Greg Laurie - The Birth of Christ (09/10/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie kicks off the New Testament part of The Greatest Stories Ever Told by diving into the real Christmas story. It starts way back in Genesis with the promise of a Savior who will crush the serpent's head, pointing straight to Jesus as God who became man to redeem us, fulfilling everything the Old Testament foreshadowed.
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Well the title of this series is The Greatest Stories Ever Told. And we have been in the Old Testament for 31 messages. Now we are shifting gears and we are coming to the New Testament. And so this is the greatest of the greatest stories. Why? Because this is the story of Jesus Christ. Effectively the entire Old Testament is pointing to this story. This is the fulfillment. This is the big event. This is what everything is really focused on in the Bible.
So we are going to talk a little bit about the birth of Jesus in this message. And I don't know if that is legal to speak on the birth of Jesus in the month of October. I think you can only do it from December 1st on. But I am going to break the rules and actually give a kind of a Christmas message here in the month of October. But I love this story. I never get tired of it. I never get tired of telling it.
And when we think of the Nativity, when we think of the Christmas story, our mind really races to Mary and Joseph and Bethlehem and the shepherds and the wise men. But the real Christmas story goes back way further than that. In fact the first mention of Christmas or the Nativity or the birth of our Lord was actually B.C. Now you might ask, how is that possible? Doesn't B.C. mean before Christ? Well yes. But the story of redemption started long before Bethlehem. The story of redemption started in a garden a long time ago. And the Christmas story actually begins with a tree. You might say it is the first Christmas tree. Not like the ones that we go and buy and decorate. Or maybe you have a fake one that you drag out every year, which I have finally succumbed to. I now have fake trees. They look very real. But I am not talking about that Christmas tree.
The Forbidden Tree and the Fall
This is a mysterious tree. This was a tree that people were forbidden to even be near. This tree is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And it was in the Garden of Eden. We all know that the Lord placed our first parents, Adam and Eve, in this literal paradise. Radiant beauty at every turn. Exotic wildlife. Perfect temperature. And best of all, no sin or the guilt or the shame that accompanies it. And the Lord God Himself would show up every day to take a stroll with His buddy Adam. Now how much better does it get than that?
And there was only one prohibition that God gave to Adam and Eve. Don't go near the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And straight away in the Genesis account where do we find Adam and Eve? Hanging out by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Isn't that just like us? I mean with our children we will say to the kids, don't go in that room or don't look in this box. And the next thing you know they are going to be in the box. They are going to do the thing you tell them not to do. And you know the rest of the story. They ate of the forbidden fruit. And sin entered into the world. So now they are ashamed. And they are hiding themselves.
And the Lord shows up as He always did. And He calls out, Adam where are you? Adam responds, well we heard your voice and we are naked and we were ashamed and we hid ourselves. And the Lord said, who told you you were naked? Have you eaten the fruit? I commanded you not to eat. Now why was God asking this? Was it because God was ignorant? Didn't know what was going on? Needed to be updated? No, no. It is because God wanted Adam to confess his sin. He wanted Adam to come clean and say, it is my fault.
The First Christmas Promise in Genesis
But Adam did not come clean. He did what we often do when we get caught in sin. We don't take responsibility. We blame someone else. Right? Well it is not my fault you see. And what does he do? He throws Eve under the bus. And he did it before there was even a bus to throw anyone under. He said, it is the woman you gave me. Now I wonder how he said that. Did he say, it is the woman you gave me. Putting the blame on Eve. Kind of implying that I was laying around sleeping. I wake up. Her rib is gone. And this chick is here. Or did he say, it is the woman you gave me. Started putting the blame on God. Hey, this wasn't my idea. This was your idea. I was happy hanging around zebras and antelopes and fish. No, no. Well I do not know which one it was. But he wasn't taking responsibility.
Now here comes the first Christmas verse in the Bible. It is not Isaiah 9:6. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. It is not Micah 5:2. You Bethlehem, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you will come forth one whose origins have been from everlasting. No. The first Christmas verse is Genesis 3:15. Where the Lord speaks directly to Satan and says, There is coming one who will bruise your head and you will bruise his heel. He says to the serpent, I am just laying this down right now. I am officially announcing it. The Messiah is going to come. And he is going to crush your head. But you will bruise his heel. So game on.
Satan's Attempts to Stop the Messiah
And the devil knew it. And the devil knew that not only was Messiah coming, but he knew Messiah would come through the Jewish people. And so we see the concentrated efforts on the part of Satan to stop Christmas, if you will, from ever coming. We've all heard of the Dr. Seuss story, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Well there is the devil who tried to steal Christmas. That battle starts in Genesis and continues throughout the Bible to the book of Revelation.
Going back to the book of Exodus. And there is the Pharaoh giving the order to kill all those Jewish baby boys. Why? He was trying to stop the Messiah from coming. Then we fast forward to the story of Esther that we looked at recently. And there is the wicked Haman with his plot to eradicate the Jewish people. And of course, Haman ends up hanging on the gallows he had prepared for another. That plan backfired.
And then we come to the New Testament. And the wise men from the east come looking for the one who was born, who is called the King of the Jews. And they mention this to Herod, who by the way had been also described as the King of the Jews by Caesar. Herod, being the paranoid tyrant, he was completely freaked out. And finding out that Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, he had all those baby boys put to death. So this is the devil's attempt to stop Christ from coming.
Jesus: Eternal God Before Bethlehem
But again, we want to remind ourselves that the Messiah comes, but he is not coming for the first time in Bethlehem. He preexisted. Well how so? Because Jesus is God. He has neither beginning nor end. So we have to go way, way back to get the big picture on the Christmas story. So that brings us to the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him. Without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him, verse 4, was life. In the life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Then verse 14 tells us that the Word came and walked among us. The Word is speaking of Jesus.
Now there is not a definite article before the word beginning here in verse 1, meaning you cannot pinpoint the moment in time where there was a beginning. So we are going back to eternity past, further than our minds can imagine, which brings us to point number one about Jesus. Jesus is God. Jesus is God. Before there was a world. Before there were planets. Before there was light or darkness. Before there was matter. Before there was anything, there was the Godhead. And there was Jesus as a part of the Godhead. A part of the Trinity. A Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent with the Father.
God in Human Form
We are told in verse 1, He was God. Jesus was deity in diapers. It is true. God became an embryo. Kind of mind boggling when you think about it. Born of a woman. And sent to this world. He entered our world. He breathed our air. He shared our pain. He walked in our shoes. And then some. He lived our lives. And then He died. He died our death. No, Jesus did not become identical to us. But He did become identified with us. In fact, He could not have identified with us any more than He did. It was total identification on His part. Without the loss of identity, He became one of us without ceasing to be Himself.
Philippians says that He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was a human. He had emotions. He had hunger and thirst and sorrow and all the things we experience as humans. Yet at the same time, He came to us with His divine nature intact. There is not a moment that Jesus became God. He always was God. He was God before Bethlehem. He was God in the womb of Mary. He was God in the manger. He was God as a young man. And of course, He was God when He went to the cross. He didn't give up His deity. He only veiled it. But He never voided it.
The word was with God, verse 1. This is interesting because this phrase could be translated, the word was continually toward God. The father and son were continually face to face. The preposition with bears the idea of nearness along with a sense of movement toward God.
From Eternity to Earth: The Incarnation
I was just looking at a little baby in the back here. The daughter of Gabe and Tiffany. Sweet little girl named Paisley. And I got up really close to her. And I said, Hi. And she turned away and went, See, we were face to face and she didn't like it one bit. But see, Jesus and the father are face to face. That is the implication here. That is to remind us that there was the deepest equality and intimacy in the Trinity. Jesus Himself said in John 17, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory I had with you before the world began.
You know, so this is such an amazing thing to think about. And then that He walked among us as a man. It is mind boggling. That brings us to point number two. Jesus, who was God, became a man. Now when we think of the first Christmas, we think about the birth of Jesus and it was. But you could just as easily call it an arrival as well as a departure. Yes, it was a birth. It was a real human birth like any other birth. However, it was a departure from heaven. A decision was made in heaven that God would come and walk among us as a man.
