Today, as we are on the cusp of beginning a new year, we are going to begin a new series on the book of Genesis. Genesis is a book of beginnings. The word Genesis literally means origins. It is a record of the beginning of time, the beginning of the earth, the beginning of the animal kingdom, the beginning of man, the origin of marriage, the origin of sin. There are many other firsts that we will see as we study through this book. But I call this a series in Genesis, because it will not be a complete exegesis of every chapter and verse, but an expose of significant passages that form the foundation of the gospel.

The foundations of our theology are established in Genesis. For example, the doctrines of the trinity -God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the creation of everything that exists by the expression of God’s will, the fall of man, redemption, judgment, and the kingdom of God. The foundation of the gospel is presented in Genesis, and without a firm faith in the truth of Genesis as the word of God, I believe it is impossible to be saved. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith [it is] impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and [that] He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

That being said, it is important to know that though Moses is said in scripture to be the human author of Genesis, the inspiration of the word was by the Holy Spirit. 2Peter 1: 21 “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke [as they were] moved by the Holy Spirit.”

And 2Tim. 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

So in actuality, God is the author of Genesis. He was the only one that was around to witness it. That’s important to keep in mind because if you begin to study the origins of the world in many academic institutions both religious and secular, you will very quickly be told that there were multiple authors of Genesis that altered and added to it’s account down through the centuries. So that what we have today is a mishmash of traditions and myths and handed down stories all edited and combined together in such a way as to make it completely unreliable and actually a creation myth that is not dissimilar to other creation myths such as the Babylonian epics like the Enuma Elish.

But of course, modern academic criticism doesn’t believe in the divine inspiration of scripture at all. However, if we are to have Biblical faith, saving faith, then we must believe in the literal interpretation of scripture according to it’s literary context, as we have received it. A creationism theologian by the name of Henry Morris said, “The only proper way to interpret Genesis 1 is not to ‘interpret’ it at all. That is, we accept the fact that it was meant to say exactly what it says.”

So we don’t rely upon Moses having reliable documents or verbal traditions to guide him or to use as a reference. We don’t rely upon ancient rabbinic editors who added or changed Genesis to suit their preferences or teach a particular view point. We rely on God to speak through his servant Moses the truth concerning Himself and His creation, and His salvation of man, and to guard His word and establish His word for all generations to come.

The most reliable interpretation of scripture comes from scripture itself. Someone has counted over 200 quotations or allusions from Genesis in the New Testament. And probably one of the best interpretations or explanations of the creation account is found in John 1, starting in vs 1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

So notice the correlation between John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” And John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” John is actually writing a commentary on Genesis 1:1, expounding details that were not fully made clear in Genesis.

But first I want you to notice that phrase, “in the beginning.” In Genesis, you might suppose that to mean that at the beginning of creation, God began to create the earth. But according to John, there is more to the phrase “in the beginning” than simply a starting point of creation. Because John goes on to stress the eternal nature of God by saying of the Word; “He was in the beginning with God.”

There is no starting point in “in the beginning with God.” God is eternal. He was before all things. As was God in the beginning, so was the Word in the beginning. Paul says in Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible [attributes] are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

So many scriptures speak of the eternal nature of God that I cannot begin to quote them all here, but we see it in Psalm 93:2 which says, “Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.” And Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” His eternal nature is essential to our salvation, because the great gift of salvation is eternal life. And if God is not eternal, then how could He give eternal life? So our salvation is bound up in the doctrine of God being eternal.

The next word I would like to address this morning is the name of God given in vs 1, which is Elohim. Hebrew scholars tell us that this word is plural, which speaks of the Godhead, the trinity. That plural aspect of God is further borne out by the phrase in vs 26, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’” Once again notice that the plural pronouns are used in reference to God. And of course that correlates with what John said about the Word being in the beginning with God and active in the creation of all things.

Someone has pointed out that you can see all three persons of the Godhead at work in Genesis; Elohim in vs 1, the Spirit of God moving on the water in vs 2, and the Word of God speaking in vs 3, “Then God said…” The concept of the Word being one of the Godhead is established in John’s account. So believing in God as He is described in scripture is essential to our salvation as we read earlier from Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith [it is] impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and [that] He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

So then “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. The word create in the ancient Hebrew means to bring forth something out of nothing. God didn’t use preexisting materials. God spoke the world and the heavens into existence, from nothing into something. Psalm 33:6 says, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.” The creative power of the word of God is beyond our comprehension.

John 1:3 says “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” It’s important to understand that everything was made by Him. God created everything that exists. Everything spiritual, everything physical, everything in the heavens. Col. 1:16-17 speaking of the Son of God says, “For by Him all things were created, [both] in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Paul refers in 2 Cor. 12 to there being three heavens. He said he was caught up into the third heaven. Theologians have determined that there are three heavens; the first is our atmosphere, the region of the clouds, the second heaven is the sphere of the stars, and the third heaven is the sphere of God. I’m not sure how that looks, since they may not be stacked upon one another but intermingled in some way. In other words, the third heaven may not be beyond the farthest star, but somehow between the particles which make up our atmosphere. I don’t know. There may be even more than three heavens. But one thing’s for sure, God made the heavens and all the occupants of the heavens.

I must confess that there is a part of me that wants to believe that there is an indefinite period of time between vs 1 and vs 3. There is something in theological circles called the Gap Theory which says that there was a space of time between vs 1 and 3 which may have been millions of years long. I can see that as plausible just from reading those verses, and it lends itself to explaining the geophysical age of the earth. But the Gap Theory also claims that there was a previous creation which God had destroyed and part of the judgment of God was that He condemned Satan to the confinement of the earth. And so they see the chaos and darkness that covered the earth as evidence of that.

