José

In the book of the Evangelist Matthew, Chapter 1, verses 18 to 25, an exemplary account, I call this text Matthew 1:18. Last Sunday we were watching the announcement of the angel Gabriel to Mary about the birth of Jesus. Today we are going to analyze the announcement, the clarification that an angel makes to Joseph, in a dream and that tells us many things about the values that we must embrace as Christians in the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 1:18 says: “...the birth of Jesus Christ was like this”, everyone say “like this”. “.... when Mary, his mother, was betrothed to Joseph before they got together, it was found that she had conceived the holy spirit. Joseph, her husband, as he was just and did not want to slander her, wanted to secretly leave her and thinking about this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to receive Mary, your wife. because what in her is begotten of the holy spirit is. And she will give birth to a son, and will call his name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this happened so that what was said by the Lord would be fulfilled, through the prophet when he said: behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call his name Emmanuel, which translated is "God with us", and waking up Joseph from the dream, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and received his wife, but he did not know her until she gave birth to her firstborn son and named him Jesus."

Let's pray brothers, ask the Lord to bless me as I expound his word this afternoon, that it be the word that God wants for your life. Lord, use this moment, we do not underestimate its importance, it is your time when your people come, Father, and there are a few minutes for us to be impregnated with your word and your revelation, we want to take advantage of them well, Father. We put our spirit on alert, our mind, Lord, our whole being so that you speak what you want to our lives, Lord, because we want to do your will. Prepare this moment, Father and direct it in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen and amen.

As I was saying, one of the things that we can take advantage of the Christmas season to do is remember the events of the birth of Jesus, the things that accompanied that very special time. So that we can fill ourselves with that correct spirit, to celebrate this extraordinary time. The world celebrates Christmas in ways they want, but we the children of God want to capture the true meaning of this season. And the Lord wants us to celebrate this time according to his preference and that is why he has left these stories established in his word so that we can navigate through them and direct our actions and our celebrations, according to his will. And that is why this text begins by saying "the birth of Jesus Christ was like this", it was not otherwise. The word of God is certain, it is trustworthy. We can bet on it. God wants to share with us his mysteries. He wants us to understand that He is a God of work, a God of details. God takes us into account. He wants us to know how things happened.

The first thing I see in this whole passage was something supernatural. He was totally directed by God, divine in nature. God breaking into the world to announce his purpose, to let it be known that he was still acting among men. At Christmas, brothers, the world tries to impart its own interpretation to this event, to this Christmas season. The world enters this time and well, the holidays are coming, commercialism is coming, the merchants come to life in this time, putting all kinds of toys and things in us to get all the money out of us. The time of drunkenness and eating too much is coming, etc., etc. and finish one worn and tired and wishing that normal days would return again because we are bare, penniless. God wants us to understand that Christmas is something else. Men nowadays, we said it last Sunday, even want to remove everything sacred from Christmas and simply leave a party. Happy Holidays. They have taken away even the 'Holy days' and we want then simply how to extract them, suck their divine essence, their spiritual essence. And God says: no, it is not so. I came with a plan, I came with a purpose, I acted in a certain way.

Brethren, we Christians have to hold on to things as God has determined them. We have to flow. The days that God has designated as the ancient Hebrews, we also have to be faithful and celebrate them as God wants. The day of rest is a day of rest, for example, and it is not a time just for one to just stay at home watching TV or eating. No, the Lord's Day is to come to church, celebrate God, see ourselves with our brothers, give the Lord what He deserves. That recognition that this is his day, that on a day like that in the history of the cosmos, God took him to rest from his labors. And we do the same, and give Saturday or Sunday, which is what we celebrate in this case, its true meaning. That's how it has to be with Christmas too. We always have to have the precise meaning of Christmas. God wants us to know the true version of Christmas that is his version, that is the one that we must always honor, keep and practice.

And here are some stories, some ideas, some details. And what I like the most about this passage, I would say, is the character of José. How José works and how he is reflected as a tremendously exemplary man and begins with some details. It says that he was betrothed to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and before the two of them got together, meaning, before they began to live together as husband and wife. I remind you that last Sunday we talked about how in a Jewish marriage there was simply friendship between a man and a woman and after that, if you wanted to go into some additional details, you had to compromise. None of that dating, holding hands, going to the movies. It was that fast, let's go to what we came here, if you're going to get serious with my daughter, get engaged and that's it, the next time they see each other it's going to be up there getting married.

