The Christ of Christmas pt.3

18 December 2022 AM – Galatians 4:4 – Christmas22 – Scott Childs
Introduction: As we have sought to answer the question, “Who was the Christ of Christmas?”, we have looked at Christ’s part in the Trinity of God and at his deity, being God the Son. This morning, I want us to look at his humanity. What sort of human was this God/Man Jesus Christ?
Steve Farrar, in his book, King Me: What Every Son Wants and Needs from His Father, describes the manhood of Christ. “Christ was male, not female. One doesn’t compliment a man by saying that he is beautiful. The appropriate word in that context would be “handsome.” …
Let’s stop describing Jesus Christ in womanly terms. He is awesome, majestic, holy, and righteous. He is the Son of the Living God. He is the God/man. Let’s show Him the proper respect and use masculine, biblical terms to describe His greatness. And in the process, we won’t be sending the wrong message about His person and character. …
On perhaps two different occasions, the Lord Jesus walked into the temple with a whip and commenced to drive out the commodity traders that had managed to extort office space in His Father’s house. And when He walked into that temple with that whip and started turning over tables, they didn’t say, “Look at his hair! I wonder who does his nails?” …
Jesus was raised by Joseph in a carpenter’s shop, and He didn’t buy his lumber at Home Depot. He cut his own trees and planed His own boards. As a result, He had some serious forearms. And He didn’t have soft hands. He had calluses from doing hard, physical labor. That’s why they ran when He cleared out the temple. No one stood up to Him. …” (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2005), 125-129.
Transition: What else do we know about Christ’s human life? What information does the Bible give us about His humanity?
The Bible gives us …
  1. Clear statements that Christ became a human
(Galatians 4:4) “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,“
a.         This was not his origin
1)         We have already established that Christ existed eternally as God (Mic 5:2; Heb 13:8).
2)         God sent him to earth. The fact that God sent His Son, assures us that Christ existed BEFORE He was sent forth.
3)         Christ humbled himself to become a human. (Philippians 2:5-8) “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation emptied Himself, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness human resemblance of men: And being found in fashion visible appearance as a man, he humbled lowered himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.“
a)         Though He was God in every respect, He emptied himself of His sovereign position and took on the fundamental nature of a humble servant.
b)         He resembled a human man in his being.
c)         His visible appearance was that of a human man.
4)         Scripture clearly calls him a man. (1 Timothy 2:5) “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;“
5)         Those who knew him, knew he was a man, though some questioned that he was more than that. (Mark 6:3) “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.“
b.         He was born of a woman
1)         Mary was his human physical mother. He had a body.
2)         He was not just a Christophany as in His O.T. appearances. In those former appearances, He was not actually a human, though he looked and ate like one (cf., Gen 18).
3)         He was just as much of a human as we are. (John 1:14) “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” He got hungry (Matt 4:2). He got thirsty (John 19:28). He got tired (John 4:6). He wept (John 11:35). He had a human spirit (Luke 23:46). He died as a man (Hebrews 2:14-15).
4)         Christ’s physical water birth and blood-stained death both testify of his humanity (1John 5:6).
c.          He was born under the law
1)         He subjected himself to the laws of nature.
2)         He subjected himself to the O.T. Law.
3)         He perfectly fulfilled all that the Law required. He was the only human ever to keep the entire Law flawlessly.
The Bible gives us …
2.        A brief history of Christ’s childhood
a.         His parents
1)         Joseph (his stepfather) was a carpenter (Mt 13:55). Having learned that trade from Joseph, Jesus became known as “the carpenter” (Mar 6:3).
2)         Mary, his human mother, gave him his humanity.
3)         Joseph accepted Jesus as his own son. After searching for 12-year-old Jesus for three days, Joseph and Mary found him in the Temple, and Mary said, (Luke 2:48) “… Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.“
b.         His youth
1)         Matthew sums Jesus’ youth in one word, saying he was a Nazarene, or resident of Nazareth (Mt 2:23).
2)         Jesus grew as a young man. (Luke 2:40) “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.“
3)         Even from the age of 12, Jesus had an intense spiritual interest. (Luke 2:49) “And he said unto them [his parents], How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Commentator Peter Pett shares this insight. “Every Jewish boy came of age at thirteen from which point on he was looked on as a responsible adult and expected to fulfil his religious responsibilities, becoming ‘a son of the Law’. Thus the Rabbis recommended that boys who were approaching that age be brought to the feasts so that they could become acquainted with the atmosphere and with what went on.”
4)         Jesus subjected himself to his earthly parents. (Luke 2:51) “And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.“
5)         Jesus increased humanly. (Luke 2:52) “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.“
The Bible gives us …
3.        Important facts about Christ’s perfection
a.         He lived a sinless life
1)         He was tempted to the extreme. If you look closely at the temptation of Christ recorded in Matthew 4, Mark 1 and Luke 4, you will see that Satan tempted Him for forty days. Satan himself tempted Christ with all of his might. Unable to get Christ to yield, the devil left him. No other human has ever endured and overcome such intense temptation.
2)         He resisted every temptation without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.“
b.         His sinlessness qualified him as the perfect Lamb
1)         During the first Passover, God required a perfect lamb to be slain as their sacrifice. (Exodus 12:5) “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:“
2)         God cannot die, but being the perfect human God/Man, Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, was able to die.
3)         Being the perfect Lamb, He was able to shed His blood for the entire sinful human race. John the Baptist, introducing Jesus said, (John 1:29) “… Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.“
Conclusion: Though Christ was 100% God, He lowered himself to become the perfect man. He resisted Satan’s greatest temptations and remained the perfect Lamb of God. He then died as our substitute to rescue us from eternal hell. That is the Christ of Christmas. Have you humbly repented of your sin and trusted His payment to save your soul? You alone can make that choice for yourself. Receive Christ today!
Song: Look to the Lamb of God, 216