I don’t think that scripture supports that theory in the full dimension of what they claim. I don’t think the fossil record is from a previous creation, but rather is evidence of the flood. I believe the Bible teaches only one creation on earth. But I do think that it is possible that the earth and the heavens were dormant for possibly millions of years before creation, and the earth was just formless and void.

But I have to say I cannot be dogmatic about that view in light of further study of this passage. And that’s due to the events of day four. Because on day four God created the sun and the moon and the stars. So that would seem to indicate that the entire universe was created on day four. I don’t know if that includes other galaxies or not. I would tend to think that God made other galaxies prior to ours, but I don’t know that there is any support for that one way or another. But it seems that on the basis of scripture, God created our universe in the six days of creation.

I do find it odd though that the creation of the earth is described in this way by Moses, which seems to imply a separate act of creation in creating the heavens and earth, and then in vs 3 another definitive aspect of creation, that being light, which happens on day 1. The best explanation that I can come up with is that Moses says in the beginning, an indefinite period of time, God created the heavens and the earth. But the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. We know from further reading that there is earth under the water because on day two God separates the water and dry land appears. But in the beginning, for an indefinite period of time, there is globular form of water suspended in space.

I find it interesting that when scientists search for evidence of life on other planets, the primary thing they want to find is evidence of water. Without water there can be no life as we know it. And as far as we know, the earth is the only planet that has water in any sort of liquid form.

But scientists tell us that they believe there is something in the universe called dark matter and dark energy. I don’t even begin to understand it, but they seem to think that the mass–energy content of the universe is 5% ordinary matter, 26.8% dark matter, and 68.2% a form of energy known as dark energy. I don’t understand any of that, except to say that according to scripture the heavens and the earth were created and yet the sun, moon and stars had not yet been created. One noted scientist has said that dark matter is the glue that holds all the universe together. I believe that is actually God Himself, or as Moses says here, the Spirit of God moved across the waters. Col 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Notice also what Hebrews 1:3 says, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. So even in the beginning of creation, God is moving, controlling, energizing His creation. Holding the waters of the earth together. Holding the universe together. Without that power of God over His creation, the entire universe would explode and scatter across space.

Now let’s assume that in the beginning God made the matter which constitutes the heavens and the earth, and that existed for an indefinite period of time. But when God makes the light on day one, it does not become a day until He makes light appear. The light separates the darkness, and makes one day. That day does not exist until there is light.

Let’s read that. Vs 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”

So the The first day of creation is defined by the manifestation of light. Notice I don’t say that God created light because the scripture doesn’t say God created light. On day four God creates the lights in the heavens, the sun, moon and stars. But on this day one, God says let there be light. John 1:4-5 “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

But on day one, God said, “let there be light.” If there is no sun, moon or stars yet created, then where does the light come from? The only answer is that the light comes from God. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” 1John 1:5 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

Now you may say correctly that the gospel is light. But you must also remember that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” But however we try to explain it, there was light which God commanded to appear to the world and it was so. It is the light of God, so I say it was not created, because God was not created, but it was manifested to the world. 2Cor. 4:6 “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

So Genesis tells us that light, day, and night each existed before the sun and the moon were created on the fourth day. This shows us that light is more than a physical substance; it also has a supernatural aspect. It says in Revelation 22:5 that in the new heavens and the new earth, there won’t be any sun or moon. God Himself will be the light.

The other important thing to consider about this statement is that God created time. Time is relevant only to our universe, and a day is calculated by the cycle of evening and morning. A day is defined as evening and morning. So the rotation of the earth in relation to the light constitutes one day. And we have further divided a day into 24 hours. This concept of time is important to understand because God exists outside of our time space continuum. And further, it refutes the theory of Theistic Evolution, which is a belief that the day spoken of in Genesis actually refers to an age that may have lasted for thousands, if not millions of years in order to correlate to evolution.

So the creation of the world and all that is in it happened in six literal days, as defined by evening and morning. And that should not be something that is difficult to believe, if you believe that God created the heavens and the earth, or if you believe in the eternal nature of God. But if you do not believe in God as eternal, then neither will you believe in His gospel.

Jesus said in John 5:46-47 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

So if we believe what Moses said concerning the origin of the heavens and the earth, then we must believe that God Himself was before the beginning in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We must believe that before creation there was a plan of God. Eph 3:11 says [This was] in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We must believe the mission of Jesus was foreordained before the foundation of the world. 1Peter 1:20 says, “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”

We must believe that eternal life was promised before time began: Titus 1:2 says, “in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”

We must believe that the mystery of the gospel (the cross) was foreordained before the ages: 1 Corinthians 2:7 “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory.”

We must believe the grace given unto us was given before the world began: 2 Timothy 1:9 “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”

And we must believe that believers in Jesus Christ were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world: Ephesians 1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”

Do you believe what the word of God says concerning what happened in the beginning? Then believe also in Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 12:46 “I have come [as] Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”

And He said in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.”
As Jesus prayed with the disciples before His crucifixion, in John 17:3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

One of my favorite Christmas carols is “What Child is this?” And I think that this carol asks the quintessential question of all mankind, what is this Child that was born of Mary. It’s a question that hopefully you have answered in your heart. The answer to this question is declared by the angel, “for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.“

But to fully appreciate the anticipation of what this Child was that was to be born, you must be familiar with the prophesies that were made concerning Him, and which progressively were made more explicitly down through the centuries revealing more and more details concerning what this Child would be. His birth was initially prophesied at the dawn of creation. In fact, God Himself prophesied to Satan concerning One who would be born of a woman, who would crush Satan beneath His feet. God said in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

God furthered promised to Abraham, that from his seed would come One through whom all the world would be blessed. Gen 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Joseph was a further prophetic illustration concerning the question of what child is this, by being the son of his father rejected by His brethren, and yet providing salvation for the very ones that had rejected him.

