The Journey to Bethlehem

The Journey To Bethlehem

Rarely do we get in the car and point it in no particular direction and go and then stop when we run out of road. What with the price of gas and all of the constraints on our time as well as some constraints on travel. We want to make the best use of our time and have a purpose for our trip. The conversation might start something similar to this, “I am running into Midland to go to Staples, then Walmart, and I will probably stop at the mall.” With COVID and other concerns, gone are the days when we travel for no particular purpose at all.

Starting today and continuing for the next two weeks, I want to look at the ‘Christmas’ story concluding with a message titled “The Oldest Shepherd.”

We are about to begin a journey; it is the journey to Bethlehem. This journey to Bethlehem begins in the Garden of Eden, it did not begin with the prophecy of the Messiah being born in the City of David, but it begins right here as a part of the creation account from Genesis. To understand this better, we need to see the relationship that existed before ‘The Fall’ now; it is unknown how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden before they gave into temptation. However, we do understand the relationship that existed between the created and that of Creator God. The first man “stood in a more direct relation to a God, their Creator, than any other man has ever done that their hearts were pure, their discernment clear, the conversation with God direct, that they were surrounded by gifts just bestowed by Him” (Delitzsch). “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” (Genesis 3:1-7 ESV). But after they had sinned and when the “man and his wife heard the sound of The Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hide from The Lord God among the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3.8) Before they sinned remember the relationship they had with God, according to the prophet Isaiah we were “created for My (God’s)glory” (Isaiah 43.7). However, Adam and Eve’s simple act was eating from the tree they were not supposed to eat. They broke the only commandment of the garden. Instead of running toward were running from God, they were hiding from Him. The direct interaction with the Creator God was gone, changed forever.

A consequence of sin, separation. (We do the same thing too, we hide from God because of our sin.) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:1-7 ESV)We have not even come to the point in this lesson where the Creator has shown the way for redemption, but look at God’s response to their hiding from Him, “Where are you?”. (Notice I have switched to present tense.) The Lord God seeks out humanity in the garden and has been seeking ever since to this day. God still does not merely speak to man, but He “calls” us because we are not where we should be. The Lord does not ask, “Where are you?” because He needs information; he wants us to realize where we are.

Let us return to the garden. I do not believe Adam and Eve understood the full implications of the curse, which was about to be placed on them and all of humanity. I do, however, believe Satan does get the picture of things to come. Even though God had explained it to them, God had previously warned them, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17 ESV). The penalty for this sin and all sin was and are death. The Apostle Paul proclaimed the penalty for sin to a different generation, but the curse was the same, for all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23 ESV). As far as they were concerned, Adam and Eve understood this curse to affect them in the here and now. They knew now that they would die. They knew now they were faced with a life of hard work, tilling the ground, the troubles associated with childbirth, but Adam and Eve were experiencing something they had not experienced before, separation from God. If you have ever been separated from someone, you love you will remember the pain from that time. Throughout scripture, God tells us we cannot be guilty of sin and be in His presence, God had explained the consequences of their sin, but during this dark time, God placed a promise“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15). Despite the curse, there was also a promise, and it was the one given to satan. The victory over satan was from the seed of the woman. There was a glorious promise of redemption. From this point on, the Old Testament theme is that God was preparing to send His Messiah into the world. That promise became the hope for all generations to come. God would and did send a Savior to deliver humanity from the power of sin and death.

We know that person is Jesus Christ, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 ESV).

It is clear for us to see a change coming. Following the Bible’s theme, as I have laid out, we now know someone is coming. We know the someone promised is Jesus. We have read the back of the book. The journey to Bethlehem began with Adam and

Eve, even though they were unaware. It was the beginning of the journey of the coming of the Messiah. We all have sin in our lives. Scripture affirms this; “if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”(1 John 1:10 ESV). There is no escaping. We cannot hide from God or the reality of sin and the consequences of sin.

Here today we have the way out of the grips of sin, Jesus Christ, if you think I sound like a broken record, I call you to come to Jesus, in the words, of Peter and so many others since and still today, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the Holy Spirit.