Transcript for The Greatest Gift (CAPTIONED)

Message based on Hebrews, Chapter 10, Verses 5-10.

Text from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

Let us rise for this morning's sermon text recorded for us

in the Letter to the Hebrews where we read from Chapter 10,

beginning with Verse 5 ...

THEREFORE, WHEN CHRIST CAME INTO THE WORLD, HE SAID:

"SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU DID NOT DESIRE,

BUT A BODY YOU PREPARED FOR ME;

WITH BURNT OFFERINGS AND SIN OFFERINGS

YOU WERE NOT PLEASED. THEN I SAID, 'HERE I AM -

IT IS WRITTEN ABOUT ME IN THE SCROLL - I HAVE COME TO

DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'"

FIRST HE SAID, "SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS,

BURNT OFFERINGS AND SIN OFFERINGS YOU DID NOT DESIRE,

NOR WERE YOU PLEASED WITH THEM" (ALTHOUGH THE LAW

REQUIRED THEM TO BE MADE).

THEN HE SAID, "HERE I AM, I HAVE COME TO

DO YOUR WILL." HE SETS ASIDE THE FIRST

TO ESTABLISH THE SECOND.

AND BY THAT WILL, WE HAVE BEEN MADE HOLY THROUGH

THE SACRIFICE OF THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST ONCE FOR ALL.

This is the Word of our Lord;

let us pray:

Glorious and gracious God, may the words of my mouth

and the meditation of each of our hearts

be acceptable in Your sight, our only Source of Hope and

Comfort.

Amen.

Pastor Dave

motions for the congregation

to be seated.

Dear Followers

of our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ.

Religion truly covers

all aspects of a believer's life.

Or at least that would be the goal of faith.

The desire of the Lord

who is the One who wants to have

first and foremost prominence

in the believer's heart

and in his life. If we look at the Old Testament

for a moment, we see how the Old Testament believer ...

His entire life was governed

and guided by his religion.

By the faith that he professed.

Even everything that he ate,

had been directed by God.

There were sacrifices that continually

HAD to be made for sin.

There were laws of cleanliness and uncleanliness.

There were festivals that needed to be celebrated with

the first-fruits of the offering

that came to the Temple of the Lord. That house where God

had placed His Name on earth

was the center and the focus of

everyday life for the Old Testament believer.

The Law and all its

requirements were the driving force

of the believer's life and they consumed

each and every minute

of what they had to do.

And yet, in the Letter to the Hebrews,

we hear this morning that there WERE those

sacrifices, there WERE those burnt offerings,

there WERE those sin offerings.

They were required each and every day ...

for the sins of the people.

But God had a different plan in mind.

God had a greater plan in mind

to remove people's sins

once and for all.

To send the great High Priest into this world,

who would sacrifice Himself,

for the sins of the world. It WAS the Father's plan,

that the Son would come, the Messiah would come

in the flesh ...

born of a woman ...

born under Law.

To do His will and to accomplish the

forgiveness of sins by His sacrifice once

and for all.

And we see the beauty of God's plan played out

in Scripture. We see how those Old Testament believers

longed for God to accomplish

His will. We heard the prophet Micah this morning

proclaiming to God's people, that that Messiah

was going to come.

That that Messiah was going to come out of the city of

Bethlehem, the smallest

of God's clans.

That He was going to be a great King.

He was going to shepherd His people ... with love,

and with justice. That God was going to send

that Christ into the world.

And Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient

to the Father's will.

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit

in the womb of the virgin Mary.

And the joy that Mary felt we heard about in our Gospel

lesson for this morning. She realized that

God was accomplishing His salvation.

He was bringing peace and forgiveness

to ALL people ...

to ALL generations. They would KNOW that HER son

would be the Savior of the world.

But that was accomplished

because God's eternal Son,

who from the very beginning

of our existence ...

even before ...

as He sat with the rest of the persons of the God-head

and discussed how They would create a universe.

By the power of the Word,

it was created.

And Jesus was there

when light burst forth

out of that darkness.

Throughout the Old Testament history, we see Jesus coming

again and again described as the Angel of the Lord

to those people who needed to be comforted.

That God was going to CONTINUE

to keep His promise. The promise that He made to

Adam and Eve. The promise that He made to Noah. The promise

that He made to Abraham and all of the other patriarchs.

That through one of their seed,

all nations on earth would be blessed.

