The Victim!

TEXT:  MATTHEW 1:21: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:  for he shall save his people from their sins.

VICTIM:  a person who is harmed or killed by another; a living creature which is slain and offered as sacrifice ; one harmed by circumstances or condition.  [Synonyms: prey; sufferer; sacrifice; martyr].

Jesus fulfilled all of these definitions.  Romans 5:8  God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

JESUS in the Greek is Iesous [ee-ay-sooce’].  In the Hebrew it is Jehoshua (Yehoshua), meaning Jehovah saved.  In Hebrew it’s also Jehovah or Yehovah who is the self-Existent; Eternal.  Another root word of His name is yasha’ (yawshah’) meaning to be open, wide or free, i.e. to be safe; to free or succor:  save; savior, deliver, help, preserved, salvation, avenging, defend, rescue, victory.

1. HE EXISTED IN THE BEGINNING:

Affirmed in the O.T:  Psalm 2:7  I will declare the decree:  the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Confirmed by Christ:  John 8:58  Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Jesus was in existence even before He was manifested as “Mary’s baby”.  

Take a look at the account of the Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace.  Daniel 3:25  He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.  How did Nebuchadnezzar know what the “Son of God” looked like when he hadn’t even been born yet as Mary’s baby?  Nebuchadnezzar had had a revelation of the Son of God before because he (Nebuchadnezzar) had been in Eden, the garden of God!  

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  Verse 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

This “beginning” does not denote a calendar date, but “a person”, the Man, Christ Jesus!!  Genesis 1:1  In the beginning (Christ Himself) God created the heaven and the earth.  2 Corinthians 5:19: To wit (know), that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.  Everything began in Christ and everything was “fulfilled” or made “complete” in Christ!  Colossians 1:18  He is the head of the body, the church:  who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.  Revelation 3:14  Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.   

2. JESUS’S BIRTH:

1. Predicted:  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.

“Immanuel” interpreted means “God with us”!  That’s why we don’t have to die to go

anywhere to “be with Him”!  He has made Himself available to us through Jesus Christ, and He

now dwells “in us”!!  

2 Corinthians 6:16:  What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?  For ye are the temple

of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their

God, and they shall be my people.

2. Fulfilled:  Matthew 1:18-25  He was born as “Mary’s baby” just as the Prophet Isaiah predicted over seven hundred years before it came to pass.

In the fullness of time:  Galatians 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent

forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.

III.   HIS HUMANITY WAS FORETOLD:

A. Genesis 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and

her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.  

1 Corinthians 15:45-47  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last

Adam was made a quickening spirit.  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that

which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.  The first man is of the earth, earthy; the

second man is the Lord from heaven.

        B. Took man’s nature:  John 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.      

Hebrew 2:9-18  But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering

of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for

every man.

10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons

unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is

not ashamed to call them brethren,

12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise

unto thee.

13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath

given me.

14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took

part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is,

the devil;

15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a

merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of

the people.

18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are

tempted.

Philippians 2:7-8  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,

and was made in the likeness of men:  and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,

and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

        C.  A Man:  1 Timothy 2:5  There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man

Christ Jesus.  

Romans 5:17  For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive

abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.  

Romans 5:19  As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of

one shall many be made righteous.

IV.    THIS VICTIM HAD A MISSION (errand; task; assignment; calling):

1. Do God’s Will:  John 6:38  I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Jesus’s coming “down from heaven” was not Him descending through the clouds, but it was Him stepping out of the higher realms of spiritual elevation and moving into the realm of the flesh to fulfill the will of His Father, and that was to restore the creation back unto Himself!

2 Corinthians 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.

2. Save Sinners:  Luke 19:10  For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
3. Bring in Everlasting Life:  Daniel 9:24  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

This was all fulfilled through Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection!  Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22).  Some synonyms for “remission” are:  forgiveness; cancellation; suspension; pardon; payment!!!

4. Destroy Satan’s works:  Hebrews 2:14  For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.  1 John 3:8  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
5. Fulfill the O.T.:  Matthew 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:  I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Jesus “fulfilled the law” by manifesting the total of the “love of the Father” in that flesh body He lived in!  He was the “love” of the Father walking around on two feet!  Romans 13:8  Owe no man anything, but to love one another:  for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

6. Give Life:  John 10:10, 28  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:  I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”.  Verse 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

This “abundant life” God wants us to have is “Zoe life” (eternal) life!  One doesn’t have to die to get “eternal” life!  Eternal life is “not dying at all” because death has been conquered through the death of Jesus Christ!  The “abundant life” isn’t “just making ends meet, nor “just surviving”, but God wants His people to “thrive” [prosper; succeed; grow; flourish; bloom] in every aspect of our lives!!!  But in order for us to have this “eternal life”, we must “know” something!!!  We must have “knowledge” of who God is and who we are in Him!!!  We must become cognizant, acquainted with God!  We must be able to apprehend, comprehend, recognize, and appreciate Him!!!  We must become conscious, aware or perceive, enlightened; gain insight of who our Great God is so that we can “live”!!  

John 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.  

Hosea 4:6  My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge.  

Philippian 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection”!

~ Apostle Gracie Perry