The Plan of the Manger

The Plan of the Manger

Luke 2:1-7

Story

Our Story

Planning is all about our lives. We plan for everything, I mean everything. We plan out our meals, bath times for the children, television time, leisure activities, vacations, and the list goes on and on.

We make plans to operate our lives efficiently. At best, what we can say about making plans is that sometimes they work out wonderfully, and sometimes, well, we wish we would have planned differently.

The biggest reason we plan things out is because it gives us control. It is the control to make choices and decisions rather than someone else making them for us.

There are some people, I am not one of those, but you may be, where you lose control when you can't plan. You may not be a very spontaneous person.

Planning enables us to identify what is important to us. Planning helps us to make goals and reach a destination. Planning allows us to have a routine, not waste time and energy, and create focus, and again, the list could go on and on.

As we look at Luke 2:1-7, this morning, we want to look at the planning of God and the manger where Jesus was placed after his birth. Last Sunday, we looked at the purpose of the manger.

Today, we want to look at God's plan that brings the manger to the forefront of the Christmas story. Every nativity scene will definitely have a baby lying in a manger.

Here is our foundational thought for this morning:

God had a plan for the manger centuries ago that was executed perfectly.

Stand, Read, Pray.

GOD'S STORY

Last week, sin was the culprit in why the Lord came into this world and was laid in a manger. Sin entered the garden by the way of the serpent, tempting Eve with the fruit of the forbidden tree by questioning the words of God.

Eve was decided by Satan, but Adam was not, for he willingly took the fruit of the tree. By one man, according to scripture, by the sin of Adam since entered into the world where death becomes reality.

Yet, we are to see here how God will allow humanity to see his plan for dealing with sin and death brought upon all humanity. After Adam and Eve took of the fruit, their eyes were open.

In shame and fear, they hid from God, and when asked about their doings, Adam, well, we all know what Adam did...(Won't my rib back). Life for Adam and Eve changed dramatically...

Right before God tells Adam and Eve the full results of the consequences of their disobedience towards God, he tells us his plan. It comes from Genesis 3:14-15, "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

In the following verses, God deals with humanity, but in verse 15, God is planning to pass a sentence against the enemy. Primarily we see this to be true through the scriptures.

God makes the statement this way in Ezekiel 36:17-23, "Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes."

Because of Adam and Eve's sin, God would first defend His name and deal with humanity second. Some snake in the garden will not undermine God's name and character.

By the way, this is not the snake you see crawling in your backyard; it is Satan disguised as such. What God does from his passage of scripture is to unmask him, expose him as scripture says:

Revelation 12:9, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

Revelation 20:2, "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years."

Secondly, we know this to be a spiritual battle between Satan and the promised seed of the woman. Through the suffering of childbearing, we know that Abel is murdered by his brother Cain.

Some years later, we find in the chapter that Adam and Eve are about to bring another child into this world. Genesis 4:25, "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew."

Eve's faith is that this is the seed that was promised in Genesis 3:15. Well, the truth is that God was good to Adam and Eve to give them another son, but it wasn't the plan of God to use Seth as the bruiser of Satan.

God's plan was that Seth would mark the beginning of the line from which Christ would come, which is important to Christian believers. God's plan throughout the scripture points us in the following direction.

The plan is through Seth, not Cain: through Noah, not Lamech’s “other sons and daughters”; through Shem, not Japheth and Ham; through Abraham, not Lot; through Isaac, not Ishmael; and through Jacob, not Esau.

Here we are in a world where Cain is the murderer and misery after the fall, yet God still sees the worth of humanity as he plans for the completion of Genesis 3:15.

But first, we see what God does in the meantime. God starts with Adam and Eve to give us a foreshadowing of the things to come. The Lord God allowed animals to be sacrificed in order to cover the shame of sin. It points to the sacrifices that are to come.

We know the ultimate sacrifice is what we see in the manger this morning as the Lord as the Lamb of God without a spot that will cover the sin of humanity.