And really, Isaiah 9:6 sums it up perfectly. Unto us, a child is born. Unto us, a son is given. And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. From our perspective, on earth, a child was born. From God's perspective in heaven, a son was given. So He comes and He walks among us. The Creator is walking among us as a human being.
Because we are told in verse 3 of John 1, all things were made through Him. Without Him, nothing was made that was made. Colossians 1:16 tells us that all things were created by Him in heaven and on earth. You know, this is just mind-boggling.
Pre-Incarnate Appearances of Christ
You know, John writes in his epistle, That which we have seen and heard, we declare unto you, that you may have fellowship with us, and have this fellowship with God. It's an interesting phrase. Because when he says, seen and heard, the phrase for heard could be translated, it's still ringing in our ears. Have you ever been near something very loud that went off like an alarm? And you hear it after it stops? It's ringing in your ears. So the apostles are saying, man, we can still hear His voice. We can hear the tonality. We remember the inflection of His voice. We can still see His face. We close our eyes. And we can still see it in our mind's eye. And we want to talk to you about Him.
I mean, how wonderful would it have been to actually walk with Jesus? You wonder sometimes if, when He fell asleep and woke up, all the apostles are standing around just looking at Him. That's God right there. That's God in human form. But it was. God became a man.
But I want to think a little bit about appearances of Jesus before the incarnation. Incarnation is just another word for His birth. We might call them pre-incarnate appearances of Christ. Also known as Christophany. You ever heard that word before? A Christophany is an appearance of Jesus before Bethlehem. And He made a number of them. Now how many there are? I suppose you could debate it. I'm going to give you some of them. Of what I believe are appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament.
Christophanies in the Old Testament
And by the way, Jesus Himself alluded to these Christophanies. When asked in John 8, if He was greater than Abraham, Jesus said, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. The Jews said to Him, You are not even fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham? Jesus said, Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. Get that? So Jesus is saying, Oh yeah, I knew Abraham. We hung out. We talked to each other. Really? So we know straight away, Jesus appeared to Abraham. And Jesus Himself said it.
Then you remember, after the Lord died on the cross and Rose again from the dead, He made an appearance to two disciples leaving Jerusalem on the Emmaus Road. And as they walked together, He began to open the Scripture to them. And we read in Luke 24:27, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus explained to them what was said in the Old Testament Scriptures concerning Himself. And I wish I could have heard that conversation. When I get to heaven, I would love to say, Lord, would you just go over that for me? And I want to see what I missed.
So we know that Christ appeared in the Old Testament in a Christophany. We know that Christ was referring to verses that spoke of Him. So where are these Christophanies? Well, let's start with Abraham. Because we know He appeared to Him. The story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah comes to mind. That is in Genesis 22.
You remember that Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah very late in life. And Isaac's name meant laughter. And he brought a lot of joy to his mom and dad. He was the light of Abraham's life. That is why when God came to him one day and asked the impossible, it is so amazing Abraham was able to do it. God came to Abraham in Genesis 22 and said, Abraham, Abraham said, Yes, Lord, here I am. God says, Take your son, your only son, yes, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him. There is a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you.
Now, you know how the story ends. And you know that Isaac was not sacrificed. This was a picture. God never asked for human sacrifice. But he allowed this to give us a picture of Christ and to teach us a very important lesson. It was a test for Abraham. So as Abraham and his son Isaac are making their way up and Isaac is carrying the wood that he is going to be placed on to be put to death, son says to father, Dad, where is the sacrifice? And Abraham prophetically says, Son, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together.
Now, if that is not a picture of what happened at the cross of Calvary, I don't know what is. Here are father and son, Abraham and Isaac, working together to obey God. And here are father and son with the Holy Spirit working together to accomplish God's purposes. The father is making the ultimate sacrifice in giving his son. The son is making the ultimate sacrifice in laying his life down.
And by the way, most commentators believe Isaac was 18 to 20 years old at this point. Joseph, as a historian, thought he might have been 25 years old. And another commentator thought around 33, which would be the age of Christ when he died. However you look at it, he wasn't a little kid. Because sometimes in the paintings and in the film depictions, it's like Abraham taking this tiny little boy up there. No, Isaac was effectively an adult. He was a young man and a strong one. And Abraham was an old crotchety dude, okay? So at any point, Isaac could have been carrying the wood like, hey, Dad, I'm just kind of thinking, you're kind of old and I'm young. Why don't we sacrifice you, you know? I mean, really, how much longer do you have? Like eight minutes?
So the thing is, is Isaac, this strapping young man in the prime of his youth, was willing to lay his life down. So let's not take away from that. Yes, the father, Abraham, was willing to offer up a son. But the son willingly went. And is that not what happened at Calvary? Yes, the father sacrificed his son, the greatest sacrifice. But don't forget that Jesus said, no one takes my life. I lay it down of my own accord.
Well, as Abraham is preparing to plunge the knife into his son, suddenly he has stopped and he hears an angel say, don't hurt the boy in any way, for I know you truly fear God. You have not withheld even your beloved son from me. I want you to know, Genesis 22:12, it is not an angel, but the angel of the Lord. And the angel says, you have not withheld your beloved son from me. Sometimes when we read angel, it is not necessarily an angel. I believe this is a Christophany. I believe Jesus Christ stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. But Jesus Christ also knew it was not far from this very location that he himself, fast forwarding in history, would lay his life down for us. So that is one Christophany, I believe. And we know Jesus did meet Abraham.
Number two, another Christophany would be the wrestling match between Jacob and the angel. That is also in Genesis 32. Old Jacob was quite the conniver. He would have been a good used car salesman. Sorry, if that is what you do. But, you know, he was always negotiating, always working out a deal. And he always benefited from the deal. I know people like that. You know, you never want to negotiate with him because you are going to lose. But if you need someone to negotiate for you, they are a great friend to have. And that was Jacob, always working the deal, always trying to work it out for his benefit.
Now he had a brother named Esau. And they were twins. They were womb mates. And normally, in biblical times, the firstborn would become the heir of all the blessings in the family. And the firstborn, in this case, was Esau, who was covered head to toe in hair. By the way, the name Esau means hairy. Literally, hairy. And that is because many times when they named their children, they would name them after what happened at birth. Well, this kid is hairy. Let us call him hairy. So, literally, that is what it meant. And Jacob, Yaakov, means heel catcher because when hairy came out, Jacob was hanging on to his foot. Oh, look. He is hanging on to his heel. Let us call him heel catcher.
The younger is serving the older, which was the norm. God said, No, I am going to reverse it around and I am going to give the blessing to Jacob, not Esau. Well, old Jacob couldn't wait on the Lord. He took matters into his own hands when his father was getting old and senile and couldn't hardly see anymore. Jacob actually covered himself in hair from some animal. And he fooled his dad into thinking it was Esau, which shows you how hairy Esau was. And Isaac, the father, gave the blessing to Jacob, thinking he was giving it to Esau. And then Esau was so ticked off at him. And they had a sibling rivalry that lasted for a lifetime.
So now old Jacob is running for his life. He had effectively fought with God for years and years if he had just trusted in the Lord. You know, there are always people that want to play politics. And you've got to manipulate this. And you've got to do this. You know, and I've always just felt, no, what we need to do is honor the Lord and do what his word says. And he will open the doors for us. And Jacob didn't believe that. And so he really reaped the consequences of it.
So when we come to Genesis 32, and you can turn there if you like. I know I've had you Mark two other scriptures, but hey, let's splurge. Let's go to a third, if you like. But I'll read it to you. But there in Genesis 32:24, we read, Jacob was left alone and a man with him until the breaking of day. Now when he saw he could not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint and he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go for the day breaks. And he said, I'll not let you go until you bless me. And he said, What is your name? He said, Jacob. And he said, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and you have prevailed. And Jacob asked, saying, Tell me your name, I pray. And he said, Why is it you ask my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of that place Peniel, for he said, I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved.
