WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.840 Real life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim 2 00:00:05.840 --> 00:00:09.360 truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. 3 00:00:09.360 --> 00:00:15.160 Man has run from God. That's why there's a Christmas. Think about the severity of 4 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:19.960 Christmas. We think about the Jolly and the Ho Ho Ho. The severity of Christmas 5 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:25.760 is that God would come into the world for a very great reason. It was a rescue 6 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:27.760 mission. 7 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:35.760 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. 8 00:00:35.760 --> 00:00:40.760 Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled 9 00:00:40.760 --> 00:00:45.760 life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, 10 00:00:45.760 --> 00:00:51.760 that's like saying amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. 11 00:00:51.760 --> 00:00:57.760 Now, open your hearts to what God's word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. 12 00:00:57.760 --> 00:01:03.760 It's not the greatest story ever told. It is the greatest message ever preached. 13 00:01:03.760 --> 00:01:07.760 There's a big difference. Our faith according to the Bible is founded upon fact. 14 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:13.760 A lot of people don't think about that. When we open up our Bible, there is a real 15 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:19.760 real Bethlehem. There is a real Israel. There's a real Roman Empire. There's a real 16 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:25.760 Persian Empire. The Bible is a book of reality, not stories. You have to remember 17 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:30.760 that. But God made a great promise and the Christmas message that God has given us 18 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:37.760 is a missionary journey. It's an announcement that according to the hymns and 19 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:41.760 according to the Bible itself is to bring great joy into the reality of anybody 20 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:46.760 who's searching. So number one, it's a promise and he's promised to return and 21 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:52.760 market down this way, if you would, it's a promise deeper than what we'd ever 22 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:57.760 thought of. It's a promise much deeper. I wonder if you know this. It is the first 23 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:03.760 prophetic verse in the Bible. It's the first, what's called, so 24 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:10.760 theoretical. It's the first verse of Bible prophecy and the first verse regarding 25 00:02:10.760 --> 00:02:16.760 the doctrine of salvation. It's the first verse that speaks of the incarnation. 26 00:02:16.760 --> 00:02:22.760 It's the first verse that speaks about God becoming flesh among mankind. See, 27 00:02:22.760 --> 00:02:28.760 what? It's all in one verse. It's one verse that causes the breaks to slam 28 00:02:28.760 --> 00:02:36.760 if you're listening. And here it is. It's Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, 29 00:02:37.760 --> 00:02:43.760 The truth of God's promise of his return starts in Genesis 315, remarkable 30 00:02:43.760 --> 00:02:49.760 passage. My Jewish friends listen up, Moses wrote this, God is speaking, I will 31 00:02:49.760 --> 00:02:55.760 put enmity, the word enmity is warfare between you Satan and the woman, 32 00:02:55.760 --> 00:03:01.760 even her descendants. And between your seed, that's creepy, right? Satan has 33 00:03:01.760 --> 00:03:08.760 offspring. Satan has a family, the Bible says. By the