If you would, and you wanna follow
along, please turn to Luke chapter two. Luke chapter two. I wanna read from, well, verse
eight to verse 14. Luke chapter two, verse eight,
and there were, in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of
the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round
about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto
them, fear not, For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, suddenly there was
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God
and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace Goodwill
toward men I'm gonna stop right there I have Entitled this message
Savior Christ Lord. This is the account of how our
Lord Jesus Christ came into this world. And I'm struck by the fact here
that God does not do things. God does things. but God doesn't
do things the way men think he should. Here is the greatest
announcement ever made to men up to this time. The most wondrous,
gracious thing up until this time is announced here by an
angel, by an angel. Here's the fulfillment of all
the prophecies of the Old Testament being announced by this angel
of the Lord to mankind. Now who are these blessed men
that get to hear this? Shepherds. Shepherds. Shepherds living in the field. Now this is the Lord who sent
his messenger, his angel, And he sent them to shepherds, what?
Taking care of their flocks. Taking care of their sheep. No
announcement was made in Jerusalem. No announcement was made in the
temple. No announcement was made to the high priest of the temple. Why not? Why not? Because it pleased God. pleased
God The father on the throne Was pleased to make his announcement
to shepherds abiding in the field His announcement of his son's
incarnation was made to those who take care of the sheep And you know what else and read
it but if you go down to verse 15 They tell others these shepherds. And I just find that amazing,
that this is how our Lord decided to announce his son's incarnation
in this world to these men. But it says, lo, the angel of
the Lord came upon them, the glory of the Lord shone round
about them, and they were sore afraid. You will find this all
throughout the scripture. You won't find it where people
talk about religion, but you'll find this all throughout the
scripture. The revelation from God makes a man afraid. When you are in the power and
you find out you are in the power or in the presence of the power
of God, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living
God. It is a fearful thing. We are told at the beginning
of our conversion, about the beginning of our conversion,
put it that way. There is a spirit of bondage
under fear. There's a revelation of what you are. And when you
see a little bit of him, you see a little bit of what you
are and there's fear. But this angel said unto them,
fear not, fear not. Behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy, which shall be to all people. For, for, unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord. unto you is born. Born. Born. What did Isaiah say? A child
is born and the son is given. Born. The angel came to announce
a birth. A real, literal birth. A child is born. Son is given
here now in the city of David Why was it the city of David
well It says in verse 4 that Joseph went up from Galilee out
of the city of Nazareth and Judea under the city of David Which
is called Bethlehem Because he was of the house and lineage
of David The one that was promised in
the Old Testament was to come from the line of David the city of David in Bethlehem
And here's this angel announcing his birth to these shepherds
But let's be clear. This is a this was because at
this time it was this was a real birth Specifically he was born of a
woman born of a virgin The father has sent to earth the greatest
gift ever. Yes, a child is born, but yes,
the son is given. And this is the time of his birth. And what is it? I bring you good
tidings of great joy. Here's the good news. Jesus has
come. Jesus is born. The seed of the
woman promised in the garden is born on this earth this day,
this day. The seed of the woman that was
promised in the garden of Eden, that it came to bruise the serpent's
head and to have his heel bruised has come. And the description given of
this one born starts off with this word, a savior. Unto you is born a savior. Well,
I'll say it this way. Unto you is born the savior,
the savior. I know we deal with words and
I am certainly guilty of this and I probably will continue.
I don't want to be too technical, but I don't want to skip over
something or omit something. But I looked at this word Savior,
and the first primary definition of this word translated here
is Savior, the very first. And this is by Thayer, this is
by Strong's Concordances, by a little bit of everybody that
I looked at. The first definition of this word, this Greek word
here, is this, deliverer. Deliverer, the Deliverer has
come. I wanna be really clear about
this because I think it's important. That's the primary definition
of this word. We have a time, in this day and age, when people
commonly speak of the word Savior, It is used more flippantly than
probably any other time in the world. You understand? We have
in this day a limited comprehension of this word. Most people have
the comparison of the word savior as somebody, you know, somebody
pulls someone from a burning building. Someone saves a drowning
man. That's part of this. That's part
of this word deliverer. It's part of this word here,
savior, but it's not all. It's not all. We have a tendency
to limit it because here's the thing, the savior saves. The deliverer delivers. And there's a bit of a difference.
