You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
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I do love when it starts to look like Christmas, just doing that around here.
I love the excitement of the decorations and the songs and all of that this time of year.
And inevitably, as all of this starts, somebody is going to say to you, if they haven't already,
you need to remember the reason for the season.
In other words, they want to say, you need to remember why Christmas,
because it's not all about lights and presents and stockings, is it, kids?
My kids are always telling me it's not about the presents.
That's not what they're usually saying, but they remember that that is true,
that it's about something more than all of those things, isn't it?
We celebrate it at Christmas, Jesus.
The word Christmas actually means the coming of the Christ,
the promised Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem about 2,000 years ago,
and it's that event, that time, that first Christmas,
that I'd like us to ask why about during this Christmas season.
Why did the first Christmas happen?
Why did Jesus come to earth?
Whatever you believe about Jesus, why did he say that he came?
I want us to listen to the Christ himself tell us why Christ came, why Christmas.
That's what we're going to do this Advent season.
You might be surprised how much Jesus talks about this,
how many times in the gospel accounts he says,
I came to, or I've come that, or the Son of Man came so that.
I think you're going to find as we look at some of these reasons that he came,
that your celebration of his birth will be fuller and more joyful.
And that is my prayer for these few weeks together in God's word.
The first answer to why Christmas that we'll look at is found in Matthew chapter 5.
Matthew 5, where Jesus is beginning his famous sermon on the mount.
And he clarifies here one reason he did not come,
as well as one really important reason why he did.
Let's listen to Jesus answer our question in Matthew 5, beginning at verse 17.
Sitting on a mountain, likely overlooking the Sea of Galilee,
Jesus said to his disciples,
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do the same will be called least,
in the kingdom of heaven.
But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
This is God's word.
Let's ask for his help as we study it together.
Father, your help is what we have asked for all morning.
We continue to stand in need of it.
We especially want to hear from you.
Not from a man.
Just as we, that first Christmas, needed God to break in.
We need you to speak by your spirit and your word.
So would you do that clearly and would you give us ears to hear
and hearts that are willing and eager to rejoice,
even to repent, to change.
Do that work in us by your spirit, we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Early in our marriage, I decided to bake Christy a cake for her birthday.
So now it's important for you to know that Christy is an excellent baker.
She is fantastic and there is no way in the world that I would try this now.
I know better than to try this, but I told you this was early in our marriage
and I hadn't learned much yet, okay?
So be patient with me.
And plus, I had a lot of hope because I knew this was a great cake.
She had made it before.
It looked beautiful.
It tasted just right.
And I had her recipe.
What could possibly go wrong?
I knew how to read.
I knew how to follow directions.
I really don't think that I confused the baking soda and the baking powder,
although they really look a lot alike and they both look like flour.
I mean, there's a lot of stuff that can go wrong there.
I think I used the right pans that seemed to fit in there.
I even called her for help a couple of times.
You know, there were things like, how soft is softened butter?
I mean, exactly how soft does it need to get?
And is it salted or unsalted?
And how do you know?
And I don't know.
I thought I got it right.
But in spite of the perfect recipe,
in the hands of an imperfect chef,
the cake did not turn out the way that it was designed
or that I had hoped.
I wish I had taken a picture of it to show you
so you could appreciate just how bad it was.
But I saw this one this week on the internet,
and it just looked really familiar.
Honestly, this one's holding together a lot better than mine,
but the angle at which it is leaning is like exactly the one.
When I carried it out to her on the plate,
I had to tilt it so that it stayed on the plate when I walked out.
Have you ever made a cake like that?
It was rough.
Now, I want you to know something important.
I still ate the cake.
There were plenty of good things in there, right?
But it wasn't the same.
Even with her recipe and her advice,
it didn't come out the same as when she was there
personally baking the cake.
Somewhere in my imperfect use of the perfect recipe,
the beauty and the sweetness of the cake got lost.
Christy would have to come home,
follow the recipe the way it was meant to be followed,
bake the cake for herself
for us to experience its fullness and perfection.
Y'all, that's why Christmas, okay?
Jesus came not to follow a recipe for a cake,
but to fulfill the Old Testament Scriptures,
stories, predictions, prescriptions,
promises whose meaning needed not to be done away with,
but filled out, embodied personally,
in the one who really knew what they meant,
the one that they all pointed to.
See, there were many imperfect chefs who were given God's Word,
some just preferring to ignore the recipe altogether
and do things their own way.
Some who, like me,
religiously followed the recipe to a T
while missing the heart,
but all following short of what God meant for them,
what God required of them,
none of them measuring up to that perfection.
And so what happened was Jesus couldn't stay at a distance.
