1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:29,980 So, over the past few weeks, we have walked through sort of these big themes of Advent, themes that the church has traditionally looked at and traditionally represented by sort of lighting these candles that give us a very visual progression as we move toward that wonderful hope, not just looking backward to the first arrival or first Advent of Jesus, but looking forward to the future. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:48,240 And we're at that week where we can really sort of see that contrast and that progression in this wonderful object lesson of these candles. And so in just a minute, we're going to talk about love. Before we do that, let's go ahead and pray. 3 00:00:48,240 --> 00:01:18,220 Father in Heaven, be with us as we open Your Word, as we study Your Word. May You encourage us with Your Word that we would see these realities that are so breathtakingly wonderful, that our hearts would be strengthened and encouraged, that we would see that we are wanted and that we are welcomed, and that You truly do love us. 4 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:24,240 Be with us this morning during this time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 5 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:33,240 So I'm going to do something just a little bit differently as we begin, and we'll get some audience participation, hopefully, from the kids. 6 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:41,240 And so I want you to think, especially the kids, of something that you love, something that you love, and then just go ahead and shout it out. 7 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:49,240 Cheetah. Okay, Evelyn loves cheetah, her stuffed cheetah, and cheetahs, actually. Anybody else? Coffee. 8 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:55,240 What? Coffee. Yes, we know. We've made three pots this morning. Anybody else have something they love? 9 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,240 I love life. You love life. Yes. 10 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:06,240 Kittens. Candles. Candles. Christian friends. It's a wonderful thing, isn't it? 11 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:22,240 Your family, yeah? What? Space. Friends? Yeah. Neptune, your dog. Right? There's a lot of things. 12 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:31,240 Yes, Johnny? You love Neptune, too? Dogs. So there is a lot of things that we can say that we love, right? 13 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:38,240 Buzz Lightyear! Buzz Lightyear. There it is. I was waiting for that one. So we love a lot of different things. And notice, right? 14 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:46,240 We've got animals. We've got things like coffee. We've got the wonder of our brothers and sisters in Christ. 15 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:55,240 We love life. We love family. We use the word "love" in a lot of different ways when we think about it. 16 00:02:55,240 --> 00:03:02,240 And so for us, love in many times can mean a lot of different things. So for example, I was kind of, you know, keeping track. 17 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:14,240 Like Rachel, I love coffee. I love bacon. I love my dogs. I love my wife. I love my kids. But when I say love, I mean something different in all of those situations, right? 18 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:19,240 Or at least I should, and if I don't, there's probably a problem somewhere. 19 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:30,240 And so one of the struggles we have when it comes to understanding love is that we use it in so many different ways. 20 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:46,240 And the other thing that sometimes happens with us is we use it so frequently. In fact, many of the things that we love, those smaller things, like I love tacos, I could also say truthfully that I like tacos, right? 21 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:58,240 And so sometimes what happens is we use a word so frequently, the depth and weight of its meaning gets diluted a little bit. 22 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:10,240 And so as we come to talk about the love that God has for us, that He reveals in such a wonderful way, as Jesus steps in to human history, 23 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:22,240 we have this struggle because we mean a lot of different things about love, and we use it so frequently that it sometimes, not always, but sometimes, loses its weight. 24 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:34,240 We also struggle when it comes to loving others and being loved by others. And so one of the things that we have done is we've made love very transactional. 25 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:44,240 And what I mean by that is that if you do something that I like and you benefit me in some way, I will reciprocate with my love. 26 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:55,240 Or if I do something that you like or helps you in some way, you'll reciprocate with your love. And so for many of us, love is a little bit transactional, 27 00:04:55,240 --> 00:05:05,240 meaning that we do it in response to get something, or we give it in order to get something, or because we have received something. 28 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:16,240 Jesus will say it this way in Matthew 5:46, "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same." 29 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:24,240 Now, Jesus isn't saying it's bad to love those who love you. He's saying that that's a transactional model of love, 30 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:31,240 and that Christian love goes deeper, because in the verses before that, he says, "Love your enemies." Right? 31 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:39,240 Love those people who don't love you, who don't benefit you, who don't help you. In fact, who actually seek to oppose you. 32 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:48,240 And so, when we come to understanding biblical love, we struggle with the Word, and we struggle with how we have used it. 33 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:53,240 And so, I want to try to deal with our struggle of love this morning, and our struggle 34 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:58,240 to apply love and to receive love, and we're going to go to a place in Scripture 35 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:04,240 that's going to seem like it's not very Christmassy, but I think, deep down, it really is. 36 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:14,240 So in Philippians, the second chapter, it says this: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 37 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:22,240 who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself 38 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:27,240 by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, 39 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:33,240 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 40 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:39,240 Therefore God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 41 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:47,240 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 42 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:55,240 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. 