Preparing Luke 1:5-25
Christmas can change your life forever. • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 9 viewsNotes
Transcript
Preparing Luke 1:5-25
Introduction: Christmas is coming. Are you ready? What do you do to prepare for Christmas? If you are like most people you probably:
Make some Lists - Who to shop for, What to get them, special foods, To Do lists - shopping, cleaning, decorating, Baking/cooking, Parties to attend, maybe even making plans to travel, we make all sorts of lists.
Shopping - Get all the stuff you put on the lists that you made, plus all the stuff you forgot to put on the lists that you realized you couldn’t do with out as you walked through the store.
Cleaning - How many of you do special cleaning as you work your way through the house decorating for the celebrations? Special cleaning because you have to move furniture for the tree and nothing has been done under that furniture since last Christmas.
Decorating - Oh my!! There is all kinds of decorations going on now. Lawn ornaments, lights, snowmen, manger scenes, trees. Look around you can’t miss it.
Baking/Cooking - Cookies anyone? Not to mention all the other goodies that happen around Christmas that don’t happen any other time of year.
Trip Planning - Not everyone stays home for Christmas. According to the AAA 115.2 million people will travel more than 50 miles from home for Christmas this season. 104 Million will drive, 7.5 million will fly and the rest will take a bus, train or cruise ship. Where’s my ticket?
These are some of the ways we plan for Christmas. But how did God prepare for that very first Christmas? Let’s take a look at part of the story that shows how He got the party started for that very first celebration.
Passage: Luke 1:12-17
12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.
14 “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.
16 “And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.
17 “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Transitional Sentence: That was part of the beginning of the story, but there is more. Will you be prepared when it is time for the end of the story to be written?
So to begin with let’s look at:
How God prepared for the first Christmas?
a. Prophecy
Well like any good party planner, God, sent out lots of invitations. There wasn’t a good efficient postal system then so He used heralds, otherwise known as Prophets. The prophets invited the people to watch for the coming of the Messiah so they could join the party when He arrived.
According to Bible Gateway, scholars estimate that Jesus fulfilled between 300 and 570 Old Testament prophecies. That’s an awful lot - but God was sending invitations and He certainly knew how many would be fulfilled.
Some of those prophecies were Isaiah 7:14 the virgin birth, Isaiah 61:1 and Micah 3:8 which says the Messiah would come proclaiming good news, Isaiah 35:5-6 and 53:5 says that Messiah would provide physical healing, and Zechariah 9:9 which says Messiah will ride a donkey. But Micah 5:2 told everyone exactly where the party would be held.
2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
That sounds a lot like an invitation to a birthday party to me.
b. Another way God prepared for that first Christmas was to orchestrate everything at Just the right time. Galatians 4:3-5 says:
3 So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.
4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
The fullness of time. That means that God sent His Son into the world at just the right time. This Greek word is pleroma. fullness (condition) n. — the condition of being filled to capacity. It has the idea of being filled to the point of bursting. Have you ever taken a balloon and tried to find out just how much air it can hold? That point where it is stretched so thin that it will burst with one more breath - that’s pleroma.
God couldn’t wait any longer, everything on God’s list that was necessary for this birthday party was in place. Everything was set to begin fulfilling all those prophecies that He had made through the prophets. So God sent forth His Son. He prepared the right people and put them in the right places.
Two of the people He prepared were:
c. Zacharias and Elizabeth. There story is one of those amazing stories in the Bible where God takes a pair unsuspecting and unimportant people and makes them the stars of part of His story of redemption for the whole human race. God would glorify Himself through this couple. A couple that spent their lives together chasing after God and doing what was right in His sight. The passage I read at the beginning of this message was part of that story. So let’s take a deeper look at their story and see just:
2. How God prepared Zacharias and Elizabeth to fulfill their part of this story.
a. Luke 1:5 says:
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
The lineage of the Jewish people was very important. Especially for the priests. A man in Jewish society could only be a priest if both his mother and father, were from the line of Aaron. There was no mixing of tribes for those who ministered before God on behalf of the people. So,
Zacharias was of the Division of Abijah. 1 Chronicles 24:5 says:
5 Thus they were divided by lot, the one as the other; for they were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God, both from the descendants of Eleazar and the descendants of Ithamar.