Another type or prophetic symbol of the One who was to come and the purpose for which He came is found in the Passover Lamb that was slain so that the angel of death would pass over the people of God who had the blood of the lamb on their door. The Christ would be the spotless lamb of God that was slain for the sins of the world, so that those who had the condemnation of death might be delivered from it.

In the book of Exodus, we have the prophetic typology of this seed of Abraham pictured in Moses, who would be the deliverer of His people from enslavement. Moses was a type of the Christ to come, who spoke the word of God, who performed mighty wonders and miracles, who delivered his people from slavery, and who led them safely through the sea, and through the wilderness into the Promised Land.

David was another prophetic type of who this child would be, as David was anointed King, and God promised David that his kingdom would endure forever. Psalm 89:3-4 says “I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations.” So this child that would be born was to be the Anointed One, who will reign as King over the kingdom of God.

Isaiah answers this question of “what child is this” by several prophecies. We looked at a couple of them last week, but I will just read them to you again to refresh your memory, and to show how God progressively reveals more and more details concerning this child through prophecy as the day of His birth drew closer.

Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” In this verse, much more detail is given, He will be called Immanuel, which means God with us. Now it becomes even more clear that this child will be the Son of God in human form.

That truth is prophesied even more clearly in Isaiah 9:6 which says, “For a child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of [His] government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

This prophecy explicitly makes clear that this child that will be born, will be the Son of God, will be the ruling head of the kingdom of God, will be the Almighty God, the Father of Eternal Life, will be of the line of David, and His government will be forever.

There are many other prophesies and illusions in Isaiah to the future child that will be born, but we cannot brush past the prophesy found in Isaiah 53, which speaks even more clearly and specifically about for what purpose this child was born. It speaks of the Christ being the Savior, that He will grow up before the Lord, despised and rejected of men, unrecognized as the King of Glory, yet offering Himself up to be beaten, bruised, and slaughtered for our iniquities, that as vs 11 says, “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He (God the Father) will see [it and] be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.”

There are many other prophesies concerning the Messiah, the Anointed One of God who was to come to mankind as a baby in a manger. But not to remain a baby, but to grow up and live a righteous life, to teach the word of God, to save man from the condemnation of sin by the offering of Himself as our substitute. So that when the angels announce His birth on that much anticipated night, they say “today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

But this is not just a theological spiritual exercise, but the birth of Christ is a historical, actual, physical event that is well documented both in scripture and by secular writings. At the outset of Luke chapter 2 you see a census being taken of all the inhabited earth. It was a census by the decree of Caesar Augustus who was over the Roman Empire, which was the dominant government of the civilized world. It’s interesting to think that for the next century or two, you could have looked at that census and found the name of Jesus of Nazareth, born of Joseph and Mary. In fact, Justin Martyr, writing in the middle of the second century, said that in his own day (more than a hundred years after the time of Jesus) you could look up the record of the same census Luke mentioned.

Joseph and Mary were required to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register, which was a journey of about 80 miles, at the very time when Mary was about to give birth. Joseph was a carpenter. Mary was a young woman who was scandalized by gossip that she was the mother of an illegitimate child, even though the baby was conceived of the Holy Spirit. After an arduous trip they were strangers in a tiny town that had no room for them in the one inn the town could boast of. And so desperate to find shelter for his wife who was soon to bear a child, Joseph found what many think was a cave hollowed out as a shelter for livestock, and he made a bed for the baby in a manger. Mary had the baby with presumably no midwife to help, and she swaddled Jesus in cloths and laid Him in a manger.

What a contrast in imagery! This Jesus, the long anticipated Messiah, the God’s Anointed One of countless prophesies, of the royal line of David, destined to be King over all the earth, inconspicuously born in a tiny town of Bethlehem, in a feeding trough, to a young woman and a carpenter, in the most common of common circumstances. As Isaiah said 700 years before, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”

But though the townspeople of Bethlehem are oblivious to the birth of the King in a manger on the outskirts of the village, yet God chose to announce it to some common shepherds out in the country, who were keeping watch over their flocks that night.

And Luke says “And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.” I suppose they were. A lot of people claim to have seen angels, but one thing that seems common to all Biblical accounts of someone seeing an angel is that they are terrified. We saw that at the tomb of Jesus in our study the other week. “They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

But however terrifying angels may appear, they are the messengers of God. I don’t know in what form these angels came that appeared to the shepherds. They could have been in blinding light, their forms in flames, their appearance like lightening, they might have had wings, or they might have looked like ordinary young men, they might have been standing or they might have been hovering in the air. We don’t really know. But we do know that Luke says the glory of the Lord shone around them. That probably means there was a very bright light that shone from them and around them. We also know that there were more than one, for Luke says that the angels went away from them into heaven.

Popular tradition says that the angels sang. But the Bible doesn’t say they sang. However, Luke records them as saying, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This [will be] a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

As I mentioned previously, the angels announcement answers the question, “what child is this?” Saying that there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Notice that the angels give titles for Jesus. First they say this child that is born is a Savior. This was a title that was used for deity, which refers to Him as a deliverer. The second title is Christ. Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. The Messiah is the promised Anointed One of God. The Son of David, who would reign on the throne forever. And the third title they give is Lord. Adonai in the Greek. Again, another title of deity. Master, ruler, sovereign. And of course we know that previously the angel Gabriel said to Joseph that His name would be Jesus. Jesus means Jehovah Saves. Jesus is the Savior, the Messiah, and the Lord.

