Leon Fontaine - The Christmas Story
Hey, everybody. It's so good to have you with us today and this beautiful Christmas season. And Christmas is such a wonderful time, but so many people just know the gorgeous story in this beauty of a baby and a family and shepherds and wisemen. Today, I want to teach you something from God's Word about the Christmas story. That everywhere I go almost no one knows, a small percentage of God's people seemed to understand the why. And if they know why Jesus came, they don't understand some of the principles and the spiritual laws that govern the birth of Jesus. And so let me dive right into this with you because as we talk about the Christmas story, if you will learn and understand what I have to say today, it will make Christmas, I mean, so beautiful for you at a whole another level as you understand all the dynamics of the story.
Now, in John 10:1-10, we're gonna be teaching from that portion of scripture, if you want to write it down. But the Christmas story is interesting. The Bible could say that Jesus came and was born. But the Christmas story goes into a ton of details. You know, on the Leon Show, I was interviewing a policeman whose job it was, I'm sorry a detective, to literally go to all the cold case files and to solve them. And him and I were chatting in the greenroom after, he was sharing how that the more details a suspect gives you, the more you have to prove them wrong or right. And so if somebody is trying to pull one over on you and you're the detective that is interviewing them. It's better for them to stay in the broad details because then they can kind of lie and they can kind of remember what they say.
But the Christmas story just goes detail after detail. It tells us the families, the mother's name, the father's name. It tells us about shepherds and wisemen and stars. The details in the Christmas story are so stunning that nobody could have made this up. This is not a fable. This is not some story manufactured. There is so much detail in there that even 2.000 years later, there are things that we can check up on. You know, our college class at Springs Church went to a Planetarium where they had this system with all the stars in the sky. And I can't tell the story perfectly, but they would literally show you what stars could be seen and where on any given day in the past.
And so the leader with our college students asked them to kind of check out at the time that Jesus was born. And I don't, I should have got the whole story for this program, but they're shocked for this guy as he in the Planetarium punched in all the details. And the students began to tell us the story of how this guy that was running it had no idea that the stories that talked about things in Jesus birth, Jesus death. You know, when there's an eclipse and a star and whatever details were included in the story of Jesus could be proven today at that Planetarium. And I want to encourage you that the Christmas story is not this cute fable that somewhat made up like Red Riding Hood and, you know, or the Three Little Pigs. The story of Jesus is crucial and vital.
Now, let me read you John chapter 10 and then I'm gonna explain to you why the Christmas story is the most profound incredible thing that we should believe. It says, "Most assuredly, I say to you". This is Jesus talking. "He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out. All right. Now, when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things He spoke to them".
Today, a lot of people do not understand this teaching and why the Christmas story is so crucial. Now, as you look at the beginning of these verses. It's obviously talking about Jesus and it's obviously talking about Lucifer that fallen archangel, because the shepherd of the sheep is always referred to as Jesus. The thief and the robber is referring to the devil. Now, let's using these two pieces of information go deeper into this. It says most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door.
Now, if we're talking about sheep. What's the sheepfold? And in this sheepfold, it says that the thief and the robber came into it and the shepherd came into it. So it can't be talking about salvation here because Satan can't enter into salvation. The only thing that works is he's talking about the earth, because the earth He has given to the sons of man. So Satan didn't come to this planet. Lucifer, this fallen angel did not come to this planet by the door. But Jesus did come by the door. What's the door to the planet? Well, what door did you enter when you came on to this planet? You came through your mom and she gave birth to you. So the womb of a woman being born into the human race is the doorway to authority on this planet. So did Satan come? No. He just showed up here when he got kicked out of heaven. He just showed up on this planet and Jesus is teaching that he has no rights here. He didn't even come in by the door.
