Sermon

A Season of Faith

Luke 1: 26-38

December 8, 2002

Introduction:

Celebrations of significant events in our life do come with reason and meaning. Primarily, we celebrate them to remind us of what happened and its impact in our lives.

For example, we celebrate our birthdays, or wedding anniversaries to remind us of their significance in our lives- that is, most often, to thank God for life, or in the case of wedding anniversaries, to thank God for our spouse, the children that God have given us, and for God’s faithfulness that in spite of the challenges of marriage- we have survived it and we still renew our commitment to each other – " for better or for worse, ‘till death do we part".

Except of course, for some who are living a life of regrets. That is, they regret the day they were born, they hate the time they were married, they hate everyone in the world, and they have no reason for living. I would say, even this Christmas is another event that they hate and they think just of the negatives of everything. I pray that this season will bring them a new perspective in their life. That is, a new way living, and that is a life of FAITH.

I believe that Christmas is a celebration based on Faith. It is faith, based upon the WISDOM of God, the WORD of God, and the WILL of God. This foundation of faith has been exemplified in the Christmas story as narrated to us in the Gospel according to Luke.

Let us therefore turn to this passage, in Luke chapter 1 verses 26 through 28.

Here we find a beautiful story of Christmas. The principal characters are:

God – He sent an angel v.26

The angel Gabriel – He revealed the mysteries of God v.26

Mary – a virgin from Nazareth in Galilee vs.26-27

Joseph- the pledged husband of Mary. He is a descendant of David v. 27

Above all CHRIST, THE SAVIOR.

From these characters are interwoven the story of Christmas that is about FAITH IN THE WISDOM OF GOD, IN THE WORD OF GOD, AND IN THE WILL OF GOD.

I. First, the Christmas story is about FAITH IN THE WISDOM OF THE INCARNATION. Faith in this truth involves the belief on what God has done in the past – the eternal past. This is what God has planned in eternity.

Dr. W.A. Criswell defines the Incarnation as : Literally, the word means, "in flesh", and it refers to the coming of the eternal Son of God, in the flesh of man through His birth in Bethlehem.

Notice that the "how" and "why" of this doctrine of Incarnation starts with God who is wise. We read this in Romans 16:27, " to the only Wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen." This wise God is behind all the particulars of this story. God is a God of details. He does not conjecture or guess on things. In His wisdom He accurately fulfils what He planned for.

We read this in Luke 1: 26-28. Notice:

The specific time – In the 6^th Month

The Planner- God

The Method – He sent the angel ( angel means, messenger)

The Messenger and his name – Gabriel

The Place – a town of Nazareth, in Galilee

The People involved: Mary, a virgin, pledged to be married to Joseph,

who was a descendant of David.

Notice the Conversation between the angel Gabriel and Mary:

The angel : His salutation- Hail,Mary- In :Latin it is, "Ave Maria". You are highly favored, The Lord is with you

Mary: (Troubled …)

The angel: Do not be afraid, You have found favor with God

You will be with a Child – a Son. His name will be Jesus – He will be Great, He will be called the Son of the Most High.

God will give him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever-His kingdom will never end.

Notice that in the conversation, it is not so much about the angel, Gabriel did not talk about himself. It is also not so much about Mary. He was informed of the child she will give birth to – and in doing so, God favored or blessed her. But the topic of conversation is all about Jesus. It is about Who He is… it is about What He will do, and it is about What He will be in the eternal future.

God is not only wise, but He gives Wisdom. It is but proper and sensible for God to give Wisdom because He is not only the source, but Himself – in His character and nature, is Wisdom. We read this in James 1:5. And in the Old Testament, we have in the experience of Daniel that in the secret and mystery of the meaning of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, he acknowledged that Wisdom and Power comes from God alone ( Daniel 2: 20-23).

But in the New Testament, Paul emphasized that actually Wisdom is personified in Christ. ( 1 Corinthians 1:21-24). In view of this, it is believed by many theologians that the Wisdom spoken of in Proverbs 8: 12, 23, 34, speaks about the PRE- INCARNATE CHRIST.

Furthermore, Paul explains that this is the mystery of God which is the wisdom of God that brings salvation to all men. (1Timothy 3: 15-16).

