Jesus! God's Ultimate Dream! pt 2

We are coming up on a great holiday, Christmas! Why is Christmas so special? It’s because it is the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus who saved us from our sins and restored our relationship with God the Father that was severed by the sin of Adam!

Isaiah 7:14 NLT

14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

1. God announced His dream!

Luke 1:26–38 ESV

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

2. God’s dream begins to unfold with Mary!

So it’s becoming real! The Angel Gabriel announces that this is going to happen to a young girl named Mary! Can you try to imagine what is going on in Mary’s mind. First of all, being engaged to Joesph who is a descendant of David, she probably knew about the coming Messiah. And in addition to that she probably heard of the sign that we looked at in Isaiah about a virgin giving birth. But she most likely never even thought of the possibility that she could be the one. Have you ever felt like you had a dream from God but quickly dismissed it thinking God could never use you for that? That’s the initial state of mind that Mary had. How can this be? But look at her final reply, “I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” But Mary was engaged to Joseph and how would this work with him?

Matthew 1:18–25 TPT

18 This was how Jesus, God’s Anointed One, was born. His mother, Mary, had promised Joseph to be his wife, but while she was still a virgin she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Her fiancé, Joseph, was a righteous man full of integrity and he didn’t want to disgrace her, but when he learned of her pregnancy he secretly planned to break the engagement. 20 While he was still debating with himself about what to do, he fell asleep and had a supernatural dream. An angel from the Lord appeared to him in clear light and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t hesitate to take Mary into your home as your wife, because the power of the Holy Spirit has conceived a child in her womb. 21 She will give birth to a son and you are to name him ‘Savior,’ for he is destined to give his life to save his people from their sins.” 22 This happened so that what the Lord spoke through his prophet would come true: 23 Listen! A virgin will be pregnant, she will give birth to a Son, and he will be known as “Emmanuel,” which means in Hebrew, “God became one of us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from his dream, he did all that the angel of the Lord instructed him to do. He took Mary to be his wife, 25 but they refrained from having sex until she gave birth to her son, whom they named “Jesus.”

3. God gets Joseph on board through a dream!

Joseph reacts to the news of Mary being pregnant by planning to secretly breaking off the engagement so that Mary wouldn’t be disgraced. Back in those days it was a disgrace for a girl to become pregnant out of wedlock and would bring dishonor to the family. But God speaks to Jospeh in a dream and reminds him of Isaiah’s prophecy about the Messiah! So when Jospeh woke up he did everything that God spoke to him in the dream. Do you see how Jospeh and Mary both did everything according to the word of the Lord from the angel of the Lord.

Luke 2:1–7 ESV

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

4. The dream has arrived! Jesus is born!

So Mary gives birth to Jesus. There was no room in the inn so he was born in a manger. Now a manger is a trough that is used to hold food for animals. The whole birth of Jesus is not your normal situation! If you think about it, it’s pretty much the same today. Many people don’t have “room” for Jesus in their lives. So He’ll go to the most unlikely places to meet with those who are looking for Him!

Luke 2:8–20 TPT

8 That night, in a field near Bethlehem, there were shepherds watching over their flocks. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared in radiant splendor before them, lighting up the field with the blazing glory of God, and the shepherds were terrified! 10 But the angel reassured them, saying, “Don’t be afraid. For I have come to bring you good news, the most joyous news the world has ever heard! And it is for everyone everywhere! 11 For today in Bethlehem a rescuer was born for you. He is the Lord Yahweh, the Messiah. 12 You will recognize him by this miracle sign: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a feeding trough!” 13 Then all at once, a vast number of glorious angels appeared, the very armies of heaven! And they all praised God, singing: 14 “Glory to God in the highest realms of heaven! For there is peace and a good hope given to the sons of men.” 15 When the choir of angels disappeared back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go! Let’s hurry and find this Word that is born in Bethlehem and see for ourselves what the Lord has revealed to us.” 16 So they ran into the village and found their way to Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in a feeding trough. 17 Upon seeing this miraculous sign, the shepherds recounted what had just happened. 18 Everyone who heard the shepherds’ story was astonished by what they were told. 19 But Mary treasured all these things in her heart and often pondered what they meant. 20 The shepherds returned to their flock, ecstatic over what had happened. They praised God and glorified him for all they had heard and seen for themselves, just like the angel had said.

5. God’s dream goes public!

The angels announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds that are watching over their flocks in the fields. The first to hear of the miracle are the shepherds. Shepherds give their lives for the sheep. It’s uncomfortable to be out in the field and give up your own creature comforts to be in the field. Jesus gave up His comfort to come and lay down His life for us. He is, after all, called the Chief Shepherd. If you really think about it, even David was a shepherd boy before He became king and God said that he was a man after His own heart. When we care about the welfare of others more than ourselves, we are becoming “shepherds” after God’s heart. His dream is that no one would be separated from Him so He gave us Jesus!

Mark 16:15–18 ESV

15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

6. God’s dream of saving mankind continues!

God’s dream didn’t end when Jesus was born, no it only began at the first Christmas. It now continues to expand and reach more and more people as time goes on. We are really excited about Christmas because Jesus is definitely the life giving gift that keeps on giving. We have been given eternal life because of Jesus Merry Christmas!!