A Christmas Miracle!

Matthew 2:12–15 NIV

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

INTRO: Recently, I was in a meeting where the presenter was talking about a recent survey that was done among people who had no church affiliation to get a perspective on the church from those outside it. What value is in that, you might ask. Well,...

IF the Church is being the true Church, there should be some positive effect on the society in which she exists.

And not just a positive effect societally, but a feeling of positivity toward those in the church by those OUT of the Church, because THAT is the thing that makes people go, “Hmm, there is something special, or good about those people that I want to know about.”

Said another way, if the Church is being the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus, then among those who don’t even go to church there should be some positive response regarding the Church’s existence in our society.

But, alas, it is not so in our particular culture.

The top three answers to the question, “What comes to your mind when you think about the Church?” are...

Judgmental, Anti-Homosexual, Anti-Abortion

The issue is not does one believe or not in homosexuality, or abortion, or any other thing that can be argued. The issue is what was the heart and intent of Jesus when He came into this world.

Why did Jesus come here? What does his birth represent?

Tragically, I think, it seems that after 2000 years, at least in context of the American brand of Christianity, we have boiled it down to a few things we hate or disagree with. And among all those asked about the church, the most mentioned responses were negative in nature.

It’s sad, but...

Very few people see us as a positive force in our world!

The problem occurs, in my opinion, when our Christianity loses its Christ Centricity.

Christ-Centricity means that our very existence, as God’s people, maintains Jesus as the center, as the focus, and He is the explicit meaning of what it means to be His.

I know that sounds obvious, but there are many who begin to focus on things other than Christ as they attempt to live out their life in Him.

It’s why we are viewed as judgmental and negative in all aspects. It can be such a negative effect that even when we are trying our best to live out some of the teachings of Scripture, but forget to keep Jesus as the subject, as the center, we can lose those around us to the world. Even when we, for example, forget to have the heart of Christ in applying the teachings of Paul. We lose our identity in Christ. When we read the OT, and we refuse to read it through the lens of Calvary, we lose the Christ-adjusted meaning of it all.

ANY avenue we go down in scripture must be traveled with Jesus as our traveling companion! Without Him, the journey does not make sense, and if we try to make sense of it without Him, we will find ourselves in the Land of Legalism, self-righteousness, and to those looking at our lives from the outside, we will appear totally unattractive in the sense that they will be at all curious to find out about Jesus.

So let’s explore the questions...

Why did Jesus come here? What does his birth represent?

The birth of Jesus represents deliverance for the disinherited and the death of inequality.  

The birth of Jesus represents the birth of wealth and the death of poverty.  

The birth of Jesus should be celebrated because it represents the birth of freedom, liberation, wealth, and well-being for the entire world.

 The birth of Jesus has historic as well as present life-changing meaning.

When Jesus was born, it changed history, and it changed toward the good. This world is a better place for Christ’s influence on it, and His reign over it.  

The birth of Jesus was God’s radical intervention into history.

When we allow Jesus to be born in our lives, in our family, and in our communities, the birth of Jesus will change your life, will change your family, and will change your community.

If it’s real, it MUST change everything!

But the converse is not proportionally true. What I mean by that is...

Because Jesus came we can have a REAL experience with Him that can /must change the world. But, if it’s not real, it can and will destroy it.

False Christianity is destroying our culture, and our world.

As religious people claim Jesus as their savior, yet live like His only purpose is so that they can have permission to hate certain people, it destroys relationships, tears apart families, and holds a nation hostage to dogmatic beliefs that contain not an ounce of unconditional love, understanding, nor empathy for those who are struggling with life.

God loved us so much that God became human  flesh. God came into the womb of a woman for nine months. God who was and is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient became a helpless baby.

 The miracle of Christmas represents three things; these are quick, but powerful points.

I. Deliverance

Matthew 1:21 NIV

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

The son of God was sent into Egypt by God to be delivered from the political power that sought to destroy him.

Jesus had to be taken into Egypt to be delivered from the hate and evil of Herod.

Likewise, Jesus is our deliverance from all that would hold us down and keep us from becoming all that God was to be.

One of the miracles of Christmas is deliverance.

II. Development

Another miracle of Christmas is development.

God sent Jesus into Egypt for his development that he might grow and develop, that he might grow physically and intellectually.

The miracle of Christmas is not only about our deliverance, but for our development.

It’s about our spiritual development, our psychological development; it’s about our physical development and about our educational development.

III. Determination

Christmas is about the determination to stay on track with the mission and purpose of our lives.

Mary and Joseph understood that Jesus had a purpose and a mission, that God had provided directions, and that they had to be determined to follow those directions.

Mary and Joseph were determined to follow the will of God.  

The miracle of Christmas is about our being determined to follow the directions of God’s will for our lives.

God has a plan, God has a purpose, and God has given us potential.

CLOSE: ...

The miracle of Christmas is Jesus!

It is that Jesus submitted Himself to all the conditions of this world, and all the struggles within the simple human condition that we all exist within. He did it so we could experience a miracle, not just at Christmas, but in our lives at any time. And that miracle lasts an eternity.

Let us pray...