Who Is Jesus? Part 4 — Creator and Redeemer, Beyond the Manger

Who is Jesus? In this Christmas-season message, the pastor answers that Jesus is far more than the baby in the manger: He is the Creator who made all things and the Redeemer who paid twice for what He had already made. The sermon traces that redemption back to Genesis 3:15, the very first promise of salvation, spoken the moment Adam sinned, and follows it to the cross, where Jesus took both our problem and our penalty. It continues from Who is Jesus?3.

Below you will find the full video, a structured summary of the sermon, the Scripture behind each point (linked to the New King James Version on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline, answers to common questions and practical steps for receiving the inheritance Jesus purchased.

Sermon at a Glance

This message was preached at NTC Ministries at the start of the Christmas season and posted on December 7, 2020. The recording runs about 78 minutes: roughly eleven minutes of opening worship, the teaching, and an invitation to receive Jesus as Redeemer before the Lord’s Supper. The preacher explains that he teaches in series, line upon line and precept upon precept, because that is how believers grow.

His stated goal is practical. He wants every listener’s life improved and wants each person to gain the inheritance God has already provided. Earlier messages looked at Jesus as Creator; this one sets Him before the church as Creator and Redeemer.

Don’t Leave Him in the Manger

During the worship time the pastor sets the tone for the whole message. At Christmas we see Jesus in the manger on cards and in windows, and even people who do not believe in Him talk about His birth. But we cannot leave Him in the manger, because He was not finished. We have to follow Him to the cross, to hell where He took the keys of death and hell, to the resurrection, to the throne, and to His return.

The table below follows the journey he describes and the role Jesus fills at each stage.

When the teaching begins, he compares the Bible to a family photo album. Every story is a picture. A guest flipping through your album sees people enjoying a meal, but you can tell him everything happening around that picture. As we grow with the Lord, the Author fills in what surrounds each scene. That is why the Word is alive, powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12).

His aim in teaching, he says, is to give the church what God gave him, the same way Paul delivered what he had received about the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23). The work is finished, but we still have to take it. If a billionaire uncle left you everything in his will and you never knew, it would sit there worthless, like a vehicle left in park.

Aim Where God Points: The Golf Pro Lesson

Many people want things in life but are not doing what it takes to get them. The pastor tells of hitting a golf ball so high and far he lost sight of it. His partner had good news and bad news: the bad news was that it went into the water, and the good news was that it went exactly where he was aiming. Many of us aim at trouble while hoping for something better.

He then tells of a three-week trip to the Philippines where God opened unusual doors. He attended a supreme court justice’s birthday party, met the owner of the sugar factory and visited a family of generals. The owner of the power company took his team to one of the country’s premier golf courses, where the local golf pros work as caddies to support their careers.

By his own admission he is the golfer you should stand well away from. But he did every single thing his pro told him to do, and he parred the course. His competitive playing partners, a dentist, the power company owner and others, grew more irritated by the minute. He forgot most of the instructions a day later, he jokes, but while he obeyed them, they worked.

That, he says, is what God wants. Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15). God asks things of us because obedience focuses us and brings a better end. Paul committed the believers to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build them up and give them an inheritance among the saints (Acts 20:32).

Your value never changes, the pastor says, because God paid for you with His blood. But your inheritance can grow. That is why he teaches line upon line and precept upon precept (Isaiah 28:10–11), building systematically so lives actually change.

Who Is Jesus? The Creator Who Gave Adam Dominion

To answer who Jesus is, the pastor starts where he starts almost every teaching, in Genesis 1, because that is where God lays out His intention and His aim. In the beginning Jesus was already there. He is the Word who was with God and was God, and all things were made through Him (John 1:1–3).

For five days He created, and people thousands of years later are still discovering the glory of His work. On the sixth day He created man in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26–31). Every other day He called good, but after man He called it very good. The pastor calls humanity the master Craftsman’s finest work, which is why the psalm says to bow down before the Lord our Maker (Psalm 95:6).

Jesus gave Adam dominion over everything made in the five days before. But Adam gave it away and entered what the pastor calls an earth curse system. God was not angry and lashing out; He was reading Adam the label on the seed packet. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7).

Wise parents work the same way. They tell little Johnny or little Sally not to do something because they can see the picture the child cannot. When the child disobeys anyway and finds out Mom and Dad were right, he learns the rule was never about control. It was about giving him a better life.