43 00:06:55,240 --> 00:07:03,240 Now, the context of these words is that Paul is talking about living faithfully in the Gospel. 44 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:11,240 So we're both outward and inward, and he's talking in this point about people who are having to live at the end of chapter 1 45 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:16,240 in the face of persecution, and here's how you live faithfully in the Gospel when everybody's against you. 46 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:24,240 And then he's going to say, "Here's how you live faithfully for the Gospel in the midst of a church filled with people who are different than you." 47 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:29,240 It's going to require patience. It's going to require love. It's going to require understanding. 48 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:35,240 Sometimes it's going to require you to put your preferences under somebody else's preferences. 49 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,240 It's going to require you to submit in a way that you might not want to. 50 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:45,240 And when I hear those things, I go, "Yeah, that sounds good, and it sounds like the church would do very well 51 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:49,240 if we did that, but how is that possible?" 52 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:57,240 And so Paul doesn't just give us the instruction. He points us to Jesus, who has done it and equips us to do it. 53 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:05,240 And so what we read this morning, these words about Jesus, who humbled himself, who set aside his glory, 54 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:14,240 who stepped into human history, who died for our sins, who is exalted at the right hand of God, is a picture and an understanding 55 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:22,240 of how Christians should love each other because of how God has loved us. 56 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:32,240 And so I want you to see in this text, there are several pictures throughout this that show us what true love really looks like. 57 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:41,240 And the first picture is this, that real love, the love that Jesus shows us, sets aside what it deserves. 58 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:47,240 Listen to the first two verses of our text. "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 59 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:53,240 who although he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped," 60 00:08:53,240 --> 00:09:01,240 or some of your translations will say, "held on to; but he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant." 61 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:08,240 And so one of the interesting things, the fastest thing, I think two probably of the fastest things in the world, 62 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:15,240 Evelyn would probably say it's a cheetah, but the reality is the two fastest things in the world are a dog or a child 63 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:21,240 that you look at and you go, "What's in your mouth?" Right? You know, they're all gonna take off. 64 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:27,240 And a couple weeks ago, the kids were eating a piece of pizza, and they got in the car, and somebody dropped the pizza 65 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:33,240 as they were getting out of the car, and we let the dogs out. And our dog, Dodger, he loves pizza, and he thinks 66 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:40,240 that he deserves all the pizza, and so he finds this pizza pizza that's been on the ground like 30 seconds. 67 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:48,240 And I'm like, "Dodger, let it go. Drop it. Leave it." And he just looks at me, and then intentionally turns his back 68 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:55,240 to me, and just starts, and I'm over there, and I've got like him in a headlock, and I've got my hand in his mouth, 69 00:09:55,240 --> 00:10:02,240 and he is not gonna let go of that pizza for anything. You know why? Because in his mind, he deserves 70 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:11,240 that pizza, right? He lives in a family of five. We've got three kids who also think he's like a stuffed animal 71 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:17,240 beanbag in a great place to take a nap, right? And so he's like, "I deserve, for the traumatic life that I live, 72 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:27,240 I deserve this piece of pizza." And you know what? We're the same way. When you and I think that we deserve something, 73 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:36,240 we absolutely will never let it go, right? And so we protect the things that are ours. Sometimes we do it in ways 74 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:41,240 that are common sense, right? We lock our house, we lock our car, we put a password on our bank account. But then 75 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:50,240 there are times that we will hold on for everything we're worth to those things that we think we deserve 76 00:10:50,240 --> 00:11:01,240 or belong to us. And so Paul says, look to Jesus. Look to what Jesus deserved, first of all. He did not count 77 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:10,240 equality with God something to be grasped. Now that does not mean that Jesus is somehow less than God. It means 78 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:19,240 that all of the glory, all of the honor, everything that He deserves, all of the worship He sets aside. 79 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:28,240 He doesn't hold on to it like Dodger with the pizza. He has everything. And what do we see in Scripture? 80 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:35,240 She gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because 81 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:42,240 there was no place for them in the inn. Or as we sang about in our very first Song, "Mildly He lays His glory by, 82 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:48,240 born that man no more should die." You want to know what love looks like? 83 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:55,240 Taking the thing that you deserve. Right? And Jesus doesn't just think that He deserves it, right? 84 00:11:55,240 --> 00:12:03,240 All of creation testifies to the glory of God. He doesn't just deserve it. He doesn't just think that He deserves it. 85 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:17,240 He actually deserves all of that glory, and what does He do? He doesn't hold on to it. For us, He sets aside those things that He deserves to come close to us. 86 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:24,240 The second thing that you see in this text is that He picks up exactly what He doesn't deserve. 