The Incredible Potential of a Child

Oh, well, I love, I absolutely love the blessing of little children. It's such a neat little, neat little tradition that we have and such a, such a cool opportunity to, to, I don't know, just acknowledge the blessing that children are and to recognize the, the, the just fantastic potential that they have. It's just such a, such a cool opportunity.

Well, 280 days. 280 days. Give or take a few. Is the number that really never feels long enough. 280 days never feels long enough. Depending upon who you are and whether the last 60 of those 280 days happen during the hottest days of the summer, you might feel like it can't come fast enough. You have 280 days to wrap your brain around it, to prepare as best you can, stock up on all the necessary accoutrements, read the books, paint the walls, take your vitamins. It's important. Clean everything twice. Panic. Clean everything again. Panic a little more. Read a couple books. Panic one more time for good measure. Buy safety outlet plugs for the whole entire house.

That way nobody can stick little tiny fingers into the outlets. Pull noodles on all the furniture corners. Read a couple more books. And then ultimately pretend you're actually ready for this before your entire world changes. 280 days of preparation all ends with a triumph of pain and love and the incredible blessing of a newborn child. 280 days prior to that moment, that little bundle of joy was nothing more than an expression of the love of its parents.

Through a process that was designed by Almighty God and a mandate that was given in Genesis 1.28, human beings were created with the ability and essentially the mandate to then reproduce themselves, to go forth and multiply.

Some of you might have seen a recent study that came out. It's interesting. It's actually fascinating. A recent study that came out that discussed the flash of light that is given off at the moment of fertilization and at the moment of conception.

That there is an enzyme that allows for the release of zinc molecules, and those zinc molecules cause this phosphorescent cascade that caused the egg to flash brightly just before everything seals up.

It's fascinating. It's incredibly fascinating. That zygote forms, that little one-cell forms. You take two separate gametes fusing. You've got one of those with 23 chromosomes from dad. You've got one with 23 chromosomes from mom.

Those things fuse together to become one cell with 23 pairs of chromosomes, each with randomly assorted genetic traits and characteristics.

Incredibly, contained in those chromosomes, contained in the DNA in those cells, is a blueprint to produce that specific child.

That specific child. Because a month later it would have been a different child. A sperm over it would have been a different child.

That specific child is coded for those blueprints to produce that little bundle of joy.

Inside that blueprint determines whether or not it has the color, it's green, blue, brown eyes, blonde, red, dark hair, whether it has freckles, whether it's earlobes or floppy or whether they're connected.

All important things, right? God, the earlobes are the important ones.

There are 8,324,606 possible combinations of 23 pairs of chromosomes.

It's unreal. Different ways that those chromosomes can be arranged and be organized.

8.3 million different combinations.

And that doesn't even tell the entire story, because each of those chromosomes are home to anywhere from dozens to thousands of different genetic traits, expressed either as dominant or recessive.

And that combination, when you take and make an estimate of the amount of genetic configurations that is possible, it's estimated at 70.3 trillion different possible combinations genetically.

You are one in 70.3 trillion. Not one in a million, that's nothing. One in 70.3 trillion.

It is incredible. It is incredible when we hold that little baby the miracle of life that it is.

Not even monozygotic twins, twins that share the same zygote, identical twins, not even identical twins, are genetically identical.

They're not even genetically identical. They're closer than most, but they're not identical.

When you take a look at the process that occurs after fertilization, within 24 hours that zygote is split and become two cells.

A little while later, two becomes four, four becomes eight, eight becomes sixteen.

By day seven, it has reached what scientists call a blastocyst, which is basically a ball of cells, about 200 cells.

But what's interesting about a blastocyst is those cells have begun now to differentiate. They've begun to go to begin doing their roles. They've started to develop into certain kinds of cells.

By day seven, they're already running their marching orders.

I'm going to become a heart. I'm going to become lungs. I'm going to become this.

Go into different places. And beginning that process. By day seven, once that blastocyst ends up implanting on the uterine wall and it's encased, the embryo begins to develop and begins to grow, and it will continue to grow and develop. Again, all of this up to the 200 cell mark, that's in seven days. Seven days of cell division, which is unreal.

After 21 days, circulations begun. So the baby is circulating at that point at 21 days.

About a week later, you have a fully formed neural tube in place that later becomes a fully functional spine, brain.

By 32 days, that's just six weeks in, 32 days, the organs have officially begun to form.

Those little differentiated cells have now become what we would recognize as lungs and kidneys, liver, intestinal tract.

By the eight week mark, that little fetus is three centimeters long and it looks like a human.

