The Power Of Christmas
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Christmas is truly a wonderful time of year. It’s a time of joy, a time where we give gifts, in remembrance of the greatest gift ever given. Christians gather during the Christmas season, and a story is told of the lowly birth of a babe in a manger. The virgin bears a son with no room at the inn, the wisemen who travel to see the newborn King, and Herod’s zeal to kill the child. When we think of Christmas, we think about the birth of a Savior. The birth of Messiah King. But this morning, I want to talk to you about so much more then just the birth of Jesus. I want to talk to you about The Power Of Christmas.
When you begin to look at scriptures that stand out to you as Christmas scriptures, one always thinks of the beginning. Like
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
When we read the birth account, there’s several things that we should take note of. First, Mary is with child from the HOLY SPIRIT. The Holy Spirit is intricately involved in the birth of our Savior. That’s important to note, for reasons we will discuss later.
We also see the purpose for this birth. The angel tells Joseph that Mary will bear a Son, and His Name shall be called Jesus, for HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS! This is the purpose, this is the reason, for the birth of Christ. This is the climax of the Christmas story, salvation from sin, and the wages of sin.
Finally, we’ll note that this was fulfillment of scripture. Fulfillment of prophecy. Which means this was God’s plan. Verse 23 tells us that this happened to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, quoting Isaiah 7:14. BEHOLD THE VIRGIN SHALL CONCEIVE AND BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL WHICH MEANS, GOD WITH US).
When we put this all together, what we should see clearly is that the birth of Christ was predestined, from before the foundation of the world. We should see that His birth was for an explicit purpose that God had foretold through the prophets almost 1,000 years before the birth of Christ. And through the Wisdom of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Immanuel, God with us, would change our lives forever.
But the question we’re left to answer, is why? Why did God predestine His Son, to be born of a virgin? To come down in the guise of sinful flesh? Why such a specific plan, with a specific purpose?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that we all would have ever lasting life. But when we tell the story of Christmas, so many stop at the birth of Christ. But WHY WAS HE BORN? The incarnation is only part of the story! There’s still a piece of the puzzle to be explained. Think about the unbeliever, or the baby christian. They want to understand our theology.
Why did your God have to send His Son; why did the Son of God, that you say, for whom all things were created, and through whom all things were created, why did He set aside His heavenly garment and dress Himself in flesh, to come down as a man?
HE CAME TO DIE
Think about it. God the Son did not come to be born king and reign on earth. No! He came to live and to die, to live again.
So, we say the cross. That’s why Christ came. But these things are spiritually discerned, it does not make sense to the natural man.
The question becomes, why the cross? Why would Christ have to die? BECAUSE WE WERE DEAD IN OUR SINS!
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
Understand that our condition was not just sick. Our condition was terminal. - We were under the power and the influence of the evil one, following the prince of the power of the air, THE DEMONIC SPIRIT NOW AT WORK IN THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE! Please take a moment to consider and understand the depths of our need for a Savior! You were not okay, I was not okay.
The condition of man, was and IS so fatal, so depraved, so sinful, so inherently wicked and evil from our youth, that God in the flesh had to condemn our sin in the flesh.
Maybe you’re here and you don’t understand why Christ had to die and rise again. Maybe you wonder why there couldn’t be a different way? You don’t understand why God couldn’t just forgive us. Why did Jesus have to be born, to live a life that led straight to the cross?
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Would a judge be righteous if he had overwhelming evidence of a person’s guilt, and yet he chose to simply sweep the charges under the rug and say, “not guilty”?
In order for God to be righteous in His judgement, and still JUSTIFY the guilty person who puts their faith in Christ, a perfect sacrifice had to be made. In God’s righteousness, sin had to be punished. So Christ did what no flesh could do, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that we could be declared righteous by faith in Him and the sacrifice He made.
This is called Penal Substitutionary Atonement.
Penal - there was a penalty to be paid, for the wages of sin is death.
Substitutionary - Christ came to pay our debt, to take our place. To die the death our sin deserved.
Atonement - Christ death and resurrection has covered our sins, our impurity, our filth, has been taken away.
This is the Christmas story. This is why Christ was born. We can not underestimate the importance of what has been done.
