00:00Christ the Lord
00:07The beautiful Christmas carol asks the question,
00:11What child is this, who laid to rest on Mary's lap, is sleeping?
00:15And, of course, that is the real question.
00:18Who is the baby in Bethlehem born to Joseph and Mary?
00:22Who is this child whose birth established the world's calendars?
00:26Who is this child whose life and work have impacted more souls than all other influential people in history combined?
00:35Who is this child who determines the eternal destiny of every human who has ever or will ever be born?
00:41What child is this?
00:43In Luke 2 verse 11, the angel told the shepherds that this child is a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
00:51This clear declaration eradicates any question.
00:54There is no need for further clarification as to who this child is because the angel's terms are clear and explicit.
01:03Jesus is Savior and Lord.
01:05First, the child is Savior.
01:08That's the great affirmation of the angel in verse 10.
01:11I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
01:15And what is the good news that produces universal joy?
01:19There has been born to you a Savior.
01:22A Savior has been born.
01:24The word Savior implies that we need to be saved from something.
01:29Saved is a synonym for rescued.
01:32It's a synonym for delivered.
01:35And it implies that there's some kind of threatening condition.
01:39Indeed, it is a dangerous, desperate, and deadly condition from which we need to be rescued.
01:44The universal problem for which God sent a Savior is the problem of sin.
01:50It's to rescue us from the consequences of our sins.
01:54We have all broken the law of God, are on our way to eternal hell, and need a Savior to rescue us from our sins.
02:02That's the crux of the gospel message, which is the message of Christmas.
02:06For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
02:16God loved.
02:17God gave a Savior.
02:19God sent his Son into the world to save his people from perishing from their sins.
02:25Any presentation of the gospel must include this truth.
02:28That is precisely what is bound up in the announcement of the angel, that the one who is born today, and is now lying in a feed trough in Bethlehem, is the Savior.
02:39As the angel told Joseph,
02:41He will save his people from their sins, and it's why you shall call his name Jesus.
02:47Jesus is Savior.
02:48Even more than his earthly name, in Luke 2 verse 11, we find Jesus' title, Christ the Lord.
02:55He is both Christos and Kyrios.
02:58He is both Christ and the Lord.
03:01This is an exalted title for a baby in such humble circumstances.
03:06It would be hard to convince anybody there looking into the face of that baby that this was the Christ, the promised Messiah, the Anointed One, and the Lord.
03:16Unlike the artwork we see on Christmas cards, Jesus did not have a gold halo around his head.
03:22There were no visibly distinctive marks of his sovereignty, deity, or messiahship.
03:28To say that this child is Lord is to say that this child is God.
03:33In Greek, the word used for Lord implies the word Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God.
03:39Saying Jesus is Lord is to, first and foremost, say that Jesus is God.
03:44The most fundamental and basic confession of Christianity is, Jesus is Lord.
03:51If you want to be saved, Romans 10 verse 9 says, you must confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.
03:58That is unequivocal.
04:00The one who was born on that first Christmas day was a Savior, King, Priest, Prophet, and Lord who is God.
04:07The wealth, grandeur, and majesty of those titles stand in stark contrast to the conditions in a stinking manger.
04:16Emmanuel, Jesus, and now Christ the Lord.
04:20The facets of Jesus' identity sparkle with the clarity of a flawless diamond.
04:25However, not everyone who encounters Jesus has the spiritual eyesight to see his true worth.
04:31For those that do, a life of redemption and purpose is found.
04:36That's my story.
04:38On Christmas day, 1987, my wife, Cindy, and I prayed to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord using a tract left on a restaurant table.
04:48We were alone in our living room with a two-year-old son and an infant daughter.
04:53I then read the second chapter of Luke aloud as I have every year since.
04:58Our two children have now grown to become Christians and are raising our six grandchildren to know that the answer to the question,
05:08What child is this?
05:10Is Jesus Christ the Lord?
05:13Prayer
05:13Heavenly Father, it is too easy to become preoccupied with Christmas shopping, decorating, and holiday activities.
05:21Help us to never lose sight of what happened two thousand years ago.
05:26Thank you for so loving us that you sent your Son, Jesus, so that we would not perish but have eternal life.
05:34Thank you that none other than an angel proclaimed Jesus is both Savior and Lord.
05:39Thank you that your Christmas gift to us remains available to all who confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
05:46and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead.
05:50Thank you for listening.