It is fully human-shaped at eight weeks. It's beautiful.

It's incredible. As the weeks progress, that little three-centimeter fetus gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Still looks human. It doesn't change. It doesn't start looking like anything else at that point. But it gets bigger, you know, and it fully forms a little bit more. By 16 weeks, they can determine whether the child is male or female. So, you know, in 16 weeks, they can determine that. We wait until 20 because it's just more obvious. But by 16, they can begin to do that. At about 16 to 18, most women begin to feel the fluttering of the kicks. They begin to feel the flutter of movement, what they call quickening. As you have another baby later on, you get better at that and you can recognize it a whole lot earlier. You start to realize that what you just thought was gas was actually fluttering. You laugh, but most think it's gas. Sorry. Science.

But as time goes on, after that 16-week mark, most of these systems have begun to find their final locations in the body. The child begins to hear sound at 18 weeks and can begin to respond to stimuli. That's when the kicking begins, for those of you that have had the joy of being kicked from the inside out. At the 24-week mark, hair on the head has fully formed. The baby is coated in vernax. And a child that is born at this stage at 24 weeks can survive. It's difficult, but it can be done at 24 weeks. If the baby is greater than 800 grams body weight, they have a much better fighting chance at survival at 24 weeks. All the core systems at that point are in place. Another several weeks of development allow for a strengthening of the infant, obviously, which is the ending of the 280-day preparation period. 280 days of growth and development that began as an expression of love, and the end result is a child.

A beautiful little baby, boy or girl. Let's turn over to Psalm 139. Psalm 139, David, we know, had a little bit greater understanding than most, as he was able to really succinctly be able to put these things down into words, what he understood about God. David knew that God had a perfect knowledge of man.

He knew that God understood everything there was to know about us, our proclivities, and physically, mentally, kind of spiritually, who and what we are, because he created us. He designed the systems that are in place that make us do what we do. It would be like somebody, the architect or the engineer behind the design of the vehicle. You're going to tell that guy where something's located on the car?

Of course not. He built the thing. He designed it. He set it up. Psalm 139, David's pondering this knowledge. He's pondering these concepts. He's talking about God's thoughts, God's ways. He's pondering his omnipresence. And in verse 13 of Psalm 139, he records the following. He says, For you formed my inward parts. You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

And we certainly are. You know, you take a look at the process that we just outlined. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. That in this room sits a whole bunch of people that are one in 70.3 trillion. You know, the fact that you're here, that you're healthy, is a miracle in and of itself. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. He says, My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed, and in your book they all were written, the days that were fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. You know, God is intimately in this process. He's intimately present in our lives. And David understood the magnitude of God's creation of man, that God made man, that He made woman, that He designed this system of reproduction that would take those 23 chromosomes from each and randomly assort these things to combine together to make a genetically unique offspring.

A blend of the father and the mother. It's always fun looking at little babies and going, He looked just like you, and then six weeks later, now He looks like you.

What's going on here? How does that work? But they're a perfect little blend of the chromosomes of mom and dad. You know, David may not have understood the process to the degree that we do. He may not have known about oocytes and blastocysts and phosphorescent flashes of light at the time of conception, but he understood that God had designed an incredible process to bring together more children, not just of us as parents here, but children ultimately of God.

He said, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You know, we had two young people that we blessed this morning, and not only are these little ones a wonderful blessing to their parents, a wonderful combination of their mother and father's genetics, but they're also the recipients of the hopes and the dreams of their parents. You know, you look at that little child and you see the potential. You see the endless possibilities and the options. There's a whole entire life set before it. It's incredible. It's really incredible.

The title for the sermon today is The Incredible Potential of a Child. And what I'd like to do today is turn over to Luke 1. I want to go through a story about a couple of infants in Scripture. And I'd like to take a little bit of time today to dig into and kind of do a deep dive on this, only because without the context of this passage, it just doesn't take on the same life that it ordinarily would have. You know, we can read over this and we can read right through it and not pick up on it if we don't have the background and the context of this particular story.

So we're going to pick up a story today of two children, both of whom were fearfully and wonderfully made, both with incredible potential and both with a very important mission to fulfill. And we'll pick it up beginning in verse 5 of Luke 1. Luke, as a book, as a gospel, was written in order to set into order the events of the life of Jesus Christ. And Luke was not one who was there and present during these events. He was interviewing, essentially, people who were there and who were present.