He couldn't just stand far off and give advice
for following the recipe,
for knowing how to live.
He had to come to embody in himself its fullest meaning,
to fulfill, as he says,
the law and the prophets.
That's shorthand for the whole Old Testament,
the Hebrew Scriptures,
39 books written over centuries,
he comes to fulfill.
Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones calls this
the most stupendous claim Jesus ever made.
That it's all about him.
That you look through page after page
and story after story,
and Jesus says,
it's about me.
I'm gonna fulfill all of it.
Every promise,
every requirement of God's word,
I will fulfill.
Does Jesus love the Old Testament?
There's a lot more about his life
in the New Testament, isn't there?
Does Jesus love the Old Testament?
You better believe he does.
Every iota,
every dot,
every one,
he says,
he will fulfill,
he will himself embody
its deepest and fullest meaning.
We're gonna look this morning
at both the promises
and the requirements.
Okay?
Mostly the prophets
connected to the promises.
Mostly the law books
connected to the requirements,
but honestly,
there's some overlap both ways.
But we're gonna see
both of those,
and along the way,
why Jesus coming for this fulfillment
is so wonderful for us.
So necessary
and so absolutely life-bringing
and joy-bringing for us.
Let's look at this together.
First,
how Jesus fulfills
all the promises.
This one honestly
is a little easier
to understand,
I think.
Most estimates see
over 300 Old Testament
prophecies
fulfilled in Jesus.
Already six times
in the first few chapters
of Matthew,
he said,
all this took place
to fulfill
what was said
through the prophet.
So many of those
300 are historically,
independently verifiable
across hundreds of years.
Some of those
very direct,
specific promises,
like the promised Messiah
will be born in Bethlehem.
But many of those promises
where fulfilling the promise
means Jesus is revealing
what it could even look like
for something to happen.
What it could look like,
for example,
for God to be with us,
Emmanuel,
that a virgin
could be with child.
Jesus embodies
the longing
for a righteous king
on David's throne
who pursues justice
for the poor,
who pursues peace
for the nation.
As Jesus goes to the cross,
we grasp the fullness
of something
we could only have seen
very dimly.
The prophet Isaiah
writing that
the Lord's servant
would be a man of sorrows.
The promised king,
a man of sorrows?
How's that going to work?
It wouldn't have even made sense
to many,
but we're told
he'll bear our griefs,
he'll carry our sorrows,
he's even going to be smitten
by God himself.
How's that possible?
And Jesus goes to the cross
and we start to see.
Jesus himself lays out for us
the full meaning
of the blood of the lamb
in the Lord's supper.
The Passover feast
had this lamb with blood
and it reminded God's people
of his deliverance
from bondage
into relationship
with himself
by the blood of the lamb.
It was a grace
for God's people
in Egypt, right?
And it was a foreshadowing
of the grace of God
for his people in sin
that Jesus himself
would bring
when he showed up
in person
to lay down
his very own life
through his death
on the cross
and we said,
behold,
the lamb of God.
All of God's promises,
yes and amen
in Jesus.
All of them.
Jesus came
so that all of those promises
given to all of those generations
of God's people
repeated from father and mother
to child and grandchild
generation after generation
would not be empty promises.
They wouldn't be left empty
but they would in fact
come to their full fruition
and the one that God
had been pointing
his people to
for generations.
The one who,
as Sally Lloyd-Jones says,
is like the missing piece
in a puzzle
that helps you see
a beautiful picture
because every page
of every story
in the Old Testament
whispers his name.
The baby
who according to God's story
is the hero
that we all need.
Every single one of us
then and today
needs the same hero.
I pray that every one of you
have found Jesus
to be the hero
of your story.
Have found yourself
in his story,
if you will.
That he would be
the one that enters in
to your story
and makes all of the painful
and confusing
and difficult
and seemingly hopeless
parts of your life.
He gathers all of them up
and makes them fit together
for a glorious purpose
even when you can't see it.
He came for that reason
for you
because you have painful
and difficult
and seemingly hopeless
parts of your story
but you have a king
who came to give you hope.
The second aspect
of Jesus coming
to fulfill the law
and the prophets
is fulfilling
all their requirements.
This one's a little bit harder
for us to understand.
Jesus explains it more here
in this passage.
See, it seems that
some in Jesus' day
were concerned
that this new teacher
was lowering the bar.
All this talk
of a kingdom of grace
where people
who were poor in spirit
got in.
Where the meek
were there mourning
their sins.
It sounded to some
like he's lowering the bar.
It made them wonder
if Jesus was shortening
the list of
Old Testament commands
from 613
that were there
to something far less
than that.
