Thank you Mark Henderson. Remember to pray for John Benham and Melody and Tom Adelsman, that team that is serving the Lord for this month in Indonesia. And I think if my mind serves me correctly, they're on Sulawesi at this particular time and will return in something like two weeks. Keep remembering them in prayer. We appreciate Mark filling in.
Thank you for those of you who are volunteering for the choir this summer and we still need more of you, so join them if you can on Sunday mornings at 8.30 for a time of rehearsal and then ministry. I invite you to open your Bibles today to Luke chapter 2 as we look at this familiar Christmas passage and think about the majesty of Jesus Christ as Savior. Now I can just imagine what it was like at your house this morning, Dad. Your wife gently nudged you and said, sweetheart, happy Father's Day.
It's time to get up. The coffee's on, the French toast and bacon's all prepared. Won't you come down and sit at the table and join us for this special Father's Day breakfast? And you rolled out of bed and got your robe on and went downstairs and there the kids were with the newspaper and presented it to you, still all in one piece. And then they sat around the table and they said, how we wish you a happy day, your majesty. Didn't it go something like that? Well maybe something like that.
We are going to talk about this term majesty because it is one that perhaps seems a little passe or outmoded for the day in which we live. Recently I heard a report on the radio about King Olaf, the oldest reigning monarch in the world. He suffered a stroke a few weeks ago and is partially paralyzed and as the spokesman was reporting it, he referred several times to the condition of his majesty.
And it almost seemed as he did that he was speaking to another generation because that simply isn't a term that we use anymore. Majesty points to the grandeur, the loftiness, or the dignity of a person, place, or thing. Those of you who follow the comic strip Feline Garfield know what a majesty complex is, for that's what Garfield has. If you've ever been to the Grand Teton Mountains in Wyoming and beheld their beauty, you understand what majesty is.
We sing about it in our hymn to America, the purple mountains majesty above the fruited plain. Or if you've ever attended a concert by a symphony orchestra and gone away, exhilarated and uplifted, you know what majesty is. But when speaking about the majesty of Jesus Christ, we are addressing a unique grandeur of personage and office, singular, without any equal, a majesty that is different from all other majesties.
My goal in the series of messages as we address the majesty of Jesus Christ is to talk about the various titles and offices which belong to him and which help us understand his majesty and, in part to do that, we're going to address the themes on these lovely banners that some ladies in our church have prepared for us over the last two or three years. We're going to start right up here with this one this morning. The majesty of Jesus Christ is displayed in his work as savior.
And his majesty may be summarized by saying that he is the only savior of all humanity. We return to Luke 2 and the words of the angel who said, do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord. The majesty of Jesus Christ is that he is the only savior of all humanity.
Now, from that statement there arise at least four thoughts I'd like for us to look at in some detail this morning. Let's think first about the fact that he is the savior and talk about the meaning of that term, both its identification and its implication. The word savior is identified in the Bible only with God. The word savior is found only 13 times in the Old Testament and 24 times in the New Testament. The apostle Paul uses it more frequently than any other writer.
He uses it 12 times in his epistles. The original Greek word for salvation however is used 45 additional times. And the verb save is used 106 times. The idea behind the word savior is to preserve or to rescue. And it's not always used in the Bible in a spiritual sense. Sometimes it denotes rescue or deliverance from danger at sea or from the threat of war or the peril of illness. But it's always used in the sense of averting some threat or danger to an individual.
The title is first used of God by David who in 2 Samuel 22 verse 3 called God my savior. And in the context there was thinking about God saving him from his enemies. God uses the term of himself a number of times. For example Isaiah 43 in verse 3 God says, I am the Lord your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior. It is a term that is used of God even in the Gospel of Luke in the first chapter where Mary says of God that he is her savior.
By the way that certainly undermines the teaching that Mary was born without sin. For she recognized that she was in need of God's grace and of a savior. The implication of the title savior is that something or someone is in danger whether it's realized or not. One of the theological books that one can use for study is the dictionary of New Testament theology. It says this regarding the idea in savior.
Whenever men by their own fault or through some superior power have come under the control of someone else and have lost their freedom to implement their will and decisions and when their own resources are inadequate to deal with that other power they can regain their freedom only by the intervention of a third party. That idea is wrapped up in this word savior. Now there are some other New Testament words as well that would describe that but certainly the word savior is the key to them all.
And so to call Christ the savior is to imply that there is something from which one needs to be saved. It implies that there is a need on the part of someone for his work to rescue them. Indeed people who think that they need no savior cannot appreciate a savior.
It is only when the proud heart of the sinner is laid low by the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the application of God's righteous law to his heart that he will see his need and will then cry out for rescue because it is when he sees his need that he recognizes his peril. It is only as he sees the offense of his sin to the holiness of God and perceives the just judgment that is coming upon him that he will grasp the importance of a savior.