This word implies resistance. And this word also deliver implies
work. The word implies somebody needs
deliverance. Somebody needs saving. The one who was born here is
the one who has come to deliver his people from their sins and
from their sin, both. Our Savior is the one who came to deliver. He came to deliver. His work is as important as his
person. If Christ came and didn't deliver,
there's no salvation. There's no salvation. Our Savior is the one who came
to deliver. We not only have to be free from
our sins, free from sin, we have to have the righteousness of
God in order to stand before God. We have to be delivered and translated
into his kingdom. through the work of the deliverer. I got to thinking about this,
his substitution, a lot of people have a tendency,
and I must confess, I'm guilty of it. The substitution of Christ,
we have a tendency to think of his substitution as being a substitution
for our sins, where he takes on the place, which is all true,
but that's not all. I got the thing about the very
first time you hear about the burnt offering. Now the burnt
offering is special in several ways. But the very first time
you hear of it is when it talks about, tells Abraham to go perform
a burnt offering. That's when it's recorded in
scripture for the very first time. The burnt offering is special
in one particular way. Everything of the burnt offering
is offered to God. It's an offering to God. The
people don't partake in any of it. You don't eat anything from
the burnt offering, you don't get anything. The burnt offering
is totally toward God. Now it says, when you describe
the burnt offering, when it does describe the burnt offering,
it says, it is a burnt offering and it is an atonement. It is
an atonement. But also, it is more than that. It's not only an atonement, the
burnt offering is a sweet saver to God. You understand? And the first
burnt offering, God told Abraham, what did he tell him? Take thy
son. And then he added to it, take
thy only son. And our burnt offering is this
one that came. And not only will this deliverer
forgive us our sins, take our sins in his own body on the tree,
but his offering to God makes us righteous in God's sight. We have been imputed his righteousness. And I don't wanna leave that
out when he's talking about it is a complete salvation. He will deliver his people to
his father. He is bringing in many sons to
glory, that's what it says. He has saved his people from
their sins and he has given them his own righteousness in order
that we might stand before God. And that is also implied in this.
The one who's came is our savior. Our substitute is our deliverer. and he is our deliverer in every
way. He's the deliverer. In Deuteronomy 18 and verse 15
said, the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the
midst of thee, of thy brethren, what? Like unto me. This was Moses speaking. Unto
him ye shall all hearken. Ye shall hearken. This prophet
was born here in this manger, announced by this angel to these
shepherds. And this prophet from the midst
of thee is going to be one like unto Moses. Moses was the one chosen by God
to, I can't use that word. Moses
was the one chosen by God in God's deliverance of the children
of Israel from Egypt. Moses was sent to Egypt. Moses
confronted Pharaoh. Moses was there for all the terrible
plagues against Egypt. And Moses was given the instructions
by God what to say and who to say it to for the Passover and
for everything else. And when the Lord passed over,
Those that were under the blood, there was no death in those house
other than that lamb. There was death in that house,
but it was the lamb. And Moses, by God, led the people
out of Egypt. God had Moses there every step
of the way in Egypt and out of the way of Egypt. That's the
Old Testament, but that is what the deliverer does. He's there
for the sacrifice. He's there after the sacrifice.
He's there for the death. He's there for the life. The
Deliverer, the Savior, is born. The next thing, who is this Deliverer? Which is Christ, the Lord. Christ, Christos, Messiah the
anointed one The one prophesied in the Old
Testament the seed of the woman I said already Abraham seed singular
As one not of many The Passover lamb the Lamb of God the Prophet
like unto Moses Our substitutionary sacrifice The one who will hold the scepter,
who does hold it now. The blessed man from Psalms one,
the son of God from Psalms two. Kiss the son, lest he be angry,
and ye perish by the way. The descendant of David and the
one who is greater than David. That's who's in this manger,
the Christ. the anointed, the Messiah, that's
who's there. That is who our deliverer is. Our savior is Christ, the one
prophesied in the Old Testament, the one brought forth in time. In Ruth, the kinsman redeemer,
he's called a Nazarene, said he'll be a healer. Isaiah says
his name is Emmanuel, God. with us. I spoke about it before a little
bit. It says, Isaiah 9, 6 says, for unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. the Savior, which is Christ,
the Lord. The Deliverer is the Anointed
One, Christ, and that's the one that was born here today in this
account I read. The world doesn't know. Only
ones who know are the ones that it was revealed to. The religious
world doesn't know. And I can tell you this right
now, the religious world now still doesn't know him. But he's
here. He's here. He's come. He's been
announced. And he's here. He was born, he
was promised, and he came. The only ones that were told
were some shepherds and some wise men somewhere else. The world doesn't know him, the
world didn't know him, the world doesn't know him, and the world
can never know him. John the Baptist said this, John
answered them saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth
one among you whom ye know not. It is who coming after me is
preferred before me who's shoelatched. I am not worthy to unloose John
the Baptist saw him and John the Baptist told them and that
was the religious he was talking to And they didn't even care to
go look for him I Never thought about that Walter
until you said it it just he told him there's one here There's one that stands among
you. Here the one was born that stands
among you that they won't have. And those men didn't even look
for him. John the Baptist saw him and
John the Baptist worshiped him. Men hate the light. Men love
darkness. But the last word, where it says
a savior, which is Christ, the Lord. The Lord is born. How can that be? How can that
be? How can a man be, how can it
be God incarnate in the flesh? The Messiah was to be a man,
but also the Messiah is to be Lord. How can that happen? God, that's
the only way it can happen, God. Because we are talking about
here the Old Testament, the creator of all. That's what it means
here, Lord. You know, the one who preached
the gospel to Adam and Eve, the one who made Noah build the ark,
and the one who sent the flood. The one who gave the Passover
to the Israelites, but also the one who didn't pass over, the
Egyptians. And the firstborn died in every
house that didn't have the blood. He is born here in fashion as
a man, born of a woman, made under the law, what? To redeem
them under the law. This is the one that is born
Lord. Born Lord. Savior, Christ, Lord. All three of these have to be
true. It has to be true. I mean, I have to kind of break
it down and speak of it separately. But He is never separate. He
is never separate. Savior, Deliverer, Christ, and
Lord, He is one. the child that was born, the
son that was given, here, this day, announced by these angels
to these shepherds, he is savior, he is Christ, and he is Lord
at all times. Because the one born is always
savior and Christ and Lord. This one born is always prophet
and priest and king. He's the one that was born king,
it says in another place. Here it says he was born savior,
Christ, Lord. Because if you look at the Greek,
those articles are not there. And that's what it says. It doesn't
actually say a Savior or the Lord. It says Savior, which is
Christ, Lord. There's only one. And he is one
at all times. The one born is always one with
the Father. and one with the Holy Spirit.
