Christmas 2012 Part 2

Christmas 2012

Part 2

“The Journey”

Luke 2:1-7

Now, Joseph and Mary’s journey from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into the city of David—Bethlehem—where Jesus was born, was a fulfillment of Bible prophecy:

Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem, 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.”

So, Micah prophesied that an eternal personality would appear in Bethlehem; that this is where the long-predicted Messiah would be born.

Now, first of all, what is a prophecy?

It is God speaking through a prophet to describe a coming event long before it happens.

There are over 400 prophecies in the Old Testament which point to the life, death, and resurrection of the coming Messiah,

Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled every single one of them.

A few examples are:

Born of a virgin

Born in Bethlehem

Preceded by a forerunner-John the Baptist

Entered Jerusalem on a donkey

Betrayed for thirty pieces of silver

Spat on and struck

Crucified with other prisoners

Made intercession for his persecutors

Pierced through hands and feet

Pierced through His side

Soldiers gambled for clothing

Buried in a rich man's tomb

Would be resurrected

The odds of someone doing that who was not the Messiah are too great to even figure.

One mathematician suggested that we could imagine the state of Texas covered entirely with silver dollars, two feet thick.

But only one of the coins is marked and then hidden somewhere among the other coins.

Then imagine sending a blindfolded man to search throughout the coins until he thinks he's found the coin that is marked.

What are the odds that he will find the correct one?

His chances are 1 followed by seventeen 0’s.

And these are the odds of Jesus Christ fulfilling only 8 of the 400 prophecies concerning Himself!

Now, in our opening text we find Joseph and Mary in the wrong place at the wrong time for Micah’s prophecy to be fulfilled.

According to Micah, He would be born in Bethlehem.

Yet in Mary’s ninth month of pregnancy she is in Nazareth, not Bethlehem.

Now, Mary and Joseph were not sitting there with a copy of the O.T. trying to figure out where the Christ Child was to be born.

As far as they were concerned, any day now and they would be the proud parents of a new baby boy.

But God had said Bethlehem, so Bethlehem it must be!

So how did God get them there?

God used a natural event to bring about a supernatural purpose

One of the great examples of God’s Providence is found right here.

Providence means that God is in charge of all things…

The Bible says that he rules even over pagan kings!

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov.21:1).

And so one day, Joseph and Mary received word of an edict from Caesar Augustus that the entire world must be registered for taxation purposes.

And the decree was that you had to register in your city of origin.

Well, it turned out that Joseph was of the house and lineage of David, so this required him to go to Bethlehem, the city of David, to register.

Imagine that!!

So with Mary expecting at any time, they set out for Bethlehem.

It was around 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

And it required traveling through Samaritan territory to get there.

So not only was it a long journey—particularly for a woman 9 months pregnant, but it was dangerous as well.

Normally it would take about 4 days to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

However, Mary (nearing her pregnancy term and riding a donkey) likely required more than 4 days for fear of miscarriage.

So perhaps a week (or more) would have been needed.

Now, there is a picture here of how God works with you and me.

So I want to draw a metaphor from this story that will help us understand God’s dealings with us as His church.

First,

Mary was pregnant with God’s purpose for her.

She was expecting God’s purpose to be born, to materialize, to become a reality.

APPLICATION: As God’s children, we too have a purpose in Him.

We are a people “pregnant” with God’s purpose.

God has a plan for each of us.

That plan is clearly laid out in Scripture:

•We were planned for God's pleasure, so our first purpose is to worship Him.

•We were formed for God's family, so our second purpose is to fellowship with God’s people.

•We were created to become like Christ, so our third purpose is genuine discipleship.

•We were shaped for serving God, so our fourth purpose is to minister to others.

•We were made for a mission, so our fifth purpose is evangelism.

These purposes are to be birthed in every Christian.

So, like Mary, we are essentially “pregnant” with a purpose.

But before Mary could give birth to her purpose, she had to be:

In the right place at the right time.

We cannot give birth to God’s purpose for us when we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.

God’s purposes are brought to pass in His perfect timing, and in His perfect place.

So, in order to get Joseph and Mary into the right place, God allowed them to be taxed.

Now, taxation is never a good experience.

No one likes to be taxed.

Now, aside from paying money to the government, to be “taxed” can also mean “to be strained or pressured; to experience stress.”

So to take our little metaphor a bit further, I’d like to point out that our dreams and purposes in God are never born without our being taxed.

God’s purposes for us always go through a season of “taxing” through pressures, stresses, warfare, and testing.

Remember, a “testimony” is the result of a test and some moaning!

You see, it took the experience of being “taxed” to move Mary from where she was to where she needed to be.

Interestingly, the place where she was, “Galilee,” means “circuit.”

And “circuit” means “a route or path that follows a curved course and finishes at the point at which it began.”

In other words, a “circuit” is when you go around in a circle, never really getting anywhere.

So, we could say that Galilee was like the place we sometimes wind up in spiritually where we are not growing, we are only going around in circles, always ending up where we began.

Stuck in a rut…

Like the wilderness wanderers who always ended up at going around the same old mountain, never closer to the Promised Land.

The point is—our vision can’t be born in a place where we’re only going in circles.

We must get to Bethlehem, which was in Judah.

Now, Judah means “PRAISE.”

Mary was in the place of going around in circles, when she needed to be in the place of PRAISE.

So, God allowed her to be pressured, stressed, taxed in order to force her into the PLACE OF PRAISE where her PURPOSE could be born!

This is why Peter wrote:

1 Pet.4:12-13 “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”

In this passage, we first have the “taxing” which Peter calls, “fiery trials.”

But the fiery trials lead to “His glory revealed!”

The taxing experience of fiery trials leads us to the place of praise and glory!

Paul said the same thing:

Ro.5: 3-5 “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

Taxation in the Kingdom of God always plays a part in birthing our purpose!

If we respond to God’s grace, then taxation will move us from the place of going around in circles where no growth is taking place, to the PLACE OF PRAISE where our dreams are born!

God’s dreams aren’t born in the place of compromise,

Nor in the spirit of murmuring and complaining…

Nor are they born in the place of spiritual, lukewarm mediocrity.

They are born in the place of red hot, sold out PRAISE!

The journey of Joseph and Mary across 80 miles of rugged terrain, encumbered by a 9 month pregnancy, on the back of a donkey—which was no Cadillac Escalade—was a difficult, laborious process.

But when they arrived in Bethlehem Judah, to the place of PRAISE, they were in the right place at the right time for a miracle.

And Mary brought forth her Purpose, her Vision, God’s destiny for her—the Christ Child.

QUESTION:

Are you going around in circles?

If so, are you having some “taxing” experiences?

It might be that God is bringing pressure to bear because the right time is arriving for you to be in the right place spiritually for a miracle.

* God knew we were dead in our sins so he sent Christ to give us life.

* He knew we were his enemies so he sent Christ to make us his friends.

* He knew we were like orphans so he sent Christ to bring us into his family.

* He knew we had no hope so he sent Christ to give us a home in heaven.

* He knew we were poor so he sent Christ to make us rich.

* He knew we were enslaved so he sent Christ to set us free.

* He knew we were afraid to die so he sent Christ to die and then raised him from the dead.

* He knew we had nothing so he gave us all things in Christ.

What he demanded from us, he gave to us.

What we needed, he provided.