1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,300 I really hope that you’ve got a good glimpse by now of why the Old Testament is so important. 2 00:00:07,300 –> 00:00:11,100 A lot of people have the idea that the Bible is really two books and that somehow it’s 3 00:00:11,100 –> 00:00:15,220 got two different messages or even that there are two different versions of God in there—you 4 00:00:15,220 –> 00:00:19,059 know, the Old Testament and the New Testament, the nasty one, and the good one. 5 00:00:19,059 –> 00:00:25,040 If you’ve ever thought that, then try and put that completely and utterly out of your 6 00:00:25,040 –> 00:00:26,040 mind. 7 00:00:26,040 –> 00:00:32,180 The whole of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation is one story, and you can think of it as being 8 00:00:32,180 –> 00:00:36,299 rather like a two-act play—the Old Testament and the New Testament. 9 00:00:36,299 –> 00:00:42,279 But I want you to think for just a moment what it would be like if you arrived to see 10 00:00:42,279 –> 00:00:48,380 a play and you were so late that you missed the whole of the first half. 11 00:00:48,380 –> 00:00:52,639 You just arrived there in the foyer, in the interval, and everyone’s talking about what 12 00:00:52,720 –> 00:00:54,279 they saw in the first half. 13 00:00:54,279 –> 00:00:56,340 You’ve missed the whole thing. 14 00:00:56,340 –> 00:01:02,119 You go in at the beginning of Act Two, and the curtain goes up on the stage, and as the 15 00:01:02,119 –> 00:01:09,459 curtain goes up, you see that there’s a baby, and there’s a cradle, and there are 16 00:01:09,459 –> 00:01:16,120 animals, and there’s straw, and in front of you in the audience there’s a man and 17 00:01:16,120 –> 00:01:21,559 a woman, and she nudges him and she says, he’ll be the one. 18 00:01:21,559 –> 00:01:25,760 He’ll be the answer to the problem. 19 00:01:25,760 –> 00:01:30,400 But you have absolutely no idea what she’s talking about because you don’t know what 20 00:01:30,400 –> 00:01:32,440 the problem is. 21 00:01:32,440 –> 00:01:35,739 You don’t know what this story is all about. 22 00:01:35,739 –> 00:01:44,320 All that you can see is a baby, a manger, some cattle and some straw. 23 00:01:44,360 –> 00:01:49,720 You have no frame of reference to know what this actually means. 24 00:01:49,720 –> 00:01:55,139 Now that’s why it’s so important for us to discover the Bible’s story as God actually 25 00:01:55,139 –> 00:01:57,320 gives it to us. 26 00:01:57,320 –> 00:02:03,320 Because as we follow through the Old Testament, we’re given the frame of reference in which 27 00:02:03,320 –> 00:02:10,899 we can understand who Jesus is, why we need him and why it was that he came into the world. 28 00:02:10,899 –> 00:02:15,240 And that’s why in these first four keys, we’ve walked through the Old Testament and we’ve 29 00:02:15,240 –> 00:02:21,139 discovered from the Old Testament who God is as he introduces himself to us, who we 30 00:02:21,139 –> 00:02:27,000 are as he tells us, you are made in my image, the life that he calls us to lead that we’ve 31 00:02:27,000 –> 00:02:29,279 discovered from the Ten Commandments. 32 00:02:29,279 –> 00:02:34,179 The way in which we would be brought back into a right relationship with him through 33 00:02:34,199 –> 00:02:42,259 a sacrifice and the fact that God will offer to us the wonderful gift of life itself and 34 00:02:42,259 –> 00:02:47,160 offer it to us freely and that we cannot buy it from him. 35 00:02:47,160 –> 00:02:51,779 Now all of these things have been things that we have learned from the Old Testament, and 36 00:02:51,779 –> 00:02:57,500 they’re the background, the foundation for our understanding of who Jesus Christ really 37 00:02:57,500 –> 00:02:59,020 is. 38 00:02:59,020 –> 00:03:04,100 Now we got up to the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament, and so let me try and tell 39 00:03:04,100 –> 00:03:08,960 you what happened after his time in just a few words. 40 00:03:08,960 –> 00:03:15,399 God put out his great invitation to come to him, and some people responded. 41 00:03:15,399 –> 00:03:17,960 But there were many who didn’t and turned to idols. 42 00:03:17,960 –> 00:03:22,639 God warned them that if they did that, they would be overrun by their enemies. 43 00:03:22,660 –> 00:03:30,220 And sure enough, in the year 586, before Jesus Christ was born, the Babylonian army invaded 44 00:03:30,220 –> 00:03:37,639 the southern area of Israel that remained the two tribes in the south around Jerusalem. 45 00:03:37,639 –> 00:03:45,979 Many died, a few fled, and the rest were taken off as exiles, prisoners of war really, into 46 00:03:45,979 –> 00:03:46,979 Babylon. 47 00:03:46,979 –> 00:03:53,020 And it was there that God’s people began to repent and to seek Him in a new way. 48 00:03:53,020 –> 00:03:59,080 After 70 years in which they were taken away from their home, God’s people came back. 49 00:03:59,080 –> 00:04:03,860 They rebuilt the City of Jerusalem, and they rebuilt another temple in the same place as 50 00:04:03,860 –> 00:04:07,160 the old one that had been destroyed. 51 00:04:07,160 –> 00:04:13,759 But the Ark of the Covenant, remember the Ark that was at the center of the most holy 52 00:04:13,759 –> 00:04:20,559 place—the center of worship where the sacrifice was offered—the Ark of the Covenant was 53 00:04:20,559 –> 00:04:22,320 lost. 54 00:04:22,320 –> 00:04:27,880 And so, all they had when they rebuilt the temple was just a rock where the Ark of the 55 00:04:27,880 –> 00:04:28,880 Covenant should have been. 56 00:04:28,880 –> 00:04:35,079 It’s never been found, and there must be great significance in that. 57 00:04:35,079 –> 00:04:39,359 When the new temple was opened, not only was there no Ark of the Covenant as there had 58 00:04:39,459 –> 00:04:46,540 been before, but the cloud of God’s presence that had come to the first temple—this visible 59 00:04:46,540 –> 00:04:51,959 manifestation of God’s immediate presence—that didn’t happen anymore. 