I found this Garfield cartoon
that is the perfect introduction for this sermon. In the first frame
Garfield says to John, “Hey, you!” In the second frame, Garfield
says, “Christmas is coming, get with the program!” In the
third frame Garfield says, “That’s more like it!”
I don’t about you, but I don’t need anyone to make me smile
about Christmas. That’s because I love everything there is about
the Christmas holidays. To me, part of the joy of Christmas is found
in getting ready for Christmas. Not only do I like getting presents,
but I also like giving presents. I love finding out what my family wants,
then going out and fighting the traffic & the crowds to get the
presents. I even enjoy wrapping the presents, which I wait until Christmas
Eve to do.
Plus, I like all the various church programs that help to prepare us
to celebrate the birth of Jesus. I believe that the things this fellowship
does, like this year’s Christmas play, and our reading & lighting
of the Advent candles, along with our Christmas messages, really helps
to get us in the mood to enjoy Christmas morning. We do these things
because I want the Holy Spirit to use the play, and the Advent candles,
along with the messages, to remind you that Christmas is coming, and
you need to get with the program. And I’m not talking about spending
a bunch of money on presents. But rather about being ready to tell others
about why God left heaven to come to this earth as the infant Jesus,
who 33 years later would go to the cross to die for our sins.
Now obviously, God did a lot of things, over a period of thousands of
years, to ensure that everything was in place for the birth of his son.
And that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning. This
morning I want to talk to you about God’s preparation in getting
everything ready for that first Christmas morning.
Christmas was not a last minute idea by God to rescue humanity. It wasn’t
like God went around on the first Christmas Eve, frantically trying
to find the right gift of salvation for us. Instead, God had planned
on redeeming us even before Adam & Eve sinned. In fact, the Bible
tells us that Jesus was “The Lamb that was slain from the creation
of the world.”
This shows us that God knew that even before he created man, that he
knew exactly what was going to happen in what we call the Fall. So God
planned, from some time in eternity past, to send forth his son as our
Redeemer. And from the second God spoke, and the world was created,
God orchestrated all the events of history so they would lead up to
the time Jesus Christ would be born--v. 4(a).
Anytime you are going to give a special gift, you want the timing to
be right as well. Those of you men who are married, do you still remember
the day you gave you wife her engagement ring when you asked her to
marry you? You probably didn’t do it during the half-time of a
football game, or after you had a big fight.
More than likely, you put on your best clothes, and you took her out
to her favorite restaurant. And through the entire night you were on
your best behavior, hoping that you wouldn’t do anything that would
make her mad, or praying that nothing would go wrong to spoil the evening.
And when you drove her home, before she went inside, you got on your
knees, and you begged her to marry you. Now if the two of you had gotten
into a fight, or if the car had broke down on the way home, you might
have decided to wait for another time before you popped the big question.
When God planned the event of Christmas, the best gift of all, nothing
went wrong. God had been orchestrating all the events of history to
ensure that the day when Jesus was born, it was the most special day
in all of history. We see how God orchestrated the events by looking
at the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the coming Messiah.
The Old Testament prophecies are the most powerful proofs that Jesus
is indeed the promised Messiah. For there is no way any human can predict,
with 100% accuracy, what is going to happen in the future. We see this
in those who forecast our weather. Despite the fact they have all kinds
of instruments, the most they can hope for is to predicate what might
happen in the next 5 days.
But even then, they are caught off guard when a sudden storm hits the
area. How many of you have had plans ruined by a wrong forecast? But
probably the worst forecasters are astrologers.
Sadly, even some Christians read their horoscope, or call the psychic
hotlines, trying to see what’s in store for them. The only reason
horoscopes or psychics have any success is because they make such general
& vague predications, that one of them is bound to come true. I
could predict that one of you is going to receive an unexpected check
in the mail this week, and probably one of you will. Or I could predict
that one of you will get a promotion at work, and probably one of you
will. Does that make me a psychic? No, it just shows that I know what
happens in the lives of people.
The Bible makes it clear that we are not to seek the advice of astrologers
or fortune-tellers. Solomon tells us that since “No man knows the
future, who can tell what is to come.” God is the only one who
see into the future. And he used this ability to prove that Jesus was
indeed the promised Messiah by giving us many prophecies concerning
his life and ministry.
The prophecies that Paul talks about is the ones concerning Jesus’
birth--v. 4(b). As we learned last week, Genesis 3:15 is the beginning
prophecy concerning the birth of the promised Messiah. In God’s
announcement that the Redeemer would come through the seed of a woman,
not the seed of a man, it is the first announcement concerning the supernatural
birth of the coming Messiah. In this announcement, God is prophetically
foretelling that the Messiah would enter this world in an unique manner.
This prophecy was fulfilled 4,000 years later when a virgin was with
child. And it was through the virgin Mary that God sent forth his son
to save us from our sins. Even though it was by a woman that paradise
would be lost, it was through another woman that the Christ child would
be born, who would regain paradise for us.
