The Grand Entrance

Text: Luke 2:1-20

Proposition: Everything in the details of Christ’s birth were exactly how God desired it to be for each detail shouted to the heavens Who He is.

Introduction: We used to have these two golden retrievers that would come racing down the stairs into the basement family room. Their nails would slip on the laminate floor and they’d crash into each other and whatever was in their way. It was an unrestrained excitement and joy that made me laugh every time. There’re things you hear, taste, see, smell and do that you never tire of because of the joy and love in them. What about you, what is it you never tire of?   What about the story of the birth of Jesus, do you ever get tired of it? Does it still fill you with a sense of awe, a quiet beauty? When God pondered the entrance of His Son into the world, what do you suppose were some of the things that He considered? Was it how to present to the world the One who created it? Was it how best to care for the soon to be humanity of Jesus? Would the grand entrance describe in some way the personhood of God, His character, His nature, His identity? Let’s read again the details of the Grand Entrance, Luke 2:1-20.

I.The Chaos of Sovereignty Reveals God Perfectly.

You know what I mean by sovereignty, the ability to not only rule over all things but to set things in place exactly as you choose. So consider for a moment what we know to be true about the details of the grand entrance of Jesus Christ into an eternity of being human. The virgin birth was set to occur with a young woman of great faith and great poverty. Though she is engaged this unexpected pregnancy becomes grounds for divorce. The recovery of the marriage occurs as God directs Joseph to trust and  believe but as soon as this stability is in place a census is announced and Mary, nine months pregnant, journeys 100 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Because they move so slowly by the time the time they arrive all available beds are taken and a manger is the only place of shelter. Sovereignty is the ability to set things into place exactly as you choose. God is absolutely sovereign so the chaotic details of this grand entrance are perfect for what He intends to declare about Himself. What do you suppose it was that God wanted to declare by such an entrance? Let’s consider two possibilities:

1. God is Infinitely Different from Man. Isaiah 55:9,“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” All you have to do is ask yourself if this was how you would have done it. How high are the heavens above the earth anyway? The distance, and we have to use the phrase, ‘known universe’, because we haven’t found the edge yet, seems to indicate immense distance, immeasurable distance. So the ways of God are higher, immeasurably, than our ways. His thoughts are immeasurably higher than our thoughts. God is infinitely different from man yet God entered into humanity eternally when Jesus Christ was conceived and then born. Which means that Jesus is infinitely different from any other person, perfect, sinless and righteous. Yet at the same time He was made in His humanity just like us. The very terms we use to describe Jesus declare how wonderfully different He is: He is Prophet – God speaking to man; Priest -man speaking to God; King -man speaking to man. From the details of His incarnation God introduces us to this truth.                                                     .                                      
2. God’s Timing Is Perfectly Different From Ours. 2 Peter 3:8. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” What Peter is saying is that God moves in time as though it was a liquid rather than a linear concept. There is no time line to Him, it is all one fluid moment. C. S. Lewis once wrote, “If God foresaw our acts, it would be very hard to understand how we could be free not to do them. But suppose God is outside and above the Time-line. In that case, what we call "tomorrow" is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call "today." All the days are "Now" for Him. He does not remember you doing things yesterday; He simply sees you doing them, because, though you have lost yesterday. He has not. He does not "foresee" you doing things tomorrow; He simply sees you doing them: because, though tomorrow is not yet there for you, it is for Him.”Omnipresence, the trait that proclaims God is everywhere at once, has everything to do with time and distance. Add to this the Omniscient all knowing mind of God and we glimpse how a day can be like a thousand years to God.                                                                    
3. From the moment Joseph and Mary left Nazareth, God was timing their arrival with a precision that would make NASA seem primitive. Every detail in the chaotic grand entrance of Jesus had a timing to it. All of prophesy has a timing to it, from Isaiah to David, to Moses to Abraham to Noah to Adam. All the prophecy that came to us down through the ages resonated the truth of Who Jesus is.  Since the creation of the world, well actually before the world was created, God was timing the arrival of His Son into the world. Do you remember that passage in Rev. 13:8 that says, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”   Or Matthew 13:34,35, “All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world." Or Ephesians 1:4, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love”.                               

Do you get that phrase, ‘before the foundation of the world’? Do you see the timing inherent in it? Perfect timing, not only as regards the birth of Jesus, but also your very birth,and even your second birth being born again in Christ Jesus by faith. All this is included in the perfect timing of God and God’s timing is perfectly different from ours!                                                                                                                 

God’s sovereignty can appear to us to be chaotic, we see that in this passage, yet it is perfect in what it achieves and it what it declares about Who God is.

II.The Design of Grace Reveals God Perfectly.

The word ‘grace’ has a number of meanings. It can describe elegance or beauty, it can refer to undeserved favor, it can even refer to an extension of time after a debt is actually due. Grace is the word that often comes to mind when we describe God. When we think about the Grand Entrance of Jesus Christ at His birth there is a design of grace that perfectly reveals God. There’s design in all the humble or lowly setting of Christ’s birth…the lack of a warm house and a soft bed, the lack of close friends and family, alone in the manger, the only privileged guests…shepherds. Everything that seems out of place for the birth of this King of kings is there by design, a design that pictures the contrast between heaven and earth, holiness and sin, deity and humanity. It is a design of grace in that it pictures the humility of Christ, it pictures a poverty of spirit and a purity of heart in Him that by grace He draws us to. Thirty years after Bethlehem Jesus would say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God…blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” (Matt.5). Who is it that first sees Jesus, first sees God? It’s Joseph and Mary, holding in their arms the promise of nine months ago. Who is the first to visit? It’s the shepherds who believed enough in what the angel said that they would leave their sheep to see this sign, a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths laying in a manger, a baby that the angel said would be good news, a great joy for all the people. They believed, with a pure heart and they saw God. The design of grace is that we too would be pure in heart, we too would see God for all of Who He is and all He intends to do. I say that because that is what it means to glorify God, it’s an eternal pursuit.

