am? And I need you to hear me. Your answer to this question will determine your experience. eternal destiny. What you do with Jesus determines how you spend eternity, either with him or apart from him. And so he says, but who do you say that I am? Now, if you're a regular, you know who's going to talk. Who's going to talk first? Who's going to talk most? Simon Peter. Oh, I love it so much. He's like, ooh, I'll say words. And here's what's crazy, man. How many of it?

Country folks know this. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while. If you say enough words eventually some of them are okay all right and so Peter just blurts out you are the Christ the son of the living God and Jesus gets all excited with his answer he's like that's it that's it he knows that this is who this child is you are the Christ by the way if you're new to Bible study Christ is not Jesus's last name you know it's not like he'd get to a restaurant it'd be like Christ table for 12 that's not how it is okay Christ is a title it's It means the anointed one, the Messiah, the serpent crusher, the one that the old covenant, the Old Testament talked about.

Peter says, you are the Christ, and Jesus is going to be like, yep, that's what the angel is announced, that unto you was born this day in the city of David, the Christ, a Messiah, a Savior. This is the one that Isaiah said was going to show up on the scene. God with us, and the word becomes flesh and dwells among us. And so Jesus is pumped about Peter's answer, and he answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven.

In other words, Jesus is like, Peter, I've known you a long time, and there's no way you could come up with this idea yourself. My father in heaven must have told you. And I hope you realize this is that what we need is not new information. In fact, if you're here in church today, even if you hardly ever come, you have probably heard before that Christmas is about Jesus being born and he lives and he dies and he dies on the cross for our sins. and on the third day he was resurrected from the grave.

And what we need is not necessarily new information, but you and I need a divine revelation. It's not just what do they say about Jesus, but who do you say that he is? You may not know about him, but my question is, do you know him? Do you know him? Peter is making this confession.

You are the Christ, the son of the living God. And so Jesus goes on to say in verse 18, and I tell you, you are Peter. The Greek word is Petra. It means rock. He's going to give him a new name. His nickname is Rocky now. And I tell you, you are Peter.

And on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And the rock that he is talking about is this statement that Peter makes. The rock that he's talking about is the public declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, that the rock that the church is going to be about, is the proclamation of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he says, and I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Here's what you got to understand. If you ever go to Israel with me, I'll take you to this very place, the Cessori of Philippi. And we'll go to where that temple was, to that little God named Pan. He's half man, half goat. And right in front of this cave in the side of a mountain, there was a stream down in that cave.

And the water from that stream hits this river that runs right through Cessarillo-Philippi, and at certain times of the year when the tempersers were just right, that whole cave would fill up with steam or smoke. And the people in the first century believed that that cave where that temple was was literally the gate or the portal to hell. That's where they believed that the demons would enter and exit into our world. And Jesus is standing with his disciples on one of those rocks. somewhere in Sin City, this hustling, bustling, think Vegas kind of city. And Jesus says, so who do you say that I am? And Peter says, you were the Christ, the son of a living God.

And Jesus says, winter, winter, chicken dinner. It's not exactly what he says, but that's what he means. You got this, you nailed it. And I'm going to build my church upon the gospel of me and the gates of hell. And imagine, I think he points right down to that place, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And the disciples are probably thinking, do we? what? I mean, it's like 12 dudes on a camping trip with you boss, and we don't even have our LLC yet. We ain't got enough money to pay taxes. You've got to do miracles where you catch fish with

tax money in their mouth. Like, we got nothing, we are nothing, we influence nothing. And you mean to tell me, because the one guy that says stuff all the time and doesn't even think about it, Mr. No Filter Peter, because he says you're the Christ, you're saying this thing is going to be a movement that prevails and the gates of hell won't prevail against it? And Jesus is saying, that's exactly what I'm saying. And you know what Cessaria Philippi is today? Cessaria Philippi and Pans Temple and the gates of hell are now a tourist stop for Christians to go and see from all over the world. The church of Jesus Christ is flourishing to the very ends of the earth and the gates of or a tourist stop me if you pay $5, I can show it to you.

