The title of our lesson this evening is: “Incarnation, Regeneration and Correlation.” In order to tie things together I have distributed a sheet of paper to the people here in our auditorium. Those of you who are watching on line, or are hearing this through Sermonaudio, you shouldn’t feel as if you are being left out. I have no doubt that you can keep up, even without the physical assistance. But if you’d like, you can take a piece of paper and jot down this simple outline as we proceed. This may be a simple outline, but it does have sixteen points – twice.
There are people in our world using this day, the 25th of December, to acknowledge the birth of Christ. I fear that for many, their considerations are more for the exultation of Christ’s mother than for Christ. Far more important than Jesus’ mother and His birth was the death of the Son of God on the cross. I say this in kindness – those people, whose worship of the Lord Jesus begins and ends with Christmas, are little more than Christianized idolaters. Their worship is similar to putting a statue of Jesus in the front yard and calling themselves “Christians.”
And yet, the Son of God was indeed born to a virgin named Mary, the espoused wife of Joseph of Nazareth. It is highly unlikely that the birth of Christ was on December 25th, but the date really isn’t important. As prophesied in the Old Testament, and as explained to Mary and then to Joseph, Mary “shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall SAVE his PEOPLE from their SINS.” Jesus didn’t save His people by being born, but that birth was one step in God’s plan, leading up to Calvary
Assuming you’ve had time to find some paper and a pencil, I’ll describe what I have handed out here. On the left had side of the sheet, at the top of the first column, is the word “Incarnation.” At the top of the right hand column is the word “Regeneration.” On line one, under “Incarnation” is “Pre-existence.” On line two there is “Eternally needed.” Then there are “birth,” “growth,” “baptism,” “temptation,” and “God/man.” Under “God/man,” we have “evangelism,” “leadership,” “service,” “miracles,” “conflict,” and “joy/pain.” And under “joy/pain” we have “death,” and “resurrection,” before getting to the last line and “glory.”
You may be thinking that this looks like an hour long lesson, but that sheet of paper should shorten the lesson considerably.
In the “INCARNATION” column we have the life of Christ with a few other points of doctrine.
The Son of God did not begin His existence in Bethlehem. Mary was not the birth of God. Since the New Testament tells us that Christ created the universe, we know He was there with Adam and Eve. Abraham spoke with the preincarnate Son of God, as did Moses and so many other Old Testament characters. Colossians 1 not only tells us that Christ created all things, it adds that He maintains all things. Christ Jesus is “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
Then “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” At the time of Christ’s birth, He was given the name “Jesus,” after which He grew much like any other child. Then at the appropriate time, He was baptized by John the Baptist, and then He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness where He was tempted by the Devil. One of the things which Satan did, trying to tempt Jesus into sin, was to refer to His true nature: “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” Jesus was the God/man – God in the flesh – the “theanthropic person.” Following the temptation, Christ evangelized some disciples, calling them to Himself, and then began His ministry of leadership, pastoring the first church of the Christian era. He also blessed people who didn’t actually become His disciples; He worked miracles to meet the needs of many. Especially during the last eighteen months of His earthly ministry, He was often in conflict with His enemies. He experience joy, but there were also days when His face was covered with tears – before it was drenched in blood. Eventually Jesus was crucified and died, and yet after three days He was raised from the grave. Then forty days later He ascended into Heaven, receiving the glory which He had with the Father before the world began.
There is half our outline – half our message – an explanation of the right column of our handout.
Now, let’s make a CORRELATION between Christ’s INCARNATION and OUR REGENERATION.
There never was a moment – IN time, or before time, when the Son of God – our Saviour – did not exist. And the plan of your salvation didn’t begin at creation, at the crucifixion or at the time of your repentance and faith. In the mind of God, and in the heart of Christ, you have been loved from eternity. At least in the degrees and counsels of God, your salvation was preexistent to your physical life. To be clear – you were not saved in eternity, but rather at the time of your repentance and faith in Christ. However, in the will of God you were saved in eternity past. Your salvation was guaranteed.