It’s kind of like a father who gets down on one knee to talk to his child. It’s an act of grace that tells the child the father cares, it’s a way getting down to their eye level so they can see you, so they know you see them, hear them. It’s a way of speaking to the child in terms they can understand.

The design of grace has God’s highest creatures, the angels, the ones who were before the world was created, the ones who know what man is and have watched him since the beginning of time, the ones who know the blazing presence of God, these angels now see the Son of God incarnated into humanity and they cry out to the shepherds the deep, deep truth of what the shepherds cannot yet see: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

Jesus, our peace, is now among men. Jesus, the one with whom God the Father is pleased has come to us that we might come to God, that we might receive the right and the power to become children of God.  Had mankind somehow pleased God enough that He then sent Jesus? In NO way! It was grace and the design of grace was that we by faith in Jesus as our Savior would become Jesus-like in His righteousness. The design of grace is that as Jesus was born in humble settings, God coming to man… even so we are born again by grace through faith and yet again God comes to us.

This grand entrance of our Savior Jesus Christ, perfectly planned that we would see and know the love of God, has brought good news of a great joy for all the people.

The Grand Entrance

Text: Luke 2:1-20

Proposition: Everything in the details of Christ’s birth were exactly how God desired it to be for each detail shouted to the heavens Who He is.

Introduction: Do you remember a show called Seinfeld that was popular through the 1990’s? There was a character in that series called Kramer and the most memorable thing about Kramer were these unexpected door bursting open, skidding in entrances he made. They were like a signature that described the chaotic personality of Kramer. Every time our Golden retrievers are allowed into the house, and especially allowed downstairs to where the family room is, they come sliding into the room on the laminate floors, toe nails searching for something to grip. It’s a Kramer entrance every time and I never get tired of it. There are many things that you never get tired of.  What about the story of the birth of Jesus, do you ever get tired of it? When God pondered the entrance of His Son into the world, what do you suppose were some of things He considered? Was it how to present to the world the One who created it? Was it how best to care for the soon to be humanity of Jesus? Would the grand entrance describe in some way the personhood of God, His character, His nature, His identity? Let’s read again the details of the Grand Entrance, Luke 2:1-20.

I. The Chaos of Sovereignty Reveals God Perfectly.

You know what I mean by sovereignty, the ability to not only rule over all things but to set things in place exactly as you choose. So consider for a moment what we know to be true about the details of the grand entrance of Jesus Christ into an eternity of being human. The virgin birth was set to occur with a young woman of great faith and great poverty. Though she is engaged this unexpected pregnancy becomes grounds for divorce. The recovery of the marriage occurs as God directs Joseph to believe but as soon as this stability is in place a census is announced and Mary nine months pregnant journeys 100 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Because they move so slowly by the time the time they arrive all available beds are taken and a manger is the only place of shelter. Sovereignty is the ability to set things into place exactly as you choose, God is absolutely sovereign so the chaotic details of this grand entrance are perfect for what He intends to declare about Himself. What do you suppose it was that God wanted to declare by such an entrance? Let’s consider several possibilities:

1. God is Infinitely Different from Man.  Isaiah 55:9, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” All you have to do is ask yourself if this was how you would have done it. How high are the heavens above the earth anyway? The distance, and we have to use the phrase, ‘known universe’, because we haven’t found the edge yet, seems to indicate immense distance, immeasurable distance. So the ways of God are higher, immeasurably, than our ways. His thoughts are immeasurably higher than our thoughts. God is infinitely different from man yet God entered into humanity eternally when Jesus Christ was conceived and then born. What an end that puts to thoughts that would seek to make God in man’s image.                                      2. God’s Timing Is Perfectly Different From Ours.  2 Peter 3:8. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” What Peter is saying is that God moves in time as though it was a liquid rather than a linearconcept. There is no time line to Him, it is all one fluid moment. C. S. Lewis once wrote, “If God foresaw our acts, it would be very hard to understand how we could be free not to do them. But suppose God is outside and above the Time-line. In that case, what we call "tomorrow" is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call "today." All the days are "Now" for Him. He does not remember you doing things yesterday; He simply sees you doing them, because, though you have lost yesterday. He has not. He does not "foresee" you doing things tomorrow; He simply sees you doing them: because, though tomorrow is not yet there for you, it is for Him.”  Omnipresence, the trait that proclaims God is everywhere at once, has everything to do with time and distance. Add to this the Omniscient all knowing mind of God and we glimpse how a day can be like a thousand years to God.From the moment Joseph and Mary left Nazareth God was timing their arrival with a precision that would make NASA seem primitive. Every detail in the chaotic grand entrance of Jesus had a timing to it that would stick out and resonate prophetically the truth of Who Jesus is for the next four thousand years and then onwards after that. Since the creation of the world, well actually before the world was created, God was timing the arrival of His Son into the world. Do you remember that passage in Rev. 13:8 that says, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Or Matthew 13:34,35, “All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world." Or Ephesians 1:4, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love”. Do you get that phrase, ‘before the foundation of the world’? Do you see the timing inherent in it? Perfect timing, not only as regards the birth of Jesus, but alsoyour very birth,even your second birth or being born again in Christ Jesus by faith in Him, this too is included in the perfect timing of God. God’s timing is perfectly different from ours, thankfully!II. The Design of Grace Reveals God Perfectly.