Now, if you come into my house, if you knock on the door, you'll be well-received. But if you come in through a window or you come in through a place that is not designed for guest. All you're gonna find is a baseball bat or a gun or something to meet you because you are a thief or a robber by virtue of not coming in my front door, slipping in a window, coming in the back door and picking the lock and getting in. But you do not knock on the door or come through the front door of my house which is where guest would come in. If you don't come in the front door, you're in deep trouble. But it says this person climb in another way into the sheepfold or unto this planet. But then it says but he who enters by the door. He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the door opens, and the sheep hear his voice.
This Christmas story is about the fact for thousands of years since Adam and Eve in the garden. When they disobeyed God, and they and all their children were born into sin because mankind had a nature change. And now there was fear. Now there was such guilt, such condemnation and it overrode the human race. And when you look at the Old Testament and what people were like and they've studied history and looked at many of the tribes and the nations that existed. Many of them have been wiped out but existed way back after the garden of Eden. The wickedness and the things that they did are hard to even tell people about because of how sick and awful it was as mankind slid into because of a different heart, because of a different nature. They literally became like the nature they had. A nature of sin and fear and selfishness which came from of course, the wicked one the enemy Satan.
And so when you look at the nature of animals today. You look at a duck. The duck has the nature of a duck. He doesn't just have the body and the DNA. There's something about a duck that is different than a pig or a horse. When you take a look at a horse and the nature of a horse and what's built into it. Like a goose knows without being trained by its mother to fly south for the winter. A pig you can clean it up. Put a ribbon in its hair and it's gonna run straight back into the mud every time. It's got a nature. It's got a voice. Cows have calves. Cats have kittens. Horses have colts. I mean, everything bears after its own kind. And Adam and Eve were made in the likeness and the image of God. And Adam had God's breath, His nature breathed into him.
So Adam was not just another animal walking on the planet. He was literally in the God class. And someone encourage you to understand this. That when mankind made the decision to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or to make their own decision about what is evil and what is good. What is right to live by and what is right to make decisions by and what is wrong. That literally, they became their own god. That's the way they wanted it and it plunged the world into a horror that was hard to exist in.
Now, when God spoke to Adam and Eve and He prophesied into the future. And He said to the serpent that the seed of this woman will one day bruised your head, or your leadership. And the enemy knew, Lucifer knew that somewhere there was going to be in the future someone was gonna come along and destroy his power if you will over the human race. Can you imagine when different prophets came along and all of Satan and his cohorts looked, all hands on deck, is it Moses? But Moses died and nothing really changed for the enemy. When along came Elijah, Elisha, King David. All of these great men of the Old Testament. Satan is wondering, "Is this prophecy gonna be fulfilled"? That along is gonna come the seed of this woman or another human or someone is gonna be born into the human race. That is gonna destroy my ability to manipulate and to govern them and to move them at my will, to manipulate them.
So you know, that when Jesus came along and the enemy got a whiff of there was someone going to be born. I mean, he literally influenced king Herod to kill all those children trying to kill baby Jesus. Baby Jesus was born because God came to the planet, not in a superman's suit. Like, you know, I'm God. Shazam! I'm here to save the human race. Because he couldn't do that. He had given the earth to mankind. And therefore, the very guidelines or rules the Word that God had spoken. His Word is powerful. He gave the planet to the human race. He gave the planet to mankind. And someone in the human race needed to stand up live a godly life and be able to save. But the Bible teaches us in the book of Isaiah, there was no one to stand in the gap to save the human race.
So God sent His own Son, born of a woman. And so Mary was chosen to have baby Jesus. And Holy Spirit caused, you know, this baby through Father God to begin to grow in the womb of Mary. Joseph wasn't the biological father, but he helped raised Jesus for a number of years. So Jesus was born into this planet with no sin in His blood. He was born and never committed a sin and He became the sacrifice for the entire human race. And on His death, His burial, His resurrection, something changed for the entire human race. Today, you and I can call upon the name of Jesus. It says in John 10 that we must believe that Jesus arose from the dead. Why is that so crucial? Because if He simply died for our sins, then we can have our sins forgiven but we have no new life. But when this Jesus born a baby, rose from the dead.