Truly, one of the most powerful proofs that Jesus is the promised Messiah,
is seen in him fulfilling all of the prophetic scriptures. Who but God,
who knows the end from the beginning, could give us such an accurate
outline of the events of history that would lead up to the time when
he would send his son through the vehicle of a virgin’s womb.
The Old Testament tells us concerning the coming Messiah that he was
to be born of a virgin; of the seed of Abraham; of the tribe of Judah;
of the line of David; and he would be born in Bethlehem. We are also
told that the Messiah would be anointed of the Spirit; ride into Jerusalem
on a donkey; be betrayed by a friend; be sold for thirty pieces of silver;
and he would be forsaken by his disciples. Plus he would be pierced
in His hands and feet, but not have a bone broken; men would give Him
gall and vinegar to drink; men would cast lots for His garments; he
would be forsaken by God; and he would be buried with the rich. And
finally were are told that he would rise from the dead; ascend to heaven;
and sit at God’s right hand.
These prophecies weren’t put in the Old Testament after Jesus was
born to prove he was the Messiah. Scientific testing done on pieces
of manuscripts found hundreds of years after Jesus lived, proves that
they were written before Jesus ever set foot on this planet. And these
are just some of the major prophecies concerning Jesus, not to mention
the many more prophecies & types that were given concerning Jesus’
ministry & death.
Dr. Peter Stoner, a professor of math, wrote a book called “Science
Speaks.” In it he wrote about the law of compound probability.
He took 8 of the major prophecies concerning Jesus’ life, ministry,
& death and figured out the odds of any one man fulfilling everyone
of them. He said that the odds of one man accidentally fulfilling just
8 of the major prophecies given about the coming Messiah is 1 to 10
to the 17th power.
To help us understand those odds, it would be like having enough silver
dollars to cover the entire state of Texas up to your waist. Now suppose
someone were to take 1 of those silver dollars and put a red “X”
on it. Next, that person were to mix them all together, and spread them
out over the state of Texas. And then they would blindfold you, and
tell you that you can walk around the state of Texas, and with one try,
reach down and pick up that silver dollar. The same odds that you could
do that, are the same odds for 1 person to accidentally fulfill just
8 of the prophecies God foretold about his son, the Lord Jesus.
While I’m against gambling, if you could do that, then I recommend
that you play every lottery there is. For you’d probably win every
one of them. But seriously, God used the dozens of prophecies &
types, that pointed to the identity of the Mesiah, to prepare us to
accept Jesus as our Redeemer.
Not only did God orchestrate history to ensure that all of the prophecies
concerning the promised Messiah would be fulfilled by Jesus, but God
also knew that it was the perfect time to send Jesus to the earth. God’s
detailed preparation for that first Christmas morning is seen in the
condition of the world in that day. Due to what was going on in the
world in the time that Jesus was born, it was the perfect time for Jesus
to come, and the perfect time for the early church to take to the ends
of the earth, the message of why Jesus came .
Culturally, it was the right time for Jesus to be born. The Romans ruled
the majority of the world. And under their rule, Koine Greek had become
the common language. Plus it was a time when the pax Romana extended
over most of the civilized earth. Both of these things made it possible
for the early disciples to safely go out into the world and tell that
the Messiah and been born, died, and raised again.
It was also the right time politically for Jesus to be born. With Rome
being in control, Caesar Augustus had the authority to issue a decree
for “A census to be taken of all the inhabited earth.” This
ensured that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, and not Nazareth, since
Joseph was from the lineage of David, who was born in Bethlehem.
Another plus with Rome being in control was that they had built an extensive
road system throughout the world. This not only made it possible for
Mary to make that long trip when she was ready to give birth, but it
also made it possible for the early church to take the gospel of Jesus
to all the world as well. But most importantly, it was the right time
spiritually for Jesus to be born.
For about 4,000 years God had been predicating that one day a promised
Messiah would come. But for 400 years God had been silent. And the Jewish
people were once again very interested in the prophecies concerning
their Messiah.
Not only were the Jewish people spiritually hungry, but so were the
pagans. The world had sunk to such a moral abyss, that even the pagans
were disgusted by what was going on. And in their disgust, they looked
for a deity who could change the hearts & actions of mankind. So
they were very open to the early apostles showing them from the prophecies
of the Old Testament that Jesus is indeed the only one who can change
people’s hearts.
Paul next tells us that God also prepared for Christmas by giving us
the law--v. 4(c). It might surprise us to learn that the laws in the
Old Testament were not given to perfect us, but to prepare us for the
coming Messiah. God did not give us the 10 Commandments to make us better
people. He gave us the 10 Commandments to make us aware of our sins,
and our need for a Savior.