The word ‘grace’ has a number of meanings. It can describe elegance or beauty, it can refer to undeserved favor, it can even refer to an extension of time after a debt is actually due. Grace is the word that often comes to mind when we describe God. When we think about the Grand Entrance of Jesus Christ at His birth there is a design of grace that perfectly reveals God. There’s design in all the humble or lowly setting of Christ’s birth…the lack of a warm house and a soft bed, the lack of close friends and family, alone in the manger, the only privileged guests…shepherds. Everything that seems out of place for the birth of this King of kings is there by design, a design that pictures the contrast between heaven and earth, holiness and sin, deity and humanity. It is a design of grace in that it pictures the humility of Christ, it pictures a poverty of spirit and a purity of heart in Him that by grace He draws us to do as well. Thirty years after Bethlehem Jesus would say these words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God…blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Matt.5. Who is it that first sees Jesus, first sees God? It’s Joseph and Mary, holding in their arms the promise of nine months ago. Who is the first to visit? It’s the shepherds who believed enough in what the angel said so that they would leave their sheep to see this sign, a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths laying in a manger, a baby that the angel said would be good news, a great joy for all the people. They believed, with a pure heart they saw God. The design of grace is that we too would be pure in heart, we too would see God for all of who He is and all He intends to do.

It’s kind of like a father who gets down on one knee to talk to his child. Why does he do that? It’s an act of grace that tells the child the father cares, it’s a way getting down to their eye level so they can see you, so they know you do hear them. It’s a way of speaking to the child in way that they can understand.

The design of grace has God’s highest creatures, the angels, the ones who were before the world was created, the ones who know what man is and have watched him since the beginning of time, the ones who know the blazing presence of God, these angels now see the Son of God incarnated into humanity and they cry out to the shepherds the deep, deep truth of what the shepherds cannot yet see: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Jesus, our peace, is now among men. Jesus, the one with whom He is pleased has come that we would become co heirs with Christ. Had mankind somehow pleased God enough that He then sent Jesus? In NO way! It was grace and the design of grace was that we by faith in Jesus as our Savior would become Jesus-like. The design of grace is that as Jesus was born in humble settings, God coming to man… even so we are born again by faith when we come humbly to Him by faith, confessing our sin, turning from it, entering into new life, man coming to God.

This is the grand entrance of our Saviour Jesus Christ, perfectly planned that we would see the love of God, the good news of a great joy for all the people.

