All right, brethren, let's turn
to Luke 2. Let's read this one more time.
Luke 2, 21. And when eight days were accomplished
for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which
was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
And when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses,
were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him
to the Lord. As it is written in the law of
the Lord, every male that opened up the womb should be called
holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to that
which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves
or two young pigeons. I've read this passage many times,
I'm sure you have, and I've preached from this passage, but I don't
think I've ever seen it as clearly as I did this week. And I do
pray the Lord to give me liberty to preach it to you. Why did the Son of God take the
nature of God's elect? Why did he come down? was his
purpose. Number one, it was to be the
righteousness of his people, to declare the righteousness
of God, to be the righteousness of his people. Number two, it
was to be the holiness of his people, to be our sanctifier
and our sanctification. And then all of this was accomplished
by his obedience unto the death of the cross. Both righteousness
and holiness in Christ by his obedience unto the death of the
cross. I want to show you these three
things and I want to just jump right in into this. First of
all, the Son of God was made of a woman, made under the law
to declare the righteousness of God and to make his people
righteous. That's why it came. We see that
in this first verse, verse 21. When eight days were accomplished
for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which
was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Why was the Lord Jesus circumcised? Circumcision typified being regenerated
of the Holy Spirit. born again of the Spirit of God,
born from above. That's what circumcision typified.
We know that from Romans 2. Romans 2.28 says, he's not a
Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is
outward in the flesh, but he's a Jew which is one inwardly.
Circumcision is that of the heart in the Spirit and not in the
letter, whose praise is not of men but of God. Our Lord was
holy. He's the Son of God, And he needed
not to be born again. He didn't need to be born from
above. He was holy. But that's not the only thing
circumcision pictured. Look over to Colossians 2. It
typified what our Lord accomplished on the cross in making his people
righteous. Colossians 2, verse 10, he says, you're complete
in him, which is the head of all principality and power, speaking
to believers, in whom, now get that, in whom, also you're circumcised
with a circumcision made without hands and putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried
with him in baptism, that's speaking of the baptism of the cross.
immersed in the justice, the judgment of God, buried with
him in baptism, wherein also you're risen with him through
the faith of the operation of God who has raised him from the
dead. Now here's, next is the circumcision of the heart. And
you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all
trespasses, biding out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us, took it out of the way, nailing
it to his cross, and having spoiled principalities and powers, he
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. So those two
things, it pictured circumcision of the heart, but it also pictured
Christ putting away the sins of his people on the cross, making
us righteous in him. Every chosen child of God's a
sinner. We're guilty, we became guilty
in Adam, We're guilty by plenty of our own sins, but we're guilty
in a head, in a federal head, Christ Jesus. I mean Adam, guilty
in Adam. And so the Lord Jesus came to
make us righteous by his obedience. Righteous by his obedience. Go
to Galatians 5. Remember what the Lord, the Spirit
of God said about somebody that circumcised? Look here in Romans
5.3. I testify again to every man
that is circumcised that he's a debtor to do the whole law. See, when a natural born Jew
was circumcised physically, he was saying he was committed to
the Lord and was, under that old covenant, was committed to
obeying God according to the law. So anybody that's circumcised,
that brought them into this covenant under the law. And our Lord Jesus
was circumcised that he might be the one who fulfilled the
law for his people. That's why he was circumcised.
This was at eight days old. This is the Lord declaring he
is the righteousness of his people. He's the righteousness of God
that God's provided for his people. You remember Matthew 5-7, our
Lord said this, the Pharisees and scribes were
so trusting in their obedience to the law, and he said this
in Matthew 5-17, think not that I am come to destroy the law
or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law till all be fulfilled. I've heard people
preach from that and say, Christ didn't, he didn't bring us from
out, he didn't redeem us from the law, We're still under the
law. A believer still has to keep the law or he can't be saved.
That's not what the Lord was declaring there. The Lord was
declaring that he came to fulfill the law for his people. He came
to be the righteousness of his people. That's what he came for.
