The First Christmas Present
Christmas 2020 • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction: For the last couple weeks we have been in Luke, leading up to that picture of the nativity that we all have in our heads. You know the one, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus in a manger with barn animals, shepherds and sheep all around. The first week we looked at the Promise of Christmas, last week we looked at the first Christmas carol and today we are going to be examining the first ever Christmas present.
I LOVE Christmas presents. (Explain why I love them and love giving them. Carina loves them even more than I do…)
But the best Christmas preset of all time was the very first one. Jesus Christ, the only begotten, here in this text, new born, Son of God.
Main Text: we will zoom in on Luke 2:15-20 but I’ll go back to verse 8 to give us the full context again.
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
“This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.
When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.
And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
The First Christmas Present was...
The First Christmas Present was...
Perfectly Chosen.
Perfectly Chosen.
(v. 11) “...for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Beautifully Wrapped.
Beautifully Wrapped.
(v. 12) “...you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
“…wrapped in cloths...”
Babies need to be and love being swaddled.
Noah always loved to be swaddled. Leah did sometimes. Makaiah always wanted to get her arms free. I got pretty good at swaddling. Carina always let me do it. We used clean, fresh, soft little baby blankets to wrap our kids. Sometimes we even used a swaddling nightgown...
Of all the wonderful and costly things a a new born king could be wrapped and swaddled in, strips of cloth wasn’t one of them. A new born king could have had the finest linens to wrap him. Silk, , cashmere or even high quality wool. These were spare pieces of cloth, ripped up and shredded to wrap around baby Jesus to keep Him warm.
And this should remind us of our filthy sins that Jesus wrapped Himself in on the cross. This is a foreshadowing of what was to come.
“…in a manger...”
The first ever Christmas present didn’t come in a gift box or a decretive box. Jesus was placed in a manger. A manger was a trough. It was were barn animals received their food. Most of the mangers I saw in Israel were chiseled out chunks of stone.
The baby Jesus, the very first Christmas present, was give to us, wrapped up in strips of cloth and placed in a feeding trough. It wasn’t a matter of conveinence or coincidence. It was calculated. It ought to remind us that Jesus is true food. He is the gift of Spiritual food for our souls. As Jesus said in John 6,
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.
Gratefully Received.
Gratefully Received.
I absolutely LOVE a grateful gift receiver. Seeing someone show gratitude when you give them a gift is so rewarding. In sharp contrast, I cannot stand a lack of gratitude when someone receives a gift.
The first Christmas Present was gratefully recieved
(v. 15-16) “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.”
They didn’t delay… “Let us go straight away...”
They did show very high levels of gratitude, anticipation and excitement..
“So they came in a hurry...”
How grateful are you for the gift of Jesus Christ?
“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
Wonderfully Enjoyed.
Wonderfully Enjoyed.
(v. 19-20) “...Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”
I love how it says, “Mary treasured all these thing sin her heart...”
Do you treasure Jesus? If you enjoy and crave worshipping Him you do.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The shepherds treasured Jesus… “The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God” And it was because what had been told to them.
One of the best ways to enjoy Jesus today is to spend time in His word. The great gift ever given is Jesus Christ and sadly, most of us get so little enjoyment our of Jesus. Why? Because we don’t treasure Him like Mary did!
People in centuries past died just so that we could read the Bible in our own language and we seldom even read the word of God that gives us Jesus.
This Christmas, let’s treasure Jesus and wonderfully enjoy Him in every way.
Joyfully Shared.
Joyfully Shared.
When you get a gift you really want and really like, you share it. You tell other people about it. You might show it off. It might be something you can even let people use and experience. The best gifts are joyfully shared. Look at...
(v. 17-18) “When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.”
The First Christmas present was perfectly chosen. The Father gave us the perfect gift!
The First Christmas present was Beautifully Wrapped. Everything about the birth of Jesus was intentional and pointed to the beauty of God’s perfect plans.
The First Christmas Present should be Gratefully Received just like the sherpherds received Him.
The First Christmas Present was Wonderfully Enjoyed and we should crave to enjoy our relationship with Jesus too.
And the First Christmas Present was Joyfully Shared. “They made known the statement”
“Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!”
Do you tell people about Jesus? Do you joyfully announcement the good news?