Pastor’s Pen Pulpit

December 16, 2001

“THE TRUE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS”

Matthew 1:18-25

The true message of Christmas is found in the Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus Christ. The commercial world and the media are sending out a false message. I am not speaking about “The Miracle on 34^th Street” – but the miracle in a manger. However, the miracle occurred nine months earlier in the conception of the Son of God in the womb of a virgin. The virgin birth is eternity’s intersection with time. So the true message of Christmas is found in the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus Christ.

•God came to us.

•God became one of us.

•God came to redeem us!

The God who came to us and became one of us came to redeem us. That is the simple but so profound message of Christmas.

1. In the virgin birth of Christ, God came to us. This is emphasized throughout the above passage. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13). God came to man. Man did not come to God!

2. God became one of us (verses 21-23). And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Why was this necessary?

One skeptic writes: “I cannot prove nor deny the virgin birth – but neither can I preach it or teach it. When I have something I can’t comprehend, I just don’t deal with it!” To make a statement of this magnitude is to ignore the basic premise of Scripture – REDEMPTION! And the Redeemer must be qualified!

Redemption was necessary because something happened in history that made it necessary. Something occurred in history that affected the whole of humanity and the whole of the created order - - something so fundamentally powerful so as to permit nothing to escape its curse and influence.

That occurrence in history is what the Bible calls the fall – the entrance of sin – the curse upon man and his domain. I think none of us realize the extent of the depth and influence of sin’s darkness as it has pervaded the whole of humanity and has extended to include very faculty of man’s existence and being.

So planet Earth is a planet steeped and immersed in spiritual darkness and death with no desire nor ability to reach out to God (remember Israel in Egypt)?

I think we can understand Jonah’s statement in Jonah 2:9 “Salvation is of the LORD!” It could come from no other source. The One who would provide salvation must be qualified to do so.

• He must be outside the influence and power of human sin – God!

• He must be inside the realm of humanity. He must be one who can identify completely

with man. He must have all of Adam’s humanity but none of Adam’s sin.

For example – one inmate in prison cannot perform the release of another. Why? Because they are both there as violators of the law. The release must come from someone outside the prison, bringing his influence into the prison, the Governor! The only way a person with these qualifications could surface in the human family would be if He was born into the human family legitimately and still be free from the taint and curse of human sin. The only explanation – the virgin birth! God not only came to us, He became one of us.

3. God came to Redeem us (verse 21). For it is He who will save His people from their sins.

What a gift! Have you received God’s gift of salvation? Let’s not get so busy with “things” that we neglect to give the Christ Child the only gift we can – our hearts!

Love to you all,