He interviewed a number of individuals to put this together who were able to corroborate bits and pieces of the story to provide a really good chronology of how things happened. Well, Luke decided that the story of Jesus Christ began a smidge earlier than Jesus Christ. It began with the birth of John the Baptist and ultimately the role that John the Baptist would play. So let's go ahead and jump into chapter 5 of Luke 1. Luke 1, verse 5, says, There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the division of Abijah, or Abia, sometimes as you see in Scripture.

His wife was one of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. So we're introduced here to Zacharias and Elizabeth. We see that they're both of a priestly line. We see that they are both individuals who have the Levitical priesthood in their background. There's a lot of context kind of packed into this section of Scripture. And again, it's important we take the time to unpack it in order to better understand what it means.

The passage mentions the king of Judea at this time, which is Herod I, or as we sometimes know him, Herod the Great. There were a lot of Harrods. Herod the Great was not the founder of the Herodian dynasty. He was the second of the Herodian dynasty individuals. Herod Antipater was the first, and was kind of involved in a lot of the political intrigue that we read about in Julius Caesar and some of the different Roman back and forths that occurred.

Well, Herod, there was a whole bunch of different Harrods. You got the Agrippa, you got the Tetrarch, you got all these other things. There's a lot of different Harrods running around. One thing that many of these Harrods had in common was they were particularly immoral and unscrupulous rulers. And that was kind of a Herod trait, to a certain extent, given the political chaos which was at this point in time. History records that Herod the Great actually appeared to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia.

He was exceptionally paranoid of his political enemies. He was exceptionally paranoid of members of his own family. He was exceptionally paranoid of anyone or anything who could take him from power. Because power to Herod was of the utmost.

And so he's best known for most of his gargantuan building projects across Israel. I mean, he built huge, huge gargantuan projects, which at first you look at and you think, oh, it's like a New Deal! You know, huge, great, wonderful building projects. But when you see the reasons why he built them, you see the paranoia that drove him to build them. It's kind of sad when you look at it. He built up the city of Caesarea Maritaima, which is a port city, but he also built a massive palace there.

A massive palace, massive fortress. He built the fortress of Masada, that giant one that's up on the rock, okay, that is hardly accessible in any direction. But he built the fortress of Masada. He built the Herodium, which was also a huge fortress, amongst a number of other fortified locations all throughout the land. Now why did he build so many fortified locations? Because he was paranoid. Thank you, whoever answered that. It was a rhetorical question, but that's awesome. I love it. Yeah, he was paranoid.

He wanted to be within 24 hours of a bunker, anywhere he was in the country, to where if something happened, he could end up anywhere, but he would be protected. He'd have legions of soldiers around him, he'd have protection, he'd be safe. It wasn't always fortified locations. In fact, he's incredibly well known for the temple complex that he built. Zerubbabel built, he added on to, remodeled, if you will. But he made it substantially larger. In fact, if you take a look at some of the photos that go back and look at Jerusalem, that temple mount in the temple at that time of Herod, Herod's temple, quote-unquote, was the main thing in the city.

I mean, it takes up vast tracts of Jerusalem. And took a, essentially took a plateau of Mount Moriah and flattened it out, and then a bunch of bricks around the outside for retaining walls and built this thing up, and put this incredibly large edifice out on the front of it.

It's estimated at this point in time that the temple stood 15 stories. Just to give you an idea of size, 15 stories are some cities in the country, here in the U.S., that don't have 15-story buildings. You know, it's a substantial front edifice of this particular temple. And the reason why, he wanted to rule in a city that was worth his grandeur, that had beautiful buildings, that had greatness, that had things when people came, they went, ooh, wow, boy, this Herod's amazing.

And so he built these things up all over the place. Now, it was that temple in which Zacharias served as a member of the Order of Abijah. Verse 6, said they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. So Zacharias and his wife were both good, godly people. Both good, godly people. They were blameless. They kept the commandments, they kept the ordinances, they were above reproach, which honestly is a statement that you couldn't make about the entirety of the priesthood at that time in Israel.

In fact, the high priest at that point in time during Herod's rule was a man by the name of Hananel. Hananel was an Egyptian, or as Josephus records him, a Babylonian. It was a political appointment because Herod didn't want his brother-in-law becoming high priest. So he jammed somebody in there as a political appointment. That is the most, you know, the highest priest in the nation, and it's a political appointment. And that culture trickled down through the priesthood to the point where when we see Christ come on the scene, the priests that he's dealing with and the people that he's dealing with and the condition of the temple at the time is a result of what we see 30-40 years prior.

And so we can kind of see that things were a mess, so that Zacharias and his wife are recorded as being good folk, blameless, above reproach is important. And the reason it's important is because of what comes next. Chapter 7, or chapter 7, verse 7. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren and they were both well-advanced in years. Now it's really easy for us to read that and just blow right past it.