Let me ask you something. Have you ever done something so stupid, that you wondered how a converted person could make such a sinful mistake? Let me tell you how, it’s because of the flesh. That’s why Christ had to condemn sin in the flesh. He had to take on a body like our own and live perfectly and die for the sins of the world, because WE COULD NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH TO EARN SALVATION TRAPPED IN THIS BODY OF DEATH!
And that’s why when it comes to Christmas we cannot stop at the birth of Christ. Because there’s things that came only after the birth, after the death of Christ.
Remember in Matthew 1 when we talked about the Holy Spirit being intricately involved in the birth of Christ? That same Holy Spirit is now intricately involved in our salvation.
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
The Holy Spirit has sealed us, the down payment on our eternal redemption. But remember, Jesus told His disciples that it would be more beneficial for Him to go, (meaning to die and rise again) so that He may send us His Holy Spirit. If He did not go away, Jesus said that the HELPER WOULD NOT COME TO US!
Christ was born, so that He may die, and rise again, so that we could be given the gift of the Holy Spirit. Why is this so important?
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
The Spirit of God is Who helps us put to death the deeds of the flesh. The Holy Spirit leads us into sanctification. Without the power of the Holy Spirit I am powerless to overcome this flesh.
That is why we cannot stop at the Christmas story, I cannot stop and rest at the birth of Christ. The same way that the birth of Christ leads to the life and death of Christ; so does my initial surrender to Jesus as Lord, lead to the death of me, and a life of sanctification.
This is the gospel. This is what we must understand. If we are to fear God, to be close to Him, to live Holy, we must first know the Gospel. Which includes everything that we’ve discussed so far this morning. We must see the depths of our sin, the reason for the birth, death and resurrection of Christ. The theology of why the Son of God hung on a cross, and why He rose again on the third day.
who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
He was crucified for our trespasses, for our sins. But He was raised for our Justification. Our redemption was not complete on good Friday. Our justification came to fruition on resurrection Sunday; yet even today it is not fully manifested.
How can I say that? We’re still trapped in the old man. This flesh. But one day, we will see Christ, and we will be like Him. But until then, i have this flesh. This flesh, that I must crucify. That’s why I cannot stop at the day of my initial salvation. I need Jesus every day. I need the power of the Holy Spirit to set me apart.
Back in Matthew 1:23. we talked about the fulfillment of a prophecy that said the Savior’s Name would be Immanuel; God with us.
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Today, because of the death and raising of our Savior, we have this mystery of Christ IN US! GOD WITH US IS GOD IN US!
I love to hear a Christmas message. The birth of Christ is beautiful and glorious. The wisdom of God through the virgin birth, it’s awesome. But this is the full message of what needs to be told. This is what should be preached this time of year.
We don’t need a Christmas Jesus! WE NEED AN EVERY DAY JESUS! You don’t need a Sunday morning faith, YOU NEED A MONDAY MORNING FAITH! YOU NEED AN EVERY MORNING, EVERY AFTERNOON, EVERY EVENING AND OVERNIGHT FAITH.
Because without Christ we are dead in our sins. Filthy rags. And even after you get born again, you need the power of the Holy Spirit to lead you into newness of life. We cannot get saved and then sit. 1 Thessalonians tells us that the will of God for us is our sanctification. And that takes a life of dying to self.
As I bring this to a close, in the spirit of Christmas, I just want to remind you of the greatest gift that could ever be given.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Despite your sin, despite your battle with the flesh, despite your lifelong struggle with impurity, if you put your faith in Christ, you are now the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD! This is now your position. You have been seated with Him in heavenly places, your sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west.
You have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. YOU HAVE BEEN MADE RIGHTEOUS.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
The gift of God, given by the grace of God, is a salvation that you could never earn. You could never be good enough for.
If you’re here this morning, and you feel like you’re just not good enough, like you’ve done too much, like the sin in your life is too great; you’re exactly where God wants you. That is the attitude of someone who is ready to be saved. Someone who knows they have nothing to offer God.
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Not by works, not by religious observance, not by church attendance or status.
You are not saved because of YOU! You are saved because of HIM! - and that’s the power of Christmas.