Will you take your bibles and turn to Matthew's gospel; Matthew chapter one; we're going to look at verses 18 through 25, under the heading "Christ our Sovereign King." And I might say ahead of time that I'm not going to get real deep into every single phrase here, but use this as kind of a general launching pad into understanding more of who Christ is and exalting him. Let me read the passage, Matthew chapter one; familiar passage beginning in verse 18. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother, Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins.' Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 'BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALLBE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,' which translated means 'GOD WITH US.' And Joseph awoke from asleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin, until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus."

What a wonderful privilege we have, as twice born saints, to contemplate the glories of Christ, to reflect upon the one who is our Creator, the one who is our Savior and King; especially in these difficult days. We all are aware of how God has essentially lifted his restraining grace on our country and we're watching the effects of wickedness all around us. Our country is drowning in depravity. People are trying to satisfy every perverted lust that they have. And God is allowing them to experience the tragic consequences of their wickedness. And that sin splatters on all of us; we all have to deal with it at some level. Moreover, each of us have our own troubles. We all falter under the weight of disappointment, distress, depression at time, dangers, disease, and even death. Most of you, even this morning, are carrying heavy burdens as you come here. It's part of life in a fallen world, right? Sometimes it's worse than others. Some of you are laboring under poverty. Others are dealing with pain--physical pain, sickness, wayward children, broken marriages, and on and on it goes. And we know that Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they are unable to see the light of the glory of Christ. And we know that people without Christ love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. Proverbs four and verse 19, says, "The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know over what they stumble." But thankfully, there is light in Christ, amen? There is light in Christ. In fact, Jesus said in John 8:12, "'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness but will have the Light of life.'" And in Acts 26, verse 18. At his conversion, Jesus told Paul that he was going to send him to the Gentiles, quote, "'To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'" And friends, we know that this light was prophesied some roughly 700 years earlier. In Isaiah chapter nine and verse two we read this, "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them." And it is my purpose this morning to help you behold the glorious light of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we do this by contemplating the infinite perfections of his person and his work as we see the one who is full of grace and truth through the eyes of faith.

And the reason this is so important is not only because it's an act of worship, and worship is pleasing to Him, but also it is a soothing balm to aching souls. And I want to impress that upon you this morning. This was Jesus’ earnest prayer on behalf of his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion. You will remember in John 17, verse 24, he said, "'Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am'"-- and here's why--"'so that they may see My glory which You have given Me.'" And that should be our prayer. That we would see his glory. That was Jesus’ Prayer, it should be ours as well. Beloved, the apprehension of the glory of Christ should be the very air that we breathe as believers. We are forever united to the one who has created us, who has saved us by his grace. One day, and perhaps very soon, we will see him face to face. And what on earth could be more worthy of our affections than this? Especially during the Christmas season, right? What better way to prepare ourselves for the inevitable trials of life, and our own inevitable departure from this earth? What better way of finding refuge from our trials than contemplating the glory of the One in whom we are forever hidden?

You know, the inspired Apostle Paul understood this and he practiced this in Second Corinthians four. Beginning in verse eight, we read, "we are afflicted in every way." But he went on to say later, "we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory, far beyond all comparison." Then he says this, "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." And, folks, my goal this morning, is to help you turn your eyes away from the temporal and to gaze into the eternal and see the glory of our Savior. And when we do this, you will find that by the power of the Spirit, you will be able to transcend the inevitable difficulties of life. Beholding the glory of Christ will always be the daily habit, frankly, of the mature saint who longs to know more of the one in whose image they are gradually being conformed. And in whose presence they will one day spend eternity.

The apostle Paul spoke of this in Colossians, three, remember in verse one, he says, "Therefore if," or it could be translated, "since"-- "you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things," what? "Above"--not below--"keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not all the things that are on earth." And here's why, "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

The Psalmist understood this and spoke of this in Psalm 16, beginning in verse eight, "I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever." And dear friends, what better way of experiencing God's love for us than to meditate upon the glory of Christ? This is, according to Romans five, five the "hope that does not disappoint," right? The hope that does not disappoint. And here's why. "Because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." And what does the Holy Spirit use in this mystical way to communicate and help us understand and experience the love of Christ? He uses his word and he uses his people. And no wonder the Apostle Paul would testify in Philippians, three, eight, "I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ."