Don't you thank God that things have changed a little in this time. Sometimes maybe they have gone too far to the other side, right? But the Jews were very, very serious people and that's how it was, you got engaged and it was almost like a wedding. It was a firm commitment, it was already a word that had been given to the community and it was almost equivalent to a legal commitment. There was nothing there that..... well, no.... we are going to leave this because now...... no, it was something very serious, and the woman and the man supposed that they were already faithful to each other. another as if it had been a marriage.

So it says here...... and this morning I shared with the brothers from the 9 o'clock service that I had not paid attention to that expression. Being already married, before getting together it was found that he had conceived the holy spirit and Joseph misinterpreted what had happened. Look at that, what does it mean that it was found? If you start to meditate on that expression, it means that it was found out, it was discovered, that is the idea, right? Because who uses an impersonal expression, but what it suggests is that there was a bit of a stir in the environment. I don't know if it was in the neighborhood, if it was in the village, if it was in the family, but somehow people realized, someone realized, some realized, that María, this young woman who was engaged, that she was not supposed to be doing anything wrong, she had become pregnant. And that came to José somehow. I mean, look at that for a little moment, the anguish that there must have been in the bosom of Maria's family, in his own heart of Maria, as certainly there was in the heart of Joseph who had thought that his girlfriend was a loyal woman, suitable, pure, faithful, her impeccable character, and for the moment she finds that she is pregnant. And there was definitely some kind of serious concern, there was, at some level in the life of that family. And no one, those who were there on the periphery of all this, I imagine they began to make their judgment. What I think is, brothers, what the birth of Jesus cost from the very beginning. There was already concern. There was already, as I said, there was a certain division.

And what the word says is that the Lord was going to bring division, he was going to bring restlessness. Now, we already know, with an advantage of 2000 years and having the Scripture what was happening inside. We have been able to read the end of the movie or watch the end of the movie. But Jose did not know this. Maria must have gone through tremendous anguish. What that makes me think is the price that these two people had to pay for Jesus Christ to be born and in reality the concerns that there were, the questions, the questioning, without people knowing that behind all this who was working the holy spirit, God Himself, carrying out a plan that He had.

And I thought this morning after making that reflection that, how important it is, brothers, that in communities, such as this León de Judá church, that there is wisdom for one to relate to things that one you are not completely sure of its meaning, when there are events in the church, situations that you know something about someone. You see, the evangelical church, they are generally like a family, people know each other, get along, participate in ministry together, visit each other, go home to eat with each other, sometimes they pull each other's they bow to each other there in the situations they have, and it's like a family. And sometimes things can happen that you're watching from afar and you don't know all the details of why it's happening.

There are times when you see that someone is in crisis, a marriage is in crisis, someone did something wrong. How important it is, brothers, that we be very careful in how we relate to one another! And that we give people space so that they can experience the processes that sometimes come into people's lives, that we be discreet people.....what a thing! Some people, the gossips in the neighborhood, imagine that they were already out there making all kinds of conjectures about poor Maria, calling each other on the phone, sending each other emails. Hey, we need to pray for María because mmmm..., for her and it seems that she is a little chubby, I don't know what that means, etc., etc. No? How important, brothers, is that our church, I tell you that as its pastor, that our church be a discreet church, a church where we don't go around sometimes gossiping, or meddling more in people's affairs than we must. Let's be, as they say out there, together but not scrambled.

I think that the families that have the most harmony are the families that see each other, treat each other well, love each other and everything, but, look... if those two newlyweds are fighting, well, that they have their fight and that they manage so that they learn to be a couple, but not be there meddling and talking and giving and bossing, etc, all the time. That in the church as well, if there is a family that is going through a crisis, if there is a person who has fallen into some undue situation or something like that, look, enter with holy feet, with fear and trembling to bless, to pray, to keep discretion, because you do not know what God may be doing in a life and why that life is going through what it is going through. And we have to wait, we have to be humble and we have to love each other to preserve harmony in a family like this. you understand? That we treat each other well, that we don't go around gossiping, gossiping about each other, because that destroys families, destroys friendships, destroys...

