A Message From PastorMerry Christmas!
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"The Birth of Christ - Bethlehem" 12/04/2011/ Sunday Morning Service
I want to welcome you this morning as we begin a new series this month of December on the Birth of Christ. This morning we will be looking at the "little town of Bethlehem", as that familiar Christmas song goes.
Now this morning, we will be in the Gospel of Luke chapter 2 verses 8-14. While next week we will be in the Gospel of Matthew.
Both Gospel accounts are filled with the wonderous historical account of the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though the subject matter is the same, each Gospel gives a unique presentation of that earth shattering night in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago.
In Luke, the shepherds saw a babe in a manger. While in Matthew, the wise men, arriving later, saw a young child. Though each record bears a certain twist to the account...Both Gospel accounts contain the same cast of characters ...Angels, shepherds, Magi, Mary, Joseph, the innkeeper...and the Christ child...all thrust together on this wonderous night.
Right here at the outset, I must make one thing clear.
While the Christmas message is the message of the Christ being born into humanity as a child. We must All understand...that the One born that night was More than A Babe in A Manger. So Much More.
So just what is it that we celebrate? Let's look together!
Luke 2:8-14 - Let's read beginning with verse 8.
"Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, and angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying :
14 "Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill
toward men!"
The sacred record of the Word of God is clear...
The Child in the manger...was God.
All of history had been moving toward That night.
All the roads of Holy Scripture wound toward Bethlehem.
Mary and Joseph had come from Nazareth,
but the ages had been waiting for them to arrive.
The Prophet Micah had said they would be there
700 years BEFORE !
Micah 5:2
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little
among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me, The One to be Ruler in Israel
Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting,
the days of eternity."
Again...the Bible Record is Clear...
The Birth of Our Lord is as much a marvel today as it was 2000 plus
years ago!
God approved - and sent His Angels to worship and testify.
The Bible shows us that :
In Christ:
God took on human form.
Born of a virgin.
Lived amongst us in this world.
He died on the Cross for the sins of mankind.
He went to hell on Our behalf!
He rose from the dead on the third day.
He ascended up to Heaven, and sits at the Right Hand of
The Majesty on High!
The Prophets in the Old Testament of the Bible spoke of Him,
and points us to the Birth of the Christ in Bethlehem's manger.
He is the object of a lasting wonder to all creation and to all
generations.
Jesus the Christ is entirely unique.
His birth is like none other...and
His Existence has no analogy.
Someone has said..."Placing Him in a catagory - cannot
explain Him...and
an example - cannot illustrate Him."
The Apostle Paul said of Jesus the Christ in the New Testament
letter to Timothy in chapter 3:16 that -
He is the "mystery of godliness"...or the Revealed Secret!
The Bible shows us :
He was infinite and finite.
Mortal and immortal.
Omnipotent, yet vulnerable.
Both natures...of God and man reside in Him in all
their attributes and acts...and make up His One whole Being!
God in human form acting in concert in One Person!
How can this be explained?
Yet, God Declares That It Is So!
He, being Fully God and Fully human...
He could link us to God...and establish a personal union.
John said of Him in the Gospel of John 1:12...
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority
to become children of God, to those who believe in His name."
Born of A Virgin...Why?
What necessitated this God-Man...this Son of Man to step into
the realm of our human existence?
Two Things:
1. The sinfulness of man.
2. The faithfulness of our God.
The Key :
Man sinned and came under the curse of sin, which is death.
Man Needed a Redeemer, a Savior...
but according to the law...
Before one man could redeem another, he had to have the
power, the means and the desire to do so.
No one in the human race possessed these qualities.
The writer of Psalm 49:7 penned these words...
"None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor
give to God a ransom for him."
So man's sin made it necessary for a Holy God to become
human flesh to bear the penalty of sin (which is death.) And
to purchase us back into a relationship with God Himself.
So we have the mysterious miracle of the virgin birth of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
In taking on human flesh and being born of a woman, Jesus
Christ did not inherit a fallen, depraved, sinfully corrupt human
nature.
He was born of the seed of God, not of the seed of Adam.
So It All Began This Night!
Angels would carry their message to the hills of Judea.
Judea...Where Rachel's tomb was located.
Judea...Where Samuel had anointed David to be king.
Judea...Where Ruth had gleaned in the fields of Boaz.
Angels would notify shepherds of the Savior's Birth and
miracles would now touch our earth once again.
There had been 400 years of silence from God to the
children of Israel.
This Night...
Shepherds would become evangelists.
Wise Men would journey from afar...following a Star.
As Joseph brought Mary into the tiny village of Bethlehem,
the cast was already set...
the drama of the ages was About to Begin...
This Night...
Christ is Born...
NOW It Begins!
THIS my friends...is What and Who we Celebrate! Let's Pray!