60 00:04:51,959 –> 00:04:59,040 And so, you had people longing for an intimate experience of God and wondering how that could 61 00:04:59,040 –> 00:05:01,239 come to them. 62 00:05:01,239 –> 00:05:07,059 And nothing happened after that for 400 long years. 63 00:05:07,059 –> 00:05:11,899 And it’s very significant that at the end of the Old Testament Story—the last of the 64 00:05:11,899 –> 00:05:16,859 prophets who wrote in the Old Testament—was by the name of Malachi. 65 00:05:16,859 –> 00:05:24,140 And at the end of Malachi, the very last word in the Old Testament is the word curse. 66 00:05:24,140 –> 00:05:28,019 Extraordinary to have a book that ends with the word curse. 67 00:05:28,019 –> 00:05:30,799 But that is the last word in the Old Testament. 68 00:05:30,799 –> 00:05:35,540 In other words, throughout the whole of the Old Testament Story we’ve been told about 69 00:05:35,579 –> 00:05:40,559 a problem, and we’ve certainly been told about a promise of what God will wonderfully 70 00:05:40,559 –> 00:05:41,559 do. 71 00:05:41,559 –> 00:05:48,440 But the problem hasn’t been solved, and the promise has not yet been fulfilled. 72 00:05:48,440 –> 00:05:55,440 The curse that came into human experience at the beginning of the Old Testament still 73 00:05:55,440 –> 00:05:59,980 stands there and is the last word of the Old Testament. 74 00:06:00,459 –> 00:06:06,059 So, at the end of Act One, we’ve understood what the problem is. 75 00:06:06,059 –> 00:06:10,519 We’ve got this knowledge of evil, and we’ve been evicted from this place of the presence 76 00:06:10,519 –> 00:06:12,000 and the blessing of God. 77 00:06:12,000 –> 00:06:15,399 We know that there’s this great promise that God will do something. 78 00:06:15,399 –> 00:06:17,200 He will send a Deliverer. 79 00:06:17,200 –> 00:06:21,559 There will have to be a sacrifice, but he will bring us back into a relationship with 80 00:06:21,559 –> 00:06:24,440 himself and he will deliver us from evil. 81 00:06:24,440 –> 00:06:26,079 But it’s not yet happened. 82 00:06:26,079 –> 00:06:29,079 The curse still stands. 83 00:06:29,100 –> 00:06:34,339 And so, as we come into the New Testament, the question is, what is God going to do? 84 00:06:34,339 –> 00:06:37,359 How is he going to fulfill the promise? 85 00:06:37,359 –> 00:06:41,040 How is he going to answer the problem? 86 00:06:41,040 –> 00:06:45,480 Now, let me give you one more picture before we come to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. 87 00:06:45,480 –> 00:06:52,579 I find this very helpful just in terms of getting a framework of what the Bible is really 88 00:06:52,579 –> 00:06:53,579 all about. 89 00:06:54,299 –> 00:07:00,739 I want you to imagine that you are living on a large and a beautiful island. 90 00:07:00,760 –> 00:07:08,059 Your home is on a magnificent beach that stretches for miles and miles. 91 00:07:08,059 –> 00:07:12,739 Life is good on the island and you’re happy there. 92 00:07:12,739 –> 00:07:16,380 From time to time, you’ve been able to explore the island, and as you’ve gone around, you’ve 93 00:07:16,380 –> 00:07:20,799 found that around this island because it’s quite large, there are different cultures, 94 00:07:21,799 –> 00:07:30,299 languages, but one thing that all the islanders have in common is that we’re all surrounded 95 00:07:30,299 –> 00:07:32,760 by the ocean. 96 00:07:32,760 –> 00:07:38,959 Over the years, there have been many discussions amongst islanders about what may lie beyond 97 00:07:38,959 –> 00:07:39,959 the horizon. 98 00:07:39,959 –> 00:07:46,559 We look out to the ocean and we wonder what may be beyond it, but nobody really knows. 99 00:07:46,559 –> 00:07:50,660 Discussions never really get very far, and frankly, a lot of people aren’t very interested 100 00:07:50,660 –> 00:07:54,799 in what is beyond the horizon, because we all live busy lives on the island and we’re 101 00:07:54,799 –> 00:07:57,320 all perfectly happy there. 102 00:07:57,320 –> 00:08:00,920 The island is breathtakingly beautiful. 103 00:08:00,920 –> 00:08:08,220 Many people have spent hours studying the plant life of the island, the weather systems 104 00:08:08,220 –> 00:08:13,640 of the island, the rock formations of the island. 105 00:08:13,640 –> 00:08:18,519 Islanders have spent a great deal of time on family life in the island. 106 00:08:19,179 –> 00:08:22,660 In fact, you can go to seminars about that. 107 00:08:22,660 –> 00:08:27,899 You can also learn about having a healthy marriage on the island. 108 00:08:27,899 –> 00:08:30,519 And that’s a good thing. 109 00:08:30,519 –> 00:08:36,239 The islanders are all descended from castaways. 110 00:08:36,239 –> 00:08:43,119 We all got there because some time ago castaways were washed up on the island after a great 111 00:08:43,119 –> 00:08:44,940 disaster. 112 00:08:44,940 –> 00:08:50,820 It happened so long ago that many islanders know little or nothing about it. 113 00:08:50,820 –> 00:08:54,359 In recent years, actually, there’s been a growing movement among some islanders who 114 00:08:54,359 –> 00:08:59,359 have questioned whether there ever really was a shipwreck. 115 00:08:59,359 –> 00:09:05,820 They have put forward the idea that we are all really natural islanders, that we have 116 00:09:05,820 –> 00:09:12,000 been there from the beginning of time, and that this is naturally where we belong. 