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[0:00] Merry Christmas. If you looked at the title of the message this morning, The Infinite God Becomes Jewish Flesh.

[0:19] And at this time I'd like you to turn to the Old Testament, the book of Psalms, and please turn to Psalm 139.

[0:34] And this morning we'll be looking at Psalm 139, verses 1 through 14. O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

[0:52] You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

[1:12] Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, you know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me.

[1:27] Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is too high. I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your spirit?

[1:39] Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in shoal, behold, you are there.

[1:54] If I take to the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will lay hold of me.

[2:10] If I say, surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night, even the darkness is not dark to you, and the night is as bright as the day.

[2:28] Darkness and light are alike to you. For you formed my inward parts. You wove me in my mother's womb.

[2:40] I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well.

[2:59] There are a few passages that are so comprehensive in describing the character and nature of God as Psalm 139. In it, we find an expression of the infinite power of God, the infinite presence of God, and the infinite knowledge of God, all wrapped up in this one psalm.

[3:17] Expressions of those are found, however, throughout the Bible. It's just that in this particular area, we find them kind of grouped all together. For the few minutes that we have remaining together today, what I want to do is engage with you in a superficial contemplation of the infinite and sovereign God.

[3:41] And why does it have to be superficial? It's because that's the best we can do. We are not going to scratch the surface.

[3:52] We are going to try to scratch the scratch on the surface because we are talking about an infinite being. And if you understand anything about the meaning of the word, it's already well out of bounds to all of us mere mortals.

[4:07] What does the infinite nature of God require? And what does infinite mean? We refer to ourselves as finite beings.

[4:21] That means we all have our limitations. We all have certain parameters within which we can operate, and it's just beyond us to go beyond them.

[4:34] We cannot do it. But when you use the word infinite, you are talking about a being with no limitations.

[4:50] We can't even conceive of someone having no limitations. And the areas that we want to address just briefly are what's commonly referred to as the omnis, O-M-N-I, the omnis.

[5:08] And when they are put with certain other words, we get a very brief description of what it means to be infinite. First of all, God is omniscient.

[5:22] If you break the word down, it's simply omniscience. And the word science means simply to know or to learn. To know. So God possesses all knowledge.

[5:36] And as the psalmist said, God even knows your down-sitting and your uprising. And he knows it not only for you, but he knows it for everybody. This means, in God's omniscience, it means he knows everything.

[5:52] And he never learns anything. You know, there is a movement about, I think it is somewhat, perhaps somewhat exhausted, let us hope so anyway, but it was quite a controversial issue among Christians probably five or ten years ago.

[6:11] And it was called Open Theism. Don't know if it's familiar to you lay people or not, but we read about it all the time in journals and catalogs and theological books.

[6:22] Open Theism. And it is the point of view set forth by a number of respectable theologians who take the position that as regards future events, God is just as ignorant of them as you are.

[6:36] Because God doesn't really know anything until it actually happens. He doesn't know the decisions that people are going to make. Well, of course, this flies in the face of traditional position and the biblical position that God knows everything and that there is nothing that escapes him and it's part of his job description as an infinite being.

[6:57] And we, of course, endorse that. We do not subscribe to the Open Theism idea at all because God does know everything.

[7:09] And that means God knows all your thoughts and God knows what you're going to be thinking an hour from now. And God not only knows your thoughts, but he knows the thoughts of a Chinese peasant living someplace in central China just as well as he knows yours.

[7:28] And he knows the thoughts of everybody. He knows their name. He knows the hairs of their head. He knows everything about everybody. That's what infinite requires.

[7:40] Infinite means no limitations. God has no limitations on his knowledge. He knows your intents. He knows your desires.

[7:52] He knows the burdens of your heart. He knows your great needs. He knows your lesser needs. He knows everything about you. That's what infinite means.

[8:03] It means no limitations. God has no limitations. on what he knows. And as I've said, he never learns anything because anything that could be learned would have to be something that wasn't previously known.