I believe this is a Christophany. I believe Jacob is not wrestling with an angel, but with Jesus himself. Now I think Jesus sort of humored Jacob a little bit. Let him score a point or two. Then pinned him until he said, Uncle or Savior. And this would be like you going up against Hulk Hogan, right? And so, you know, he lets you get a few moves in, but he is going to body slam you and it is going to be over with. Or maybe it is like me wrestling with my grandkids, you know. They will grab me and act like they are pulling me down and I will let them pull me down, but actually they aren't, you know. And that is what was happening. God was humoring him.
The fight went on until Jacob went from cunning to clinging, from resisting to resting. He started out fighting with God and he ended up hanging on to God. And he said, I will not let you go until you bless me. That is what the Lord was looking to. And sometimes we are fighting with God, aren't we? God says, I want to do this. Nowhere! You know. That is okay. Let us go for it. And you know, he will let us have our little wrestling matches and we will resist him and we will do whatever it is we do. And then he will kind of pin us and then we will come back for more. And finally we realize, I am tired of fighting with God. I want to just submit to his will. That is what Jacob did. And his name was changed from Jacob to Israel. And he wrestled with God. What did he say? This place is called Peniel for I have seen God face to face. Wait, Jacob. You are wrestling with an angel. No, Jacob says, I saw God. I think he saw Christ.
Here is another reason I think that was a Christophany. Because later on at the well that Jesus showed up at where that woman was. I remember her who had all those husbands, five in total and was living with the guy. And he engages her in conversation. And she says in John 4:12, Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his cattle in joy? Man, Jesus could have said, Oh please, give me a break. I wrestled with him. He was a total lightweight. He didn't say that. But greater, he encountered Jacob.
I think also the story of Samson has a Christophany in it. You know, Samson didn't end well but he sure started well. And the Lord came to his parents, Manoah and his wife. They were unable to have children. So this angel shows up. Presumably an angel. Judges 13 says, The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and said, Even though you've been unable to have children, you're going to become pregnant and get birth to a son. And that son was to be the mighty Samson who would be a judge over Israel.
So Manoah's wife tells him what happened. This angel, this man of God showed up. And so Manoah prays, Oh Lord, come back again. And so the man of God appears again. And so they ask him the question in Judges 13:18, What is your name? Because if this comes true, we want to honor you. And the angel of the Lord said, Why do you ask my name seeing it is wonderful? And as they were bringing an offering to the Lord, suddenly the angel ascended in the fire and both Manoah and his wife freaked out. And they said, We have seen God.
I think this was a Christophany. They saw God, they said. And here is the interesting thing. They asked the angel his name. He says, Why do you ask my name? It is wonderful. Wait a second. Where have I heard that? Back to Isaiah 9:6. You will call his name Wonderful, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. There are many other Christophanies I could mention.
This reminds me of a scene from the film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. These are the C.S. Lewis stories that were brought to the film. And actually that was my favorite of the three. And so in the movie we have Lucy and Edmund encountering Aslan. And of course Lewis was very up front in saying that Aslan was a picture of Jesus Christ. So there is this powerful scene where they are in Narnia which is sort of a picture of heaven. And Lucy and Edmund are being told they have to go back to earth. You know, back to that wardrobe. Remember they went through that wardrobe over that closet and went into this imaginary world of Narnia. And they are told they are going to have to return to earth. And Lucy through her tears says to Aslan, It isn't Narnia you know. It is you. We shan't meet you there. How can we live never meeting you? And Aslan replies they will meet him back on earth. And when Edmund asks whether he is there on earth too, Aslan says, Yes I am there but I have another name. And you will know me by that name. And Lewis was simply pointing out that this is a picture of Jesus.
And so he appears in the Old Testament. But now of course we see him coming to us in the New Testament. Certainly in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that had to be Jesus hanging around with the three Hebrew holy boys. Right? Remember Nebuchadnezzar throws him, we just read about this, into the fiery furnace and he says, I threw three in there and I see four and the fourth one looks like a son of the gods. That was Nebuchadnezzar's pagan way of saying there is some other guy walking around with him in there. And I believe that was Christ himself. Christophanies. Appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament.
The Announcement to Mary
But now we shift gears and we come to Luke chapter 1. This is the story of the actual birth of Jesus in the New Testament. Let's start in verse 26 now. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary. Having come in the angel said to her rejoice highly favored one the Lord is with you blessed are you among women. When she saw him she was troubled at this saying and consider what manner of greeting this was and the angel said to her don't be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God and behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great he will be called the son of the highest and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and it will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Then Mary said to the angel how can this be seeing that I do not know a man the angel answered and said the Holy Spirit will come upon you the power of the highest will overshadow you therefore the Holy One who was born will be called the Son of God now indeed Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age and this is her sixth month for her who is called barren for with God nothing will be impossible Mary said behold the maidservant of the Lord Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. We will stop there.
This miracle of the arrival of Messiah came through a virgin birth. I think you have all heard that popular talk show host Larry King was once asked who he would choose to interview if he could interview one person throughout human history. And he said yes. I would interview Jesus Christ. And I would ask him are you indeed virgin born? Larry King says the answer to that question would explain history to me. That is very insightful. And of course Jesus was virgin born.
And when you stop and think about it there is no other way that God could have accomplished his goal. I mean think about this for a moment. There is a lot of ways that God could have sent Jesus to this earth. Right? He could have just been born of two earthly parents. Not supernaturally conceived in the womb of Mary. But rather just the conception of two parents. But then it would have been very hard for us to believe he actually had a sinless nature. Or then again Jesus could have come down from heaven in a shaft of light. I mean the clouds open up and the light hits the ground. He just comes floating down. Hey everybody here I am. I am ready to start. But then if that would have happened how could we have related to someone like that?
Now when you stop and think about it the virgin birth is quite logical. It was God's way. It was God's way. And by the way I would add if Jesus was not supernaturally conceived in the womb of Mary then He was not God. This is not a peripheral issue. This is not a secondary issue. This is basic Christian theology. If you are a Christian you must believe Jesus was born of a virgin. Supernaturally conceived in the womb.
Let me take you this step further. If you don't believe that Jesus Christ was supernaturally conceived in the womb of a virgin named Mary you can't be a Christian. Well that is crazy. No I don't think it is. Because Jesus said unless you believe that I am He will die in your sins. See if He wasn't conceived in the womb of Mary then He was not divine. He was just some guy saying He was divine. It had to happen this way. So this is not as I said a secondary issue.
He was fully God yet at the same time fully man. Listen. Christ was God not because He was virgin born. He was virgin born because He was God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said and I quote, If Jesus Christ is not true God how could He help us? If not true man how could He help us? End quote. So it is like He is true God. He is true man. Fully God. Fully man. No one has ever walked this earth like Jesus. That is why He and He alone was uniquely qualified to bridge the gap between a holy flawless God and sinful humanity. Because there has never been any prophet, guru or anybody else who was God in human form.
Mary: A Nobody Chosen by God
And who did God choose to be the person who would have the privilege of being the mother of the Messiah? A girl named Mary. Now the problem with the Christmas story is we romanticize it and we sanitize it. And I think in the process of doing that in some ways we neutralize it. Because we don't appreciate it in its grit, in its edge, in its reality. Because it is more powerful when you see it as it actually happened.
So you think about this girl Mary. Who was she? Well she was a peasant girl. She was a very young girl. Most commentators believe that Mary was around 12 to 14 years old. Really a young kid. And you know where she lived? She lived in Nazareth. Nazareth was not a nice place to live. In fact, Nazareth was renowned for wickedness. It was a place where Roman soldiers hung out. It was a place that was known for immorality. So here was Mary who managed to be a moral girl in an immoral place. I mean you think you have it hard, girls? Well she had it much harder than you have it. Because they didn't even have the standards we have. And ours are pretty lax. But in these days the Roman soldiers pretty much did what they wanted. Grabbed who they wanted. You know the Jewish people were looked upon as their servants or their subjects. And so to live a godly life. To be pure. To still be a virgin living in Nazareth was a feat unto itself.
