The Miracle of the Message
Experience the Miracle of Christmas • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
The Miracle of the Message -
The Miracle of the Message -
Scriptures:
Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever just sat and watched deaf people talk to each other? It’s amazing to watch their fingers flying through the signs. It’s really a beautiful form of communication. If you really pay attention the signs can form pictures in your head. Like the sign for love (show sign). It’s designed to bring to mind the idea of a hug. It’s that idea of close fellowship together. Or the sign for Jesus. To do that one you touch the middle finger of one hand to the palm of the other and then reverse it. It’s designed to remind us of the nails; to remind us of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross.
Can you imagine what it’s like for parents whose children are born hearing impaired? Just like anyone else, they want their children to know, without any shadow of a doubt, how much they love them and care for them, how valuable they are, how much they matter to God. But how do they do that if the child can’t hear their voice? They learn sign language. They learn to express their love in a way that the child can grasp it and understand. In that situation, learning sign language is not a burden, for the parent, it’s an expression of love.
You know if you spend some time watching the deaf communicate with one another, it’s hard not to reflect upon the significance of what God has done for us. It’s a living parable. We are here on earth, busy living our lives, pursuing our own agendas, but we’re deaf to the voice of God. We don't hear what God is trying to say to us. God has been trying to communicate His message to humanity, but we just aren't getting it. We’re far too dense, far too involved in our own little lives to look up and try to understand. But rather than give up in frustration, God loves us so much that He desperately wants to reveal Himself to us in ways that we can understand. So He sends His very own Son to communicate His message in a way that we can understand. That is the miracle of Christmas. That is the miracle of the message.
Our Christmas sermon series is Experience the Miracle of Christmas. It is not enough to just know about the miracle of Christmas. We need to experience it in our own hearts and lives. Today we want to focus on The Miracle of the Message. Last week we talked about the movie “Miracle on 34th Street,” and how it illustrated the miracle of the moment. Today I want to show a clip from that movie. In the clip, notice how Kris Kringle interacts with a little girl who has come to the department store to see Santa. Part of the plot is that the daughter of Mrs. Walker doesn't believe in Santa but she witnesses Kris communicating with this little girl in a way that the little girl could understand.
(Show movie clip of Santa talking with the deaf girl).
Did you see the miracle of the message? Kris Kringle communicated in a way the girl understood. Unexpectedly, he was able to speak her language. records this miracle of the message from God:
Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
God sent Jesus to communicate His message in a way that we can understand! The miracle of the message is that God speaks to us today so that we can know Him and draw near to Him!
God sent Jesus to communicate His message in a way that we can understand! The miracle of the message is that God speaks to us today so that we can know Him and draw near to Him!
I. God speaks through history
I. God speaks through history
God has been speaking throughout history to reveal Himself to us. He wants us to know Him, to love Him, to worship Him. God reveals Himself through His creation, through the sunrise and sunset, through the sun, moon and stars. God spoke to Moses in the burning bush, He spoke to the Israelites from the smoke and fire on the mountain, He spoke to Elijah in a still, small voice, to Isaiah in a vision in the temple. God spoke to Hosea through his family circumstances and to Amos in a basket of summer fruit. He spoke to Jeremiah through a potter's clay and to Joseph through dreams. God even spoke His message through a donkey! God has been speaking His message through visions and dreams, through angels, through Urim and Thummim, through symbols, natural events, and many other means. He could reveal Himself in Ur of the Chaldees, in Haran, or Canaan or Egypt or Babylon. There is no lack of variety because God's revelation is not a monotonous activity that must always occur in the same place or the in the same way. God was speaking throughout the Old Testament in a variety of places through a variety of means in order to make Himself and His will known.
But then, prior to the coming of Christ there were 400 years of silence. Since the prophet Malachi last uttered his messages from God, there had been no prophets. God didn’t speak to his people for 400 years. Still they were waiting and watching for this promised Messiah, this promised Savior. God's revelations in the Old Testament were fragmentary, occasional, and progressive, because no single one of them contained the whole truth. They could not adequately capture the full picture of God's nature.
