The Birth of Jesus (2)

mat1.1

Matthew 1:18–25 NKJV

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” 24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

What if?

Imagine if Alexander Graham Bell had never invented the telephone

What was life like before then?

How many other things came becasue of that

Imagine of television had never been invented, or a camera

We are so used to being able to capture an image, or a scene

Few people ever think about what life would was like for people before then,

Or what it would be like now, without them.

How many things in our lives do we simply take for granted now?

Cell Phones

Internet, Google, Amazon, Facebook

Computers, and all the information access that comes with it.

Once we get used to something, it is hard to remember life without it.

things like smallpox for instance don’t trouble us at all.

What about the Birth of Jesus Christ?

The Birth of Jesus

We are so used to living in the Christian era that we rarely stop to consider what life would be like without the birth of Jesus

Every year we tell the Christmas story, and remember the manger and the shepherds and the wise men.

We talk about the inn, and Joseph and the angels.

Sometimes we can think of this as a historical event that we celebrate, without really having much importance today

like memorial day, and Labor day, and other holidays we enjoy.

We believe the story, but some folks think of it as just something that happened a long time ago.

Yet, has the story become so familiar that we forget its importance today?

This was and is the most significant event that has ever happened in the history of men.

The day that Jesus was born in that manger in comparable to no other day in history.

Comparable to nothing else in any other religion

This day that Jesus arrived in that manger has had more impact on the human race than any other event in the history of the world.

More than any religions - more than all relegions

More than any natural event.

More than any political event.

So significant that the calendar had to be restarted.

BC or Ad

As important as the internet was, we didn’t start a new calendar - BI or AT?

As great as the Ottoman empire was, no one re-started the calander

The Birth of Jesus changed the world so much that it necessitated a mark in history.

No only was the a significant event of the time, but it changed men for all time

The birth of Jesus changed the hearts of men

This change affected all men, everywhere, even those who did not know Him.

In fact Gandhi studied Him and used many of His principles and teachings to free India from British rule

The Birth of Jesus was on this wise

The bible recounts that details of the story in detail, and for good reason

The coming of the Messiah had been long expected and prophesied

Yet they still did not know how to recognize Him when He came

There were many prophesies concerning Him that must be fulfilled

And this is how that they would know Him

Mary was espoused to Jospeh

Yet she became pregnant before hey had completed their marriage and come together

This was one of the most important of the prophesies concerning Him: that a virgin would conceive and bear a son

Also, that this would happen in Bethlehem

Her and Joseph were not living in Bethlehem, so they had to go there

This was accomplished by Augustus Caesar's order for a census and taxing, that required everyone to go “check in” to be counted

How amazing it is that God would use something like this as a tool to fulfill His Word

It would also be recorded in secular history - the history of those who did not even believe.

Even ordered by an emperor who had never heard of the Messiah

Joseph was considering breaking the relationship

He was going to wait until after the birth for her sake

But an angel appeared to him in a dream

consider you dreams, becasue God will reveal thing to you there.

The angel let Joseph know that he did not need to worry

Why Joseph? Why was he even need in the story?

The legality of the Messiah

He had to have a father - had to be legally entitled to the throne as well as spiritually entitled

Both Mary and Joseph could trace their lineage all the way back to King David

The Shepherds and the Wise Men

God also revealed this great event to people who were not even looking for Him

To the shepherds there in the fields - close by

These were ordinary people - with hearts open to Him -

When it was announced to them - they went to see

Will you go and see this great sight?

To the Wise men, or Magi - far away

The men were in a far country, and were also probably not looking for Him

Likely they were no even of Jewish descent

Yet, when God revealed something to them, they went to see

even though it was a long journey

Whether far or near, God wants to reveal Jesus to you

will you be wise enough to seek Him?

Jesus, becasue He Will Save His People From Their Sins

The angel told Joseph this, which was fulfillment of more prophesy

Jesus alone can save us from our sin.

