4 Experiencing God’s Plan and Purpose

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone and thanks for joining in with us this morning.

You probably notice that we aren’t having our regular service this morning and that’s because we’re trying to be extra cautious due to a Covid-19 exposure that occurred a couple of weeks ago.

Next Sunday, Lord willing, we expect everything to get back to normal.

And that’s a good segue into today’s message which is about Experiencing God’s Plan and Purpose. Is the Lord willing for us to meet in person next week? Well, that remains to be seen. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

But what we can say with absolute certainty is that God will accomplish his plan and purpose, he always does.

Let’s read from Luke 2:1-7

Luke 2:1–7 CSB

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Introduction

Christmas is full of pictures, memories, and stories that make it a beautiful scene in our minds. But if we’re not careful, the stable, the animals, and the manger can become just a stylistic afterthought or just an unfortunate set of circumstances.

In reality, though, the humble beginnings of Jesus have a much larger role to play in the Christmas story.

The humble birth of Jesus is more than just the story of Christmas, it reveals the purpose of Christmas.

First, notice that Jesus was born into the family of...

Joseph, not Caesar (Luke 2:1)

Caesar Augustus is the first person mentioned in Luke 2.

His real name was Octavius and Caesar Augustus is just a title. It means “revered or exalted one” and that he was. The people admired him and many worshiped him as a god.

Caesar Augustus was a great leader and became emperor through military force when he defeated the armies of Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BC.

Augustus’ reputation as the bringer of stability to Rome proved so strong that the emperorship remained in his family for the next 70 years.

As emperor, his kingdom continued to expand so Caesar issued this decree to figure out just how many people he ruled over, and Mary and Joseph have to make the long journey to their home town.

So on one extreme there is the family of Caesar Augustus and on the other there is the family of Joseph.

The text makes it painfully obvious that Jesus was not born into comfort, power, and authority. There was no line of servants waiting outside their home to escort them in comfort to Bethlehem. There was nobody Joseph could call to get an exemption because Mary was pregnant.

They had to walk, uphill the whole way, for 80 miles. And I can’t imagine Mary sitting on a donkey for 8 hours a day while pregnant. We just spent 8 hours riding in a pickup and when we got home we were exhausted.

Jesus did not inherit privilege from his family, or through military might. He had a difficult beginning to his life—and the long journey for his parents reminds us that Jesus’ Kingship is completely different than any earthly ruler’s.

There are many powerful families in the United States and if you’re related to the Kennedy's or Bush’s or Rothchild’s, doors will open for you. Maybe you’ve dreamed about life would be so much better for you and your family if only you’d been born into a rich and powerful family.

But Joseph wasn’t born into a powerful family. Joseph had no status. He had no wealth. He had no political influence. And this was by design. God did this to emphasize the kind of king Jesus would be. A humble king.

This was God’s plan and purpose.

Secondly, Joseph was born in the small town of...

Bethlehem, not Rome (Luke 2:4-5)

Bethlehem wasn’t a wealthy town. It wasn’t a particularly exciting town, and not a town of influence. All the powerful, influential, socially significant people were Roman—not from Bethlehem.

The city of Rome’s population is estimated at more than 1 million people during the 1st century AD. In contrast, Bethlehem had a population of less than 600. Most people in Jesus’ day probably had never heard of it.

People ask me where I’m from and I say Kittredge, CO and people say where?

Oh, it’s a little town near Evergreen, I say.

Oh! Evergreen, that’s where all the wealthy people live!

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not Rome.

Our king was not born into social prominence or exceptional wealth. His influence came from His words, not his earthly home.

Bethlehem was called the “city of David” because that’s where David and his ancestors lived but during Jesus’ day it was not particularly well-known and it certainly wasn’t a town of of any influence.

Bethlehem means “a place of bread and food.” It’s where the lowly shepherds hung out when they weren't in the fields. I picture it like a truck stop along the highway, a forgettable place where you might spend the night on the way to the big city.

Jesus wasn’t from a popular city. He wasn’t from Rome or even Jerusalem.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem because of God’s plan and purpose. God did this caused Him to be born here not just to fulfil prophecy, but to emphasize the kind of king Jesus would be. A humble king.

Thirdly, Jesus was also born in...

A Manger, not a Throne (Luke 2:6-7)

Jesus’ first crib was a manger, a feed trough, not a throne.

If you have dogs, like I do, you’ll know that even the metal feeding bowls people use get pretty nasty in just a few hours. Imagine if they were made out of wood. It would be the last place you would want to put a newborn but a feeding trough was the best they had.

There was nothing in the way Jesus was born to indicate royalty. He was not powerful as a baby. He was born humbly, in a lowly way, in a stable where the animals were kept.

Now, this Jesus is a king, make no mistake, but the kind of king He is stands out in the manger—because, in a way, he never really left the humble manger.

When he died on the cross, the same humble beginnings come back to mind as we realize that this king is willing to die for His subjects.

Most powerful people do just the opposite. They surround themselves with soldiers, secret service men, body guards, people willing to lay their lives down for them. But Jesus did just the opposite, He laid down his life for those he ruled.

Jesus is not a King like any earthly king. Jesus was born in a manger to show God’s plan and purpose—his purpose to save through humble, sacrificial love.

Conclusion

God’s plan and purpose were clearly on display at the first Christmas. Jesus’ birth stands in stark opposition to the power, position, and manipulation of Caesar.

Jesus was born into poverty, not privilege. He was born into humility, not power. He was born into obscurity, not prominence. And that was on purpose.

Jesus’ humble beginnings aren’t just for the sake of a beautiful story, they serve notice to everyone on Earth that Jesus’ way of doing things is completely different than anything they had seen before.

So, what is your way of doing things? Is it at odds with Jesus’ way?

Philippians 2:5–8 CSB

Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.

God’s plan and purpose for us is that we adopt the same attitude of Jesus Christ.

The humble birth of Jesus is more than the story of Christmas, it reveals the purpose of Christmas, and it reveals God’s purpose for you.

Let’s Pray...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone. May God bless us all as we seek to obey His will for our lives.