NOT A MATTER OF WORTH BUT BIRTH

December 20, 2009 am
MF Blume
Matthew 2:11 KJV  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

(Trivia:  Not "And when come into the stable." Jesus was two years old when the wise men arrived, and at a house, which is the reason Herod sought to slay the children two years of age and under.)
Luke 2:8-14 KJV  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  (9)  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  (10)  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  (11)  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  (12)  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  (13)  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,  (14)  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Matthew 3:16-17 KJV  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:  (17)  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

IT'S NOT A MATTER OF WORTH, BUT BIRTH


In both instances above, from the birth where  we see treasures given to Jesus, angels praising Him to his baptism when he was declared to be God's Son in whom God was well pleased, Jesus had not done anything good in the world yet.
  • And look at all the praise and attention God gave to Him.

WORTH is something we determine for someone who has done many impressive things.
  • But it was not a matter of worth for Jesus, BUT ONLY BIRTH.
  • Just the fact that he was GOD'S SON made God do all these wonderful things.

At his baptism he had not even done one miracle yet until the wedding of Cana and water made wine.
John 2:11 KJV  This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.



The bible stresses the same picture in the story of TWO SONS.
Luke 15:11-24 And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.


The prodigal son came to himself and saw his mess.
  • He felt like a "SERVANT"
  • He felt that being a son was a matter of being WORTHY or not.
  • Since he looked at his performance and saw it was a bit bad, he felt he ought to forget about blessings from the Father for being a son.
  • Settle with servanthood.
Luke 15:18-19 KJV  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,  (19)  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

He was wrong.
  • The element that made him a SON was the fact that he had a FATHER.
  • And nothing could change that.
  • Do not apply anything more than BIRTH to the thoughts of what makes you a SON OF GOD.
  • Worthiness is not the issue at all.
  • Birth makes us sons of God.
  • Not worth.

The son did not realize it is not an appeal to worth to be called a son but an appeal to birth.
  • You just have to be born to be called a son.
  • Enjoy the fatted calf and a party just because you were BORN in the family!
  • BIRTH qualifies you.

What comes to our minds when we think of what God looks for in order to bless us.
PERFORMANCE.
  • God knew that and this is why this story is in the bible.
  • He knows people have a performance based consciousness.


New birth makes us His children.
  • That is the reason the Bible says salvation is not by works, lest any man should boast.
  • People would credit themselves with salvation, if men are saved by how good they can be.
  • And God will not allow that.
  • It's His mercy and His good works that save us.
  • His good works were providing us with the work of the Cross.
  • And He alone deserves glory for OUR salvation.

As soon as we are saved with water baptism, the bible teaches that we are without spot and blemish.
Ephesians 5:25-27 KJV  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;  (26)  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,  (27)  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Our instinct of sin-consciousness has caused us to think Paul referred to Jesus presenting the church to Himself when He comes back and checks us out to ensure we are good enough after having been saved and lived in this world for several years.
  • But it is actually talking about how faith and BAPTISM cleanses us from sins, so that we are in that instant at salvation without spot and blemish.
Acts 22:16 KJV  And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

We are washed from our sins in baptism when we are saved!
Ephesians 4:22-24 KJV  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;  (23)  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;  (24)  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

The same book says THINK DIFFERENTLY.
  • GET YOUR MIND RENEWED and realize you are righteous and truly holy.


The prodigal son thought he had to be WORTHY to be called his father's son.
  • He thought his actions that determined worth or unworth were the grounds by which he was a son or not.
  • You are not called a son based upon what you have done.
  • You are called a son because you were BORN INTO THE FATHER'S HOUSE ONE DAY.
  • Whether you even had a chance to do any good thing yet or not, YOU ARE STILL GOD'S SON.

Your good deeds are never going to be good enough.
  • Our ability to do good deeds is called our righteousness.
Isaiah 64:6 KJV  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

So forget trying to be worthy by how many good deeds you can do.
  • The best you can do is like filthy rags.

