Sermon Series: Christmas in 4 Words: 

Savior The Who, What, How 

and Why of Savior 

Matthew 1:18-21 

PSBC 12/19/99

In a nutshell: Jesus is God. Through His work we can obtain salvation from the consequences of our sin. This works because He exchanges His righteousness for our sinfulness. And He does this because He loves us.

I. Introduction

A. Polio vaccine

When I was a grade school student, I can remember a nurse coming to our room with a tray full of small dixie cups. In each dixie cup was a sugar cube with pink syrup on it. That pink syrup was a serum that had been developed by Dr. Jonas Salk to keep us from getting polio in a time when a polio epidemic was a real danger throughout our country. I had an uncle who had just died of the disease, and it seemed like polio had impacted just about every family in the school in one way or another.

Since every one of us knew who Dr. Jonas Salk was–the discoverer of the polio vaccine. And since everyone of us knew what polio was. And since everyone of us knew how polio could cripple or kill you. And since everyone of us knew why we were taking that sugar cube–because it contained the vaccine that could save us from polio...

...With that understanding, do you think any of us turned up our noses and said, "I don't really think I want to avoid polio this way. I'm going to wait until some other way is made possible?"

That would have been crazy. Knowing and understanding the WHO, WHAT, HOW, & WHY of polio and it's cure, saved us from a disease that could mame or kill us.

Well, that's similar to how I want you to think this morning, as we look at what God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

B. Matthew passage

At a time when a very righteous man, by the name of Joseph, was struggling with what to do because his fiancé was looking more and more pregnant with each passing day. And Joseph knew he couldn't be the father. He was wondering what would be the honorable thing to do that would cause both he and Mary the least amount of embarrassment, and that would bring the quickest and most straightforward end to their engagement... that's when an angel appeared and spoke to him: (p. 1497 in chair rack Bibles)

Matthew 1:18-21 18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 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."

This simple and easy to understand explanation convinces Joseph. He marries Mary, supports her through her pregnancy, obeys the divine orders he's given, and when the child is born... he names the boy Jesus.

As a Hebrew speaking Jew, Joseph knew immediately that the name Jesus meant Savior. But as for the complete answers to the Who?, What?, How? and Why? questions, he just had to trust God.

C. Transition

Well, friends, we still have to trust God. But in His wisdom and through the revelation of His Word, we now know completely the answers to Who? What? How? and Why? regarding Jesus, the person the angel said, would "save his people from their sins". And that's what I want to look at with you this morning. The Who; What; How and Why of Savior.

II. Answers to the Questions

A. Who

For the Who? question let's look at something that the Apostle John wrote about Jesus, in his gospel account.

John 1:1-3 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Have you ever heard phrases like... "He always likes to have the last word." or "What's the good word?"

What does the word, "Word" mean in those phrases?

Quite simply, it means "explanation".

-He always likes to have the last word..., means, "He always likes to have the last opportunity to give an explanation of his opinion." AND -What's the good word?..., means "Do you have a brief statement that will help explain or put the circumstances of life into some kind of perspective?

Illustration: Andy Rooney, from the 60 Minutes TV Show is a master at this. Here are some of his "good words"...

-I'm not into working out. My philosophy: "No pain, no pain". -I am in shape. Round's a shape! -I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific. -Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster is a maniac. -The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you.

Well, when John talks about Jesus in John 1:1, he's saying that by being the WORD, Jesus is the explanation of who God is. Jesus puts God into understandable terms. And the reason Jesus can explain who God is, is threefold:

1. First, He can explain God, because Jesus was there in the beginning of everything. John says, "In the beginning was the Word..." In other words, before time began, the one who could explain God, was already there.

2. Second, it says he was involved in the process of creation.

The very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 , says... 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

And John says in his gospel, that in this beginning, not only was the Word there, but the Word was with God.

That means that the Word had direct involvement with God in creating the heavens and the earth, which means that Jesus was there, and Jesus was active with God in creation.

3. And third, the Word, the explanation of God, is identified as God. John says, "And the Word was God."

4. Conclusion to draw...

So, the baby who was... –born in Bethlehem's manger, –who was born of a human mother, –but who had no earthly father (because it was a virgin birth), –who was called Jesus, because He would save his people from their sins, ....was also God.