You know what I'm saying? That is what is happening in this moment. He says, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. So what child is this? This child comes on the scene just as prophesied. This child is the child that was born in a manger, and just like a perfect spotless lamb was wrapped in swaddling clothes because he would be. that lamb would be the sacrifice, Jesus is that.

He lives a perfect life. He fulfills every promise and prophecy of Scripture. And as he is teaching and preaching, he came primarily to ransom those of us who were lost, not to simply teach things. But as he was teaching, he would say all kind of outlandish things, like he claimed to be God. He said, I and the Father are one. To see me is to see the Father. probably the most scandalous thing that he said was this

I am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through me he did not say I'm here to show you the way I'm here to teach you how to have a better life and to show you the path to God he says no no no I am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through me and on the night Jesus was betrayed he took his disciples into this place

It's called the Garden of Gathemone, the place of crushing. And he prays, and he feels the weight of the world upon his shoulder because he knows what he has been sent to do. He was not merely born to be a baby in a manger, but he was born to be the lamb that would be sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sin. And he goes before his father in heaven, and he asks a question that is the biggest hang-up that people in 2024 have about the whole Jesus thing.

Listen, so many people believe that, you know, there's probably a heaven, maybe or may not be a hell, and most people go to heaven because most people are pretty good. And Jesus goes before his father in the Garden of Gassimony, and he says, Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me, the cup of the wrath of God that has been stored up against sin and sinners for all eternity. Do you know what Jesus is asking? God, if there's some other way to get to you, to redeem people, to reconcile broken humanity to you, if there is some other way, let's go with that way.

If there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. Like, Father, if you can just align your chakra and that's going to work, let's do that. Or if you could just be good enough, or if you could obey the Ten Commandments, or if you could obey the five pillars of Islam, if you could just visit Mecca, if you could just pray a prayer in church at VBS, if that'll work. If there be any other way, if somebody can earn a right standing with you, then could we go with that plan? Because it seems like an awful waste of my blood at Galgotha tomorrow for me to die

if I'm just one of many ways. Father, if Oprah's right and all roads lead to heaven, then why not just take out one of these most painful roads? That's what he's asking. Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. And then he says, but not my will. but your will be done. And he's arrested, he's tried, he actually goes through three different trials.

He's beaten, he's tortured, they put a crown upon his head, he carries his cross to Galgotha, the place of the skull. They pierce his hands and his feet with nails, and they lift him up on a cross, just like the Old Testament said, the Christ would be. be sacrifice. And upon that cross, he pushes up on his nail-pierced feet, and the first thing that he says is not, Father, get them. The first thing he says is, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He says seven things on the cross,

and the last thing that he says is he pushes back up on his nail-pierced feet, and he says this. The Greek word is, Teteleistai. It is sometimes translated, it is finished. literally it means paid in full. What is paid in full? The sin debt that you and I have incurred is paid in full. And for anybody that would believe that when Christ died on the cross,

somehow that counted for me, that means every one of your sins are paid for. Every single time you lied to somebody. Every single time you broke a promise to God. Every single time you said, forget you, God, I do what I want. Every single time you said no to God and yes to your flesh. every single time you hurt an image bearer of God. Every single time you lied to you or you lied to somebody else.

Every single time you made much of yourself. Every single time we tried to snatch glory for ourselves instead of God. Every single time we did it in the past, all the current sins that we are wrapped up in, and this one will boil your mind. And even the sins you don't even know you're going to participate in. And even the sins that you've got on your schedule. Some of you have on your schedule sin. You know I'm talking about like spring break next year.

Like it's planned on your calendar. And Jesus says, it is finished. Paid in full for anyone who would believe that when he died on the cross, somehow that counted for me. And they brought his body off of the cross. They closed his eyes. They wrapped him up and they put him in a borrowed tomb. And he said, it is finished.