Then suddenly with the angel that made this announcement is a multitude of the heavenly host. Hundreds, if not thousands of angels appear, the armies of heaven, all praising God and saying, “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” That peace from God is not the same kind of peace that John Lennon called for. It doesn’t mean the end of war. It’s the peace brokered by Jesus Christ on behalf of man, when we were at enmity with God. Jesus became our peace. He satisfied the justice of God so that we might become adopted into the family of God. That’s why Isaiah prophesied that He would be the Prince of Peace. Jesus arbitrated our peace with God.

“When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds [began] saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.”

Vs17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.” I find it very interesting that God relied upon common shepherds to be the witnesses of the incarnation and to make it known. Do you know that the word pastor comes from the word shepherd? Shepherd is from word which means to pasture, which is where the word pastor comes from. Your pastor is supposed to be a shepherd, one who cares for and tends to the flock of God. But a pastor is also supposed to be a preacher, a proclaimer of the good news. And so I suppose it’s fitting that God chose these shepherds to proclaim the good news, the gospel, that Jesus the Messiah, the Lord, had been born in Bethlehem. That is the same job that God has given pastor’s today, to proclaim the good news, the gospel to all men.

The gospel is just this, that Christ was born to be our Savior, our Lord, and our King.That He was born to free us from our sins, and to procure our peace with God, that we might be made a part of God’s kingdom. If anyone believes in Jesus Christ as Lord, and receives Him as their Savior, they can be saved and be delivered from the condemnation of death and receive instead everlasting life.

Today we celebrate and proclaim the Lord’s birth as Christmas. Christmas means God’s gift to man. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Receive Him today, and be saved.

Luke says that all who heard the shepherd’s message wondered, or were amazed. Luke doesn’t say that they believed. He doesn’t say that the ones who heard came to worship Jesus. But they wondered. Many people wonder about Jesus today. They wonder if He was truly the Son of God. They wonder if His message is really the truth. They wonder if He is the only way to God, as He claimed. They wonder if it might be true, or some of it might be true, but maybe none of it’s true. They wonder if it really matters. And they die without coming to saving faith in who Jesus is and what He has done to save man. Don’t let your life pass you by and you never truly believe. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. He that doesn’t believe is condemned.

But some believed. Luke says in vs 19”But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Did you know that Mary needed to be saved? The Roman Catholic Church says that Mary was sinless, that she never died, she was assumed into heaven. They have made a deity out of Mary which is a terrible sin of idolatry against God. Mary was a virgin, but she was a sinner. The Bible says for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But Mary believed what the angels said concerning her Child. She believed that she had been conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Back in Luke 1vs 30 The angel Gabriel said to Mary, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 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.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 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 shall be called the Son of God.”

So Mary believed these things, pondering them in her heart. How do we know that Mary believed? You simply have to read what is known as Mary’s Magnificat, which is found in Luke 1 vs 46. I won’t take the time to read all of it, but in the first two verses she praises God as her Savior. And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”

The shepherds also believed. Vs 20 “The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.” They were praising God that today in the city of David there has been born for them a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” That belief, that faith, is all that is required for salvation, to have peace with God.

Today the shepherds have declared unto you that in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Do you believe in your heart in Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior? Do you receive the gift of God? I pray that you do.

Well, since we finished the gospel of Mark, I thought it was appropriate to do a couple of messages for the next two Sundays on the subject of Christ’s birth before we get into our next series on Genesis. And since we are studying Isaiah on Wednesday nights, I thought it would be appropriate to base our first message on Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the birth of Jesus Christ.

What I want to do though is just focus on two passages of scripture in Isaiah which speak of the birth of Christ. There are other Messianic prophecies in Isaiah, but I just want to focus on two that particularly mention the birth of Christ. The first is found in Isaiah 7:14. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Now if you look at the context, it may have not been immediately evident that Isaiah was speaking of the birth of the Messiah. In context, the king of Judea was Ahaz, and he was a rebellious king against the Lord. The king of Israel and the king of Syria had plotted an attack against Judah. They wanted to attack Jerusalem, defeat the capital of Judah, then depose Ahaz and set up their own king. But God had promised that Judah would not succumb to their attacks. Ahaz, however, didn’t believe God, but wanted to make an alliance with Assyria who he thought would protect them. So God told Ahaz to ask for a sign as divine confirmation that God would deliver them.

And so Ahaz says, rather self righteously, “I will not ask neither will I test the Lord.” But of course it is God who has asked him to accept the sign and so now God says, “All right, Ahaz. If you are not going to ask for a sign, I am going to give you a sign just the same.” “Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.” Ahaz, that is your sign.

This is one of the most famous prophecies regarding the birth of Jesus the Messiah in the Bible. It also illustrates a principle of Biblical prophecy, that prophecy may have both a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment. Theologians have found much to debate about concerning this prophecy. Many contemporary theologists want to find a way that this prophecy was fulfilled in the immediate sense. Now I don’t want to get bogged down this morning about all the ways this may have been fulfilled. Personally, I don’t think it was fulfilled until the Messiah was born which is about 700 years later. I think the next verses speak of Isaiah’s son, and the fact that within 3 years or so, God will deliver Judah from the two kings who had conspired against them.

