Pastor’s Pen Pulpit

December 12, 2004

THE TRUE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been to betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly; But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins. Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying. “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND SHALL BEAR A SON. AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means “GOD WITH US.” And Joseph arose from sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and called His name Jesus.

The true message of Christmas is found in the Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus Christ. The commercial world and the media is sending out a false message. I am not speaking about the Miracle on 34^th Street in this pen pulpit – but the miracle in the manger. However, the miracle occurred nine months earlier in the conception of the Son of God in the womb of a virgin. 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 also came to redeem us. That is the simple but profound message of Christmas found in our passage today.

In the Virgin Birth of Christ God came to us. This fact is emphasized throughout this passage (see also John 1:12.13). God came to man – man did not come to God.

In the Virgin Birth He became one of us -vs. 21-23 (John 1:14). Why was this necessary? It is interesting to see how some men who claim to be evangelical refuse to deal with this truth. One man in this area writes, “I cannot deny the virgin birth – but neither can I 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. 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. This occurrence in history is what the Bible calls the fall of man – 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 extended to the whole of humanity and has pervaded every faculty of man’s existence and being. So planet earth is steeped and immersed in spiritual darkness and death with no desire nor ability to reach out to God. So I think we can understand Jonah’s statement in Jonah 2:9 “SALVATION IS OF THE LORD”. The one who would provide salvation must be qualified to do so.

1. He must be outside the influence and power of humanity-HE MUST BE GOD!

2. 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!

God came to redeem us (v.21). This fact is seen in all of the Gospel narratives. The word “redeem” or “redemption” means to buy out of the slave market. We are all slaves to sin. We are born into slavery. The law demands death as payment for sin. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He paid the whole demand of the law against the sinner, setting him free from the curse and bondage of the law. He is then received by the Father as a son and heir.

Charles H. Spurgeon writes these powerful words: “How can a believer perish if that Scripture be true which says that every believer is a member of Christ’s body? If you will only grant me my head afloat above the water I will give you permission to drown my fingers. Try it. You cannot do it. Christ, the head of the body is in heaven. And until you can drown the head of the body, you cannot drown the body. And if the head is in heaven and beyond the reach of harm, then every member of the body is alive and secure, and shall at last be in heaven too.”

God bless and remember – JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!