117 00:09:12,039 –> 00:09:16,760 These folks, of course, don’t like the idea that we may have been descended from castaways, 118 00:09:16,760 –> 00:09:20,000 not least because it would mean that we were in the wrong place, and we were never intended 119 00:09:20,000 –> 00:09:23,859 to be here but rather somewhere else. 120 00:09:23,859 –> 00:09:28,900 One thing that has worried some people is that in the center of the island, there is 121 00:09:28,900 –> 00:09:35,119 a high mountain with what looks like a crater at the top. 122 00:09:35,119 –> 00:09:39,119 Some people say it’s a volcano. 123 00:09:39,119 –> 00:09:44,539 From time to time it certainly seems to have thrown up ash, and there are stories of some 124 00:09:44,539 –> 00:09:48,900 people who got near to it and got burned. 125 00:09:48,900 –> 00:09:53,440 But the horrendous scenarios that have been spoken about by previous generations, that 126 00:09:53,440 –> 00:09:58,280 one day this may go up, and that we would all be obliterated has never happened, and 127 00:09:58,280 –> 00:10:03,840 so now most people have come to the conclusion that it simply never will. 128 00:10:03,840 –> 00:10:09,960 Well early one morning you go out and you’re strolling on the beach, and you see a reflection 129 00:10:09,960 –> 00:10:11,119 in the sand. 130 00:10:11,119 –> 00:10:16,900 Your eye is drawn to it, and when you go there you see that there is a green bottle that 131 00:10:16,900 –> 00:10:19,320 has been washed up on the shore. 132 00:10:19,320 –> 00:10:25,119 You pick up the bottle and inside there’s a message, and it says, 133 00:10:25,320 –> 00:10:28,280 Help is coming. 134 00:10:28,280 –> 00:10:30,400 Strange you think? 135 00:10:30,400 –> 00:10:33,119 Never seen anything like this before? 136 00:10:33,119 –> 00:10:35,320 Help!? 137 00:10:35,320 –> 00:10:39,479 What kind of help could I need on this island? 138 00:10:39,479 –> 00:10:44,260 A few weeks later you’re out walking again, and you see another bottle with another message. 139 00:10:44,260 –> 00:10:48,719 It says, Help will arrive soon. 140 00:10:48,719 –> 00:10:50,000 This is really strange. 141 00:10:50,000 –> 00:10:55,340 Two bottles with the same message, where could they have come from? 142 00:10:55,340 –> 00:10:59,320 Your curiosity is aroused, and now you begin to go walking the beach regularly. 143 00:10:59,320 –> 00:11:03,099 You’re looking for bottles, and sure enough you find about a dozen of them. 144 00:11:03,099 –> 00:11:05,659 All with the same message, help is coming. 145 00:11:05,659 –> 00:11:06,659 Help is on the way. 146 00:11:06,659 –> 00:11:10,880 I am sending help. 147 00:11:10,880 –> 00:11:15,820 You begin to be unnerved by your discoveries. 148 00:11:15,820 –> 00:11:17,320 This is a beautiful island. 149 00:11:17,580 –> 00:11:20,840 You live a full and satisfying life. 150 00:11:20,840 –> 00:11:22,400 You have a wonderful marriage. 151 00:11:22,400 –> 00:11:24,000 You have kids at home. 152 00:11:24,000 –> 00:11:31,799 But the bottles seem to suggest that you and everyone you love faces some kind of problem. 153 00:11:31,799 –> 00:11:35,320 You can’t even imagine what it would be. 154 00:11:35,320 –> 00:11:37,760 So you talk to your neighbor whose name is Bill. 155 00:11:37,760 –> 00:11:42,219 Bill walks the beach often, and you say to him, Bill I’ve found some bottles, have you 156 00:11:42,219 –> 00:11:44,799 ever seen a bottle on the beach? 157 00:11:44,799 –> 00:11:46,340 No, says Bill. 158 00:11:46,859 –> 00:11:48,200 Why would you ask? 159 00:11:48,200 –> 00:11:51,400 Well, you say, a few days ago I found one. 160 00:11:51,400 –> 00:11:55,500 And then I found another, and there are messages in them. 161 00:11:55,500 –> 00:11:58,320 The messages are all the same. 162 00:11:58,320 –> 00:12:04,979 I’m beginning to think that someone is out there beyond the horizon, and they’re sending 163 00:12:04,979 –> 00:12:08,599 a message trying to communicate with us. 164 00:12:08,599 –> 00:12:13,039 They’re telling us that we’re in some sort of danger here, and that they are going to 165 00:12:13,039 –> 00:12:14,760 do something about it. 166 00:12:15,200 –> 00:12:17,940 Well, Sister Will, I think that’s rather fanciful. 167 00:12:17,940 –> 00:12:21,500 It’s much more likely that their messages were written by some kids around the other 168 00:12:21,500 –> 00:12:22,500 side of the island. 169 00:12:22,500 –> 00:12:27,520 They threw the bottles out to sea, and the current just drew them back in. 170 00:12:27,520 –> 00:12:31,539 But somehow you can’t get the message of the bottles out of your mind. 171 00:12:31,539 –> 00:12:34,760 Help is coming. 172 00:12:34,760 –> 00:12:43,260 Now, the story of the islanders I find helpful in giving us the big picture of the Bible story. 173 00:12:43,340 –> 00:12:49,000 Like the islanders descended from castaways, the Bible is telling us you are not where 174 00:12:49,000 –> 00:12:51,679 God intended you to be. 175 00:12:51,679 –> 00:12:59,119 God created you to know Him and to enjoy Him and to live for eternity in His presence. 176 00:12:59,119 –> 00:13:01,900 But there was a great disaster. 177 00:13:01,900 –> 00:13:09,299 Sin ruptured as we saw the relationship between the first man and the first woman and God. 178 00:13:09,299 –> 00:13:15,460 And as a result, our parents were driven out of paradise, out of the place of God’s 179 00:13:15,460 –> 00:13:20,299 blessing, and after they sinned, they found themselves in a fallen world which for all 180 00:13:20,299 –> 00:13:25,460 its beauty has a curse that is hanging over it. 181 00:13:25,460 –> 00:13:30,039 Right from the beginning, God as we’ve seen has promised that help will come. 182 00:13:30,039 –> 00:13:34,179 Over hundreds of years in the Old Testament, He repeated the same story. 183 00:13:34,179 –> 00:13:43,239 But someone will come and rescue you from a danger that you do not yet fully understand. 184 00:13:43,239 –> 00:13:48,080 And our problem, you see, is not about how do I find a more fulfilling life in the island 185 00:13:48,080 –> 00:13:49,700 of this world. 