Big Idea: Jesus is Lord! He calls us to submit ourselves to his good and perfect will. We quickly learn that the biblical worldview teaches us that life is not all about us. We are not the lords and ladies of our lives. Jesus is the ultimate authority and he is calling us to embrace his good ways. The glory of the good news of Jesus is that through the Spirit we delight to walk in his ways.
Psalm 97:9 (ESV) — 9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
4 things, from the text, that teach us that life is not about us:
What they ________________ name the baby
Luke 2:21 (ESV) — 21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Matthew 1:21 (ESV) — 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
What they _________________ do for purification
Luke 2:22 (ESV) — 22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses…
Leviticus 12:1–8 (pg. 84)
On the one hand, we bring into the world one who bears the image of God and is a potential worshiper of the most high. On the other hand we bring into the world one who inherits the sinfulness of Adam and has the potential to be a terror to society and an object of God’s wrath. Parenthood may seem like a mere earthly endeavor but on the contrary, it has eternal consequences. And the process of purification in the Law of Moses was a way to remind God’s people of this tension.
Who they _____________________ give their son to
Luke 2:22–23 (ESV) — 22 …they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”)
There was a second reason why Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple: “to present him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22). The purification of the mother was tied to the presentation of her son. This too was part of God’s law, going all the way back to the exodus. God said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine” (Ex. 13:2). With these words, God laid his rightful claim to the life of every firstborn son in Israel. Yet parents were still allowed to raise their own children. All they had to do was acknowledge God’s sovereignty by redeeming their sons with a sacrifice (Ex. 13:13–15), which was offered not long after the children were born. When parents presented their children to God, they were setting them apart for his service.
Proverbs 16:9 (ESV) — 9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
What they __________________________ sacrifice
Luke 2:24 (ESV) — 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
Psalm 24:1–2 (ESV) — 1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, 2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
Job 41:11 (ESV) — 11 Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
We are not Lord of our money. What we do with our money is not up to us, it is subject to the Lord.
