Good News-Part 1

The Christmas Story was the top of the mountain of God’s plan for humanity

Luke 1:11–17 NIV

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The coming of John was foretold in the book of Malachi.

Malachi 4:5–6 NIV

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

And funny thing - these are the last lines of the Old Testament.

There’s a big phrase here we need to understand:

The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord

Joel summarizes it really well for us

Joel 2:28–32 NIV

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

So Joel says, as this day approaches, we can expect a couple things:

Great Signs and Wonders

Acts 2:22 NIV

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

One day, when John was thrown in prison, he sent a message out to Jesus. He said, ‘are you the messiah who was to come, or should i wait for someone else?’

And jesus replies and he says:

Matthew 11:4–6 NIV

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

So john says, are you the one? Are you the messiah? And jesus replies with - blind people are seeing, lame people are walking, dead people are coming back to life.

The message we preach about at Christmas - that Jesus was born on earth, and he is our saviour - it’s not just a piece of information . It’s not a nice story and a diarama on our fireplace next to elf on the shelf.

Jesus came to earth in a miraculous way. He performed many signs and miracles and healings.

He was crucified, but miraculously raised from the dead.

The Story of Christmas is a story of miracles

And that story continues today.

Jesus went up into heaven, but it wasn’t long before someone else came to visit.

The Spirit given to all people

We see this one fulfilled in the book of Acts, after Jesus ascends to heaven.

Acts 2:1–4 NIV

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

The Story of Christmas is about God directly with us

We say it like this. But we mean - God with us, 2000 years ago, in a stable, in another part of the world.

But God’s plan with Christmas was - Him coming to earth, dying for us, and then his Spirit living directly in us.

All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved

Romans 10:9 NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The Christmas Story is about Jesus coming to rescue us from death