So without fully understanding why the Holy Spirit chose to interject this prophecy of something which will take place 700 years in the future in the middle of a prophecy that is more or less quickly fulfilled, I want instead to focus on the Messianic prophecy. Because almost everyone agrees that this particular verse is a prophecy of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Note first of all that the sign given by God is a supernatural event, a divine intervention in the affairs of man, a miraculous sign that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. The miracle is that a virgin, a young woman who had never been with a man, should conceive.

And we know that this prophecy was fulfilled at Jesus’s birth. Matthew writes in his gospel, in chapter 1 vs 20 “But while he (Joseph) thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

So you see Matthew quotes from this verse in Isaiah, showing that indeed Mary was a virgin, and she was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This text is ultimately the basis of the Apostles’ Creed, which says Jesus was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary.

What that reveals is a very important doctrine of Christology; that Christ was fully God and fully man. Conceived of the Holy Spirit in a virgin who gave birth to a son. And then Isaiah’s prophecy goes on to present even more specifics: they shall call His name Immanuel. Immanuel means God with us. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Previously in John 1:1 John said that the Word was in the beginning with God, and the Word was God. So Jesus was God, in the beginning with God, and yet He added humanity to HIs nature by being born of a woman.

So Immanuel speaks of the dual nature of Christ. God became man and thus God is with us. And that introduces us to the next major Messianic prophecy that we are looking at in Isaiah, which gives us more information concerning the birth of the Messiah, and who He is, and for what purpose He was born, and that prophecy is found in chapter 9 vs 6. “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of [His] government and peace [There will be] no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

Many of you will recognize verse six as the basis for part of Handel’s Messiah, which was an oratorio written in 1742. Handel wrote this oratorio based on direct quotes from the King James Bible, and covers the life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Messiah. It’s one of my favorite pieces of music, and it’s unfortunate that we don’t hear it played more often at Christmas.

But here in this text we have an unusual pair of verses in which the names of the Messiah are all grouped together and the result is that we have more names or titles of the Messiah crowded into one verse than we do anywhere else in all of the Bible. We read in the 6th verse: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor (that comma after Wonderful should not be there), The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” And when we think of the name Jesus which is given to the Lord in the New Testament, remember, by God Himself, it is a divinely chosen name, a divinely significant name. “Thou shall call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.” The name Jesus is probably the complete summary of all of these Old Testament names that are given to our Lord here in Isaiah. He is Jesus. He is Jehovah’s salvation.

Now for context notice the 2nd verse, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.” Darkness was within Galilee at the time of Isaiah’s writing.. Darkness was upon Galilee for the Assyrian was coming down upon the land but God says that the light is to come. Once again we see predictive prophecy having both a near and far fulfillment. But it is to the future fulfillment that we look today, at the promise of the coming of the Messiah who will provide the ultimate deliverance of God’s people. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

This passage is quoted in Matt. 4:12-17 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. [This was] to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES– “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.” From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” So the gospel of Jesus Christ is the light of God shone upon people who were under the condemnation of death.

So continuing in our text in Isaiah 9, verses 6, it tells us that, “For unto us, a child is born, unto us a son is given.” The first thing I want you to notice is that in this verse it states, “The child is born, but the Son is given.” Now I do not believe that this is written accidentally. The child is born, the Son is given. You see the first expression, “The child is born” is an expression that looks at Jesus as a man in his relation to men. Just as we are born of flesh so He is born of flesh. Our Lord’s human nature comes into existence in the same way as our human nature comes into existence.

He was born as other men are born. So even in his birth he entered into the experiences of humanity. It is the child that is born, His relationship to men, His humanity. God becomes flesh and dwelt among us. But then the text states that the Son is given. This is his relationship to God the Father. He was the preexistent Eternal Son and he is given to men. As John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son.” So a child is born, and a Son is given.

Now as child, He is called a descendant of David. But He is at the same time, the Son, who is the descendant of God. In fact, he is God’s only begotten Son. And so here, Jesus is the Son of God, that is, He is divine.

So, unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given. Then notice, the government shall be upon his shoulder. What is this government that shall be upon his shoulder? I would say without question it is the government of the Kingdom of God. He is the King of the Kingdom of God. Back in Matthew 4:17 which we read a moment ago we read that from that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus is the King of the government of God, or the kingdom of heaven. Both expressions speak of the same kingdom.

Notice vs7 “Of the increase of [His] government and peace [There will be] no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” The government of the kingdom of heaven is an eternal government. It is a spiritual government. Jesus announced the spiritual aspects of it at His first appearing, and He will bring about the consummation of the physical aspects of His kingdom at His second coming, and it will then continue for eternity.

Rev 21:3 speaks of this consummation of the kingdom of God. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.’ And all aspects of the kingdom of God will be accomplished because of the zeal of the Lord of hosts. That’s a reference to the Lord of angelic armies. I’m reminded of John 2:17, after Jesus cleansed the temple, it says in vs 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”

Notice then the titles of the Messiah. The first one, Wonderful Counselor. When we think of the Lord as wonderful, that means marvelous, incomprehensible, miraculous. We then think of Him as wonderful in the past, wonderful in the present, wonderful in the future. He is beyond the creation. He is beyond man. He is beyond all of the ministry and wisdom of men. He is the wonderful counselor. Wonderful in the past for He is the eternal one. He had no beginning.

He was wonderful in his birth, miraculous conception. He was wonderful in his ministry. He was wonderful above all in his death. And he was wonderful in His resurrection and he was wonderful in his ascension. All of these great events expressed the supernatural character of our Lord Jesus. You know this word which is used here, translated here “Wonderful” is the Hebrew word pele. Now, this word has a root that is used in several places in the Old Testament and often it is a word that refers to deity.