So how can we be without spot or blemish if the best our righteousness can be is like filthy rags?
  • It has nothing to do with WORTH but BIRTH.
  • Just be God;'s son.

If you slip away and get into sin, you remove yourself from the family like the prodigal son did.
  • The father considered the son DEAD when he was outside his house, because he said this:
Luke 15:24 KJV  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

But to get back to the father did not require the son to do a lot of good works, but just to come home and be himself!

We are SONS because WE are BORN OF THE SPIRIT.
  • The Spirit of His Son is in us, and we are SONS.
Galatians 4:6-7 KJV  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.  (7)  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 

Did it say we are the children because of all the good works we have done in the world?
  • What made us sons?
  • FAITH!
  • What made us privy to all the blessings from God?
  • BIRTH.
  • Bondage comes from preaching that teaches you must make yourself worthy of God's blessings.
  • This is not the truth.
  • The truth is that we are blessed because we are God's children.
  • Then entire difference of our understanding of a God of judgment was made when we were born again and He became our FATHER.

Outside of Jesus you cannot come to God.
  • So God is too holy for you to approach outside of Jesus.
  • But when we were born again, we received Jesus' actual holiness and the blood made us draw nigh to God.
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

THE KILLING OF THE FATTED CALF IS SACRIFICE OF JESUS.
  • The son came home without need to be so good in himself with many good deeds and works, but in association with a sacrifice being made.

It did not say we are made nigh by doing all sorts of good deeds.
  • The blood of Jesus made us NIGH TO GOD.
Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 

Did it say we draw near having done all sorts of charitable gymnastics?
  • No.
  • We draw near with FAITH.
  • We do not get closer to God by doing more good things.


When Jesus was born, angels worshiped Him.

Shepherds came and worshiped.
  • Wise men from the end of the world came to worship Him.
  • Anna the prophetess prophesied over Him.
  • Simeon prophesied over Him.
  • Why all this attention?
  • He was a baby!
  • Babies can do nothing to deserve such glory!
  • Why did He receive it?
  • Because it is not a matter of worth, but birth.
  • He was SON OF GOD.
  • That was the reason for His blessings!
  • The prodigal son had it all wrong.
  • As a baby, Jesus did nothing yet to make Him worthy of blessings.
  • All He had to do was be whom He was!
  • GOD'S SON.
  • He simply had to be born!
  • We say that He received blessings not because of anything other than the fact that He was Who He was.

We say that, but we do not apply it to ourselves!
  • The prodigal son felt he had to be WORTHY to be a son by means of good deeds and behaviour.
  • All one needs to be a son is to be BORN IN THE FAMILY!
  • The father heard the son declare he was not worthy to be called son, so call him "servant".
  • But what did the Father say after he heard his son say that?
  • Did he say, "Okay, you will be like my hired servants, since you are not worthy to be my son."?
  • No.
Luke 15:21-24 KJV  And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.  (22)  But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:  (23)  And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:  (24)  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

Notice the SON knew that BEING A SON allows one to have FAVOUR.

He wanted that position of SON so he could get all sorts of blessings.
  • But he thought that position was something HE HAD TO BE WORTHY OF.

Notice how the verses starts with "BUT".
  • The son said he is not worthy, "BUT... THE FATHER SAID... THIS MY SON..."

THE SON thought it was a matter of worth, BUT the Father overlooked all his deeds and called him SON, anyway.


We think it is all about how many good deeds we do or how good of a people we are.
  • But...
  • But God does not look for those things to consider us His Sons.
  • YOU ARE A SON BY MERE BIRTH!

We need to obliterate from our minds the concept that we come to WORTHINESS by our good deeds before we can think of ourselves as God's sons.


He ignored the son's words explaining the son was no longer worthy to be called son, and said, "This MY SON..."
  • He was still son no matter how mistakenly he acted.
  • What a glorious truth the son learned that day!
  • What a difference it would be for him from then on!
  • What a revelation!

This is not introduced as the title many people give to this parable, "The parable of the prodigal son"
Luke 15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:

And there is a whole lesson on the second elder son as well.