The Sacrificial Love of the Son (Galatians 4:4-5)

[00:00:05] Thank you for listening to the Calvary Monterey Podcast. To learn more about our church,

[00:00:09] please visit calvary.com. And for additional resources from our lead pastor, Nate Holdridge,

[00:00:15] please visit nateholdridge.com.

[00:00:18] All right. Good morning, church. Merry Christmas. Oh, this is it. This is the week. Loving it. I can

[00:00:27] see that a few of our folks have already begun their travels and we pray for you this week. If

[00:00:34] you are traveling to visit friends and family elsewhere, the God's hand would be upon you

[00:00:39] and upon your time away. And if you are in town, of course, on Tuesday, we'd love to have you

[00:00:45] at either one o'clock or three o'clock or five o'clock. You know, each year we've been bumping

[00:00:51] up the earliest time slot just a little bit earlier. I feel like people will come at 7am

[00:00:58] to a Christmas Eve service. There's just a group of people that are like, yeah, I like it. I

[00:01:03] like getting it out of the way. It's nice. So we're going to have a great time together

[00:01:07] and it'll be a blessing. As you guys know, last week I introduced a Christmas sermon series

[00:01:15] to you called God is Love. That's a title taken from 1 John chapter 4. John says that a couple

[00:01:22] of times in that chapter. And what we've been thinking about is the Trinitarian love of God.

[00:01:27] God is Father, Son, and Spirit. And so last week we thought about how the love of the Father

[00:01:35] overflows into the Christmas story, creates, generates the Christmas story. On Tuesday,

[00:01:42] we're going to think about the welcoming love of the Spirit, that the Spirit wants to bring people

[00:01:46] into the family of God. And then finally, today we're going to think about the sacrificial love

[00:01:55] of the Son. And what I told you last week is that I'm borrowing a friend of mine to share the word

[00:02:01] with you today. Tyler Backway is a young pastor. He's still in his 20s. I got him by almost 20 years.

[00:02:08] And I met Tyler a few years ago when I was teaching as a guest teacher at Calvary Chapel Bible College.

[00:02:16] And then we really connected a couple of years ago when he was leading a youth pastors conference.

[00:02:22] And he invited me to come and speak to this room filled with youth leaders and youth pastors and

[00:02:29] people helping in youth ministry. And as he was just doing his thing, I could just see the hand of God

[00:02:35] upon his life. And it just felt to me like this is a young man that I want to know. And fortunately,

[00:02:40] over the last couple of years, I've gotten to know him. I've gotten to know him, his wife Veronica,

[00:02:46] their three children. And I'm so excited because this next year, 2025, they're making the bold,

[00:02:52] bold decision to take a step of faith to move to Pismo Beach, California and plant a brand new

[00:02:58] church, Everlight Church. And we're excited about that. Yeah, some of you guys want to celebrate that.

[00:03:05] I have a huge heart for church planters, partly because I grew up in the home of a church planting

[00:03:11] pastor and men who make that decision to step out to venture into new areas with their families

[00:03:18] to plant a church. It's just hard work, but it's a needed work. And we need gospel preaching, Bible

[00:03:24] teaching churches. And so I know today you're going to be greatly encouraged by the ministry of the

[00:03:30] word that you're about to receive. So please welcome to the platform with me, Pastor Tyler Backway.

[00:03:42] Good morning, Calvary. How's everyone doing? Doing well? All right. Galatians chapter four,

[00:03:48] you can open your Bible to Galatians chapter four, as we continue our series, God is love as we prepare

[00:03:55] our hearts for Christmas. So for 10 years ago, I was introduced to Pastor Nate at Calvary Chapel Bible

[00:04:01] College. And he had a massive beard at the time. And like, he's got a nice one right now, but it was,

[00:04:07] it was big. It was lofty. And he had that booming voice. And so we endearingly referred to him as

[00:04:13] Aslan. And man, as I've gotten to know Pastor Nate over the years, I'm just so thankful for him.

[00:04:19] He's been such an encouragement to myself and to our family during this season, as we step out in

[00:04:24] faith to plant Everlight Church. And if you want to stay connected in what we're doing, we've got some

[00:04:29] of these flyers out there in the welcome table or some kind of area. Heather put those out there for

[00:04:34] us. So you can pick one of those up. There's a scan the QR code. You can follow along in our newsletter,

[00:04:39] but thank you so much for the support, for your prayers, for your encouragement. And thank you,

[00:04:45] Pastor Nate, for telling everyone to laugh at my jokes this service. Thank you ahead of time.

[00:04:49] That was a joke. You're supposed to laugh. What happened? All right. Galatians chapter four. Let's

[00:04:55] read God's word together. I'll pray and dive into it. Does that sound good? Are you with me?

[00:05:01] Galatians chapter four, beginning in verse four, this is God's word. And it says,

[00:05:05] when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem

[00:05:12] those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has

[00:05:21] sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you're no longer a slave,

[00:05:30] but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, we thank you for

[00:05:37] this time of year. We thank you for the incarnation that you left the riches of heaven for the rags of

[00:05:46] this world, for us, Lord. We thank you for the promise that you gave, that you would never leave

[00:05:52] us or forsake us, that you're here with us now. We thank you that your word is living and powerful,

[00:05:57] that it's sharper than a two-edged sword, able to discern our hearts and thoughts and mind.

[00:06:02] God, we ask for the power of your spirit, that you would make your word come alive to us this morning.

[00:06:08] Lord, that you give us a sensitivity to your spirit. And Father, I specifically want to pray for anyone

[00:06:15] in this room that is finding it difficult to receive your grace this morning, that your love

[00:06:24] would penetrate our hearts, Father. I pray for those that are going through adversity, through challenges,

[00:06:31] through difficult moments. I pray that you comfort them by your spirit. I pray for those where this

[00:06:37] holiday season may be just painful because the empty seats at the table, loved ones that aren't there.

[00:06:47] God, would you comfort them this morning? Jesus, we welcome you. Would you move by your spirit? In

[00:06:54] Jesus' name, your people said, amen. Born of woman. This is how the Apostle Paul recounts the Christmas

[00:07:02] story here in Galatians chapter 4. Today, as we consider the sacrificial love of the Son, we're

[00:07:09] going to step back and we're going to look at the storyline of Scripture through the tale of three

[00:07:16] women. Three women who actually point us to Christ. Three women who Jesus entered into their stories.

