Messiah Has Come: Child and Mission
Matthew 1:18-23; 1 Timothy 1: 15
I’ve been thinking a lot about my Father this month.
He passed away two years ago. My father came to faith in Jesus when he was a bit older, in his 30s, after years of being a big band musician and then a military man in World War 2. I often had the impression that my father felt he had done many things wrong in his life and then was shocked by the mercy and grace of God he experienced when he placed his faith in Jesus. Everyone who knew him, knew that one of the main characteristics of his life was that he was grateful to God. My Dad loved to hear anyone talk about the good news available to all through Jesus. He would have loved the message I will bring you today.
I say that because the testimony we hear from the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15 is so much like my father’s own. It really is a great Christmas morning text because, in it, the Apostle Paul tells us why Jesus was born. Paul wrote, "Here is a truthworthy saying that deserves full acceptance." Paul is saying that here is something every human being can stake his life on and have no fear that there will be disappointment: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Then he adds, "Of whom I am the worst."
Look at that verse and you'll see that it speaks of two men. One is named and the other is implied. One is a man with a mission; the other is a man with a testimony. Put them together and you'll find something you can rely on in this world. So, that’s what I’m going to do today.
Person #1: A Man-Child with a Mission
V.15b. Think about that first phrase, "Came into the world." Don't you think that's a rather strange way to think about somebody's entrance into the world. Normally we talk about being brought into the world, don't we? Being born is a passive verb because, after all, birth is a passive act. None of us made a choice to be born. We just arrive.
But Paul speaks here as if Jesus were different. It's as if coming to this world was a journey He decided to make. "Christ Jesus came into the world," he says. But, let me tell you that that's precisely what Paul means to imply. And, that's the teaching of the whole Bible. Jesus was different. Jesus’ birth wasn't just an accident of fate; no, it was planned. And, He was a part of planning it.
This was a claim that Jesus made personally. I want you to imagine for a moment that you were actually with Jesus in that garden where Jesus was with a few disciples a few hours before His death. You're in the garden and you're overhearing Him praying. John 17:1‑4:
Jesus looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. This is eternal life: that people know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”
Can you imagine a sane man praying a prayer like that? Can you imagine me saying such things? But Jesus said it. It’s clear that Jesus was a man with a mission. He planned that mission and lived every day of his life in light of that mission. Jesus came to earth for a specific purpose. What was it? This is why 1 Tim. 1:15 text is such a great text. It tells us Christ's mission statement in such a straightforward way. He came "to save sinners."
So many people have developed strange ideas about why Jesus came. Some say He came to motivate us to live better or to teach us to love one another. But do you really think so? Was it just ethical motivation? Do you really think people didn't already know it would be good to love more? No, the Son of God didn't need to become flesh and come into the world just to motivate us to love.
Many have said, “Jesus came to show us what God is like.” Well, of course, Jesus did all that too. He certainly said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." But Jesus' own verbal testimony was that his main reason for coming was not simply to show us what God is like. He said, "I have come to seek and to save lost people. I have come to give my life as a ransom for lost people."
Now, here’s the humbling part: Why do we need to be saved from something? “Save” ‑‑ it's an old fashioned word, isn't it? The idea of needing to be save turns many people off – especially successful people.
So, what does the Bible mean when Jesus says his mission was to save us? Maybe another word would help. How about this? Christ Jesus came into the world to rescue us. That's what saved means, isn't it? In fact, that's what the name Jesus means, did you know that? The angel told Mary to call Him Jesus because Jesus means "God to the rescue."
Rescue from what? What's the point? The point is quite simply that God knows we are in danger. He loves us and knows we are in trouble. Why else would you want to rescue somebody except that they are in danger? So that's what the Bible teaches. Christ Jesus came into the world to rescue sinners because sinners are in danger.
In danger of what? The consequences of sin – of those wrong things in our lives that all of us know are there. Sin destroys you. Sin is what separates you from God. God has said that this is a moral world and that He will make sure that all evil is judged.