But this was a godly woman. But also understand Nazareth was sort of a non-place. It is kind of one of those places that you go through on the way to another place. Like Barstow. Who goes to Barstow? You stop in Barstow to get fuel and In-N-Out Burger. Right? And you get back in your car and you keep driving. Maybe you go to the outlet stores. Are they still there? I haven't been there for a while. But you know it is not like we are going to Barstow for our vacation. You keep driving. That was Nazareth.
So here is this non-place. And here is a nobody. Mary was a nobody. She was a nobody in a nothing town in the middle of nowhere. Have you ever felt that way? I am a nobody in a nothing town living in the middle of nowhere. Well you know what? Maybe you are. But you know what? God specializes in taking nobodies and turning them into somebodies. He specializes in working through human weakness. 1 Corinthians 1:26. A modern translation and paraphrase puts it this way. Take a good look friends at who you were when you were called into this life. I don't see many of the brightest and best among you. Not many influential. Not many from high society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks. God chose those nobodies to expose the hollow pretensions of the somebodies.
Think of all of the nobodies God used through Scripture. David the Shepherd boy. Overlooked by his own father. Gideon the frightened farmer. Used to be a courageous warrior to lead the Israelites into battle. Peter the outspoken fisherman. The list goes on and on. Why does God do this? Because 1 Corinthians 1:28 says, God chooses things despised by the world. Things counted as nothing at all. And uses them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. So no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
See, the reason God does this, is so when something good happens, the people have to say, only God could have done that. Because if you are the most talented, and the most beautiful, or the most handsome, or whatever, people will get, well I always knew they would do something. I mean, look at them. But when it is somebody who wasn't that talented, and isn't that great looking, and isn't the one who was at the top of their class, and was actually overlooked, and God says, I am going to take that person, and I am going to put them here, then God gets the glory.
It has been said, if you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he didn't get there by himself. Right? And so, God takes people, and he puts them in this place, and you say, how did they get there? Why are they there? They don't deserve to be there. That is true. But God said, I did it, so I will get the glory. That gives hope to us, doesn't it?
Nine months later on Christmas Day, who was the news of the birth of Messiah announced to? Well if it were me, if I were God, I would have sent the angels into Caesar's court. Caesar in all of his power, sitting on his royal throne. But God didn't do that. God had the news announced first to shepherds. Now, along with everything else in the Christmas story, we've romanticized shepherds. You know, we think very highly of shepherds, because David was a shepherd, and Moses was a shepherd, and shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night, when the good news of the arrival of Christ was announced.
But in biblical times, a shepherd, they were at the lowest of the social order. And they were like, they were lower than telemarketers. I don't know what to describe, compare it to. But they were the lowest. Nobody wanted any... And I'm sorry if you're a telemarketer. I've offended all the used car salesmen and telemarketers tonight. So... And if you're a used car salesman, who also is a telemarketer, this is a very hard sermon for you. You may be the exception to all these rules. How many of you are telemarketers? Okay. Do we have one here? Wow. That's good. Okay. Quick favor. Stop calling me at 5 o'clock. I don't even want to ask how many used car salesmen. Okay. So... It was announced to shepherds. which shows that God went out of His way to take the lowest of the low and elevate them. Because God doesn't see things the way we see things.
Oh, that person there... Oh, God says, You know what? I favor that person then. Those down and outers. Those people no one cares about. I'm going to come to them and I'm going to impact their life and I'm going to use them so I get the glory. God chooses this young, unknown girl living in a relatively unknown city to bring about what would be the most known event in human history. An event that would forever divide human time. B.C. and A.D. The birth of Christ.
He finds Mary in Nazareth. But of course the birth takes place in Bethlehem. Another small place. Micah says, You, Bethlehem, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth one whose origins have been from everlasting.
Listen, maybe you are living in a wicked environment. You are under a lot of pressure. Where you work. Where you live. A pressure to have sex before marriage. Or to be unfaithful to your spouse. Pressure to go party. Pressure to compromise. Pressure to lie. Pressure to cut corners. Whatever it is. You say, It is really hard, Greg. You do not know what it is like. Wait a second. Mary was able to do it. And God will give you the strength to live a principled, godly life wherever you are. And He can keep His hand on you and use you in a powerful way as well.
The Heart of Christmas: God With Us
What is the essential message of the incarnation? What is the essential message of the birth of Christ? The primary message of Christmas. Here it is. It is that we are not alone. God came to us. You shall call His name Emmanuel. And what does that mean? God is with us. And God has always been here, but that does not mean He is in us. He is here, but He is not necessarily in you.
The only way Christ can come and live in you is when you admit you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive you of your sin and invite Him into your heart. I love that old Christmas hymn that we often sing. Let every heart prepare Him room. Hark the herald angels sing. So we have to prepare Him room. We have to say, Lord, please come into my life.
You know, we had our friend Dennis Egejanian and his wife over recently and we have a guest room. The problem is, it is filled with all the toys for the grandkids and their granddaughters. We have a grandson now. So we are trying to balance things up. But we have a lot of pink stuff. We have doll houses. And we have American Girl dolls. And we have furniture for the American Girl dolls. And we have all this stuff. And then we have a little fabric pink house that the kids play in. And so here is the bed over in the corner. We are saying, Gee, I hope you like pink. We tried to prepare the room for them, but there was a lot of pink in the room. But then they managed to get through the night. Okay. Though I did come in and I found Dennis curled up in the Dollhouse. Which... No, I tried to make that up. But I am definitely getting off script here. Okay, so let us reel it back in.
But you know, you prepare room. We prepared a room for them in effect. You prepare your heart. You say, Lord, come into my life. Be my Savior. Be my Lord. Be my God. Have you done that yet? Have you invited Jesus into your life? He came to this earth on a rescue mission. He came to this earth to die.
Remember that first Christmas passage. He will bruise your head, God said to Satan. But you will bruise his heel. Jesus came and died on a cross. And the Bible says that he was bruised for our iniquities. And the punishment for our peace was upon him. And by his stripes we are healed. He died voluntarily for us. Just like Isaac was willing to lay his life down with his father, but didn't have to. Jesus did lay his life down. And there was no last minute reprieve. There was no stop issued by an angel. The father had to bring the knife on the son, in effect. The father had to pour his wrath upon the son because there was no other way for us to be forgiven.
But then Jesus, who was God, didn't stay in that tomb. He Rose again to life. And he is alive and ready to come into your life right now. And if you have never asked him in, I want to give you an opportunity to invite him into your heart as we close now in prayer.
So let's all bow our heads and everybody praying. Father, I pray for anyone here who may not yet know you. They have not yet invited Jesus to come and live inside of them. Lord, would you help them to do that? Help them to see their need for you. Help them to find your forgiveness this night we pray.
Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying together, how many of you would say, Greg, I want Jesus in my life. I want him to forgive me of my sin. I want to go to heaven when I die. I am ready to say yes to Jesus now. If that is your desire, if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, would you lift your hand up right now wherever you are and I will pray for you. Just lift your hand up and I will pray for you tonight. You want his forgiveness. You want to go to heaven when you die. God bless you. Lift your hand up where I can see it, please. And I will pray for you. God bless you. Just lift your hand up wherever you are. God bless you. Anybody else? God bless you. Anybody else? You want his forgiveness tonight. You want Jesus to come into your life. God bless you there in the back. God bless you as well.
While our heads are still bowed, Maybe some of you would say, you know there was a time I walked with the Lord but I have fallen away from Him. But I want to come back to Him again tonight. Pray for me. If you need to return to the Lord, would you raise your hand up and let me pray for you right now. God bless you. God bless you. Anybody else? God bless you and you and you.
All right now I am going to ask you to raise your hand if you would please. I want you all to stand to your feet and I am going to lead you in a prayer of commitment to Jesus. Again if you raise your hand, just stand to your feet. Even if you did not raise your hand but you want Christ to come into your life tonight, just stand up. That is right, stand up. You are not the only one standing. Others are standing right now. Stand up. You heard me right. Just stand in your spot right there and I am going to lead you in this prayer that will have you pray right where you are. Anybody else? If you did not raise your hand, you can stand. If you did raise your hand, stand now and we will pray together. God bless you that. Anybody else? Stand now. You want God's forgiveness. You want Christ to come into your life. Stand to your feet. And I will lead you in this prayer. One final moment. Anybody else? Stand now. God bless you. Anybody else? God bless you.
