1. You Know About the Birth of
Christ-What Do You Know About the
Birth of a Christian?
by Samuel E. Ward
View the text version of this sermon:
http://www.cbckck.blogspot.com
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2. Matthew 1:18-25
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah
came about: His mother Mary was pledged to
be married to Joseph, but before they came
together, she was found to be pregnant
through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph
her husband was faithful to the law, and yet
did not want to expose her to public
disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her
quietly. (NIV2011)
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3. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel
of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and
said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary home as your wife, because what is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21
She will give birth to a son, and you are to
give him the name Jesus, because he will save
his people from their sins.” 22 All this took
place to fulfill what the Lord had said through
the prophet:
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4. 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to
a son, and they will call him Immanuel”
(which means “God with us”). 24 When
Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the
Lord had commanded him and took Mary
home as his wife. 25 But he did not
consummate their marriage until she gave
birth to a son. And he gave him the name
Jesus.
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5. There are many important facts that
relate to the account of the birth of Christ
in Matthew‟s gospel.
I will point you to just three
concerning. . .
I. What We Know about the
Birth of Christ
A. Jesus Was Conceived of the Holy
Spirit, God was His Father, Mat 1:20.
Because of this fact…
1. He was the Son of God, not the son
of Joseph.
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6. Jesus was made in the likeness of men
without the sinful nature of man generated
through Joseph. Therefore, He is qualified to
be man‟s sinless and perfect sacrifice,
Phil 2:5-11.
Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV2011) 5 In your
relationships with one another, have the same
mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very
nature God, did not consider equality with
God something to be used to his own
advantage;
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7. 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking
the very nature of a servant, being made in
human likeness. 8 And being found in
appearance as a man, he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to death— even death on a
cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the
highest place and gave him the name that is
above every name,
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8. 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.
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9. 2. He became the second Adam but first in the
line of a race redeemed by Christ,
Romans 5:12, 17-19 .
Romans 5:12, 17-19 (NIV2011)
12Therefore, just as sin entered the world
through one man, and death through sin, and
in this way death came to all people, because
all sinned— . . . 17 For if, by the trespass of
the one man, death reigned through that one
man, how much more will those who receive
God‟s abundant provision of grace and of the
gift of righteousness reign in life through the
one man, Jesus Christ!
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10. 18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted
in condemnation for all people, so also one
righteous act resulted in justification and life
for all people. 19 For just as through the
disobedience of the one man the many were
made sinners, so also through the obedience of
the one man the many will be made righteous.
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11. 3. He became the Savior of all who by faith
believe, Rom 5:1-2.
Romans 5:1-2 (NIV2011) 1 Therefore, since
we have been justified through faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, 2 through whom we have gained
access by faith into this grace in which we
now stand. And we boast in the hope of the
glory of God.
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12. B. Jesus Was Sent to be Humanity‟s Savior
from Sin, Mat 1:21.
Jesus understood His mission:
Luke 19:9-10 (NIV2011) 9 Jesus said to
him, “Today salvation has come to this
house, because this man, too, is a son of
Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to
seek and to save the lost.”
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13. C. Jesus Was God‟s Means of Dwelling with
Humanity, Mat 1:23.
1. Jesus became the visible expression of
God‟s grace and truth to mankind,
John 1:14 .
John 1:14 (NIV2011) The Word became
flesh and made his dwelling among us. We
have seen his glory, the glory of the one
and only Son, who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
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14. 2. Jesus became the visible, tangible, and
auditory expression of God‟s gospel of
salvation to mankind; and provided the
content for our own proclamation of
the gospel, 1 John 1:1-4.
1 John 1:1-4 (NIV2011) 1 That which was
from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked at and our
hands have touched—this we proclaim
concerning the Word of life.
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15. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and
testify to it, and we proclaim to you the
eternal life, which was with the Father and
has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you
what we have seen and heard, so that you also
may have fellowship with us. And our
fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make
our joy complete.
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16. Just as Jesus had to be born in the flesh to
become the Savior of mankind, so we must be
born again by the Spirit in order to gain
salvation.
II. The New Birth of the Christian
John 3:1-21 (NIV2011) 1 Now there was a
Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a
member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came
to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that
you are a teacher who has come from God. For
no one could perform the signs you are doing if
God were not with him.”
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17. A. The Key to Entering God‟s Kingdom,
John 3:3
If you want to enter the kingdom of
God, You must be “born again.”
John 3:3 (NIV2011) Jesus replied, “Very truly
I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God
unless they are born again.”