Okay, well she's barren, she didn't have any kids. Okay, moving on. What was the prevailing belief in Israel at that time with regards to afflictions such as this? When people were blind or when they were deaf or when they had other issues. What was the question that Christ was asked over and over and over again?

Who sinned? This person or their parents? Why would they have this affliction unless some egregious sin had occurred? So you've got Zechariah and his wife who got himself through Luke as recorded as being good, blameless people above reproach. And his wife is barren. Can't have children. You know, it's difficult in Judea for those to fathom this idea that bad things happen to good people.

You know, difficult things happen to good people. In their eyes it was a curse. So clearly there must have been sin there. Either Elizabeth or Zechariah must have sinned greatly to be cursed in such a way. So you've got Zechariah who served as a priest. He's done everything that he's supposed to do. He's walked before God. He's kept the commandments. He's kept the ordinances. And yet his wife was still barren. And you can imagine maybe the whispers of those around them.

Those maybe even in the priesthood. As they watch Zechariah get older and older with no children. You know, we know if scripturally children are a heritage to the Lord, why hasn't God blessed them with children?

What do they do wrong? Maybe a well-meaning friend suggests to Elizabeth she should go make a sacrifice at the temple to ask for forgiveness of her sin. And throughout all that time, you know, it's easy to read through these passages and not realize that these are real people. And real people do real people things. They're not just these figures that are out there in the nebulous. They're real people. Can you imagine the prayers that Zechariah and Elizabeth petitioned God with over the years for a child?

The fervency with which they prayed? I even bet they poured their hearts out. I even bet they poured their hearts out. Asking God for a son or for a daughter. Bagging him for a child. And as time went on, the answer was no. Month after month after month, the answer was no. And as Elizabeth prayed and as Elizabeth continued to see the answer being no and watched her childbearing years go by until she was eventually of advanced enough age that it was no longer possible for her to have a child.

They continued to pray through that time. You know, despite all these things, what I find fascinating about Zechariah and Elizabeth, we don't see him giving up on God. We don't see him getting bitter. Obviously, we're not privy to their internal conversations. We're not privy to what went on behind closed doors. But it states that they continued to walk in his commandments and ordinances. Zechariah continued to serve God at the temple. They didn't seem to be bitter. They didn't seem to hold it against him. They continued on with their lives in the process of time, remaining faithful despite their trial.

So we go to verses 8 and 9. It says, Now, during King David's time, the priesthood was divided up into 24 orders. These orders were based upon family, and they were set into division by lot. And so these divisions, if you want to reference to it, it's 1 Chronicles 24, where these are split out.

And by lot, they were determined as to the weeks of service that they would have. They'd be on for a 7-day period, and then the next division would take over. Well, the division of Abijah was the 8th lot, which meant that they had the 8th week of the year. And then you'd go 23 more divisions, down the line and down 1 through 7 again, before you got back to Abijah and serve again. So if you take, you know, our 52-year Roman cycle—I know, they weren't on our Roman calendar, but it just for sake of making it easy—you'd count on your priestly service in that division twice a year, basically. You'd be up twice a year to serve at the temple, except for Holy Days.

Everybody's on during the Holy Days. But during the regular weeks and during whatever else, those priestly service or those priestly duties were divided up amongst the other divisions. So your division was only up twice a year. During the time of Christ, they estimated there were about 25,000 priests serving in the various divisions.

Again, 24 divisions. That means there were 1,000 priests, roughly, in the division of Abijah. 1,000 priests in the division of Abijah. And so what they did was—you couldn't have 1,000 people trying to trip over each other and offer the incense—so they set up a system of lots.

They would draw a lot. That individual would be on for that particular setting. They would go in. They'd do the job. They'd come out. And so it was a simple way of saying, of the 1,000 priests, you, you, you, and you are on this week. Thank you very much. The rest of you hang out and wait for the next division, and we'll pull the lot then. In fact, there's some commentators that talked about kind of unspoken rules among the priesthood that once you were drawn, you weren't drawn again.

This was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing to be able to go in and offer the incense in the temple to God in that holy place. Not the holy of holies, but the holy place. So this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. So Zacharias comes in. He travels into Jerusalem for the week, and when it was time, he walks through this big large door, 15-story edifice of the temple. You know, you're walking in on behalf of the entire nation of Israel to offer up a prayer for the entire nation. This is a big deal. You know, this isn't something to wink at. It's not something to, you know, kind of mess around with. This is a big deal. And so you can imagine Zacharias was probably a little nervous. I can imagine he'd be a little nervous as he's going in there. I don't know that he necessarily strode in there with incredible confidence. You know, he was probably a little bit nervous. But he steps into that holy place where they still had the thick curtain in the back, kind of separating the holy place from the holy of holies.