[8:17] So you add it to your list of knowns. But God doesn't add anything to his list of knowns. He knows everything. We're talking about the infinite, eternal God.

[8:29] God is omnipotent.

[8:39] He knows everything expended by anyone in any area in any way or by any machine. It emanates from this one who has all power.

[8:51] God is omnipotent. That means there is no power that is not his. That means even your power to lift your little finger comes from him.

[9:03] All power resides in him and he dispenses it and assigns it to other areas and other beings and animals and machines and everything.

[9:13] But it all originates from him. He is the depository of all power and of all authority. No one could exercise any authority at all except it resides in him and he dispenses it to others and some use it well and some abuse it.

[9:29] But it all originates with him. There is no power that exists except that which originates with God. And the same with all knowledge. You see why I said we're going to have a superficial contemplation?

[9:47] My, oh my, what kind of a being is this? Well, he is the God of the universe. He is the creator, sustainer of the universe.

[10:01] Nothing escapes him. Isaiah reminds us, I believe it's Isaiah, that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro over the earth. Nothing escapes him. Nothing is hidden from him.

[10:13] There are no secrets for him. And as the psalmist said, with God, the darkness is the same as light. He doesn't need light to see. In fact, he is light. So he is all-knowing.

[10:27] Nothing escapes him. And he is all-powerful. All energy and all energy sources originate in him.

[10:39] And he is omnipresent. He is everywhere at one and the same time. The psalmist asked the question, where should I go to flee from your presence?

[10:53] If I go here, you're there. If I go there, there's no way, there's no escaping you. Someone has said, you can run from God, but you can't run away from God because there is no place where he isn't.

[11:06] I don't understand that. This is why I said it's going to be a superficial contemplation. How can God be everywhere at one and the same time? Well, in the first place, Jesus told us that God is spirit.

[11:22] They that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. What does that mean? God is spirit. God indwells every single believer.

[11:33] Everyone who has put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ has a temple and that temple is their body and their body is where God dwells in his spirit.

[11:47] Christ is in you the hope of glory. Paul said, what? Know you not that your body is the temple of God and that God dwells in you?

[11:59] Your body is not your own. You are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. Now, how is it possible that God in his spirit can indwell every single believer here and yet not be divided up in his parts?

[12:19] It isn't that God is fragmented and that little dashes and spots of God are here, there, and everywhere. God in his fullness indwells every believer.

[12:32] I can't understand that. And God's answer to that would be, well, Mark, you're not supposed to. That's not part of your job description as a human being.

[12:43] But trust me, I don't have any problem with that. We do not understand how God can be one and how God can subsist in three persons. That is completely above and beyond our pay grade to understand anything about that.

[12:58] But the scriptures make it very, very clear. There is one God, not three gods, there is one God and this one God subsists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[13:09] And they comprise the Godhead. They comprise God. Yet, Jesus is not one third God and the Spirit one third God and the Father one third God and you put them all together and you have one God.

[13:23] No, no, no, no, it doesn't work that way. Each is full-fledged deity in his own right. Well, how can that be? I have no idea. All I know is that is an area that is above and beyond our human comprehension.

[13:39] And really, would you want a God that you could fully comprehend? Would you not want a God who is greater and smarter and more powerful than you many times over?

[13:52] Isn't that one of the bases or origins of our comfort and our confidence that someone a lot smarter and a lot bigger and a lot stronger than us is in charge?

[14:08] And he is. Now, this infinite God described throughout the Bible who has all power, has all wisdom and knowledge, and is capable of being every place at one and the same time, this is the God portrayed in the Bible.

[14:29] and despite the fact that the information has been around for a long, long time, in fact, thousands of years, the misunderstandings are still incredible.

[14:42] And this, by the way, is what prompted our developing the series of Christianity Clarified, God, because there is so very much about Christianity that is just completely misunderstood.

[14:58] And we've tried, in a superficial way, albeit, to clarify these issues as to who this God is and what he has done. Regarding the immensity of God, contemplate on this for just a moment, superficially.