The Great Messianic Psalm
Text: Psalm 22
Proposition: If Psalm 22 was what Christ was cried out as He hung on the cross it becomes for the church a bracing against suffering and a lifting up to see His glory.
Introduction: This morning we are going to look at one of the most extraordinary passages of Scripture in the entire Bible. It’s extraordinary because of the historical context, it’s unique because of the insight it gives and it’s profound because of the implication woven into every phrase. Here’s where we first recognize this passage, have a look at this… http://youtu.be/oWK4N5LIUWk. It’s been thought that some of what Christ struggled to speak as He died on the cross was the reciting of  Psalm 22, a Psalm written by King David about 1000 years before the event of Jesus crucifixion. It’s called a Messianic Psalm because its content can only refer to the Messiah that Israel looked for and hoped in even though the fulfillment of it happened a thousand years later. Turn with me to Psalm 22 as we listen to the words of David speak of what he was experiencing and yet at the same time are the words of a prophet pointing to the greatest event in the history of all mankind.
I. Forsaken, Perfectly.
We know from the context of David’s life that Saul’s pursuit of him was relentless and that many times it seemed like death was imminent. Many times David must have remembered how Samuel had anointed him with oil signifying that David was God’s choice to be the next king of Israel and yet here he was hanging onto life by a thread. Look at these first three verses. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me and from the words of My groaning?  O My God, I cry in the daytime but You do not hear and in the night season and am not silent. But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” Notice that there is complaint but that there is also confidence. Despite the fact that God does not do what I think He should do yet He is perfect or holy in what He does. For David that meant anguish of soul as he wondered how this would end, it meant feeling forsaken because of the circumstances and yet by faith being confident that God had all things perfectly in His control. We can understand what was happening in David’s life, but what of Jesus as hung on the cross? Was He indeed in some way forsaken by the Father? To answer this we have to remember that Jesus was both completely human and completely divine. In His divinity with the Father He is the Second Person of the Trinity, meaning that God is One God made up of three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. On Christmas Eve I shared with you a symbol that is a good picture of what this means.    We worship One God, a God that Communicates, that values Community and cherishes Communion. That’s the essence of John 1:1. The theologians call the connection between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit a ‘hypostatic union’, meaning a union that cannot be broken if God is to be God as we know Him. So how was Jesus ‘forsaken’ if that union could not be broken? The answer is that when the Father pushed all the debt of mankind’s sin upon Jesus, a term that is called ‘imputing’, that sin was imputed to the perfect humanity of Jesus, to His sinless human nature. It was at that moment that the Father, as the song says, ‘turned His face away’ from the Son’s sin filled humanity. It’s why Paul wrote what he did in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  In His humanity He was forsaken but in His deity He remained as God in union with the Father. He was forsaken, perfectly. Some think that Jesus cried out the words of Psalm 22 in the way that people cry out Psalm 23 as death comes near. Some think that He continued to recite the whole Psalm not as complaint but as a voice of confidence in His Father… “but You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.”
II. Ridiculed, Wondrously.
Look at verses 6,7,8, “But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, "He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!"” It’s strange that the word for ‘worm’ is often translated, ‘scarlet’. Perhaps it’s because the female "coccus ilicis" worm, common to this area, when ready to give birth would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. Was Jesus thinking of how He was about to give His life for all those who would by faith trust in Him for eternal life, His scarlet blood upon the tree of the cross? The ridicule wondrously spoke past the evident circumstances to the greater reality of what was taking place right before their eyes. The rescue they thought that Jesus needed would have become for them a great loss. Had Christ not died on the cross for our sins we would be yet trapped in them. Because Jesus trusted in the Father, the Father would deliver Him, not from death but through death. They never saw the resurrection coming because they didn’t realize what it would cost for their resurrection. The Son delighted in the Father and even more in doing the Father’s will. His will was that the Son would be ridiculed, wondrously.
III. Humanity, Divinely Given.
Consider verses 9,10,11. “But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God. Be not far from Me, for trouble is near for there is none to help.” In the very midst of the intensity of the crucifixion Jesus remembers the Fathers’ care from the beginnings of birth to the present moments. Is there any point in your life when it was just you who made things happen? If you are tempted to say yes then think again, you are and always have been a dependent. For some of you that will be an irritating statement because we strive for independence yet from the womb God has been in your life and trouble has not been far behind you. The humanity of Jesus was divinely given for us that we would see a Savior who knows what trouble is, what hunger and poverty are, what being betrayed and rejected are all about. This is our Jesus and as He called upon the Father, trusted in Him and cast Himself upon the Father’s care, we too are to follow in those steps. His humanity was divinely given that we would see God and see how to live by faith.
IV. Life Saving, Crucifixion.
Consider verses 14 to 18… “I am poured out like water and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death for dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” What David describes in Psalm 22 was not used until 1000 years later when the Romans refined the practice of crucifixion. It was state sanctioned torture, a tool meant to bring a person to the edge of death and then keep them there, a primitive deterrent to all who would defy Roman law. But it was not only state sanctioned torture, it was public humiliation, tearing down the soul and spirit even as it ripped and tore the body. The point is simply this, Jesus alone bore the agonies of the cross. Neither the Romans nor the Jews were responsible for His death. Our sin is why He chose to endure the unspeakable agony of crucifixion. In Matt. 27:51 it says that when Jesus died the veil in the Temple separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The Son of God was torn from the realms of heaven to the blood soaked earth signifying a new way to God through that torn body. It was life saving crucifixion, by His stripes we are healed.
V. It Is Finished Is a New Beginning.
When Christ uttered the phrase, “It is finished” what He referred to was the last part of this Psalm from verses 22 to 31. There is now an assembly all over the world down through every age of people that have been bought by the blood of Christ. There is now a glory given to God the Father by that church. There is now deep satisfaction to be had by those in Christ. There is now a kingdom of God on earth growing and reaching out to people from nation and language. This church will continue to the end of the times of the Gentiles and then on forever into eternity. There is an end to the works and eventually to the person of Satan, his deception is now undone by the cross of Christ. It is finished is a new beginning!

The Impossible Promises of God    

Text: Luke 1:26-47

Proposition: The very nature of God’s promises are outside the realm of human possibility, the only response to them is a faith that receives and pursues.

  The Miracle of the Ages

Text: Luke 1; John 1

Proposition: The miracle of all ages was the incarnation of God, for from this comes all the possibility of redemption. Discovering this miracle leads the discovery of eternal life.

Introduction: The manger scene depicts the humble circumstances in the birth of Jesus. Upon this birth every major doctrine in the Christian faith hangs. Without the intent and existence of the incarnation there is no justification, redemption, salvation, adoption, sanctification, nor even election. In light of this, how strange it is for us that prophecy has been so silent about the incarnation. There is the veiled reference in Genesis 3:15 of how the seed of the woman would crush the head of Satan. There is the difficult reference in Isaiah 7 of a virgin giving birth to a son, and the son’s name to be called Immanuel. But even here there was no direct revealing of the idea of God taking on humanity. Then we look at the actual records of the Gospels, the accounts of the birth of Christ, and even here we see a great mystery. There seems to be a great silence in all the gospel writers except Luke. Mark and John don’t record a single historic event regarding the details of His birth. The greatest miracle of all ages, the incarnation of God, seems to be like the writer of the carol suggests, “Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see”. Let’s take a closer look at the wonder of the incarnation through words that don’t refer to mangers, shepherds or heralding angels. Turn with me to John 1:1- 4. 