The place where he steps into has the candlestick, the big menorah. It's got the table for the showbread, the altar of incense. And he was offering a prayer on behalf of the people. There was a small hole in the ceiling of the temple that would allow for the smoke from that incense to rise up, because the people that were gathered outside needed to know that their prayers had been offered and that they were moving upward to heaven, up to God. And so all these people are gathered around outside, and so when Zechariah would recite the prayer, he'd put the incense on the altar, the smoke would rise up, everyone outside would know that their prayers were up ascending to God. Now at that time, too, the Jews believed that the presence of God was behind that curtain. Now, what was behind that curtain at that time? Kind of nothing. The Ark of the Covenant wasn't present at that point in time. It didn't come back from the set. There were some commentators that discussed and some scholars that believed there was a foundation stone in there. But behind that curtain, we know that God's glory did not occupy that second temple. We know that. We know that. So the Jews, though, believed that his presence was still there. And so you have Zecharias now, who is standing theoretically closer to God than he has ever stood before. He's come before God. He's come to offer this incense on behalf of the people. It's a big deal for Zecharias. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. He has his chance to offer this prayer. This prayer was likely liturgical. It was probably rote, and it was probably pretty specific. By this point in time, much of the service that the Jews were doing was pretty rote and pretty specific. He probably would have recited the specific prayer that he was asked to give. It's a good chance that there was some bit and line in there with regards to the return of the Messiah to deliver them from the Roman occupation. Did he include a little personal prayer at this point in time? Did he add in for himself? You know, God, provide me with a son. Provide me with a daughter. Kind of taking this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be this close to God and pray for a child. Don't know, for sure. But as he finishes his prayer, he has a feeling he is no longer alone. There's someone with him in this holy place. Verse 11, The angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense, and when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. It's probably an understatement. I admit, I'd lose it. If I'm in a room where I'm the only—and all of a sudden, bing! Okay, you know, there's—fear fell upon him is an understatement. Verse 13, The angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you should call his name John.

And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Angel tells him that his wife is going to bear a son. That that son would be named John, that it would be a time of joy and gladness, that many would rejoice at his birth. He would be great in the sight of the Lord. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. He would be imbued with the Holy Spirit from birth. He would become a crucial aspect of laying the groundwork, preparing the world for Jesus Christ.

John, his own son. Zacharias means the Lord has remembered. So Zacharias' name means, the Lord has remembered. John or Johannan, as it is in Hebrew, means God is a gracious giver. Every time they would say John's name, they would be reminded of God's grace. They'd be reminded of the incredible gift which God provided them. Zacharias responds to all of this, as most of us likely would, by blurting out the first thing in his head. He kind of says, I'm sorry, what? Say again. See in verse 18. His response, and Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this? For I'm an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years. The angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel. Which at that point, Zacharias knows exactly who he's dealing with. Who stands in the presence of God and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not be able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their own time. Verse 21, the people waited for Zacharias, and they marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. It's kind of humorous. Everybody sitting outside is going, where is he? He's been in there a while. What's going on here? Normally they go in, they offer the incense, and they come on back out. Zacharias comes back out of the temple after lingering, and he's mute. He was unable to speak to him. Now what's interesting is, mute can mean a couple of different things in Scripture. It can refer to a person that can't speak. It can refer to a person that can't hear. Or it can refer to both. The word mute is used in cases of deafness. In Scripture, in fact, in Zacharias' case, I think there's a good case made that he was also deaf, in addition to being mute for the time here. I'll show you the Scripture here in a minute that seems to indicate that. So when the days of his service were completed, he returned home. He and his wife conceived. Elizabeth became pregnant. She stayed out of the public site for five months, thankful that God had taken away her approach. And so the next time she comes out at five months pregnant, she's definitely pregnant at five months, right? I mean, you're showing at that point. So she's definitely pregnant at that point. But all this time—and I think it's easy to overlook this—all this time Zacharias is still mute. He is still deaf. He is still unable to speak after his interactions with Gabriel. He's still unable to hear after his interactions with Gabriel. We see that Gabriel was busy. Let's go to verse 26. Once again, there's a story of two infants, not just one.

Gabriel, in verse 26 of Luke 1, says, Verse 29, He has a moment of, like, this is kind of a weird greeting. Nobody talks like this. Nobody says these things.