As Paul says in one case, look who you are to interfere in the life of another's servant, for his lord he falls or stands, says Paul. So don't be making too many guesses because you don't know what God may be working in a life, with an event that you only see the first part but you don't know what the end of it is. And that is why we have to be discreet and make a pact as the church of Jesus Christ to treat each other with great care, and to know that each one of us is the property of the Lord and give each other space so that God fulfills the purposes that He has in our life. life. A Saint is not created overnight, it takes time, and people need time and space to grow. And they need a wise church that gives them time to grow as well. And if they break a plate here and there, well, thank them and pray for them and be there willing to help them in any way you can. That will preserve the good quality of our life as a church always. It is good that José and María had space to resolve their situation in which God was dealing!

And I love what it says about Joseph and his behavior and that's why I think we can see why God chose Mary, because of her character and her spiritual beauty, he chose this man also so that he would have the privilege of being the adoptive father of his son and give the Lord Jesus his paternity. And it is because José was a man of character. The word says that it was fair, as it was fair. That word in the original Greek is dicaios. Everyone say 'tell us'. Tell your partner, José was dicaios. You will sound like an expert in the original Greek. Dicaios is a word in the Greek and is used a lot in the New Testament.

I understand that it is used about 75 times. I counted them this morning. I'm lying, but the fact is that that word means that he was a man of character, he was a man of exemplary walk, he was a virtuous person. In the Gospel that word is used for such a virtuous person. There is also talk of Simeon who was just and pious. He was a person who had an appropriate relationship with others. I would say he was an admirable man, what the word means. As it was fair and I would say how beautiful that is that God chose both Joseph, a humble carpenter, and Mary, a humble maiden from a tiny village. He did not choose them because they were people with a lot of money. It does not tell us that Mary was necessarily a woman of stunning beauty. We are not told that they had an important position, they probably did not. No, God chose them by their hearts. The prophet Samuel received a word from Jehovah when he went to choose David and said to him: Samuel, do not look at the attractiveness or physical appearance of the other children of Jesse, because God does not look at what men look at. God looks at the heart.

Brother, sister, make sure your character, your character glorifies God. Look, it is good to be anointed, it is good to speak in tongues, it is good to receive prophecy, it is good to have all the gifts, but if we do not have a Christian character, brothers, do not dress because you are not going. Useless. The most important thing is to have the character of Jesus Christ in our lives. I ask the Lord, Father, help me and help us because I know that I have a lot to grow and each one of us, but to focus on that. May God form the person of Christ in us, brothers. That is what will guarantee our well-being. People do not fall and are not destroyed due to lack of anointing, many times it is due to lack of character that we fall. That is why, Lord, help us to be people who reflect the values of the Gospel and if we set our sights on that, on God forming a man, a woman, that people can say: look, I believe in the Gospel because that person that is there reflects Christ Jesus. And it's not that we look at people. We all fail, but also if we live in an inappropriate way we will discredit the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And a lot of times people are going to say, look, I can't believe in your gift because your behavior is a stumbling block for me. It is important that we cultivate both. I am not speaking against the gift, but I am speaking in favor of the character.

And if you over and over again God points out the character of man and woman, that's why God chooses his people. When the angel appears to Gideon, he says: God is with you, strong and brave man and here he points out that Joseph was just. And in the case of Simeon it says that he was just and pious. In the case of Ana, she says that she spent all her time searching for God and longed to see the consolation of Israel. Ana must have behaved like an upright woman all her life, even though she had been widowed when she was young. So, over and over again we see that, that the characters of Scripture, God seeks that heart faithful to the Lord. He does not seek them to be perfect, but he does seek them to be people who are obedient to the Lord and who are willing to please him. Then he says that since he was just, pointing out his character, and José is a good example for all of us. Lord, make us men and women that people can say, that person, although not perfect, has God's justice upon him, he has the character, he has the walk of a person who has been touched by the Lord.

Look how interesting, he says how it was fair and he didn't want to disgrace her, he wanted to leave her secretly. It seems to me that, if it were I who had been writing this story, I would have said something different: since it was just when he found out, believing that Maria had betrayed him, he immediately went to the Boston Globe newspaper and placed an ad saying: this woman is a scoundrel, he betrayed me, and he shamed her because it was his right to do so, because a just man who is violated in that way, well, he has the right to take revenge and pay an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. One would think, or many people think that justice is giving people what they deserve. you know what? In the Kingdom of God it is different. God, thanks to Him, has not given us what we deserved, you know? Because if we deserved something it was hell and yet God says, with his grace, when we were mired in sin, what happened? Christ died for us.

