A Child is Born

Intro

Many of us hold Christmas very close to our hearts, and as important as it is to know that Jesus came in the flesh, it’s just as important to know why he came, and what has lead to this Christmas story that we all know.

Where it Began

In the very beginning of time there were 2 people, Adam and Eve. God loved them and gave them the ability to choose to obey him, and he gave them one rule, don’t eat of “the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil”. However, being tempted by satan, they desired to be like God. So they ate of the fruit and God spoke to the serpent...

Go ahead and open your bibles to Genesis 3:14-15

Genesis 3:14–15 ESV

14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Now when this says offspring it’s not saying offspring plural it’s saying offspring singular being that the one who descends from the woman will crush the serpents head and the serpent will strike his heel.

This is talking of the coming of Jesus and the events that will take place between him and satan.

So what happens after this? Adam and Eve are removed from the Garden with the the knowledge of good and evil. So they are now accountable for their actions against God’s commands. So God gave them clear instruction and selected from their decedents a people that he would call his own. They would come to be known as The Israelites.

And as we know the Israelites had a tendency to mess up, we read about this throughout the old testament. For example while the nation of Israel was wandering in the wilderness, they turned away from God time and time again, like when Moses went up onto the mountain to receive the commandments of God and when he returned he found the people worshiping the golden calf.

God instructed the people to make different offerings and sacrifices that would cover their transgressions. However The people of Israel continued to mess up and had to continue to make sacrifices.

The Need For a Savior

However as the Israelites messed up over and over again, they recieved promises, promises just like the one we see in Genesis 3:14-15, and the Israelites were becoming aware that there would be this “seed of the woman” to come that would sit on David’s throne and rule as their king.

Now last week you may remember me talking about Hezekiah facing the Assyrian army and the angel of the Lord appeared and wiped out 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. The phrophet of Hezekiah’s day was a man named Isaiah, and he instructed Hezekiah on many different matter. However Hezekiah was the only good king that the northern kings of Judah have ever had. So before and after his reign the nation of Israel was moving away from God. This in turn lead to the downfall of the nation and many turning from the lord to their own way. and Isaiah addresses this in Isaiah 1:2-20

Isaiah 1:2–20 (ESV)

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;

for the Lord has spoken:

“Children have I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s crib,

but Israel does not know,

my people do not understand.”

4 Ah, sinful nation,

a people laden with iniquity,

offspring of evildoers,

children who deal corruptly!

They have forsaken the Lord,

they have despised the Holy One of Israel,

they are utterly estranged.

11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.

18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

Now keep Isaiah open because we are going to keep reading from Isaiah. Isaiah is writing here of the hope of peace that the Israelites can have. That soon there sins which are like scarlet will become like snow and if you are willing and obedient you will be given the good things that God has to offer.

Now as Isaiah says this to the people of Israel, I can only imagine what they’re thinking, “This prophet Isaiah tells us that God despises our sin offerings and also that our sin will be cleansed, when and how is this going to happen?” and so they were left in mystery until Isaiah revealed more to this mystery. that there would be a light that would come into the world and shine in the darkness.

The Promise of a Savior

Flip over to Is 9:1-7

Isaiah 9:1–7 ESV

1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

So now the people of Israel see that not only will a there sins be washed away but there will be a child who is born, a child who will be a light in the darkness, a child who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

So, I want you to put yourselves in the shoes of the Israelites for a second. Every day they are faced with temptation and falling away from God, and Now Isaiah first tells them that God will stop accepting their offerings and their traditional ways of life, but will remove their sin somehow, and now they are being told that there will be a king to come to them as a baby that will be called mighty God and he will roll forever. I mean what a hope to have.

The Israelites must have been anxious as to when this child would come. When will this child come to rescue us from our transgressions, when will he brings peace? in what way will this child come, let’s jump back to Isaiah 7:14-15

Isaiah 7:14–15 ESV

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.

So this prince of peace, this mighty God, the Immanuel (which translates God with us), This child is going to come from a virgin’s womb. Surely all of this would have sounded crazy. but the thought that they could be saved from their transgressions no longer relying on offerings and traditions. This was their hope. But how would this coming king do it? Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Isaiah 52:13–53:12 (ESV)

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

14 As many were astonished at you—

his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

15 so shall he sprinkle many nations.

Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,

for that which has not been told them they see,

and that which they have not heard they understand.

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

This coming king, this child who would be God with us was going to die for them so that they could be free, he was going to take there sin upon himself so that they could be considered righteous?

We can assume that these prophecies got the Israelites excited for this coming messiah. but at the time that Isaiah wrote this Jesus wouldn’t come for another 6-700 years. So the people waited.

Turn now to Luke 1:26-35

Luke 1:26–35 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.

and now to Lk 2:1-21

Luke 2:1–21 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. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

So here it is, This child which was predicted to be born 6-700 years before it happened has finally come exactly how it was said to have happened, the wait for Israel was finally over, their savior was here at last, their hope had arrived in the form of a baby, and so many of them were faced with the same choice that we are faced with today. We can follow this savior and obey his teachings and commands, or we can turn and refuse his gift of salvation. I can’t make the choice for you it’s one that must be your choice alone. but if that’s a choice you want to make, if you desire to enter into Christ’s death through baptism, and accept his gift, now’s as good a time as any.

Thank you everybody and have a merry Christmas!