And of his kingdom, there will be no end. Mary's response is honestly fairly similar to Zacharias's. Wait, what? Sorry, say that again? Gabriel takes the time to explain the situation. He takes the time to explain to her how it occurred. While John was born to two physical parents and was imbued with the Holy Spirit in the womb, Christ would be begotten of the Spirit in a literal sense. He was to have a spiritual father and a physical mother. Verse 34, That is incredible. That is absolutely incredible. It says, You know, Gabriel takes the time to explain to her about Elizabeth's pregnancy, probably to kind of comfort her a little bit. Like, look, this impossible thing happened. Trust us. This one's going to happen, too. This one's going to happen, as well. But in doing so, he also sets up a really interesting meeting. Because now Mary goes and meets with Elizabeth. But Mary's response to all of this is incredible. It is incredible. Essentially, I am your servant, so be it. Let it be done. Whatever it is that is to happen, let it be done. This is something new that has never happened before. This is something that has never happened since. At least not in this way. Christ was the firstborn, the first of many brethren, and that is to come fully. That's incredible. She knows this is something important. This is something big. This is something that is new and hasn't been done before. But it's important to keep in mind, she may not have been altogether surprised by it. The Jews had the Book of Daniel at this point in history. They had the scroll of Daniel. They were probably familiar with the 70 weeks prophecy. They were probably familiar with the fact that the Messiah was going to be coming soon in that time frame based on that particular prophecy. And they likely knew that they were getting remarkably close to that time frame. In fact, you can see that in a couple of other places. Matthew talks about how Herod conspired with the scribes and the chief priests to find out everything he could about the Messiah. Where would he be born? About what time? I want this kid dead, Herod said, because he is a threat to my power. So Matthew talks about how, after the Magi came to worship Jesus Christ, that he patches this plan to try to kill the young children to hopefully get the Messiah as well. The Jews knew that the Messiah would be coming soon to provide them with reprieve, they thought, at least from the Roman occupation. Their minds of time was up. They were expecting. They had been waiting. Of course, at that time they were waiting for a conquering king. They were not waiting for a lamb that would die on their behalf. But numerous Messianic prophecies had told of whom and what Christ was to be. The book of Isaiah was clear. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, God with us. So when Gabriel pops up and talks to Mary and says, you've been chosen, you've seen favor with God, you're going to be the virgin that is going to conceive, she may have gone, okay. I mean, I think it was probably a little more than just okay, but, you know, it may not have been as surprising as we think it may have been, because I think they expected the Messiah would be there soon. And it is likely that she had an understanding of what was to come. Let's go to verse 39. Scroll down just a little bit here.

It says, Verse 42, as we often see with the Holy Spirit, there's a discernment that is given. There's a prophecy that is provided.

You know, Elizabeth knew that Mary was carrying the Messiah. She knew. The Holy Spirit provided her with the discernment to be able to understand that.

The time had finally come. The time had finally come. Mary says, in verse 46, He has shown strength with His arm. He has scattered the proud and the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly and has filled the hungry with good things. And the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His seed forever. It says in verse 56, Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her house.

And so Mary is there with them as she finishes the full term, as the full 280 days. She's there with her. Then she returns to her home. So she came at the sixth month and left after three. So at this point, Elizabeth is full term. She's ready to have John. And Mary is at three months when she left Zechariah's and Elizabeth's home.

In verse 57, it says, Elizabeth's full time came for her to be delivered and she brought forth a son. When her neighbors and her relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. That God had provided her with this blessing. After having been barren for so many years, they rejoiced. And so it was, verse 59, on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child, and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zechariah's. Now, there's still cultures in the world around us that do this. The urban culture in Africa, wait until the eighth day to circumcise and name the child. It's very similar to this. They don't name the child until the eighth day. We had a chance to, Carl and I had a chance to go and see one of those, we were very jet-lagged when we went to go see that. We'd just gotten off the plane and had a rough night the night before. But it's interesting. It's a fascinating thing. But at this point in time, there's a tradition in place where you're naming them after members of your family and of your lineage. And so, verse 60, or at the end of 59, they said, and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zechariah's, his mother answered and said, no, he shall be called John. Now, keep in mind, her husband's mute. Her husband's mute. Now, he could have asked for a writing tablet and said, look, we're going to call this kid John. But then note down here, it says that those who saw his father say John marveled.