It's only by his obedience that we're made righteous. Only by
the obedience of the Lord Jesus. And this was, this being circumcised
the eighth day, was God declaring that loud and clear, Christ is
the only righteousness of his people. And this is what the
Pharisees were doing. They would bring the law down
to a level that made a man think he could keep it. That's not
doing the law, and that's teaching others to break the law. To do
the law is to declare, well, first of all, we only establish
the law through faith in the Lord Jesus. And to teach the
law as it ought to be taught, as Paul said, is to declare everybody
guilty, except they be found in Christ. The law is given to
give a knowledge of sin. Christ said, except your righteousness
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you can
in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. And he is that righteousness. He is that righteousness. Here,
Romans 8. This is gonna probably be more
of a study than it is a sermon, but I want you to turn to these
scriptures. I want you to see them. Romans 8, 3. This is why
he came. He came, he fulfilled the prophets,
and he fulfilled the law for his people. Here's why he had
to come. Verse 3, for what the law could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own
son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us, that is, in our nature. He became a man representing
men, and he fulfilled the righteousness of the law for us who walk not
after the flesh but after the spirit. Go over to Isaiah 42,
it's not, The law wasn't given for you
to try to come to God in the law. It was given to show us
our sin. And Christ is the one who fulfilled
the law. He's the one who made his people
righteous. Isaiah 42, one. Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, and whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit
upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth, meaning he shall fulfill
the whole law. He will justify his people. He
shall not fail nor be discouraged till he has set judgment in the
earth and the isles shall wait for his law. Look at verse 21. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. That's why Christ came to represent
his people, to honor God's law and magnify God's law. He came
to declare that God is just, God has executed the death penalty
upon every one of his elect children. He has executed the death penalty
that the law demanded for breaking the law. He's executed that on
all his elect, and he did it in Christ, when Christ laid down
his life for his people. And in doing so, he's the justifier. He's the justifier. When Joseph
and Mary went there and they bring the child the Lord Jesus
in, and he circumcised, he comes under the law. What he is declaring
there is what Paul said in Galatians 4. When the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law. He did it
so that God would be just to send the spirit and circumcise
us in the heart, and make us know we're sons of God. And because
you're sons, God sent forth the spirit of his son into your heart,
crying out of a father. That's why Christ came. And when
they declared, the angel had said beforehand, his name shall
be Jesus. And when they declared his name
at his circumcision, they said his name shall be Jesus. They
were declaring what the angel of the Lord had told them. His
name shall be Jesus, savior, because he shall save his people
from their sins. and he does it by being the righteousness
of his people. The angel told them that beforehand,
and before the foundation of the world, God anointed his son
to be the righteousness of his people. He did that. No sinner,
no sinner is righteous by our works. Brethren, I know you realize
this, you've been taught of the Lord, but I was thinking about
that passage we saw Sunday on the next passage would be about
children obey your father. Fathers do not provoke your children
to wrath. If that was the only law given,
if that was the only law given, we would have broken it. I mean,
if you just have a thought that's dishonoring to your father, you
broke it. That's after the Lord said, I
came to fulfill the law. That's what he declared next.
You think adultery is just outward. He said, if you look upon somebody
with lust in your heart, you think murder is just outward. If you're angry with somebody
without a cause, you've broken the law. And to break one law
is to break up all. So we could never be made righteous
by our obedience to the law. No sinner is righteous except
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's look at it, Romans 519.
I want especially our young people to see this. Romans 519. Look here, this is clear as it
could be stated. Romans 519. As by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, shall many
be made righteous. That's the Lord Jesus by whom
we're made righteous. Look at Romans 10 and somebody
might ask this question, how can I have this righteousness?
If I see I need a righteousness to enter into heaven and be accepted
of God, I can't produce it. How can I have this righteousness?
We believe unto righteousness. By God's grace, we believe unto
righteousness. You believe on the Lord Jesus.
Stop working for righteousness and believe on the Lord Jesus.
Confess him publicly at believer's baptism and you'll be saved. That's his word. Listen, Romans
10, 9. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. So that's the first thing we
see. Christ is the righteousness of his people. He's the righteousness
of people because he was willingly made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem his people from the law. And that's what he did.
He said it's finished. He did it. Look at this next
thing in our text, Luke chapter two. Our Lord Jesus took flesh, took
the nature of his people to be the holiness of his people. Not
only our righteousness, but our holiness. Look here, verse 22. And when the days of her purification,
according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, there was
a certain set of days God gave for a female child and a certain
set of days for a male child. The male child, it was 40 days. And then the next day, they came the day after. So 41 days. And they brought him to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord. Now get that, to present him
to the Lord, as the Lord set apart for the Lord. That's why
they brought him. And it says, as it's written
in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall
be called holy to the Lord. Now get what that, look, note
the word purification. When God makes a man holy, he
purifies him. Purification, notice he was presented
to the Lord. Sanctification is to be set apart
for the Lord. Set apart and consecrated to
the Lord. And in that word holy, This,
all this, these verses, verse 22 and 23, is speaking about
holiness, about sanctification. Holiness, sanctification, same,
that's, you know, when you read, of God is Christ made into a
sanctification, that word's also translated holiness in other
places. Sanctification, holiness, that's to be set apart, that's
to be declared holy, and it's actually to be made holy. So God the Father made his people
to be set apart for him and he declared us holy when he chose
his people in Christ before the foundation of the world. You
can read that in Jude, the first verse. And then God's elect are
sanctified inwardly when the spirit of God regenerates us. We're washed by the washing of
regeneration. In renewing of the Holy Spirit,
we're given a new holy heart. Christ is formed in you, and
he's that holiness without which no man will see the Lord. And
so that's foreshadowed here, or shown in that they presented
him to the Lord. Just like, I'm getting old. My memory goes. the one that was set apart and
carried to the temple and to serve the Lord, Hannah's son. I can't think of it. But that's
the picture here, presented to the Lord, set apart, presented
to the Lord. Listen, for whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. He's the
firstborn. And the Lord said here, as it's
written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb
shall be called holy to the Lord. He said, sanctify unto me all
the firstborn whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of
Israel, both of man and of beast, it is mine. That was God's law. And that's what we have pictured
here, or what we have taking place here. So Christ is the
preeminent firstborn. And the responsibility of the
firstborn was the father trusted all the rest of the children
in the house to the firstborn. And the firstborn was to honor
his name, the firstborn was to provide for the rest of those
in the household, and the firstborn was also, he was the prophet
for the house, he was the priest of the house, and he was like
the ruler of the house. And that's Christ, brethren.