[00:07:22] And I hope, my encouragement is, as we look at the tale of these three women, that we'd be persuaded

[00:07:27] that as just as Jesus intertwines his story into their stories, that we'd be persuaded that Jesus

[00:07:33] is still intertwining his story into our stories today. See, these women are women who hold on to

[00:07:41] hope in the midst of pain and tragedy. Their stories lead us to Christmas and they are interwoven into the

[00:07:48] greatest story ever told, the story of Jesus. But I have to warn you, their stories are not defined

[00:07:55] by silent knights or singing shepherds and three wise men. There's a bit of a trigger warning at the

[00:08:00] start of the tale of these three women. It's dark. It's scary. It's difficult. There's death. There's

[00:08:07] grief. There's pain. There's suffering. Yet in the midst of all of that, their stories are full of hope,

[00:08:15] promise, fulfillment, and expectation of coming good in the darkest of moments. And the temptation is,

[00:08:22] as we press play on their stories, and as we consider the Christmas story this morning,

[00:08:28] the temptation is, is to treat their stories like any other Christmas story. How many of you like to

[00:08:35] watch Christmas movies this time of year? All right. It's so much fun. Last night we were sitting at a

[00:08:39] hotel and so they've got the TV. Who, you know, who uses a TV with TV channels anymore? We haven't for

[00:08:45] years. And so it's like ABC family, if they got Frosty and Rudolph, and my kids have never seen these

[00:08:51] stories. All right. So they're just soaking them in and there's commercials. They're like, what are

[00:08:55] these? It's like, that's a commercial, honey. So there's all these stories that are going on. I

[00:09:00] know what's happened with the commercials, right? They're back on Paramount Plus. Be careful.

[00:09:06] Anyways, these stories, like we're surrounded by them on Christmas night and they're a lot of fun.

[00:09:10] And there's a bunch of different stories. There's the Hallmark movies. How many of you like Hallmark?

[00:09:13] It's fun. It's cute. The husbands are kind of dreading it, except for a couple of them. You like your

[00:09:17] hot chocolate, cuddle the wife, watch a Hallmark movie. It's awesome. But they're predictable, right?

[00:09:22] They're pretty, it's the same storyline for, I don't know, since I've been watching them with my

[00:09:27] grandma for 20 years. Like it's the same exact storyline every single year. And then you've got

[00:09:33] other stories. There are some of them predictable, like Hallmark, but then there's like the stories

[00:09:37] like The Grinch, like classic stories. And these are inspirational. It's a story of a cranky green

[00:09:43] dude that turns into this like kind, loving guy at the end of the story. It's like, oh man,

[00:09:49] through the sacrifice and love and faithfulness of the Whoville community, he goes from cranky to kind.

[00:09:54] And you're like nudging your spouse. You're like, hey, this Christmas, you know, let's watch The Grinch

[00:10:00] and let's go from cranky to kind. You're like, oh, this is great. It's an inspirational story.

[00:10:06] And it's like, these are fun. But then you've got the Rudolph and the Frosty and the Santa. And these

[00:10:11] are just fun, fictional stories that we surround ourselves every single Christmas. And the temptation

[00:10:17] is, is as we press play on the Christmas story, as we press play on the tale of these three women,

[00:10:22] it's to treat their stories like all these other stories. It's to treat the Jesus story as if it's

[00:10:27] predictable, inspiring, or maybe even fictional. Like, oh, this is something that we come together

[00:10:34] and we celebrate every single year, but how much of it is actually true? Or how much of it is just

[00:10:39] inspirational? Like, okay, great. Like, yeah, I should try to take some cues from Jesus. That's a

[00:10:44] good idea. I think seem like a great guy. Maybe he is the Lord and Savior of your life and he's the

[00:10:50] Lord and Savior of my life. But in a sense, it kind of becomes predictable year after year after year

[00:10:55] after year. And the temptation is, it's to distance ourselves from these stories.

[00:11:01] But what we're going to see today, as we look at the Christmas stories through the tale of these

[00:11:05] three women, is that Jesus enters into their story and Jesus still enters into your story and into my

[00:11:11] story today. And that the tale of these three women, they're not predictable at all. And they're not

[00:11:17] fictional. They're real stories and they're, they're inspiring, but it's not that fake kind of hopeful

[00:11:23] inspiration. It's inspiring because the Christmas story emerges in their stories in the most difficult and

[00:11:29] dark and painful and moments of suffering and tragedy and hostility and adversity. And it's in these

[00:11:35] moments, in the darkest and most difficult moments where there's none of that Christmas nostalgia feeling.

[00:11:44] It's in those moments that the Christmas story emerges with real hope, genuine hope that leads these

[00:11:53] women to a sense of expectation and anticipation. And that's my hope for us this morning, is that we would be a

[00:12:01] people defined in this Christmas season, as people of God, as people who consider ourselves followers of Jesus,

[00:12:07] that we would be full of a sense of anticipation and expectation. Think of my little kids. My kids were asking me

[00:12:15] before Halloween if we could put up the Christmas tree. There's this sense of anticipation and expectation

[00:12:21] that's just awaiting them for Christmas. And I wonder what would it look like for us to have that sense of

[00:12:26] anticipation and expectation because Jesus is still writing himself into our stories today. Amen.

[00:12:33] As we look at the story of these three women, as we press play on the tale of these three women,

[00:12:39] they will reveal to us these three things. Number one, how Jesus came. Number two, why Jesus came.

[00:12:46] And number three, how we are to respond to his coming. Let's consider first, number one, how Jesus came.

[00:12:55] On Christmas, we don't simply celebrate that Jesus came. We celebrate how Jesus came. And Paul

[00:13:03] summarizes for us how Jesus came here in Galatians chapter four, verse four, by saying this,

[00:13:08] that Jesus came born of woman, born under the law. This is how he came. But loaded in this phrase is so

[00:13:18] much meaning. There's so much going on here. The phrase of born of woman brings us all the way to

[00:13:23] the beginning of the Jesus story. And the Jesus story didn't start in a manger. The Jesus story started on

[00:13:31] the first page of our Bible. There we see, as we read through the narrative of scripture, we find that

[00:13:37] Jesus is the creator of all things. Pastor Nate talked about the nature of the Trinity and the

[00:13:42] Father, Son, and Spirit last weekend. And we know that Jesus is God. He's there on the first pages of

[00:13:49] scripture. That when it says, in the beginning, God, we are referencing Jesus himself. And he's there in

[00:13:55] the beginning. And we find him making this beautiful garden. And at the pinnacle of his creation is man and

[00:14:02] born woman. Okay. Born of woman. This phrase brings us all the way back to that first phrase of, or that

[00:14:10] first woman there in the garden. Her name's Eve. We know the story. God created Adam and Eve and

[00:14:16] everything's good, good, good, good. And he says that they can have every single thing that they see.

[00:14:22] Generous God or stingy God? Generous God, right? Like every single thing, just except for one,

[00:14:29] the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That one fruit of that tree is forbidden. And he can have

[00:14:35] everything. And so Adam and Eve are created. And Eve is referred to. Her name means life. Like this is her

[00:14:41] destiny. This is her name. This is what she's designed for, is to bring life. And God creates Adam and Eve

[00:14:49] and places them in there in the garden to extend his rule and reign throughout the rest of the world.