186 00:13:49,700 –> 00:13:56,080 The problem is that the island itself is passing away. 187 00:13:56,080 –> 00:14:01,979 The island on which you were born, this world in which we live, is not the place to which 188 00:14:02,099 –> 00:14:04,419 you ultimately belong. 189 00:14:04,419 –> 00:14:10,840 You were born for the mainland that you and I have never yet seen. 190 00:14:10,840 –> 00:14:17,840 But the promise of God is that He will come from the mainland to the island in order to 191 00:14:19,020 –> 00:14:25,059 make a way for us to get from the island to the mainland. 192 00:14:25,059 –> 00:14:28,239 And that is why Jesus Christ came into the world. 193 00:14:28,239 –> 00:14:33,520 He has come from the mainland of heaven, if we may use that picture, to the island of 194 00:14:33,520 –> 00:14:34,559 this world. 195 00:14:34,559 –> 00:14:41,559 He is the help that God has promised in the light of the problem that we face all through 196 00:14:43,080 –> 00:14:44,320 the Bible story. 197 00:14:44,320 –> 00:14:50,400 Now, I want to say three very simple things that will help us to understand who Jesus 198 00:14:50,400 –> 00:14:52,380 Christ is. 199 00:14:52,380 –> 00:14:55,200 For the Bible tells us three things about Him. 200 00:14:55,200 –> 00:14:57,460 Number one, that He is God. 201 00:14:57,559 –> 00:15:03,940 Number two, that He is man, and number three, that He is holy. 202 00:15:03,940 –> 00:15:10,940 Let me just tell you the story as the Bible sets it out for us. 203 00:15:11,099 –> 00:15:14,820 It all began with the initiative of God. 204 00:15:14,820 –> 00:15:21,820 Luke tells us that God sent the Angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to have a 205 00:15:22,619 –> 00:15:29,619 virgin pledge to be married to a man whose name was Joseph and the virgin’s name was 206 00:15:30,140 –> 00:15:31,020 Mary. 207 00:15:31,020 –> 00:15:34,940 Now notice that this was entirely the initiative of God. 208 00:15:34,940 –> 00:15:41,539 Mary was simply a young woman, she was preparing for marriage to a man named Joseph, and she 209 00:15:41,539 –> 00:15:44,219 was a virgin. 210 00:15:44,219 –> 00:15:51,179 The Angel spoke to her, ìYou will be with child,î He said, ìand you will give birth 211 00:15:51,179 –> 00:15:59,059 to a son and you are to call him Jesus.î Mary, of course, did not know how she could 212 00:15:59,059 –> 00:16:03,460 possibly have a child given the fact that she was a virgin. 213 00:16:03,460 –> 00:16:10,859 ìHow can this be,î she said, and that question takes us to the heart of the greatest miracle 214 00:16:10,859 –> 00:16:13,500 in the whole of the Bible. 215 00:16:13,500 –> 00:16:22,340 Gabriel said this, ìThe Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High 216 00:16:22,340 –> 00:16:31,840 will overshadow you, so the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.î 217 00:16:31,840 –> 00:16:39,940 Now, what I want you to notice is that Mary’s son was born as the result of a direct initiative 218 00:16:39,940 –> 00:16:41,619 of God. 219 00:16:42,159 –> 00:16:45,859 Joseph had absolutely nothing to do with it. 220 00:16:45,859 –> 00:16:49,219 The Bible is repeatedly clear about that fact. 221 00:16:49,219 –> 00:16:51,539 Joseph was an outsider. 222 00:16:51,539 –> 00:16:55,919 He was a passive observer to the whole miraculous event. 223 00:16:55,919 –> 00:17:00,419 In fact, if God had not told him through a dream what was happening, he would not have 224 00:17:00,419 –> 00:17:02,299 had the faintest idea. 225 00:17:02,299 –> 00:17:04,540 God completely bypassed him. 226 00:17:04,540 –> 00:17:07,459 He made no contribution whatsoever. 227 00:17:08,359 –> 00:17:15,660 Now that is very important because the Bible contains stories of other miraculous births. 228 00:17:15,660 –> 00:17:22,719 For example, it was a miracle that Sarah, when she was very old, gave birth to Isaac. 229 00:17:22,719 –> 00:17:26,319 Or Elizabeth giving birth to John the Baptist. 230 00:17:26,319 –> 00:17:28,199 And there are other examples. 231 00:17:28,260 –> 00:17:38,719 But in all of these other examples, God brought about a miracle that still involved the union 232 00:17:38,719 –> 00:17:41,560 of a father and a mother. 233 00:17:41,560 –> 00:17:48,000 The uniqueness of this event was that Mary was a virgin. 234 00:17:48,000 –> 00:17:52,020 That Joseph had absolutely nothing to do with the child that she bore. 235 00:17:52,020 –> 00:17:57,800 Not only did he have no union with her before the child was conceived, he had no union with 236 00:17:57,800 –> 00:18:02,060 her until after the child was born. 237 00:18:02,060 –> 00:18:10,040 In other words the life in Mary’s womb came to be there by a creative miracle of God 238 00:18:10,040 –> 00:18:18,520 that is beautifully described in the Angels words, The Holy Spirit will come upon you 239 00:18:18,520 –> 00:18:23,880 and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 240 00:18:23,979 –> 00:18:29,579 So that the one to be born will be the Holy One of God. 241 00:18:29,579 –> 00:18:35,060 Now it’s very significant that Mary was not told to do anything, she also is entirely 242 00:18:35,060 –> 00:18:42,060 passive, what is happening here is that God is doing something, God is acting, God takes 243 00:18:42,060 –> 00:18:51,020 the initiative and Mary’s incredible privilege is that God’s greatest miracle takes place 244 00:18:51,680 –> 00:18:55,680 in her own body. 245 00:18:55,680 –> 00:18:58,819 Now human history has thrown up many remarkable leaders. 246 00:18:58,819 –> 00:19:01,719 The Old Testament, of course, is full of them. 247 00:19:01,719 –> 00:19:06,380 But the point of what is happening here is that God is not waiting for a Deliverer to 248 00:19:06,380 –> 00:19:12,140 arise from the human race by the union of a father and a mother. 