Jesus
Matthew 1:21 “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.”
Jesus means Savior….but you will notice, He is our Savior from our sin.
Sin is our downfall. No matter who we are, or what we have, in ability or things….we are sinners. Guilty and condemned for our rebellion and refusal of God, and His authority over us. For sin, in its essence is….I will rule myself, I will do and think, what I want.
Many people we have dealt with, say, “Oh, I know I sin…but not really bad stuff!”
If we only saw the absolute awfulness of our sin. God says it as filthy rags(Isaiah 64:6)…
There are besetting sins…which rule with an iron hand our emotions and actions.
There are sins of omission….where we don’t do the things we should, or could.
There are sins of commission….where we sin, in error…..and in rebellion against the Word of God and His authority over us.
But, Praise God, Jesus came to save us from our sins.
Psalm 85:2-3 “You forgave the iniquity of your people; you cover all their sin. Selah.
You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.”
How accurately is described the beautiful knowledge of Salvation….being covered by the blood of Christ….being saved from God being our Judge….to God being our Heavenly Father…
…and all through….Jesus, what He is and did.
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
In which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience,
Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
Many writers have written concerning sin, as chains. Sadly, we can become quite used to our own chains…..and though they bind and make us slaves….yet we do not rush forward to get free, but rather excuse or wallow in them. We are used to them….we are unaware they are slowly killing us.
Praise God that Jesus is Savior….for how desperately we need Him.
But Jesus is also Preacher:
Jesus has “proclaimed”…
Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to sent at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
To “preach” here means to herald, to proclaim divine truth.
And Jesus came to preach…to proclaim the gospel…to manifest the Way of Salvation through Himself….and He went through Israel doing so….
…and after His resurrection, He sent His disciples to do so….to all the world. (Matthew 28:18-20)
And to proclaim deliverance from our sin through Him….and also the “acceptable year of the Lord”…to show that there is a time to come to Him….Yet.
But Jesus is also a Teacher…of those that follow Him.
Mark 4:10-11 “And when He was alone, they that were about HIm with the twelve asked of Him the parable.
And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables.”
Any who really wanted to know His teachings, He would explain them to them. But to others, who just came to listen so they could be provided for (food)….He spoke in parables.
But Jesus is also a Servant….and I say this with reverence…that the Great God would humble Himself to serve….me…you. (Philippians 2:5-11)
For He did, when He washed my sins away….as He washed the disciples feet on the Passover feast night. (John 13:5-14)
But Jesus is also King….He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:11, 16)….Ruler of all, in charge of all.
And He is my King….for when His kingdom has come to us, His Will will be done by us.
Jesus is also our Advocate
1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
And He is the propitiation for our sins:…”
Christ Jesus took all the wrath apportioned for my,…and your sins…on Himself. So when we sin, Jesus is our defending lawyer and points to HIs sacrifice which took away all penalty of that sin.
Jesus is our Mediator….for He stands between God and us….
….. before God for us,…and to us for God.
Mediator means inter-nunciator…..He takes the Word and Will of God and makes them real and available to us….to our understanding and affections.
(In Hebrews, Jesus is said to be:
“…the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” [Heb. 8:6]
“…the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death,….they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” [Heb. 9:15]
“…But ye are come…unto the city of the living God,….and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant,…”[Heb. 12:24]
These are all speaking of the same work for us….yet stressing the promises, our eternal inheritance, and our future in Heaven with Him…
….all firmly planted on His Mediation for us.)
And when we pray, the Lord takes our prayers before God and makes them acceptable, by HIs merits, which are endless….that they may be heard and answered.
1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
May I pause here and say (there should be trumpets!):
What hasn’t Christ Jesus won for us? What a Savior! What a King is ours!
Are we availing ourselves of all He has for us….for salvation is always personal.
Jesus…Savior.
Philippians 2:9-11 “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
It is not at the name of His divinity that every knee shall bow…but at the name of His humility….His great perfection of life….His amazing sacrifice….and by which name He arose from the dead, victorious.
It is at Jesus, all shall bow.
We have the privilege to do it willingly, heartily, and lovingly….
….but all will do it….
…and for some it will be the last thing they do before they are cast into Hell…the place made for the devil and his angels (Mat. 25:41)…
….for they will have chosen to refuse His name.
Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 