[00:14:56] He says to be fruitful and to multiply and to subdue the earth and to rule the earth. And Eve's

[00:15:02] designed to bear God's image and to reflect his rule and reign. She's a helper, a companion, a warrior

[00:15:10] alongside her husband, Adam, to extend God's kingdom, bringing life and blessing to the world.

[00:15:17] But we know the story, don't we? It's not exactly what happens.

[00:15:23] Eve isn't bringing life and blessing to the world in this moment, except it doesn't last for long.

[00:15:28] In Genesis chapter three, this crafty serpent enters into the picture.

[00:15:33] You know, it's interesting as we stop and we look at the tale of these three women, every single one of them

[00:15:38] is looking forward to a child and every single one of them has to face this serpent.

[00:15:43] The serpent enters into the picture here. He's a crafty servant. He's an adversary.

[00:15:48] Jesus refers to him in John 8 as the murderer from the beginning. He is Satan himself and he comes and he tempts Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit.

[00:15:59] And she does. She takes it and she gives it to Adam and they eat it together.

[00:16:02] And the one, Eve, who's supposed to bring life to the rest of the world, sin enters into the picture.

[00:16:09] And rather than bringing life into the world, death comes into the world instead.

[00:16:15] At that picture, in that moment, Genesis chapter three, it's one of the darkest moments of human history.

[00:16:24] Eve is so embarrassed. She's so ashamed. Blame games going on between Eve and Adam and the serpent.

[00:16:30] They're ashamed. They're covering their nakedness.

[00:16:32] I mean, this is a horrific moment in human history.

[00:16:35] No doubt the serpent was reveling in his victory. He tempted Eve. He had won.

[00:16:43] Yet here, in this moment, in this context is where Christmas actually emerges.

[00:16:50] It was in a promise given not to Adam, not to Eve, but actually to the serpent.

[00:16:55] As God is ruling out the consequences of sin, this is what he says in Genesis chapter three, verse 15.

[00:17:02] I like how the New King James Version puts it.

[00:17:05] God says to the serpent,

[00:17:07] I will put enmity or war between you and the woman, between the serpent and the woman,

[00:17:14] between your seed, the serpent's seed, and her seed.

[00:17:17] He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

[00:17:23] Okay, there at the beginning, the sense of anticipation and excitement for Christmas morning, it begins.

[00:17:29] Sometimes here in the garden, a promise is given that one is going to come who's going to crush the head of the serpent.

[00:17:36] That he is going to come and he is going to destroy the one who rules death, who's bringing death and destruction and all of that into the picture.

[00:17:46] Jesus is going to come.

[00:17:49] Now this is here all the way at the beginning of the Bible.

[00:17:51] From that moment on, there is that sense of excitement and anticipation for Christmas day,

[00:17:57] for the serpent crusher to come.

[00:18:00] But I want to remind us this context of when this promise is emerging.

[00:18:04] This promise is emerging on one of the darkest days of human history

[00:18:08] that is surrounded and engulfed in sin and shame and guilt.

[00:18:13] And there I just want to pause in each one of these stories and see how they reflect our stories today.

[00:18:18] Because the reality is, is the sin and the shame and the guilt that Eve experienced there in the garden,

[00:18:24] it had a detrimental effect in which it has infected all of human history.

[00:18:32] To where the story that you are living and I am living have been marked by sin and guilt and shame.

[00:18:39] And even though as a follower of Jesus, we might know that Jesus removes these things.

[00:18:45] We still battle against them, do we not?

[00:18:48] Especially at times of year like this.

[00:18:51] At least in my family, we do.

[00:18:53] This time of year, we sit around tables and we have conversations

[00:19:02] with family members that often bring up shame and guilt.

[00:19:07] If your family is like anything like my family, it's messy.

[00:19:11] People have sinned against each other in my family.

[00:19:13] We're family.

[00:19:14] It happens.

[00:19:16] There's conflict that happens.

[00:19:17] You get around on the Christmas table and if those things haven't been resolved,

[00:19:21] shame and guilt can emerge.

[00:19:24] And questions are asked.

[00:19:26] And grandma's like, well, how's life doing?

[00:19:28] How's this person that you've been in relationship?

[00:19:31] Or what about this child that was expected?

[00:19:32] Or this job?

[00:19:33] And maybe some of the responses to those things, shame and guilt, come up.

[00:19:39] The relationship didn't go the way that you thought?

[00:19:41] You've been trying to have a child and man, the shame, like it hasn't been working.

[00:19:45] There's just pain and you know that they're going to ask.

[00:19:47] And ah.

[00:19:49] Or there's that relational conflict with that one sibling or with that one person in the family.

[00:19:53] You're like, oh, you're going to have to sit with them at a dinner table.

[00:19:55] And you're like, ah, we haven't really talked it out.

[00:19:57] What's this going to look like?

[00:19:58] Or maybe it's the prodigal that isn't home.

[00:20:02] And there's shame.

[00:20:04] There's sadness and there's grief and there's guilt.

[00:20:07] I mean, the stories of Eve.

[00:20:10] This is the context in which the Christmas story emerges.

[00:20:13] It's not in the happy-go-lucky singing place.

[00:20:16] No, it's in mourning.

[00:20:18] But then the promise throughout scripture is that in the darkest of moments, it's not trying to find the silver lining and ignore all the darkness.

[00:20:26] It's that in the midst of the darkness, a light has come.

[00:20:30] A light has dawned.

[00:20:31] Hope is on the horizon.

[00:20:33] There's a redeemer.

[00:20:34] There's a restorer.

[00:20:35] There's a reconciler.

[00:20:37] There's one who's coming that can enter in into the sin and the shame and bring and infuse hope.

[00:20:45] That's what we're going to see today as we see the tale of these three women, that sin and shame and guilt is not the end of Eve's story.

[00:20:52] It's not the end of your story.

[00:20:53] It's not the end of my story.

[00:20:55] But it's in that context that hope and promise is given.

[00:20:59] That now the hope and anticipation for Christmas begins to emerge.

[00:21:04] But notice this.

[00:21:07] There's a promise of the serpent, but there's also the promise of a war.

[00:21:13] Notice at the beginning of that verse, he says, I will put enmity or war between you and the woman.

[00:21:20] Hold on.

[00:21:20] There's going to be conflict.

[00:21:23] It's like, yeah, there is going to be conflict.

[00:21:25] Is that kind of like relieving for anyone else in the room?

[00:21:29] Like there's going to be some conflict.

[00:21:31] Like laugh now, cry later.

[00:21:33] Like, oh, it's okay.

[00:21:35] Jesus promised there's going to be some conflict.

[00:21:37] Like this conflict is going to be between a woman and a serpent.

