God's Vision for Your Semester - Luke 2:40-52

0:59And you have a vision. What I want to do is challenge you to think whether or not your vision is in line with God's vision for your semester. Look at Luke 2, verse 52. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and favor with God and men. I am very confident that God has a vision for you. Your semester, and that that vision involves you increasing in wisdom and favor with God and with men. I believe that that is his vision because that was his vision for his son.

1:47And God has ordained a routine where growth in favor with him and with man can increase, and outside that routine, there is no growth. God has established a routine where you can grow in wisdom and favor with God and with men. And the question for you and for me today is whether or not we want to embrace it. Do you want to embrace God's vision for your semester today? Does your schedule allow for growth in wisdom and favor with God and with men?

2:29You know, you are maturing. All of us are. We're all on a trajectory. And when this semester is over, you will have matured in some degree in some direction. Either you will be conformed more to the pattern of this world, or you will be transformed more into the image of Christ this semester. And your routine tells the story. Have you allowed For growth in wisdom and favor with God and with man. Well, I want you to adopt a Christ-like routine. That's my hope for you.

3:15I hope that you will adopt a Christ-like routine so that you will grow in wisdom and favor with God and with men. Well, first thing I want you to be mindful of is that Jesus had to grow up. Jesus had to grow up. And it may come as a surprise to some of you that Jesus had to grow up because we often think about Christ from his perspective of deity. He was God among us. He walked among us. He knew the things that God knew. He walked. He did the things that only God can do. And so we often think of him from the perspective of his deity and give very little thought to he was actually human. We often think that he had this unlimited knowledge of the scriptures. He had this unlimited power that he understood the things, that he intrinsically was wise, that he was intrinsically everything that God was, and that he was.

4:17And yet, Luke makes it very clear that Jesus went through a growth process. He not only grew physically, but Luke makes it clear that he grew in his mental and spiritual. Capacities as well. He increased. Look at that word. He increased in wisdom and favor with God. And if such be the case for the perfect Son, guess what? It's certainly going to be true of us, right? And this truth should encourage us. It should encourage us to grow in favor with God and with men, that there is a routine, there is a purpose, there is a desire on God's part that we grow.

5:09You see, God knows that we come to Him as little children, and He expects us to come to Him as little children. We can't come to Him any other way. But He does not expect for us to stay that way. He wants us to mature in our understanding and our relationship with Him. He wants us to grow in favor with Him. And there are circumstances in which such growth will occur. Christ-like routine. Adopt it. You will grow in wisdom and favor with God and with men. So, what is that Christ-like routine?

5:50I'm really glad you asked because I'd like to spend a little time talking about it. And I believe that we can determine what. Those right circumstances are, what that Christ-like routine looks like from looking at the childhood of Christ. You know, the Gospels are mostly silent about Christ's childhood. Only Luke provides a brief, and I will say very brief record of our Lord's childhood. But he did provide enough information to understand the childhood routine that God ordained for Jesus to grow and develop.

6:33And just as a way of background, before we even get into Luke chapter 2 and these few verses that speak about Christ's childhood, there are certainly at least four primary elements of the education that Jesus would have experienced during his lifetime. In his day, in the devout Jewish home, education was central to a child's growth and development. Education was central. And the devout Israelite taught his children because God commanded him to do so. In fact, in Deuteronomy chapter 11, let me just read to you a portion. Deuteronomy chapter 11, verse 18, the whole content of the education was God-centered. Not only was it But it was God's centered, and it was centered upon the words and deeds of God. Listen to Deuteronomy 11, verse 18. You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up, you shall teach them. You shall impress them on your own soul, on your own mind. You should impress them upon your children. So the education was certainly central to their growth, child's growth. It was certainly God's center. And the third thing about education during the time of Christ was that the fear of the Lord was the beginning of the education, and it was the conclusion of the education, the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 7, the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Ecclesiastes 12 and 13 says, This is the end of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. So the fear of the Lord, the respect for the Lord and honoring him was the beginning of the education system and the end of it. This is the purpose.

8:58Children were. Fourth, they were taught to honor their parents, taught to obey their parents. In fact, Proverbs 1:8 speaks of it as, This will be your adornment, to honor the wisdom and the advice of your parents is wisdom and will be as an adornment for you. Children were taught to obey their parents, and many of the boys learned the occupation of their father. This is the kind of home that Jesus grew up in. This is the kind of home that God ordained for his son to grow up in.