All right, you that are standing, I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me. And this is where you are asking Jesus to come into your life. Again, as I pray, pray this out loud after me. Okay? Pray this after me now. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. But you died on the cross for me. And shed your blood for my sin. I turn from that sin now. And I choose to follow you. From this night forward. Be my Savior and my Lord. Be my God and my friend. Thank you for coming to this earth. And being born in that manger. And dying on that cross. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
↓↓↓ Part 2 ↓↓↓
Pastor Greg Laurie continues in Luke chapter 2 with the greatest story ever told—the birth of Jesus. He highlights how God used a Roman census to fulfill prophecy by bringing Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, where the Savior was born humbly in a manger, announced first to lowly shepherds with the joyful news of a Savior, Christ the Lord, bringing peace and forgiveness to all who believe.
The Greatest Story Ever Told - Part 2
We are in Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. And the title of the message is, The greatest story is the greatest story ever told. Let's pray together. Father, as we revisit this story, it is so powerful. It is so awesome. It seems simple, but yet it is just told in a way that is understandable. But it is the story that forever changed human history. The story that forever changed our lives. The story of stories. The greatest of all stories. And we pray as we look at it once again that you help us to see it with fresh eyes. And hear it with fresh ears. And appreciate even more all that you have done for us. So we ask you to bless this time of Bible study. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Well we are in a series of messages called The Greatest Stories Ever Told. And it has pretty much been a flyover of the mountain peaks of the Bible. We have looked at Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. We have followed the exploits of Samson. The adventures of King David and Queen Esther. We have seen the fire fall on Mount Carmel with Elijah. And we have seen the three Hebrew holy boys walk through the fire. And the book of Daniel. The Old Testament stories. But now we come to the New Testament. And we come to the greatest of the greatest stories. All these other stories in effect are but a prequel to the story before us right now. And of course I am talking about the story of the birth, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now in our last message we looked at some Christophanies. Remember those are appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament. And now we see Him coming in human form to this earth. But we reminded you that when we read the Christmas story this is not when Jesus began in effect. This is when Jesus was born among us as a man but Jesus being God and a member of the Trinity is eternal. He always was. He always will be. But now we see Him coming in human form to this earth.
The First Christmas: God's Gift to Us
And we are going to focus on what I guess we could call the first Christmas. I guess I am cheating because I am effectively preaching a Christmas sermon in October. But I don't think I will get into too much trouble for this. But the first Christmas was not about giving gifts to one another. The first Christmas was about God's gift to us. The gift of the Son of God. And this story begins with a tree. A family tree to be exact. Pretty much the whole story starts with the telling of this genealogy of Christ.
You know when you read a genealogy in the Bible there is a temptation to skip over it. Because you think, well this doesn't mean anything to me. That is a mistake. Because the Bible says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And that even includes those genealogies. Though they can be a bit tedious at times. But when we look at the family tree of Jesus it really matters for many reasons. But for the Jewish person the family tree was a big deal. It was almost like their resume. The tribe they came from. Their descendants and so forth.
And so we look at the family tree of Jesus. Now Matthew records the genealogy of Jesus through the line of Joseph. And Luke records it through Mary. Because some have noted that there is a bit of a difference. And there is. But they both trace back to King David. Why is that important? Because the Bible said the Messiah would be of the root and offspring of David. So God's promise was that David's offspring would bring forth the one who would deliver Israel and reign as king. Which meant that any claimant to the throne of Israel had to demonstrate through his genealogy that he descended from David.
Jesus' Surprising Family Tree
And by the way, if you think you have a weird family, Jesus had a really weird one. How many of you have weird families? Raise your hand up. How many of you have totally normal families? You are the weirdest person here. We all have strange families. We all have curious relatives. Well Jesus had some pretty interesting people in the most exclusive genealogy in human history. It is interesting. In Luke's genealogy of Jesus there are no females. But in Matthew's genealogy there are five. Who are they? Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and of course Mary.
Now why is that significant? Well Tamar was immoral. Rahab was a prostitute. Bathsheba was an adulteress. Ruth wasn't even Jewish. And yet these people factored in to this exclusive genealogy. And of course Bathsheba an adulteress. I think I mentioned that. Now Mary, she was a pure woman. A godly woman living in Nazareth. Now as we come to David himself. Christ is descended from David. Well did David have any flaws? Oh absolutely. He was guilty of adultery and guilty of murder.
So what is my point in bringing this all up? Well it just shows us even in the family tree of Jesus we are reminded of why he effectively came. And that is to show his forgiveness and mercy. If you don't even read the Christmas story, the genealogy of Christ alone says God gives second chances. Even if you have messed your life up, God can intervene. I mean you think of the mistakes these people made. Yet God allowed them to be connected to the bloodline of the Savior of the world. That is a pretty amazing thing.
So as we come to this story, it is interesting in Luke's version of it. It doesn't start with the words, once upon a time. Because it is not a fairy tale. Yet at the same time, it has all the pageantry, all the pathos, all the magic, if you will, of the best fairy tales. I mean you have got Shepherds bowing, wise men worshipping, angels singing, and a brilliant star. It is a great story apart from its significance. But it doesn't start with once upon a time. It starts with genealogies to pinpoint it in time. Because Luke was meticulous in his reporting. He is telling us a real story. And he is telling us where this story started and what it became. This story starts in heaven and it unfolds on earth.
From Nazareth to Bethlehem: Fulfilling Prophecy
So it starts with the angel Gabriel being dispatched to Mary. Now if you were an angel, you would have wanted that assignment for sure. I wonder if God said, Okay, with a show of hands, who wants to announce the Messiah? Me, me, me, me. You know, Gabriel, clearly a high ranking angel, gets this great privilege. And he now comes down to the earth to this humble peasant girl named Mary. Living in an obscure little town, renowned for its wickedness, called Nazareth. Mary was a nobody in a nothing town in the middle of nowhere. And yet despite this town known for immorality, Mary lived a godly life. And she was handpicked by the Lord to be the mother of Jesus.
So the angel announces to Mary that she is going to be the mother of the Messiah. Luke 1:28 says, So she is overwhelmed, but she is ready to obey. There is just one problem. Her husband-to-be, Joseph. Joseph, how is she going to convince him that she is the mother of the Messiah? I mean, come on. You live in Nazareth, Mary. That is a city that is known for girls, you know, because a lot of Roman soldiers were there, you see. So a lot of these girls would end up pregnant. And so Mary is going to come along now and say, Oh no, it is not what you think. I am actually the chosen woman here that Isaiah spoke of. Well, that was going to be a hard sell for sure.
And when Joseph heard that Mary was pregnant, though he loved her with all of his heart, he decided he was not going to marry her. And he was going to put her away privately. But then the angel comes to him and tells him that everything Mary was saying was true. And then he tells him they are to name the child Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Now by the way, Jesus was a common name back in those days. Yeshua. So it is not unusual that he was to be simply named Jesus, but it points out that he will save his people from his sins. This is the Jesus, if you will. Yeshua means Jehovah is salvation.
And in case Joseph was not quite getting the picture, a final detail is given to him in Matthew 1:23, when the angel says, the virgin will be with child and bear his son, and they will call his name Emmanuel, which is translated, God is with us. That is right, buddy. Your wife to be. She is the one. And you got it on the word of an angel, representing God. So to Joseph's credit, he immediately is ready to back up Mary.
And you know, here is an interesting thing. Mary lived her whole life with a bad reputation. The irony, here is this girl who was so pure, and yet throughout her life, a lot of people, they didn't buy the whole virgin birth deal. In fact, on one occasion, the Pharisees came to Jesus, and they said, well, at least we weren't born of fornication. In other words, they were saying, well, at least we weren't conceived out of wedlock like you were. Now can you imagine if Jesus wanted to just lose it right then? Would you say, would you just say, what did, you know. He didn't do that. But that was the reputation Mary had to live with.