In Judges chapter 13 there is the story of Samson and the story of how Manoah, his father, had a visit from the angel of the Lord and in verse 17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What [is] Your name, that when Your words come [to pass] we may honor You?” And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it [is] wonderful?” So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on– it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar–the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw [this], they fell on their faces to the ground. When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He [was] the Angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”

So it was God who appeared to Manaoah. It was Jesus in his pre-incarnate glory. It was what is called in theology a Theophany, a preincarnate appearance of God. Wonderful Counselor, the supernatural counselor. Counselor means teacher, adviser, guide. Jesus is Wonderful Counselor.

Then the next tile is “The mighty God.” The word El in the Book of Isaiah never means anything but God. El can sometimes mean something other than God. But in the Book of Isaiah it never means anything other than God. Very clearly here the Messiah is identified as the God. I think that the chief priests and scribes knew this to be true about the Messiah. And they knew that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, and thus claimed to be God. That’s why they accused Him of blasphemy. That was the crime they accused Him of that they said was worthy of death. And yet they knew that the Messiah must be God. This baby who was born of a virgin was none other than the Almighty God in human flesh.

Phl. 2:5-11 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, [and] coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to [the point of] death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This baby in a manger was the Almighty God.

The next title is Everlasting Father, the Father of eternity, isn’t it interesting? The infinite is an infant. The infant is infinite. Unto us a child is born and He is the Father of Eternity. He is not saying that Jesus is the Father. He is talking about his relationship to us, not his relationship within the counsel of the Trinity. In the Godhead of the Trinity there is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, but when he speaks of him as the Father of Eternity, he is speaking of Him in relationship to us. He is the life giver. He is the parent of Eternity. He is the one who made all things, and who gives eternal life to us and in that sense he is a father of that which is eternal.

And then the last title is the Prince of Peace. Jesus is the One who makes peace between God and man. Because He was fully God and fully man, He was able to reconcile man to God. To be the substitute for man who was condemned to die, and so He took our place and died for our sins so that we might have peace with God. A favorite Christmas hymn is “Hark the herald angels sing.” In that song there is the line, “Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King, peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” Christ has the authority and the power to rule over our peace with God.

So Isaiah says in vs 7 “Of the increase of [His] government and peace [There will be] no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this eternal salvation for His people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. God is jealous to accomplish it. That is the meaning of the Hebrew text by the way, that the jealousy of the Lord of Hosts will perform this and all of his power and all of his authority and all of his wisdom is pledged to the Son, to the Child, Immanuel, God with us, who is our Wonderful Counselor, the Almighty God, our Father of eternity, and the Prince of our Peace.

I pray that you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, that you might enter into that rest, and be born again as a child of God, a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

Today we will finish preaching through the book of Mark. Mark began this book by calling it a gospel, in ch.1 vs 1.  He now concludes it, in chapter 16, with the Lord Jesus sending His disciples out to preach this very gospel in vs 15.  And we stand before you today preaching this same gospel, as evidence of the power of the gospel, and the eternal purpose of the gospel. 

The gospel simply means the good news of Jesus Christ.  The good news is that Jesus is God, revealed in the flesh, who came to bear our sins, to be our substitute, that He was crucified, buried and rose again, and now lives to make intercession for us, and to indwell us in HIs Spirit, until He returns even as He was taken up, to claim His church as His bride.  That is the gospel, and those who have believed it, and accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord, have been born again to a new life in Him.

There is a large part of what is called Christianity today that no longer really preaches the gospel. They may sound like they still espouse faith in God, but they are teaching a new gospel, which Paul says is not really the gospel at all.  It’s not really the gospel because they eliminate all the thorny doctrines of the gospel like sin and righteousness and judgment, and only talk about love, which has been reduced to some kind of sentimental euphemism for embracing diversity.  I heard recently about a new kind of church that is becoming popular, replacing the traditional church service with coffee shops and craft beer infused get togethers to talk about social issues.  That’s not the gospel.  

The problem with most contemporary “Christian” music is that the only message that they have is love. But it’s a self serving view of love. Listen, love means that God sent Jesus to be tortured and beaten and nailed to a cross to pay the penalty for your sins and mine.  In spite of the psycho babbling Christian preachers that say we need to love ourselves, the first and foremost commandment is that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul,  mind and strength.  And the only way we can know how to do that, is if we preach His gospel faithfully, and obey His word.  Jesus said if you love Me, you will keep My commandments.  We will keep His word.

Now last week we looked at the first eight verses of chapter 16 concerning the resurrection.  And some of you might notice in your Bible version that the remainder of the chapter is set apart in some way, and there may be notes which say that the following verses are not found in the oldest known manuscripts.  Many Biblical scholars have debated for centuries as to whether or not these verses were actually penned by Mark, or were appended at a later date by various editors.  

I am not a Biblical scholar, nor a Greek language expert.  And there are men on both sides of this debate that I think highly of, who take opposing views concerning these last eight verses.  However, I feel a certain reluctance to discount a passage of scripture on the basis of most modern criticisms.  I would tend to think that though there may be problems with this text from certain perspectives such as style or terms used, or older copies versus less older copies, yet my view is that God has intended these verses to be included in Mark as accurate and reliable.  
It is believed by a majority of modern textual scholars that the oldest copies of the Greek manuscripts that we know of do not contain these twelve verses, but it is also true that the overwhelming majority of the Greek manuscripts that we have today do contain these verses. And it is also true that two of the earliest church fathers, writing from the beginning of the second century, quote from this passage. So it is clear that, from the very beginning, the church has accepted these twelve verses as authentic, even though there is some dispute today that they may not have come from the hand of Mark.

