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Welcome to the Gospel Focused Family Moment. I'm your host, Eric Novak. Each week we pause as a family to remember what matters most, the good news of Jesus. This podcast is brought to you by gospelfocused.com.
For our opening liturgy today, I'll be your leader and ask a question, and then you follow along and repeat with your family. Christian family, what do we believe? We believe in God the Father, Maker of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. We believe in the Holy Spirit, who gives us life and makes us one.
Our scripture reading for today comes from Luke 1:35. "And the angel answered her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.'" This is the word of the Lord.
Hello, friends. We're in the middle of studying the Apostles' Creed together. A creed is basically a list of things that people believe. That's what the word means: Credo, or "I believe." So let's start by reading the creed, and then we'll unpack the line we're going to be talking about today:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Today we're jumping into that third line: "who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary." Who are we talking about? Well, we're talking about Jesus. Last week we talked about how Jesus is our prophet, our priest, and our king. And this week we get to talk about how He came to earth. Here's the wonder of it: the God who made everything did not stay far off in heaven. He became a real human being, just like us.
The book of Hebrews tells us why that matters. We're going to quote from Hebrews 2:14 through 17:
"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil… Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."
So Jesus was made like his brothers in every respect so that He could rescue us. He became one of us on purpose, to save us. Let's read the story of Jesus together in Luke:
"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn."
That's from Luke 2:1 through 7. Now picture the day it actually happened. When Jesus was born, the most powerful man in the world was also making his way across history. Augustus Caesar, the emperor of Rome, was gaining more and more power and using it to force Israel and most of the world to serve him. When Caesar entered a town, it was an event of epic proportions. There would have been a huge parade, Caesar in a fancy chariot surrounded by his highest-ranking soldiers, with musicians and banners and symbols of all his victories. There would have been sacrifices to false gods and a grand public speech. Caesar went to great lengths to show that he was the one most deserving of praise.
Isn't it something that the God of the universe, the One who made the very ground Caesar walked on, was at the same time coming to earth with no recognition at all, as a tiny baby? No grand ceremony, no fancy speeches, no soldiers or banners, just a dirty stable and a crying God-baby. Instead of a big parade, the lowest of the low came to visit Him: people who tended sheep. Jesus was born around animals and likely laid in a feeding trough. It was dirty and smelly, and it wasn't clean at all.
In this we see God emptying Himself of what He deserved, and in that same emptying, God poured out praise on Him as the name above all names. Even at His birth there is a glimpse of His royalty. Wise men bring gifts that name who He is: gold for a King, frankincense for God, and myrrh for the Suffering Servant who would one day die for us.
Everything in our world points us toward becoming a well-loved celebrity, someone who is liked and has influence. But isn't it strange that God values those who have no influence at all? Through Jesus, He makes a way for people who have no hope of saving themselves to be saved by Him. It might be tempting to think that the point of this story is to become the most humble person you know. But the real point is that God came with no status of His own, to save those who trust Him for everything they need. And that is where this leaves us: not trying to earn our way to God, but leaning on Him completely.
Our memory verse for today comes from Matthew 1:23: "They shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us." Let's pray together. Jesus, we thank you for humbling yourself and coming as a servant to live the perfect life that we couldn't live. It's crazy to think that the One who made mountains was born in a dirty cave. Help us to never forget who you are and what you've done. In your holy name, amen.
Thanks for joining us for this week's Gospel Focused Family Moment. I'm your host, Eric Novak. Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus and your hearts focused on the gospel. Go as a family in the peace of your Savior and closest friend, Jesus Christ. See you next week.
Thank you for being part of what we do at gospelfocused.com. If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it with a friend. Every person we reach brings us closer to our goal of sharing the gospel with every family around the world, by the grace of Jesus.