[00:21:42] But notice that the conflict is going to end at some point.

[00:21:47] And that the hope that we see in this verse is that although sin and death entered through a woman named Eve,

[00:21:54] that sin and death is going to end with a woman and her seed.

[00:22:02] As she bears a son who's going to crush the head of the serpent.

[00:22:08] The promise here in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 is good news.

[00:22:12] It's good news at the beginning of the story when it's defined by sin and shame and guilt.

[00:22:16] It won't be defined by that.

[00:22:17] It's defined by good news.

[00:22:19] It's what scholars have referred to as the proto-evangelion.

[00:22:23] The first time the good news is ever mentioned.

[00:22:27] It's here in Genesis 3 verse 15.

[00:22:29] It's in the midst of all of this that's going on.

[00:22:32] That there's a hope of a redeemer, of a serpent crusher.

[00:22:35] Who's going to put to death the works of the enemy who wants to steal, kill, and destroy.

[00:22:41] And this is good news.

[00:22:42] Amen.

[00:22:43] Sort of the Christmas story begins to emerge.

[00:22:46] But this war between the woman and the serpent that's promised by God,

[00:22:52] it reaches another climactic point in the narrative of scripture.

[00:22:57] It's through the life of this next woman that we discover the way and the meaning to the next phrase of our text.

[00:23:03] Born of a woman, born under the law.

[00:23:06] The context of that happened as through the Exodus story in the book of Exodus.

[00:23:12] And it's there that we find this woman.

[00:23:14] Her name is Jochebed or Jochebed.

[00:23:17] She's the mother of Moses.

[00:23:20] And in her life, there's a lot that's going on.

[00:23:23] There's a climactic point that arises in her life between the woman and serpent.

[00:23:27] It begins to take center stage.

[00:23:29] You see, Jochebed, her name means Yahweh's glory or glory of God.

[00:23:34] Yet there doesn't seem to be anything glorious about her life at all.

[00:23:39] She's a woman who is still in exile.

[00:23:42] Remember the garden?

[00:23:44] God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden in exile.

[00:23:48] And all of humanity was exiled from the presence of God ever since.

[00:23:51] We find this woman, Jochebed, in exile.

[00:23:53] Living under the oppression of Pharaoh.

[00:23:56] Bound in slavery with her family.

[00:23:59] And finally, in the midst of all this that's going on,

[00:24:01] she gets some really exciting news.

[00:24:02] She's going to have a newborn boy.

[00:24:04] She's ecstatic, I'm sure.

[00:24:06] You can imagine just the joy to this family of the news

[00:24:10] that they're going to finally have a son.

[00:24:12] But at maybe the bridal, not the bridal, the baby shower,

[00:24:17] somewhere amongst her pregnancy, there's a command that goes out from Pharaoh.

[00:24:22] It's the war between the serpent and the seed of the woman

[00:24:25] that Pharaoh commands that the newborn son of every Hebrew woman

[00:24:29] has to be thrown into the Nile.

[00:24:31] I mean, imagine the disappointment of this woman.

[00:24:37] She's been waiting for this child.

[00:24:39] She's been waiting to hold him.

[00:24:41] This is her boy and she's pregnant and she hears this news.

[00:24:45] I mean, this is awful.

[00:24:46] The pit in her stomach.

[00:24:48] What is going to happen?

[00:24:50] Her life is seemingly marked by tragedy and hostility

[00:24:54] and adversity and disappointment and pain.

[00:24:58] So she gives birth to this child.

[00:24:59] It names him Moses.

[00:25:02] Moses comes and she hides him for three months.

[00:25:07] She's disobeying the command of Pharaoh.

[00:25:09] She's trying to honor God.

[00:25:10] She fears God.

[00:25:11] But three months goes by, this boy is starting to cry a little bit more.

[00:25:14] What's going to happen?

[00:25:15] I mean, imagine the sense of anxiety that she had as she's holding her boy,

[00:25:20] just trying to, the anxiety of what's going to happen if Egyptian comes into their area

[00:25:25] and comes and takes this boy out of her hands.

[00:25:28] She realizes that she can't keep this a secret any longer.

[00:25:32] The pit in her stomach.

[00:25:34] She's going to have to get rid of this child.

[00:25:37] Her boy.

[00:25:38] And so she places him in this basket, places him in the Nile River.

[00:25:43] And what seemed to be, I mean, this would have been the darkest, most difficult,

[00:25:49] most tragic day of her life.

[00:25:52] As she puts this boy in that basket and down the Nile.

[00:25:55] But in that context, God intervenes.

[00:25:59] And he intervenes through the most unlikely of people.

[00:26:03] It's Pharaoh's daughter.

[00:26:05] Pharaoh's daughter is there by the bank of the Nile River.

[00:26:08] And she picks up this child.

[00:26:10] She's the one who names him Moses.

[00:26:12] And God brings Yogobed, the mother of Moses in to nurse him.

[00:26:17] I mean, man, God's fingerprints are all over the story.

[00:26:22] He's writing himself into this story of this woman's life that seemed to be tragic and hostile

[00:26:28] and all this adversity.

[00:26:30] And here God is at work.

[00:26:34] So she comes and she's the midwife.

[00:26:36] She's nursing the child.

[00:26:38] But imagine even that.

[00:26:41] She's nursing the child.

[00:26:42] We know through science, the oxytocin that's released as a mother is nursing the child.

[00:26:47] I mean, the bond that's being created in every single night,

[00:26:51] she's handing him back over to the enemy's daughter to live in Pharaoh's palace

[00:26:59] with limited influence on him.

[00:27:04] Yet God is with this boy.

[00:27:07] And he grows up to be Moses.

[00:27:09] And we're pretty familiar with his story as well.

[00:27:12] God raises him up to be a deliverer.

[00:27:15] And he delivers, God uses him to deliver the people of Israel out of Egypt,

[00:27:20] across the Red Sea into the wilderness.

[00:27:23] And they're saved from the slavery and oppression of Egypt.

[00:27:26] And they come across into the wilderness and he climbs up a mountain.

[00:27:30] And there on the mountain, it gives us context to the second phrase of our verse,

[00:27:34] born of woman, born under the law.

[00:27:38] It's there on that mountain,

[00:27:39] Moses, the deliverer would receive the law from God.

[00:27:43] He would meet with God.

[00:27:44] He would experience the glory of God.

[00:27:46] Remember his mother's name meant the glory of God or Yahweh's glory.

[00:27:50] She didn't get to experience it, but now Moses does.

[00:27:55] Up there on the mountain, God gives them a law.

[00:27:58] And they're all partying down beneath the golden calf incidents.

[00:28:01] Like, man, no one's trying to live for God.

[00:28:03] And God gives them the law.

[00:28:04] And the point of the law is to show them the way in which they were to live to honor God.

