Luke 1:30–33 (ESV) — 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
An Albert Einstein quote for today: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
Seeing the simple in the complex is often not easy. If Einstein is talking about math, I have never seen it simple. Excel is my best friend for complex math. There is Train Math. If I am on a train going East at 50 MPH, wearing a red shirt and reading a book, and another train passes you, of course going West, at 30 MPH, and I am not on it, and everyone on this train is wearing a blue shirt and sleeping. “What time will my train reach its destination?” I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’m not on that train. I don’t do Train Math.
This morning, we heard from the choir an unfathomable mystery of God made simple. The infinite God came down to bring us back to God. There are a whole lot of Christmas songs that reveal this mystery. Yet, many who sing these songs of truth never see the mystery in them. Yet the mystery is there.
The scripture text above is from a scene in which the Angel Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her that she will be the mother of the Savior, Jesus. He is coming to save and rescue His people from their sins. We need to be saved and rescued from our sins. Phew!
My emphasis this morning is on verse 33, “and of His kingdom there will be no end.” You do know what “will be no end” means, right? It means: No end. There will be no end. His kingdom never comes to an end. This means it will last throughout eternity. It never stops. If an atomic war breaks out and destroys everything on earth, the Kingdom of Jesus will continue. He will continue to be King of His kingdom and it has no end. Those in His kingdom will be with Him in His kingdom … forever.
One of the songs from the Choir was, “It’s still the greatest story ever told.” Some of the lyrics touch on the mystery and its simplicity while acknowledging that it is a mystery. Here are some of those lyrics:
“A woman and an angel. A promise and a song. A word too grand for any mind to hold. A tax law and a journey, a stable and some straw. These tell the greatest story ever told.
“Oh, sing glory in the highest! He is come, our great Messiah. Come, bow before this awesome mystery! Mighty God and fragile baby, here a lowly manger holds, … and it’s still the greatest story ever told.”
Come, bow before this awesome mystery! Mighty God and fragile baby, here a lowly manger holds, … and it’s still the greatest story ever told.”
As Christians, we believe the redeeming plan of God is the greatest story ever told, and it will remain the greatest for all eternity. We base our lives on it. We base our eternity on it. But let me be clear: This “Greatest Story ever told” is not a single scene in a small town of Bethlehem. No, that is a single scene of the whole story.
The story begins at the beginning, and Bethlehem is not the beginning. It started when God created the heavens and the earth and said, “It is good.” Then He created man, and said, “very good.” He made man in His own image and likeness, and man was very good in God’s eyes and heart.
You know the next scene. Man was living in paradise with God, enjoying personal time with God, and always free and safe. Then man rebelled. Before you condemn Adam and Eve, we have all rebelled against God. The prophet Isaiah 53:6 said,
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way.” Yep, that’s us—all of us. “Like sheep we have all gone our own way.”
The New Testament says the same thing.
Romans 3:10–12 (ESV) — as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside;
Romans 3:23 (ESV) — for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The Psalmist asks an eternal question to all mankind. Psalm 130:3 (CSB) — Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
“Iniquities” is a word we don’t use, except in theology. What does that mean? It refers to every action, word, thought, and motive that violates the purity/holiness of God and the purity of love and life. In one word, sin. God holds each of us accountable for our actions, attitudes, and words. Our violations of what is right are our iniquities. We are responsible and accountable for all of our iniquities. Yes. How are you doing? As good as we think we are, we are failures.
The New Living Translation words this verse as, “Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?” The answer is no one. Because of our separation from God and our mounting sins of selfishness and rebellion against God, who has always loved us, we are heaping sins on top of sins. The record of our sins and iniquities was growing as we lived outside of Christ.
So, a part of the greatest story is that God created us to fellowship with Him and to enjoy life in paradise with Him and with each other, but man blew it, and we continue to blow it.
That is one part of the greatest story, not the whole story. The story continues. Because man is broken and separated from God, He comes to humanity as a man to be one of us. That’s the part of the greatest story we are celebrating this time of year. The God of all glory, who created us, becomes one of us. He is Immanuel, God with us.