9:41Now, look at, I'll just pick up the narrative. Look at verse 39. Right after the nativity narratives, Simeon's prophecy, Anna's testimony. Then in verse 39, when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own city of Nazareth. The child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. I want you to notice those verbs in verse 40. They are striking. The child continued to grow, active development. He's growing. The child is growing. How is he growing? By two passive verbs. He is growing, becoming strong. And how? By increasing in wisdom. Christ is increasing in wisdom. And what these words imply is a habitual routine of being filled up with wisdom.

10:45Jesus needed to mature. He needed to mature in scriptural wisdom, and so do his followers. Now, I think it's important to understand that Jesus' need to grow up does not imply that he was less than perfect humanity. He was perfect humanity for sure. Nor does it imply that he was less than full deity. He was God. He walked among us. But his need to grow up does communicate the extent to which he laid aside the free exercise of his divine prerogatives. He laid them aside. As Philippians 2:5-7 says, have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. So when Christ emptied himself, Jesus gave up the free exercise of his divine prerogatives. But in no way did he empty himself of his deity. He's still God. But he humbled himself to such a degree, and get this, he humbled himself to such a degree that he submitted himself to the natural learning processes of man.

12:14He's somebody to whom we can relate. Now, I will say this: that he was a perfect son, he is the pattern of perfect development. His growth process wasn't inhibited by sin like ours. He didn't make sinful choices. His spirit responded perfectly to the word of God. So he grew at a rate far beyond anything imaginable by fallen humanity, but he did go through a growth process. And Luke is very clear on that. And in all the gospel narratives, very little is actually said about Jesus' childhood years. So what it does say in the verses that we're looking at this morning is very important.

13:04And I believe that Luke wants us to have enough information about these childhood years, a snapshot in time, if you will, that will give us a trajectory, will give us, say, something about these childhood years. And I believe Luke gives us enough information for us to see, get a window into the pattern, into the root. Routine that Christ lived and breathed, and how that routine is what promoted his growth in wisdom and favor. It was a God-ordained, Christ-like routine that the Father wanted for his Son.

13:51So let's talk about that perfect routine. That perfect routine. So Luke shows us the quality of Jesus' childhood development. He's already said in verse 40 that he continued to grow, he became strong. Let's just pick up the narrative in verse 41, because Luke gives us a snapshot. When he's 12 years old, he gives us a snapshot into just how much he had grown and how much he had increased. Verse 41: Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he became 12, they went up there according to the custom of the feast. And as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. So here you go. You got a lot of people. They go up there. They went up there for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread afterwards. So you're looking at at least minimum. They were up there eight days. They were up there eight days. And then they caravan, they went up there as a group, and they're going home as a group. And Jesus stayed behind.

15:00Worst nightmare. Verse 44, but supposed him to be in the caravan and went a but went a day's journey and they began looking for him among their relatives and acquaintances. So they went running around, Uncle Joe's, Aunt Miriam's, went around. Where have you seen him? No, I haven't they. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for him. Then after three days, they found him. You can imagine if you're a parent, we've left our kids before. We know what it's like. Oh, where are the kids? You know, we lost one of our kids only to find out, well, actually, we left two behind. Didn't realize it until we found the other one. Anyway, that's happened. And I can remember the parent, you know, like, oh, that panic. Can you imagine three days? Three days are looking. I mean, where's this guy sleeping? Where is he eating? I mean, it's.

15:58They find him. And where do they find him? Look back. Verse 46. Then after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. So there he is. Many of the learned rabbis, many of your leading minds would have been up there for Passover, probably still there. And here is Jesus right in their midst, talking, conversing, listening. Verse 47, and all. Who heard him. So he's in the midst of these teachers, these learned rabbis, and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

16:43So there is something remarkable. They understood, they saw something in Christ that he had a wisdom, he had an ability to get to the heart of a matter, to get his mind around a subject, and converse deeply on the issue. In fact, I'm reminded by the words of Isaiah 11:2: The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, and the fear of the Lord. And I love what Isaiah goes on to say in verse 3, and will delight in the fear of the Lord. Remember, that was the beginning of the education. Remember, that was the end of the education, the fear of the Lord. And here we have someone who absolutely delights in the honor, the fear, the reverence of the Lord. And here he is, beyond astounding the rabbis.

