The Fullness in the Manger
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Point: God put everything He is in the manger. Nothing was held back. The fullness of God dwelt in a manger. This is the king of love God provided on that Christmas Eve for the redemption of men. Do I give everything I am to God?
Read: Matthew 1:18-25
The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”
When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus.
For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross — whether things on earth or things in heaven.
The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 31: Galatians / Ephesians / Philippians / Colossians / Philemon The Whole Universe to Be Brought Under Christ’s Lordship
In Birmingham, England, there is a store called Lewis’s. It’s a great chain store in one of the main streets, and wanted to extend. Right in the way of the extension was a little chapel of the Quakers, a Friends’ meeting house. Lewis’s sent a letter to the leaders of the Friends’ meeting house saying, “Dear Sirs, We wish to extend our premises. We see that your building is right in the way. We wish therefore to buy your building and demolish it so that we might expand our store. We will pay you any price you care to name. If you’ll name a price we will settle the matter as quickly as possible. Yours sincerely.”
They got a letter back by reply which said, “Dear Sirs: We in the Friends’ meeting house note the desire of Lewis’s to extend. We observe that our building is right in your way. We would point out, however, that we have been on our site somewhat longer than you have been on yours, and we are determined to stay where we are. We are so determined to stay where we are that we will happily buy Lewis’s. If therefore you would like to name a suitable price we will settle the matter as quickly as possible. Signed, Cadbury.” Here is the clincher. The Cadburys are the great chocolate-making, candy-making people in England. They have an enormous spread of business all over the country and the Cadburys are Quakers. They could very well have bought Lewis’s many times over.
Point: It is not the size of the building that counts, but who signs the letter. It is not the size, location or condition of the stable that counts, but who is in the manger. We forget that it is not the size of the church that matters, but who and what is preached in the pulpit that matters. Who is worshiped that matters. Is Jesus central? What is a hymn? What is a chorus? Unless focused on Christ alone:
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
-Stuart Townend & Keith Getty
What matters at Christmas is not the gifts, ham or turkey, traditions and customs, or even the date we celebrate, but what matters at Christmas is who is in the manger. The world will tell you only a normal babe, who became a normal man and who died a normal death. Nothing special, no significance. But the Bible says, the One who was born in the manger over 2000 years ago was God.
Luke 1:35
The angel said to 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 holy; he will be called Son of God.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
What dwells in the manger at Christmas is the fullness of God, the full measure of God. This is why Jesus is the greatest gift ever given. Jesus is God complete in man. The word “fullness” is a noun and definite article meaning “the fullness”. It means complete, completely satisfied. Have you ever been completely satisfied. No wants, no needs, no desires to be fulfilled, complete? Full measure has been attained. Perfection. Ever experienced that?
For in Jesus all the fullness of God dwells meaning the full measure of God was Christ. God put everything He was/is in the manger. Nothing was held back. No price was too much for God to be with us. All the chips are in. Emmanuel “God with us”. Everything that is God, makes God God, was Jesus, in Him, in the manger. Simply…WOW! This is the Incarnation.
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Do I see the glory of the manger? Do I see the glory of Jesus, “The Full One”? How can one born of woman, be complete, be full? A mystery, that is unfathnoble, but is. That which seems impossible, is. Nothing is impossible for God, with God, and in Christ (Luke 1:37; Mt. 19:26).
So then, is it possible to be full? Full of God? The Apostle Paul, who once persecuted and put Christ followers to death, encourages,
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
To be filled with the fullness of God is to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and to know the love of Christ. To know the love of Christ, is not simply an intellectual exercise, but an intentional physical exercise. How can I know the love of Christ, how can I know this to be true (like Zechariah questions)? Do you believe in that the manger happened? Do you believe the testimoney of the Bible to be true? Do you have any reason to disbelieve the Bible not to be the Word of God? Do you feel a pull, a working, a drawing? That is called the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God drawing you to what is truth, what is grace, what is love. Pulling you to the manger. The manger is the fullness of faith. God born unto man to redeem men from sin and death. Jesus, “God with us”. Shepherds testified, kings glorified, wise men unified; “your redemption has drawn near” (Luke 21:28).
The Holy Spirit works through truth, God’s truth, He is truth. We seek truth, He draws those to the truth. The fullness of Truth is found only in the manger. True love? Only found in the manger. Forgivenss? Yup, only found in the manger. You can know the truth, and the Holy Spirit is the One who will set you free, because God is truth, and Holy Spirit is God. Only by the Truth can one be filled with the fullness of God. Holy Spirit is Truth, Holy Spirit is God. The Spirit’s job is to point you to the manger, who is in the manger - Jesus Christ “God with Us”.
When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.
We will never be satisfied with our lives, unless we come to peace with the One in the manger. We will never be completer, never by full. We will try to manufacture peace by pursuing riches, power, relationships and significance, but only One provides true peace, the One born in the Manger…Jesus. Jesus is the fullness of God, complete, born, come to the earth, to redeem men and women, and reignite men and women, from the pain of mistaken choices, listless lives, and empty purpose. Does the miracle of the manger dwell within you and me?
And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.
For we have all received favor after favor from His fullness, from His abundance, from His completeness…from Jesus being born a babe, in a manger. The question is whether or not we will acknowledge His favor, His grace, and come to Him for true fullness?
Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness,
The Holy Spirit draws you and me to the manger, to take a look, marvel, consider, and follow the One sent to give us purpose, redemption and life. Do you see the fullness of God in the manger? God put everything He is in the manger. Nothing was held back. The fullness of God dwelt in a manger. This is the king of love God provided on that Christmas Eve for the redemption of men. Do I give everything I am to God?
Jesus…the greatest gift of all.