Mary was told when she dedicated the young Jesus in the temple, a sword will Pierce your own soul. And throughout her life, there was a lot of pain in Mary's life that she had to bear because this great privilege brought a lot of responsibility, and it also brought a lot of heartache. Most significantly, when she saw her dear son hanging on that cross, beaten to a pulp beyond human recognition. And she had to see that happen to her own boy that she loved with all of her heart.
So everything is now in place. So now we pick up the very familiar telling of the Christmas story in Luke chapter 2, starting in verse 1. Let's read that together. It says, It came to pass in those days, a decree went up from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered or taxed. This census first took place when Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David. To be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. We'll stop there.
Luke's Meticulous Historical Account
I want you to notice that Luke, who was a physician by trade, was very meticulous in his reporting. Though Luke does write rather poetically, he was a stickler for the facts. You see, Luke was not an eyewitness of the life of Jesus, as were Matthew and John. He was a physician who came to faith from a non-Jewish background. He also was the author of the book of Acts. It was his desire to bring a historical and accurate record of the life of Jesus that would be understandable to those who were outside of the Jewish culture.
So Luke wants us to know that these events really took place. As I said, they are not fairy tales or legends that Luke invented. They happened in real time. In fact, in Luke 1:3 he writes, I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning. It seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you. And that is why Luke, in verses 2-3, mentions Caesar, Augustus, and Quirinius. Now we read over that, and it doesn't mean a lot to us, but what it does do is pinpoint it historically. So then we go back to historical records and say, Do they confirm what Dr. Luke said? Well, indeed, they do.
The fact of the matter is there is a lot of data on them, and Caesar Augustus was the first real Roman emperor. His name was Caius Octavius. He was the great nephew of Julius Caesar. Octavius was a born fighter who started to claw his way to power by defeating Antony and Cleopatra. The Roman Republic was now gone, and in its place was the Roman Empire. You know, the republic ruled by the senators was now being displaced by Caesar who wanted to be a godlike figure. And he wanted to be in total control. And so when we read now of Caius Octavius, he is referred to as Augustus Caesar. That was not a name. That was a title. Caius Octavius was giving himself a new title. And what was it? Augustus. Which means wholly revered of the gods.
It was under Augustus' rule that strides were made toward making the Caesars gods. In fact, there is an inscription that has been found about Augustus Caesar where he is described as the savior of the whole world. Now that is important information. Because now we read about an angel coming. There is born unto you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. Wait, wait. There is some guy named Caesar who thinks he is the savior. In fact, there is an inscription of him saying he is the savior of the whole world. So when we read there is born a savior that is clearly saying to Caesar there is a savior buddy but you ain't him. The angel was saying in effect that Augustus is not the savior of Rome Jesus is and for that matter the savior of the whole world.
Riches to Rags: The True Savior Arrives
So let's restate it. In a time when man wanted to become God God became a man. The true savior of the world has now come not draped in gold and silk but a baby wrapped in rags. You know when you look at the story of Jesus it is not a rag to riches story it is a riches to rags story. It is like the very opposite. He went from being a sovereign to being a servant. He went from the glory of heaven to a stable for animals. I heard that in one of Queen Elizabeth's visits to the United States she brought 5,000 pounds of clothing. She had two personal valets and a hairdresser on board as well. She also had two special leather covers for the toilet seats used by Her Majesty. Hardly traveling light. But look here comes now God in human form coming to this earth leaving all those privileges behind and walking among us as a man.
So the Lord touched this little man Augustus Caesar who was big in his own mind. You know Caesar and Quirinius thought they were hot stuff but they were just passing figures on the pages of history. In this day no one was more known or feared than Caesar Augustus. Now he is just a point of reference and the greatest story ever told. The only reason you ever even heard of Caesar Augustus is because of Luke's account giving us a backdrop to tell us the story of Jesus. Now we name our dogs after Roman emperors and we name our sons after apostles. So we wouldn't even know their names if we were not for the nativity story.
But why did God need Mary and Joseph to leave Nazareth and go to Bethlehem? Well it is an obvious answer. Because the scripture said Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:2 Thou Bethlehem though you be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of you shall come forth one whose origins have been from everlasting. But why Bethlehem? Bethlehem was the boyhood town of David. Right? When the prophet came to anoint the next king of Israel he would find him in the house of Jesse living in Bethlehem. By the way the name Bethlehem means house of bread.
So God moved a vent. God moved the most powerful man on the earth to make a decree so he could get Mary and Joseph from point A to point B. Get them over to Bethlehem. History is his story. It has been said that history swings on the hinge of the door of a stable in Bethlehem. So because Joseph was related to David he had to return to Bethlehem to be taxed. And I don't know if he even understood what was happening. I really don't think Mary and Joseph were saying okay come on we have got to get there to fulfill Bible prophecy. Because she is really late in her pregnancy. And this is not a journey they want to make. But I think they are just doing what they are ordered to do by Caesar and it was all part of God's plans.
And I think a lot of times we are walking through life and we are not getting what is happening to us. It is like why did that just happen? Why did that door just close? Why did that other thing just transpire? And it is not until the passing of time that we can look back and say oh now I get it. Right? And the Bible says the steps of a righteous man woman too of course are ordered by the Lord.
So now they arrive. Now if it was as we see it in the paintings you know they have little halos over their heads and Mary is on the donkey and Joseph is leading her in. And you would have thought that everyone would have opened up their doors but amazingly they are turned away. There is no room for them in the inn. And that was really indicative of the treatment Christ received throughout his entire ministry. There is a telling passage in the Gospel of John where it says everyone went to his own house then in direct contrast it says but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. In other words everybody went home for the night and Jesus he just pretty much slept out in the open air.
And Jesus didn't have a house to return to. He had homes he visited like the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus or Bethany but he didn't really have his own home. In fact Jesus said you know birds have nests and foxes have holes but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Yet there is no room for him in the inn. No room for him in the inn yet he himself said in my Father's house are many rooms. Mankind didn't have room for Jesus but Jesus has room for mankind doesn't he? Interesting contrast.
No Room in the Inn: A Humble Birth
And so now they come to this place where there is no inn and we usually vilify the innkeeper. Certainly he was pretty heartless here. He could clearly see this woman was ready to give birth at any moment. I mean she was clearly pregnant. And you know I have learned to never ask a woman when she is due because she may not be. I was talking to a woman after church once and she was clearly very pregnant ready to give birth like at any second and I said wow what do you do? She said what? I said what do you do? She says I am not due right hey. how do you get out of that? So until that information is volunteered to me I won't say anything. But clearly Mary. she was ready.
So what was this guy's problem? Well they were clearly poor. There was no money in it. The bottom line for this guy was the buck or we might say the shekel. He was simply preoccupied. His inn was full but he could have made room. Now here is an interesting thing to consider. There are two words both translated inn in the New Testament. One speaks of what we would call a hotel but it was very primitive but there would be food and fire entertainment and a roof over your head. Basically an enclosure. But the other room word for inn just effectively almost is like a corral if you will. Just some walls around it. You are there. The animals are there. The elements are there. And not much. Just a place to spend the night. This is the inn Mary and Joseph were turned away from. Not the one with the roof. The one that was in the open air.
What this guy couldn't move a couple of animals to make room for. Mary to give birth to her child? Unbelievable. But you know what? Instead of being a villain maybe he is just typical of a lot of people today. Oh we are just so busy. I am so busy I just don't have time. I don't have room for you Mary and Joseph. And we are that way with God. It is easy to be critical of him but there is a lot of times we are just so busy with our so called schedules and we don't have time for the Lord. Someone once said that you could put on many American tombstones the words hurried worried and buried. We are always in a rush. We are the only nation in the world with a mountain called Rushmore. Right?