Look at what Paul writes concerning this fact: “Therefore by the
deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the
law is the knowledge of sin.” Phillips translates the last part
of that verse by saying that “The straightedge of the Law shows
us just how crooked we really are.” As long as we compare ourselves
with people like Hitler, or Charles Manson, or Sadaam Hussein, we can
feel smugly righteous. But when we compare our lives to the straightedge
of God’s law, we see just how far we’ve strayed from the perfect
life we have to live in order to have eternal life. And through this
knowledge, we see our need for forgiveness.
To prove that we all need to be cleansed, if any of you have kept every
one of the 10 Commandments, please raise your hand. Just as I thought,
none of you. The reason keeping the law is impossible is because we
have within us a desire to break the law. We all think that laws were
made to be broken. That desire is a result of God’s laws.
Paul tells us that “The law was added so that the trespass might
increase.” What Paul is saying is that the law doesn’t curb
sin, it actually makes our desire to sin even worse. The rebellion that
is in our heart causes us to want to violate any kind of prohibitions.
To prove this truth, how many of you can pass by a wall that has a sign
on it that says, “Wet paint, please do not touch!” and you
just have to reach out and touch it to see if it’s wet? Normally,
you could pass by that wall every day without ever once thinking about
touching it. But the second your eyes see that do not touch sign, something
within you tells you to reach out and touch it.
Yet despite the fact that the law gives the greatest promise: Keep it
and live, and the greatest threat: Break it and die, there simply is
no way for us to keep the law. And the reason is because the law doesn’t
have the power to override our default setting of sin.
This means that if God wants us to live holy, then he will have to come
up with some other means other than imposing his holy laws upon us.
And this is exactly what God did. God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to
offer himself as an offering for our sins.
Now the reason Jesus can stand before God is because he came to this
world as a man. And as a man, he was tempted with every temptation the
flesh, the devil, and the world could throw at him. But unlike us, he
never gave into even a single one of them. Jesus not only kept all of
the 10 Commandments, he kept all of God’s commandments.
Thus, he is the only person who ever met every requirement of God’s
holy law. And because he met every requirement of the Law, he was able
to be pierced for our transgressions. He was able to be crushed for
our iniquities. He was able to take our punishment so we could have
peace with God. And because he met every requirement of the Law, we
are rescued from the power & penalty of sin by his wounds.
Another aspect of being born under that Law was that through the law,
God ordained a system of sacrifices to prepare us for the first Christmas.
I have a rotweiller that Carol & I raised since he was a day and
half old. When we got him he weighed 4 ounces. He now weighs about 135
lbs. When we first tried to get him to eat solid food, he didn’t
know what to do. He would walk in it, but he wouldn’t eat it. But
after continually shoving his face in the food, he learned how to eat.
To the point that the moment I walk outside with his dish, he begins
to dance around because he knows he’s going to eat. Now if a dumb
dog can be conditioned through repetitions to learn the meaning of what
his dinner bowl represents, can’t we also be conditioned through
the repetitions of the Old Testament sacrifices to learn that something
has to be done to remove the penality of sin?
If you ever have problem falling asleep, read the book of Leviticus.
If you don’t fall asleep first, you will learn that God ordained
many different sacrifices that were to be offered whenever one of his
children broke one of the laws. Through these different sacrifices,
eventually God was able to get through our thick skull that sin means
death.
Through the sacrifices God has shown us that sin is a very serious matter
to him. And through the sacrificies, God has shown us that without the
shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. After years of repeating
the sacrifices, mankind was finally prepared for the coming of the Lamb
of God, whose blood would be shed for the sins of the entire world.
It was through the sacrificial system, that was established in the Law,
that we see how God can forgive our sins--v. 5.
There was no way God could save us without sacrificing his son. But
don’t you know that it had to wrench the heart of God as he watched
the jaws of death close on his son? Yet just like that first Christmas
morning, when most of the world was oblivious to what happened in a
cave in the city of Bethlehem, there are millions of people today who
will celebrate the birth of Jesus with singing, exchanging presents,
and some will celebrate his birth by getting drunk as a skunk. But those
same millions of people will never notice that this little baby would
33 1/2 years later, die on a cross.
Let me conclude by saying that the death of Jesus Christ was not a panic
move by God. It wasn’t a decision that God made at the last moment.
God’s plan for redemption through Jesus’ crucifixion, had
already be established before the world was ever created.
God loved us so much that he planned the means of our salvation long
before he ever created the first human being. And at a precise moment
in history, the Son of God, became the Son of Man, so we the sons &
daughters of men, could become the sons & daughters of God. If God
loved you so much that he planned, and gave you his finest gift, shouldn’t
you love him enough to receive his gift? At this very moment God is
reaching out to you, to give you the gift of eternal life.
All you have to do is to yield you life to the lordship of his son,
Jesus Christ. And the moment you do, God will remove your sins, and
give you the righteousness of Jesus Christ, so you can stand before
God as if you have never sinned. I don’t know about you, but that’s
the greatest exchange of gifts I have ever seen. If you haven’t
already received Jesus Christ as your Lord, I invite you to do so right
now.
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