249 00:19:12,140 –> 00:19:17,400 God is giving the Deliverer, in whom all his promises will be fulfilled, and the problem 250 00:19:17,400 –> 00:19:19,099 will be resolved. 251 00:19:19,099 –> 00:19:23,619 He is giving this Deliverer to the human race. 252 00:19:23,619 –> 00:19:27,660 There’s all the difference in the world. 253 00:19:27,660 –> 00:19:36,699 The Lord Jesus Christ is described as the Son of the Most High, as the Son of God, as 254 00:19:36,699 –> 00:19:40,180 God with us. 255 00:19:40,180 –> 00:19:43,579 The New Testament goes on to speak of him this way. 256 00:19:43,859 –> 00:19:48,359 He was in very nature God. 257 00:19:48,359 –> 00:19:54,060 But he didn’t count his equality with God something to be grasped onto. 258 00:19:54,060 –> 00:20:01,160 But he humbled himself, made himself nothing and took on the very form of a servant. 259 00:20:01,160 –> 00:20:05,839 Now this is an incredible thing. 260 00:20:05,839 –> 00:20:12,479 Your life began when you were conceived within your mother’s world. 261 00:20:12,579 –> 00:20:16,780 Before that, you did not exist. 262 00:20:16,780 –> 00:20:25,319 God used the union of your father and your mother to bring you into being. 263 00:20:25,319 –> 00:20:28,239 Before that you were not. 264 00:20:28,239 –> 00:20:32,560 And without that, you would not have been. 265 00:20:32,560 –> 00:20:37,140 And Karen and I enjoy teasing our sons about this. 266 00:20:37,380 –> 00:20:44,579 I say, you’ve got to realize, I say, that if I had not married your mother, you would 267 00:20:44,579 –> 00:20:46,660 not have been. 268 00:20:46,660 –> 00:20:49,140 You would have been some other kid. 269 00:20:49,140 –> 00:20:53,280 You would not have existed. 270 00:20:53,280 –> 00:20:54,619 This is an incredible mystery. 271 00:20:54,619 –> 00:20:58,660 In fact, it boggles the mind if you begin to think of it too much. 272 00:20:58,660 –> 00:21:06,780 But you come to be in a miracle of God’s grace because of the union of your father 273 00:21:06,780 –> 00:21:12,479 and mother, and without that union, you would not exist. 274 00:21:12,479 –> 00:21:18,880 Now that is true of every person except for our Lord Jesus Christ. 275 00:21:18,880 –> 00:21:26,839 He did not come into existence the day that he was born in the manger, for he already 276 00:21:27,540 –> 00:21:31,140 shared the life of the Father in heaven. 277 00:21:31,140 –> 00:21:33,479 This is what John says at the beginning of his gospel, 278 00:21:33,479 –> 00:21:36,000 in the beginning was the word. 279 00:21:36,000 –> 00:21:41,520 It is another name that’s being used of the son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. 280 00:21:41,520 –> 00:21:47,380 The word was with God, and the word was God. 281 00:21:47,380 –> 00:21:53,939 And this word took flesh and lived among us. 282 00:21:53,939 –> 00:21:58,780 The one who always shared the glory of the Father came to us. 283 00:21:58,780 –> 00:22:03,619 He didn’t arise out of the human race, coming into existence through the union of a father 284 00:22:03,619 –> 00:22:04,619 and a mother. 285 00:22:04,619 –> 00:22:07,680 He came to the human race. 286 00:22:07,680 –> 00:22:14,880 The one who is at the very right hand of the Father, taking human flesh through the initiative 287 00:22:14,880 –> 00:22:21,739 and a miracle of God and being born into the world as a human baby. 288 00:22:21,739 –> 00:22:26,560 Now that’s the first thing that we must grasp about the Lord Jesus Christ. 289 00:22:26,560 –> 00:22:30,739 The New Testament speaks of it clearly all the way through. 290 00:22:30,739 –> 00:22:32,680 He is God. 291 00:22:32,680 –> 00:22:34,640 He is God. 292 00:22:34,640 –> 00:22:38,599 Now why is it important that He is God? 293 00:22:38,599 –> 00:22:48,359 For this reason, only God can reconcile men and women to God. 294 00:22:48,359 –> 00:22:53,880 Only God can reconcile men and women to God. 295 00:22:53,880 –> 00:22:59,680 If He is not God, He cannot bring us to God. 296 00:22:59,680 –> 00:23:05,000 It is the fact that He is God and man in his own person that enables Him as it were to 297 00:23:05,000 –> 00:23:06,800 bring the two together. 298 00:23:06,800 –> 00:23:12,959 That is why it is so important in the New Testament that he is God. 299 00:23:12,959 –> 00:23:15,119 God with us. 300 00:23:15,920 –> 00:23:18,359 Now here’s the second thing. 301 00:23:18,359 –> 00:23:22,479 Jesus Christ is fully man. 302 00:23:22,479 –> 00:23:27,640 Once we have grasped that He is God, it is every bit as important for us to understand 303 00:23:27,640 –> 00:23:28,760 that He became a man. 304 00:23:28,760 –> 00:23:30,819 He became an islander. 305 00:23:30,819 –> 00:23:36,040 Now, nothing like this has ever happened before or ever happened since. 306 00:23:36,040 –> 00:23:42,339 Remember we’ve already seen that in the Old Testament, there were occasions when God appeared 307 00:23:42,540 –> 00:23:44,319 in a visible form. 308 00:23:44,319 –> 00:23:46,560 But these appearances were only temporary. 309 00:23:46,560 –> 00:23:51,520 You remember we referred to them as being theophanies, and you could think of these 310 00:23:51,520 –> 00:23:57,319 as being rather like an actor who dresses up to play a part and then when that part 311 00:23:57,319 –> 00:24:03,500 is over, he takes off the costume, throws it back in the dressing room and goes away. 312 00:24:03,520 –> 00:24:05,359 That was how it was in the Old Testament. 313 00:24:05,359 –> 00:24:11,880 God appeared as a man on various occasions. 314 00:24:11,880 –> 00:24:14,959 Walked in this world. 315 00:24:14,959 –> 00:24:19,160 But in the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, something entirely different is happening. 