The majesty of Jesus Christ is underlined in this fact that he is the savior but there is another thought that comes out of this theme and that is that he is the savior of humanity. To the shepherds the angels said, for unto you is born a savior. Notice he did not say for unto us is born a savior. He is not the savior of angels. He is not the savior of animals or of any other creature. Although by his grace some day the creation itself will share in the blessing of his work of salvation.
But he is the savior of humanity. A humanity in the first place that owes its origin and existence to him. Humanity is not an alien race to Jesus Christ. Humanity is not some unknown species of a higher form of life to him. Indeed he gave to humanity the unique characteristics that make us human. Our personhood, our sense of morality, our spirituality. Jesus Christ is the master designer of humankind. As it says in Colossians 1,16, all things, all things were created by the eternal Son of God.
And the apostle Paul declared on Mars Hill in Athens in Acts 17, he himself gives to all life and breath and all things. And he made from one every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth. The Bible declares that humanity is created in the image of God. Male and female he created them. His majesty is revealed in the marvelous works of his hands in you and in me.
Some of us were talking about some illnesses and medication and symptoms this last week of disease and concluded as we chatted that in fact we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We owe our existence to Jesus Christ. He is the savior of humanity. But humanity is also that which rebels against his rule and his goodness. As a race, the sons of Adam are at war with God. As Paul says in Colossians 1, we are alienated, hostile in mind and evil in deeds. That's what we're like.
We are a humanity that is at war with God. Although Jesus Christ is humanity's only hope, by most he is disregarded or blasphemed. Have you ever heard one of your friends take the name of Buddha in vain or curse using the name of Mohammed? Unlikely. That majestic name that is above every name, Jesus Christ is the one that the human race drags in the gutter of its blasphemy and denigrates. Nonetheless, he is the savior of humanity.
His majesty is witnessed in his great patience with sinners, sinners who treat him with disrespect and neglect. He is the savior of humanity, a humanity whose likeness he shares. The shepherds were told to look for a baby. The savior did not come as an adult. He did not come merely pretending to be human, but he entered the world as a man. That's why you see the manger on that banner. Because he was born as a baby through the miraculous virgin conception.
He was incarnated and he joined himself to all that it means to be human. That fabulous hymn of Philippians 2, the apostle says, being found in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man. So he describes the incarnation of Jesus Christ. And it must have been so. He had to come as a man in order to be the savior of humanity. For only a human could be the sacrifice for lost humanity.
And we see his majesty as savior in that he was willing to become one with us and then to take our place as he died under the judgment and wrath of God. So he is the savior. He is the savior of humanity, but there is more that arises out of this majestic thought. And that is that he is the savior of all humanity. Notice that the angel said, great joy, which shall be for all the people. Now of course, in the direct focus of that thought, the Jewish people.
But the savior is for all humanity, beyond the Jewish race. Gentiles are included. As it says in verse 32, these words of Simeon, he says that this babe is a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. Over and over again in the New Testament we see the emphasis on the fact that he is the savior of all mankind. It is God's desire to save all, you see. For example, in 1 Timothy chapter 2, we have a marvelous encouragement of the apostle to pray.
And he says that as we pray, we ought to pray for those who are in authority. And he explains why, so that our lives might be honoring to God, that we might lead them in tranquility and quietness. And he says in verse 3, this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. My friend, that's the heart of God. That's the majesty of Jesus Christ, that he came into the world to be the savior of all humanity.
Not just one race, one color, not just one language group, but all humanity. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And so God's provision in his Son is sufficient to save all men. One verse that declares that so plainly, it seems to me, is 1 John chapter 2 and verse 2, where it says, and he is the propitiation, the satisfying sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.
God desires all men to be saved, and God has provided that all men might be saved. There can be no limit placed upon the merit of the death of the Son of God for the sins of humanity. But God's forgiveness is limited to those who will believe. God is willing to save all. God has provided to save all. But it is only those who will bow the knee in repentance and faith who will be saved. You see, the problem isn't on God's side. The problem is on man's side.
God's heart is that all might enjoy the glories of heaven. And he has sent his Son into the world and provided that every person might one day walk on those golden streets and share the glory of eternal life. But from man's perspective, it is only those who will believe who will be saved. The majesty of Jesus Christ is observed in that he is potentially the Savior of all, as it says in 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10.
It is for this we labor, writes Paul, and we strive because we have fixed our hope on the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. The majesty of Jesus Christ is that potentially he is the Savior of all, though experientially he is the Savior only of those who believe on him. And his majesty is likewise witnessed in the fact that he will save anyone, anyone who believes, anyone without exception.
It makes no difference how far away from God one has been or how deep the sin may be in one's life. He is the Savior of all humanity and will save any who will come to him. He is the Savior. He is the Savior of humanity. He is the Savior of all humanity. And finally, his majesty is that he is the only Savior of all humanity. The lie of human speculation is that there are many truths. I say that's a lie. And we hear it repeated over and over until we almost ourselves begin to believe it.
