 Jesus is God the Son  --- So What?  We say in the creed:  “I believe in God the Father,  AND …

 His only Son  Our Lord  Who was …  Conceived by the Holy Spirit  Born of the Virgin Mary …  because the Bible says …

 The angel said, “Joseph, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:20)

 You shall call him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21  The “Je” is short for Jehovah, the name for God  The “sus” is based on the word that means “save.”

 1. Because of what the angel said to Mary:  You are to call him Jesus which means “God Saves”  He’ll get the throne of David (He will be the eternal king)

 2. Because he fulfilled the prophecy about Bethlehem: (found in Old Testament)  Micah 5:2 says:  In you, Bethlehem, will be born the ruler  He already existed before he was born  He’ll give peace to the earth

 3. Because the prophecy wasn’t easy to fulfill. It had to be Bethlehem, because the Messiah had to be born in David’s home town. But Mary and Joseph didn’t even live inn Bethlehem  God moved the Roman emperor to tell people to return to their ancestor’s home town to register. All the hotels were full --- but God moved an inn keeper to give up his stable.  MORE MEANINGFUL NAMES:

 Isaiah had written, “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call him Immanuel.”  The “el” at the end means God.  The “imma” means “with” The “nu” means “us”  So Immanuel means ___ ____ ___

 Note Psalm 2:2: The rulers are in revolt against the Lord and His anointed one.  That “anointed one” in Hebrew language sounds like “messiah.”  The people of Israel anointed (poured oil on” their kings, so calling someone “messiah” means he is a king.

 The people of Israel anointed prophets and priests as well as kings.  As our prophet, Jesus tells us the will of God. “you have heard it said, Do not kill, but I say to you, if you hate, you are a murderer.”  As our priest, Jesus is our go-between with the father. “As our priest, he “put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26) and he lives now to pray for us.

 God promised to king David that one of his descendants would be king forever.  (2 Samuel 7:14)  So the people of Israel knew that the Messiah would be a descendant of David.  The Christmas story mentions that both mary and Joseph were descendants of David.

 The people of Israel waited many years for this king. When Jesus did come, many “did not receive him. But those who did receive him, who believed in him, he gave them the power to be children of God.” (John 1:12)

 Christ means the same as Messiah.  Christ is from Greek language,  Messiah is from Hebrew language.  They both mean “annointed.”  When you say “Christ Jesus,” you are saying “anointed-king Jesus.”

 This also comes from Psalm 2. In verse 7, God says to the anointed one (Messiah): you are my Son.  So Son reminds us that Jesus is the Messiah.  Son also reminds us that Jesus is God. “The Jews threw stones at Jesus, because he called God his father, making himself equal with God.” John 5:13

 This comes from Daniel, chapter 7. Daniel saw a throne in heaven (representing God), and next to it “someone like a son of man. coming on the clouds of heaven … his kingdom shall not be destroyed.”  So when Jesus called himself “son of Man,” he meant “I am that superman that Daniel saw in heaven. I am the king who will rule forever.”

 When Jesus was on trial, the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of God?” Jesus answered, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power, coming with the clouds of heaven.”  The priests became angry and dondemned him to die.

 John 1:1 says “In the beginning was the Word.” The Greek word is “logos.” It meant the way that God connected with the world do get things done. The Greeks did not know how God did this. But later John 1:14 says “the word became flesh.” In other words, God gets stuff done by having his son become a person.

 Show God to us. “No one has seen God at any time, but the only Son has made God known to us.”  Take care of sin. “Christ died for sins once and for all, to bring us to God”  (so we can depend on God in our problems now and have eternal life after death)

 If he was only God and not man, could he have died for us?  If he was only man and not God, could his death be sufficient to pay for everyone?

 Doing what God does:  Power over nature (stopping the storm)  Power to create (making many bread and fish from just a few)  Miracles of healing

 The Bible says so: “He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20)  People called him God: Thomas said, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28)  Jesus forgave sins. The Pharisees said, “Who can forgive sins but God alone” (Mark 2:7)  Jesus will judge the world. “The father has given him authority to judge” (John 5:27)

 He has the qualities of God.  Eternal. “I am the alpha and the omega” (Revelation 1:8)  Unchangeable “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8)  All-knowing. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, you know all things.” (John 21:17)  Present everywhere. Jesus said, “Surely I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20)

 He has the qualities of Man.  He is in God’s image --- in a perfect way  He lived a life in total dependence on God to Father, just like we want to  He suffered like a person: hunger and grief  He was able to die

 Dear Jesus,  Thank you for being truly man, so you could die for us.  Thank you for being truly God, so you could give us eternal life through your death.