17:46He certainly a spirit of wisdom was upon him. So then, look back. His parents find him. Look at verse 48. When they saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, Son, why have you? You treated us this way. Behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you. So they find him. Why are you? Where have you been? Why did you do this to us? And then, look at verse 49. And these are the first words of the word made flesh that we have recorded in scripture. The first words that we hear from Jesus' mouth in the words of Scripture, or in the pages of scripture. Listen to these.

18:35Why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know I had to be in my father's house? I had to be about my father's affairs. He says, Why did you have to look? Why did you have to go? It should not have been a mystery to you. I wasn't out at some video arcade. You should have known that. I'm not about, I wasn't out. I was where my heart belongs. I have an inner compulsion to be about the things of my father. I have a delight, my purpose, my satisfaction, my goal, my treasure is all about my father and his house.

19:18Why did you, you should have known me enough by that. You should have known me by now, right? Well, Jesus obviously had. An awareness at an early age of who he was and his mission on earth. He knew he had a unique relationship with God as his heavenly Father. He also knew his life was to be centered around the place where God's presence and instruction were to be given and resided. Now, you look back, and Mary's natural understanding wasn't sufficient to fully grasp this. Look at verse 50. But they did not understand this statement which he had made to them, couldn't quite grasp it. But Luke goes on to finish this chapter, this element, this section in Jesus' life, verse 51. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and he continued in subjection to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart. So as he goes down, it's clear that Jesus was a delight. He grew up in his home, and he grew up as a delight to his mother and everyone else. And in verse 52, Luke underscores it. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and favor with God and with men. So even after all that, at the age of 12, he kept growing, even after. He kept growing, advancing, kept on advancing in wisdom and favor. Such was his childhood.

21:09And even though, as I said earlier, the Bible doesn't give us very much about these inter years, these childhood years, but based on what we just looked at, the following conclusions can be made about Jesus' childhood routine. Number one, Scripture was central. Number two, the places of God's presence and instruction were central. Number three, he submitted to the authorities placed over him. And number four, he was busy doing the things he ought to be doing. Scripture was central to him. The places of God's presence and instruction were central to him. He submitted to the authorities placed over him, and he was busy doing the things he ought to be doing. And it was in this routine that Jesus grew as the Son of Man. He grew in both favor with God and with man. So Jesus had to grow up. And guess what? So do we. Jesus had to grow up, and we have to grow up. God's vision for us is to grow up. And Jesus's childhood routine provides the pattern for perfect. Development or for our development. And just as God was concerned about Jesus' daily routine, guess what? He's very concerned about your daily routine. And one of the very first things you're going to have to do in order to follow Christ, to be a good disciple of Christ, is to establish that Christ-like routine. It's the way He did it.

22:55That's the way it's going to happen for us as well. Growth and wisdom and favor happens in a Christ-like routine. And I believe that's God's vision. And the question to you: do you want God's vision for your semester? Well, I believe Christ-like routine consists of four elements. Four elements. And I just very quickly want to walk through them. First of all, your daily routine should be centered around meaningful time in the scriptures. Want to know what God's vision for your semester is? Your daily routine should be centered around meaningful time in the scriptures.

23:40Let's talk muscular development for a moment. How many of you have already been to the gym? Okay, you don't have to raise your hand, right? How many of you have already said, I want to get physically stronger this semester, so I am going to exercise a little better. I'm going to eat a little better this semester because I want to get. Stronger. I want to be, I want to get in shape. I hope I don't think anybody would argue that if you don't spend any time trying to get in shape, you're not going to, right?

24:16Likewise, if that's true about muscular development, it's also true about spiritual development, right? You cannot expect to grow in scriptural understanding unless you routinely spend time in the scriptures, meaningful time. You're not going to grow physically. Let's talk academically. Let's talk about academic development. None of us expect to grow in our academic world unless we spend substantial time in our studies, right? You're students, many of you. You need to spend time in your studies, right? Or you're not going to grow. There's a thing called muscular atrophy and there's mental atrophy. If you're going to grow, you need to study. In fact, I'll even question: how much time do you spend each day in Bible study? Let's put it like this. If you look at the time you spend in Bible study and you put that same amount of time in your classworks, how would you fare in your classes?

25:23Do you spend enough time in your Bible that if you took that same amount of time and applied that To your physics class, or your engineering class, or your accounting class, or your PE class, even, how would you do? I would recommend that you just treat your Bible as you would a three-hour course. Spend the same amount of time that you would as a three-hour course at school for every one hour in class. The idea used to be three hours outside of class. If you'll put that kind of time in each week, you will see tremendous growth in your understanding and mastery of scripture.

