Nothing is impossible with God
Psalm 8:1-9
Luke 1:5-25
Well today, we start a new series which will go for the next 10 weeks.
We will be looking through the first 8 chapters of Luke and looking at all the interactions that Jesus had with different people when he walked on this earth in the flesh, 2000 years ago, from John the Baptist, whom we are looking at today, to Simeon, the prophet, to the devil. The Jews, his disciples, a centurion, a prostitute, his own family, and many more.
Jesus met with people from all walks of life, from the rich to the poor, from the religious, to the non-religious, from those considered important in society, to those considered outcasts in society, - Jesus met with them all.
And just as when Jesus met with these individuals, he changed their lives, and they either embraced him or rejected him, I pray that as we go through this series, that we won’t just have a true historical account of Jesus, which Doctor Luke gives us, but we will have a deeper understanding of who Jesus is, in such a way that our lives will be changed and transformed for the better.
When it comes to the person of Jesus, you have to make a choice, you are either with him or you’re against him- there is no sitting on the fence.
What a tragedy, it would be, if we could by the end of this series, give all the historical facts of who Jesus is and what he did, without our hearts being moved.
What a waste of time that would be.
If we get to the end of these 10 weeks and you think that Jesus was just a good teacher, or just a good bloke, then that would be sad!
Jesus is the saviour of the world, who came to rescue you from your sin and give you eternal life.
This fact about Jesus should overwhelm us with Joy, just as it first overwhelmed John the Baptist with Joy, when he first met Jesus, when he was still in his mother’s womb, and Jesus was in his mother’s womb.
When Elizabeth- John the Baptist’s mother, who was 6 months pregnant with John, met with Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was a pregnant with Jesus, listen to how John reacted in the womb to meeting Jesus
Look at verse 43-44 with me:
And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
John the Baptist, whom was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb, as it tells us in verse 15, leaped for Joy as he Jesus, who was still in the mother’s womb came near to him.
I love this!
It reminds me of Psalm 8:2 which says this,
Out of the mouth of babies and infants you have established strength, because of your foes to still the enemy and the avenger
John the Baptist had not yet been born, he was still in the mother’s womb and yet he was still able to leap for Joy in his mother’s womb. He wasn’t even able to speak and yet he was still able to glorify God, by leaping for Joy to the response of knowing the savour of the world was near Him.
Friends, we don’t even have to speak sometimes in order to give the Glory to God.
Psalm 19 tells us that heavens declare the glory of God, the sky above proclaim his handiwork, the sun, moon and stars pour out speech day after day to declare God’s glory, and they do this without even speaking.
Friends, all of creation gives glory to God, and we can either get on board with that, or we can just ride our own glory train, which in the end leads to destruction.
When Jesus was entering Jerusalem as the promised king, and the crowd were waving the palm trees and giving him glory, some of the religious leaders were upset that the crowd was honouring him, and Jesus in his reply to his critics said this:
From Luke 19:40
Jesus answered: “I tell you if these were silent, the very stones would cry out”
Friends, we were created to Glorify God, the whole creation was created to Glorify God, and the way we glorify God, is by humbling acknowledging that Jesus, God’s son, is the king of this world.
And we as God’s people, just like John the Baptist, we can most glorify God, when we enjoy Jesus. As we make more of Jesus, and make less of ourselves, just like John the Baptist did, we Glorify God.
God will be glorified in all his creation- that is who God is- there is no-one greater, and so he will be glorified because that is what he created everything for. And so in the end, even the evil that pervades our world, God will get the glory in that, as he eventually brings it all to justice, even those who in the end reluctantly confess that Jesus is Lord and saviour and bow the knee will give glory to God…..but friends, I don’t want to begrudgingly give God the glory, I don’t want to be a dead stone giving God the glory, I want to be a leaping for joy kind a person, leaping for Joy even amongst suffering kind of a person, were God gets the glory, as I enjoy Jesus in all of life, the good, the bad and the ugly parts.
God gets the glory when we learn to acknowledge that there is nothing within us which is worthy of God’s glory, but it is all the grace of God given to us.
This is where doctor Luke starts his account of the life of Jesus- at a place where an old couple knew that there was nothing from themselves which could give God glory, but it was all from God’s grace, that they could give him Glory in the first place.
Luke starts his account of Jesus by looking at a couple- Zechariah and Elizabeth, that couldn’t have children because they were old and the woman was barren.
Ring any bells?
Remember to whom God first made his promises through? Abraham and Sarai, who also couldn’t have any children.
Look at Luke 1:5-7 with me:
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
So, Luke starts his account of Jesus, by looking at Zechariah- a priest and his wife Elizabeth who couldn’t have any children. And even though Zechariah and Elizabeth were both right with God, even though they were righteous, even though they walked blamelessly before him, even though they obeyed God’s laws- they were still unable to have children.