Then in John 3:16, it says, "For God so loved the world, mankind, that He gave, He sent His only Son, that after His Son had been born, lived, and died. That whosoever believes on Jesus would have everlasting life". That means God's life forever and this life would be the Zoe life of God. Today, I love the Christmas story. But I see it a level deeper and I want you to see it this way as well. That when Jesus was born of a woman Mary, the very foundations of the demonic world were shaken as Satan realized the prophecy that God had given in the garden of Eden when he had lured mankind to disobey God and He said, "Your power is gonna be dealt with through the seed of this woman".
The long came Jesus and for 33 years He demonstrated how to live as a child of God. The authority you could have as a child of God. And when He died, He made it possible for all of us to live like Jesus did the 33 years on this planet with health, authority, healing, and ability to lay hands on the sick. Authority overall demonic control or harassment. This baby born in a manger was the start of something so profound. That literally 75% of all the prophecies in the Bible came true in that 33-year period from the birth of Jesus to His death. Something beautiful and gorgeous and amazing took place. And because of this baby who grew up and died as the Son of God on a cross. I have joy and peace and forgiveness, and I have a new nature. You have a new nature not just the forgiveness of sins, but you have a new spirit, a new heart. Something new on the inside of every believer who calls upon the name of the Lord.
When you share the Christmas story with your family this season, bring up this thought. Why don't you add to the Christmas story John 10:10. Whether you're gonna read the story about the angels and the shepherds or the wisemen and king Herod or the stable where the donkey and no room in the inn. All this beautiful story about the birth of Jesus add John 10:1-10 and just show them how deep and profound the birth of Jesus is, that because of Jesus, you can have a life. And you can spend eternity in heaven because of Him. You can literally, the Bible says speak to mountains. You know, the Word of God says in Matthew chapter 16 and chapter 18 that whatever you allow with the authority that you have because Jesus is in you, has to obey you. That we literally now release the kind of future that we want. We release the kind of future negatively through our believing and our trusting in God's Word and in what Jesus has done.
You know the most profound thing that a Christian can do once they've given their life to Christ is to understand the death, burial, resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God. That's the most important thing you could ever study and know. And yet, as I travel around this planet, most Christians and leaders don't understand why the cross, His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of God. That if they don't understand this. There's not a solid foundation for your faith, to speak to mountains, to speak health and healing, to what is going on around you and in your world.
I want to challenge you today, make sure that this Jesus you're celebrating around the tree. This Jesus today, that you are going to talk about with your family and home that you understand 2.000 years ago the planet's sins were paid for. That whoever calls upon the name of Jesus and invites Him into your life, invites Him into your heart. That you then have a new nature. The old nature of fear, condemnation, and sin is dealt with and gone away. And now that you have a new nature, you've got to train your mind and you've got to train your body so that you can renew your mind, make your body a living sacrifice.
And the Bible teaches us that you have the power to stop sin. You've got the power to live morally. You've got the authority to deal with any outside influence. Satan is no longer a concern or a worry for you. And you not only have a new life. You have a new relationship. God is your Father and you need to talk to Him every day. You need to enjoy His love. It's crucial that you understand that now as you serve Him, that you can love Him and know how to love Him because He first loved you. You need to claim every day. Declare with your mouth every day that God loves me. God is in love with me and so I can love Him. His ability is in me.
And as you begin to recognize the power of the Christmas story, no wonder the angels sang, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill towards men. There's not peace on this earth between countries or between people. There's more murders and wars than we've ever had. But there's peace between God and man. And that this peace, this goodwill you can have it. Why don't you ask Him to come into your life today if you don't know Him? And if you do know Him, listen to this message over and over. Write down the thoughts that I've shared. Study God's Word and begin to have faith in His death, His burial, His resurrection. And understand why Jesus is the key to a stunning, amazing, phenomenal life to miracles and an eternity with Him in heaven. Here at the MIRACLE CHANNEL we love you. Have a great Christmas. God bless you.