God In A Body

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>God In A Body</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="21"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id240.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="God in a Body Part Two"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, “God in a Body”, pt. 1, December 9, 2001am</B></div> <bR> <div>      Istanbul, Turkey, Dec 20, 1996 (New York Times). “Santa’s rosy cheeks and broad smile are beaming from store windows, trees have been bought and decorated; the strains of "Jingle Bells" and "Silent Night" waft through the air in cafes and shops, and children wait anxiously for the moment when they can unwrap their gifts. All is as it should be at this time of year. Or maybe not. Istanbul, after all, Is one of the world's great Islamic cities, and the population here is more 'than 95 percent Muslim. Since the birth of modern Turkey 73 years ago, the country has been steadily adopting Western habits, Especially in big cities like Istanbul, taboos against liquor and unveiled women have long since fallen away, and attendance at mosques is spotty. But few signs of the headlong rush by Turkey into the worldwide consumer culture are more jarring than its embrace of Christmas. The manager of a chic clothing store reflected on this as he carefully wrapped a present one day recently, curling the ribbon and sticking a small Santa Claus doll onto the colorful paper. ‘Strict Islamic people don't like it, but that's only a small minority,’ he said. ‘The rest think this is something great. it's fun for everyone, and it's good for business. We don't connect it to Christianity or Jesus. As far as I know, it's not much of a religious holiday anywhere in the world.’”</div> <div>      Christmas is not much of a religious holiday, even among Christians in America. Christians have different perceptions of what “the Holidays” are about – family, gifts, kids, food, loneliness (for some), a moment of happiness in a miserable year, shopping, debt, materialism. Jesus has become a mere aside for many people, or else reduced to a baby, nothing more.</div> <div> <I>     </I>Why is this season to be a time of the genuine worship of Jesus Christ? The next four sermons will seek to answer this question. First, </div> <bR> <div> <B>I. Jesus is </B><I><B><U>God</U></B></I><B> in a body</B>.</div> <div> Not all who celebrate Christmas accept Jesus’ claims to deity, to being God.</div> <div> A. John 1:1-5 – The Word (divine expression of God) became human. Jesus was not created by God. He was with God at the beginning of Creation. What God was, Jesus (the Word) was. He is God.</div> <div> B. John 8:48-59 – Jesus identified himself as God. The Pharisees accused Jesus of being a heretic or demon-possessed. When Jesus identified himself as “I AM” in vs. 58, he was claiming to be God (Exodus 3:14). C. S. Lewis wrote, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be either a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse” (Mere Christianity).</div> <div> C. Titus 2:11-14 – “Our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” This is talking about one person, not two. Paul calls Jesus “God.”</div> <div> Darrell Bock, professor at Dallas Seminary, said: “It is the divine humanity that makes the story. If you take out the divinity, you ruin the story, just as if you take out his humanity, you ruin the story.”</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. Two Potential Responses</B> (choose one, no middle ground): Be honest, consistent – if you celebrate Christmas as having anything to do with Jesus, the baby in a manger, you must take him seriously, because you are dealing with the worship of God.</div> <div> A. You can reject him (John 8:59).</div> <div> B. You can accept him and allow him to change your life (Titus 2:14, redeemed and purified).</div> <div> If you are not willing to do this, have a holiday, but don’t act as though it is about Jesus. If you are not willing to accept that Jesus is God, don’t call it “Christmas.”</div> <bR> <div>      Christmas is supposed to be enjoyable and fun with family and friends and gifts; but above this, keep the focus on who Jesus is. Humanly, when we know who we are dealing with, we are prone to changing how we treat them. We had dinner with Jeff Ogden, a Dallas Cowboys player. I didn’t know, and knowing would have allowed me to change some of what I said (like when I said, “What do you do for a living?”). This is natural with other people. It must be most natural with God. Knowing who we are dealing with, <B>God</B> in a body, challenges us to worship him alone and give him everything.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2001, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>