We do not have the time, but we can begin to work ourselves through the Old Testament to see the plan of Genesis 3:15, becoming more and more active within the scriptures. For example:

He would be the seed of a woman (Genesis 3:15). He would be a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:3). He would be from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10). He would be the heir to the throne of David (Isaiah 9:7). He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14.)

We have God's plan of the Messiah from Isaiah 9:6-7, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

So, in a nutshell, as we say, we can see the plan of God from the very beginning to see what God is up to and how his plan is in full operation.

RESPONSE

Now we know that God has a plan, how can we relate to this plan? What does the manager have to do with all of this? Is it possible to see the plan through scriptures from the New Testament?

It was God's plan to use a woman to bring the seed into this world...through a woman who was highly favored before God...who would deliver a child through a virgin birth...willing to participate...a woman who could sing the song of the Lord without knowing all the details...

📷 It was God's plan to use a man to be reasonable for the seed that was coming onto this world... a just man before God... a man that would listen to the plan of God by marrying the woman under the shadow of the Spirit...

It was God's plan to use Caesar Augustus to bring prophecies alive. It is written that Caesar Augustus was one of the most important emperors in the history of the Roman Empire, perhaps the most powerful human being before the day Jesus was born. He reigned from 30 BC to 14 AD under the title Caesar Augustus—the august one.

He began building programs and set up a massive, centralized government system, regulating commerce and trade. He strengthened the military, and for his entire reign, Rome was at peace. R. C. Sproul, A Walk with God: An Exposition of Luke (Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1999), 27–29.

It was God's plan to see that the Emperor was to conduct a census so that he could introduce widespread taxation. By doing so, everyone had to travel to their own city of birth and make their presence known.

It was God's plan for Joseph to head to Bethlehem to register for the census and taxation. Could have chosen a couple in Bethlehem...

It was God's plan for Joseph to take his wife with him...

It was God's plan for Mary to deliver the seed while she was there...

It was God's plan for the baby to be wrapped in swaddling clothes... kingly garments...

It was God's plan for the baby to be placed in a manger...feeding trough...

It was God's plan that there would be no room in the inn...

It was God's plan of timing...the world was ripe, overflowing in need of real peace, not just governmental peace, for sin was still abundant through the world...The emperor declared himself to be worshipped as God...

He would be the seed of a woman (Genesis 3:15); and we see Galatians 4:4, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law"

He would be a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:3); we see the linage in Matthew 1:1, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."

He would be from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10); again, in the linage, we read Luke 3:33, "Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda."

He would be the heir to the throne of David (Isaiah 9:7); his description by the Angel unto Mary in Luke 1:32-33, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); and we read in Matthew 2:1, "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem..."

He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14); and that is what we find in Matthew 1:23, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."

Living out Truth

Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that Friday night, there is a long line, and they’ve got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it. Your spouse and your kids are out there, and they take your blood and say, “Wait here in the parking lot, and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home.” You stand around, scared, with your neighbors, wondering what on earth is going on and if this is the end of the world.

Suddenly, a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. He’s yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says, “Daddy, that’s me.” Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. “Wait a minute, hold on!” And they say, “It’s okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make sure he doesn’t have the disease. We think he has the right blood type.”

Five tense minutes later, the doctors and nurses come out, crying and hugging one another – some are even laughing. It’s the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor walks up to you and says, “Thank you, sir. Your son’s blood is perfect. It’s clean and pure, and we can make the vaccine.”

God had a plan for the manger that His one and only begotten Son, the perfect lamb of God, the one whose blood is spotless, one without sin, the very Son who was perfect.

The one in the manager has come, and perhaps we need to look at his coming from a perspective that reminds us that he that lies in the manager was the promised seed to do exactly what God had intended in Genesis 3:15.

The seed that was promised to bruise Satan to crush him as we read in Colossians 2:15, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

As we look back into the fall of humanity in the garden, we are reminded of 1 Jn 3:8, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

What a way to enjoy Christmas this year, knowing the hope of Christmas was laid in the manger.

What is our plan? What is our plan in life with the babe in the manger?