Jesus’ commands are like that. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but He came to give life more abundantly (John 10:10). He is not stifling us or taking anything from us when He asks something of us. He loved His creation too much to say it was broken and move on, so the Father initiated a plan of redemption from before the foundation of the world.

Genesis 3:15: The First Promise of a Redeemer

Redemption did not start in the manger. It started the moment Adam sinned. In Genesis 3:14–15 God curses the serpent and declares enmity between its seed and the woman’s Seed: He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. The pastor calls this the very first Scripture of salvation, God declaring the end from the beginning.

He explains both halves. Satan and the demonic spirits will bite our heel, so in this earth we sometimes limp along and goals take longer than we want. But we will reap if we do not lose heart (Galatians 6:9). And Jesus will crush the serpent’s head. In Scripture, he teaches, head means authority, so Jesus crushes the authority Satan gained through Adam and makes a way where there was no way.

Once God spoke that word, He had obligated Himself to fulfill it. The pastor reads Isaiah 44:6–8, where the Lord, Israel’s King and Redeemer, says He is the First and the Last and asks whether there is any other God. Then John 1:14: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. Which word? The one spoken in Genesis 3.

God is not a man, that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). He spoke it, and some four thousand years later He came to make it good. That is why we can rejoice in the Lord always, even in hard times (Philippians 4:4).

To explain what redeem means, the pastor tells of a boy who spent months hand-cutting, sanding, gluing and painting a sailboat. A sudden storm carried it away. Months later, in a secondhand shop with his grandfather, he spotted it on a high shelf with his initials carved in the deck. The owner had paid for it, so the boy worked odd jobs for months, bought it back and carried his prized possession home.

Paying for something you already poured blood, sweat and tears into seems unjust, he says, but that is exactly the meaning of redeem: to pay for it twice. The Creator made us, and then the Redeemer bought us back.

The Redeemer Took the Problem and the Penalty

Though He was rich, Jesus became poor for our sakes, so that through His poverty we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). He left heaven and eternity and stepped into time and the curse to bring us into the life of God. That is why He told His disciples not to fear, because it is the Father’s good pleasure to give them the kingdom (Luke 12:32).

Reviewing Psalm 103:2–4, he notes that God is both holy and love. Love without holiness would multiply the world’s chaos a billion times; holiness without love would leave none of us alive. Jesus came holy, never sinned, and came at a specific time through the Jewish people, because Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.

They beat Him and placed a crown of thorns on His head (Matthew 27:29). The pastor teaches that thorns symbolize sin and its consequence, pointing to the curse in Genesis 3:17–18. Jesus took that curse on Himself because of His love for His handcrafted masterpiece. So never despise yourself in the mirror, he says: you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and are the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45–46).

Isaiah 53:6 says the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The pastor teaches that iniquity means rebellion and perversity together with their consequences and punishment. Jesus did not only pay the penalty; He took the problem. So when you are weary and confused, you do not have to carry it. Come to Him and He will give you rest (Matthew 11:28–30).

In Galatians 4:1–7, an heir who is still a child is no different from a slave. That was mankind: given dominion, yet living as slaves in the curse. But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem us so that we are no longer slaves but sons, and heirs of God through Christ.

He illustrates it with credit cards. A friend’s card with a two hundred dollar limit would be a blessing. A billionaire’s card would be far more. Jesus effectively hands us His own name and tells us to ask the Father in it. He became sin for us, the liar, the cheat and the thief on the cross, so we could become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was forsaken (Matthew 27:46) so He could promise never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

More Than Conquerors Through Him

Whoever confesses Jesus as Lord and believes God raised Him from the dead will be saved (Romans 10:9). Problems around us are no reason to despair; look up, because your redemption draws near (Luke 21:28). If you want to hit the green, you have to look at the green.

The pastor reads Romans 5:6–10. While we were without strength, as helpless as babies who can only make a mess, Christ died for the ungodly. While we were still sinners and enemies, He reconciled us to God, and much more we shall be saved by His life. He loves the much mores of God.

He adds a joke: he once named a goldfish Suspicious because it was so fishy, and that describes all of us in this world. No one can balance a scale against God’s righteousness, and even good people without Christ are often just trying to look better than the Joneses. But when we yield to Jesus, He puts His finger on the scale. We are not merely innocent like Adam; we are made righteous as a gift.

That brings peace and removes condemnation (Romans 8:1). Like Paul, who determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1–5), God wants us to focus on one point: the cross. A righteous man may fall seven times and rise again (Proverbs 24:16). Do not wallow; get up and celebrate His redemption now, even in the pit.