I. The Eternity of Christ Enters Into Humanity.

“In the beginning was the Word…”, the term ‘Word’ refers to Jesus, but why does John use this term? Is it that a spoken word gives expression to inner thought and then it reveals this thought to others? Jesus, The Word, gave expression to the inner thoughts of the Father and then revealed those thoughts to mankind. There’s a passage in Proverbs 8:27-30 that personifies wisdom as a companion of Jesus but it can also be a portrayal of the close relationship between the Son and the Father. “When He prepared the heavens, I was there: when He set a compass upon the face of the depth, when He established the clouds above: when He strengthened the fountains of the deep: When He gave to the sea His decree that the waters should not pass His commandment: when He appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by Him, as One brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him”. It was this eternity of the Word that agreed with the Father’s will and in the movement of the Holy Spirit upon Mary, entered into humanity and was for the first time in eternity was named… Jesus.

II. The Person of Jesus Is Embodied in Humanity.  

“In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was with God…”. What does it mean, “the Word was with God”? I like how the American Standard Revised version translates this: “and the Word was face to face with God”. This speaks of the closest possible fellowship that God could ever have with another. The person of Jesus is distinguished from the person of the Father in this verse. It is this person of Christ, pre-existent before creation, Who had a depth of relationship with the Father that exceeds our understanding. Do you remember the words of Jesus in His priestly prayer of John 17? “And now glorify Thou Me together with Thyself Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was”…and “…for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world”. The Word was with the Father in a depth of relationship that was so close they functioned as One God. And yet, in the miracle of the ages, the Word added to this proximity of fellowship by being embodied in humanity.

III. The Deity of Jesus Entered Into the Limits of Humanity. 

“And the Word was God.” Literally it reads, “And God was the Word”, emphasizing the deity of the Word, Jesus Christ. Though both were spirit, Jesus existed separate from the Father, had close communion with Him and yet was fully God Himself. This truth is foundational for what is about to be said. Consider verses 3,4. Because Jesus is fully God He has the capability of creation, all things are created by Him and thus are owned by Him. Note that this also infers that Jesus is not created, but exists apart from creation. It is the deity of Jesus, Who He is as God, that enables Him to give life. Previously Jesus painted the truth of Who God is through the panorama of creation and with the broad brushes of prophetic revelation. By the incarnation He would do this same role except now He was the paint as well as the Painter as He entered visibly into the limits of humanity.

IV. The Sonship of Jesus Brings Us Sonship With God.              

In John 1:14 it says, “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us”, All the images of the baby in the manger are sourced in this statement. But as great a mystery as God taking on humanity is, the purpose of it is even greater. There’s an intriguing title that was given to describe Jesus, it’s become so well known we hardly think of it. The title is ‘The Son of God’, but what does it mean, what does it refer to? It can’t refer to an act of creation or that the Father created the Son, because Jesus is God and is not created. It can’t refer to the fact of the incarnation, because Jesus was the Son of God before the incarnation. Jesus is the Son of God in the way that He shares in the essence of the Father and reflects that essence, things such as righteousness, love, wisdom, full of grace and truth. He is the Son that looks just like His Father. Add to this John 1:12, “ But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” Jesus, Who is the Son of God, has brought that embracing son-ship to us through the incarnation. 

The Athanasian Creed written in about 400AD concludes this: “Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man…perfect God, and perfect man…who although he be God and man ; yet he is not two, but one Christ; one not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh; but by the taking of mankind into God.” This is the Miracle of the ages, the incarnation of Jesus the Christ by which God now embraces mankind as never before.             

The Miracle of the Ages

Text: Luke 1; John 1

Proposition: The miracle of all ages was the incarnation of God, for from this comes all the possibility of redemption. Discovering this miracle leads the discovery of eternal life.

Introduction: The Christmas decorations are up and one of the most popular of them all is the manger scene. It’s on cards, on lawns, on coffee tables and in church foyers. The scene it depicts is the humble circumstances in the birth of Jesus, yet what can escape our notice is that this event is the greatest miracle of all ages. Upon it every major doctrine in the Christian faith hangs. Without the intent and existence of the incarnation there is no justification, redemption, salvation, adoption, sanctification or election. In light of this, how strange it is for us that prophecy has been so silent about the incarnation. There is the veiled reference in Genesis 3:15 of how the seed of the woman would crush the head of Satan. There is the difficult reference in Isaiah 7 of a virgin giving birth to son, and the son’s name to be called Immanuel. But even here there was no direct revealing of the idea of God taking on humanity. Then we look at the actual records of the Gospels, the accounts of the birth of Christ, and even here we see a great mystery. Consider the following comparisons in the Gospels:    

                                                                                Matthew                Mark                      Luke                       John

Geneology of Jesus                                             1:1-17                       X                          3:23-38                  X  

Gabriel announces John's birth                               X                          X                         1: 1-25                   X

Gabriel visits Mary                                                  X                           X                         1: 26-38                 X

Mary visits Elizabeth                                               X                           X                         1: 39-56                 X

Birth of John the Baptist                                         X                           X                          1: 57-80                 X

Angel appears to Joseph in a dream                    1:18-25                     X                                  X                    X

Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem                                 1: 25                        X                          2: 1-7                      X

Shepherds visit Jesus                                               X                        X                          2: 8-20                    X

There seems to be a great silence in all the gospel writers except Luke. Mark and John don’t record a single historic event regarding the details of His birth. The greatest miracle of all ages, the incarnation of God, seems to be like the writer of the carol suggests, “Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see”. Let’s take a closer look at the wonder of the incarnation through words that don’t refer to mangers, shepherds or heralding angels. Turn with me to John chapter 1, verses 1- 4, and 14 as we look at the miracle of the ages.

