Jesus Christ: Divine Immanuel and Sufficient Redeemer: A 4-Point Sermon Study of Matthew 1:21-23

1.  Jesus Christ is "God with us."  He is not "God with us" in the Roman interpretation of the "Real Presence" of the "Holy Eucharist."  It is true that Christ is present in the Eucharist touching His divine nature.  That is, He is there in His divine omnipresence through the sacredness of the written Word.  The written Word makes the Eucharist an unordinary and spiritual meal.  Some Roman Catholic apologists say that Reformed interpretation of the Eucharist is just like eating pizza or some regular meal.  However, the Bible refers to the Lord's Supper as a meal that is "set apart" by God.  We ought to also understand that mere men cannot save each other in spiritual terms.  We cannot save each other through a sacramental priesthood.  We cannot have spiritual salvation attainable through the instrument of "consecrated" men.  Rather the only way to have spiritual life is through Christ alone in His life and death.  There is no other mediator than Jesus Christ.  There is no other sufficient Redeemer than Jesus Christ.  He saves His people perfectly.  In His earthly ministry, He called all people to repentance.  He came with a "divine interpretation" of the Old Testament.  He proclaimed that people must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven.  We ought not to rely on ourselves to repent but on the Spirit of God.  The nature of justification is only through Christ.  If we add or take away, we dishonor God and His holy Word.  If we live the Word by faith in light of the Cross, we ought not to fear any man's judgment.  All judgment was placed on the Cross of Jesus.  No other sacrifice or death could atone for sin.  He took the curse upon Himself because He hanged on the Cross.  He endured the pain of hell only as God could and He saved His people.  He was born to die so that many may be born from above.  Do you have the fruits of regeneration?  Have faith in the Cross and repentance towards God!

2.  Do yo focus on Jesus Christ?  None of us have perfect faith in Christ.  It increases and decreases throughout our time on earth.  Sometimes it is weak and sometimes it is strong.  What do you do to increase your faith?  I would suggest to you to read the Bible Word and pray on a regular basis.  We ought always remember the birth of Jesus Christ throughout the year.  However, we particularly remember it on Christmas Day.   The purpose of His birth pointed to His atoning death.  At His appointed time, He would suffer for the sins of God's people in total freedom to bear their hellish curse so we might live.  Jesus is the only King-Redeemer that was virginally conceived in the Virgin Mary by the Spirit of God.  Jesus came to earth as a mere baby.  He was harmless and undefiled.  He perfectly understands the nature of man better than any man who has ever lived.  He did everything that a baby does like us touching His humanity.   He was fully human from Mary His mother.  As a helpless baby, He was God Incarnate.  That is, He was the very Creator of the whole universe.  Angels were submissive to Him.  People worshiped Him at His birth.  Jesus was given the name Immanuel.  Only "God with us" is sufficient to redeem and save God's people.  It was not so that they could suffer purgatory later on before heaven.  Rather it was through His perfect sacrifice that He divinely satisfied God's divine judgment.  I suggest to you that this is the spiritual consequence of Jesus' birth.  He was the sufficient Redeemer.  He was not in need of the flames of purgatory.  He was not in need for Allah.  He was not in need of sacramental priesthood of sinners.  He was not in need of burnt offerings.  He was not in need of "redemptive" help by His mother.  Rather His spiritual atonement was totally sufficient for the intent of God's people to be redeemed.  If a sinner would die for a sinner concerning redemption, there is no spiritual profit for that.  It would be helpless and meaningless in light of the holiness of God. 

3.  Have you worshiped Jesus Christ?  Muslims say that Jesus is not the Creator.  That is, they deny His deity.  However, the Bible supports the very deity of Jesus Christ and no other!  We see that in the Old Testament Joshua worshiped the Captain of the Lord of Hosts.  I suggest to you that it was God the Son in the Old Testament in His pre-Incarnate presence.  We see that the wise men worshiped Jesus Christ as God Incarnate.  We are not told but I am sure after seeing the worship of the wise men that the Virgin Mary honored Christ as the only God-man.  She would later think that He was "out of His mind" with her family, but she was found with Jesus' disciples in the upper room.  The sinful nature can take us away from Jesus even when we know the divine truth.  We are wandering sinners in need of divine intervention.  Jesus knows exactly what the sinner's nature is like.  He knows every sinner perfectly.  We are polluted with defilement and iniquity and actual transgressions.  We have remaining corruption and indwelling sin.  We have failed to keep God's perfect law.  Jesus came to perfectly live the law of God.  He never broke one of the Ten Commandments.   The Bible says if you break the law in one point, all of it is transgressed.  He lived a immaculate life and was sinlessly obedient to the Father's will.  

4.  Who can save you from your sins?  Can some great teacher of world religions save you?  Who has the answer?  Has the divine answer come to us from mere men?  Do you think that the nonsense of extraterritorial life can deliver you from your sins?  I suggest to you that only Jesus Christ can deliver you from your sins through His perfect sacrifice in behalf of God's people.  The Virgin Mary was not the God-woman and she could never atone for sin.  No human being could atone for such soiled sinners.  No human being could take away our sins through a creaturely redemption.  No animal could take away our sins.  Only the Divine Immanuel could suffer for the sin of God's people.  The work of Christ at the Cross was a supernatural miracle.  He took all the radically corrupt sin upon Himself.  He became sin so that we might become righteousness.  It is not a righteousness of sacraments.   It is not a righteousness of religious activity.  It is not the righteousness of mere human effort.  It is not the righteousness of a strange god or saints.  Rather it is the very divine righteousness of the all-sufficient Redeemer!

Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
Nor riches of earth could have saved my poor soul;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Saviour now maketh me whole.
I am redeemed, but not with silver;
I am bought, but not with gold;
Bought with a price—the blood of Jesus,
Precious price of love untold.
Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
The guilt on my conscience too heavy had grown;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Saviour could only atone.
Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
The holy commandment forbade me draw near;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Saviour removeth my fear.
Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
The way into heaven could not thus be bought;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Saviour redemption hath wrought.