Zacharias was a priest descended from one of the Sons of Aaron. At the time of King David the priests were separated into family groups and lots were drawn to see which month of the year each family would perform the work of service of the Temple. The eighth lot fell on the family of Abijah. So, his family line performed the work of service for the 8th month.
His education and work as a priest would have prepared him for the assignment that God was about to give him.
Elizabeth his wife was a Daughter of Aaron. Which made her of a priestly line also. Her life as the daughter of a priest and the wife of a priest would have prepared her for what God was doing.
Those descended of the priestly lines were careful to marry others within the priestly line.
b. Luke 1:6 says:
6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.
So they were Righteous and Blameless. That’s good but what does it mean?
Righteousness is the quality, state, and characteristic of being in the right.
It is often attributed to key figures for their upright and just behavior.
Blamelessness is an absence of blemish or stain, especially sin. It is the state of being morally and spiritually pure.
Along with these two qualities Zacharias would have been without physical or mental defect. Leviticus 21:21 says:
21 ‘No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the food of his God.
So in order to perform the duties as the priest he would have needed to have these qualities.
c. Luke 1:7 says:
7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
So they had no Children because Elizabeth was barren. This would have been a hard situation Psalm 127:3-5 says:
3 Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.
5 How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.
Children were a blessing at the time and in that culture. The more the better. To have no children brought shame and disgrace upon the family. Children extended the family line. Children could work the fields and help support the family. Children created ties between families when they were given to each other as husband and wife. Children cared for the parents as they aged. Children made a family.
The lack of children for this couple probably created feelings of inadequacy and shame. Being of priestly descent they would have been very prayerful about this situation in their lives. But at this point what could they do about it, they were both advanced in years. How advanced is not known but certainly beyond the age for a woman to become pregnant without supernatural intervention.
This childless state in their advanced years prepares them for the arrival of a child because God can glorify Himself by performing a miracle in her body so that she would conceive and bear a child. A special child, a child that would grow into the forerunner of the Messiah.
d. Luke 1:8-9 says:
8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division,
9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
This tells us more about Zacharias's preparation. He was serving as the priest for the day to burn incense before the Lord in the Temple. Burning incense before the Lord was a daily requirement Exodus 30:7 says:
7 “Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps.
This daily burning of incense was performed by the priests according to their family divisions and by lot within the division. On this particular day the lot fell to Zacharias.
The honor of burning incense before the Lord generally only happened once in the life of any one priest. So this would have been a particularly special day for him.
This put Zacharias in a very special place at a very special time for an angel to meet with him and give him the good news. The news that would change his life drastically.
e. Luke 1:13-16 says:
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.
14 “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.
16 “And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.
This tells us how God was preparing them by answering their prayers and providing information about their future.
Their petitions, prayers, and continued requests to remove their shame and disgrace continued for many years. Suddenly he is informed that they would have a child.
It’s one thing to find out a prayer is answered but to have an angel tell you that the prayer would be answered is a another thing in deed. Not only did the angel tell him they would have a child the angel told him it would be a boy, bonus, and that he should be named John. After that the angel goes on to tell him what this boy would do. He would be the forerunner of the Messiah. Malachi 4:6 says:
6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
Talk about a blessing, he is going to get the child he wants, and that child will be great in the kingdom of God.
So, God prepared Zacharias and Elizabeth to bear a son in their old age. A son that would be filled with the Holy Spirit while he was still in the womb. A son who would go before the Messiah and lead many back to God as he prepared the way for the coming of the anointed one. A son that according to, verse 25 of the story, would take away their disgrace before men.