In those days amongst the Jews and even to some degree today, if a woman could not bear a child, it was considered a curse from God due to some sin that they had committed, and yet clearly in this case, both Elizabeth and Zechariah were right with God, and yet they were still unable to have a child.
Why was Luke so quick to let us know of this fact- that Elizabeth couldn’t have any children?
Well, first of all, Zechariah and Elizabeth symbolised the depraved spiritual nature of Israel. Israel had failed in whom God wanted them to be, they were no longer a great nation, but they were a vassal nation of the Roman Empire. At this time in their history, they hadn’t had a prophet speak on God’s behalf for over 400 years. As a nation, they had been waiting for a comforter and rescuer to come, but just like Zechariah and Elizabeth, who couldn’t have children, it appeared that all hope was gone.
Elizabeth and Zechariah also remind us that as we approach God in prayer, and look at who he is through the scriptures, we must acknowledge who we are. Acknowledge that we are human beings who have limitations.
We cannot approach Jesus, with an arrogant attitude, but we must approach Jesus as humans who are limited and we approach a God who is limitless.
We have seen through the scriptures that those people who have approached God with pride and arrogance, God, in his grace, yes, in his grace, often brought them down to a lowly place.
As Abraham and Sara approached God, as Zechariah and Elizabeth approached God, they acknowledged that they were helpless to bring about God’s promises themselves, they acknowledged that humanly it was impossible for them to have children, but with God, all things are possible.
It is clear that even though Zechariah and Elizabeth knew they couldn’t have children, they continued to pray to God, and ask for a child anyway.
This is obvious, when the angel turns up in the temple and tells Zechariah that their prayer has been answered.
Look at verse 13 with me:
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John
I love this:
Zechariah and Elizabeth had been praying for the humanly impossible, and finally God answered their prayer and gives them a child.
Friends, we read in the scriptures time after time, that God worked in the humanly impossible- and why?
So that he gets all the glory, he gets all the honour, so no-one is left in any doubt that He is God.
Friends, if you are facing something which seems humanly impossible, I want to encourage you to keep praying, if you are facing something were the worldly stats just stay stop, let me encourage you to keep praying, if you are facing something which people have told you, that it is just impossible, keep praying……God works in the humanly impossible.
You can even thank God, for that humanly hopeless situation, because you know that God will get all the glory- you know that God has brought you to that lowly place, where you have to rely on him. That impossible situation is God’s grace to you.
God doesn’t work through pride and arrogance, but he works through the lowly and humble.
And yet for poor Zechariah who had been praying earnestly for a child, when that prayer was finally answered and the angel promised him a child, he just couldn’t believe that God gave him what he and his wife had been praying for.
He questioned the angel,
Look at verses 18-20 with me:
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
God grants Zechariah’s request of a son, and God delivers this message to him via an angel and yet, he still doesn’t believe his prayer has been answered.
You would think that after seeing and hearing an angel- he may have been convinced that his prayer was answered- but he wasn’t convinced!
It is like the story in Acts 12 when Peter was put in prison.
Peter had been put in prison and was facing a possible death sentence, and so the believers gathered in a nearby house and prayed that Peter would be saved. And as we know Peter walked out of prison with an angel, God opened the prison doors and the next thing is that Peter turned up at the believers’ house, who had been praying for him.
But when the servant girl went to the door and told the others that Peter was there- they couldn’t believe it- they had been praying for Peter’s safety, but when Peter turned up at the door, they couldn’t believe that God answered their prayer. Answered so quickly!
For Zechariah, it was like he was going through all the emotions, praying, burning incense, carrying out his priestly duties, without really expecting God to do anything. Or perhaps he didn’t expect God to answer his prayer in that way, perhaps he thought God would provide them children another way- fostering perhaps…., or some other way, but for his wife Elizabeth to actually have a baby, Zechariah may have thought, deep down, it just wasn’t possible for God to do that!
Friends, I wonder what we would do, if God answered some of our prayers, in the affirmative and quickly.
Would we be ready for our prayers to be answered?
Would we be surprised if our prayers were answered?
What if we prayed for another 100 people to come to this church next Sunday?
Would we be ready?
We may say we want souls to be saved, but would we be ready?
We may pray that uncle Bob comes to repent and believe in Jesus, but deep down, do we believe that uncle bob is in the “too hard basket” for God?
Friends, we pray to a God to whom nothing is impossible for.
I think perhaps subconsciously we may limit God at times in our thoughts, we domesticate him, we listen to what the impossibilities are, and put those limits on a limitless God.
Nothing is impossible with God.
Expect great things from God, attempt great things.