26:02Jesus' daily routine certainly involved meaningful time in scriptures. So should ours. Second element of a Christ-like routine: your weekly routine should be centered around meaningful time participating in a Bible-believing church. Years ago, when I was getting ready to go to college, trying to figure out, okay, which direction am I to go? Lord, what should I do? I asked my dad, Dad, what profession should I go into? And he said, you know what, you ought to do civil engineering, you ought to go to Texas AM University. I said, that's exactly what I'm going to do. And that's exactly what I did. Ended up coming down to Texas AM, went to civil engineering. And guess what building most of my classes were in?

26:50The civil engineering building. Now, is there anything magic about that civil engineering building? I mean, is there anything magical about the architectural building? If you walk in, all of a sudden, wow, you just, somehow you just become an architect by being in those walls, right? Or in the math or whatever. It's not just going in the building, right? But what was it about that building? Why did that building become the center of my engineering development? Well, it's because that is where. The people who were dedicated to the advancement of the profession of engineering congregated and spoke about the things of engineering. That's where the students, that's where the faculty, that's where it all came together, and we talked about engineering. And that's where I grew as an engineer.

27:47You see, God expects us to live in community with one another. And many of the principles cannot be followed. Many of the principles and commandments of Scripture cannot be obeyed outside of a community. We talk about the things of Christ. We talk about the scripture. We orient our life around it. And so although there's nothing magical about the walls, there is something special about the fellowship that takes place inside that's centered around the word. And without it, you cannot grow.

28:18We need the body. Commands like Hebrews 10, 25, assembling together and encouraging one another. And 1 Thessalonians 5, 14, we urge you, brethren. Admonish the unruly, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. All of these have the idea of a community. You cannot be obedient to these commands outside of a local community. All of the commands to love one another, to serve one another, all presuppose a local church, not a universal church, but a local one.

29:04So, a person who is not meaningfully involved in the local church has to disregard many of the clear teachings. And we can look at Jesus' childhood and we can see his yearly routine, his weekly routine certainly involved the places of God's presence, the places where biblical instruction were given, and the places of biblical community. Third element of a Christ-like routine: you should gladly welcome the authorities that God has placed over you and make every effort to be a delight in their lives.

29:46Look back at Luke 2:52. Luke makes it clear that Jesus grew in favor with God and men. He was a delight to the people around him. And we also know he ended up getting crucified. But there was something about him that was a delight. There is something beautiful about true virtue that as he grew in favor with God, people could not help but see a beauty in the virtues that his life displayed. Are people around you better for your Christianity?

30:35Is your spouse better off because you are a Christian? Are your children better off because they have a Christ-like dad in the home or a Christ-like mom in the home? Are your parents better off? What about your siblings? Are they better off because they have an older brother that is a follower of Christ or sister? Are your friends better off because you're a believer in Christ? How about your teachers? It should be a blessing in whatever classes you are taking that there's a Christian in their midst. What about your employers? What about your country? Is America better off because of our Christianity?

31:25All of our affiliations, we have to ask, are they better off because of our Christianity? Christianity. You see, God has placed each of us under various authorities. And he puts us under these authorities not to supplant His authority, but that through subjecting ourselves to the authorities He has placed over us, we have an avenue to express our subjection to our Father in heaven. See, we got several teen pactors here. I mean, can I get a whoop from the teen pactors? Okay, we got several here, right? And my kids have loved Teen Pact. I mean, I hope I didn't cause anybody to break any authority. I know there's some traditions about what kind of whoops you can do and how you can do them, all that kind of stuff.

32:16But I remember an illustration they like to tell at Teen Pact about a babysitter, right? You guys are very familiar with that, right? The babysitter. If I call a babysitter over to my house and I say, okay, babysitter, I'm putting you in charge of my kids. We're going out for the evening and I want you to take care of them. And by the way, they're not to eat any sugar, right? And there are certain rules that I have to obey. I want the authority to respect, the babysitter to respect. It is not the babysitter's prerogative to say, okay, kids, he's gone now, therefore let's just have an ice cream Sunday, right? That would be outside of their authority, right? But I expect my kids to obey. That babysitter, just like they were obeying me. So long as that babysitter is carrying out the things that I expect, right? Well, God has put authorities over us.

33:14So many, so many to even. We have parents, we have government, we have school, we have employers, we have so many authorities, and those authorities are opportunities for us to express Christ's authority over our lives, and we ought to give ourselves and make every effort to be a delight in their lives. That's what Jesus did. He was in subjection. I mean, look at that word, right? Verse 51, and he went down with them and came to Nazareth and continued in subjection to them.

