THESIS: To show the biblical significance of the birth of Jesus.
INTRO: A. Christmas is so much more than a baby in a manger. Encompassed in these 2 verses are the most exciting and profound statements to be found in any book, anywhere! The ultimate, climactic and history-making events prophesied here deal with the most important themes in history.
B. Christmas was not just an afterthought with God. Jesus was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world; thus He would have to add flesh to His deity. He is also the future Monarch of all nations, the Supreme Potentate of all humanity, the Governor over all governments, the Purveyor of world peace and the King of the Universe!
C. Christmas triggered the 4 greatest events in human history (1️⃣His birth, 2️⃣death, 3️⃣resurrection and 4️⃣His future reign - the 1st of the 4, and because it is the most important, it will be the main focus of this message). We will deal with His birth, but we will focus on His reign…
I. THE BIRTH OF A CHILD: (CHRIST’S HUMANITY)
A. Infinite, Yet An Infant:
He Who is the “The mighty God, The everlasting Father” clothed Himself with human flesh. The mystery of the incarnation is not that God would love sinners, nor that He would have compassion on sinners, but that beside all that, He would stoop to clothe Himself with humanity. The magnitude of that event is multiplied when we contemplate the self-imposed limitations on Christ the Infinite God, as He became man.
ILLUS: Think of God in swaddling clothes, nursing at a human mother’s breast totally dependent on His creatures for sustenance and experiencing the needs of humanity; hunger, cold, homelessness, thirst, suffering, pain, etc. The concept of Greek gods (Hercules, Zeus, etc.) coming down from Mt. Olympus and manifesting supernatural powers, but succumbing to human frailties, lusts and sins, pales alongside the True God stripping Himself of His supernatural powers, but never being dominated by fleshly lusts or sinful acts!
B. Almighty, Yet Helpless:
He is still a member of the Godhead, but placed in the precarious position of being 100% human. The danger of contemplating His humanity is to go too far to where we strip Him of His Deity; consider…
Phil. 2:5-7 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
C. Architect Of The Universe, Yet A Carpenter’s Son:
1. Think of the Creator learning carpenter’s skills.
ILLUS: 💥Imagine the Builder of our solar system, building a chair in Joseph’s humble carpenter shop! 💥Or the Designer of the galaxies, shaping a shepherd’s crook, or whittling a child’s whistle.
2. Think of God “increasing in wisdom…” Lk. 2:52 3. Think of The Word of God, learning God’s Word.
II. THE GIFT OF A SON: (CHRIST’S DEITY) A. An Unsolicited Gift:
Rom. 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
QUOTE: “A gift does not come into existence by being given, it only transfers ownership.” The birth of Jesus was not His beginning – He was the pre-existent Son Of God – He simply changed form and location.
ILLUS: My son asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told Him, and I’d better get it!🙂 But Jesus coming to earth was unsolicited by man and unwelcomed when He arrived!
1. Mankind didn’t see his need and was crying out for help; God saw the need and sent His help – His Son! 2. Sinners are pictured as lost sheep in the Bible and we are like them. 3. Sheep are portrayed as geographical morons; left to himself a lost sheep will never find his way home, but wander farther and farther away; just like lost sinners.
B. An Unspeakable Gift:
2 Cor. 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
✨Hymn writers have ransacked human language and emotions to express the inexpressible nature of this unspeakable Gift. ✨Authors have scoured the dictionaries and thesauruses to attempt to describe the indescribable. ✨Poets have searched for metaphors, similes, hyperbolas, and figures of speech to portray the unfathomable.
ILLUS: To see something of the nature of our Savior/God, we have only to compare what has been sung and written of the other so-called gods or gurus of the other religions of the world to fathom how much He surpasses them all! ✨When have you heard songs sung of the love and compassion of Buddha, or Joseph Smith? ✨When have you read books about the attributes of deity of Mohammed or Charles Taze Russel? ✨When have you plumbed the depths of poems written about Confuscius or Sun Myung Moon?
C. An Unclaimed Gift:
ILLUS: In a message entitled “The Greatest Christmas Gift Of All”Dr. Curtis Hutson described how some sacrifice to purchase gifts and place them under the tree on Christmas, and how disappointed they would be, if their gift remained unopened or unclaimed. Yet for all we have said of Jesus, the Greatest Gift of Christmas, He often goes unclaimed – in spite of His sacrifice!
III. THE ARRIVAL OF A KING: (CHRIST’S LEGACY)
A. An Awesome Responsibility: “Govt…upon His shoulder” When Jesus receives the title deed for the planet earth and the entire universe back again, He will personally assume resp. for its government! But because of Who He is (see His 5-fold Name in v.6), He will have no trouble with this responsibility.
ILLUS: 🔸He is Wonderful because He is God, 🔸He is Counsellor so He iscompassionate, yet just, 🔸He is The Mighty God so He is powerful, 🔸He is The Everlasting Father so He is durable and 🔸He is the Prince of Peace so He is capable!
B. An Ever-expanding Kingdom: “the increase of His government…” ⭐What will happen when the population soars beyond earth’s capacity to handle the burden? ⭐He has an entire universe at His disposal and with glorified bodies, inter-galactic space travel will be no problem! ⭐God will not permit this kind of colonization today because of man’s sinfulness and propensity for war, but ⭐His govt. will be incorruptible and His reign will be peaceful forever!
C. An Eternal Responsibility: “…no end” 🔹His term of office will never expire, because there are no contenders to the throne because of inadequacy. 🔹He will reign forever because He will never die and 🔹He will never be impeached because 🔹He will never sin, or make mistakes, because He is perfect!
CONCL: 💥A Child, A Son and A King – all perfectly embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder poets, painters, writers and musicians run out of words, notes, metaphors and paint in describing Him. 💥Yes, there is more to Christmas than a manger, some shepherds and wise men! “Yes, Virginia, there really is no Santa Claus, but there really is a Christ child!”…and more than that He is the God man and coming King of Kings!