This was something that was incredible. That the two of them had settled on the name John was incredible. Go back up to verse 60, his mother answered and said, no, he shall be called John. But they said to her, there's no one among your relatives who was called by that name. So, 62, they made signs to his father. Why didn't they just ask him? Because he was deaf and mute. They made signs to him. What will you call him? Well, I don't know what that sign looks like, but what will you name him? And so he asked for a writing tablet and he wrote, saying, his name is John. And they all marveled. Immediately, verse 64, his mouth was opened, his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. And then fear came on all who dwelt around them, and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, what kind of child will this be?

This wasn't something that was kept quiet. This was something that went out and was talked about and was mentioned. And the hand of the Lord was with him. Said his name is John. God is a gracious giver. I don't know if you've been thinking about this or considering this as we've been building this story or not, but the sheer amount of moves ahead of everybody God was in this process is unreal. It is unreal. These priestly divisions were set up a thousand years prior to this time. A thousand years prior to this. These were set up. That Zacharias was a member of the course of Abijah mattered. The timing mattered. That he was drawn by lot to go in at this time with the incense mattered. This wasn't coincidence. This wasn't an accident. This wasn't, oh, oh, oh, oh, Zacharias is down there. Gabriel, go, go, go, go, go! That's not how this worked. This had been being put into place for an incredibly long period of time. That Zacharias and his wife had been barren for so long mattered. It was all part of God's plan, despite how difficult it must have been for them in the times of their life when they just wanted a son or a daughter. But the timing of the birth, the coordination with the 70 weeks prophecy, you know, God had like, he was 20 moves out on that chessboard while things were getting moved. And he's going, I got checkmate right there at this move. And there it was. But it had been a thousand-some years in the making. More than that. Zacharias became a father. Elizabeth bore a son. John became a mighty prophet. He became a man who came in the power of Elijah to prepare the people of Judea for the Messiah. His cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, was the son of God, the Messiah, born of a virgin, who died for you and for me.

One of them was begotten by the Spirit. The other was born to two physical parents and imbued with the Spirit. These two infants, born six months apart in 4-5 BC, changed the world. Changed the world. John prepared the way for Christ. Christ ultimately prepared the way for us. Let's go ahead and turn over to Hebrews 2.

It's hard sometimes when we read Scripture to think of these giants of Scripture as children. You think about John the Baptist running around in his camel hair onesie. It's hard for us to envision that. It really is. It's hard for us to envision that. It's hard for us to think that a person like John the Baptist or a person like Jesus Christ were toddlers at some point in time.

Who had to be taught by their parents how to use a spoon and had to be bounced on their knee and consoled to sleep and nursed and comforted.

Snuggled. These were children at one point in time with promise and potential. Just like the children that we had here today. But John prepared the way for Christ and Christ ultimately prepared the way for us. In Hebrews 2 and verse 10, I'll tell you, their stories certainly ended in a way no parent would ever want their story to end. You look at what happened to John and you look what happened to Christ. It was a difficult end to their story. In Hebrews 2 and verse 10, we know that these things had to happen.

For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory. This isn't just about Jesus Christ as the child of God. It is about mankind becoming children of God and bringing many sons to glory. To make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one.

For which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. You know, Jesus Christ is the firstborn son of God and he's the firstborn of many brethren. That sacrifice, his suffering enabled all of us to come and be able to claim our inheritance too. To allow ourselves to be led by the spirit that dwells in us, to become God's own children. To put on the character of God, to learn that humility and that teachability that we see outlined so often in Scripture when we talk about children. You know these little ones today? They've been given the same opportunity. They're being called at this time. They're being given an opportunity to be a part of the family of God. Literal, literal children of God. Brethren, God beings. That's the opportunity that's been afforded to them and to us. So these children, they have an incredible potential. And as parents, as a result of that incredible potential, we have an incredible responsibility. We have an incredible responsibility. I was talking to some folks recently that served at the pre-teen camp this past summer. And they described kind of a troubling trend among our youth in the church. They observed this year that a number of our youth don't have basic Bible literacy. And what I mean by that, I don't mean like, you know, quote chapter verse. I'm saying they don't know who some of the characters are in Scripture. I mean the big ones, not the Hannah Nells, you know, the big ones. In talking with some of those individuals as well and kind of my own experience at the teen camp level, we've been observing an increasing number of behavioral issues that are coming up at the pre-teen and teen levels as well. Youth that are as young as six and seven that are refusing to follow instructions, refusing to listen, who are disrespectful to their counselors, to their dorm mates, toward those who are in authority. These things begin in the home. These things begin in the home. When you look at Scripture, the Bible says that as the Father, I am the primary source of biblical education for my children. That's a responsibility that is on my shoulders, whether I want it or not, it's on my shoulders. And so if they don't get it, that's on me. It's on my shoulders. It's my responsibility. It's something I need to take care of. I was doing some reading. Focus on the Family. It's kind of interesting. Some of you are familiar with Focus on the Family. But they talk about how when you are working with young people and you're teaching them biblical truth, the foundation of that backdrop of instruction has to be the concept of respect. It has to be based on respect. They said it has to start with the concept that they have to respect God. They have to respect God. They have to respect His ultimate authority in our lives. That He is in charge and that He gets to call the shots. Whether we like it or not, He gets to call the shots.