I. The Eternity of Christ Is Encapsulated Into Humanity.

“In the beginning was the Word…”, the term ‘Word’ refers to Jesus, but why does John use this term? Well let’s think for a moment about how we use it. Do you remember when you had infants in your home, as they became toddlers you eagerly looked to the day when they would say their first word. It would be the first time they were communicating to us in a way we could understand. It would be the first time they would be reflecting to us what their thoughts were. This is what Jesus, The Word, did in giving expression to the inner thoughts of the Father and then revealing those thoughts to mankind. There’s a passage in Proverbs that personifies wisdom, but it’s also a close portrayal of what John 1:1 looked like. Proverbs 8:27-30 says, “When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him”. It was this eternity of the Word that created and considered Mary, agreed with the Father’s will, and in the movement of the Holy Spirit upon Mary, encapsulated Jesus Christ into humanity.

II. The Personhood of Jesus Is Embodied in Humanity.  

“In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was with God…”. What does it mean, “the Word was with God”? I like how the American Standard Revised version translates this: “and the Word was face to face with God”. This speaks of the closest possible fellowship that God could ever have with another. The person of Jesus is distinguished from the person of the Father in this verse. It is this person of Christ, pre-existent before creation, Who had a depth of relationship with the Father that exceeds our understanding. Do you remember the words of Jesus in His priestly prayer of John 17? Consider particularly the words of verses 5 and 24, “And now glorify Thou Me together with Thyself Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was”…and “…for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world”. The Word was with the Father in a depth of relationship that was so close they functioned as One God. And yet, in the miracle of the ages, the Word left this proximity of fellowship to be embodied in humanity.

III. The Deity of Jesus Entered Into the Limits of Humanity.

“And the Word was God.” Literally it reads, “And God was the Word”, emphasizing the deity of the Word, Jesus Christ. Jesus existed separate from the Father, had close communion with Him and yet was fully God Himself. This truth is foundational for what is about to be said. Consider verses 3,4, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Because Jesus is fully God He has the capability of creation, all things are created by Him and thus are owned by Him. This also infers that Jesus is not created, but exists apart from creation. It is the deity of Jesus, Who He is as God, that enables Him to give life. At least three times in the scriptures Jesus raised people from the dead. And each time it was but a sign that He is the great giver of life, not just physical life but also spiritual life. Previously Jesus painted the truth of Who God is through the panorama of creation and with the broad brushes of prophetic revelation. By the incarnation into humanity He would do the same role, except now He was the paint. This all capable Christ, entered into the limits of humanity.

IV. The Sonship of Jesus Brings Sonship To Humanity.              

“And the word became flesh and dwelt among us”, John 1:14. All the images of the baby in the manger are sourced in this statement. But as great a mystery as God taking on humanity is, the purpose of it is even greater. There’s an intriguing title that was given to describe Jesus, it’s become so well known we hardly think of it. The title is ‘The Son of God’, but what does it mean, what does it refer to? It can’t refer to the fact of creation in that the Father created the Son, because Jesus is God and is not created. It can’t refer to the fact of the incarnation, because Jesus was the Son of God before the incarnation, see Hebrews 1:5,6. Jesus is the Son of God in the way that He shares in the essence of the Father and reflects that essence, things such as righteousness, love, wisdom and, in the words of John 1:14, full of grace and truth. The incarnation of Jesus was God sending His Son to step into the hurtling path of Adam, to be struck down by the curse of death that was upon Adam and to be the new Adam. Romans 5 proclaims this truth, particularly verse 19; “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One, the many will be made righteous.” Add this to John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”, and you see the sonship which Christ has brought to us through the incarnation.  

Let us sum up the wonder of the Incarnation with these words written in about 400AD, the Athanasian Creed : “Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man…perfect God, and perfect man…who although he be God and man ; yet he is not two, but one Christ; one not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh; but by taking of mankind into God.”    

That’s the heart of the incarnation, it’s the heart of what it means to be in Christ, it’s the heart of a communion that glorifies Him.       

                                                                The Misunderstood Gift

Text: Luke 2: 7-20

Proposition: The misunderstood gift of Christmas is that Christ has brought to us something more than sacrifice, something more than forgiveness, something more than grace, something more than even an awareness of God’s love for us... Christ has brought to us the gift of Righteousness.

Text: Luke 2: 6-20

Proposition: The misunderstood gift of Christmas is that Christ has brought to us something more than sacrifice, something more than forgiveness, something more than grace, something more than even an awareness of God’s love for us. The misunderstood gift of Christmas is that Christ has brought to us the gift of Righteousness.

Introduction:  This year our family decided to just buy stocking stuffers for each other. So to help do that each person emailed a list of what they would like for small gifts in their Christmas stocking, which really is not a stocking but is meant to restrict the size of gifts that you buy. For instance one of the requests was for handle bars for a racing bike, another for a shirt and another for a large hard cover book on knitting patterns from the early 16^th century. As many of the gifts were purchased on line they began to arrive in the mail and you had to go back through your lists to see who gets the Jojoba oil, who gets the gummy bears and who gets the loofa soap. These were things I’d never buy and they looked strange taking them out of the boxes. I wondered at what they were, why they were even wanted. The birth of Christ was a gift that was ‘unwrapped’ and wondered at by all those who were present. It was a gift that seemed obscure, a gift uniquely suited to those whom it was intended for. Let’s read Luke2:6-20 .

