I Am Resolved . . .
Luke 2:52

 Welcome to 2005! Let’s look at some happy possibilities for being more like Jesus in this coming year as we seek to grow in:

1. Wisdom (Skillful living)
2. Stature (Stewardship)
3. Favor with God (Sanctification)
4. Favor with man (Service)

Luke 2
⁵²And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

I read that verse and thought to myself, “What an outstanding verse with which to start the year.”

With verse 52, there is basically a line being drawn in the chronological life of Jesus that covers most of his life in this verse. The next time we meet him, he is an adult in ministry. As a young man then, this verse addresses his growing years.

It seems to me that a lot of the time a New Year’s resolution is just a renewed determination to improve something. I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes we need to. Much of the time we like to measure growth so that we can see it and appreciate it and so we set goals. Is that a bad thing? I think not, as long as the goal doesn’t run our lives. Setting goals is a way of measuring progress.

Some people are really into it; some people only marginally, some people not at all. But this particular verse seems to jump out at me along those lines because it tells us that there are four areas in which Jesus grew – wisdom, stature, favor with God, favor with men. What a handy formula for those who are called to be imitators of Christ. That would include all who know Him.

There is a lot in the Bible about the birth of Jesus, particularly in Luke’s gospel where we have the annunciation to his parents, the miraculous conception and birth, the early years and experiences. Then we come to this verse. It takes in 18 to 20 years of his life. We don’t know anything about Jesus during this period, explicitly from the Scripture, until he makes his public appearance and begins his rather brief ministry.

What we’re going to get today are two sermons. The first is going to be preliminary thoughts in the introduction, then we’ll talk about those four points. Before we get into the four points I want to share a little bit of background so we’ll hopefully appreciate where this text is coming from.

The first thought is this. Verse 52 encompasses the bulk of Jesus’ life. Jesus of Nazareth lived a normal life. In one quick verse we understand that he went from day to day, morning to night, in a home, in a family. He went through the calendar year, He endured the mundane. He faced the challenging. He went through the various stages of growing up and developing into an adult. He learned responsibility. He had brothers and sisters.  Jesus experienced the death of his earthly father, Joseph, and took on the responsibilities of the home as the oldest son.

He knew how to work. He understood rest. This is the same Jesus who went to the cross, who paid for our sins, who rose from the dead, who ascended into heaven, and who currently pleads our case. In short, he understands life. He really does.

We may think not a whole lot happens in our lives. Well, in his life, not a whole lot always happened either! Things are pretty dull. Things are pretty inconsequential. He would understand that. He would also understand when we have problems or have pain.

There are several verses in the New Testament that underscore the fact of where Jesus was in this matter. It says in Philippians 2:8 that Jesus voluntarily and temporarily laid aside the use of some of his attributes and became truly human. That’s a key expression.

Philippians 2

⁸Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

That’s a human trait. Jesus humbled himself and did what the Father had for him to do.

Hebrews 2
¹⁸For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

He understands temptation. He understands the pull of temptation.

Speaking of Jesus who is exalted to the right hand of the Father:

Hebrews 4

¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 5

⁷In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.
⁸Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.

He learned obedience. Isn’t that interesting? This is Jesus we’re talking about.

We have to get theological when it comes to Jesus and try to get a handle on his humanity, on the fact that Jesus was truly human, just as any human being would be. I think it’s harder for us to grasp His humanity than it is for us to grasp His deity. It’s one thing for us to say, “Jesus is God” and “Jesus created,” but it’s tough for us to think of Jesus in terms of human flesh because if we think of Jesus as human, Jesus is like us. One real key difference – Jesus had no sin nature.

From the standpoint of humanity He understood all that we have to go through by way of getting tired and the emotional and physical things. When it came to a pull to sin with which we are all born, He didn’t have it. That is hard to imagine, isn’t it? It’s hard to imagine being truly human and not being drawn to sin, but He was not.

There’s a sense in which He is like Adam before Adam sinned. The distinction being this: Adam and Jesus were both perfectly innocent before Adam sinned. But one thing that Jesus was that Adam was not is perfectly holy. Adam was perfectly innocent and then he sinned. Jesus was perfectly innocent and continued throughout the course of his life to make righteous choices. So when Jesus finished His earthly course, He finished perfectly holy. That’s good news for you and me because that qualifies him as the perfect sacrifice.

Adam wasn’t the perfect sacrifice. He was only innocent. Jesus went beyond innocent and was also holy. Jesus was holy because of choices that he made. He always made the right one.

If you want to read about Jesus pleasing the Father, read John chapters 5, 6, and 7. In John 8:29, he tells those who are listening to him, “I always do that which pleases My Father,” making Him not only a perfect example, but beyond that, He is the perfect sacrifice.