Truth is relative, we are told. What may be right for one is not right for another. You can't judge. There are many ways to God. It's like the roads to Chicago or the airlines that fly to Hawaii. They all get there. It doesn't make any difference which one you take. Or we all worship the same God. We just call him by different names. It doesn't make any difference what you believe. The important thing is that you're sincere about it. And I repeat, all of those are lies.
They are the lies of human speculation. The truth of God's revelation is that there is only one truth. Period. One God who exists eternally in three persons. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One way of being forgiven and of having a right relationship with God. The absolute exclusive claim of the Christian message is that there is one way of salvation. There is one way of salvation for the Jew. And that is Jesus Christ. There is one way of salvation for the religious Gentile.
And that is Jesus Christ. There is only one way of salvation for the pagan heathen Gentile. And that is Jesus Christ. There are no other possibilities. The Christian message excludes them all. For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And Jesus himself said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. The majesty of Jesus Christ is that he is the only savior of all humanity.
If that's what we believe, how does that fit into a pluralistic society like ours? Because ladies and gentlemen, our faith is not a pluralistic faith. Our faith is an exclusive faith. How does this kind of a message that we preach from the Bible fit into a pluralistic society? The answer to that is that we are on a collision course with our society. It is this very exclusive message that I have presented to you that gave birth to the freedom of our nation.
But we are now substituting something in its place called pluralism. The idea that there are many truths and they're all equally true. In fact, the idea of pluralism is itself a deception. Philosophically, it's impossible that there be many truths. And yet our philosophers have bought into that lie. In pluralism, you have competing value systems and ultimately one will win.
Pluralism is really a state in which a society is in transition from one truth that it accepts to another truth that it accepts. The message that you and I hold dear to our hearts, the message of the majesty of Jesus Christ as the Savior, the only Savior of all humanity, is a message that our society will not continually tolerate.
We can expect in the near future increasing pressure upon people who believe like we do to soften our message, to compromise it, to accept the fact that well, maybe there is another way for the Jew. Or perhaps though one calls God Allah and says Mohammed is his prophet, he's nonetheless acceptable to God in his goodness and his love. We are under pressure to accept that kind of theology and it's a lie.
If we forsake this message of the majesty of Jesus Christ as Savior, we have forsaken our faith. It's as simple as that. The majesty of Jesus Christ as Savior to me is the greatest motive that we have for evangelism. It means that my neighbor who is worshiping another God, whether it be a God of ideas or a God of materialism or a God of statues, that my neighbor is lost.
It means that those people in tribal areas over there, in Indonesia, in Africa, in New Guinea and other places in the world, they're lost unless they hear the news of Jesus Christ. For unto them too the Savior has been born, the only Savior. Jesus Christ is worthy too of the obedience of every person. You see the motivation for evangelism is not only the value and the worth of the human soul, but it's the value and the worth of Jesus Christ to be worshiped by all men. He deserves that.
Here to come to Him results in eternal damnation. One can be so close and yet miss it. One can use the right language. One can sing the hymns. One can hear the message over and over again and think himself to be on that narrow way, to have entered through that narrow gate that leads to life. And yet in the end be turned away by the Lord. And though he would say, Lord, did I not prophesy? Did I not do miracles in your name? Lord, did I not serve you? Didn't I go to church?
Didn't I sing the hymns? Didn't I pray? And then to hear uttered those frightful words, depart from me, I never knew you. Jesus Christ is the only Savior of all humanity and the only way that we may be rightly related to God is by bowing the knee to the majesty of Jesus Christ and receiving him as Lord and Savior. As we declare this message to our culture, we need to be wise. It needs to be done within the context of our day. We need to use methods that will work in the 1990s.
And let us never forget that our mission is to proclaim him. It is to lift up his majesty. It is to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord to all men and to declare that he is the only Savior of all humanity. That is our mission and let us not waver from it.
And using those tools that God puts into our hands, utilizing the means that God gives us a burden for, finding those keys of culture, those cultural keys that we can use to unlock the doors of our neighbors and our community, let's be faithful to the majesty of Jesus Christ as Savior. And bow to it in our own lives and recognize his glory and serve him alone. Let's pray. My friend, this is the only resting place for your faith. There is no other foundation.
For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. His majesty is that he is the only Savior for you, for me. How wonderful that he should come and become one of us, that he might rescue us from our deserved judgment. Friend, have you bowed the knee in truth to him or have you been playing a game? Do you really belong to him? Or is this just a cultural thing that you've learned to be adapted to? His majesty is that he is the only Savior you can ever have.
And if you play games with him, if you neglect him or God forbid, should you actually reject him, you leave yourself no alternative but the judgment of God. Would you believe on him today right where you are? If so, tell him. You don't have to come forward, you don't have to pray some magic words. All you need to do is open the door of your heart, the door of faith, and receive him. Believe on him to the saving of your soul. Oh Spirit of God, may some friend here today be quickened to do that.
To genuinely and truly understand the majesty of Jesus Christ and receive him and live for him and for his glory. Amen.