You remember the Lord Jesus said, for their sakes, I sanctify myself
that they might be sanctified through the truth. Go to Hebrews
3. Let's see this, Hebrews 3. Hebrews 3, verse 1. Wherefore,
holy brethren, He called them holy brethren for a reason, because
he's declaring the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus. Wherefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the
apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. The
firstborn, he was the preacher and the priest of the house.
He said, who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also
Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted
worthy of more glory than Moses, and as much as he who hath built
the house hath more honor than the house. For every house is
built by some man, but he that built all things is God. And
Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant. for
a testimony of those things were to be spoken after, but Christ
as a son over his own house, whose house are we if we hold
fast to confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
So what we see here is not only is the Lord Jesus our righteousness,
he's circumcised, he comes under the law declaring he's gonna
fulfill the law completely for his people, he's gonna declare
God just and the justifier, and he's gonna save his people. And
then secondly, he's separated here to be the holiness of his
people. He's the firstborn son, and he's gonna make his people
holy by what he did. Now, how's the Lord gonna do
this? How did Christ accomplish all this? He did it by a sacrifice. He did it by a sacrifice. Look
at the next word in Luke 2 24. They came there to offer a sacrifice
according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair
of turtle doves or two young pigeons. You see, everything
they're doing here, the circumcision and separating him unto the Lord
and in offering the sacrifice, all this was given in the law
of God and it was all given to picture That one who at this
time is an infant. He's a babe in arms. And it was
all given to picture him. But he's the fulfillment of it
all. So, it says, a pair of turtle doves and two
young pigeons. Now that was the sacrifice for
poor folks. That was the sacrifice for poor
folks. Go with me to Leviticus 12. Leviticus 12. Leviticus 12, six. When the days
of her purifying are fulfilled for a son or for a daughter,
she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering
and a young pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering unto
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation unto the priest,
who the priest shall offer it before the Lord. Christ is the
one pictured in the sacrifice, and he's the priest. He's the
high priest. The priest will offer it before
the Lord and make an atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed
from the issue of her blood. The atonement has to do with
making us righteous The cleansing has to do with making us holy.
Both pictured here in this sacrifice, she'll be cleansed from the issue
of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male
or a female. And if she be not able to bring
a lamb, she doesn't have the money to bring a lamb. If she
doesn't, not able to bring a lamb, then she should bring two turtles,
two turtle doves or two young pigeons. The one for the burnt
offering, and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall
make an atonement for her and she shall be clean. Everything
there is picturing the Lord Jesus. Every bit of it. Scripture calls
God's elect church the mother. And the mother in this picture
is defiled. She needs to be purified. The
mother needs to be made righteous. That's me and you as God's elect
We're unholy in our sin nature, and we're unrighteous before
the law. We need to be made righteous.
We need to be made holy. The Lord Jesus became one with
his poor elect people. We're the poor. We're the poor. We couldn't bring the offering
required. We can't bring a righteousness required. We can't bring the
holiness required. We're the poor. Look at 2 Corinthians 8. I'm going a little slower, because
I just want you to see these scriptures. 2 Corinthians 8. Look at verse 9. 2 Corinthians
8, 9. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you, through his poverty, might be made rich. Hebrews 2.16 tells us, he took
the very nature of his people. Why did he do that? Look here, Hebrews 2.16, verily
he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him
the seed of Abraham. That's the elect. He became one
with his elect people. He came down and came into this
poverty that we're in. for his elect, be made one like
us. Wherefore, in all things, it behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for
the sins of his people. And because he suffered everything
we've suffered, he's able to succor, to comfort us in all
our trouble. Go with me now to Hebrews 10.