So... WHO is our Savior? Make no mistake about it. He wasn't just a human being who was a good person or a prophet, or a philosopher. Our Savior is God, Himself.

B. What

The second thing I want you to see about the Savior, is what He came to do. You see, you and I and all human beings are in a predicament.

The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

and the consequences of sin–this predicament of falling short of God's glory–are found in

Romans 6:23 23 For the wages of sin is death,

The reason sin is such a problem, is because it diametrically sits in opposition to God's holiness. Look at the front of your bulletin... The writer, A.W. Tozer tells us the significance of our sin and God's holiness...

God is holy and holiness (is) the moral condition necessary to the health of his universe. ...Whatever is holy is healthy, ...the holiness of God, the wrath of God, and the health of creation are inseparably united. God's wrath is his utter intolerance of whatever degrades and destroys. He hates (sin) as a mother hated the polio that would take the life of the child.

We have sin. God hates sin–Because it compromises His creation. So, sin deserves destruction. So, the what of the Savior is that He has to get us out of that sin-predicament. He has to save each one of us from our sin.

C. How

The next question is, HOW? How does our Savior save us from our sin? How does He keep us from the eternal death that is the consequence of our sin?

The Apostle, Paul, asked this very question in Romans 7:24 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

That is a question that every person alive should be asking. Everyone of us needs to be saved from this body of death, or we'll die–not just physical-body-die, but eternal-existence-soul-die. That's the place that the Bible talks about being a state of constant consciousness with no rest; an actual place where there is constant weeping and gnashing of teeth, and an existence where there is no escape for eternity. The Bible calls it Hell.

So, how does our Savior save us from this death?

Illustration: On March 5, 1994, Deputy Sheriff Lloyd Prescott was teaching a class for police officers in the Salt Lake City Library. As he stepped into the hallway for a break, he noticed a gunman herding 18 hostages into the next room. With a flash of insight, Prescott (who was dressed in street clothes at the time) joined the group as the nineteenth hostage. He followed them into the room, and shut the door.

But when the gunman announced the order in which hostages would be executed, Prescott identified himself as a cop.

A scuffle between the two men followed, and officer Prescott, in self-defense, fatally shot the armed man. The hostages were released unharmed.

Friends, the HOW of Savior is simply this...God dressed himself in street clothes and entered our world, joining us, who are held hostage to sin.

On the cross, Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for our sin. And by rising from the dead, He proved He was God, and was able to make the exchange–He gives us His righteousness in exchange for our unrighteousness. This defeated the power that sin has to condemn us before a holy God–and puts us in the position of being holy before a holy God.

John 3:16 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. But let me tell you how God's enemy, the devil, is trying to confuse some of you right now. He's trying to get some of you to treat this as a small belief. When we are talking about a big belief. Let me explain...

Illustration: I could say that I believe that the best carne asada burrito in all of the Coachella Valley is found at Taco Asado Mexican Restaurant, right here at the corner of Ramon and El Cielo. It's something that I believe by experience. It's something on which I have an opinion. But when it comes right down to it, it's not that big a deal. I could change my mind. But for right now, I believe it. That's what I call a small belief.

But let's say that I get on board a Boeing 737 airplane, and want to fly to Northern California for Christmas. I am now committing to a BIG belief. I am believing that the engineers, the assemblers, the designers, the pilots, and the maintenance people who are responsible to keep that airplane up in the air are all doing or have all done their jobs. MY life is at stake when I believe in that 737. That's a much bigger belief than which Mexican restaurant serves the best burrito.

Now... ...You can't deny your sin–big or little–it's there. To say different would be a bold faced lie. ...And you can't deny that the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. ...And you also can't deny that the Bible talks about death as an eternal, miserable, continual existence of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So, when we talk about HOW we are saved... We're not talking about some personal preference, or whim, or perception, or deduction. We're talking about a life and death belief. We're talking about the really BIG belief. So, we better make sure we stake our lives on the right thing.