My personal opinion is that it’s almost a certainty that Mark’s original letter continued after verse 8.  Ending at vs8 would be an odd way to end a book, and it would be at odds with the way the other gospel writers ended their books.  But there is a possibility that something happened to the end of the original manuscript, and the early church fathers wrote a summary of what Mark had written as a way to finish off the book.  It’s also a good possibility that these last 8 verses are original to Mark, but there were other verses that were interspersed in this passage which were lost for some reason or another.  And so what we have sounds a bit disjointed, and seems different stylistically, but it may be due to the fact that some connecting verses were lost. 

Irregardless, many very early Christian writers refer to this passage in their writings, such as Papias, AD100, Justin Martyr, AD 151, Irenaus, AD 180, Hippolytus, AD 190, Vincentius and Augustine also wrote concerning this passage in the around AD 200-250. This shows that the early Christians knew about this passage in the Gospel of Mark and accepted it as genuine.

So we are going to accept it as genuine, as something that the early church accepted as the gospel, and now let’s move on and consider what it says.  There are three divisions in this passage; the first verses, 9-14, deal with the basis of apostolic belief; verses 15 and 16 deal with the commission of apostolic preaching; and the final verses 16-20, deal with the confirmation of the apostolic witness.

Let’s look first at the basis of apostolic belief. In vs 11, Mark emphasizes that initially the apostles, when told of Mary Magdalene’s experience, did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead.  You will remember at the beginning of the chapter how the women had come to the tomb early in the morning, at the first light of dawn, and found the stone rolled away and saw the angel. The angel told them that Jesus was not there, but He had risen.  But they did not see Jesus then. 

According to John’s gospel, Mary Magdalene had gone ahead of the others and, seeing the empty tomb, she ran to tell Peter and John immediately. Evidently she did not hear the angel’s explanation. Peter and John both ran to the tomb. Peter went inside and saw the grave clothes lying there still wrapped as though they were around a body, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head was folded and placed aside. This convinced John that indeed Jesus was risen, but he still had not seen him.

Mary Magdalene returned more slowly to the tomb and as she stood weeping in the garden she saw what she thought was the gardener, and she asked him where they had laid the body of Jesus. Jesus spoke her name and she then recognized Jesus. This was the first appearance of the risen Lord to one of His followers. He came first to Mary Magdalene. She ran and told the disciples. But Mark tells us that when Mary told them that Jesus was alive and that she had actually seen him, they did not believe it.

In vs12, Jesus appears to two other disciples on the road to Emmaus. “After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country.” Notice that Mark says that Jesus appeared to them in a different form.  He either disguised Himself to them in some way, or His resurrected body was altered in some way that made Him unrecognizable.  Luke 24 tells that as they walked along with Him discussing the things that had recently happened concerning His crucifixion and resurrection,  He began with Moses and the prophets and showed them from the scriptures all the things that referred to Messiah. Later as they sat at table with him and saw his hands as He broke bread, they recognized their crucified Lord. Then He disappeared.

These two disciples came back to Jerusalem immediately and told the eleven what they had seen, but but they did not believe them either. Then in Verse 14, Mark says “Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.”

It’s interesting that the disciples are having such a hard time believing that Jesus had risen from the dead.  They don’t really even want to believe other eyewitnesses.  And yet that is exactly what their own ministry would be founded on.  They were eyewitnesses to HIs majesty, to His miracles, and they would be eyewitnesses to His resurrection and ascension, and so it would be incumbent upon the hearers of the gospel to believe their eyewitness testimony.  Yet they themselves were slow to believe. 

Jesus expected the eleven to believe before they saw Him. He wanted and expected them to believe the reports of the eyewitnesses who had seen Him. They were trustworthy persons and were reporting what they themselves had actually seen, and that should have been enough to convince these disciples that Jesus was risen from the dead. So concerned is Jesus about this that He rebuked them. Even as He did in the days of His ministry, so now, as their living, risen Lord, He rebuked them for their unbelief. He takes them to task because they refused to believe those who had seen Him. You can see the importance Jesus attributes to this matter of believing eyewitnesses.

Because that is what one of the pillars our faith is to be founded upon; the testimony of credible witnesses. Paul wrote in 1 Co. 15:6 that 500 people saw the risen Jesus at one time, most of who were alive at the time of his letter.  So we have reliable testimony. The apostles were reliable witnesses, and we are required to believe their testimony.  When we have adequate, trustworthy witnesses who report to us what they have seen, we are expected to respond with belief. These men saw the risen Lord. They were granted a privilege that we are not granted; but nevertheless, our faith can rest upon a solid foundation. Even though we have not seen him, we can believe because of the eyewitness accounts recorded in the word. And as Jesus would tell doubting Thomas later who persisted in disbelief, those who do not see and believe will receive a greater blessing. In John 20:29 Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” So then the basis for apostolic belief is the eyewitness testimony of reliable witnesses.

Next, let’s look at the apostolic commission starting in vs15. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”  Notice that there are two  main points in the  command which Jesus gives here.  “Go” and “preach.”   Just as the Savior seeks and saves those that are lost, so are the apostles to seek the lost.  To go into the highways and byways and invite the lost into the kingdom of God. To go into their neighborhoods, their communities and preach the gospel.  Then to go to the ends of the earth and preach the gospel.  Now we are not commissioned as apostles, but we are called to be ambassadors to a lost world, to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ. An apostle by the way was someone who had been a witness to the resurrection.