Admittedly, we would need the Spirit of God to really understand THIS WIISDOM OF GOD. And obviously, we need FAITH to believe in this truth

2. Second, the story of Christmas involves FAITH IN THE WORDS OF REVELATION. This is faith in the things that God will do in the immediate present, and also in the eternal future.

What do all these WORDS REALLY MEAN… WORDS OF REVELATION ARE WORDS OF TRUTH – LET US EXAMINE AND UNDERSTAND THEM.

1. Mary heard all of these sayings and she believed them. She was a woman of faith, and is a worthy example.

2. She was also a woman who was highly favored – "full of grace" in Greek I, " chariot"– this does not mean sinless perfection. Simply, it means her being recipient of God’s favor. As all believers are (Ephesians 1:6). This does not teach the Immaculate Conception of Mary ( she was born without sin), or the Sinlessness of Mary. Nor this refers to the Assumption of Mary ( she was taken to heaven without dying). These teachings are the dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Perpetual Virginity of Mary was proclaimed a dogma of the church by the Lateran Synod of 649 A.D.

The Immaculate Conception of Mary (Preserved free from all stain of original sin) became an official teaching through the Bull of Pope Pius 1X in 1854.

In 1950, the Roman Catholic Church declared "Ex Cathedra" the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary – that Mary did not die, but her body was taken to heaven.

All these teachings of the Roman Catholic Church concerning Mary have no basis in Scriptures.

This is further clarified when Mary herself said, " God was her savior". Lk. 1:46. In this verse Mary admits that she is a sinner. Also, notice Luke 2: 22-24 She offered a sin offering according to the law – Lev.12. Why would she offer a sin offering if she has no sins. And for the other claims, they could not be proven by Scripture.

Today, Mary is believed to be the Mediatrix – this is someone who can can intercede in behalf of man to God . This involves offering sacrifices for the sins of mankind so that God will forgive their sins. But this is a great contradiction – because the Roman Catholic Church does not - to this day, ordain women to the priesthood. And only priests can offer the ‘sacrifice of the mass". So we can conclude that if Mary is alive today, MARY COULD NOT EVEN QUALIFY TO BE A PRIEST IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

But I believe that the Christmas story centers on our FAITH ON WHO CHRIST IS. Christmas is not about the angel Gabriel, Mary, or Joseph, but on Christ.

It takes faith to believe this. Matthew 16: 16-17 teaches that upon the confession of Peter on who Christ is, Jesus said: This was not revealed to you by man, but my Father in Heaven. It is a Revelation to be believed.

Today, it takes faith to believe the claims of Christ as the only Savior. It takes faith to believe that He died for our sins, that His death is sufficient to save us- and we do not have to add to what He has already done.

In Romans 10: 9-10 we receive salvation " if we confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead – you will be saved.

Ephesians 2: 8-9. For by grace are we saved through faith –not of yourselves, it is a gift of God… and further, in Romans 11: 6- if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace".,

3. Third, the Christmas story involves FAITH IN THE WILL OF GOD. This kind of faith is demonstrated by Mary in her response to Gabriel in Luke 1: 38.

Mary submitted herself to the will of God despite her inability to understand the miracle of a revelation she received.

She believed that nothing is impossible with God. V. 37 so in the greatness and power of God, she willingly submitted herself.

This truth is challenge to our own faith and submission to the will of God.

I know there are some of us who struggle over many issues in our lives. We struggle to understand the experiences that come to us. We find our mind to be so weak and limited to really understand or answer the many difficult questions that come to us. Such questions as: Why is not God answering my prayers to heal the sickness of my loved one? Why is not God answering my prayers for a job- why did the accident that happened to me so injurious and so debilitating – why me? And the many other whys….

It takes faith to understand that God has a plan, He is in control, and Nothing is impossible with Him and our response would simply be – " May it be to me, according to Thy Word."

May this be our understanding of Christmas- that it becomes to us as a season of faith in the Wisdom, Word, and Will of God.

And as we celebrate this season, may we be found SOUND IN OUR FAITH ( Titus 1:13), SINCERE IN OUR FAITH ( 1 Tim. 1:5),and STRONG in our FAITH IN THE Christ of Christmas.