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18. B. The “Impossibility” of This
Condition, John 3:4
John 3:4 (NIV2011) “How can someone be
born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked.
“Surely they cannot enter a second time into
their mother‟s womb to be born!”
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19. C. The Logic Which Demands This Condition,
John 3:5-6.
1. The truth is that man needs to be born
twice, physically and spiritually,
John 3:5-6.
John 3:5-6 (NIV2011) 5 Jesus
answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one
can enter the kingdom of God unless they
are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives
birth to spirit.
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20. 2. This truth should be self-evident to
Nicodemus, John 3:7.
John 3:7 (NIV2011) You should not be
surprised at my saying, „You must be born
again.‟
3. This truth is no more mysterious than the
effects of the wind you cannot see, John 3:8.
John 3:8 NIV 2011 The wind blows wherever
it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot
tell where it comes from or where it is going. So
it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
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21. 4. This truth is known only by
revelation, not discovery, John 3:11-13.
John 3:11-13 (NIV2011) 11 Very truly I
tell you, we speak of what we know, and
we testify to what we have seen, but still
you people do not accept our testimony.
12 I have spoken to you of earthly things
and you do not believe; how then will you
believe if I speak of heavenly things?
13 No one has ever gone into heaven
except the one who came from heaven—
the Son of Man.
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22. a. People disbelieved Christ even when
He gave testimony about earthly
things they could
understand, John3:11-12.
b. People should listen to One Who had
been in the heavenly realm and
entered into the earthly realm to
explain the spiritual realities that
cannot be discovered by physical
means, John3:13.
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23. D. The Means by Which One Enters the
Kingdom of God.
One must exercise faith in Christ‟s
provision of salvation, John 3:14-15.
John 3:14-15 (NIV2011) 14 Just as Moses
lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the
Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that
everyone who believes may have eternal life in
him.”
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24. 1. The Old Testament illustration of
man‟s problem and God‟s solution,
Numbers 21:4-9.
Numbers 21:4-9 (NIV2011) 4 They
traveled from Mount Hor along the route
to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But
the people grew impatient on the way; 5
they spoke against God and against
Moses, and said, “Why have you brought
us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
There is no bread! There is no water! And
we detest this miserable food!”
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25. 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes
among them; they bit the people and many
Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses
and said, “We sinned when we spoke against
the LORD and against you. Pray that the
LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So
Moses prayed for the people.
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26. 8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake
and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten
can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a
bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then
when anyone was bitten by a snake and
looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
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27. Notice the progression from sin to
deliverance:
a. They rebelled against their beneficent
God, attributing malice to His plan for
them, “They spoke against God and
against Moses, and said, “Why have
you brought us up out of Egypt to die
in the wilderness?”
b. They were sentenced to death for their
rebellion and contempt for God, “Then
the LORD sent venomous snakes
among them; they bit the people and
many Israelites died
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28. c. They were given an opportunity to live
only if they “looked upon the bronze
snake.” To do so would be placing faith
in God‟s means of deliverance from the
sentence of death due to their sin.
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29. 2. Jesus‟ application of the Old Testament
illustration to humanity‟s sin problem
and God‟s solution.
a. The problem stated: John 3:19-20.
John 3:19-20 (NIV2011) 19 This is the
verdict: Light has come into the
world, but people loved darkness instead
of light because their deeds were evil. 20
Everyone who does evil hates the
light, and will not come into the light for
fear that their deeds will be exposed.
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30. b. The condemnation declared,
John 3:18b
John 3:18b (NIV2011) …whoever does
not believe stands condemned already
because they have not believed in the
name of God‟s one and only Son.
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31. c. The pardon offered, John 3:16-18a.
John 3:16-18 (NIV2011) 16 For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and
only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life. 17
For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but to save
the world through him. 18a Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, . . .
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32. Conclusion: No More Running!
John 3:21 (NIV2011) But whoever lives by
the truth comes into the light, so that it may
be seen plainly that what they have done has
been done in the sight of God.
1 John 1:9 (NIV2011) If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us
our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
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33. James 4:8 (NIV2011) Come near to God and
he will come near to you. Wash your
hands, you sinners, and purify your
hearts, you double-minded.
Hebrews 7:25 (NIV2011) … he is able to save
completely those who come to God through
him, because he always lives to intercede for
them.
And because the Light is in you. . .
Matthew 5:16 (NIV2011) Let your light shine
before others, that they may see your good
deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
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