When you read this account ask yourself what the gift of the baby in the manger was really all about? Is the greatest gift an awareness of God… no. Is the greatest gift a willingness to be our sacrifice? No. Is the gift of forgiveness of sins the greatest gift? No. Is it the grace of God that is the greatest gift, is it the love of God that’s the greatest gift?  Again no, for although these are indeed great gifts to us in Christ, they are only parts of the most misunderstood gift of Christmas. I don’t think the shepherds understood it, I don’t think Joseph understood it, I don’t think that even Mary understood what the greatest gift was. I would suspect that there was only one group that really knew or understood what the greatest gift was.  Let’s look at what was actually recorded about that night.

Fact #1 A baby was born to a young inexperienced couple. Though his entry into the world was very plain, He was still a vulnerable infant that needed warmth and food and rest. The two that were entrusted with this child were poor and powerless, the mother just a teenager, the father a simple carpenter.

Fact #2 A group of men called shepherds were watching over a flock of sheep. By profession they were loners, socially speaking they were low in status. It was at night when they experienced what people are still singing carols about today, they saw and heard an angel of the Lord.

Fact #3 The angel spoke to them both an announcement and a directive. The announcement was that he was bringing them good news and a great joy for all the people. Specifically, this great joy was the birth announcement of a person who had three titles: He is Savior; He is Christ; He is Lord.

Savior – the greek word ‘Sotare’ meaning “Deliverer”.

Christ -  the greek word ‘ Khristos’ meaning “Annointed One, Messiah”

Lord -    the greek word ‘ Kurios’ meaning “Supreme in Authority”  The directive was to go and find this baby in a nearby manger.

Fact #4The shepherds went and found the manger, something they were very familiar with. In the manger they found the young couple and this precious infant who was the Deliverer, the Annointed One, Messiah, the Supreme Authority. The evident contrast was overwhelming, yet they were compelled to believe it, something miraculous was happening here.

Fact #5 The shepherds went out from there telling others what they had seen. Perhaps Mary and Joseph had many other visitors that night. Perhaps they were quickly moved into an inn or someone’s house, but what we do know is that they all wondered at what this gift was. Even Mary, filled with a deeper understanding of what was happening than all the others, even she didn’t understand what this gift was as she pondered these things.

 My point is simply this, the persons directly involved in the birth event of Jesus didn’t understand what God’s greatest gift to them was going to be. Good news, yes, a great joy for all the peoples, yes, but it was still obscure to them. So enough suspense, what is the greatest gift that Christ’s birth was bringing?

I was visiting a person a short while ago who resolutely believed that there are many paths to God. At the same time they deeply believed that they were a Christian themselves, yet allowed that a Muslim or Mormon or Hindu or Buddhist viewpoint was equally valid as a truth about who God is and how we are to approach Him. In every other religion EXCEPT Christianity our conduct and attitude are the means to a right relationship with God. The Christian viewpoint alone states that righteousness comes from outside of us.  It comes as a gift to us, not only are we incapable of generating it, it is essential for being right with God. When a person makes the statement that there are many paths to God, they are missing the essential need of man for righteousness which he needs to possess in order to arrive and remain before God.   

The most misunderstood gift of Christmas is the gift of Righteousness that we received through the person of Jesus Christ. I believe that the only group that really understood that truth were the angels. In fact they allude to it as they spontaneously declare, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased”.(NASB)  Why is God pleased, or satisfied, as one translation would put it? The answer lies in the fact that God has supplied a way for the unrighteousness of man to be redirected to another.

The way it works is like this:

1. We have a sin nature that is not only self focused it therefore is rebellious against God in it’s independent beliefs.
2. The effect of this sin nature is that it condemns us before God. There is a sentence of death on our heads because of sin.
3. There is no way past unrighteousness, it can’t be masked with good behavior of generous acts. It would be like putting a tuxedo on a pig and expecting it to appreciate opera now that it’s wearing a tuxedo.
4. The only solution to unrighteousness is to transfer it to another who will pay the penalty it demands, death. But it doesn’t stop there. Righteousness in turn needs to be transferred to us.
5. The transferal of righteousness to us is a positional action much like the way a person would experience adoption or citizenship. Who you are as a person remains much as you experienced it yesterday, but who you are in terms of how others of great authority relate to you has been radically changed. The transferring or imputing of righteousness to us radically changes the way God relates to us.
6. It is forgiveness of sin that removes or cleanses us from all unrighteousness, it is grace that motivates this and it is love that accomplishes it, but righteousness is the net gain.

Let me suggest some implications that this righteousness has for us.

1. It is how God now sees us irrespective of how we see ourselves.
2. It is secured by God, He is the one who has imputed it to us.
3. It becomes the basis of how God relates us, judgement has happened already as far as God is concerned towards us.
4. It is the first step in every Christians life as they move towards eternity. All eternity shall be experienced in righteous attitude and action with God. If there is no righteousness, there is no being with God through eternity (sin and holiness cannot co-exist). Our positional righteousness in Christ is the first step of eternity. It will call us to now live accordingly.

The misunderstood gift of Christmas is that the Christ child in the manger has brought to us something more than sacrifice, or forgiveness, or even grace.

The misunderstood gift of Christmas is that Christ has brought to us the gift of Righteousness.

Consider these Scriptures:

Psa 24:5  He shall receive blessing from Jehovah, and righteousness     from the God of his salvation.

