Sermons
THE GLORY OF HIS PEOPLE
Series: The Glory of ChristTHE GLORY OF HIS PEOPLE
Pt.2 - “The Glory Of Christ”
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / January 25, 2015
To fully comprehend what it meant for Jesus to be fully human and fully divine is impossible.
Simply stated, “the finite cannot grasp the Infinite”.
In order for Jesus to procure our salvation, He had to die for our sins.
He did that in the cross event - - Gal.3:13 7
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a CURSE for us.”
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But the crucifixion of Christ would have been in vain had it not been for the life of Christ.
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¡ Heb.2:17 states 4 “He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful
and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiations for the sins of the people.”
¡ 2Cor.5:21 declares that 4 “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin
on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
The death of Jesus on the cross would have been to no avail had He not lived A PERFECT LIFE.
To many first-century observers, the glory of Christ was not easily seen.
Today, we are blessed to be able to comb through the pages of Scripture and dwell upon His words.
We can see clearly that His life was truly exceptional.
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We read of His many miracles and when we couple His miracles with His dynamic words,
we scratch our heads and wonder how could any one not see that He was God incarnate.
But the fact of the matter is that many did not see Jesus as God in the flesh.
The prophet Isaiah prophesied of such4 “(He had no) appearance that we should be attracted to Him” / Isa.53:2
Listen to the commentary found in Mk.6:1-6 - - also in Mt.13:53-58
In many respects, Jesus was so “ordinary” that people could not see that His was “the only begotten of God.”
This, I believe, was part of God’s plan of redemption.
In Mark’s gospel there are happenings that many scholars have come to refer to as “the Messianic secret”.
Numerous times we find Jesus urging those who came to faith to not tell others about Him.
Mk.1:34; 1:44; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36 and 9:9
The best explanation to this “messianic secret” is that had the glory of Jesus been revealed too rapidly,
Jesus would have been crucified prematurely - - before He could spend three years teaching His disciples.
One of the great benefits that we now possess is the ability to open our Bibles and see the full picture.
We can read the gospels and also read all of the epistles which provide an interpretation of Jesus in the gospels.
In this series, I want us to introduce us to several key passages that serve to enlighten us.
Throughout the gospels there are several occasions where the God of heaven reveals THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
Taken individually, these occasions are impressive enough, but when combined together that become even more so.
Please open your Bibles to Lk.2:21-38.
Lk.2:21 4 Eight days after the wondrous birth of Jesus His parents had Him circumcised.
Seldom do we hear any sermons about the circumcision of Jesus (this might be a first for most of us).
This was done in accordance with the OT law - - cf. Lev.12:1-8.
Circumcision was instituted by God as an outward sign of His covenant with Abraham.
The word “covenant” speaks of an agreement between two or more parties.
In the book of Exodus we read of God’s covenant made with the nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai.
The preamble to the covenant is found in Ex.20:1 7
“God spoke all these words: ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
What follows is the TEN COMMANDMENTS which we the terms and stipulations of the covenant.
There was a promise of reward for those who obeyed the terms of the covenant
as well as a threat of punishment if the terms of the covenant were violated.
Deut.11:26-28 states (I’ll paraphrase) 7
“See, I am setting before ou today a blessing and a curse:
the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD…the curse if you disobey and turn away.
Once the covenant was agreed upon the members of the covenant swore an oath to uphold it – cf. Heb.6:13-20.
A key part of the oath included its ratification, which involved a rite of blood.
The word “covenant” originally meant a cutting - - the covenant was not only written, but written in blood.
Read from Ex.24:6-8 concerning how Moses ratified the covenant with a blood offering.
The original covenant or cutting was ratified in the earlier days of Abraham by means of circumcision.
Gen.17:10-11 states4 “every male among you shall be circumcised.
And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be the sign of the covenant…
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Circumcision was a dual symbol.
On one hand, it signified the blessing (cut off and set apart or consecrated to God).
On the other hand, it signified the curse - - to fail to honor the covenant is to be “cut off from God & His people”.
Lk.2:21 tells of the circumcision of Jesus - - “born of a woman, born under the law…” / Gal.4:4
The circumcision of Jesus speaks of his humiliation (being made like His brethren / Heb.2:17).
But it also speaks of His glory in that Jesus becomes the perfect covenant-keeper.
At His circumcision the male child is also given his name - - in this case, JESUS.
This was a name that was mandated by God. cf. Mt.1:20-21.
Lk.2:22-24 gives us information about the events that followed shortly after Jesus’ circumcision.
Joseph & Mary offered the simple sacrifice of two doves because they were poor. Cf. Lev.12:8.
This, too, speaks of the cloak of humility that Jesus wore.
For those who never knew of His miraculous birth and the significant signs that accompanied it - -
on the surface, there was nothing about the circumcision of Jesus could be construed
by first-century contemporaries as a manifestation of regal glory.
Yet the glory of Christ is revealed in what follows in Lk.2:25f in the words of Simeon and Anna.
¢ Simeon was “righteous and devout” and had been waiting his whole life for the consolation of Israel.
For 400 years from the close of the OT in the book of Malachi, there had been no revelation from God.
As a result much of the zeal among the people of Israel had grown cold.
Such was not the case for the aged Simeon.
As vs.26 notes, He had been told that he would see death before He had seen the Lord’s Christ.
On this day, when Jesus’ parents came to dedicate Him to the Lord, Simeon was directed by to go to the temple.
Read from Lk.2:28-32
As R.C. Sproul notes, “For Simeon this was not a moment of resignation to the dreadful
tragedy of death. On the contrary, it was A MOMENT OF SUPREME GLORY.”
Simeon’s song was a celebration of unspeakable joy: He had now seen the Christ.
He witnessed first hand the Incarnate God, breathing and present in His mother’s arms.
He saw with his own eyes “the LIGHT that would brings salvation to all.”
This brief episode closes with a word of prophecy (Lk.2:34) 7
“Behold, this child is appointed for the rise and fall of many in Israel…”
Here we see both meekness / the ordinary (Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said) and the majesty.
¢ In the temple that day, Joseph & Mary also encountered the prophetess, Anna.
She was 84 years old and had been a widow after 7 years of marriage.
Read from Lk.2:36-38
Like Simeon, venerable Anna had spent decades in righteous devotion to God.
She took up residence in the temple, devoting herself to prayer and fasting.
Through inspiration (guided by the Holy Spirit) she gave thanks to God and continued
speaking of HIM to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
This glimpse into the early life of Jesus closes with two Scripture references.
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Mt.2:13-23 tells of the flight to Egypt (after the visit from the Wise Men) and their subsequent return to Nazareth).
Lk.2:40 gives a brief summary statement:
“And The Child continue to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”
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Heb.5:8 states4 “although He was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered.”
This will be our topic next Sunday in a study of Lk.2:41f - - when Jesus visited Jerusalem at the age of 12.