So, let's exalt the one who has purchased our redemption. There are four amazing themes that I believe emerge from this passage of scripture that I think can fan the embers, hopefully the flames of our worship of Our Lord. We're going to see four things, first of all, his royal lineage. Secondly, his physical lineage. Thirdly, his virgin birth, and finally, his eternal sonship. And mind you, these are just a few aspects of who he is.

Now, here in Matthew 1:18, through 25, we have a detailed announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ that emphasizes that Mary had been betrothed to Joseph yet she was pregnant. Not because of some immoral union with Joseph, but because of the Holy Spirit. Also, we see that Joseph is called, quote, "The Son of David." Very important. And the son's name has to be called Jesus, "for he will save his people from their sins." But also we see that this Jesus was to be the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a virgin birth of a son, whose name shall be called "Immanuel," God with us, referring to Isaiah seven in verse 14. And this detailed information was extremely important to the Jewish people that day because they would have to verify his claim to be the Son of David, the Messiah King. Later on in Matthew 22, Jesus will ask the Pharisees, the leaders of Israel, in verse 42, "'What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?'" In other words, he's saying what is his genealogical record? What is his ancestry? From what Jewish line has he descended? And, "They said to Him, 'The son of David,'" which was the most common messianic title used in that day. Now, Jesus knew that they knew, and the Jews kept meticulous, genealogical records. He wasn't trying to find out, hey, do you guys realize...he already knew that? Because he knew that no one could possibly hold a position of authority or responsibility without verification of their genealogy. And so he wanted to press that upon their minds that yes, they knew his genealogy. Jesus then went on in that passage to demonstrate that not only must Christ be the physical descendant of David, but also as the Messiah, he would have to be the, quote, "Son of God," which they could not understand. And they could not believe--actually, they would not believe it.

Jesus was therefore not only underscoring his royal lineage but also asserting his deity. This was so disconcerting to the Pharisees that in verse 46, we read, "No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question." Now, here's what's fascinating. Notice what precedes Matthew's account of the birth of Christ in verses 18 and following. That, of course, is the genealogy of Christ.

And so we come to my first point here, we're going to see his royal lineage. Verse one of chapter one simply says, "the record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the son of Abraham," and then it continues on in great detail. Now, it's amazing, because here we learned that Jesus was by birth, the one that was promised to Abraham in Genesis 12, verses one through three--the covenant that was made over 2000 years before Jesus was even born. And he is also therefore, a descendant of King David, therefore, the son of David, the Messiah King, who would fulfill the covenant promises that were given to David in Second Samuel seven; the promises of a future son that would establish David's kingdom forever and so forth. And we'll not take time to go through this record in detail, but I want you to understand that this was never disputed by the meticulous Jewish leaders, never disputed. It's intriguing that Matthew's genealogy moves forward from Abraham to Joseph, who was Jesus legal, not physical, but legal father. This was crucial, because the royal line must be passed through the legal father, the Jews would have understood this, they would have looked for this. And since Jesus had no human father, his royal lineage had to come from a father that the Jews would consider to be his legal father. One that could adopt him and grant him all the rights and privileges of sonship. And of course, Joseph was, you might say, his foster father. This was never in dispute. In fact, in Luke four and verse 22, Jesus's teaching in the synagogue in Nazareth, and the people were speaking well of him, and they were saying quote, "'Is this not Joseph's son?'" Now, there may well have been a second reason of Matthew's record done to underscore the claim of the virgin birth, it may have been an attempt to distinguish this virgin birth from other virgin birth myths that were floating around in that time of history. The ancient Babylonians had their versions, the Sumerians, the Acadians, even the Buddhists and the Hindus. The Greeks, for example, believed that Zeus empowered a snake to impregnate the Virgin goddess Olympias, who bore a son whose name was Alexander the Great. So you have all of this ridiculous stuff floating around. Furthermore, Matthew's account, along with Luke's later on, would also serve to refute some of the wild claims that Jesus was the son of a Roman soldier, or others were saying that Joseph merely defiled Mary out of wedlock.