[15:16] you realize when we talk about spirit, we're talking about something that does not have physical or material characteristics.

[15:32] Nobody has ever seen spirit, because spirit is not detectable with the human eyes. spirit is not subject to being analyzed in a laboratory.

[15:47] You can't weigh it or measure it. And, of course, for many of the scientific bent, that is evidence enough for them that it doesn't even exist. But the scriptures make it very, very clear that man is a physical being with a non-physical internal aspect to that being that is called the human spirit.

[16:13] And God is spirit. That means that while he may assume materiality, as he did in the incarnation, when the word became flesh, dwelt among us, he assumes materiality, but in his true character, in essence, he is not material at all.

[16:36] He is spirit. I really have a hard time with that. Do you? Now, think in terms of our solar system, just ours.

[16:53] Let's not concern ourselves with the other solar systems, but just ours, and the planetary apparatus that goes along with it, and our particular sun, sun, and we're talking about millions and millions of years, 93 million miles to our sun, and if you want to extrapolate and go outside of our solar system and to others, we know that there are thousands and thousands of light years, and I'm not going to go through the numbers and the math explaining what a light year is, most of you know that anyway, but it is a humongous number, it's a number that's got so many zeros after that you can't even pronounce it, and this is all physical stuff, this is space, and stars, and planets, and they are physical, they are material, or they are gaseous, but they still have substance to them, and space itself occupies time, and when you think in terms of being so many light years away, so that if you got on a spaceship and traveled at the speed of light, 186,000 miles a second, a second, it would take you an untold number of years, you'd die, you'd die long before of old age before you ever got to some of these places, traveling at that kind of speed, and all of that materiality was made, created, and put in place by something, someone that isn't even physical, he's spirit, and that which is spirit, non-material, is what is responsible for the creation of materiality, he brought these things into existence, he brought this tiny little planet into existence, a planet which if you compare it with some of the others, like Jupiter in our solar system, we're a little more than a speck, and yet, here we are, fat and sassy, just where

[19:17] God put us, third rock from the sun, it's amazing, and this planet enjoys all of the configurations that are just absolutely perfect for the sustaining of life, 93 million miles from the sun, if that varied as much as 5%, just 5%, either further away or closer, we couldn't exist, couldn't survive, we'd either freeze to death, or we'd roast, and on and on, these things accumulate to demonstrate beyond any shadow of a doubt that we are not here as a cosmic mistake or an accident, we are here by deliberation, by purpose, by intentionality, by design, we were put here by somebody, and that somebody is this infinite God, and before all of these things were created, think of it, no solar system, no planets, no stars, no sun, no earth, no anything, just nothing, no materiality, yet, there was this infinite being called

[20:43] God, and the scriptures say that he inhabits eternity, we can't fathom that either, because contrary to what a lot of people think, eternity is not thousands of years, or millions of years, there is no number to be associated with eternity, because it is not an ongoing spate of time, it is timelessness, there is no time in eternity, no clocks, no calendars, and yet, in this eternity, before anything was created, there was this infinite being, we call God, this one without any limitations, and as best we can determine, this triumphant, this

[21:44] Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, comprises that existence, and I may suspect, I cannot prove this, but I suspect that in that existence, there was nothing but spirituality, no physicality at all, in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the only clue that we are given as to why there is something rather than nothing, is found in a rather obscure passage in Revelation chapter 4, where the four and twenty elders, this is an end time event that we'll be looking at later, the four and twenty elders, whom we have yet to identify, because I don't know who they are, but they fall down at the feet of him, and say, Worthy art thou, O Lord, to receive honor, and glory, and blessing, and power, and dominion, for thou hast created all things, and by thy good pleasure they were and are created.

[22:55] So we have existence, simply because it pleased God to bring materiality into existence. And in this spirit complex of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we cannot imagine how they existed and related to each other.

[23:14] And someone would say, well, what did they look like? Well, they don't look like anything, because they aren't subject to being seen. They are spirit beings. And in this triumvirate of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there was an agreement, a pact, that was made, that was decided among them.