Brothers, grace ..... says the Bible that between judgment and grace always triumphs. God is a just God and he is a God of grace and it is as if God tends to have a preference, a little bit he always leans towards grace, love and mercy. Grace triumphs over judgment. And José, being a just and upright man, he thought rather, this girl has screwed up, and she deserves that I do something, but you know what? The poor thing already has her own punishment and what I am going to do is that I am going to separate and I am not going to make things worse. I'm going to go my way and God help her. He wanted to leave her secretly.

That also tells me a lot about José's character. He was a man of mercy, he was a man of grace, he was a generous man, he was a tolerant and forgiving man. And I imagine that he was a man who was relatively sure of himself, because he takes pants for you, in something like that, to simply say, look, I better quietly retire, and not hurt him. How many of us, really if we think about it, would have that value? We would make a little note, even if at some point I take revenge on her, and you start to secrete and tell two or three or four, but that was not José's thought. José wanted to separate from her and simply leave her, well, he did what he did, amen. There she is, I'm going to continue my life.

And that reminds me, brothers, once again the important thing is that we are people of grace. I have always said, brother, if you want to be a happy and emotionally healthy person, practice grace in your life. Be a generous person, propose to forgive a lot, ignore many things, let the water run, pretend that you don't hear many things, because whoever listens to everything that is said about you forgets that you are going to have enemies wherever you go. you want. What's more, the writer of Ecclesiastes says don't be very attentive to what they gossip about you because remember that you also did the same many times. One has to, one has to tolerate a lot, one has to be patient, one has to forgive many debts, one has to be generous with other people.

In fact, recently, on two occasions in these last few days, Meche and I have commented, in 20 years, brothers, 21 years of ministry, look to see if there are not many occasions to have a fight and conflict with people. And this is how it has happened through the years, we have had situations of difficulties with people and this and that, and always for the glory of the Lord, God has given us the grace to always forgive, not keep disputes with people and in these last days we have had the opportunity to celebrate times of friendship and fellowship with people who perhaps in another time, we would not have been able to have that blessing, that transparency. And we have rejoiced and at the end of those times we have said: how good that there was healing, how good that there was forgiveness and there was tolerance and we let the Lord fix things, because today we see them with such great love as if nothing had happened and they also to us. how cute!

And brothers, I believe that this is how one has to live life. The Christian character is that, it is to forgive, it is to have grace with one another. Don't be there like a wretch counting coins: they did this to me, well I'm going to do that to you. They didn't send me a card this year, because next year I won't send them. They gave me a cheap little thing there, because next time I discount it from the other gift I'm going to give her. And we live there continuously like this, whoever does it to us, pays us and we live criticizing others, seeing the bad in others. We always see the glass as half empty instead of seeing it as half full. And I say, brothers, we have to cultivate grace, we have to be generous people with others, we have to forgive offenses, as the word of the Lord says. Just as God is tolerant with us, we also have to be tolerant with others.

Look, forgive brother, forgive a lot and heal many debts that people owe you, cancel them continuously and you know what? The Bible says that he who forgives will be forgiven, he who has mercy will receive mercy. One day perhaps it will be you who is going to need mercy and since you have had mercy you are going to receive it. You have to be graceful, brothers with others, in your marriage, be graceful, with your children, be graceful, with your friends, be graceful, with the people who work with you, be graceful; in church, have grace with others; If the keys step on you, find yourself some really hard and strong boots, but don't kick them in the shins. Bless the one who curses you, says the Lord, because you know what? You have a rich father who is going to bless you and give you. The more you give to others, the more you will receive. You know what allows one to sometimes have grace with others, is knowing that my Father is going to bless me because I am imitating the character of his son, and that if I lose a little now, God is going to replace it with you grow up

I don't have to be ripping things out of people's hands because my dad is powerful enough to give them to me. I don't have to continually look at my back and fight for my rights. My God is enough for me. The Lord, when he sees a man, a woman, with a generous heart, mounts on top of him to bless him and to give him more and the little that he loses in front of him, God more than replaces it later. Receive that, be generous, don't be damaging anyone's reputation. Don't be hurting people who offend you or anything like that, but let the Lord bless you and let Him take care of things. It's good that my brother José gave us an example of that with his wife María! And he wanted to leave her secretly. He wasn't posting things there, he just wanted to do what he had to do but not hurt his reputation.