So this guy missed the ultimate opportunity. But people are like this today. Oh I would like to go to church but I am busy. Here is the irony to me. People attend church less during the Christmas season than during it. Yet they go man it is Christmas let's go to church let's go to midweek Bible studies it is all about Jesus. But we get all hung up on all the busy activities of that time of the year and there is just a lot of people that are so busy and we can effectively lose Jesus at the one time of the year when we should be focusing more on Him.
A problem that a lot of people are having is they put up these little nativity scenes and people are stealing the baby Jesus. And I read about one church that kept having their baby Jesus stolen. It is in Old Bridge, New Jersey. So they put a GPS tracker in the figure. And they said in the article there has been no attempt of theft since we announced we are tracking our Jesus. I am so glad that real Jesus cannot be stolen or lost. But with all this clutter of activity we too can miss Jesus. And this is maybe one of the reasons why people get so depressed this time of the year.
I am a chaplain for two police departments. A Newport Beach Police Department and Costa Mesa Police Department. And I am called. sometimes very late at night, early in the morning, to go help someone or to intervene in some situation. And I was called last December to visit a man whose wife had committed suicide and he came home to find her. And I asked some of the officers there about that sort of thing this time of the year and they said there is no question suicides are up in the holidays because people are so depressed. You know, I think it is because Christmas doesn't measure up to our idea of it or maybe those movies that we like to watch or those TV commercials. And we say, well, my family is not like that. And so people are suicidal this time of year. And that is because the clutter of Christmas takes the place of what it really should be. The clutter of X-mas replaces the Christ of Christmas.
So the thing to remember is we don't need Christmas presents. We need His presence in our lives. So here is Jesus born in a stable. Now one of the problems with the nativity story is we romanticize everything. And one of the things we romanticize is the birth itself. But let's remember where Jesus was born. Jesus was born in what is called the stable, but probably was a barn, or more specifically, possibly even a cave. And this is not where you would have a baby. It is an unsanitary environment. This is a stall where you kept animals. That meant that there would be straw laying around. This meant there would be animal feces there. It would be cold. God incarnate was born on the dirt floor of a filthy cave.
Now I don't know about you, but this does not diminish the Christmas story for me. It enhances it. That romanticized stuff, that doesn't do anything for me. Because it is not reality. When I realize what God went through to come to this earth, of all ways to come, it even makes it more wonderful. R. Kent Hughes, a great commentator, wrote, and I quote, It was clearly a leap down, as if the Son of God Rose from His splendor, stood poised on the rim of the universe, irritating light, and dove headlong, speeding to the stars over the Milky Way to Earth's galaxy, where He plunged into a huddle of animals. Nothing could be lower. End quote. Yes, God became a creature. The creator of the heavens and the earth was an embryo. As I said before, it was deity in diapers.
The Announcement to the Shepherds
You know, I love babies. We have a little baby boy in our family now, little Christopher. Well, he's a year old, so he's not really a baby, but he's still very small. And it's so amazing to watch babies develop and grow. It's almost like they do something new every day, right? And I remember last Sunday, I dedicated a baby here in the second service, and that baby I think was a month old. It was so small, you know, and you hold it so carefully and support its little head and its neck and its body, and you have to be so gentle with that little one. And to think that God Almighty, the creator of the universe is this helpless little baby. It's not like he's super baby, you know, flying around, you know, kind of coming out and going back down again, picking up stuff, walking around with it. No. He's like, and I don't mean that irreverently. I'm just saying he's just a baby, like any other baby.
See, Augustine said he was unspeakably wise, yet he is wisely speechless. End quote. He's the word without a word. C.H. Spurgeon said, Infinite, yet an infant. Eternal, yet born of a woman. Supporting the universe, yet needing to be carried in a mother's arms. King of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph. Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter's son. The almighty God became a helpless baby. And in swaddling cloths, it's like these are rags wrapped around him. Symbolize his whole life, from the cradle to the cross.
Jesus could have been born in the most elegant mansion on the ritziest boulevard in Rome. He could have had parents of great wealth and stature boasting of their pedigree. He could have had the finest robes from the most exclusive shops. He could have had legions of angels at his Beck and call. But instead he lays all of that aside for us. Second Corinthians 8:9 says, Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that through his poverty you might be rich. So God has come into the world.
So who should be the first to know? Let me ask you this. When you had your first child, if you have children, or your first grandchild, who did you tell first? Probably family, right? You called your mom, or your dad, or your brother, your sister, or maybe your best friend. So here now God has come to the earth. Who does the announcement go to first? Man, if it were me I would have sent an angel in to Caesar Augustus. I would have appeared right before him. Hey Caesar, what's up? Oh right, you are the guy that thinks you are a god. News flash, God in human form has come, the savior of the world, born in a manger in Bethlehem. But that is not who the angels appeared to. How about to those religious leaders, the Sadducees and the Pharisees in Jerusalem? No, God makes this earth-shaking announcement to Shepherds. Shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night.
Now I mentioned Shepherds last time a little bit, but like every other aspect of the Christmas story, we have glamorized them, we have romanticized this as well, and we miss the beauty of the story. Understand to be a Shepherd in this culture was to be at the bottom of the social ladder. Shepherds were despised in this culture. The testimony of a Shepherd was not even allowed in a court of law. Because it was assumed that such people would lie. You see, the Shepherds did the work that nobody else wanted to do, but needed to be done. They had dirt under their fingernails. They were hardworking. They were not able to observe the ceremonial handwashings. And they felt right at home when they heard that a baby was going to be born in a cave. Yeah! We do that all the time.
See, that is how Shepherds had their babies out in the open air. Made from angels to Shepherds keeping watch over their flocks And what was announced to them? Luke chapter 2 verse 8. There were in the same country Shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord shone round about them. And they were greatly afraid. And the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you, you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward man.
And it was so when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the Shepherds said one to another, Let's go to Bethlehem and see this great thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. Amazing. Now these Shepherds, and really all of Israel, were living in frightening times. They were under Roman rule. And then there was that paranoid King Herod, who would execute people at will. The lands occupied. There was a fear about the future. Would Rome ever leave? Would they ever be free again? Would the Messiah ever come? And suddenly the angels say, Don't be afraid. The Messiah has come.
But an angel was a powerful being, and would frighten people. It is interesting. Most of the times when angels appear, they start by saying, Fear not. You know, fear not. Really what they are saying. Okay, okay. Don't freak out. I know, I know. I am an angel. I know, I know. But don't freak out. This is good. I have a message for you. They had to say that a lot. Because that is what people would do. When John the apostle was on the island of Patmos, and the Lord gave the revelation to him, the unveiling of the future, he fell down to worship the angel. And the angel said, Don't worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you, and your brothers of prophets as well, as all who obey what is written in the scroll. Worship God.
Now it has been said, and I have not checked this out myself, but it has been said that the words fear not appear 365 times in the Bible. If that is true, that means there is a fear not for every day of the year. Now there is probably 364, and it messes that whole point up. That is why I said, I am told. You ought to go and count and let me know. But the message of Christmas, the message of the birth of Christ, the message of the arrival of the Messiah, is fear not, and have joy.
Ray Steadman, a great commentator, made this statement, and I quote, The chief Mark of the Christian, ought to be in absence of fear, and the presence of joy. He goes on to say, We have often quoted the description of a Christian, as one who is completely fearless, constantly cheerful, and constantly in trouble. End quote. I like that. But that is the message. Don't be afraid. There is great joy. Why? Number one, because it is personal. It is personal. I bring you good tidings of great joy. Number two, it is positive. I bring you good tidings of great joy. And number three, it is universal. It is to all people. which shall be to all people. It is personal. It is positive. It is universal.
Now you are never going to find joy in Christmas itself. But you will find joy in Christ, who has come to us. So why is it good news? And I close with this, because number one, we have a Savior. We have a Savior. And that reminds us that we need to be saved. Because we are like a person drowning at sea. We are like a person in a burning building. We need someone to save us. We don't need an advisor. We need a Savior. We need someone that will put it on the line, and get in there, and rescue us from the situation that we are in. And that is why the word saved is the perfect word to describe what happens to a person who believes in Jesus. You are saved.