Isa 61:10  I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness,

Jer 23:6  In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in safety; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness.

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is prepared against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that riseth against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah; and their righteousness is of me, saith Jehovah.

1Co 1:30  But by Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…

The Sign
Text: Luke 2: 8-14
Proposition: The sign given to the shepherds of the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes was meant not only to distinguish this baby from all others that night in Bethlehem, it was meant to distinguish Him for all people and for all time as the Son of God.
Introduction:  Christopher Hitchens, perhaps one of the most well known atheists of our day, died recently at the age of 62 from a battle with esophageal cancer. His last book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything,  was one that he toured the country with, debating various religious leaders until the cancer took away the very voice that he was so eloquent with. Before that happened, Hitchens was in Portland, Oregon being interviewed by a Unitarian minister, Marilyn Sewell. The following exchange took place near the start of the interview:
Marilyn Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds.  I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make any distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?
Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that He rose again from the dead and by His sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.
Hitchens knew that Christianity is founded on that core truth of the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But the death and resurrection of Jesus are only effective and powerful because of the Incarnation of Jesus, the virgin conception and birth of Jesus, for unless Jesus is more than just a man His death at best is only noble. It is the incarnation that distinguishes Jesus Christ from every other man, it is this that declares Him to be fully man and also fully God, even in the form of a helpless infant in a manger in Bethlehem.
This is what the angels came to announce to the shepherds that night, that Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and Son of God, conceived 9 months earlier is now being born. This is where the Christmas story was often a puzzle to me, for the greatest thing that has ever happened to mankind has just occurred and the angels say that the shepherds can know this is true for a certainty because of this unmistakable sign:  “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Was it just the paradox of child in a manger? Weren’t there any other children born in Bethlehem that night? Why was this such a sign, was the sign not only identifying his location but also saying something about Who this Child really is? Read the account of it with me in Luke 2:8-14.
I. His Humanity—"You will find a baby”                                                                  This was a sign that was undeniable, this Jesus experienced all the transition and struggle and wonder of being born. He was in every sense fully man, yet who He was two years earlier, ten years earlier, 4000 years earlier, an eternity earlier, still remained. He was the Son of God, the Creator of all that has ever been created. “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign for you, you shall find a baby…”. Savior, Christ, the Lord… a baby. The sign was all about the humanity of Christ, the humanity of the Lord, a humanity that would have both body and blood and would give His life to prevent our death. You might say that the humanity of Jesus was very evident in the events of His birth but how do we know His deity, His identity as God, was just as fully present? The Gospels are a history of the life of Jesus, He does things only God can do, He creates food, eyes that see, bodies that work. He overrules death, He repels back demons, He has all authority in heaven and on earth. He forgives sin, He knows thoughts, He stills waves. From this baby would come forth the evidence that God and man were both fully present in Jesus Christ. This was essential not just so that we would know God as never before but so that we would know the intentions of God as never before. This baby would become a man and would perfectly do for us what we could never have done for ourselves, He would perfectly and completely pay for, the word is expiate, the penalty of death for sin in mankind. The sign, a baby who is Savior, Christ and Lord.    
II. His Helplessness—"Wrapped in cloths”                                                                    But the sign didn’t end just yet, this baby was wrapped in swaddling cloths. That’s not extraordinary, mothers do that all the time to keep the child warm and to keep it from injuring itself. The arms are tucked tightly to the sides and cloths, like restraints, bind the arms to the body. The child is kept safe, he is able to be picked up more easily, snuggled and comforted by the parents. When the shepherds eventually saw the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling cloths this was nothing exceptional, not until you began to realize just Who it was that was bound up like this. Bound up to be kept safe, to be more easily picked up, to be comforted. Thirty years later Jesus would once again be bound up, once again lifted up and this time He would be the comforter for others. The wonder of the wisdom of God is seen in the way He makes the Son utterly helpless, wrapped in swaddling cloths, as the key point in creating the salvation from sin for all mankind.  

III. His Humility—"Lying in a manger”                                                                          Perhaps it is this third part that makes the sign so unmistakable, the infant lying in a manger. Many creatures are born in mangers, but not children. In the first century, mangers were often nothing more than a hollowed-out cave in the side of a hill. There’s not a lot of status in the manure and urine soaked hay, in the musty smells of a dark manger. It is a picture of necessity, a picture of poverty. Years later Jesus would say to His disciples, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”  It is this sign that makes the baby conspicuous to the shepherds, the Baby isn’t where we would expect it to be. That’s because Christ came to do what we never expected to need, He came to save us. The saving isn’t done by armies or war horses or chests of gold or a life lived as a good person. It’s done by the blood of a Savior alone, there’s nothing else in which we are to place our trust. This baby wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger is a sign because it pictures the humility of Jesus Christ. His humility directly contrasts and opposes the pride of man that is sin driven. Humility is what Jesus calls all His disciples to, because humility admits need and looks to the only place in which that need can be met. Neil Anderson once defined humility as “Confidence properly placed.” The sign given to the shepherds was pointing us to where our confidence needs to be placed.
It’s Christmas morning, the sign has been clearly set within our reach, it’s within walking distance, it’s not behind closed doors, it’s where anyone can go at anytime, the Christ Child in the manger points us to grace and availability of God. His Humanity, His Helplessness, His Humility, these are the elements of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, an unmistakable sign in which we place our confidence.