And he says that thinking about this, the man was meditating, even before leaving her secretly, he says that he wanted to leave her secretly and thinking about this. Look, he was figuring out how to do this and he gave things some time before shooting himself and making the decision. That moment of thinking, meditating, reflecting, opened a space for the Lord to send his revelation into his life and to show him that what seemed like a tragedy and a curse was the greatest blessing he had ever received in his life. God was then able to reveal to Joseph the true nature of what was happening in his life.

Brothers, how many times have we been in situations that seem to be cursed, that it seems that there is nothing that can redeem them and then we discover that it was the Lord himself working in our lives to bless us. Why it is important that we be patient with the Lord and wait for Him to complete His purposes and works in our lives. Maybe ten years ago there was a tragedy in your life and you are still looking at it negatively and maybe God wants you to say: look, I'm going to wait a little while longer for God to really show me what he had in mind.

Joseph waited, God knows how many years, he was sold by his brothers, taken to Egypt, put in jail, accused illegitimately and later, years and years later when he sees his brothers who put him in slavery, that the brothers believe that he is going to cut off their heads, now that he is the second in command in Egypt, Joseph tells them: look, gentlemen, don't worry. You wanted to hurt me and you got me into the biggest tragedy of my life but you know what? God used this, now I see it for the preservation of life, so I cannot hold a grudge against them. That was the greatest blessing that came to my life.

Brother, perhaps you are going through processes in your life, give the Lord time to complete his processes. God takes time to bring things to completion. If there is one thing I have seen about God, it is that He is not in a hurry. Sometimes I get impatient with him because I already wanted him to give me what he promised me or to resolve the matter I asked him for or to answer the prayer I asked him for years ago, and God takes his time. He is not in a hurry because He has all eternity. He knows the end and the beginning of the movie and He knows the precise moment to intervene. And it is important that we cultivate that long-term vision. Do you know what the word that translates patience in Greek means 'to be with a long fuse', it's like when you..... you saw in those movies with a little doll that there is a very big bomb and it has a very long fuse and you see the thread running, we have to be, have a long fuse, before exploding, before throwing in the towel, before despairing, we have to give the Lord time for Him to speak in our lives and seek prayer and so are the human processes. Many times, look, when you have a fight with someone or you think that someone did something wrong to you or you see someone doing something wrong, instead of you going in at once with a machete or one of those electric saws, like Tony Krugger, I don't know the name of that movie, I've never seen it just in case... but before you come to cut your head off, brother, think about it, give things time.

I have learned as a pastor, look, I... they tell me many things, I learn many things, I see many things, but I have learned that you have to take time and pray before reaching out and intervene in things, and I find that when I wait a little bit, you know what? Then God works and I no longer even have to fire a shot. When I arrive, everything is ready, the giant has been decapitated, and all I have to do is step over it and continue on my way and I didn't have to get into trouble, trouble or anything. I have learned that God is real and that is why we have to give things time, in our marriages, sometimes we have to wait; With our children we have to wait and refer our cause to the Lord, in social fights, and struggles and things, if we took our hands off more and let God work, how many things God could do, also things that we thought were offenses , then they end up being a blessing to our lives and we discover that instead of having an enemy we have an ally rather, brothers. Let's give the Lord time.

And it's good that José waited and in that wait an angel appears to him in a dream and tells him: José, don't worry, man, don't be afraid to receive, that woman is everything you thought you were. she was, and you know what?, a little more, because there is in her a holy being that is to be born that is conceived of the holy spirit. And you've hit the lottery, they're going to talk about you well through all generations, as we're doing in 2005, to enter 2006. And what she has conceived is from the Holy Spirit and it's going to be born to you. a son and you are going to call his name Jesus, which means 'God is salvation'. So Joseph was then able to understand all of God's plan. God told him: don't worry Jose, I'm in charge of that situation. What is in her is begotten of the holy spirit, alluding to the divine nature of Jesus, which we discussed last Sunday, and He will save His people from their sins.