Until then, no one could be “saved”

they could repent, and offer sacrifice and penalty

but this did not “save” them from it. It only cleared the way until the next sin

Hebrews 10:4–5 NKJV

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.

Hebrews 9:12 NKJV

12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

heb

Hebrews 9:12 NKJV

12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

heb9.

Up until Jesus, sacrifice could be made for “some sins” , others carried only penalty

The ultimate penalty was death

Those that died in sin were lost forever

There was no way for a person to “reason with God” or have a relationship with Him at all

Job had lamented this, and Isaiah prophesied that it would come

No way that a person could come directly to God, and actually know Him

Only His Chosen prophets could approach at all, and then carefully

in fact, the people asked Moses to go for them, lest they die

Only through law and commandment, could a person relate to God

and the problem there, was that everyone fell short of keeping it.

no one could seem to get it right

becasue all men have a sin nature

there is something inside us that prevents us from getting it right, even when we know what right is.

As Mark Twain said, “It is not the things which I do not understand in the Bible which trouble me, but the things which I do understand”

Paul spoke of this in

Even when we decide to do good, we end up sinning.

What a terrible state all people were in, and are still in, unless they know Jesus

Jesus, The Law Fullfilled

Jesus, this baby in the manger, grown to become sacrifice, and king

Is able to save us to the uttermost

Not by eliminating the law - evil does not somehow become good through Him\

Though it could seem that some Christians believe that now.

What kind of salvation could that be.

Not by changing the law-

Jesus said until heaven and earth pass, not one jot would fail...

Not be excusing the sin -

Hebrews tells us that if we keep sinning on purpose after we know better, there is no sacrifice....

Jesus brings salvation in two ways:

grace and forgiveness for sins committed -

since we can never pay for those sins - He has suffered our penalty for us.

A new heart, and a new spirit - the ability to live in HIm

Hebrews 8:10–12 NKJV

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

heb8.10-12

Not only did Jesus come once for us, 2000 years ago

but now He continues to live, in us and with us.

Teaching us His ways, and His Will

Every one who knows Him, has this witness.

The bible reminds us that we need to continue to check and verify this truth, lest we be reprobates

2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV

5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

Anno Domini, The Year of Our Lord

This child in the manger, so changed the World, that it could never be the same again

what Jesus brought into the world was so radical, it had never been seen

Compassion and selflessness

the idea of meekness as a strength

the idea that giving was somehow better than receiving

the idea that doing good to an enemy was somehow better than killing them

not only better, but better for you.

The idea that as He was sent into the world, not He could send us -

That we could have an everlasting relationship with God himself

not just a fairy tale relationship, like so many of the false religions

but a true and genuine relationship with God that would manifest itself in true and genuine ways in our lives

ways that were visible and relevant

ways that could be taught and passed on

ways that could never be measured or exhausted

This radically transformed the world

So much so that Paul and his friends were referred to as “those who turned the world upside down”

The benefits of Christianity changed the world beyond measure

They brought about a new spirit and a new heart in people

Ezekiel 36:26 NKJV

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:25 NKJV

25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

Ezekiel 36:22–26 NKJV

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23 And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

ezek

The benefits of this new salvation were so amazing that they spread throughout the world

beyond national borders

beyond cultural borders

beyond racial borders

among every kindred and nation and tongue, as prophesied

Even those who refused to be Christians could not deny the benefits, and began to adopt His ways.

Many “Christian virtues” were not seen as virtues before JEsus

every place where Christianity was, people did better.

I believe that if Jesus had not have come, the world could never have grown to the advanced state that we are.

hospitals and charities

Education and colleges

So many good things are only possible becasue of Christian virtue

Perhaps people would have been so busy with their self willed ways and minds, that they never would have grown

so many of the things we take for granted would probably have never been.

Just like there would not have been a cell phone if Bell had not invented the landline phone

So, many things have grown out of Christianity .

jn1.12-1

John 1:12–13 NKJV

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:11–12 NKJV

11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Have you received Him?

If not, will you receive Him today?

receive this new hear and new Spirit.