The document is a sermon for Advent 2016 that discusses the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. It explores the idea that God became human in the person of Jesus through passages from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. It discusses how this is the most profound miracle and defines the Christian faith. It reflects on what this means for our lives and calls us to consider how God becoming human in Jesus might impact or define us.

1. The Gospel of Matthew 1:18-25; 2:1-13
God With Us
& For Us

2. The Hopes & Fears
of All the Years
New City Church of Calgary
Advent 2016

3. O little town of Bethlehem
how still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by.

4. Yet in thy dark streets shineth
the Everlasting Light.
The hopes and fears
of all the years
are met in thee tonight.

5. If God had a name,
what would it be?
And would you call it
to his face if you were
faced with him in all
His glory? What
would you ask if you
had just one
question…?

6. What if God was
one of us? Just a
slob like one of us?
Just a stranger on
the bus trying to
make his way home?
~ Joan Osborne, “One of Us”

7. ?What if God
was one of us

8. The Gospel of Matthew 1:18-25; 2:1-13
God With Us
& For Us

9. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took
The Gospel of Matthew 1:18-25
place this way. When his mother Mary
had been betrothed to Joseph, before
they came together she was found to be
with child from the Holy Spirit.

10. And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since
I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the
child to be born will be called holy, the SON OF
GOD…. For nothing will be impossible with God. ”
~ The Gospel of Luke, 1:26ff

11. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just
The Gospel of Matthew 1:18-25
man and unwilling to put her to shame,
resolved to divorce her quietly.

12. 20 But as he considered these things,
The Gospel of Matthew 1:18-25
behold, an angel appeared to him in a
dream, saying, “Joseph, Son of David,
do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for
that which is conceived in her is from the
Holy Spirit.

13. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call
The Gospel of Matthew 1:18-25
his name Jesus, for he will save his people
from their sins.” 22 All this took place to
fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the
prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall con-
cieve and bear a son, and they shall call
his name Immanuel” (which means, God
with us).

14. “If we could
condense all the
truths of Christmas
into only three
words, these would
be the words:
‘God with us.’
John MacArthur
Pastor-Teacher-Author

15. “We tend to focus
our attention at
Christmas on the
infancy of Christ.
The greater truth
of the holiday is
his Deity.
John MacArthur
Pastor-Teacher-Author

16. John MacArthur
Pastor-Teacher-Author
“More astonishing
than a baby in the
manger is the truth
that this promised
baby is the omni-
potent Creator of
the heavens and
the earth!”

17. In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word
was God…And the
Word became flesh and
dwelt among us, and we
have seen his glory….
~ The Apostle John in
The Gospel of John 1:1, 14

18. in·car·na·tion
“The Incarnation”
the “en-flesh-ment”
or
the “embodiment”

19. “He is the radiance of
the glory of God and
the exact imprint of his
nature, and he upholds
the universe by the
word of his power.”
~ Hebrews 1:3

20. “[The incarnation] is by far the most
amazing miracle of the entire Bible –
far more amazing than the
resurrection and more
amazing even than
the creation of the
universe.
~ Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

21. “The fact that the infinite, omnipotent, eternal
Son of God could become man and join him-
self to a human nature forever, so that
infinite God became one person
with finite man, will remain
for eternity the most pro-
found miracle and the
most profound mystery
in all the universe.”
~ Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

22. 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did
The Gospel of Matthew 1:18-25
as the angel of the Lord commanded him:
he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until
she had given birth to a son. And he called
his name Jesus….

23. 2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethle-
The Gospel of Matthew 2:1-13
hem of Judea in the days of Herod the
King, behold, wise men from the east
came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is
he his name who has been born king of
the Jews? For we have seen his star
when it rose and have come to worship
him….

24. 3 When Herod the king heard this, he
was troubled, and all Jerusalem with
him….
The Gospel of Matthew 2:1-13

25. 4 …and assembling all the chief priests
and scribes of the people, he inquired of
them where the Christ was to be born.
5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for so it is written by the prophet: 6 ‘And
you, O bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers
The Gospel of Matthew 2:1-13

26. of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod summed the wise men secret-
ly and ascertained from them what time
the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them
to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search
diligently for the child, and when you have
The Gospel of Matthew 2:1-13

27. found him, bring me word, that I too may
come and worship him.” 9 After listening
to the king, they went on their way. And
behold, the star that they had seen when
it rose went before them until it came to
rest over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced
The Gospel of Matthew 2:1-13

28. with great joy. 11 And going into the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother,
and they fell down and worshiped him.
Then opening their treasures, they offered
him gifts, gold and frankincense and
myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream
not to return to Herod, the departed to
their own country by another way….
The Gospel of Matthew 2:1-13

29. 13 Now when they had departed, behold,
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph
in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child
and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and
remain there until I tell you, for Herod is
about to search for the child, to destroy
him.’
The Gospel of Matthew 2:1-13

30. God became one of us—
with us and for us—
in the person of Jesus Christ.

31. ?What do you do
with this central claim
of the Christian faith

32. OPTION #1:
This troubles you…

33. “If God had a face,
what would it look
like? And would you
want to see if seeing
meant that you would
have to believe in
things like Jesus and
the saints and all the
prophets?”

34. For God, who said, “Let
light shine out of
darkness,” has shone in
our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ.~ The Apostle Paul
in 2 Corinthians 4:6

35. “In the Christian view, the
ultimate evidence for the
existence of God is Jesus
Christ. If there is a God, we
characters in his play have to
hope that he put some
information about himself in
the play. But Christians believe
he did more than give us
information. He wrote himself
into the play as the main
character in history, when
Jesus was born in a manger
and rose from the dead.”
~ Tim Keller,
The Reason For God:
Belief in an Age of Skepticism

36. OPTION #2:
This defines you…

38. “Jesus Christ…. I would like to ask Him if He
was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that
question would define history for me.”

39. Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your Baby Boy
has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered
will soon deliver you?

40. Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy
will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know that your Baby Boy
has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby
you kissed the face of God?

41. OPTION #2:
This defines you…
OPTION #1:
This troubles you…

42. This Christmas season, may
you be struck anew that
God became one of us—
with us & for us—in the
person of Jesus Christ.
And may that event forever
define your life.

43. other images used for educational purpose
Image: MichelleV.Agins/The NewYork Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/arts/music/review-joan-osborne-delivers-no-nonsense-dylan.html?_r=0
Image Credit: quimono
https://pixabay.com/en/doors-choices-choose-decision-1690423/
Pixaby Images Shutterstock
ShutterStock Image ID: 234554776
http://www.depo.ua/static/files/gallery_uploads/images/16347_original.jpg
http://www.credomag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/macarthur.jpg
http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/music-notes-png-clipart-46162951