87 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:30,240 Now, I don't mean this in kind of the shady way where we will take something that's not ours, right? 88 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:36,240 If you've been on the internet for any period of time, you've probably seen these videos where people are doing sort of an honesty test, right? 89 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:43,240 They'll sit somewhere around a corner, and they'll leave a wallet with some money sticking out, and then they'll watch what people will do with it, right? 90 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:48,240 And so some people will be really honest, and they'll take it, and they'll turn it in in a building, or they'll try to find the owner. 91 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:56,240 Or some people will kind of come up to that, and they'll see the money sticking out, and they'll look around, and then they'll just sort of come up and put it in their pocket, right? 92 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:00,240 That's not what it's talking about when we say picking up something that we don't deserve. 93 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:10,240 We're not talking about Jesus doing that. We're talking about Jesus picking up our brokenness, right? 94 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:17,240 Standing in the place of someone else, and taking their hurt, and their sin, and their shame. 95 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:20,240 Listen to what he says. 96 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:25,240 "Who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 97 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:33,240 but he emptied himself by taking the form of a sermon, being born in the likeness of men." 98 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,240 Right? So he takes and sets aside his glory, 99 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:41,240 and he picks up those things that define us. 100 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,240 In Hebrews, you see this contrast so clearly. 101 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:51,240 In the very beginning of Hebrews, the very first verses began with the glory of who Jesus is. 102 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:58,240 Long ago, in many times and in many ways, God had spoken to our fathers through the prophets, 103 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:02,240 but in these last days has spoken to us by His Son, 104 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,240 through whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He created the world. 105 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:10,240 He is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature, 106 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:14,240 and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. 107 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:16,240 And so who is Jesus, right? 108 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:20,240 He is the one to whom all creation owes its allegiance. 109 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:27,240 All power, all glory, all goodness, He upholds our very world through the word of His power. 110 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,240 It's hard for us to comprehend that level of greatness. 111 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:35,240 Hebrews will go on to say that Jesus is greater than the angels. 112 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,240 He's greater than Moses. He's greater than the prophets. 113 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:42,240 He's greater than the sacrifices in the temple. 114 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,240 And then in the very next chapter, He'll say this: 115 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:52,240 "Since therefore the children," that's you and I, "share in flesh and blood, 116 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,240 He likewise partook of the same things, 117 00:14:55,240 --> 00:15:00,240 that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, 118 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,240 and deliver those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery, 119 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:09,240 for surely it is not angels He helps, but the offspring of Abraham. 120 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,240 Therefore He had to be made like His brothers, 121 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:17,240 in every respect that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, 122 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:21,240 to make propitiation, to pay the price for the sins of the people, 123 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:28,240 for because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted." 124 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:33,240 Do you hear the words of what Jesus picked up? He picked up our flesh and blood. 125 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:41,240 He picked up our suffering. He even picked up temptation. 126 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,240 Hebrews 5 will say something startling. 127 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:48,240 "Although He was a Son," Jesus, the Son of God, 128 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:53,240 "He learned obedience through what He suffered." 129 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:57,240 Now, it's not saying that Jesus was disobedient and He had to learn how to obey. 130 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:01,240 That's how we learn obedience. But Jesus learned obedience in this way, right? 131 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:05,240 We talked earlier, it's one thing to know something, it's another thing to do something. 132 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,240 Jesus knew obedience. 133 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:13,240 It's another thing to understand that through actually going through it. 134 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:19,240 In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, 135 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:23,240 with loud cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, 136 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,240 and He was heard because of His reverence. 137 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:33,240 What the writer of Hebrews is saying is Jesus knows what it's like to obey God through the midst of suffering. 138 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:37,240 As He goes to the cross, remember what He prays for in the garden? 139 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,240 "If it's your will, let this cup be taken from Me." 140 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:47,240 When it says He learned obedience, what it means is He understands what it's like to suffer deeply. 