way, how you get into his 34 00:03:08.760 --> 00:03:13.760 family is just stay right where you're at. Never come to faith in Jesus. And Jesus 35 00:03:13.760 --> 00:03:19.760 says that if you do not believe in him, then you are of your father, the devil, 36 00:03:19.760 --> 00:03:23.760 he says. That's to the point, isn't it? Jesus said, listen, I'm going to, or the, 37 00:03:23.760 --> 00:03:28.760 the Bible says, God is speaking regarding the fall to Adam and Eve and Satan in 38 00:03:28.760 --> 00:03:32.760 the garden. I'm going to put warfare between you and the woman between your 39 00:03:32.760 --> 00:03:38.760 seed offspring and her, look at the capital S, her DNA, her sperm, her sperm. 40 00:03:38.760 --> 00:03:43.760 That's right. He shall bruise your head. You shall bruise his 41 00:03:43.760 --> 00:03:49.760 heel. It says that he shall bruise your head. The word in Hebrew is, I don't 42 00:03:49.760 --> 00:03:54.760 know why the English says bruise, but the Hebrew word is, and he shall 43 00:03:54.760 --> 00:03:59.760 crush your head and you will crush his heel. Let me ask you something. If you 44 00:03:59.760 --> 00:04:03.760 had to get crushed, would you rather get crushed in the head or in the heel of your 45 00:04:03.760 --> 00:04:08.760 foot? The word, or the term heel of your foot means that Satan is going to inflict 46 00:04:08.760 --> 00:04:13.760 pain upon this one who is going to be the seed, the Messiah. Oh, but don't worry 47 00:04:13.760 --> 00:04:19.760 everybody. The Messiah is going to crush Satan's head. You can walk away from a 48 00:04:19.760 --> 00:04:24.760 heel crush, but you can't walk away from a head crush. And I love that. What a 49 00:04:24.760 --> 00:04:29.760 powerful statement. So yes, I want to reinforce. It's no story, but it's a 50 00:04:29.760 --> 00:04:35.760 tragedy. That mankind was once perfect in his created state of living, of 51 00:04:35.760 --> 00:04:41.760 life. Adam and Eve were created perfect. They walked with God in perfection and 52 00:04:41.760 --> 00:04:46.760 making the case about his return. Think of this. They sinned against God and 53 00:04:47.760 --> 00:04:52.760 the garden. They willfully disobeyed him. Now you think about that for a 54 00:04:52.760 --> 00:04:56.760 moment. You see, Jack, why did he give them the ability to choice? For the same reason 55 00:04:56.760 --> 00:05:01.760 why you love your ability of choice. God built within you and I, the free moral 56 00:05:01.760 --> 00:05:05.760 agency of being able to choose what we will do and not do, who we want to love, 57 00:05:05.760 --> 00:05:10.760 who we don't want to love, what we want to experience or not experience. God gave 58 00:05:10.760 --> 00:05:16.760 that to you and you love it. It's no story, but it is a tragedy that you and I 59 00:05:16.760 --> 00:05:22.760 have that choice that God is embedded within us in the human psyche. Every day 60 00:05:22.760 --> 00:05:27.760 we choose hundreds of choices, maybe thousands every day, but God made you 61 00:05:27.760 --> 00:05:32.760 like that. It's no story, but it's a tragedy that mankind would decide to 62 00:05:32.760 --> 00:05:39.760 ruin his own generations by his own decisions. Every single one of us right 63 00:05:39.760 --> 00:05:44.760 now are in this particular state of life at this point in time. We've arrived 64 00:05:44.760 --> 00:05:49.760 on a long train of decisions that we've made over time. And we're not blaming 65 00:05:49.760 --> 00:05:55.760 anybody, by the way, that doesn't work. And the worst conditions ever given you 66 00:05:55.760 --> 00:06:02.760 that worst cards ever dealt to you, to me, God can overcome them. But if 67 00:06:02.760 --> 00:06:06.760 that's not your victory, it's simply because you've not let Christ take control 68 00:06:06.760 --> 00:06:11.760 of those horrific things that were done to you or against you. So there's no 69 00:06:11.760 --> 00:06:17.760 excuse in this. This is not a story. If Christ coming into the world was a