Now, allow me a digression here. I believe it's worthwhile as we look briefly at this royal lineage. There is a fascinating footnote deserving our attention in verse 11. It says, "Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon; Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel", and so on. Now, what is fascinating, if you look in Jeremiah 22 and verse 30--you don't have to do that, I'll tell you what's there--God pronounced a curse on Jeconiah, who is also called Jehoiachin or Coniah; he ruled only three months before he was taken into captivity, but the curse said that he would never have a son that would sit on the throne of David. So obviously, this would eliminate Jesus. If he had been in Joseph's bloodline, but God remedied all of that, because Jesus' bloodline to the throne of David came through Mary from Nathan, Solomon's brother, not Solomon. Jeconiah's line. Now, don't you know that the Jews would have spotted this if it had not been true and use it to their advantage. In fact, if there was one single cell of blood from that line, he would have been disqualified, and they would have pointed it out. He could not be in the line, descending from David through Jeconiah. So God bypassed that curse, through the virgin birth, yet at the same time, giving Jesus the royal right to reign as the legal heir of the father, as well as the blood heir of his mother who descended from David through Nathan. Notice in verse 16, "Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah." "By whom," you don't see this in English, but in Greek, this is in the feminine, not the masculine gender, which clearly indicates that Jesus was not born by Joseph, but by Mary. Once again, we witnessed the miracle of the inspiration of Scripture, where the Holy Spirit superintended human authors to precisely record the stunning miracle of divine providence. So Matthew establishes these crucial truths from the very outset of the gospel. But Jesus had to be more than the legal heir of the throne of David; he had to be more than a royal king, he also had to be fully God; to be the perfect and holy sacrifice. That would be the propitiation for our sins; a sacrifice of infinite value necessary to atone for sin. Moreover, he also had to be fully human, in order to die in our stead, and take him upon himself the penalty of our sin, as our substitute, in order to conquer death through the resurrection, and thus guarantee the resurrection of all who trust in Him.

So Jesus had to also be the physical descendant of David--human blood, the human blood of Abraham, and David had to flow through his veins. Their very DNA had to make up his physical body. And it's interesting to demonstrate this, the Holy Spirit did two things. First, he follows the genealogical record with a detailed account of his divine conception in his virgin mother, Mary, in verses 18 through 25. But then, secondly, he carefully details a second genealogy, inspired by another author, Luke, we read about this in Luke three.

And we'll look at this briefly under a second heading. We've seen his royal lineage and now we're going to look at his physical lineage. And if we were to take time, we go to Luke three and look closely at verses 23 through 38. And this is actually Mary's genealogy. So unlike Matthew's genealogy that starts with Abraham, and moves forward in time to Joseph making it, shall we say Joseph's genealogy. Luke's genealogy begins with Jesus and moves backwards in time, all the way to Adam, making this Mary's genealogy, and this demonstrates Jesus's actual bloodline. So Matthew traces Jesus' ancestry beginning with Abraham, whereas Luke stresses his identification, shall we say, with the entire human race. Jesus is a son of Adam. However, unlike the disobedient Adam, Jesus is the obedient second, Adam. While at the same time, he is indeed the true son of God. Now bear in mind, Joseph and Mary's claim that they had remained sexually pure, even though she's pregnant--that they remain sexually pure in this period of betrothal and that the child that she bore was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that He is going to be the Messiah and so forth--that was a story that certainly the people would have found laughably absurd. Ridiculous. Imagine Mary trying to explain what the angel said to her right? Just imagine, yeah, the angel met with me, Luke 1:32. And here's what he said, "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." Yeah, right. And as soon as the leaders would hear this, they would instantly go to the genealogical records to refute this, to refute that. There was absolutely no possibility that these two young people; these nobodies, these teenagers, were speaking the truth. But instead, what's fascinating is that genealogical records corroborate their story. Matthew immediately establishes Jesus ancestry connecting it with the Old Testament and with Israel, but Luke waits until Jesus is into his ministry. Jesus would have been somewhere in his 30s when his claims to be the Son of God would have absolutely shaken the Jews to the core and infuriated them.