The good news is that the power of evil in your life and mine can be broken! Sin no longer controls us and ruins and robs us of life. The bondage of sin is broken by the power of the resurrection of Jesus. The Spirit of Christ lives within us and imparts to our life the power of Christ. This is the good news, and this is the gospel we are to preach. That is what Scripture calls being saved. That is why Jesus said, “He who believes  and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

Notice the order there.  Belief comes first, baptism follows.  Believing is the means of justification, we are justified by faith, which is believing, trusting in the Lord to save.  Then baptism is the evidence of repentance, dying to the old man, being raised to new life in Christ. Belief and repentance that changes us and converts us is real saving faith, and the way that we demonstrate it is by being baptized.  In other words, belief is action, not just an intellectual exercise.  It changes your life, and as Jesus was raised to life, so we die to sin and are raised to new life in Him which results in righteousness. That is what baptism symbolizes, dying to sin, and being raised to new life in Christ.

Maybe some of you here today have never liked the word “saved.”  But what it means is that we are hopeless and helpless, dead in our sins and the condemnation of that sin, and the good news is that Jesus Christ has come to rescue us, save us.   The late RC Sproul said, “God doesn’t just throw a life preserver to a drowning person.  He goes to the bottom of the sea, and pulls a corpse from the bottom, takes him up on the bank, breathes into him the breath of life and makes him alive.”  Being saved is being delivered from death, but also being changed from a life held captive to sin, to a new life through the power of Christ in us.

Knowing the unbelief that would face these apostles as they testified to the gospel, the Lord now goes on to give them certain signs which will accompany them in preaching the gospel and validate that they are speaking for God. Against a climate of unbelief is the setting in which Jesus promises these signs in verse 17, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; If they pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 

Now of all the verses in this passage that are reported to be problematic, from my perspective these are the most problematic.  And I think it really comes from a popular misunderstanding that what Jesus is promising is that all future believers will be able to perform these signs and wonders.  But I think that the context of the passage indicates that Jesus is saying the apostles will exhibit these signs, as a testimony to their witness.  These signs were testimony to the authenticity of the apostles’ message.  God would confirm their word by signs and wonders.  And Paul speaks of that in Second Corinthians 12:12: “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”  Hebrews says the same thing; Heb. 2:3-4 “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard (he’s speaking of the apostles), God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”

These then, are the signs of a true apostle. They were authenticating signs to accompany those who had seen the risen Lord, who had first been sent out with the gospel into an unbelieving and hostile world. Consequently, I believe that these apostolic sign gifts expired with the apostles.  The word of God which they have spoken has all the authentication that it needs.  It has stood the test of time.  It has stood the test of thousands of critics through the centuries.  But even more importantly, it has changed millions of lives.  It has proven to be powerful to save millions and millions of people through the centuries.  And furthermore, scripture authenticates scripture.  The scriptures authenticate themselves as you study it and read it.  You find it proves itself over and over.  There is no more need for signs and wonders to authenticate new revelation.  The revelation is complete, and it is in our hands as the Holy Scriptures, the word of God, which was given to us through the agency of the apostles.

So what were these signs of the apostles?  Well, Jesus said they would cast out demons.  We see evidence in the scripture that the apostles did this before the ascension of Christ, as well as after Pentecost. They will speak with new tongues. Unfortunately, the translators persist in translating this word as tongues rather than languages. The word Glossa can refer to the physical tongue, or the natural language of a person. It doesn’t mean some spiritual language, but natural language.

This sign was fulfilled at Pentecost as everyone heard the gospel in their own dialect.  And it continued for a time as the apostles carried the gospel to the world.  Peter, preaching at Pentecost, says that the new tongues were a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28,  “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.”  Peter says in Acts 2:15-16  “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;  but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel.”  So that was fulfilled at Pentecost and during the apostolic age.  It’s not something that is prophesied for the end of the age as is often taught.  It was one of the signs of an apostle.

Furthermore, the disciples would have power to survive physical attacks upon their lives. Bitten by a poisonous serpent, they would not die. If they accidentally drank poison, they would not die. They would have power to survive, that the gospel might go forth. This would be one of the authenticating signs given to them.  You remember that Paul was bit by a snake when shipwrecked on an island, and he did not die.  And consequently, he was able to share the gospel with the people there. He survived stoning, and also he survived being thrown to the lions. Peter was released from prison.  So God was able to providentially protect the apostles until their mission was finished here on earth.

The fourth sign is power to heal, to lay hands upon the sick, and they will recover.  Acts records many examples of the apostles being able to heal the sick and even raise the dead.  Again, this was to authenticate their message as being from God.

So God gave these authenticating signs to the apostles as His confirmation of the word that they were preaching.  And the last paragraph tells us that after the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven, the apostles confirmed the power of the gospel by going throughout the world preaching the gospel and God working through them in establishing not only the scriptures, but the universal church.  As Ephesians 2:19 says,  “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,  having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,  in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” 

So Mark closes this gospel of his with the Lord ascending into heaven sitting at the right hand of God, yet living as Lord in the midst of his church, empowering His word, carrying it unto the farthest reaches of the world. And the apostles, scattered throughout the known world of that day, preached this good news, their witness being confirmed by these great signs. They thus laid the foundation of the great building that Paul calls the church, the body of Christ, that has grown through all the centuries since. 

Today the gospel has been preached to you, just as it was 2000 years ago.  As Isaiah the prophet spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?” You can receive the good news, believe the testimony of the apostles, believe in the saving power of Jesus Christ, and be saved, receive new life, abundant life.  The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is able to give you new life, and make you into a child of God, if you will just repent of your sins and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  I trust that you will trust Him today, and call upon Him to save you.  The Lord is mighty to save all who come to Him in faith.