story, 70 00:06:17.760 --> 00:06:23.760 then you'd better stick to Humpty Dumpty or something. This is a story of 71 00:06:23.760 --> 00:06:30.760 eternal consequences because it's not a story, it's a fact. And yet many 72 00:06:30.760 --> 00:06:34.760 treated as a story and they draped it and cloaked it with a big man walking 73 00:06:34.760 --> 00:06:40.760 around with a red suit and black boots. It's a fact. Think about the severity of 74 00:06:40.760 --> 00:06:45.760 Christmas. We think about the Jolly and the Ho Ho Ho, the severity of Christmas 75 00:06:45.760 --> 00:06:51.760 is that God would come into the world for a very great reason. It was a rescue 76 00:06:51.760 --> 00:06:57.760 mission. It was a missionary journey to deliver a man from his condemnation. 77 00:06:57.760 --> 00:07:02.760 The Bible says in Philippians chapter 2 verse 5, let this mind be in you which 78 00:07:02.760 --> 00:07:06.760 was also in Christ Jesus who, being in the form of God did not consider it 79 00:07:06.760 --> 00:07:11.760 robbery to be equal with God. Jesus didn't have to try to pull anything off. 80 00:07:11.760 --> 00:07:16.760 But made himself of no reputation taking the form of a bond servant, listen to 81 00:07:16.760 --> 00:07:21.760 this, and coming in the likeness of men are mankind. Look, you and I came into the 82 00:07:21.760 --> 00:07:27.760 world just like our mom and dad. God had a choice. Is that awesome? God had a choice 83 00:07:27.760 --> 00:07:32.760 to come here. Now personally, after Eden, I would have wrapped the whole 84 00:07:32.760 --> 00:07:39.760 thing off and just flicked it into outer space and said, I'll just start over. 85 00:07:39.760 --> 00:07:45.760 He could have. He could have erased it. There could be like an ant going across 86 00:07:45.760 --> 00:07:53.760 your kitchen table and you just go with your thumb. He could have. Why didn't he? 87 00:07:53.760 --> 00:07:58.760 Why would he go through all of this? Because my friends, his love for you was real, 88 00:07:58.760 --> 00:08:07.760 his commitment to you is true, and his plan is redemption. He wants to buy you 89 00:08:07.760 --> 00:08:12.760 out of the slave market, so to speak. And so he came into this world as a human 90 00:08:12.760 --> 00:08:19.760 being. That verse goes on to tell us that being found in the appearance as a man, 91 00:08:19.760 --> 00:08:23.760 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the 92 00:08:23.760 --> 00:08:28.760 cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him. It's Jesus. And given him a name, 93 00:08:28.760 --> 00:08:33.760 which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, 94 00:08:33.760 --> 00:08:38.760 both those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth, that every 95 00:08:38.760 --> 00:08:43.760 tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father, 96 00:08:43.760 --> 00:08:48.760 and all God's people said, amen to that. Secondly, under this point, 97 00:08:48.760 --> 00:08:53.760 this is the promise of his return is that it's a promise unique beyond all 98 00:08:53.760 --> 00:08:59.760 chance. Unique beyond all chance. And what I mean by that is this. The Christmas 99 00:08:59.760 --> 00:09:07.760 message is impossible to miss unless you want to miss it. There's no getting 100 00:09:07.760 --> 00:09:11.760 around it. Yes, I mentioned a moment ago that it's the most celebrated holiday in 101 00:09:11.760 --> 00:09:16.760 the world. But you can still miss it. You can dress up like Santa yourself at 102 00:09:16.760 --> 00:09:21.760 Macy's and still miss it. You can be in the pulpit and preach the gospel and 103 00:09:21.760 --> 00:09:26.760 still miss it. You can be in America and grow up all your life with all the 104 00:09:26.760 --> 00:09:30.760 traditions of Christmas and still miss it. Why? Because it's not an it. It's a 105 00:09:30.760 --> 00:09:35.760 him. You can miss him. The meaning of it all. But beyond chance, my friend, 106 00:09:35.760 --> 00:09:39.760 is absolutely awesome. Are you ready for this? It's Isaiah 7 verse 14. 