And your need of a Saviour didn’t begin when you shrieked your first selfish scream or you spoke your first lie. When Adam sinned all his posterity became sinners, including you. In other words, you needed a Saviour the moment you took your first breath. Maybe your need wasn’t actually eternal, but for all practical purposes we could look at it in that way.
The Lord Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, a man much like ourselves, telling him, “Ye must be born again.” To be a child of God there must have been a moment in time “when (you) were born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible.” At that moment, you became a babe in Christ, created with a desire for the sincere milk of the Word. And ideally, at that point there began a life of spdiritual growth and maturation, like that twelve year old boy of Nazareth who visited the temple at the Passover. As a child of God, you began to mature in your knowledge of the Saviour and in your knowledge of His word. Yes, you even became somewhat theologically-minded. And, like so many of the historical vignettes I have shared over the years, you came to the understanding that you needed to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness and to testify of your relationship to Christ.
But the Christian life is not easy. The hatred and jealousy which Satan has toward God eventually falls on the people of God, especially when they are living in a fashion which glorifies Christ. The devil adapted his attack to meet the Son of God head-on, and he knows how to attack us at our greatest weaknesses. The Christian who hasn’t met the Devil here in the wilderness hasn’t spent his forty days with the Lord.
Of course, the word “theanthropic person” doesn’t apply to any of us. We are not God/men and God/women. But we should be “God’s men” and “God’s women.” “Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Christian, “know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” If I can put it this way, as sinless humanity was wrapped up inside the Son of God, the sinless Son of God is wrapped up in each of His saints.
After His baptism and temptation, Christ Jesus began His ministry, just as we should begin ours after baptism. Jesus first found Andrew and John, evangelizing them and calling them into His ministry. Then there were Philip and Peter. The Lord Jesus quickly began an evangelical ministry, and we have been given that same sort of ministry. Jesus has said to us, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
And to all of God’s saints has been given some degree of ministerial leadership responsibility. Christian fathers have the responsibility to lead their families in the things of God. And parents have the responsibility to lead their children in righteousness and to the Saviour. Some Christians are even given various positions of ecclesiastical authority. But even without being in the spot-light or positions of authority, every Christian needs to realize that the eyes of others are watching him, examining whether he is of the faith.
In Jesus’ life there were miracles of different kinds. While it is unlikely we will ever be enabled to turn water into wine, we might be able to kill the odd fig tree. While we will probably never raise a dead body, it is one of our blessed privileges to raise dead spirits to life by taking them to the Saviour. Phillip found Nathaniel and said, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write…” Somewhere around that point, Nathaniel, a man dead in trespasses and sins, was born again and came alive spiritually. We should have that same kind of “miraculous” ministry.
After a few months of ministry, the world began to turn against the Lord – opposing and persecuting Him. And we shouldn’t expect much of a different life. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 10 – “It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.” Peter, who heard these words, added, You are souls “who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” Just as was the life of the Lord Jesus, we will spend our three score and ten swinging back and forth between joy and sorrow, joy and sorrow.
But eventually will come our release from this flesh and this world. It may be through the translation of all the living saints at the time, or it may be through death. Even though we have been born again, the principle is still true – “It is appointed unto men once to die.” Millions of Christians for the last two thousand years have experienced it. But they died with the promise of the Lord in their hearts. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the son of God; and they that hear shall live.” Christ Jesus died for our sins and was buried and rose again the third day. And we have the promise that “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Because the Saviour lives there is the assurance that those whose lives are hid with Christ in God shall live with Him for all eternally. And that future life will not be an extension of this life of mixed joy and pain. It will be an eternal life of perfection and glory, just as our Saviour has been glorified. Jesus has promised, “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” If we are children, we are “then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Conclusion:
The Christian’s life is wrapped up with Christ in God. And what I’d like you to see this evening is that we too enjoy the highlights which are found in Christ. As He was born, we have been born again. As He has been glorified, the children of God shall be glorified as well.
Praise His holy name.