That’s how God did it in their lives.
But what is He doing in your life to prepare you for the coming of the Lord?
The plan is already in place. The life, death and resurrection of His only begotten Son made a way for you to be reconciled to God.
3. So what do you need to prepare for? Jesus already had a birthday party. So you can’t prepare for that. However, you do need to prepare for His homecoming party, or in other words the second coming of Christ Jesus. Let’s take a look at how to prepare.
a. First of all you have to accept the fact that you are a sinner and you are in need of salvation. The salvation required comes to all in only one way.
John 14:6 says:
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
There is only one way to the Father, Christ Jesus. There is only one way to be saved. It’s not Buddha, or Allah, or Brahma, or Vishnu or any of the other 18,000 or so gods or goddesses that people have come up with. Only Yahweh, the one true God can save and only by faith in Christ Jesus His only begotten Son.
The Apostle Paul told the church in Rome -
b.
13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
So call on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. But there is more to it then just calling on Him. You have to believe He is who the Bible says He is. You have to believe in your heart that He is the Son of God and you have to accept Him as your Lord and Savior.
However belief and acceptance are one thing but you also have to confess with your mouth.
Romans 10:8-10 says:
Romans 10:8–10 (NASB95)
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Believing is one thing but open confession is another. How many people do you know that say they are Christians but never say the name of Jesus? They never tell anyone else how Jesus saved them. They never tell anyone how God worked in their life to bring about change or growth.
In other countries such as Indonesia the government requires people to carry around a card that specifies what religion they follow. Many of them have a card that says Muslim. Even though the card says Muslim, they have never read the Quran, and they never do the things a good Muslim would do. They are called skin deep. They pick Muslim because that is the easy one in that country to be a part of to fulfill the requirements of the government.
Christians in this country that never confess Jesus as Lord and Savior and never do the things that Jesus said to do are just skin deep. There is no change, no growth, no preparation for what is to come after this life. Don’t be skin deep.
Speaking about change and growth brings up the other thing that must come about after accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior -
c. Your sanctification.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary says this about Sanctification.
The New Testament reflects the idea that followers of Christ have been sanctified or set apart as a result of Christ’s holiness. This idea that Christians have been made holy before God through their faith in Christ is related to justification. In Christian theology, a distinction is sometimes made between justification and sanctification where justification refers to having saving faith and sanctification refers to the process of gradual purification from sin and progressive spiritual growth that should mark the life of the believer. This doctrine of sanctification draws on New Testament passages that emphasize a move toward holy and righteous living that characterizes following Christ in faith.
So are you gradually being purified from sin? Are you growing spiritually? If you haven’t accepted Christ Jesus then you have nothing to worry about. If you have accepted Christ Jesus then your preparation for His return must include sanctification.
Accept, Believe, Confess, Be sanctified, Be Saved!
Exit: A little more than two thousand years ago God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
When God first sent His Son into the world He made preparations. He prepared people to accomplish certain tasks and to fulfill prophecies. Nothing was left to chance and it all went according to plan.
Wouldn’t you do the same thing? If you are going to throw a party don’t you make sure everything is just right? A well prepared plan ensures that everything about the party goes well. Leave nothing to chance.
Well God is preparing for another party. When the fullness of time comes again He will once again send forth His Son. But next time it won’t be in a little manger in a barn, in a tiny backwater town, in a small insignificant part of the world. Next time Jesus will come in the clouds where everyone will see Him, He will come with Angels blowing horns and then everything on earth will change. God is waiting for the plans to come about. God is preparing.
What about you? Are you ready for Jesus to return? Do you believe in Jesus and have you accepted Him into your life as Lord and Savior? He is preparing to receive you into His kingdom but are you preparing to be received into His kingdom? This is the time to prepare.
Use this time of celebration to look back and remember when He came but you must also look forward to His return and prepare yourself for His Advent, His “ARRIVAL”.
Pray!