Verse 22 says that all this happened so that what was said by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled. you know what? The Lord Jesus Christ lived all his life fulfilling the prophecies and even towards the end of his life he said for the prophecy to be fulfilled. When they were going to crucify him, he remembered that there was a prophecy that said that the son of God was going to be numbered with sinners and at once he looked for a way to make a prophecy, and he told his disciples: someone has a sword, they weren't supposed to carry a sword. It was an illegitimate weapon for a person who was not a soldier. Yes, over there they took out some kitchen knives all rusty. Well, here we have a couple of swords all rickety. That is enough for the Scriptures to be fulfilled that he will be numbered with the wrongdoers. And so the Lord fulfilled..... there were dozens, dozens and dozens of prophecies that were fulfilled with the person of Jesus, and one of them was that prophecy that a virgin was going to give birth to a son and that his name would be Emmanuel. Everything that was happening was the fulfillment of what God had promised hundreds and hundreds of years ago. He had promised David that he would have a descendant whose kingdom would be eternal, and do you know how many years had passed since God gave that prophecy to David? More than a thousand years, more than a thousand years and the Jews had been predicting the coming of the Messiah and nothing was fulfilled, but one day God said: this is my time, now what I have promised is fulfilled. And it was fulfilled to the letter. Exactly as God said. God kept his promise.

It occurs to me that today we are waiting for the second coming of the Messiah. How many believe that Christ will come as the word says? I believe that it will be so, and I believe that, as the word says, he will come in a cloud and every eye will see him and those who crucified him will have to admit that he was certainly the son of God. We believe that one day the Jewish people's eyes will be opened and they will understand that this being they considered criminal was and is their promised Messiah. Because God is in the business of keeping his promise, brother.

If God has told you something in your heart, you are waiting for the fulfillment of a promise from God, do not give up. God is faithful, continue firm, believe the Lord, because God is good. He has said, for example, you and your house will be saved. If your children have not yet been saved, believe the Lord because the God who promised, He will fulfill it. God is faithful. God fulfills what he has promised. He promised his prophets that a son would come, he would be born from the root of David, he would be born of a virgin, he would be born in Bethlehem and it was fulfilled to the letter, because God is faithful. So that what was said by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled. Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call his name Emmanuel, which translated is what? 'God with us'.

That is very important, brothers, that at this time we remember something that may seem like a small detail, but which is not a detail, it is very important. Jesus Christ is God. He already carried it in his name, just as Jesus means 'God is salvation' and Jesus embodied in his person the salvific function of humanity, he says 'God with us', that is, God himself came to dwell among men. It is passages like these that have led theologians to the hard-to-understand conclusion that Jesus is God himself, dwelling in bodily form among men. And it makes perfect logic when we look at it in terms of its immense value, that it was the only one that could save humanity, no man had the intrinsic value of giving his life, being able to cover all the sins of humanity, maybe he could cover his own sins, but only God was valuable enough, infinitely valuable to cover all sins and offense against himself, taking the form of a servant. Jesus Christ is God.

And the prophet Isaiah had already said it in Isaiah, Chapter 9 verse 6, says: because a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the principality over his man and his admirable name will be called, counselor, what else?, Mighty God. Everyone say 'Mighty God' and it also says, eternal father, prince of peace. Look at that: Mighty God and Eternal Father. If Jesus Christ had been created, you know what? He couldn't be eternal because he had a beginning. The eternal is that which has no beginning or end. You cannot find the beginning or the end, because if you have a datum where it starts, it is not eternal. It lives a long time, but it is not eternal. Eternity is that which is outside of time. Jesus Christ was not created. The one who assumed the form of a man, Jesus, was begotten by the holy spirit, but the word says that the Word already existed with God in all eternity. The writer of Colossians, the Apostle Paul, says the same thing also in Colossians Chapter 1, he says: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, because in Him all things were created, things in heaven and things. everything on earth, visible and invisible, be it thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, everything was created by Him through Him and for Him, and He is before all things and all things subsist in Him. You understand? That language is not used of a mere man or an exalted creature it can only be used to refer to God himself. God with us, Jesus Christ is God with us, God slimming down in the form of a man and dwelling among us, and you know what? The wonderful thing is that today it can not only live in humanity, but it can live in your heart, if you receive it as your personal savior.