[23:41] William R. Newell put it this way in the song that he wrote, that Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan.

[24:08] Oh, the grace that brought it down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary.

[24:28] And this infinite God, in some kind of a pact among their three persons, decreed that one of those three, this Son, would come down to the earth that he had made and become one of us.

[24:53] The name Emmanuel means God with us. And in John's Gospel, chapter 1, Jesus Christ is described in the very first verse as the word of God in the beginning was the word.

[25:15] And the word was with God and the word was God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. And then we read and the word, this is the logos in the Greek.

[25:31] It's a word from which we get the word logic. Jesus Christ is the logic of God. Christ is God's divine logic.

[25:42] And we read that the word Christ became flesh, became as one of his creatures and dwelt among us.

[25:56] This is what Christmas is all about. This is the story of Bethlehem. This is that son of God stepping out of those ivory palaces coming down to this earth.

[26:13] One writer put it, when Jesus came to the planet earth, he went slumming. And he did. And he came down here to rectify the wrongs that his creatures had put upon themselves through their sin.

[26:34] sin. This is what this story is all about. It is so that the son of God could balance the scales of eternity and pay the sin debt for humanity, thus allowing the sinful being to still be in the presence of God for eternity because his slate has been wiped clean and Jesus died for our sins and we can be forgiven.

[27:08] That is amazing. In fact, it's so amazing that a lot of people just don't believe it. Paul writes to the Corinthians and says, we preach Christ, which is another word for the Messiah, we preach the Messiah crucified.

[27:37] What a message. And he goes on to say, and to the Jew, it's a stumbling block.

[27:49] You know, you talk to the average Jew today about the person of Jesus Christ and about his being their Messiah, they just don't buy it. They just don't see it.

[28:01] They don't get it. They just fall all over it. This is why I think Paul said it was a stumbling block. And you know something? It was a stumbling block to Paul, too. It was a stumbling block to Saul of Tarsus.

[28:13] And the only way God removed it was with that Damascus road experience. And then the same passage says, and to the Greeks, it's foolishness. You mean Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world so that man could be redeemed.

[28:28] That's right. That's the gospel message. Well, it really seems stupid to me. They just don't get it. And the word, as I mentioned before, the word in the Greek is moronic. This is crazy.

[28:41] This is crazy. You mean to tell me that somebody, somebody who wasn't clever enough, to avoid crucifixion, ends up being the savior of the entire world?

[28:52] Well, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You know something? That's exactly what the Bible says people are supposed to say about it. And that's what they do say about it. So it isn't strange. But this is the only way that those scales could be balanced because in the midst of God being infinite, possessing all knowledge and all power and being everywhere present, he is also infinitely righteous and holy.

[29:24] And that's the fly in the ointment. That's where we're in big trouble because we're not. And the only thing that could be done is that somebody capable, able, qualified has to pay the price to balance those scales.

[29:45] And it can't be you, it can't be me, it has to be somebody who's qualified and who else is qualified. It has to be an utterly pure, spotless, holy, individual, Lamb of God without spot or blemish.

[29:56] Who else is qualified? Jesus, the Son of God, was the only one who could do it. And he loved you so much and in such a way that he was willing to do it.

[30:11] And this means forgiveness is available and it is extended to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the basis for the forgiveness of sins.

[30:23] I was talking with someone just the other day right after one of the messages and we've been talking about forgiveness and I mentioned that we are to have a forgiving attitude and he confronted me in the hall and he says, we're supposed to be able to forgive anybody and everybody?

[30:39] I said, I have real trouble with that. I said, alright, explain to me. He said, well, I can't forgive the terrorists. I can't forget those people who crashed the planes into the Twin Towers and killed 3,000 people.

[30:57] I'm not about to forgive them. And I said, well, you've got a point there. But you know, the truth of the matter is, we can't forgive them. And the reason we can't forgive them is because, as I pointed out in our Marriage on the Rock series, forgiveness is a transaction.