To a number far lower.
Jesus says,
by no means.
Not at all.
He sits on the mountain
and teaches
like the promised prophet
like Moses.
Remember Moses,
the law giver
who came down
from the mountain
with the law of God.
But Jesus
sits
and speaks
on his own
authority
and he raises
the bar.
Doesn't he?
If you haven't read
this passage,
you'll be certain
of this after you do.
He shows the
full meaning
of God's law.
Not getting rid of it,
but filling it out.
Don't murder?
What about the anger
in your heart?
Jesus says.
Don't commit adultery?
Yeah.
What about the lust
in your heart?
Jesus says.
The rest of Matthew 5
is example
after example
ending with
love not only
your neighbor,
but also
your enemy
from your heart
because that's how
God your father
loves.
And by the way,
while we're raising
the bar,
verse 48,
let's just make sure
we're clear how high it is.
You must be perfect
as your heavenly father
is perfect.
You still think
Jesus has gone
soft on crime?
No.
Has his grace
run off the law?
We don't need it anymore.
No.
See,
Jesus is taking us
all the way
to the heart of God,
isn't he?
That's what he's done here
as you go through
this chapter.
The law of God
reveals God's
perfect character,
doesn't it?
Which is not merely
that God is perfect
in the things
that he does,
the actions
that he takes,
that's part of it,
but truly
God is perfect
in who he is
at his very heart.
At his core,
God is goodness.
He is good
completely.
Perfect goodness
from the heart
and that
is what is required
of us.
It always has been
for man and woman
created in God's image
to reflect
God's image
perfectly.
we are required
to have lives
where without failure,
without mixed motivation,
without self-interest,
from the heart
for God's glory,
all the time,
we are perfectly
honest
and loving
and faithful
and forgiving
and patient
and loyal.
Even with those
who aren't like that
toward us,
it doesn't matter.
That's what it means
to be children of God,
Jesus says,
all the time.
Jesus fills out
the meaning
of the law,
doesn't he?
He raises
the bar
so high.
He raises it
by going to the heart.
It's not a list
of things you can check off.
It's who you are
from the heart
and by the way,
if you can't outdo
the best law keepers
of the day,
the most careful
followers
of God's law,
you can't even
get into heaven.
That's Jesus,
not me.
That's Jesus.
I love the way
J. Gresham Machen
explains this dynamic.
He says,
the list-making,
externally-focused
rule followers
actually have
a low view
of the law
because they think
they can keep it.
A low view
of the law
always brings
legalism
in religion.
A high view
of the law,
like Jesus's,
makes a man
a seeker
after grace.
Is that just a glimpse?
I only spent
a couple minutes.
I went really fast.
Is just a glimpse
of God's law
this morning
doing that
in your heart?
Is it making you
say,
help?
I couldn't possibly.
There's no way
I'll measure up.
If it's not,
you're not seeing
how high
Jesus raises
the bar.
We should be
crying out
for grace.
Oh, Jesus,
where can I find
grace?
I'm seeking
after grace.
I can't do this.
I'm not enough.
Now listen,
you know,
and when you cry
out for grace
like that,
Jesus gives grace,
doesn't he?
Jesus gives that grace
in two ways here
after he raises
the bar.
Please don't miss this.
This is so important.
If you've understood
at all where the bar is,
it's so important
that you understand
where Jesus's grace
comes into this.
Jesus first then
clears the bar
that he has raised.
It's the first way
he brings this grace.
he meets
the perfect standard
from the heart
every time
toward his enemies
just like his father.
He is born
under the law himself,
Galatians chapter 4,
to redeem those
who are under the law.
In Matthew chapter 3,
he asks John the Baptist
to baptize him
and they get into
this conversation.
John's a little uncomfortable,
understandably,
with baptizing Jesus
and Jesus says
this is what should happen
to fulfill
all righteousness,
to fulfill,
same word as here
in chapter 5,
fulfill all righteousness.
What's Jesus doing?
He's being the model Israelite,
the obedient human,
the child who came
to do the will
of his father,
the ultimate,
perfect law keeper.
Listen,
you know Jesus came to die
and we will get to that
in another week,
okay?
And oh,
how important that is.
How we need that
for our sin.
But he also came
to live.
And oh,
how we need that
for our righteousness.
We desperately need that.
He saw how hopelessly
stuck you were
below the bar.
He saw you would
never measure up.
He couldn't just
send advice
from heaven.
He knew it wouldn't
be enough
to fix you
or me.
He had to come
to embody himself
the fullness
of God's law.
His perfect,
active righteousness
fulfills the requirements,
the demands
of God's holy law
for us
so that as we are
united to him
by faith,
we actually become
the righteousness
of God
in Christ.