The word says yes, the Lord says that if you open the door I will come in and have dinner with you and you with me. That's how personal it is. We have a God that if you compare it with the God of Buddhism, of Hinduism, of all those gods of the great religions of humanity in our God, is a personal God. That is what distinguishes our God, he is a God who dialogues with men. God likes to communicate. God likes us to talk to him. God likes to have company with his creatures. God is a personal God, he is a gregarious God, a sociable God.

That is why it says: a son is born to us, a son is given to us. Understands? We..... was born into the family. We celebrate those beautiful creatures here, Gabriel and Gabriela, those children were born to a family. you know what? Christ was born to the human family, to the church of Jesus Christ. We have a personal God. God with us and for us too.

One last idea that is offered in this passage, we find it here, it says that "Awakening Joseph from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and received his wife." Jose was obedient. José obeyed and said: well, I am going to put aside my doubts, I am going to receive my wife. He received it. Joseph was an obedient man like we have to be obedient. He received Maria and says that he did not know her, that is, he did not have marital relations with her until what? Until she had her firstborn son. An interesting little detail here is that, isn't it? He says that he did not meet her 'until', what does that mean?, that afterwards he enjoyed his marriage privileges as he was well entitled to enjoy. That is to say, Joseph waited, he was obedient to the Lord, but when the mysterious function of Mary of bearing the son of God was fulfilled, then the two of them entered into an ordinary, healthy married life, within the blessing of God in their lives. . And years later people said, isn't this Jesus, the carpenter's son? And aren't their brothers so-and-so and so-and-so, and their sisters that we also know? That is to say, there were other children that were born from that marriage, but that special relationship of Jesus with his mother, that was not touched at any time, rather Mary carried that sacred begetting of God and this marvelous being that we call Jesus came out and that we celebrate on this day. The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ was like this, brothers, and we celebrate that. Amen. We give glory to the Lord that God took the trouble to teach us how the son of God came into the world. And how beautiful it is to know that very special people, extraordinarily admirable human beings were part of that drama.

God could have, I don't know, maybe created something for himself, just parachuted out here into the world, but he didn't. He wanted to teach us that when he works with humanity, he works in intimacy with them and he made himself and entered the womb of a woman and the marvelous thing is that Christ has experienced everything that we experience, brothers, loneliness, cold, Hunger, abandonment by others, temptation, and all of that homered him off the field. Holy, perfectly holy. He walked the earth and prevailed over death, disease, demons, storms, nature and kept an impeccable and perfect record and that is why today he can be your savior, my savior. That is Christmas, brothers, that is what we celebrate this afternoon. Glory to God. Amen. We are a blessed people. We are a special people because Christ has come into our hearts. Amen.

Let's lower our heads for a second, and I want to make sure that all of us here have received that exemplary Lord. Amen. And if you already have, Glory to God. We are going to run here now, we are going to comb this congregation, we are going to make sure that nobody leaves here without having the opportunity to express their love and their loyalty for Christ Jesus, and I want to invite you, my brother, my sister, if we visits this afternoon, and if you have never taken that step of appropriating for yourself that Christmas story of Jesus, the son of God, savior of the world, the redeemer of humanity, and you want to say: Lord, I want you to you be my redeemer, that you be my savior. If you haven't done it before, I want to give you a chance this afternoon to do it. What better day to do it than Christmas day when Christ can be born in your heart. If you haven't before and want to raise your hand this afternoon, I'd like to pray for you before you go. Will there be someone who has not done it before, maybe on the balcony, maybe around here? I see a hand go up back there. Amen. Amen. Will there be someone else? We are going to comb this with a very fine comb. There behind also this young man raises his hand. We are going to make sure that everyone who is here has the opportunity….. amen, God bless you young man, there….. they have the opportunity to say: Lord, I want you to come into my heart. Is there someone else maybe a young lady, a young man out there who wants to invite Jesus into their life? there is a hand there that is raised. Glory to God. Amen. Amen.

< /Table> Hear and see more recorded presentations Sunday December 25, 2005

Sermon Archive

Sermon by Dr. Roberto Miranda recorded December 25, 2005 in León de Judá Congregation (55 min.)

Hear

|

View (100K)

|

View (400K)