And Luke also makes it clear in chapter one that indeed this was a virgin birth. Notice, verse 34, "Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be since I am a virgin?'" verse 35, "The angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason, the holy Child will be called the Son of God.'" And when we see this emphasis, even in the genealogical record, we are amazed at all of it. Notice in chapter three and verse 23, "When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about 30 years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph." "As was supposed," or "so it was thought." And see what Luke is going to make clear is that Joseph was not Jesus' father. What a marvelous thing God did in these accounts, not only to prove Jesus royal lineage, but also vindicate and protect young Mary and Joseph from certain scorn.

Now, after considering the marvels of both his royal and physical lineage, let's reflect for a moment upon his virgin birth. Number three, in our little outline back to Matthew chapter one and verse 18. And again, my purpose here is not to carefully exposit every word of the text, but rather to focus just primarily, here at least, on the virgin birth. There we read in verse 18, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit." Now, it's important for us to understand a bit of the culture of that day. A Hebrew marriage was arranged by contract between the families of the bride and the groom. And this contract was sealed by a dowry, a "mohar," paid by the groom's family, to the father of the bride. And this was to pay for the wedding expenses. The weddings were typically quite expensive. They typically lasted seven days,; we get off easy in our day, right? The bride's father would also hold a portion of the dowry and trust for his daughter as a life insurance policy for her if the husband were to die, and if he divorced her, the husband would never see any of the money until his father-in-law died. And then there would be an inheritance.

And a Jewish wedding custom typically included two very sacred stages. First, you have the "kiddushin" which was the betrothal period, the engagement period, and that included a contract and it was considered legally binding. They were even considered legally married, even though the actual wedding had not taken place. And the betrothal period typically would last about 12 months. And then that was done primarily to prove that the bride was not pregnant, and that the couple were dedicated to sexual purity.

And then the second stage beyond the kiddushin was the "huppah," the marriage ceremony. And obviously Mary's pregnancy required a great deal of explanation. In verse 18. We read "before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit." And so knowing he was not the father, Joseph's reaction was to be expected. Right? Verse 19, "Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly." And he could have demanded her public humiliation. In fact, he could have even demanded a stoning, based on Deuteronomy 22. But because of his godly compassion, and his undying love for Mary, he chose instead to pursue just a private divorce. But notice what happened in verse 20. "But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.'" Now Joseph knew that what Mary had told him about the angelic announcement was, in fact, true. But don't you know, that would have been hard to deal with as a young man.

The angel went on in verse 21, "'She will bear a Son ; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.'" Then again in verse 22, and following, "Now, all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord, through the prophet," referring to Isaiah seven and verse 14, "might be fulfilled saying, 'BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,' which means 'God with us.'" Verse 24, "And Joseph arose from asleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took her as his wife and kept her a virgin, until she gave birth to a son and called his name Jesus."

Beloved, please understand, without a virgin birth, there would be no incarnation. You see, had Jesus been some illegitimate son, his claim to deity would be demonstrably false. Think about this, the work of redemption demanded a theater upon a god man. It required one who could supernaturally fuse the human nature with the divine and to some indissoluble bond. That's what we have in the incarnation of Christ. A man had to suffer punishment only God could endure, thus requiring birth. And as we think about it, a man had to be our substitute, to bear our punishment for all who would believe; yet only God could fully bear the entire wrath of God. A sinless man had to die, yet only God is holy, right? Human flesh had to go to the grave, yet only God could overcome the grave.

And think about this, how could Christ be our faithful high priest that could sympathize with all of our infirmities unless he were both human and divine. Neither man alone, nor God alone could accomplish these things. Both the human and the divine natures had to be supernaturally fused together. And that's what we see even in these genealogical records, an inscrutable mystery beyond our finding out. It's staggering to think about the two natures of Christ. I've reflected upon this on many occasions, and by the way, this is part of what it means to contemplate the glories of Christ. I mean, think about this, even as a fetus, growing within Mary's womb, he was, according to Hebrews one three" upholding all things by the Word of His power." He required milk from his mother's breast. Yet according to Colossians, 1:17, "In him all things hold together." In his humaneness, he would grow hungry. We would read how he would grow thirsty, weak and tired, yet in his divinity, he could multiply the bread and the fish in the water and the wine. And while on the boat with his disciples, remember how he slept in utter exhaustion, only to rise as the omnipotent ruler of the universe and calm the sea and the storm with a word.