Amen?
It's why John Newton
wrote,
to see the law
by Christ fulfilled.
To hear his
pardoning voice
changes a slave
into a child
and duty
into choice.
He fulfills the law
and frees us
from its burden,
from the bar
that we could
never reach.
What grace,
that is amazing grace,
grace,
the Lord
is our
righteousness.
The perfect
law keeping
of Jesus
enables us
to stand
in the presence
of the holy God
with nothing
in our hands
we bring,
simply clinging
to Jesus.
Period.
And,
there's more grace.
Can you believe that?
There's more grace
than that.
It's even better news
than that.
Please listen carefully now.
I don't want you
to be confused.
I don't want you
to hear what I'm not saying.
I don't want you
to forget what I just said.
We stand clothed
in the righteousness
of Jesus
before God.
Period.
And,
Jesus actually
lifts us
to the bar
that he raised
and cleared himself.
Come back to the cake
with me for a minute.
After I make a mess
out of things,
even with the perfect
recipe,
right?
Christy can come back in,
kick me out of the kitchen,
get me out of the way,
and make the perfect cake.
It'll look beautiful.
And,
that's great
because at the end
of the day,
we can enjoy
a wonderful cake
for her birthday
and that is so precious
and so valuable.
But,
remember,
she's already made
the perfect cake
before.
It's already there.
We have it.
What we've learned
over the years
is that
we also
take a lot of
joy in
baking together.
It doesn't go
the same way
every time,
but it gives me
great delight
to be with her
while we make
a perfect cake.
I mean,
while she makes
a perfect cake
and I retrieve
ingredients
and I lick
the bowls,
I mean,
clean up,
clean up the bowls
after she uses them
and we together
make this perfect cake
and I get to taste
the sweetness
of it
along the way.
The sweetness
of the cake itself
and the sweetness
of being with her.
Sometimes we think
that Jesus has
this perfect cake,
this perfect righteousness,
perfect relationship
with the Father
and he's going
to give that
to us one day
which is going
to get us around
all the requirements
of the law,
all that stuff
and we'll show up
in heaven
with Jesus'
perfect record
and it is true.
We show up
in heaven
with Jesus'
perfect record.
Praise the Lord.
But he lifts us
into righteous
relationship
with the Father
as well.
Kelly and I
talked about
this week,
what does that
no condemnation
look like?
Now that I'm
not condemned,
now that I know
that I don't have
to bake a cake
good enough
to get in with God,
now that we're
already in relationship,
I'm now able
to live with God
in a different way
without fear
of failure
that I might just
make a mess of things
and he'll never
want to be with me again.
I don't have to
live like that anymore.
I can live without
shame of all the
opportunities
that I've missed.
I can live with a
new joyful pursuit
of God's heart
that I've been
set free
to love
more than I even
love myself
and the things
that I want.
I'm a slave
changed into a child
who wants
to be with Dad
and be like Dad.
Don't you want that?
He gives you
a new heart
so that you want
to be with him
and like him.
You're his child.
Listen,
in this passage,
a big part
of Jesus
fulfilling
the law
is the life
with God
from the heart
that he lays out.
He spends the whole
rest of the chapter
doing it.
And he wants
our righteousness,
righteousness,
not just his,
but our righteousness
to exceed
the scribes
and the Pharisees.
He wants us
to long
for
wholehearted
love
and obedience
so that we see
the bar
raised high.
He wants us
to see that
so that we become
poor
in spirit.
Can you feel that?
So that what happens
when we're down here,
when we're poor
in spirit,
so that we become
seekers
after grace.
That we say,
Jesus,
where are you?
Jesus,
I need you.
Jesus,
I can't be
apart from you.
I need your grace.
He wants us
to feel that way
so that we will
come to him
and be safe
in his perfect
and holy
righteousness
and say,
Jesus,
I want to live
honest
and loving
and faithful
and forgiving
and patient
and loyal
like you.
Change me
from the inside out.
Jesus,
change my heart.
So practically,
when you sin,
you now pray differently.
You pray
when you see
the anger,
when you feel
the lust in your heart,
when you see
the unforgiveness
rising up,
you're able to pray,
God,
thank you
for Jesus'
perfect life
that you've given
to me
so I'm not defined
by this struggle
right now.
I love it so much.
His righteousness
is so beautiful
and so also,
God,
make me more
like Jesus.
help me live
like Jesus
from the heart
all the time
in every relationship.
I told you
there's grace
for that.
Listen,
this is God's promise.