[00:28:08] It was a way of flourishing.

[00:28:10] It's a way of honoring God.

[00:28:13] Yet they're not able to do it.

[00:28:15] Moses can't even.

[00:28:15] He's forbidden from going into the promised land.

[00:28:18] They go into the promised land for some time.

[00:28:19] But then the story in scripture is that they keep going into exile.

[00:28:25] And over and over and over and over again,

[00:28:28] the people of God, no doubt, are facing disappointment.

[00:28:31] And then imagine the doubt that comes in.

[00:28:36] I mean, this promise of the serpent crusher.

[00:28:38] No, it seems that, man, this serpent is winning the war.

[00:28:41] However, they're not seeing anybody being crushed.

[00:28:46] They're the ones that are being crushed time and time and time and time again.

[00:28:50] And by the time the next woman comes along that we're going to look at, Mary,

[00:28:54] no doubt people, this whole God thing, this whole Genesis 3 verse 15,

[00:28:58] the serpent crushes this Messiah figure.

[00:29:01] No doubt for most of the people by that point.

[00:29:04] It was just wishful thinking.

[00:29:06] It's grandma and grandpa's stories.

[00:29:08] This Davidic king, ha, he hasn't come.

[00:29:11] We're under the bondage of Rome right now.

[00:29:13] Like that was the climate in which Mary emerges.

[00:29:19] Now pause on these stories.

[00:29:22] So the story of Eve, we know what that's like, the sin and the shame and the guilt.

[00:29:26] But the story of Yochabed is that God intervenes in the most tragic and hostile

[00:29:31] and adverse and grief and pain and suffering.

[00:29:36] And I know in the sides of a room like this,

[00:29:39] that some people they're in that, they're living that story right now.

[00:29:42] There's some of us in this room that's like, man, life just seems overwhelming.

[00:29:46] It seems that you're being crushed.

[00:29:48] Where's God?

[00:29:49] What's going on?

[00:29:52] Maybe it's the loss of a loved one.

[00:29:53] It's the empty chair at this Christmas.

[00:29:55] It's a relational conflict that's broken down.

[00:29:57] It's just a tragedy of a diagnosis or something going on.

[00:30:00] It's money that's just so tight.

[00:30:02] And it's like, oh, I wanted to be able to provide this for my children or grandchildren.

[00:30:05] It's not able to happen.

[00:30:07] It just seems like, man, you almost feel enslaved.

[00:30:12] And this is Yochabed's story.

[00:30:13] It's a story that many of us know those feelings.

[00:30:17] We know some of that story.

[00:30:18] And that story, God intervenes.

[00:30:21] And then the story of Mary comes along.

[00:30:23] And it seems to be a context where there's probably a lot of doubt.

[00:30:28] I mean, the first thing in which Mary hears this news from an angel, Gabriel, she begins questioning him.

[00:30:36] I mean, we know what that's like, too.

[00:30:38] There's the questioning of God.

[00:30:39] There's a skepticism.

[00:30:40] God, where are you in this time?

[00:30:41] But notice this.

[00:30:42] This is what breaks through in the story of Mary.

[00:30:45] It's in Luke chapter 1.

[00:30:46] We know this verse.

[00:30:47] Well, the angel Gabriel promises that she's going to bear a child.

[00:30:51] That his name is going to be Jesus.

[00:30:53] And then he says this.

[00:30:54] He says, behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son.

[00:30:59] The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

[00:31:04] Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

[00:31:12] Well, thousands of years later, that promise, that anticipation, that expectation of a serpent crusher,

[00:31:19] of Christmas morning is now being fulfilled in the life of a teenage girl in the no-name town of Nazareth.

[00:31:27] The angel of God appears and says that you are going to have a child.

[00:31:32] The child that was promised all the way back on the first pages of Scripture.

[00:31:38] A child that's going to come and set up a new kingdom.

[00:31:41] A kingdom of life and righteousness, of peace and joy.

[00:31:47] He's going to set up an eternal kingdom.

[00:31:49] He's going to be called holy, the Son of God.

[00:31:54] What was once a mystery throughout the pages of history becomes a reality in the life of Mary.

[00:32:02] The seed of the woman promised in the garden was for telling a virgin birth.

[00:32:06] A supernatural intervention where God puts on human flesh to dwell among us.

[00:32:10] A child will be born.

[00:32:13] This is what the prophet Isaiah was speaking of.

[00:32:16] During those times in exile, the prophet Isaiah says this in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14,

[00:32:22] that the Lord himself will give you a sign.

[00:32:24] Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel.

[00:32:31] God with us.

[00:32:33] This is huge.

[00:32:35] Since the garden, they weren't allowed to be with God.

[00:32:37] Sin had entered into the picture and separated from the God.

[00:32:40] For centuries, they live in exile apart from God.

[00:32:43] And now God is writing himself in the story of human history that he might be with us.

[00:32:52] He writes himself in.

[00:32:55] The director comes in and plays the lead role.

[00:32:58] And he's going to set all things right.

[00:33:01] He is the one that was prophesied of before.

[00:33:04] This is the child who is greater than Moses.

[00:33:07] This is the child promised in the garden.

[00:33:10] But notice this.

[00:33:11] The war wages at this coming of the child.

[00:33:16] The war that was promised between the woman and the serpent.

[00:33:20] It takes a center stage at the birth of Jesus.

[00:33:25] Now I know this might not be in the nativity scene at grandma's house.

[00:33:29] But there was another character there.

[00:33:32] And that character wasn't a shepherd.

[00:33:34] And the character wasn't a wise man.

[00:33:35] And the character wasn't a donkey.

[00:33:40] Or a cute little sheep.

[00:33:43] Whatever else is in the nativity scene at grandma's house.

[00:33:47] There's another character.

[00:33:48] It's a dragon.

[00:33:50] At least this is what the apostle John sees in a vision that's recorded for us in Revelation chapter 12.

[00:33:56] A vision of Jesus' birth.

[00:33:58] This is what the apostle John sees through heaven's eyes.

[00:34:01] He sees this.

[00:34:02] It'll be on the screen.

[00:34:04] John says,

[00:34:12] Okay, seems to be Israel.

[00:34:14] But also in this motif there's Mary.

[00:34:17] She was pregnant.

[00:34:18] And was crying out in birth pains in the agony of giving birth.

[00:34:24] Apologies if you're planning on singing Silent Nights this Christmas season.

[00:34:29] According to Apostles John's version.

[00:34:31] It's not anything silent about this.

[00:34:35] And there she's giving birth.

[00:34:38] Another sign appeared in heaven.

[00:34:39] Behold a great red dragon.

[00:34:43] The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth.

[00:34:46] So that when she bore her child he might devour it.

[00:34:50] We don't see that at grandma's nativity scene.

[00:34:53] Sweet baby Jesus with a dragon.