They need to listen to and respect their parents and other adults that are in authority in an appropriate way. That, you know, provided the instructions that are being given are godly instructions. That they need to have a respect for authority. That they need to respect one another. You know, we're living in a world in which ridicule, sarcasm, and mockery is the language that is spoken.

And it is unreal. You go to the school systems or you go out in public and you see just the ridicule and the just nastiness and snark, the level of snark that is used in society today is just incredible. But our youth have to understand the need and the ability to like deal with these issues in life as they come up. As parents, we need to ensure we're emphasizing who God is, what truth is, where it comes from.

Emphasize kind of our role as mankind in this plan and in this process and help to understand our need for a Savior. When you're a little kid, you don't understand the need for a Savior, at least not when you're little, little. You know, that has to be taught. Just like you look at these guys like John the Baptist and Jesus Christ that had to be taught these things as children, you know, when they were younger. I mean, obviously, you know, at a certain point Christ was teaching everybody else. But, you know, initially, the parents had to teach them the process. They had to work with Him and take care of it. But when our youth are confronted by people of different faiths, you know, or people of no faith, will they be prepared to navigate that water? Will they be ready? Will they feel comfortable enough with themselves and with their own belief system that they'll be able to stand up, as was mentioned today in the sermonette? You know, most groups agree. Statistics show the majority of youth make the decision as to whether they'll maintain their faith before the age of 13. Age of 13. Now, that doesn't mean that the decision is made and then something can't happen later on. And it doesn't mean that a person that says at 13, I'm out of here, I'm never doing this again, doesn't end up coming back. But the vast majority end up in a place before the age of 13 where they kind of come to a point that they say, hey, this is for me. That's one of the things that I love so much about John. He recognized that. John Sephoric recognized that. And he poured his heart into that pre-teen camp program. And honestly, our pre-teen camp programs here in the U.S. owe him a debt of gratitude for the work that was done to put that into place. Because he recognized the importance of how critical these early years are. By the time they come to us in teen camp, the decision in some cases is already kind of made.

So getting them at the pre-teen level is extremely important. But parents, I'd like to encourage you today as we talk about potentials, we talk about all of these things, to check in with your kids. Check in with your kids. See where they're at on some of these primary Bible stories, these big stories. Ask them questions about the stories. Ask them questions about God, what they think about God, about His authority in their life, kind of where they fit in His plan.

Kind of get a feel for where they're at on it. Sometimes we don't think to have these conversations, we tend to assume that everything's fine. Have the conversation. Ask the questions. See where they're at. And if they find large gaps, set aside a time to fill that gap. Set aside a time to go through that story and to take care of that. Teach and model respect for authority. Teach and model it. Teach and model appropriate behavior in situations. And the hardest part of all of it, as you all know that have raised children, the hardest part of all of it is holding that line when they push back. Because they're going to push back. Just like we push back with our own father. There's a business adage that says, culture is what you allow. That your culture of your company will become the behavior that you allow. And so it's the same thing with families. It's the same thing in that regard. You know, it took 280 days for our children to grow and to develop in the womb. I ran the numbers, and this is kind of scary when I say it out loud. We only have 6,570 days with them until they become adults. That's it. You got 6,570 days until they turn 18. Make them count. Make them count. Take the time to instill respect. Take the time to point them to God so that when we draw that bow back and we release that arrow, that it flies straight and true. This potential that is represented in our children, this potential that is there in youth, is incredible. How can we help shape it? How can we help develop it further? And I say we, as in the royal we, we as a congregation, how can we help shape that? It's not just the parents. It's not just the parents. How can we help? How can we help to shape that? How can we build? How can we strengthen it? One of the things we're doing this year with the pre-teen studies is we're going through characteristics and we're using characters to go through that process. To again, help teach those stories, to help teach some of those things in the event that there are gaps. But we as brethren have opportunity to help build and strengthen and shape it as well. And when we're done, hopefully we've got arrows that are pointing straight and true right back to God our Father.