107 00:09:39.760 --> 00:09:44.760 Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign behold the virgin shall conceive 108 00:09:44.760 --> 00:09:50.760 and bear a son. And shall call his name in manual. Isaiah 9 verse 6. 109 00:09:50.760 --> 00:09:56.760 For a child is born. Technically, that's no big deal. Children are born all the 110 00:09:56.760 --> 00:10:03.760 time. But unto us, a son is given. Listen, the reason why Mary had her little 111 00:10:03.760 --> 00:10:08.760 lamb by the name of Jesus was because the son was given. Are you tracking with 112 00:10:08.760 --> 00:10:15.760 me? A child unto us a child is born. Unto us a child will come. Certainly special. 113 00:10:15.760 --> 00:10:19.760 But just at the opening part of the verse, that's all it says. A special one will 114 00:10:19.760 --> 00:10:24.760 come. An anointed one will come. That's still not enough. The second statement of 115 00:10:24.760 --> 00:10:30.760 the verse is a son is given. It presupposes that whoever the child is has 116 00:10:30.760 --> 00:10:36.760 pre-existed. He was gifted. He would come through a virgin into this world. 117 00:10:36.760 --> 00:10:42.760 Never having existed in the flesh before took on flesh. In fact, being the creator 118 00:10:42.760 --> 00:10:48.760 of all things became flesh. So says the Bible. What a remarkable statement. 119 00:10:48.760 --> 00:10:54.760 What a tremendous truth. And the Bible goes on to tell us in Isaiah 9-6. And the 120 00:10:54.760 --> 00:10:59.760 government will be upon his shoulder. His name will be called wonderful. 121 00:10:59.760 --> 00:11:04.760 Counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, Prince of Peace. The word everlasting 122 00:11:04.760 --> 00:11:08.760 father is the father of time. Have you ever heard of somebody say father time? 123 00:11:08.760 --> 00:11:14.760 Write in stories or in books or in thoughts or in poems. Father time. Father time 124 00:11:14.760 --> 00:11:20.760 is actually a reference to Jesus Christ being the governor of time and eternity. 125 00:11:20.760 --> 00:11:26.760 He controls it. What an amazing thing that is. So unique beyond all chance. 126 00:11:26.760 --> 00:11:31.760 You've got to find somebody throughout all of human history that we celebrate 127 00:11:31.760 --> 00:11:37.760 at this Christmas. The everyday reality that he's God that has come into the world 128 00:11:37.760 --> 00:11:43.760 in human skin. That's why you and I are to never think that our lives are 129 00:11:43.760 --> 00:11:48.760 meaningless or without purpose. He loved you so much that he would do this. 130 00:11:48.760 --> 00:11:54.760 The third thing is this anticipation. According to God's word, God will answer every human 131 00:11:54.760 --> 00:11:58.760 need that you and I have. You know what our problem is? The biggest problem in 132 00:11:58.760 --> 00:12:04.760 your life in my life is you for you and me for me. I am my biggest problem. 133 00:12:04.760 --> 00:12:09.760 Why? Because I get impatient. The Bible says something and I think it should happen 134 00:12:09.760 --> 00:12:15.760 in my time. God has designed you and I and life itself to be answered by this book, 135 00:12:15.760 --> 00:12:22.760 the manual, the Bible. Psalm 141. You guys okay? Because I'm yelling at you. 136 00:12:22.760 --> 00:12:30.760 Pretty good here. 141 verse 1. Lord, I cry out to you. Have you ever been in 137 00:12:30.760 --> 00:12:37.760 that place? Lord, I cry out to you. Make haste to me. Give ear to my voice when I 138 00:12:37.760 --> 00:12:42.760 cry out to you. Let my prayer be set before you as incense. That's a beautiful 139 00:12:42.760 --> 00:12:48.760 picture. It speaks of the incense rising in the Holy of Holies before the Lord. 140 00:12:48.760 --> 00:12:56.760 The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. God, I'm coming to you and I have 141 00:12:56.760 --> 00:13:01.760 this human need. I need to have this experience in my life. I need to have this answered 142 00:13:01.760 --> 00:13:06.760 in my life. I have to have this pain dealt with. I can't take it anymore. Listen, 143 00:13:06.760 --> 00:13:11.760 so many times. It's the holidays. Yes, it's true. Listen, ministry and law enforcement 144 00:13:11.760 --> 00:13:15.760 have these things in common. First responders, ministry and first responders, 145 00:13:15.760 --> 00:13:20.760 the holidays. It starts right around Thanksgiving and it doesn't end until mid-January. 