[00:34:57] Right over him.

[00:34:59] But she gave birth to a male child.

[00:35:01] One who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.

[00:35:06] See here this is the context in which the Christmas story emerges.

[00:35:10] It's what I want us to see.

[00:35:12] These are the stories.

[00:35:12] The stories of Eve.

[00:35:14] The story of Yochaba.

[00:35:15] The story of Mary.

[00:35:16] They're not these feel good Christmas nostalgic.

[00:35:20] All happy yuppie Christmas stories.

[00:35:22] Now there's a dragon about to devour the child here.

[00:35:25] This is intense.

[00:35:31] This is messy.

[00:35:32] This is overwhelming.

[00:35:36] I mean imagine the conversation between Mary and Joseph before the angel appeared to Joseph.

[00:35:42] Wow.

[00:35:43] There's a lot going on here.

[00:35:45] But it's in these stories that God writes in his story of redemption.

[00:35:48] That he writes in the story of Jesus.

[00:35:51] It's in these stories.

[00:35:52] The dark and difficult and hostile and adverse stories.

[00:35:55] That the Christmas story emerges.

[00:36:02] Of a God who's writing a better story.

[00:36:07] A good story.

[00:36:09] This is how Jesus came.

[00:36:11] Jesus came.

[00:36:13] Born of a woman.

[00:36:13] Born under the law.

[00:36:15] He comes into these stories.

[00:36:18] He comes supernaturally.

[00:36:20] He comes humbly.

[00:36:22] He comes through the life of these stories to show us that he can enter into our stories.

[00:36:30] Unexpected stories.

[00:36:31] Mundane stories.

[00:36:33] See the serpent from the garden is found at the birth of Jesus in the manger.

[00:36:36] Fulfillment of a 5,000 year prophecy is ushered into reality.

[00:36:41] Woman who is designed to extend God's rule and reign was lost with Eve.

[00:36:46] But now it's being redeemed in Mary.

[00:36:49] The early church fathers commented on this whole idea of Mary almost being a new Eve.

[00:36:55] Justin Martyr in the second century says this.

[00:36:58] It'll be on the screen.

[00:37:00] Eve, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience in death.

[00:37:06] But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her.

[00:37:12] And through her he was born by whom God destroys the serpent.

[00:37:17] Where death and disobedience once reigned through the choice of Adam and Eve,

[00:37:21] life and blessing will now reign through the birth of Mary's son.

[00:37:25] The story of redemption is being written.

[00:37:29] Expectation and anticipation of new life is being released to the life of a humble teenage girl from Nazareth.

[00:37:36] Early church father Irenaeus says it this way.

[00:37:39] That the knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary.

[00:37:44] For what the Virgin Eve has bound fast through unbelief.

[00:37:48] This did the Virgin Mary set through faith.

[00:37:51] Set free through faith.

[00:37:53] Why do we look at it this way?

[00:37:54] We look at these stories in this way because it personalizes it.

[00:37:59] Eve and Mary, real people, real stories.

[00:38:03] God is intervening and writing his story of redemption.

[00:38:06] And this is what the incarnation is all about.

[00:38:09] Incarnation is God put on human flesh.

[00:38:12] And he enters into human story, into human life, into human experience.

[00:38:19] And he does so that he might write himself into our stories, into your story, into my story,

[00:38:25] to rewrite our stories, to write stories of redemption, to bring life and to bring blessing.

[00:38:35] This is how Jesus came in to the story.

[00:38:39] This is how Jesus came.

[00:38:41] This is what the tale of these three women show us.

[00:38:43] He enters through promise and pain.

[00:38:45] He leaves the riches of heaven to put on the rags of this world.

[00:38:52] And man, is this a demonstration of his love.

[00:38:55] The sacrificial love of the son that he would leave all of that to write himself into these stories.

[00:39:03] This is how the apostle Paul puts it in Philippians chapter 4 verses 5 to 7.

[00:39:07] He says,

[00:39:08] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

[00:39:13] who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

[00:39:17] but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men.

[00:39:25] This is a length in which he went.

[00:39:28] From heaven to earth.

[00:39:31] From glory to dirt.

[00:39:34] From a palace to a manger.

[00:39:38] It speaks of his great love for you and for me.

[00:39:41] So this is how Jesus came.

[00:39:43] Born of a woman.

[00:39:44] Born under the law.

[00:39:45] Written into these stories.

[00:39:46] Why did Jesus came?

[00:39:47] Well, he came to redeem those who are under the law.

[00:39:50] That's what our verse tells us in Galatians chapter 4 verse 5.

[00:39:53] It says that he came to redeem those who are under the law

[00:39:56] so that we might receive adoption as sons.

[00:40:03] Why did Jesus come to redeem us?

[00:40:06] He came to be the new Adam.

[00:40:10] The new Adam.

[00:40:11] What do we mean by that?

[00:40:12] Well, when we consider what was lost with Eve is regained with Mary,

[00:40:16] we find that Jesus came to be our new Adam.

[00:40:19] As we saw, Adam and Eve were created to represent and reflect God's image throughout the world.

[00:40:25] They were designed to cultivate the garden, God's dwelling place,

[00:40:28] until the garden was extended to the rest of the world.

[00:40:31] They were designed to extend his rule and reign.

[00:40:34] That was Adam and Eve.

[00:40:36] They were to represent all of humanity, but sin entered in the picture.

[00:40:39] And now death is ruling and reigning instead of life.

[00:40:44] Now Adam and Eve, who are our representatives, they're marred by sin.

[00:40:49] And their stories are a reflection of our story, and our stories are marred by sin and shame and guilt.

[00:40:55] So Jesus comes as the new Adam.

[00:40:57] Jesus comes to be a new representative.

[00:41:01] This is how the Apostle Paul puts it in Romans chapter 5 verse 17.

[00:41:04] He says,

[00:41:06] If by one man, that's Adam, one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man,

[00:41:11] how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life

[00:41:17] through the one man, Jesus Christ?

[00:41:23] Jesus came as the new Adam.

[00:41:25] Death was ruling and reigning under Adam,

[00:41:28] because as we read through the scriptures,

[00:41:29] we see that sin is spread through the seed of Adam.

[00:41:34] It was Adam's seed that is infected with a sin nature and passed down to the rest of humanity.

[00:41:40] That's why the virgin birth is so necessary.

[00:41:43] This is why God promised in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15,

[00:41:47] that it would be the seed of the woman conceived by the Holy Spirit.

[00:41:52] Is that it bypasses the seed of man that is corrupted by sin.

[00:41:57] Jesus is born as a man without a sin nature.

[00:42:00] The only man to be born this way since Adam.

[00:42:03] He's the new Adam.

[00:42:04] And rather than bringing death, he brings life.

[00:42:10] How many of you need some life this Christmas?