Furthermore, his human nature, we know has now ascended into heaven, yet because of His divine nature, he continues to be omnipresent. Promising, according to Matthew 28 and verse 20, "'I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'" We know as well that in his humaneness, according to Hebrews four, verse 15, "he was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin;" meaning he could not sin. In fact, in his divinity, he was not even tempted internally. Because as we read in James 1:13, God cannot be tempted with evil. Jesus had no sin nature; therefore, he could have never sinned. We read, for example, in Hebrews seven, verse 26, that he was, quote, "wholly innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners.": First Peter 119, he was "a lamb unblemished and spotless." Second Corinthians 5:21, "He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

So indeed, in the incarnation, we see this virgin birth, allowing this fusion of the human and the divine. And I might add that this was also prophesied in the "protoevangelium" or the first evangelistic message, that we read in Genesis three and verse 15. You will remember that passage; after cursing the physical serpent, God turned to Satan, the spiritual serpent that had seduced Adam and Eve in the garden and promised that there would be a perpetual battle that would occur from that day on, and here's why. He says, because you're seed--referring to Satan's offspring; unbelievers--and her seed; her descendent Christ and all who belong to him, would be at war. The term "seed" can be understood in a collective sense, referring to all who would make up the progeny of Satan and Eve. But he can also be understood as a singular, final and glorious product of a woman; one born without the seed of a male, but from the woman and the Holy Spirit. And Paul attests to this, for example, in Galatians, chapter four and verse four, we read "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman." No mention of man, confirming Jesus virgin birth once again, as well as his humanity.

So we've reflected a little bit on his royal and physical lineage, his virgin birth, and now finally, think about his eternal sonship for a moment. Notice in Matthew one, verse 23, "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,' which translated means 'God with us.'" And the angel reveals more about the Son when he appeared to Mary in Luke 1:32, "he will be called the Son of the Most High."

So not only was Jesus Christ, the Messiah, king of Israel, fully God, yet fully man born of a virgin, but also, and this is so incredible, he was the eternal Son of God before he was conceived and born. He did not become the son of God at his incarnation. Scripture teaches that a father/son relationship pre-existed in eternity past. That relationship between the Father and Christ the Son. Again, Galatians, four, four, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman." Romans one verse three, God promised his son who "was born of a descendant of David, according to the flesh." Now, some will argue that Jesus assumed the role of a son at his incarnation, a subordinate role that he did not have prior to the incarnation. And often they will use Hebrews chapter one and verse five, which is a quotation from Psalm two seven, as a proof text. And there we read, "'You are My Son, today I have begotten you, I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me.?'" Now, since "begetting" normally speaks of a person's origin, and since sons are typically subordinate to their fathers, that would seem to support this view. And indeed Christ, though he was equal to God, voluntarily submitted to the Father, to do the Father's will. He willingly set aside his divine attributes in his incarnation. We read about this in Philippians, two and John 5:19. But we must understand that the context of Psalm two, that we read here in Hebrews, one must be understood figuratively, not literally, "This day have I begotten thee," is a reference to the eternal decree of God, not a specific event, and a point in time.

Let me explain this a little bit more. Since the term "begotten" can speak of the origin of one's offspring, it's natural to assume that the begetting of a son speaks of his conception. In other words, a point in time when a child comes into existence. And many apply this understanding to the conception of Christ. But there are big problems with this view. Number one, it was the Holy Spirit, not the father, who conceived the incarnate Christ. And this alone eliminates the idea of the Father begetting, or shall we say, originating the Son, in Psalm two and, and John 1:14. This obviously must refer to something other than conception.