It’s interesting what the world has done with Jesus. The world would leave Him simply as a good example. I doubt that most secular thinkers would even rate Him “perfect.” He would at least be rated good in the eyes of most. The Bible says no, He transcends good. He is a perfect example and because he is both truly man and truly God, He is also the perfect sacrifice. Only Jesus is truly God and truly man all at once.

The third thought is that God’s people are called to imitate Him. We are to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1). There are other passages on that as well, but let’s be very, very clear about this. We are to be imitators of Him but not in order to get to go to heaven. I’m not saying to live like Jesus so that maybe you’ll get to go to heaven when you die. We are to imitators not for salvation but because He has already saved us and brought us into a relationship with Him. Please understand our imitation of Him is not for salvation; it’s for a relationship. We’re to be like Him because of what He has done for us.

We are to grow, we are to imitate, and my suggestion is that believers who grow as Christ grew – in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man – will grow in Christ and will become more like him.

These four points overlap. It would be very hard to grow in wisdom and not grow in favor.  We’ll first talk about wisdom.

Wisdom (Skillful Living)

It says that Jesus grew in wisdom. Don’t confuse wisdom with intellect. You can be really smart intellectually but not be very wise before God. In the Bible wisdom is skillful living with God at the center. The opposite of a wise person in the Bible is not an idiot, it’s a fool. A fool can be a very smart person but it would be a person who makes decisions irrespective of God.

When the Bible says that we increase in wisdom, that is skillful living with God. That doesn’t mean in tandem with God or with God as a part of our lives or with God’s opinion weighing in at some point. It’s skillful living with God at the center. What does God want me to do here? What would please God the most here? What is clearly revealed by God regarding my particular situation? Skillful living, not with God just along for the ride, but skillful living is living ordered around God with God as the center.

There are a couple things that need to be said about wisdom. First is that because of our natural inclinations, we don’t want to order our lives around God. We naturally want to order our lives around self. That’s what we will do, left alone. Therefore wisdom must be sought, it must be pursued. It won’t just happen. Here’s a great verse in Proverbs.

Proverbs 4

 ⁵Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!
  Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

 ⁷"The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;
   And with all your acquiring, get understanding.

The beginning of wisdom is knowing we need it and determining to pursue it! It won’t come to us as we go through a routine that isn’t ordered around the centrality of God. It won’t come to us by reading or watching anything or by doing anything. It will only come as we pursue it because we have to overcome that natural bent by the grace of God.

In Proverbs 2 there are verses that have the potential to change our lives.

Proverbs 2:1-10 (Wisdom is speaking)

 ¹My son, if you will receive my words
         And treasure my commandments within you,
 ²Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
         Incline your heart to understanding;
 ³For if you cry for discernment,
         Lift your voice for understanding;
 ⁴If you seek her as silver
         And search for her as for hidden treasures;
 ⁵Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
         And discover the knowledge of God.
 ⁶For the LORD gives wisdom;
         From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
 ⁷He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
         He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
 ⁸Guarding the paths of justice,
         And He preserves the way of His godly ones.
 ⁹Then you will discern righteousness and justice
         And equity and every good course.
 ¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart
         And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

Seek it. Pursue it. Cry out for it. Dig for it. Go after it. It must be pursued.

Another great thing about wisdom is that it is available. It’s not like treasure hunting where you hope you find something.

James 1:5
⁵But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

It’s the one prayer in the Bible with a guaranteed answer “Yes,” If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to everyone who asks.  Now be prepared for the answer. The wisdom of God, as spelled out in His Word, may be clear enough to hurt our feelings.

“Dear God, give me wisdom about this relationship I’m in.” “Lord, give me wisdom about how to treat this person.” “Lord, give me wisdom about a choice I ought to make.” The principle is in the Bible. That’s where the digging and pursuing and crying out comes in and perhaps asking for help from another. But the wisdom is there if we are ready to receive it. It may not be what we want to hear. But it’s still God’s wisdom and has His favorite end in view.

Wisdom must be sought. It must be pursued, but it’s always available. How are we going to get it? Brothers and sisters, we have to be in the Bible. We absolutely must be in the Bible more than Sunday morning. We must make a daily pursuit of wisdom in the pages of God’s Word. We absolutely must.

If we want wisdom we have to be in the Word first of all and secondly, we have to learn to listen. It’s one thing to say, “I read my Bible through 12 times.” Great, but are you listening to God from the pages of the Word. Are you listening to those God has put in a position of authority over you. He’s sovereign. Are you listening to Him? The beginning of wisdom – get wisdom.

Stature (Stewardship)

That has to do with the physical self. This has to do with physical stewardship. How do we take care of what God has given us? You probably don’t need me to tell you that the world is very confused about human physical stature. I fear a lot of Christians are confused as well.