146 00:13:20.760 --> 00:13:25.760 What am I talking about? People who lose hope and commit suicide because they've 147 00:13:25.760 --> 00:13:32.760 got their eyes focused on something that is not of God. And their eyes get 148 00:13:32.760 --> 00:13:38.760 off of God onto something else like Peter getting his eyes off of Jesus and start 149 00:13:38.760 --> 00:13:45.760 sinking in the waves. This world is evil. It will consume you and it will eat you 150 00:13:45.760 --> 00:13:50.760 alive. Yet God has given the answer for us to keep our eyes fixated on him because 151 00:13:50.760 --> 00:13:57.760 why? Because he has engineered the answer for every human need. And the danger for 152 00:13:57.760 --> 00:14:02.760 you is to hear this and to say, yes, I understand what you're saying, but you don't 153 00:14:02.760 --> 00:14:07.760 know my situation. Did you know that's everyone's response? Including mine. 154 00:14:07.760 --> 00:14:12.760 That's how wrong we can be. We take something that is painful, hurtful or wrong, 155 00:14:12.760 --> 00:14:16.760 or something that controls our lives and instead of letting him answer that human 156 00:14:16.760 --> 00:14:22.760 need, we wind up enshrining the thing and making it something that is insurmountable. 157 00:14:22.760 --> 00:14:29.760 We'll never get over this. It's just the way it's going to be. Well, thank God he can 158 00:14:29.760 --> 00:14:36.760 be anticipated upon. Do you expect God to do great things in your life? You should. 159 00:14:36.760 --> 00:14:42.760 If you don't, I don't know what you're doing. Next thing is this. Point number two is the 160 00:14:42.760 --> 00:14:47.760 purpose of his return. There's a reason for his return. You think about this for a 161 00:14:47.760 --> 00:14:50.760 moment. You've got Adam and Eve walking in the garden in the cool of the day, walking 162 00:14:50.760 --> 00:14:55.760 with God. Perfect fellowship. Adam and Eve sent against God. Fellowship is broken. 163 00:14:55.760 --> 00:15:02.760 They're expelled from the garden. And then the Bible tells us that God would redeem. 164 00:15:02.760 --> 00:15:10.760 God would eventually rescue mankind. That he would do it through the promise of a 165 00:15:10.760 --> 00:15:17.760 Messiah. How do we know? Genesis 315, right at the start. When we talk about his 166 00:15:17.760 --> 00:15:23.760 purpose of his return, just know this everybody. You can be confident in this 167 00:15:23.760 --> 00:15:29.760 Christmas message because all along the way from the beginning, God has kept his 168 00:15:29.760 --> 00:15:38.760 part of the deal. God has been true. God has been faithful. 169 00:15:38.760 --> 00:15:43.760 In Luke chapter 2, verse 6, the Bible tells us, and so it was that while they were 170 00:15:43.760 --> 00:15:48.760 there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. So she brought forth her 171 00:15:48.760 --> 00:15:53.760 firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes. That's an amazing study. 