But secondly, in John 1, verses one through three, it makes it very clear that Christ is not a created being. He is a pre-existent, self-existent, one. There we read that he was in the beginning with God. So what does this beginning refer to? If it's not to origin, I mean, other passages speak of Christ as the only begotten of the Father, John 1:14, verse 18; John 3:16, verse 18; Hebrews 11, verse 17. You see, the term "only begotten" in the original language, can mean something far more than merely the origin of one's offspring, it literally can mean "one of a kind," one of a kind. We see this in the created order. Every creature begets its own unique offspring, doesn't it? After its own kind, right? Genesis one. Every offspring bears the exact likeness of its parent. And when applied to Christ, this would emphasize his utter uniqueness and the likeness to his father. We see this explained, for example, in Hebrews chapter one and verse three, "He is the radiance of His glory, and the exact representation of His nature." So when the Holy Spirit uses the term "begotten," he's not speaking of origin. But rather, dear friends, he's speaking of the absolute uniqueness and oneness of essence between the Father and the Son. All of which is consistent with the essential oneness found in the Triune Godhead. Moreover, scripture's primary use of the title, "Son of God" reveals that it speaks of his essential deity and absolute equality with God, not his voluntary subordination or submission to the Father. And this was precisely the issue in John five, that infuriated the Jewish leaders when they charged Jesus with blasphemy. According to verse 18, we read, because He not only had broken the Sabbath," but also said that God was his Father, making himself what? Equal with God. So again, the title "Son of God" speaks of his deity and equality with God, not his submission to the Father.

So when we consider Christ as the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, don't be confused by thinking in terms of procreation. But rather understand these concepts as conveying the transcendent truths pertaining to the essential oneness shared by the members of the Triune Godhead, and the utter uniqueness of Christ in his perfect likeness and essence to the Father, and the Spirit. They are co equal and con-substantial. They are all one of the same essence. And what an unfathomable concept this is. And here again, we gaze beyond the temporal into the eternal as we contemplate the glory of Christ. In his incarnation, he remained the eternal Son of God; he remained fully divine, yet he became what he previously had not been--fully human. Gregory of Nazianzus, the fourth century Archbishop of Gaston and Opal, and theologian said this quote, "He remained what He was; What he was not, He assumed."

In fact, Jesus did not give up his human nature, even after his death and resurrection. I want you to catch this now, he did not temporarily become a man, but rather in his divine nature was permanently joined to his human nature. When we see Christ, we will see one in whose image we reflect; he will look human, he will not be some something that you can't imagine. I guess that will be true at some level, but you understand what I'm saying, I think. He appeared to his disciples, as a man after his resurrection, did he not? They saw the scars of nail prints in his hands, he had flesh and bone. He ate food, he was taken up into heaven while talking with his disciples, and the angel promise in Acts 1:11, "This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." And I think about Stephen, when he gazed into heaven as he was being stoned, and he saw Jesus. According to Acts 7:56, he saw Jesus as, quote, "The Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." And in John's vision, in the book of Revelation, he sees Jesus in his resplendent glory, and yet he describes him as quote, "One like a Son of Man," Revelation 1:13. As Paul said, in Philippians, two, beginning in verse eight, He is the one who "humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Dear friends, I pray that it will become more and more of your habit, to contemplate the infinite perfections of the glory of Christ. And through the eyes of faith, you will see not so much all of his glory, because that is beyond anything that we can really imagine, but what you will see is what's recorded in Scripture, you will see the one who is full of grace and truth. And when you apply that to your life, you will be so overwhelmed that you will transcend the temporal and begin to exist more in the eternal.

As the old hymn says, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory, and grace." So this Christmas season, let's take extra time to ponder the glory of Christ and may our hearts resonate with the humaneness, who captured this essence of the angelic praise. When he wrote "Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ, the Everlasting Lord, late in time behold Him come, offspring of the virgin's womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity; pleased as man with me to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel. Hark, the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king." Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you that You have given us the eyes of faith to look beyond this world in which we live and to see the glory of Christ first. And I pray that for each one of us that know and love Christ, that we will make it indeed, our habit more and more. To pensively reflect on all that he is. The one who is full of grace and truth. And Lord as we do this, we know that by the power of your Spirit, we will experience more fully all that we have in Christ, even though the fullness of it all awaits glory. But until that time, may this be the priority of our heart as believers. So we commit to you and we thank you for all that you have done for us , for it's in Christ's name and for his glory that I pray. Amen.