This is the time where the world over-emphasizes physical appearance. It’s a marketing issue. It’s going to get worse as the baby boomers head into geriatric years. All the different ways we can figure out how to lose weight, get hair, and all kinds of others things that seem to be necessary in the years we don’t want to let go. Why? Because the world is locked into this life and isn’t concerned with anything beyond. Is that the Bible’s posture? No. The Bible emphasis is on life that lasts forever, making the way we treat our physical selves a matter of stewardship, a matter of management, a matter of doing wisely with what God has given us.

The world has always emphasized appearance. It’s not just our day and age. After all, how was Saul such a remarkable king? Why, he was head and shoulders above the rest. Even Samuel, when asked to choose Saul’s successor from the sons of Jesse, saw the first, the oldest, the toughest, the best, and was sure that they would be the king. But no, the choice of God wasn’t the one who looked good. The choice of God was the one who had the right heart. The heart is what God looks on more than anything else.

As an indication of worth, is it appearance or is it heart? The Bible is clear there. In 1st Timothy, Paul is talking to his understudy, Timothy. He says in verse 7 to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness and in verse 8:

I Timothy 4
⁸for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Some translations say “exercise.” The Bible says the profit of that is marginal. It’s not bad, but it isn’t the best. He’s saying bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for this present life and the next.

Cultivate the inner, don’t ignore the rest, but really cultivate the inner person. Now obviously some things have changed since Paul wrote these words. Back in those days everybody walked everywhere they went. There’s a lot the Bible leaves unsaid about physical health. But I think in short, we need to be good stewards of the body God has given us. If our lives are too sedentary, which for most of us it is, it wouldn’t hurt most of us to get more exercise, to have a heart that maybe pumped a little stronger. Better circulation means better everything. But to be obsessed with it, to make it our goal, to make that a measurement of our standing before God and man -- no, the Bible rules that out. That’s not good.

The Bible’s emphasis is on stewardship of the physical. How the body is used and where it’s going. Think about this: The Bible says that the physical body, yours and mine, is a temple of God’s spirit and needs to be taken care of accordingly. They are not God, they simply house His presence, so the house needs to be taken care of from one end of life to the other. That’s profitable for this life and the next.

Favor with God (Sanctification)

We call this sanctification. For those of us who have trusted Jesus, this means getting to be more like Him. It means, more specifically, doing what pleases Him. In Luke 2:52, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. That’s an interesting concept. How could Jesus, the Son of God, grow in favor with Him as God? It’s almost like a paradox. How can this be?

This can be because in His humanity, Jesus learned and Jesus grew as Jesus made decisions in His life. In His humanity, He grew in favor with God. From the standpoint of who He was as the Son of God, His exalted position that was awaiting Him, none of that would change. And by the way, it doesn’t change with you or me either. We cannot think, “I’m going to grow in favor with God. I’m going to be such a good person. I’m going to be so upright. I’m not going to sin at all, or just a little – that God will want me to go to Heaven. And I’ll earn my way somehow.” No, that’s not what it says. Jesus, at this point, was already in relation with God and this verse, as we’re applying it here, is for those who already know Him. Now it’s for us to do what pleases Him.

Romans 8 talks about our being in God’s family by virtue of being adopted. Let’s use that scenario. Let’s say that for two or five or fifteen or thirty or fifty or seventy years, we lived outside of God. We didn’t know Him. Maybe we thought we did. Maybe we weren’t sure. But then we come to faith. At some point, whether young or old or somewhere in between, at some point we become aware that we can’t be good enough to go to Heaven. We can’t go to church enough times. We can’t get baptized enough times. We can’t do anything good enough to get ourselves to Heaven. What we really need is to put all our trust in Jesus only and let Him pay our way to Heaven.

So we come to that realization. The Bible says then we’re adopted into His family. A new Father. I’m adopted! He seals me with His Holy Spirit, sealing the deal. It’s done; it’s permanent by virtue of the Holy Spirit’s presence now within me. So now what do I do? I need to get to know my Father and as I get to know Him and as I understand His vastness and His exaltation and His majesty and His holiness, I become aware as I read His Word that I really need to be pleasing my Father.

He has brought me by His grace into this eternal relationship I didn’t deserve. I need to be living to please Him now. We grow in that way. We say, “That doesn’t sound very spiritual.” It’s very spiritual! It’s all about relationship and if you have a relationship with another person and do not seek to please the other person, what kind of relationship is that? It’s a lousy one. What the Bible is telling God’s children to do is get to know their Father. Not in order to be accepted but because you are. He saved you.

The Bible says in Romans 12:1 to present your bodies a living sacrifice to the Lord in light of His mercy to you.