141 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,240 He understands what it's like to hurt. 142 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:54,240 And as we see Jesus step into our world, one of the things we see, 143 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:58,240 He steps into the middle of a family that if we're honest looks a lot like ours. 144 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:03,240 There's brokenness and there's sin from generation to generation. 145 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:06,240 And as He gets older, it doesn't help because as He begins to preach, 146 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:10,240 His family actually comes and says He's not speaking things that make sense, 147 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,240 and they come and get Him and take Him home. 148 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:18,240 Jesus knew what it was like to be tired after a long day ministering to people, 149 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,240 feeding them both spiritually and physically. 150 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:23,240 He falls asleep in the middle of a boat. 151 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:26,240 He knew what it was like to be opposed. 152 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:30,240 And in John 11, you have these two remarkable words in verse 35. 153 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:32,240 It says, "Jesus wept." 154 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:37,240 What that means is that Jesus stood at the side of a grave of His friend 155 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:41,240 and surrounded by the grief of His family and friends. 156 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:48,240 He understands what it's like when we stand at the grave of someone we love and we weep. 157 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,240 You see, Jesus has walked the same road that we have walked, 158 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:57,240 and the amazing thing is that He did not have to. 159 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,240 You see, Jesus didn't just lay aside His glory. 160 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:06,240 He picked up all of our brokenness and all of our experiences. 161 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:10,240 The third thing we see in this is that the love of Jesus takes our place. 162 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:15,240 Right? It's very easy for us to take the place of someone when it benefits us, right? 163 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:21,240 So we're happy to accept the discount that a friend may extend to us that they deserve or we get. 164 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:25,240 We're happy if you ever borrowed somebody's Costco card, right? 165 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,240 We're taking the benefits they deserve. 166 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:35,240 You and I are very happy to take what somebody else has when it benefits us. 167 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:40,240 Jesus takes our place when it leads to suffering. 168 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:41,240 Look at Philippians. 169 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:46,240 Being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. 170 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,240 Even death on the cross. 171 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,240 We're in Isaiah 53. 172 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:58,240 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. 173 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,240 But He was pierced for our transgressions. 174 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:05,240 He was crushed for our iniquities. 175 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:10,240 Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we were healed. 176 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,240 All we like sheep have gone astray. 177 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:18,240 We have turned, every one of us, to our own way. 178 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:23,240 And the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 179 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,240 Or in Luke 23, if you need to see this very clearly. 180 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:31,240 When they came to the place that is called the skull, there they crucified Him. 181 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:36,240 And the criminals, one on His right, and one on His left. 182 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:41,240 You see, Jesus doesn't just set aside all of the glory that He deserves. 183 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:45,240 He doesn't just pick up all of what it means to be human. 184 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,240 But then He goes to the cross, and He stands in the place, 185 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:54,240 and He takes the punishment that we deserved. 186 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,240 If you want to know what love truly looks like, 187 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:02,240 the best place to see that is in Jesus. 188 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,240 The one who doesn't hold on to what He deserves. 189 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,240 The one who picks up what He doesn't have to. 190 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:14,240 The one that stands in the place of a broken, rebellious, wicked people. 191 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:22,240 You see, when we talk about the love of Jesus, what we find is not a generalized word that can kind of mean anything. 192 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:27,240 It's what we see in the incarnation, in His life, and in His death, 193 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:34,240 very clearly demonstrated as He gives us what He deserves, His righteousness. 194 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:42,240 He picks up what He doesn't deserve, our sin, when He takes our place on the cross. 195 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:48,240 Now, I don't know about you, but there's things that I struggle with because they feel, for me, distant. 196 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:53,240 There's a kind of love that, for us, I think is kind of a distant love. 197 00:20:53,240 --> 00:21:00,240 It's a love that is sort of out there. So a hurricane comes to Florida, and we're happy to send a donation. 198 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,240 We love them, we're going to send them a donation. Well, they're down there. 199 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:07,240 Earthquake hits on the other side of the world. Well, send a donation to help. 200 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:12,240 There's a love and a good feeling for people that are at arm's length. 