316 00:24:19,160 –> 00:24:24,079 It’s not God appearing as a man, it is God becoming a man. 317 00:24:24,079 –> 00:24:30,719 The Word took flesh and lived among us. 318 00:24:30,780 –> 00:24:35,359 Why is it important that Jesus became a man? 319 00:24:35,359 –> 00:24:36,979 Answer? 320 00:24:36,979 –> 00:24:43,420 Because only a man can bear the punishment for man’s sin. 321 00:24:43,420 –> 00:24:46,020 And of course, that’s why he came into the world. 322 00:24:46,020 –> 00:24:54,920 He came embracing divinity and humanity to bring the two together in himself. 323 00:24:54,939 –> 00:25:02,760 And because he is unique in his nature, he is unique in what he is able to do for you 324 00:25:02,760 –> 00:25:04,819 and for me. 325 00:25:04,819 –> 00:25:11,599 Now I know that this mystery of how God and man can combine in one person, how God can 326 00:25:11,599 –> 00:25:17,060 be a man in the person of Jesus Christ, is indeed the greatest mystery in the whole of 327 00:25:17,060 –> 00:25:18,060 the Bible. 328 00:25:18,060 –> 00:25:21,699 I don’t expect anyone of us here to be able to fathom it. 329 00:25:22,099 –> 00:25:25,619 Dr. Jim Packer puts it helpfully when he says this, 330 00:25:25,619 –> 00:25:34,839 The Incarnation is in itself an unfathomable mystery. 331 00:25:34,839 –> 00:25:37,739 In other words, what he’s saying is don’t expect that you’re going to be able to fully 332 00:25:37,739 –> 00:25:40,060 understand this. 333 00:25:40,060 –> 00:25:48,619 But he says it makes sense of everything else that the New Testament contains. 334 00:25:48,619 –> 00:25:51,020 It really does. 335 00:25:51,900 –> 00:26:00,780 When you see that in Jesus Christ, God has become a man, then everything else that is 336 00:26:00,780 –> 00:26:05,140 in the New Testament will begin to fit into place. 337 00:26:05,140 –> 00:26:11,880 If he is indeed the God-Man who has come as the one who fulfills the promise and answers 338 00:26:11,880 –> 00:26:16,479 the problem, then of course He’s going to say, 339 00:26:16,479 –> 00:26:20,780 No one can come to the Father except by me. 340 00:26:20,780 –> 00:26:26,500 Of course, if He chooses to lay down His life, He is going to rise from the dead. 341 00:26:26,500 –> 00:26:31,839 Of course He will be in the position of being able to do for everyone who comes to Him what 342 00:26:31,839 –> 00:26:34,280 no one else in all the world could do. 343 00:26:34,280 –> 00:26:40,800 If this is true—if this is who He is—then everything else in the New Testament begins 344 00:26:40,800 –> 00:26:42,900 to fit into place. 345 00:26:42,900 –> 00:26:49,859 I may not be able to fathom the mystery of how God became a man, 346 00:26:49,859 –> 00:26:56,979 but receiving what He has told me about this in the Bible makes sense of everything else 347 00:26:56,979 –> 00:26:58,780 that God says. 348 00:26:58,780 –> 00:26:59,780 And C.S. 349 00:26:59,780 –> 00:27:03,160 Lewis has, I think, a very helpful little picture about this. 350 00:27:03,160 –> 00:27:11,400 Try and imagine looking up into the sky in the brilliance of a Midsummer’s day at lunchtime. 351 00:27:11,400 –> 00:27:12,400 And C.S. 352 00:27:12,400 –> 00:27:17,160 Lewis pointing out that you can’t actually see the full radiance of the sun directly—it’s 353 00:27:17,199 –> 00:27:21,400 too blinding, it’s just too bright to look at directly. 354 00:27:21,400 –> 00:27:22,640 Lewis says this, 355 00:27:22,640 –> 00:27:29,380 “‘We believe that the sun is in the sky at midday in the summer not because we can clearly 356 00:27:29,380 –> 00:27:31,660 see the sun. 357 00:27:31,660 –> 00:27:33,520 We cannot. 358 00:27:33,520 –> 00:27:38,359 But because we can clearly see everything else.’” 359 00:27:38,520 –> 00:27:41,280 Now, you see his point. 360 00:27:41,280 –> 00:27:50,400 I may not be able to fathom how God became man in Jesus Christ, I can’t. 361 00:27:50,400 –> 00:28:00,979 But that mystery that I cannot fathom illuminates everything else making sense of it all. 362 00:28:01,000 –> 00:28:05,859 I cannot see the sun in midday, but I know it’s there, 363 00:28:05,859 –> 00:28:07,920 because I can see everything else. 364 00:28:07,920 –> 00:28:12,060 He’s God, he’s man. 365 00:28:12,060 –> 00:28:15,160 And here’s the last thing, he’s holy. 366 00:28:15,660 –> 00:28:17,500 Here’s the words of the angel again. 367 00:28:17,500 –> 00:28:20,180 The Holy Spirit will come upon you Mary. 368 00:28:20,180 –> 00:28:23,420 The power of the most high will overshadow you. 369 00:28:23,420 –> 00:28:30,459 So, the holy one to be born will be called the son of God. 370 00:28:30,520 –> 00:28:33,219 The holy one to be born. 371 00:28:33,699 –> 00:28:37,199 The New Testament continues to emphasize this theme, 372 00:28:37,199 –> 00:28:44,479 that Jesus Christ is like us in every respect except for one. 373 00:28:44,780 –> 00:28:46,839 He is holy. 374 00:28:46,839 –> 00:28:50,920 He’s the holy one born of God. 375 00:28:51,780 –> 00:28:53,880 And the fact that he is holy means much more 376 00:28:53,880 –> 00:28:56,819 than that he did not sin. 377 00:28:56,819 –> 00:29:00,160 He did not commit a single sin, but it’s more than that, 378 00:29:00,180 –> 00:29:03,319 he was holy in his thoughts, 379 00:29:03,319 –> 00:29:06,020 he was holy in his intentions, 380 00:29:06,020 –> 00:29:08,020 he was holy in his character, 381 00:29:08,020 –> 00:29:10,660 his nature was holy, 382 00:29:10,660 –> 00:29:12,479 he was not drawn to sin. 383 00:29:12,479 –> 00:29:15,479 He had no inner propensity to sin 384 00:29:15,479 –> 00:29:18,760 and that cannot be said of any other person 385 00:29:18,760 –> 00:29:22,079 who has ever lived in human history. 