He closes with Romans 8:35–39: nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ, and in all these things we are more than conquerors. He recalls Peter led out of prison, Paul and Silas freed, and the three Hebrews in the furnace, and Job, who said he knew his Redeemer lives (Job 19:25–26). Then he leads a prayer to receive Jesus as Redeemer and Lord.

Living as Heirs of the Redeemer

The pastor reminds the church that we are never hopeless or without help, because we are children of the Most High God. Here are practical steps from the message:

• Follow Him past the manger. This Christmas, remember the cross, the empty tomb, the throne and His return alongside the nativity.
• Check where you are aiming. Ask whether your choices point at what you want or at the water, then follow the Word like a trusted golf pro.
• Learn your inheritance. Study the Word line upon line so you know what Jesus has left you and can actually take it.
• Cast the problem on Jesus. When you are weary, remember He took the problem as well as the penalty, and come to Him for rest.
• Get up quickly. When you fail, do not wallow or make excuses; rise like the righteous man who falls seven times.
• Start each day with His love. Ask the Father every morning to tell you again how much He loves you, and celebrate your redemption before you feel it.

Timestamped Outline

• 0:00 Opening worship
• 11:08 Don’t leave Him in the manger
• 15:28 The Bible as a family photo album
• 17:29 Taking your inheritance
• 18:35 It went where you were aiming
• 20:38 Golfing in the Philippines
• 22:40 If you love Me, obey Me
• 24:42 Jesus the Creator in Genesis 1
• 26:45 Adam’s dominion and the earth curse system
• 28:53 Life more abundantly
• 29:57 Genesis 3:15: the first promise of salvation
• 33:42 Isaiah 44 and John 1:14
• 36:11 The sailboat story: what redeem means
• 39:22 2 Corinthians 8:9: He became poor
• 43:09 Holy and loving
• 45:47 The crown of thorns
• 48:17 Isaiah 53:6: the iniquity of us all
• 52:18 Galatians 4: no longer a slave but a son
• 56:09 Use His name like a credit card
• 1:00:14 2 Corinthians 5:21
• 1:01:25 Romans 5: while we were still sinners
• 1:08:50 No condemnation; Christ crucified
• 1:13:26 Romans 8: more than conquerors
• 1:16:56 Prayer to receive the Redeemer

Who Is Jesus Series

This message is part of the Who Is Jesus series at NTC Ministries. Start from the beginning or continue where this one leaves off:

• First message: Who Is Jesus? The Creator and Redeemer Who Bent Down for Us
• Previous: Who is Jesus?3
• You are here: Who Is Jesus? Part 4 — Creator and Redeemer, Beyond the Manger
• Next: Who Is Jesus? Part 5 — The Blood of Jesus, Our Covering and Our Redemption

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the sermon say God did not curse Adam out of anger?

The pastor teaches that God was not lashing out at Adam. He was telling Adam what would grow from the seed he had planted, like reading the picture on a seed packet. Disobedience produced its own harvest, the earth curse system. That is the same principle as Galatians 6:7: whatever a man sows, he reaps. God’s response was not rejection but an immediate plan of redemption.

What does it mean that Jesus “took the problem,” not just the penalty?

Drawing on Isaiah 53:6, the pastor explains that iniquity includes rebellion and perversity together with their consequences. Jesus did not only pay a fine on our behalf; He carried the sin itself, became sin and absorbed the wrath against it. For believers this means weariness and condemnation do not have to be carried alone. We cast them on Him, because He already bore them.

How can someone receive Jesus as Redeemer?

At the end of the message the pastor invites anyone who knows about Jesus but has never personally received Him to do so. He leads a simple prayer: believing Jesus died for you, took your sin and its penalty, rose from the dead and sits at God’s right hand, then declaring Him Lord and asking for a new heart and His Spirit, in line with Romans 10:9.

Scripture References

All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:

• Genesis 3:14–15 — the first promise of a Redeemer
• Genesis 1:26–31 — man made in God’s image
• John 1:1–3 and John 1:14 — the Word became flesh
• Isaiah 44:6–8 — Israel’s King and Redeemer
• 2 Corinthians 8:9 — He became poor for our sakes
• Isaiah 53:6 — the iniquity of us all
• Galatians 4:1–7 — no longer a slave but a son
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 — the righteousness of God in Him
• Romans 5:6–10 — while we were still sinners
• Romans 8:35–39 — more than conquerors

How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.

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