33:53I guarantee you, they weren't sinless. And yet, that is what the perfect Son did. So we should do the same, gladly welcome the authorities that God has placed over us and make every effort to be a delight in their lives. Fourth, fourth element of a Christ-like routine, you should be busy fulfilling the responsibilities that God has entrusted to your care. You know, God has given each of us a unique set of responsibilities, and he wants us busy in fulfilling them.

34:30That's what we should busy ourselves with, right? Please keep your attention up here. We all have different responsibilities. But we do have one thing in common, right? And that is, God wants us to busy ourselves with the things that we ought to be doing. One of the biggest ways you'll get in trouble this semester is to get caught up in things you ought not be doing. And the reason you'll get caught up in things that you ought not be doing is because you will not be busy about the things you ought to be doing.

35:17And one of those things is to be responsible, be busy about the things that God has placed under your care. Well, God's vision for us is to grow up, and He has appointed a routine for that to happen. Number one, our daily routines should be centered around meaningful time in the scriptures. Our weekly routines should be centered around meaningful time participating in a Bible-believing church. Number three, we should gladly welcome the authorities that God has placed over us and make every effort to be a delight in their lives. And four, we should be busy fulfilling the responsibilities that God has entrusted to our care.

36:01And those who give themselves to such Christ-like routine will have no time to be discipled by the world or to be distracted by the vain pursuits of life that keep us from growing in wisdom and favor with God and man. You have a semester before you, and all of us are maturing one way or the other. You're going to trade a semester of your life for something. You will either grow in maturing to the conformity of the world, or you are going to grow and mature in your conformity to Christ.

36:50If you just looked at your routine right now, what does your routine say about you? What is your trajectory? Where will you be a few months from now? Which direction? Well, the good news of the gospel is that we don't have to have God all figured out to start following Him. But we do have to come to Him on His terms. And we have to begin by embracing the routine that He has ordained for spiritual growth. One of the very first things you need to learn from Scripture is that Christ is the Lord. There is. No relationship with God outside of that relationship of Christ. It is through faith alone, in the finished work of Christ alone, that you have any kind of basis of a relationship. His righteousness is too high and your sinfulness is too deep. You need a bridge. You need an individual to meet those requirements, and that is Christ. And he invites you to come to Him. Turn away from your sins. Ask His forgiveness. Embrace Him. Go through life in solidarity with Him. That is the beginning of a Christ-like routine.

38:13And then grow. Let your daily routine adopt all these elements of a Christ-like routine and grow. And it's going to be a lifelong challenge. It's going to go beyond this semester, by the way. You are going to face challenges to a Christ-like routine all your life. There will be sinful choices that you make. You may even fall into sinful patterns. You may even get caught up in the vain pursuits of life. You may even overcommit yourself. You might even get distracted by some of the anxieties and the perplexities and the busyness of life. And you can easily slip out of a Christ-like routine. What do you do? Simply confess it, ask for forgiveness.

39:01Re-establish a Christ-like routine, move ahead. But I can assure you this: if your daily routine does not involve meaningful time in the Bible, if your weekly routine isolates you from the church, if you chafe against the authorities that God has placed over you, if you neglect the responsibilities that God has given you to do, then you will not grow in wisdom and favor no matter what else you do. And the good news is that God wants us to grow in wisdom and favor, just like He wanted Jesus to do the same.

39:40And I can assure you: if you will commit yourself, if you will desire, say, Lord, I want that Christ-like routine for my own, your willing spirit will be met by his empowering in spirit and his illuminating spirit, so that you can walk in his ways. And I can tell you, go for the Christ-like routine. Scrap everything else, rethink, do whatever you have to do, establish a Christ-like routine in your life because many good things will come out of that that you can't even imagine. The relationships that will be formed, the thoughts that you will have, the doors that will be opened, the satisfaction that will come from knowing the Christ and the Christ alone will so drive.

40:30Your days and create situations that can ever come about in your own routine. Good things, good relationships, good opportunities come out of Christ-like routines. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for this snapshot into the childhood of our Lord, how beautiful it is, how precious it is, sufficient to give us a view of a healthy routine, a routine that causes growth and wisdom and favor with you and with those around. Father, that you would highly be exalted in our lives.

41:23Accomplish now in us what you want to do. Open our hearts in Jesus' name.