And God's Son ...

the Eternal ... Almighty ... All-powerful God,

humbled Himself

by taking on ... human ... form.

By coming as

one of us.

It just boggles our mind

to begin to understand that!

But we know

that that was God the Father's will.

Jesus Himself said:

Here is My body; I am prepared to do

Your will and He came into this world

to accomplish what God the Father

had promised.

He obeyed that Law perfectly that God had set up.

He KEPT ALL of God's commands.

He carried out those sacrifices Himself,

He did everything that was

REQUIRED according to the Law. And He did it with a heart

that was filled with devotion, and love.

NOT out of obligation or some sense of duty.

Or even some sense of self-righteousness.

He did what the Father

sent Him to do ...

which was sacrifice Himself for the sins

of all people.

He DID what the Father

desired of Him

and as His children, as His brothers and sisters,

we also will do the same. We know the JOY

that WE have in OUR salvation

and with Mary we want to proclaim the praises of God

in our lives. And we do that

by submitting to what the Father asks of us

by willingly placing ourselves under

His care, in His protection,

and doing His will.

By carrying it out, with hearts that are

devoted to Him, who WANT to be His children,

who WANT to live our lives

in that life of faith that is pleasing to Him

because we KNOW what the sacrifice was.

Our sinful nature says we shouldn't

deny ourselves anything.

If we WANT it, we should go after it, we should GET it,

and we don't care HOW we do it.

Because it's ALL ABOUT ME and it's ALL ABOUT WHAT I WANT

and I don't HAVE TO take care

of my brother or sister next to me.

I don't HAVE to think about

how it's going to affect my family.

I don't HAVE to think about the future.

I'm only concentrated on me, right here,

right now.

Jesus Christ never said that.

But He thought of a world who needed Him.

Think of

the predicament Mary was in.

Think of the responsibility placed

on Joseph.

With the hearts that are devoted to God,

His will, will be done

in the lives of His people.

Because we realize that tremendous sacrifice

that Jesus Christ made in

humbling Himself

by leaving behind the servants

and the attendants of heaven, who were created

to do His will.

By coming into this world, not owning a home,

not having a place to call His own,

relying on the kindness

of strangers, and

the kindness of His friends for His life

and His support.

And yet those same disciples, were the ones who

in His darkess hour,

deserted Him. Left him alone,

to do the Father's will.

And even when Jesus was questioned by

Pilate, as to whether He was a king,

He responded: I AM a King ... but not of this world and

I have at my disposal

thousands of angels

and if that were what God desired, they would be here

to fight.

But that was not God's will.

It was God's will, that He would be

the uncomplaining Lamb ...

alone and solitary.

Sacrificed once for all

for the sins of all people.

And He accomplished

what the Father sent Him to do.

And there we rejoice.

And there we find our comfort ...

because you and I know

that we struggle each and every day

to live according to God's will.

Sometimes we blatantly defy Him ... and say:

I'm NOT going to do Your will.

Sometimes we just neglect it.

And think, well maybe I'll get to it tomorrow.

We don't always follow

what God has asked of us.

But yet, we are here because

we find comfort in the forgiveness of our sins.

It's here that we find

the strengthening of our faith

and the encouragment to live our life

of love to God.

What we do this morning, we have to take with us this

afternoon and continue it tomorrow and the day after

as we remind ourselves of

that great sacrifice

that Christ made ...

that He became flesh ...

and lived among us, is the tremendous

blessing of God.

That He died in our place for the forgiveness of our sins.

It's where we find our comfort

and our joy. And that each and every day

in response to that, by the Holy Spirit

we live a life of faith

dedicated to Christ in this body

fulfilling God's will, waiting

for that day when He is going to come as our

great King and give us our glorified bodies

so that eternally we

may do His will proclaim and praise His Holy Name

for having accomplished His salvation,

having accomplished and given

to us the fruit of our faith ... eternal life.

This week

we celebrate ... Christ's birth ...

knowing His death.

Looking forward to the time when

He is going to end this world and come in

judgment. And each and every day

that we are in these mortal bodies,

may we give praise ... to Christ,

who took on this human flesh.

Who accomplished the Father's will ...

Who sacrificed Himself,

for OUR sins,

so that we, in turn,

can live in faith.

Amen.

Let us rise.

Now may the peace of God which goes beyond all of our

understanding, keep your hearts and your minds and

especially your lives in the one true faith unto life

everlasting.

Amen.