172 00:15:53.760 --> 00:15:59.760 We did this last year, but if you're interested, circle the word swaddling. They 173 00:15:59.760 --> 00:16:07.760 wrapped Jesus in strips of linen that were reserved for the sacrificial lambs that 174 00:16:07.760 --> 00:16:13.760 would be offered up at the temple. I don't know where Mary and Joseph got these 175 00:16:14.760 --> 00:16:18.760 things. I don't know if an angel just made sure there's a basket of these 176 00:16:18.760 --> 00:16:23.760 wrappings or the very place they went into because there was no room in the end. 177 00:16:23.760 --> 00:16:29.760 That's all that they had. We don't know. We just know this. That the sacrificial 178 00:16:29.760 --> 00:16:36.760 lamb had to come out of McDowell eater and had to be wrapped in swaddling clothes 179 00:16:37.760 --> 00:16:42.760 because once a lamb was inspected to be perfect, they did the equivalent of our 180 00:16:42.760 --> 00:16:48.760 bubble wrap. When you bubble wrap something, you're protecting it against everything. 181 00:16:48.760 --> 00:16:52.760 This is an announcement that this is the one come into the world that's perfect. 182 00:16:52.760 --> 00:16:58.760 He's the Redeemer, he's the one, and he's bubble wrapped. There's no flaws in him. 183 00:16:58.760 --> 00:17:05.760 He's perfect. What a remarkable hint. They laid him in a feeding trough. 184 00:17:06.760 --> 00:17:10.760 A manger. Because there was no room for them in the end. 185 00:17:10.760 --> 00:17:15.760 There was in the same country, shepherds living out in the fields keeping watch over 186 00:17:15.760 --> 00:17:19.760 their flock by night and behold an angel of the Lord stood before them. 187 00:17:19.760 --> 00:17:24.760 There's just one. This one angel pops up and the glory of the Lord shown around him 188 00:17:24.760 --> 00:17:29.760 that had to be amazing. They were greatly afraid. The shepherds were greatly afraid. 189 00:17:30.760 --> 00:17:35.760 Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good tidings of 190 00:17:35.760 --> 00:17:41.760 great joy which will be to all people or all nations. For there is born to you this day 191 00:17:41.760 --> 00:17:46.760 in the city of David. It's important. A Savior who is Christ the Lord. 192 00:17:46.760 --> 00:17:52.760 And this will be the sign to you. Watch. You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes 193 00:17:52.760 --> 00:17:56.760 lined by a manger. You see it's a sign. It's odd. You're going to find a baby. 194 00:17:56.760 --> 00:17:59.760 He's going to be wrapped in swaddling clothes at a manger. 195 00:17:59.760 --> 00:18:04.760 So who wraps their babies in swaddling clothes? This one lays him in a manger of feeding trough. 196 00:18:04.760 --> 00:18:09.760 This is the one. And an angel announces it. That's impressive. 197 00:18:09.760 --> 00:18:14.760 Well, verse 13 says, and suddenly it's almost like heaven couldn't handle itself. 198 00:18:14.760 --> 00:18:18.760 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly house praising God 199 00:18:18.760 --> 00:18:24.760 and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, on earth peace and goodwill toward men. 200 00:18:24.760 --> 00:18:29.760 The great Christmas announcement. How awesome is that? There's a purpose. 201 00:18:29.760 --> 00:18:33.760 And here's what that purpose is. That purpose gives answers. 202 00:18:33.760 --> 00:18:38.760 Jesus Christ is the purpose. Jesus Christ gives the answer. The answer is Jesus. 203 00:18:38.760 --> 00:18:42.760 I know, listen, I know you've seen that on a bumper sticker. Jesus is the answer. 204 00:18:42.760 --> 00:18:47.760 But what's the question? Yes, it's true. He's the answer. 205 00:18:47.760 --> 00:18:52.760 But what is your question? Whatever your question is, it is true. He is the answer. 206 00:18:52.760 --> 00:18:57.760 God not only tells us, and I'll just paraphrase it in Jeremiah 31-31, 207 00:18:57.760 --> 00:19:03.760 that he's going to change your life by moving inside of you to establish his real kingdom. 208 00:19:03.760 --> 00:19:10.760 The Christmas Christ is coming again. His return is near. Are you ready? God bless you. 209 00:19:14.760 --> 00:19:18.760 This Jack Kemp's podcast, as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities, 210 00:19:18.760 --> 00:19:23.760 are listener supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? 211 00:19:23.760 --> 00:19:29.760 Go to jackhibs.com to learn more and stay connected.