By this one sacrifice, he is both the righteousness and the
holiness of his people. You know what you are when you've
been made holy and righteous by the Lord? You're perfect. You're perfect. Look here, Hebrews
10 in verse nine. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, He
fulfilled everything in the law for his people. He take away
that first covenant that he may establish the second, the everlasting
covenant of the grace by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. See, that's
the third thing we see in our text. A sacrifice was made. He's
the one that made it. He said in every priest stands
daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices
which could never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And here we are, when we were
lost, we're thinking, we're going to this book looking for something
we can do to make ourselves holy and righteous. Trying to look
to the law to make ourselves holy and righteous. and the Holy
Spirit entered in through the preaching of this gospel. And
what happened? Look back there at Hebrews chapter
nine. Hebrews nine. Here's what happened. We're trying to do all these
works to make ourselves righteous and holy. Hebrews 9.13 says,
if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer
sprinkling the unclean sanctified to the purifying of the flesh,
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God. God bears witness
in our heart that because of Christ's one offering, he's made
his people righteous and he's made his people holy and we can
stop our vain works of trying to do it ourselves. because there's
no more offering for sin. Where remission of these is,
where God says, I remember your sins no more, and where remission
of these is, there's no more offering for sin. This is what
the Lord reveals to his people, brethren. So I just hope I'm
being clear. He's the one that circumcised
Joe and he's keeping the whole law for his people. He's separated
as the firstborn, showing he's the holy one, making his people
holy. And it was all done through him
sacrificing his own self in the place of his people. Now, what
does God say to you and me? What does he say to sinners?
What does he say when he brings the gospel and he speaks to his
people, truly speaks affection? What does he say? He says, This
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. I am well pleased
in him. He commands his child, believe
on my son. Believe on my son and you shall
be saved. Identify with my son like my
son identified with his people. You come down like my son came
down. You go to His feet like He trusted
me when He walked this earth. You trust Christ to save you. And God says, thou shalt be saved. And here's what He declares to
you and me. Go to Colossians 2 again. You that believe, here's
what He tells you. He says in verse 9, in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete
in Him. Perfected forever, complete in
Him. And I won't read it again because
we saw it earlier, but you've been in Christ, you were circumcised. He went through that judgment
of God and answered to it and satisfied justice for His people.
Then He came to you and He circumcised you in heart. And He showed you
how He took the law out of the way, nailing it to His cross.
Now we're led of the spirit. Now we're led by Christ himself.
Now we can live to God. For the first time in our life,
we can live to God. That's what he does for his people.
Look, and so he tells you there at the end of Colossians 2, he
said, let no man, verse 16, therefore judge you in meat or in drink,
or respect of a holy day, or of the new moon or the Sabbath
days, There's shadows of things to come, but the body is Christ. He has fulfilled it. One more
scripture, Romans 7. Look here, Romans 7. Verse 4. Wherefore, my brethren,
you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. that you should be married to
another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should
bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our memories
to bring forth fruit unto death. That's those dead works he turns
us from when he purged our conscience. All the dead works are trying
to make ourselves righteous and holy. But now, verse six, we
are delivered from the law. That being dead wherein we were
held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, not in the
oldness of the letter. Paul said, I through the law
am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I'm gonna tell
you something, brethren. You don't have to keep going
and looking, okay, this commandment, that commandment, this commandment,
that commandment. When you're led of the spirit
of God, He's leading you, and he's faithful to lead you. When we go astray, we're just
saying it, he turns you back, he brings you back. But he's
not gonna let your flesh rule your new man. He's gonna keep
that old man down. So the new man is gonna have,
he's gonna reign. The elder shall serve the younger. And he's gonna keep you believing
on him, he's gonna keep you trusting him, and He's going to lead you
in the way that you should go and He does it through this Word
that gives Him all the glory and all the honor. He is our
righteousness and He is our holiness and He is so by His one sacrifice. Now, you do what you do constrained
by love for Christ. He gives you love for Him and
you behold His great love for you and do everything from that
motive. All right, brethren. Our gracious
Father, we thank you for this word. Lord, we pray that you
would make it clear in every heart, make it to where we hear
your voice and we behold your Son, and bring each of us to
submit to Christ and trust Him for everything we need. Lord,
we ask you again, would you bless this to our children, to any
of your lost sheep. Lord, we pray for that predestinated
hour when you'll reveal Christ in them, make them see they're
righteous and holy in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. Keep us trusting
him, keep us living unto you by your Spirit. And forgive us,
Lord, when we start looking to ourselves and looking to some
work of our hand and looking to this earth and things below
rather than Christ alone. Keep our affections set on Him.
Keep us walking after Him, trusting by Him, by Him, You have accepted
us. He'll never let us perish. Keep
us knowing that, Lord. Keep us knowing that. Keep us
constantly looking to Christ only. And forgive us, Lord, for
our unbelief and for turning away from Him. Thank you for
mercy and grace, Lord. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. All right, Brother Adam.