We are continuing through the bible and heading toward God’s ultimate plan.
Ephesians 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
This most assuredly speaks of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
We know from the previous messages that all things are leading up to this event.
Jesus Christ was promised, pictured and preached from the very beginning of time.
Not only HIS millennial reign but also HIS birth, life, death and resurrection.
The bible is all about HIM.
Today we are at the beginning of HIS earthly life, last week we talked about HIS name, the name of Jesus Christ.
The bible tells us it is a name that is above all names and it is the only name by which anybody can be saved.
Today we are going to see what the angels said about Jesus Christ.
These passages of scripture we recognize every year during Christmas time, but that will not forbid us from looking at them today.
In these messages on Christ I want us to, better our knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ.
How do you look at Jesus Christ and does it line up with the Jesus Christ of the bible?
Let us look at what the angels said about Jesus Christ.
Angel to Mary
Luke 1:26-38 (KJV)
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
This angel begins with the fact that this thing is of God and is from God.
The angel is speaking for God; we see this when the angel says “the Lord is with thee” and “for thou hast found favour with God.”
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Last week we talked about HIS name, which means Saviour.
The next thing the angel says about HIM, is that “He shall be great”.
Here in the bible it says that “He shall be great”, do you think possible that this could be a little different from how we use this word great?
Jesus Christ shall be great in that HE is “chief; of vast power and excellence; supreme;”
Too many of us Christians have a lower view of the Jesus Christ than what is in the bible.
Too many of us Christians approach Jesus Christ as something less than supreme and excellent.
Too many of us Christians live our lives as if Christ is not Chief.
The bible says “he shall be great”.
The bible further says HE “shall be called the Son of the Highest”.
We are not going to go real deep into that this, this morning, but do notice that the title leaves no room for any other gods.
Jesus Christ is the Son of the Highest, is there any other that is higher.
Also notice it is a title and it begins with “the”, which means Christ is the One and Only Son of the One and Only God.
HE is the ONE!!!
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
What is this talking about, the throne of David, reigning over Jacob and a Kingdom with no end?
These are all references to Christ’s millennial kingdom, this has not happened… yet.
One day yet future, Christ is going to catch away all born again believers, they are all going to be caught up to Heaven, then God is going to judge the entire earth during a period of 7 years, then Christ is going to come back and destroy the armies of the world and then “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
I have said it once; I have said it a 100 times we born again believers are on the winning side of these future events.
Many prophecies of Christ in the OT have been fulfilled literally, but not all of them have been fulfilled because they are yet future.
If most of them have been fulfilled literally, then we can trust that the rest of them will be fulfilled literally, which would include His 2nd coming and HIS millennial reign.
Jesus Christ is coming back, folks.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
The conception of this child was unlike any other, notice the bible says “that holy thing “holy means set apart, this child is the set apart child of all children that has ever been born.
Your view of Jesus, does it line up with what the angel said to Mary?
Angel to Joseph
Matthew 1:18-24 (KJV)
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Here again we see the name of Jesus, in this scripture it tells us what the name means, “thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. “ it means savior.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
I like this, this tells us that Joseph was a bible believer, how do I know this.
Why else would the angel say “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying.”
The angel says this is the child that the bible said would come.
Here this child is, in the womb of your soon to be wife.
What did Joseph do after the angel showed him the scriptures, he obeyed.
What a great example for us today, if it is in the scriptures than that should be good enough for us.
Jesus was prophesied, promised, pictured and preached throughout the Old Testament.
Acts 3:18 (KJV)
18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Jesus Christ is the one that all of the prophets spoke of that would come, HE is the messiah, the Christ and the Son of God.
The angel is saying to Joseph HE is that one that should come.
Why do people look for another, HE has already come, believe on HIM.
The prophet, the angel is speaking of is Isaiah and comes from Isaiah 7.14.
What does this prophecy say of Christ, “they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us”.
Jesus is God!!!
Angels to the Shepherds
Unlike the other two angelic encounters, this one happens right after Jesus is born.
Luke 2:8-14 (KJV)
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. We are looking at how the angels testify of Christ.
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. We are looking at how the angels testify of Christ.
The first thing we see that the announcement of HIS birth is” good tidings of great joy”, why?
Because they were awaiting HIS birth, they were awaiting there Savior, their Christ and their Messiah.
Not only was it to be good tidings of great joy to the Jews, but to all people.
There are a lot of people who think that they are excluded from the message of Jesus Christ.
They will say I am Muslim, I am Jewish, I am Buddhist, I am atheist, I am a murderer, I own a bar, I am a drunkard or I am happy without religion.
We could go on and on, all the different excuses we get for people not wanting to hear the message, but the angel proclaimed this Jesus Christ “shall be to all people”.
Remember when God spoke to Abraham and God said “in thy seed shall all nations of the world be blessed”
I do not care where you come from, who you are, but the message of Jesus Christ is for you.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace.
What is this peace?
Did the birth of Christ bring an end to all conflict?
No, but the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ promises to end the conflict that exists between God and man, for those who believe.
This conflict is sin; we are born into this world with corrupted and deceitful hearts.
We are all born sinners, born with a sinful nature and we sin.
God has a standard of righteousness, a standard of what is right; we all have personally offended God’s righteousness, His standard.
God tells us not to murder, not to hate, not to steal, God tells us to always honor our fathers and mothers and not to lie.
We could go on and on, this is just some of HIS standard of righteousness.
When we offend God’s standard, the bible calls this sin and the bible tells us the wage for our sin.
Romans 6:23 (KJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Many of men have tried to end this conflict with the making of idols, with the laying down of laws, with the setting up of religious systems.
None of these things have worked and they cannot work because they are not God’s way.
Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone brings this peace.
The angel said that this is God’s good will toward men.
John 3:16 (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
We also call this grace.
The grace of God is good; do you know of this grace that I am talking?
Do you know this peace I am talking about?
If you do not, then get saved and get saved today!!!
Invitation
And If you had the wrong view of Jesus Christ, REPENT!!!
HE is more than the founder of Christianity, HE is more than a good man, a wise man, and HE is more than a prophet.
HE is Christ the Lord, He is God, and He is the Saviour of the World.
We Christians like to call HIM our Lord and Saviour.
Let me ask you Christian…
Can HE really be your Lord if you don’t read HIS words?
Is He really your Lord if you are not serving in one of His churches?
Is He really your Lord if you never talk to Him?
Is He really your Lord if you never tell others about Him?
Is He really your Saviour, if you are entangled in habitual sin?
Who is Jesus Christ to you!!!
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