Romans 12

²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

God’s will is that we live a certain way and that we please Him in the way that we live.

There’s a great verse in Ephesians 5 where the apostle says you really shouldn’t live like you used to if you’re a Christian. Something should change.

Ephesians 5
⁸for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
  
 ¹⁰trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

That is so contrary to where we often go. How many times as Christians do we think in terms of, “How far can I go without it being sin? I don’t want to sin, but I want to get my fleshly piece of it. Is this sin? Is that sin?” Uh oh, now I’ve sinned and I step back. No, that’s the wrong attitude. The Bible says to seek what pleases Him, not what you can get away with before you make Him mad. There’s a difference. Is this pleasing Him or is it not?

Doing what pleases Him. Seeking favor with God by choosing wisely just like Jesus did. Imagine all the choices Jesus made as he went through his growing up years. And He made the right one every single time. He never had to stop and think, “Oh, I blew that!” He made good choices, not to be accepted by the Father, but to be enjoyed and appreciated, as it would be in any relationship.

Think of being a Christian in terms of being in a relationship with the God of Heaven. That answers many questions. The key to sanctification, the key to growing in favor with God is in building a relationship with Him. How do you build a relationship with someone? You spend time with them. That’s the only way it happens. Genuinely, consistently, legitimately, deeply, spend time with Him. Spending time with God, saying, “Now it’s me and You. Let’s talk.” That’s called prayer. Am I meeting with Him, Am I listening to Him. Am I sharing with Him? Am I building a relationship?

We need a quiet, undistracted place, a consistent meeting to get to know the One who has adopted us into His forever family.

Favor with Man (Service)

Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and in favor with man. The Bible says in Acts 10, as Peter is describing the ministry of Jesus in the household of Cornelius the Gentile, “And this man Jesus who went about doing good.” Those are his words. If you were to ask someone back in those days who was familiar with the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth this is what they would have said right away. “He did a lot of good things.” He went about doing good. He did miraculous good on a number of occasions, John says, which are not even written down. But goodness toward people characterized Jesus’ life right to the cross. The ultimate expression of goodness toward people was bearing the sins of people in His own body and paying their debt on a wooden cross. Jesus went about doing good.

John 1 says the Word was with God, the Word was God, the Word became flesh, dwelt among people and we beheld His glory. Do you know what Jesus looked like as He walked the earth?  Jesus looked like God would look if He walked the earth because indeed Jesus was God in the flesh. He looked good. He drew people to Himself. He was attractive to people because He served them.

Jesus told his disciples as they were positioning themselves for influence and authority among their own ranks, “Don’t be like that.” The Son of man didn’t come to be served. He came to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

Jesus looked like God walking around because He was. People were drawn to him. They were drawn to him by His good works and then He said the words, “Follow Me. Trust Me. Surrender to Me. I know who I am. I know why I am here. I know where I’m going. Give Me your heart.” Those were the words He said. He drew people to himself by doing good and then he told them the truth about himself and about eternity. He challenged them to make a choice. That’s what he did.

As temples of God’s Spirit, think of this. Jesus is God in the flesh, living on earth, doing good works and saying the words, playing the music and sharing the verse. He didn’t just play the music, he shared the words.

Now here we are, temples of the Spirit of God, challenged to do exactly the same thing. Play the music, live the life, serve people, do good things, and say the words.

I read an interesting chapter in a book talking about an individual who understood why we are here. We are here to represent God in a world that is lost. When this individual was asked, “What do you do?” She said, “I’m a Christian, cleverly disguised as an accountant.”

How about, I’m a Christian cleverly disguised as a student or as a vendor or as a merchant or as a supervisor or as a laborer or as a doctor. I’m a Christian and God has given me an arena called my job or my station in life. Now he wants me to play the music, to serve others, and to say the words.

It doesn’t do any good just to play the music. “Well, I’ll just live my life and that will be a witness.” It’s a vital part of it, but it’s not all of it. An Eagle Scout can do that, but that doesn’t necessarily get anyone to Heaven. I look at a person who lives a good life. I even want to get to know them. Great. If they never tell me what makes them good, who makes them good, then as far as eternity is concerned, what does it matter?

We must be willing to play the music, to live the life, to serve, to do good deeds, but also to say the words.

Here’s a great New Year’s challenge. Where can I serve? Who can I tell? I can’t imagine the difference in our community, in our homes, in our schools, wherever we are, if everyone in this room at some point during 2005 shared the gospel with someone else. I can’t imagine what God might do with that, but I’d love to see it.

Ask God, “Where can I serve? Who can I tell?” Tell someone. It’s a loving thing to do. It’s a loving thing to tell someone how to go to Heaven and live with Jesus forever. Do someone a favor this year. Tell them about Jesus.