This is where another important teaching in the Bible comes into play... Romans 10:9

9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

That verse tells us two things:

a. When you acknowledge that "Jesus is Lord", you are saying that you are following a different master than yourself. You look to Jesus to guide you in your decisions, your actions, your lifestyle and your relationships–and you follow what you know He wants of you in each of those areas– exclusively.

b. And when you believe in your heart–that means at the core of your being–not just in your passing thoughts–at the core of your being... you stake you life on the fact that Jesus conquered death and has the power to forgive you, and give you His righteousness in exchange for your sinfulness.

That's the HOW of the Savior.

D. Why

And that brings us to the last question. Why? Why should God save us. Why go to all the trouble to save both good and bad people? Why go to all the grief and bother to engineer a plan where God, in the person of Jesus, has to die? Why even bother to come to earth, and be humiliated by becoming one of creation, when you are the Creator?

Let the words of Max Lucado answer that for us when he writes about one of the thieves who was crucified alongside of Jesus...

If anyone was ever worthless, this one was. If any man ever deserved dying, this man probably did. If any fellow was ever a loser, this fellow was at the top of the list.

Perhaps that is why Jesus chose him to show us what he thinks of the human race.

Maybe this criminal had heard the Messiah speak. Maybe he had seen him love the lowly. Maybe he had watched him dine with the punks, pickpockets, and pot mouths on the street. Or maybe not. Maybe the only thing he knew about this Messiah was what he now saw: a beaten, slashed, nail-suspended preacher. His face crimson with blood, his bones peeking through torn flesh, his lungs gasping for air.

Something told him he had never been in better company. And somehow he realized that even though all he had was prayer, he had finally met the One to whom he should pray.

"Any chance that you could put in a good word for me?" (Loose translation).

"Consider it done."

Now why did Jesus do that? What in the world did he have to gain by promising this desperado a place of honor at the banquet table? What in the world could this chiseling quisling ever offer in return? I mean, the Samaritan woman I can understand. She could go back and tell the tale. And Zacchaeus had some money that he could give. But this guy? What is he going to do? Nothing!

That's the point. Listen closely. Jesus' love does not depend upon what we do for him. Not at all. In the eyes of the King, you have value simply because you are. You don't have to look nice or perform well. Your value is inborn. Period!

Think about that for just a minute. You are valuable just because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are. Remember that. Remember that the next time you are left bobbing in the wake of someone's steamboat ambition. Remember that the next time some trickster tries to hang a bargain basement price tag on your self-worth. The next time someone tries to pass you off as a cheap buy, just think about the way Jesus honors you... and smile.

I do. I smile because I know I don't deserve love like that. None of us do. When you get right down to it, any contribution that any of us make is pretty puny. All of us–even the purest of us–deserve heaven about as much as that crook did. All of us are signing on Jesus' credit card, not ours.

And it also makes me smile to think that there is a grinning ex-con walking the golden streets who knows more about grace than a thousand theologians. No one else would have given him a prayer. But in the end that is all that he had. And in the end, that is all it took.

No wonder they call him the Savior. (From No Wonder They Call Him Savior, by Max Lucado.)

Why, Savior? Because you are valuable to God and God loves you more than anything!

III. Conclusion

Illustration: There's a wonderful story about a Chicago bank that once asked for a letter of recommendation on a young Bostonian being considered for employment. The Boston investment house with whom he had been employed could not say enough about the young man. His father, they wrote, was a Cabot; his mother was a Lowell. Further back was a happy blend of Saltonstalls, Peabodys, and others of Boston's finest families. His recommendation was given without hesitation. Several days later, the Chicago bank sent a note saying the information supplied was altogether inadequate. It read: "We are not contemplating using the young man for breeding purposes. Just for work."

Friends, God doesn't care what your pedigree is, how much or how little you have sinned over the course of your life, what your present physical condition is, what stage of life you're in, or how much money you have or don't have in the bank. All He wants to know is do you understand your need for a Savior, and are you ready to receive the gift of His Savior?

He stands in heaven today with open arms, waiting for your response to His love that he demonstrated by giving us the Savior–Jesus the Christ. All He wants to know right now, is what is your response to the understanding you've received this morning about the who, what, why and how of His Savior?

Invite to pray and indicate decision on card. I'll mail you some material to begin to help you grow in this new BIG belief.

Amen