[00:42:15] He's ruling and reigning, bringing life.

[00:42:17] This is what Augustine, however you want to say his name, says this.

[00:42:22] The deliberate sin of the first man is the cause of original sin.

[00:42:27] It is derived from him and passed on to us by birth.

[00:42:30] As a result, we are condemned at birth, not by what we have done,

[00:42:34] but because of what we are by nature.

[00:42:37] See, apart from Jesus, we are sinners.

[00:42:40] Sin isn't just what we do.

[00:42:41] Sin is who we are.

[00:42:43] It's an identity.

[00:42:46] We're defined by it.

[00:42:47] It's our nature.

[00:42:49] So Jesus comes as a new Adam, as a new creation.

[00:42:54] That we might be born again.

[00:42:57] That we might be made new.

[00:42:58] That we'd be given a new life, a new nature.

[00:43:02] Jesus came born as a man.

[00:43:06] He came born as a son of man.

[00:43:10] That we might be born again as sons and daughters of God.

[00:43:14] This is why he came.

[00:43:16] And upon our faith in the person of Jesus, we who are once dead become alive.

[00:43:20] We're given a new nature, a new life.

[00:43:25] This is why he came.

[00:43:26] That our life wouldn't be marked or defined.

[00:43:29] And we are not even referred to as sinners in the heavenly anymore.

[00:43:34] Adam, who once represented us and the adversary, Satan, would always accuse us.

[00:43:38] Pointing to Adam as the death and the sin and the shame and the guilt in our life.

[00:43:42] Jesus comes on the picture.

[00:43:44] And now as we place our faith in Jesus, we are justified.

[00:43:47] We are declared righteous.

[00:43:49] Just as if we've never sinned.

[00:43:51] That when the father looks at us, he sees his son.

[00:43:54] We've been wiped clean by the blood of Jesus.

[00:43:57] We are set free.

[00:43:59] Amen.

[00:44:00] Jesus came as our new Adam to give us a new nature.

[00:44:05] He also came as the greater Moses.

[00:44:08] You see, like Yochabed, Mary gives birth to a deliverer.

[00:44:12] Like Pharaoh, Haro commands the death of every newborn son.

[00:44:15] But like the life of Moses, the father protects the life of the son and raises him up to lead

[00:44:20] the people of God on a new exodus.

[00:44:23] You see, Moses led them on an exodus from bondage of the Egyptians.

[00:44:28] But Jesus comes as a new and greater Moses, leading us on a new exodus out of the bondage of sin.

[00:44:36] John chapter 8 says we were enslaved in our sin.

[00:44:39] But Jesus has come to set us free.

[00:44:43] He comes as a greater Moses to set us free from the penalty of sin.

[00:44:51] He's struggling with sin.

[00:44:54] He's struggling with sin.

[00:45:07] He's struggling with sin this morning.

[00:45:15] Amen.

[00:45:15] Can't wait for that day.

[00:45:17] So he comes as a greater Moses.

[00:45:20] And the God who met Moses up on that mountain comes and he puts on human skin and he comes

[00:45:26] to a manger from mountain to manger.

[00:45:30] I mean, think of the great lengths that he went to come in to die for us out of his love for us.

[00:45:34] And the law that was given to Moses that each one of us breaks, the law that demands death.

[00:45:38] Jesus comes under the law to live the perfect life that you and I cannot live.

[00:45:43] To pay the price for our sin.

[00:45:47] To born to die that we might be set free.

[00:45:51] Amen.

[00:45:52] This is why he came.

[00:45:54] Jesus came as the new Adam.

[00:45:55] Jesus came as the greater Moses.

[00:45:58] This is how Tim Keller puts it.

[00:45:59] He says that the lawmaker became the law keeper and then died for law breakers.

[00:46:08] This is why he came.

[00:46:11] Ephesians chapter 3 says, in him, in Jesus, we have redemption through his blood.

[00:46:17] The forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us.

[00:46:24] The Christmas story is not that we need to work our way up to heaven in order to experience forgiveness,

[00:46:28] but that God worked his way down to us all the way down to a humble, vulnerable child that we might be forgiven and set free.

[00:46:35] Amen.

[00:46:36] Come on.

[00:46:37] I love it.

[00:46:37] It's the Christmas story.

[00:46:39] He came as the new Adam, the greater Moses, but he comes as a serpent crusher as well.

[00:46:44] He comes as the one who's, who through his death and the crucifixion, he destroys the serpent.

[00:46:51] The serpent that wants to steal, kill, and destroy.

[00:46:53] The serpent that's trying to tempt us.

[00:46:55] The serpent that wants to divide family members and marriages.

[00:46:59] The serpent that is at work in this world through the cross, through his sacrifice.

[00:47:03] We read this in Colossians chapter 2.

[00:47:06] The scriptures tell us that he, at his death at the cross, he canceled the record of death that stood against us with this legal demands.

[00:47:14] This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

[00:47:16] And he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

[00:47:25] It's a fulfillment of Genesis 3.15.

[00:47:28] He disarmed.

[00:47:32] He took away the power of the authority, the principality, the power of this world, Satan himself.

[00:47:37] He crushed the head of his serpent there.

[00:47:39] His heel was bruised.

[00:47:40] So he died the death that we deserve.

[00:47:42] But through his death, he defeats the serpent.

[00:47:45] He has no authority on you and me.

[00:47:51] There's no authority over our lives, over our families, over our children.

[00:47:57] This is good news.

[00:48:02] Jesus emerges and now he's ruling through life and righteousness and peace and joy.

[00:48:09] And he enters in.

[00:48:11] In the darkest, most difficult, adverse, hostile moments.

[00:48:15] This is where the Christmas story emerges.

[00:48:17] Question for you this morning.

[00:48:19] What story are you living in?

[00:48:22] What story are you living in this Christmas season?

[00:48:25] What is your life marked by right now?

[00:48:28] Is it the sin and the shame and the guilt of Eve?

[00:48:31] Is it the tragedy and the disappointment of Yochabed?

[00:48:36] Is it the doubt and the gossip that Mary experienced?

[00:48:44] What story are you living in this Christmas season?

[00:48:49] See, these women show us how Jesus came, why Jesus came, but also how we are to respond to his coming.

[00:48:56] Notice in our verse, Galatians chapter 4, verse 5.

[00:49:01] He came so that we might receive adoption as sons.

[00:49:08] He came that we might receive adoption as sons.

[00:49:12] What's that mean?

[00:49:12] It means that he, Jesus, wrote us, wrote himself into our stories,

[00:49:21] into the story of human life, that we might be written into his story of redemption as sons and daughters.

[00:49:30] What story are you living in?

[00:49:33] All we have to do is receive.

[00:49:36] That's the message of Christmas.

[00:49:41] You know what's so interesting?