386 00:29:22,079 –> 00:29:23,859 Now, of course as soon as one says that, 387 00:29:23,880 –> 00:29:26,459 that Jesus Christ was holy, 388 00:29:26,459 –> 00:29:28,880 the question obviously arises, 389 00:29:28,979 –> 00:29:31,140 well, how then could he possibly have been tempted? 390 00:29:31,140 –> 00:29:32,880 How then can he relate in any way 391 00:29:32,880 –> 00:29:35,439 to the kind of struggles that we have in life? 392 00:29:36,239 –> 00:29:38,339 Well, two answers to that. 393 00:29:38,339 –> 00:29:41,280 First, remember that Adam and Eve 394 00:29:41,280 –> 00:29:43,579 in the garden of Eden 395 00:29:43,579 –> 00:29:45,280 did not have a sinful nature, 396 00:29:45,280 –> 00:29:46,579 they walked with God, 397 00:29:46,579 –> 00:29:48,479 but they were truly tempted 398 00:29:48,479 –> 00:29:50,079 and they failed. 399 00:29:52,099 –> 00:29:56,280 And it was similar when Jesus Christ was tempted. 400 00:29:56,280 –> 00:29:59,400 He had no propensity to sin 401 00:29:59,400 –> 00:30:01,479 within his nature, 402 00:30:01,479 –> 00:30:03,400 but he was truly tempted. 403 00:30:04,079 –> 00:30:06,180 The second thing is this, 404 00:30:06,180 –> 00:30:08,479 that only Jesus Christ knows 405 00:30:08,479 –> 00:30:10,680 the full power of temptation. 406 00:30:10,680 –> 00:30:12,180 He knows it more than you do. 407 00:30:13,199 –> 00:30:17,079 Because only the person who has withstood 408 00:30:17,079 –> 00:30:19,579 knows the full power 409 00:30:19,579 –> 00:30:22,800 of what the enemy can unleash. 410 00:30:22,800 –> 00:30:24,439 Let me give you a simple illustration 411 00:30:24,640 –> 00:30:27,280 to try and make the point clear. 412 00:30:27,280 –> 00:30:29,939 Imagine three airmen, 413 00:30:29,939 –> 00:30:32,439 and they’re flying over enemy territory 414 00:30:32,439 –> 00:30:34,339 during a war. 415 00:30:34,339 –> 00:30:36,739 Their planes are shot down 416 00:30:36,739 –> 00:30:39,140 and the three of them are captured 417 00:30:39,140 –> 00:30:40,839 and they’re taken by the enemy 418 00:30:40,839 –> 00:30:44,640 into a darkened room for interrogation. 419 00:30:44,640 –> 00:30:46,239 One by one, they are brought in 420 00:30:46,239 –> 00:30:47,939 to this awful chamber. 421 00:30:49,040 –> 00:30:51,000 The first airman gives his name, 422 00:30:51,000 –> 00:30:53,839 his rank and his serial number. 423 00:30:53,839 –> 00:30:57,239 They ask him, then, for the position of his forces. 424 00:30:57,239 –> 00:30:59,439 He knows that he cannot give this information, 425 00:30:59,439 –> 00:31:02,040 but he also knows that the enemy is cruel 426 00:31:02,040 –> 00:31:05,540 and that the enemy eventually will break him. 427 00:31:05,540 –> 00:31:08,520 So, why go through all that, he thinks. 428 00:31:08,520 –> 00:31:10,540 He tells them what he knows. 429 00:31:11,479 –> 00:31:14,040 The second airman is brought in. 430 00:31:14,040 –> 00:31:17,239 He gives his name and his rank and his serial number, 431 00:31:17,239 –> 00:31:20,640 and now they begin to pump him for information. 432 00:31:20,939 –> 00:31:24,239 He’s determined that he will not give in. 433 00:31:24,239 –> 00:31:25,939 So, the cruelty begins. 434 00:31:26,839 –> 00:31:29,400 Eventually it overwhelms him. 435 00:31:29,400 –> 00:31:32,719 He breaks, and he tells them what he knows. 436 00:31:34,680 –> 00:31:37,079 Then the third one is brought in. 437 00:31:37,079 –> 00:31:40,660 He gives his name and his rank and his serial number. 438 00:31:40,660 –> 00:31:44,180 You will not break me, he says. 439 00:31:45,560 –> 00:31:47,880 Oh, yes we will, says the interrogator. 440 00:31:47,880 –> 00:31:49,219 We have broken every person 441 00:31:49,260 –> 00:31:50,719 who has ever come into this room. 442 00:31:50,719 –> 00:31:52,859 It’s only a matter of time, you see. 443 00:31:56,599 –> 00:31:58,540 And the cruelty is unleashed. 444 00:32:00,439 –> 00:32:02,020 It’s intensified. 445 00:32:03,579 –> 00:32:05,199 It becomes unbearable. 446 00:32:06,579 –> 00:32:09,380 But still, he does not break. 447 00:32:10,719 –> 00:32:12,119 Finally, they come to a point 448 00:32:12,119 –> 00:32:14,180 where they have tried everything that they know. 449 00:32:14,180 –> 00:32:15,959 It’s no use, they say. 450 00:32:17,160 –> 00:32:18,900 He’s not like any other person. 451 00:32:18,939 –> 00:32:20,520 We’ve ever had in this room. 452 00:32:20,520 –> 00:32:21,900 We can’t break him. 453 00:32:23,839 –> 00:32:26,739 Now, which of the three airman 454 0:32:26,739 –> 00:32:29,920 faced the full force of the enemy? 455 00:32:30,660 –> 00:32:33,219 Obviously only the third. 456 00:32:35,300 –> 00:32:38,500 The only one who knows the full weight 457 00:32:38,500 –> 00:32:41,979 of the enemy’s assault is the one who did not break. 458 00:32:41,979 –> 00:32:44,839 The one who withstood that assault. 459 00:32:44,839 –> 00:32:46,180 So don’t ever think 460 00:32:46,280 –> 00:32:48,219 that Jesus Christ’s temptations 461 00:32:48,219 –> 00:32:50,219 were less than yours. 462 00:32:51,060 –> 00:32:54,400 Only Christ knows the full power of temptation 463 00:32:54,400 –> 00:32:55,959 because he is the only one 464 00:32:55,959 –> 00:32:58,859 who has withstood the full force 465 00:32:58,859 –> 00:33:00,400 of the enemy’s power. 