“Awaiting A New Advent”

(Revelation 21:4-7)

INTRODUCTION

The whole of Scripture is both a lesson in history and a promise for the future. Christmastime spurs us to look back and to look forward. We reflect on the wonder of the nativity, in which the eternal Son of God came to us as a lowly infant. But we also anticipate the future day when the resurrected Christ will come again, inaugurating the new creation. The God who came down at the first Christmas is surely, gloriously coming back again. God in Christ will return to make this world brand-new, restoring paradise and gathering the redeemed into it.

WE WILL BE MADE SPIRITUALLY AND BODILY NEW (vv. 2; 4)

WE WILL ENJOY A NEW CLOSENESS WITH GOD (vv. 3; 6-7)

WE WILL LIVE IN A NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH (vv. 1; 5)

APPLICATION

• Live a life that is ready for the Lord’s return.

CONCLUSION

Beloved, when we think about Jesus’ advent, let us not just think of the first, but also the second. The King came down to earth to save us from sin; He came also to save us and prepare us for eternal life with Him in His perfected kingdom.

“Christmas in the Letters”

(Galations 4:4-7)

 INTRODUCTION

In Genesis we were reminded that our creator God is a promise-keeping God. It taught us to expect that He would send a Deliverer to restore this fallen world, and that in Him all the nations of the world will be blessed. The Prophets provided for us a blurry image full of hope, expectation, and vague details about God’s redemptive plan. And then the Gospels gave us a crystal-clear lens through which we can see that Jesus is the one in whom all our hopes, all God’s promises, and all our longings are fulfilled. The New Testament letters offer a theological interpretation of Jesus’ life and ministry. Today, in Galatians, Paul describes the wonder of being adopted into God’s family through Jesus. He shows us that Christmas is a big deal. It changed everything with respect to our relationship to God the Father.

FROM BONDAGE – Sin and the Law (4-5)

TO BLESSINGS – Sonship and Inheritance (6-7)

APPLICATION

• If you are Christ’s by faith, you are adopted; if you are adopted, then you can be sure that you are loved with a divine love so deep that eternity is too short to plumb it.

CONCLUSION

Beloved, to fully comprehend the joy of Christmas you need to fully comprehend the necessity of Christmas. God works to rescue, accept, and love men and women out of their sin and into His forever, spiritual family.

“Christmas in the Gospels”

(Matthew 1:1-23)

INTRODUCTION

The New Testament shows us that the means by which God’s promises are fulfilled, and the entirety of the plan God worked out through the Old Testament age, can be summed up in two words: Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament He is promised and anticipated, in the New Testament He is revealed and presented.

JESUS WHO SAVES FROM SIN (v. 21)

JESUS WHO IS GOD WITH US (v. 23)

APPLICATION

• Keep in constant view your Savior's name “Jesus”. God has provided you with a Savior. (Romans 3:21-22)

• Keep in constant view your Savior's name “Immanuel”. God understands your human plight. (John 14:1)

CONCLUSION

Beloved, Christ is the perfect fulfillment of Messianic prophecies. We look back to a man born of Abraham and David’s line, conceived of the Spirit, who fulfilled all God’s promises. Be encouraged, Christ has been born and revealed, Good tidings to you and to all of us!

“Christmas in the Land”

(Isaiah 9:1-7; Micah 5:2-5a)

INTRODUCTION

When we read through the Old Testament, we find that although God’s people were in God’s land, they were far from Him in heart. God raised up prophets like Isaiah and Micah who foretold the coming of the Lord’s salvation in a future, kingly Ruler. The promised Messiah would bring light to a people in deep darkness, tidings of comfort and joy to a distressed nation. When we speak of Christmas in the land, we see our great, promise-keeping God. He remembers His promises, and He remembers His people. We can be sure of this because of what God did in giving us His Son. The Lord Jesus’ arrival in history is in fulfillment of God’s word and His promises.

THE PROPHETS AND THE PROMISE OF SALVATION (Isaiah 9:1-5)

THE SHEPHERD-KING AND THE PROMISE OF PEACE AND JOY (Isaiah 9:6-7; Micah 5:2-5a)

CONCLUSION

Beloved, God has spoken. Sin and suffering are not the end of the story. In Jesus is hope for the weariest heart and warmth for the coldest. God has broken into history in His Son, the one in whom we find unshakeable tidings of true comfort and real joy.

“Christmas in the beginning”

(Genesis 1:1-2; 3:15; 12:2-3; 22:1-14)

INTRODUCTION

 It is easy to look at the first Christmas as though the story starts on the first page of the New Testament, with an angel suddenly showing up to a girl in Galilee. But the Bible is a two-act drama, and to start at the Gospels is to join at the interval. In a sense, Christmas begins on the first pages of Scripture. The Advent season comes truly alive when we think about the Lord Jesus. In His humanity, the second person of the Trinity was delivered into the world like billions of other babies have been. But Jesus was also divine, existing “in the beginning with God.” He was “with God,” yet He “was God.”

THE CREATOR GOD (vv. 1:1–2, 26-7; 2:15-17)

THE PROMISED DELIVERER (vv. 3:1-19)

THE COVENANT-KEEPING GOD (vv. 12:2–3; 22:1–14)

CONCLUSION

Beloved, this year as you prepare to celebrate and remember the birth of our Savior, take time to reflect and marvel anew at how great is our God. Do not let the familiarity of the Christmas story rob you of the joy and amazement at the God who created all things, who promised a Deliverer, and who made and kept His covenant.  

“To god be the glory forever” Romans 11:33-36

INTRODUCTION

Last Sunday, the Gentile believers were warned against antisemitism and arrogance. Paul also revealed the mystery of God’s future redemptive plan for the Jews. Today, following the truths that he has shared with us, the Apostle finds himself in a state of mind and heart in which he can think of and do nothing else but burst into exultant praise of God – ‘O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.’

PRAISING GOD’S INSCRUTABILITY (vv. 33-34)

· Deep riches

· Deep wisdom and knowledge

· Unsearchable judgments

· Inscrutable ways

PRAISING GOD’S SELF-SUFFICIENCY (v. 35)

PRAISING GOD’S ULTIMATE SOVEREIGNTY (v. 36)  

· It is all from Him: He is the source 

· It is all through Him: He is the means  

· It is all to Him: He is the goal  

APPLICATION

· Honor God

· Humble yourself before God

· Hunger for God

CONCLUSION

Beloved, the more you know God, the more your heart should be humbled before Him, and your mouth more readily be filled with praise and adoration.