Those three, these three are one, always. This one born here
is Savior, is Christ, is Lord. The Bible, I almost left this
out, but I don't think, I don't think I will, because it's
out there. The Bible, is not a story of
how a man born can become God. The Bible is not a story about
a man who became God. The Bible is a story about God
who became man. There's a world of difference
in that statement. You understand? I know that's
taught all around us. I know that's taught all around
us. in a lot of places. There are
supposedly Christian ministers running around saying, I'm a
little God. Because they think they're just like Jesus because
they think they have the Holy Spirit. And it's a lie. God became man. Man has never
become God. It's an incarnation. He came
down from heaven. We're not going up that way.
If you go to heaven, it's because you're in Him. What? The Savior. The Christ. The Lord. You know, I mean, that lie's
been around since the devil's time. What was the first lie
told? The father lie. You shall be
like God. They're still telling it. They
change the wording and they'll throw a little bit of Jesus in
there. It's out there. That's not what this angel announced. This one, this one born here
on this day in the city of David, and he is born Savior, Christ,
and Lord. You can't separate them. There's
no way to separate them. Our Lord is whole. The Almighty God came down to
deliver His chosen people. The Father sent His Son, Savior
Christ and Lord. What? To redeem us to God. Why do we need all three? Because
the scriptures are very, very, very clear. Only Lord can save Only the Lord can deliver I'm gonna read some scriptures
here. Just very quickly Isaiah 41 and verse 14 says fear not
thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel I will help thee saith
the Lord and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 47 and verse four says,
as for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name. Wait a minute, you mean Jesus
is the Lord of hosts? That's exactly what Isaiah said. And I will say exactly the same
thing. Our Redeemer is the Lord of hosts. He is Savior, He is
Christ, He is Lord. Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts
is His name, comma, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 48, verse 17, thus saith
the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord
thy God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee
by the way that thou shouldest go. He is Savior, he is Christ,
and he is Lord. Isaiah 54 and verse five, I really
do like this one. For thy maker is thine husband. The Lord of hosts is his name. And thy redeemer, the Holy One
of Israel. Here's the thing. The God of
the whole earth, what, shall he be called. And only one legitimate
way to call somebody the God of the whole earth, that's because
he is the God of the whole earth. The Redeemer, the only one who
can deliver is God, is Lord. And I'll throw this in for free,
because I read this just this morning, or yesterday. If you look at the Septuagint
in the Old Testament, the Greek translation, okay, The word here
that Luke wrote for Lord is Kyrios, okay? It means Lord, that's what
it means. It means Lord, it means God,
okay? Well, if you look in the Septuagint,
back at these verses in Isaiah, in the Greek word, guess what
they use for the Lord of hosts? And for the Lord, the Redeemer,
Kyrios. They're saying the one born in
that manger is the Old Testament God. You understand? See, a lot of people wanna put
the Old Testament God over here and Jesus over here and never
the twain shall meet except for that they're related, you know,
it's father and son. No, he is the Old Testament God. He is the same yesterday and
today and forever. Savior Who is Christ Lord That
deliverer this deliverer the only deliverer has come Only God could live before the
Father Only man could die And only God could raise from the
dead That child was given, that son was sent, and this child
in this manger is God manifest in the flesh. He is born. And you know what? That is great
tidings, good tidings of great joy. Savior, Christ, Lord. is born today. Our Heavenly Father,
thank you for this time and this place. Thank you most of all
for our Lord, your son whom you sent and gave to be our deliverer. Thank you, Lord, for this great
salvation which you have given us. Be with Walter as he comes to
preach. Let us hear the words and understand them. Thank you, Lord, for all you
do. In Christ's name we pray, amen.