He didn't say he was finished. he wasn't. Do you know why Jesus used a borrowed tomb? Because he only needed it for the weekend, and he gave it back. Because on that Sunday morning, God Almighty breathes new life into his dead son, and the stone is rolled away, and Jesus has resurrected from the grave. And he's the proto-doko, the firstborn from among the dead. And just like he walked out of the grave, we get to walk out too. And he ascended to the right hand of God the Father, where he is praying for you right now. And before he leaves, he gathers his disciples together. And he says, I want you to take this message of good news, of great joy that a Savior has been born, lived, died, and resurrected

for all the people. And I want you to take that message to the very ends of the earth. And the reason there will be over two billion people on our planet this week that celebrate Christmas is because the disciples took that message to the very ends of the earth. And we always think we're the center of the earth because we're in America. We're not. I hate to break it to you. That happened way over there. And we are the ends of the earth. And the reason that we are here is because Jesus fulfilled everything that he came to fulfill. What child is this? I'll tell you what child this is.

This is Christ the king, and that's who we celebrate this Christmas. Back to Sessori of Philippi, after Peter says you were the Christ, the son of a living God. Jesus says, and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. In other words, who do you say that Jesus is? Your answer will either bind you in it. in a permanent prison, a Christless eternity, or it will loose you into the freedom that God

has created you for, which is to be with him. Heaven and hell hang in the balance. To your answer to that question. So our man, William, asked this question, and he answers it in the Christmas carol. He says, what child is this who laid to rest? Oh, Mary's lap is sleeping? whom angels greet with anthem sweet while shepherds watch are keeping. This, this is Christ the king. He goes on to say, why lies he in such mean estate where ox and, you know, are feeding? If I read it, everybody will, my eighth grade mind will take over, okay? Good Christian fear for sinners hear the silent word is pleading.

Nails, spear shall pierce him through. cross be home for me for you. Hail, hail, the word made flesh, the babe, the son of Mary. So what child is this? This is the child that 2,000 years ago, God the son, the second person of the Trinity, gets up off of his throne, takes off his royal robe, lays down the royal diadem, lays down his scepter as throngs of angels are bowing down to him saying holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come and he looks at his heavenly father and he says I'll be back

and he swan dives into our existence and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and he was born as a baby in a manger perfect nailed it I've told you this before but crying babies in church don't ever bother me. Now, if their heads spinning around and they need a good exorcism, that's different, you know? If you're getting pea soup on your neighbors, that's the thing.

But when I hear a baby crying in our church, I hear, one, I think, the future's bright. The future's bright. We need a bunch of babies, and well done, okay, you're doing it. You're a very fertile bunch. Praise God for you, okay?

And then I think, our understanding of God is the almighty sovereign king of the universe condescended himself, humbled himself, and became a little baby in a manger. But he didn't stay there. He grew up, he lived the perfect life, he died not only for us, but he died instead of us. And what child is this? This is the child that God sent to make payment for your sin and mine.

Why? For God. so loved you that he sent his only begotten son. And the Word, the living Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, put on flesh and humbled himself as a baby in a manger. And he lived a perfect life and he died on the cross and whoever would believe that when he died on the cross,

somehow that count of you, you could receive the right to become a child of God. And whoever would believe, you would believe, not perish but have everlasting life. So if you're in the whoever category, I got some good news, you could be saved. And some of you're like, pastor, but you don't know what I've done. Well, two things. One, I probably do. And I was probably better at it than you were. You just don't know me that good, okay? That's probably true. And secondly, who do you think you are, man? Apparently, you don't know what Jesus did for you on the cross. Because whatever you've done and however many times you've done it,

and whatever your intentions were, and whatever you struggle with, and whatever some other church told you, that is not the truth. The truth of the good news of the gospel is, whoever believes receives the right to become a child of God. And there is more grace than Jesus than there is sin in you. And so if you're really good at being bad, I got good news, today it could be the day that you get saved. And some of you're like, well, pastor, I've been in church my whole life.