When we come,
when we do that,
when we see ourselves low,
when we seek
after grace,
when we come
to Jesus,
there's a new
covenant relationship
we enter into
with God.
Not only do we get
Jesus' perfect
righteousness credited
to us,
but we also exceed
the righteousness
of the scribes
and Pharisees
because he puts
his law
within us
and writes it
on our hearts.
And I will be
their God
and they shall be
my people,
Jeremiah 31,
33.
It's the same
new covenant promise
in Ezekiel 36.
Notice the parallel,
I will put
my spirit
within you
and cause you
to walk in my statutes
and be careful
to obey my rules.
You will be
my people
and I will be
your God.
You hear what he's after?
God will be
with us
by his spirit
so that
his people
who know
that he is
our God
will follow
his law
from our hearts.
Christmas.
That's why
Christmas.
That's why
Jesus came.
Jesus bakes
the perfect cake
and he
gives it to us
righteousness
fulfilled
and
he also
delights,
it brings him
joy
to taste
the sweetness
of the cake
in relationship
with him
all along
the way.
It's what he's like.
Picture him
holding your hand
as you stir
so that you're
more patient
and wait for it
to be just right.
He's right there
with you
to comfort you
when your anger
burns
and it hurts.
He's there
with us
savoring
the beauty
and the sweetness
of God's
perfect character
as he forms
us more
and more
into his
likeness.
In the hands
of the perfect
chef
the perfect
recipe
yields a
perfect cake
of his own
making
praise the
Lord
and another
cake in
process
that he
makes
with us
and in
us
to our
great
joy
and our
eternal
glory.
Aren't you
thankful
that Jesus
came to
fulfill
all of the
promises
and all of
the requirements
of the Old
Testament?
Aren't you
thankful?
Now one of the
requirements of the
Old Testament
that I haven't
mentioned
specifically yet
this morning
was death
for disobedience.
That's part of
the law.
That the
Father
would turn
his face
away
from sin
that it would
separate us
from God
and from
life.
Jesus fulfilled
that requirement
of the law
too
didn't he?
Jesus was
separated from
God
to fulfill
what was
required
of your
sin
and my
sin.
It was on
the night
that he was
betrayed
that Jesus
took bread
he broke
it
and he gave
it to his
disciples
as I'm
ministering
in his
name
give this
bread to
you
and he
said take
and eat
this is
my body
instead of
yours
given for
you
do this
in remembrance
of me
and the
same way
after supper
he took
the cup
and he
said this
cup is
the new
covenant
in my
blood
shed
instead of
yours being
shed
my blood
shed
for the
forgiveness
of sins
drink
from it
all of you
for as
often as
you eat
this bread
and drink
this cup
you proclaim
the Lord's
death
instead of
yours
until he
comes
brother
sister
in Christ
Jesus
was
separated
from God
the Father
in your
place
not so
that you
could live
a life
distant
from God
chasing
after your
own
priorities
pursuing
your own
pleasures
it's
not why
he came
and was
separated
from God
that you
might never
be
distant
from your
Father
that you
might live
in his
presence
every day
that his
ear
would be
attentive
to every
one
of your
cries
that your
heart
would more
and more
beat like
his
like the one
you're close
to
let's come
together
to his
table
let's meet
our brothers
and sisters
close to
the heart
of God
and live
there
this
week
friend if
you're here
this morning
and you
don't see
in this
table
the body
and blood
of Jesus
his perfect
life
and perfect
death
as your
hope
then I would
encourage you
not to come
to this
table
not to come
take these
elements
themselves
that's what
they represent
and you don't
want to say
outwardly
something that
you don't
believe to be
true that's
not who
you are
we would
still invite
you to
come to
these
tables
come
we'd love
to pray
for you
come watch
observe
ask us
questions
later
or stay
where you
are and
reflect
but
mostly
we would
invite you
in the name
of Jesus
to come
to him
to the one
who's not
demanding you
jump over
the bar
on your
own
to the one
who frees
you from
the burden
of the
perfect life
and the
debt
that you
owe
to your
heavenly
father
but who
pays it
for you
and comes
to give
you life
and life
abundantly
we'd love
to tell you
more about
him
grab any
of us
we'd love
to talk
with you
let's pray
and we'll
come to
the table
together
father may
we all
here see
the savior
that this
table
points to
and as
we come
may we
get to
taste the
sweetness
of his
perfect
love
perfect
obedience
endless
grace
would you
be so
kind
father
as to
use
these
common
elements
for such
a holy
purpose
in our
lives
work in
our hearts
even as
we eat
and drink
in Jesus
name
amen
for more
information
visit us
online
at
southwood.org
anti
very
on the
way
and
how
can mana
and
hem
so