[00:49:42] Bring it back to commercials.

[00:49:43] You guys laughed at that.

[00:49:44] Thank you.

[00:49:45] Wrote up commercials.

[00:49:46] So many commercials these days.

[00:49:48] My kids don't know about commercials.

[00:49:50] Commercials started popping up on Paramount Plus.

[00:49:52] That was the first thing.

[00:49:53] Just trying to watch some Paw Patrol, you know?

[00:49:55] And these commercials come up.

[00:49:57] And every commercial that comes up, my son's just like,

[00:49:59] I want that, and I want that, and I want that.

[00:50:02] He wants every single thing on the commercial.

[00:50:05] And at first, it's like, oh man, buddy, okay.

[00:50:07] Is this a little of entitlement?

[00:50:09] No, it's not.

[00:50:11] It's expectancy.

[00:50:16] He thinks so highly of his father and mother that he thinks that we're just going to give him whatever he wants.

[00:50:22] He's ready to receive.

[00:50:27] And on Christmas morning, he's going to receive.

[00:50:31] And he's going to tear open.

[00:50:33] You know, how many of you, like, everyone has to wait one person at a time?

[00:50:37] Anyone?

[00:50:38] Like, seriously, anyone?

[00:50:39] That's how my family was done.

[00:50:41] And now it's just like all at once.

[00:50:43] Boom.

[00:50:44] Like, they're just tearing them open.

[00:50:46] They're ready to receive.

[00:50:47] But why is it that the older we get, we lose some anticipation and expectation?

[00:50:54] Why is it the older that we get, it's harder to receive?

[00:50:58] You know what I mean?

[00:50:59] Like, you go to the Christmas party, and you see that, like, one relative or that one person shows up,

[00:51:04] and you didn't get them a gift, and they got you a gift?

[00:51:07] And there's, like, that feeling of, like, oh man, I forgot about them.

[00:51:13] I'm supposed to.

[00:51:14] It's just hard just to simply receive without giving back in return.

[00:51:18] Like, we feel like, like, oh, that happens at your Christmas party,

[00:51:22] or that happens this Christmas Eve, Christmas morning.

[00:51:23] I know you're going to be tempted to go on Venmo and shoot him 25 bucks.

[00:51:27] You're like, oh, I forgot.

[00:51:27] Here you go.

[00:51:28] Like, be happy, you know?

[00:51:30] It's just hard for simply just to receive.

[00:51:35] But that's why Jesus came.

[00:51:37] That's how we respond to his coming.

[00:51:38] That we might just receive the adoption of sons and daughters.

[00:51:42] That we might simply receive as his children.

[00:51:46] All the children come to Jesus and disciples, you get all cranky like the Grinch.

[00:51:50] Like, knock, knock.

[00:51:51] Be kind.

[00:51:52] Chill out.

[00:51:53] Jesus says, be like one of these little children.

[00:51:56] Have the faith in it.

[00:51:57] Just that sense of expectancy just to receive from the Father.

[00:52:04] See, Romans chapter 8 says that if the Father gave us a son,

[00:52:08] if he did not spare his only son,

[00:52:11] who bled and died for us, that we might have life.

[00:52:15] How much more is he going to give us these other things that we ask for?

[00:52:20] Now, the things that we ask for, I'm talking about the peace that we need.

[00:52:23] The comfort, the direction, the wisdom, the counsel of God in our lives.

[00:52:27] If we are going to ask, he desires to give.

[00:52:31] He teaches, ask, seek, and knock, and the Spirit will give in to you and to me.

[00:52:35] The question is, do we have a sense of expectation to receive from him?

[00:52:41] This Christmas story.

[00:52:42] This Christmas season.

[00:52:46] See, as we look at the life of all these women,

[00:52:51] and the pain, and the hostility, the disappointment, and the grief,

[00:52:57] do we expect to receive God's redemption in our lives, in our stories,

[00:53:02] in your marriage, in your family, in that conflict, in that relationship,

[00:53:05] in the death of that loved one, in this situation, with this job?

[00:53:09] Do we expect to receive God as writing a tale of redemption in our lives?

[00:53:14] This is why he came.

[00:53:16] It's to redeem us.

[00:53:18] That we might receive him as adoption, as sons and daughters,

[00:53:21] that we might continually receive from him.

[00:53:24] Let me close with this.

[00:53:25] Ephesians chapter 3.

[00:53:26] It's a prayer of the Apostle Paul.

[00:53:30] Shows that this Christmas story, we can continue to receive from him.

[00:53:33] The Apostle Paul says this in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 17.

[00:53:37] His prayer is that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,

[00:53:40] that you being rooted and grounded in love,

[00:53:42] may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth,

[00:53:46] and length, and height, and depth,

[00:53:49] and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

[00:53:52] that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.

[00:53:58] What a mysterious verse, to be filled with the fullness of God.

[00:54:01] I don't know what that means,

[00:54:03] but I desire to be filled with the fullness of God.

[00:54:07] How do we receive this type of love?

[00:54:11] Well, Jesus demonstrated it on the cross.

[00:54:13] He desires to continue to give us this love.

[00:54:15] I guess I want to ask it this way.

[00:54:17] Do we expect a limit to his love?

[00:54:24] And a limit to his grace?

[00:54:26] God can't pour out more love

[00:54:29] after what I did this year,

[00:54:31] after this situation, by that situation, by this, this.

[00:54:33] Oh man, he's already done so much.

[00:54:34] I don't want to ask for more.

[00:54:36] Yet Paul's prayer, my prayer for us,

[00:54:38] is that we would grow in the knowledge and understanding of his love.

[00:54:41] That we grow knowing that Christ might dwell in our hearts through faith.

[00:54:44] That we continue to receive his love.

[00:54:46] How do we do it?

[00:54:48] How do we do that?

[00:54:50] We simply have to posture ourselves in humility.

[00:54:54] That's all it takes.

[00:54:58] God, I desire to receive your redemption,

[00:55:00] your love in my marriage,

[00:55:02] in this situation,

[00:55:03] in this family dynamic,

[00:55:04] in whatever hardship that you're going through right now.

[00:55:07] The tendency is like Eve is to hide it.

[00:55:11] But when we humbly lay it before him and say,

[00:55:13] God, would you enter into this mess?

[00:55:16] Oh man, he begins to write.

[00:55:18] His story of redemption.

[00:55:20] Amen.

[00:55:23] Thank you for listening.

[00:55:24] If you would like more teachings and information about Calvary Monterey,

[00:55:28] please visit calvary.com.

[00:55:30] You can also find books,

[00:55:32] teachings through the Bible,

[00:55:33] and articles from our lead pastor at nateholdridge.com.

[00:55:38] Thanks again for tuning in.

[00:55:39] We'll see you next week.

[00:55:40] We'll see you next week.