466 00:33:02,160 –> 00:33:04,079 Now the last thing that I want to say this evening 467 00:33:04,079 –> 00:33:05,219 is simply this. 468 00:33:06,079 –> 00:33:08,599 The holiness of Jesus 469 00:33:09,760 –> 00:33:12,900 opens up a whole new world 470 00:33:12,900 –> 00:33:15,920 of possibilities for us. 471 00:33:15,920 –> 00:33:18,599 Remember, the first man and the first woman 472 00:33:18,599 –> 00:33:20,579 are tempted by this enemy 473 00:33:20,579 –> 00:33:22,400 and they go down. 474 00:33:22,400 –> 00:33:25,319 They pass on this inherent weakness to their children 475 00:33:25,319 –> 00:33:27,760 and all the way through the Bible story 476 00:33:27,760 –> 00:33:29,920 we have found generation after generation 477 00:33:29,920 –> 00:33:32,660 men and women, they go down, they go down, they go down. 478 00:33:32,660 –> 00:33:35,520 We found we all have sinned 479 00:33:35,520 –> 00:33:37,319 and fall short of the glory of God. 480 00:33:38,439 –> 00:33:41,439 Then the Lord Jesus Christ 481 00:33:41,439 –> 00:33:43,459 comes into the world 482 00:33:43,479 –> 00:33:47,880 and he faces everything that our enemy is able to throw 483 00:33:49,020 –> 00:33:50,300 and he triumphs 484 00:33:52,000 –> 00:33:53,660 and he is 485 00:33:53,660 –> 00:33:54,719 a man. 486 00:33:56,099 –> 00:33:59,199 So here for the first time in human history 487 00:33:59,199 –> 00:34:02,459 there is a human being 488 00:34:02,459 –> 00:34:06,219 who is able to rise above the power of our enemy. 489 00:34:07,219 –> 00:34:10,620 All of human history has been about the enemy 490 00:34:10,620 –> 00:34:12,520 having power over men and women 491 00:34:12,659 –> 00:34:16,360 and generation after generation across every culture 492 00:34:16,360 –> 00:34:17,860 we’ve got the knowledge of evil 493 00:34:17,860 –> 00:34:20,000 and we don’t know how to get rid of it. 494 00:34:21,060 –> 00:34:23,419 But now here is one who is different 495 00:34:23,419 –> 00:34:26,260 and he comes among us and he’s holy. 496 00:34:26,260 –> 00:34:30,260 The devil is not able to break him 497 00:34:31,699 –> 00:34:34,760 and he alone therefore is the one 498 00:34:34,760 –> 00:34:37,760 who is able to offer the deliverance 499 00:34:37,760 –> 00:34:39,959 from the knowledge of evil 500 00:34:39,979 –> 00:34:42,080 that people have been speaking about. 501 00:34:42,080 –> 00:34:43,199 What’s our problem? 502 00:34:43,199 –> 00:34:45,520 Right back to the beginning of the Bible story. 503 00:34:45,520 –> 00:34:48,860 We are alienated from the presence of God. 504 00:34:48,860 –> 00:34:52,000 We’ve got a knowledge of evil 505 00:34:52,000 –> 00:34:55,560 and now here is one who comes 506 00:34:56,439 –> 00:34:59,040 and he is God. 507 00:34:59,040 –> 00:35:01,780 He’s God with us. 508 00:35:01,780 –> 00:35:04,639 He embraces God and man together 509 00:35:04,639 –> 00:35:08,439 so that he’s able to bring us in himself 510 00:35:08,459 –> 00:35:10,000 into the knowledge of God. 511 00:35:10,000 –> 00:35:12,699 He’s able to bring us back into God’s blessing 512 00:35:13,760 –> 00:35:17,840 and he’s able to deliver us from the power of evil 513 00:35:18,879 –> 00:35:22,840 because evil has no power over him. 514 00:35:24,739 –> 00:35:29,379 We are all related to Adam and to Eve. 515 00:35:29,379 –> 00:35:33,560 Our nature, our human nature is drawn from that line 516 00:35:34,560 –> 00:35:38,479 but in Jesus Christ God is beginning a new line. 517 00:35:39,439 –> 00:35:43,300 Think what it would be if we were connected to him, 518 00:35:44,300 –> 00:35:48,120 if his power and his holiness touched you. 519 00:35:49,280 –> 00:35:52,239 That would put you in a different position 520 00:35:53,120 –> 00:35:56,000 in relation to this great struggle 521 00:35:56,000 –> 00:35:58,659 that men and women have with the enemy. 522 00:36:00,199 –> 00:36:03,439 Jesus Christ is unlike any other person 523 00:36:03,500 –> 00:36:04,780 who has ever lived, 524 00:36:05,679 –> 00:36:09,739 and that is why he is able to do for you 525 00:36:09,739 –> 00:36:13,560 what no other person, no other teaching, 526 00:36:13,560 –> 00:36:18,100 no other philosophy and no other religion can do. 527 00:36:19,379 –> 00:36:24,379 Jesus Christ is God, he’s man, and he’s holly, 528 00:36:27,639 –> 00:36:31,159 he is the fulfillment of the promise, 529 00:36:32,040 –> 00:36:36,139 and he’s the answer to the problem. 530 00:36:36,139 –> 00:36:38,600 Now let’s pray together, shall we, for a moment? 531 00:36:41,439 –> 00:36:44,919 Father, we’ve come to the central mystery 532 00:36:46,360 –> 00:36:47,840 of the whole of the Bible, 533 00:36:49,419 –> 00:36:52,179 and somehow we feel that this is a place 534 00:36:52,179 –> 00:36:53,959 where we need to worship, 535 00:36:55,600 –> 00:36:57,620 to stop and to be in awe 536 00:36:58,500 –> 00:37:02,139 of something that is beyond our comprehension 537 00:37:04,300 –> 00:37:06,020 and yet makes sense 538 00:37:07,739 –> 00:37:10,300 of everything else that You’ve told us in Your Word. 539 00:37:13,260 –> 00:37:14,439 We bow and worship 540 00:37:15,979 –> 00:37:18,260 before Your Son, our Savior, 541 00:37:18,260 –> 00:37:19,659 Jesus Christ. 542 00:37:20,979 –> 00:37:21,820 God, 543 00:37:22,979 –> 00:37:23,820 man, 544 00:37:25,379 –> 00:37:26,239 holy 545 00:37:28,580 –> 00:37:30,719 the One who uniquely is able to 546 00:37:30,719 –> 00:37:33,100 deliver us from evil 547 00:37:34,820 –> 00:37:36,120 and bring us back 548 00:37:38,620 –> 00:37:40,479 into the place of Your presence 549 00:37:41,520 –> 00:37:42,699 and of Your blessing. 550 00:37:45,399 –> 00:37:47,100 We thank You that He’s God 551 00:37:49,179 –> 00:37:52,899 because only God can reconcile us to God. 552 00:37:54,780 –> 00:37:56,500 We thank You that He became a man 553 00:37:58,300 –> 00:38:00,479 because only a man could bear the punishment 554 00:38:00,479 –> 00:38:01,780 of men and women sin. 555 00:38:04,179 –> 00:38:05,540 We thank You that He’s holy 556 00:38:07,459 –> 00:38:11,379 because only someone who is able to triumph 557 00:38:11,379 –> 00:38:12,699 over the power of evil 558 00:38:13,659 –> 00:38:17,379 would be able to deliver us from the power of evil. 559 00:38:18,600 –> 00:38:20,459 So Lord, receive our worship, 560 00:38:21,419 –> 00:38:22,540 our praise, 561 00:38:23,919 –> 00:38:25,139 as we bow before You 562 00:38:26,060 –> 00:38:27,719 in Jesus’ name, 563 00:38:29,520 –> 00:38:30,360 Amen.