But that is not the end of the greatest story, that is a part of the story. The story continues. The second part of Isaiah 53:6 tells the next part of the story.
“… the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Did you catch that? Those “iniquities” that condemn us were put upon Jesus while He was on the Cross. He bore out iniquities and sin. That is love. When He died for us, He took our eternal punishment for our sins against God and against each other. Now, because of what the God/man did on the cross, “everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).”
The cross of Jesus is a part of the greatest story ever told. It was the pivot point. It was not the end of the story. The story continues.
This Jesus who died on the Cross rose from the dead. A part of the greatest story is that Jesus—the Son of God, rose from the dead, conquering death and the grave. But that is a part of the greatest story, not the whole story. The story continues.
Next, He built His church. Jesus Christ said, “I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Not a building, not a denomination, not a religion. He built a community of believers and filled them with His Spirit, and supernaturally connected each believer by His Spirit. This is important to the greatest story ever told. If you don’t understand this, then you don’t know the whole story. You are missing a necessary part of the Story.
Jesus Christ said, “I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” This was His intentional plan. A part of the mystery of god’s plan was the creation of His Church. (c.f. Eph.5:32) The Church of Jesus Christ is not a bunch of buildings, but a bunch of believers who follow Him into eternity. Jesus raised up a people to represent Him on earth. He empowered us with His Spirit to tell others this greatest story ever told.
Another critical purpose of creating this Church is to foster a community of faith that walks the faith, learns the faith, stays in the faith, and helps this broken world in its suffering and spiritual darkness. He bound us together because we needed each other in this broken world and in our pilgrimage of faith. A part of the greatest story is that Jesus has made a holy people unto Himself to do His work until He returns. And to do it together.
But that is a part of the greatest story, not the whole story. The story continues. Jesus will be returning. A second coming. Most of you have heard of this. He's coming back. When He comes back, He is going to reconcile all things back to their original state. Colossians 1:20 (ESV) — “and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
He’s going to turn back the pages. The Book of Revelation calls it, “The new heaven and earth.” This part of the story is found in Old Testament prophesies and throughout the New Testament. Evil will not be a part of this new heaven and earth. The devil will not be a part of it. This is where and when there will be no more sin. No more pain. No more sickness, suffering, or shame. No hunger. No injustice. No more fear or terror. No crime. All that is broken and cursed because of sin will be fixed—made new. There will be true Peace. All created things—the earth, creation, and man and God will be in harmony.
The symbolic picture that the Bible gives us is that the lion and the lamb will lie down together. No more wars. No more fighting. No more, no more, no more. All of this will happen when Jesus returns---His Second Coming.
This is the final chapter of the greatest story ever told. The final chapter is where those who belong to Jesus will live with God face-to-face forever. Those who do not belong to Jesus will suffer in the punishment of their sins because they didn’t seek forgiveness from them.
Oh, but wait. This Chapter has no end to it. Remember, this story has no end. Because His Kingdom has no end—that is what the Angel Gabriel told Mary, “His kingdom will have no end.” It continues and continues forever.
Remember my quote from Einstein? “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Sally Lloyd-Jones, in her children’s book, The Jesus Story Bible, makes the mystery of God simple. In her introduction, she writes:
“The Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne—everything—to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life! You see, the best thing about this Story is – it’s true.”
If this story sounds too good to be true, it would be, except God says it is true. And He made it happen. He made the impossible possible and invites you into it!
Two closing thoughts. First, if you desire to learn the incredible mysteries of God and of this Grand Story, you are invited to come to MCBC and learn. MCBC is intentional about unfolding and living out this greatest story together.
Second, if you are being drawn to “belong to Jesus”, to be forgiven by God of the weight of guilt and shame that you are carrying, Jesus is calling you to Himself right now. I want you to take this opportunity to call upon Jesus for forgiveness. It’s an opportunity to ask Him to take your heart unto Himself.
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