God had been speaking, but people weren't getting the message. They didn't understand God's heart. They didn't understand God's plan. Too many claimed to be speaking for God but they only misrepresented Him to others. Confusion, not understanding, resulted. But then John the Baptist arrived. And he brought a message of another that was coming after him. A group of priests was sent to John to find out who exactly he was. Let’s read about that encounter in
This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He didn’t deny it but confessed: “I am not the Messiah.” “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” “I am not,” he said. “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered. “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord—just as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.” All this happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He didn’t deny it but confessed: “I am not the Messiah.” “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” “I am not,” he said. “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered. “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord—just as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.”
He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord—just as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.” All this happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
So God speaks though hiistory, but next I want you to see that:
II. God speaks through Christ
II. God speaks through Christ
Now, at last, God has sent His Son to bring His message to us! In the Lord Jesus Christ, God revealed Himself directly to us. It is true that God revealed Himself through the words spoken by Jesus, through His message, but He did more than that. Jesus Christ is the living, divine Son of God. He did more than just proclaim God's message - He is God's message.
Jesus came to reveal God, to make Him known to us in ways that we can understand. Let’s look back at verse 3 from the passage we read in Hebrews.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
John's Gospel describes Jesus as the Word becoming flesh and living among us.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
The writer of Hebrews goes on to say of Jesus in verse 3, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact expression of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." John's Gospel describes Jesus as the Word becoming flesh and living among us. If you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus! When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus replied, "Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father" (). Jesus declares in , "I and the Father are one."
If you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus! When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus replied,
Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jesus declares in
I and the Father are one.”
"Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father" (). Jesus declares in , "I and the Father are one."
, "I and the Father are one."
God speaks through Christ because Christ IS the message from God. But then last I want you to see that:
III. God speaks to transform
III. God speaks to transform
The miracle of the message is not just in the fact that God speaks to us today through His Son, but that the message has the power to transform our lives. Christmas is the celebration of the greatest message ever proclaimed. God is with us. God came near so that we could draw near to Him. says Jesus gave His life as a ransom for all. The miracle of the message is that God was reconciling the world to Himself through Christ. Jesus came so that God could reveal Himself and His plan to us in a way that we could understand. Jesus came to proclaim God's message and to be that message so that we can be set free from sin's hold on our lives.
who gave himself as a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.
says Jesus gave His life as a ransom for all. The miracle of the message is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Jesus came so that God could reveal Himself and His plan to us in a way that we could understand. Jesus came to proclaim God's message that we can be set free from sin's hold on our lives.
Why would He do that? Because, like any parent, He wanted us to know how very much He loves us. But more than that, He wanted us to know that He created us for a reason - that we might know and love Him. He came to proclaim the message that we have been set free. We don't have to live as prisoners to guilt and regret.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Many in our world have received messages this past year that have certainly changed their lives. They heard the message from the doctor when he said, "It's cancer." Or they heard the message from the man in the military uniform, “On behalf of the Secretary of the Navy (or Army, or Air Force), I regret to inform you...” Or they heard the message from their spouse, "I don't love you anymore, I want a divorce." As a result of that message their life has changed. Maybe some of you received a message like that this year.
But in the midst of all, there is another message. "Nothing whatsoever can ever separate you from my love." He speaks, "Trust in Me with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge me, and I will direct your paths." In the midst of life's betrayals and bitter messages He whispers, "Forgive those who mistreat you." In the midst of life's messages of joy and celebration He shouts, "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad!"
The miracle of Christmas is the miracle of the message - God loves you and me! Are you listening? Believe the message God is speaking to you and your life will never be the same!
Would you pray with me?
Prayer
Prayer
God, our Heavenly Father, in this holy, sacred moment you are speaking to our hearts through your Holy Spirit. Thank you for speaking so wondrously and clearly through your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for revealing to us the depths you would go to in order to communicate your message to us in a way that we could understand.