[31:16] Forgiveness is the removal of consequences for an offense that has been committed. And it is always predicated upon repentance.

[31:28] And a Christian, a Christian should have, and I make a careful distinction here, a Christian should have a forgiving attitude toward everyone and anyone who has wronged them.

[31:43] But having a forgiving attitude is not the same as forgiving them. Because when an offense is committed between two people and someone wronged someone, that's a transaction. that's a transaction between two people.

[31:56] There is the offender and there is the offended. And it takes a transaction to remove the offense because somebody has to apologize and repent and somebody has to forgive.

[32:08] That's a two-party transaction, just like the offense. And I don't think the people who committed the crimes on 9-11 are seeking our forgiveness.

[32:18] I don't think they're interested in repentance nor are they capable of it probably where they are or whatever they're doing. So while we are to have a forgiving attitude, it is always predicated upon repentance.

[32:34] It works that way with God. It works that way with people. Do you realize that God will forgive anyone of anything? I don't care what it is.

[32:47] If they repent, because when you repent, you change your mind about your sin. You are no longer defending it.

[32:57] You are acknowledging it. You are admitting it. And there is remorse over it. No one can come to God and say, now, this problem about sin, I realize that I've done my fair share of bad and evil things, and I made a bunch of bad choices, but I want you to know I'm not interested in changing anything, and I'm not really remorseful about that.

[33:21] In fact, some of those things I'm kind of proud of, but I would like your forgiveness anyway, and your salvation. And God will say, take a walk, come back when you change your mind. Because repentance means you change your mind, you reverse yourself about your sin, and God stands at the ready to forgive anyone of anything, if they'll only meet that one criteria.

[33:50] Repent of your sin, and place your trust in Christ. That's the Christmas message. And you know something? That's the Easter message too. They're all wrapped up together, they're all part of the same package, and it all has to do with why there is a Christmas, and why there is an Easter, and it's all because of God's incredible love for you, and for me.

[34:12] So what is our response to the provision that he has made? There had to be, there had to be a cradle, so there could be a cross, and there had to be a cross, so there could be a crown, and this exalted Savior now is at the right hand of his Father, and mercy and forgiveness is extended to all who will simply be honest enough with God and honest enough with themselves to pray a prayer, something like this.

[34:49] Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, there is so much about you that I don't know.

[35:00] I've got so many questions. I've got a lot of doubts, but I know one thing. I know not only am I not what you want me to be, I'm not even what I want me to be, and I fully admit my failure in a lot of areas.

[35:23] I admit my sin, I'm not trying to justify it or excuse it by my own free will. I've done a lot of wrong things, and I know that you know all about them, but if you're willing, if you're willing to forgive somebody like me and give me a clean start on life, I really, really want that.

[35:56] And I recognize I can't get it any other way, so I'm coming to you as the only source, and since you have loved me that much, that you died for my sin as well as everybody else's sin, I just want to put my trust and my faith in you, and I want to look to you for the forgiveness that you say you'll give me.

[36:25] I want your cleansing and your pardon. I want this new life that Christ died to provide for me. So here I am, on this Sunday before Christmas, I want Jesus as my Savior.

[36:44] I want that new life. I'm available. Thank you. Thank you for doing for me what I could never do for myself.

[36:57] Thank you for dying to make me righteous and acceptable to you. I do want you as my Savior. Dear friend, if you've made that your prayer, let somebody know before you leave here this morning or talk to me because I've got some really good literature items to give you that will encourage you and strengthen you in your newfound faith.

[37:20] God Father, for these truths, superficial though they are, we look to you to apply them to hearts that have whatever need of whatever portion of it, the insight you can provide.

[37:36] Thank you for excusing feeble vessels such as myself to deliver such an incredible message. Thank you for the privilege of it. and thank you for being the God you are, infinite and everything that goes with it, in Christ's name.

[37:57] Amen. God bless you. You are dismissed. I hope you can join us at 6 o'clock tonight for the banquet and the candlelight service to follow.

[38:08]  God bless you.