Saved from what? You are saved from future judgment. You are saved from hell. What else are you saved from? You are saved from your personal sin. And you are saved from the power of the devil. So a Savior has come. And the hope now that we have is when we die, we will go straight into God's presence into heaven. Number two, we have a Christ. Verse 11. There is born unto you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Christ means anointed one. Another word would be Messiah. Messiah. Jesus was the fulfillment of God's promise to send His Son as the Messiah. And this is just a good reminder to us that God keeps His promises. Do you keep yours? Well, I don't always keep mine. Because I make promises I can't keep. But God always keeps His promises.
And what has He promised? Well, Jesus said, I will never leave you or forsake you. So we have that promise that through life we will never be alone. He promises in Romans 8:28, He will cause all things to work together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. He promises that when we have a loved one who has died and preceded us to heaven, that we will be reunited with them again. We have a Savior. We have a Christ. And finally, we have a Lord. We have a Lord. And what does that mean? It means I am no longer in control of my life. He is not calling the shots. He will direct me in the way that I should go and He will protect me in that way as well.
You know, I am convinced that the Christian is indestructible until God is done with them. But friend, when your number is up, it is up. You don't determine that and a doctor doesn't determine that. God determines that. He says, this is your time. And so we don't have to live in fear. You know, it is interesting. When the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, remember one of his temptations was to throw himself off the temple and then Satan quotes scripture. And Satan actually quotes Psalm 91. The angels will keep you and protect you, he said. And then Jesus comes back and says, it is written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. And basically the devil was challenging Jesus to test God. There is a big difference between testing God and trusting God. We should not test the Lord. We should not take stupid risks and be foolish. But at the same time, if we are seeking to walk with the Lord and the center of his will, we know that our times are in his hands. And he will protect us and he will guide us. And that is the message we have here. We have a Lord.
Invitation to Receive Christ Before Communion
But by the way, this is only for believers. If you are not a believer you don't have this hope. And so I want to close this service by giving you an opportunity to become a believer. Why? Because we are coming to the communion table. And the communion table is where we receive these elements that represent the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And the Bible is very clear in pointing out that a non-believer should not receive the elements of communion. You might think, Oh this is good. A little religion. A little ritual. This will get me closer to God. Au contraire. That is French for, I am not sure. No. To the contrary. This is the last thing you should do if you are not a Christian because it is not just a little ritual. It is a symbol. It is a symbol of what Jesus did on the cross.
And the Bible says that we should not eat or drink of these elements in an unworthy manner. What that means is, is that we should not receive these elements without believing in the one they represent. So for you to eat of the bread and drink of the cup and not believe in Jesus, that is almost like a mockery of Jesus. It is almost insulting to Him. See? This is only for the believer. And then the Bible says when we receive these elements we should examine ourselves. So it is a good time for a self exam. How am I doing spiritually? How is my walk with God? Is there a sin to confess? Is there a change that needs to be made? Then this is the time to make it. Is there a person to forgive? Then forgive them. You know when we come to the Lord in this way we want to kind of clear the decks if you will.
So for those of us who are believers we want to say, Lord just cleanse me as I come and receive these elements representing your broken body and your shed blood. But then Jesus says that we receive these elements that we are to do this in remembrance of Him. And if that was translated from the original language it would say an affectionate remembrance of Him. So this is not to be some cold ceremony. There should be an affection. Lord thank you. Thank you that you did this for me. Thank you that I am your son and your daughter and that I can approach you. It doesn't say you have to be worthy to do it. It says don't do it in an unworthy manner. None of us are worthy. None of us deserve to be approaching God. It is not about worthiness but it is about not being disrespectful of the one they represent.
So maybe you are here tonight. And most of you are. Except for this guy that has been sleeping. But he just woke up. No I made that up. He didn't wake up. No he is not. But you are here and you are saying well I am not really sure if I am a Christian. Well let us get that settled right now. How does one become a Christian? Well let us go back to why Jesus came. He was born to die that we might live. Jesus came to this earth and He was born in that manger. And we will get to the story later. But those wise men brought those gifts remember. By the way that came later. They weren't there the same night that Mary and Joseph were there in the little nativities. They came later. Maybe up to two years later. I know that messes up your Christmas deal. But it was later. And I will tell you why when we get to that. But they brought interesting gifts. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold because He was a king. Frankincense or incense because He would be our high priest. Myrrh, an embalming element. Because this child would die for the sin of the world.
For His whole life in ministry Jesus lived in the shadow of the cross. He was headed to that cross. And He knew it. That is why He came. To die for your sin and for mine so I could know God. We are all separated from God by our sin. But Jesus died there in our place at Calvary. And Rose again from the dead. If I will turn from my sin and ask Him to come into my life as Savior and Lord, He will forgive me of all of my sin. That is right. All the wrong things you have done will be forgiven by God. And check this out. And forgotten by God. Forget your sin. Our God has a big eraser. And the Lord says your sins and iniquities, while I remember, no more.
But you have to admit you are a sinner and turn from it and ask Christ to come into your life. And if you have not done that, do it right now as we prepare to receive communion. And then we will invite you to join us. So let's all bow our heads and everybody praying please. Father, thank you for this great story. Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to this earth and being born in a manger. And then dying on a cross. All for us. So we could know you. So we could be forgiven. You paid the price we should have paid. And now Lord, you stand at the door of our life and you knock. And you say to us, if we will hear your voice and open the door, you will come in. Lord, I pray for anybody here that does not yet know you. Help them to see their need for Jesus. Help them to come to you now, we pray.
While our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying. How many of you would say tonight, Greg, I want Jesus Christ to come into my life. I want Him to forgive me of my sin. And you know that when I die I will go to heaven. You talked about our Savior tonight. I want the Savior to pray for me. If that is your desire. If you want Jesus to come into your life. If you want to be forgiven of your sin. Would you lift your hand up wherever you are sitting? And I will pray for you. Just lift your hand up and I will pray for you tonight. God bless you. Lift your hand up and let me pray for you tonight. You want Christ to come into your life, wherever you are. God bless you. Lift it up high where I can see it, please. God bless you there in the back. God bless both of you there. Anybody else? God bless you. God bless you. If you haven't lifted your hand yet, lift it now. You want Christ to come into your life. Let me pray for you. Lift your hand up. God bless you. God bless you there in the very back. Anybody else? One final moment. Lift your hand now. Let me pray for you. God bless you.
While our heads are still bowed, maybe some of you would say, Hey, I have been a prodigal son or daughter. And I want to make a recommitment to Christ right now. If that is you, why don't you raise your hand up. Let me pray for you tonight. You want to come back to the Lord. God bless you, ma'am, up here toward the front. God bless you there. There in the very back. God bless you as well. Anybody else? Lift your hand up. You want to return to the Lord as someone who has gone astray. Your Father welcomes you tonight with open arms. Anybody else? If you haven't lifted your hand yet, lift it now. Let me pray for you. God bless you.
Now I am going to ask all of you that have raised your hand, if you would please, to stand to your feet. And I am going to lead you in a prayer. That is right. Stand to your feet. Even if you did not, raise your hand. But you want Christ to come into your life. You want your sin forgiven. You want to come back to Him again tonight. Stand to your feet. And I am going to lead you in a prayer. Before we receive communion. Just stand up. God bless you that are standing. There is more of you that raised your hand. Go ahead and stand now. Don't be embarrassed. You are among family and friends here. That is right. God bless you. Stand up. God bless you. Stand up. A few more. Stand up now. Then we will all pray together and receive communion. Even if you did not raise your hand, but you want to make this commitment or recommitment to Jesus, stand up. One final moment. God bless you. Anybody else? Stand now. God bless you.
All right. God bless you. All of you that are standing, I want you to pray this prayer out loud right where you stand. Again, as I pray, pray this out loud after me. Okay? Pray this after me now: Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. But you were born in that manger. And you died on the cross. And you Rose from the dead. Now come into my life. And be my Savior. And be my Lord. And be my God. And be my friend. I choose to follow you, Jesus, from this night forward. Thank you for accepting me and forgiving me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.