201 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:17,240 And we may not even know the people we're helping. And if you and I are truly honest, 202 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:22,240 sometimes the love of God feels to us like it is a sort of general kind of love. 203 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:30,240 Yes, God loves humanity. What you need to understand from Scripture is that it's not a general love. 204 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:38,240 It's a love that is specifically for you. That He knows you, and in all of our brokenness He loves you, 205 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:48,240 and at the cross He saved you specifically. Yes, He saves in general, but He also saves specifically. 206 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:57,240 And so one of the things that the love of God does that we generally don't is the love of God does not hold us at arm's length. 207 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:03,240 All right, so we have three kids. My sister has a couple kids. We've got nephews. We've got friends with kids. 208 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:09,240 And now that our kids are old enough to not wear diapers, one of my favorite things is when one of them, 209 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:14,240 one of our nephews or friends, you know, you pick up, the little guy comes running over to see you, 210 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:23,240 and you go, "Something doesn't smell right in this scenario," right? We've probably all experienced this. One of the things that I love to do, 211 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:31,240 especially to my sister, is pick him up at arm's length and go, "I think this belongs to you," right? 212 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:40,240 What I love in all the brokenness of our sin, all the foulness of our rebellion, 213 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:46,240 Jesus doesn't pick us up and go, "All right, let's go clean you off," right? 214 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:57,240 Jesus, the Son of God, who sets aside His glory, who picks up humanity, who stands in our place at the cross, 215 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:04,240 He does not hold you in all of your hurt and all of your brokenness at arm's length. 216 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:09,240 I want you to see this, right? We see it in the manner of His arrival, right? 217 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:16,240 In humility and in poverty without a room. We see it in the leper that Jesus doesn't just heal, right? 218 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:22,240 He could have held that guy at arm's length and said, "Yep, you're healed," but He doesn't do that. 219 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:31,240 He goes and it says He touches him. We see it with the woman He deals gently with who is caught in adultery. 220 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:40,240 We see it when all the children, loud and distracting, are crawling around and seeing Jesus and the disciples come to reprimand Him. 221 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:45,240 There's this wonderful picture that all the people that so many times we look at and say, 222 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:49,240 "They're difficult and there's so much trouble." Jesus doesn't hold them at arm's length. 223 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:56,240 And you know what that says to us? That He holds me not at arm's length. He holds you not at arm's length. 224 00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:05,240 In all of our difficultness, in all of our struggles, in all of our brokenness, Jesus doesn't hold you at arm's length. 225 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:14,240 You see, in love we see Jesus set aside all that He deserves, picks up all that He doesn't, takes our place, 226 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:24,240 and He loves us. Not distantly, but close. And our immediate response, maybe your immediate response, is maybe this doesn't apply to me. 227 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:33,240 You don't understand how broken I am. You don't understand how hurt I am. You don't understand how far I've gone away from God. 228 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:40,240 In the birth of Jesus, the message that I love so much is that this is for all people. 229 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:45,240 You see, John the baptizer's parents, who are very old. Mary, who is very young. 230 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:52,240 The shepherds, who are sort of social outcasts. The wise men, who are rich and powerful, but they're outsiders to the Jewish religion. 231 00:24:52,240 --> 00:25:00,240 You see, the righteousness of Simeon and Anna in the temple, and what I love about how Jesus steps into our world, 232 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:07,240 is that you have the old and the young. You have men and women. You have rich and poor. You have outsiders and outcasts. 233 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:15,240 And God welcomes them all. It's a temptation for us to say, "You don't understand me." 234 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:22,240 I may not understand you, but God does. He knows you deeper. He knows you more deeply. 235 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:30,240 He knows your brokenness more closely. And He comes to save you. And He doesn't hold you at arm's length. 236 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:36,240 The end result for us, as we begin to glimpse this truth, should be rejoicing. 237 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:44,240 In fact, that's how it ends in Philippians 2, "Therefore God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, 238 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:50,240 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 239 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:57,240 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father." 240 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:05,240 This picture of Advent love. The arrival of love. Not an imitation, not something that just looks like it, 241 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:14,240 but love that truly wants you, that sacrifices for you, that comes close to you. 242 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:20,240 That's the love that Jesus has for you. And so in a moment, we're going to sing the first Noel, 243 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:26,240 and I would encourage you, especially if you've been a Christian forever, be reminded Jesus saved you. 244 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:32,240 He loved you. If you're not, I'd love to talk to you about that. If you need somebody just to pray for you, 245 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:37,240 we'd love to do that as well. So we're going to stand and we're going to sing the first Noel. 246 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:40,240 This is an interesting song.