So there is a tension, isn't there? Sin must be judged or the world is unjust. God has promised that He will do it. But the very people He loves have sinned. What a dilemma! What can God do? We're all in the mess so we can't do the rescuing. A drowning man can't pull himself out of the water by the hair. He needs someone from outside to do the rescuing. We need someone from the outside who hasn't engaged in the sin but has entered into our world. And God's found the solution to this problem. He's found a way to punish sin and rescue the sinner.
"Christ Jesus came ‑‑ He came into the world to rescue sinners." That was His mission. You and I are His mission. But you must recognize that danger you are in on your own. You must confess that you are one of those sinners who needs to be saved or you’ll never be open to being rescued.
That point brings us to my second main point.
Person #2: A Man with a Testimony
In 1 Tim 1:15, we read a first hand report of a man like us who has found that Jesus’ mission can really be accomplished in a person's life. The Apostle Paul wrote this so that we would know that the Angel’s message to Joseph, that this child would save people from sins, was not just religious talk. It's real. Many people can tell you that they've have been rescued by Jesus and Paul is one of them. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." "Yes," says Paul. "It's true. I know it. I've experienced it for, in my estimation, I am the worst ‑‑ but He rescued me anyway."
I think if we had known Paul personally we might find it difficult to believe that he wrote those words. In the eyes of everyone who knew him, he must have come across as one of the most upright, respectable, God‑fearing sorts of people in the world. He came from the best of families. He had the best education. He was was a Pharisee, a small group known for their religious commitment. He looked to the human eye to be the best sort of individual, a real asset to the whole community. Yet he said, "I am the worst of sinners."
It's become clear to me as I've lived longer that even the most “respectable people” on the outside still know what is on their insides. We human beings can try to hide the dark parts of our lives from others. Some are very good at cover up but deep down most people know there is darkness on the inside. When we’re hones, we know that even the good things we do are often motivated by selfish goals.
And beyond this, Paul had one thing in his past that he could hardly get off his conscience ‑‑ and that was his early hatred of Christians. He had made it his life's ambition to hunt down Christians and kill them. He justified his hatred through religious arguments but it was hatred nonetheless. And maybe you have some things that you try to hide too.
But all Paul’s angry opposition to Jesus had changed, quite literally, in a flash. Paul was on his way to Damascus chasing a group of them with letters in hand ready to get them arrested. And then he met Jesus. "Who are you?" "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." "Well, I'm not persecuting you. I don't mind you. I'm after these awful people who call themselves Christians." "Don't you see it's the same thing, Paul? I'm in these Christians. You may not know it but deep down you don't want me in your life. You dopn’t want to acknowledge your pride and sin. You don’t want to change. That's your problem."
And Paul saw it. That his problem was that he needed rescue. That he had sinned. That he needed Jesus. It wasn't just "those hypocrites", "those others" who were sinners. He was. He needed rescue. He saw it and gave His life to Jesus.
What about you on this Christmas morning? Do you acknowledge you need what Jesus gave his life to do for you? Jesus came to die -- to die to rescue you from your sins. Have you confessed your sins – your need to be forgiven and rescued? When you do, you become a person, like Paul, with a testimony.
Do you know what church should be like when we’re all honest? It’s a bit in an AA meeting. Here in 1 Tim 1:15, Paul says, "My name is Paul and I am a sinner. I confess it. I’m the worst. But, I’m a saved sinner! Jesus was born to save sinners and he’s saved me.”
That’s my testimony to you too today. That’s who I am. I, your pastor, am a sinner saved because Jesus came on a mission to save people like m – and you.
That's why the Christ child came. He came so that you and I can have a testimony, a testimony to the world. Here is a trustworthy saying, worthy of acceptance by all: Jesus came into this world to rescue sinner. I’m the worst. So, if there’s hope for me, there is hope in Jesus, for anyone.