Okay. You can get saved too. It's just way harder. Way harder. Because you think you bring merit to the equation. And God's grace is unmerited favor. So our hymn writer says, what child is this? Jesus says, who do you say that I am?

And your answer to that question determines your destiny forever. C.S. Lewis very famously says in one of my favorite books, mere Christianity, he says this. He says, I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus. That I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a level with a man. who says he's a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God, or else a madman, or something worse. You can shut him up

for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. So who do you say that Jesus is? And if your Christmas is a mess, I get it, man. On Thursday night before our 722 services, what was during the morning, I buried one of my buddies, man. So Christmas is a mess. And we celebrate the kind of God and Savior that would be born in a manger and meet you in the mess.

And while I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, I need you to answer this question, who do you say that Jesus is? at that funeral at Frankie's funeral, his sister shared a verse at a Mark 313. Somehow I'd never noticed this verse. But it says this, and Jesus called unto himself all those that he desired or wanted. I am here to tell you on behalf of the almighty sovereign king of the universe, that the thing we understand most through the incarnation, the birth of Jesus, his life, his death, and his resurrection is this,

that what God wants for Christmas is you. that Jesus called unto himself all those whom he wanted and he wants you. And if you want to know him as your Lord and Savior, it's as simple as ABC. And the reason I do the ABCs is just so you can remember, just so you can know what we're talking about. To live a life as a Christian is not easy, but to become a follower of Jesus, to get saved is pretty stink and simple. It's as simple as A, I admit it. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. Can't do this on my own.

I admit it. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. It's B, I believe that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow that counted for me. And if you don't know all the theological terminology, no problem, neither did Peter. But he knew that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God.

And if you admit it, I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, and I believe that when he died on the cross for my sin, it counted for me. Then you see, you confess Jesus. Romans 1013 says, all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. That's a prayer he answers 100% of the time. So what child is this? This child is your Savior.

And he asks of you, are you ready to admit it that you need a savior? Are you ready to believe that when he died on the cross, it counted for you. And are you ready to confess him as your Lord? Would you bow your heads? Would you close your eyes? And if you would say that that's you for the very first time in your life, If you are ready to admit I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, I believe somehow that when Christ died on the cross, it counted for me. And today, for the very first time, I am ready to call on the name of the Lord to be saved.

Then as evidence of that, would you lift your hand as high as you can? Would you lift it up and say, Lord, save me? Every single time somebody praise that prayer by putting their faith and trust in Jesus, he answers them, lifted as high as you can, and say, Lord, save me. heavenly Father. God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. And God, I thank you and I praise you that you sent Jesus, not to just teach us lessons, not to just be a moral example. You sent Jesus as a ransom for us to seek and to save the loss. That you set Jesus on a rescue mission for us. God, for the man, for the woman, for the student, and their Christmas is a mess. Lord, I pray that you would send the spirit of God into that mess.

and you would give them a comfort and a peace that transcends all understanding. God, I thank you that you are in control of all things, and all things lead to you. May we not miss that this Christmas season. God, we love you because you love us first, and we praise you because you deserve it. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, would you please stand as we respond? and now that you know the words to the song,

we're going to sing, what child is this? And then get ready, it's going to be like revival, and then we're going to do a second song right after it. Don't want to miss it, okay? And so around here we sing and we bring and we pray. We sing, and I need you to sing like save people. And whatever you lack in talent, just make up for in volume. That's what I do.

God's into that, okay? And we bring our ties and our offerings, our first and our best, and we pray. I don't know about you. Actually, I do know about you. Most of us need the power of the Holy Spirit working in us to make it through this Christmas. So I would invite you to come and cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you. So let's pray, let's bring, let's sing. Let's respond.