Jesus Is The One! Series

INTRO.- ILL.- The story is told of two women who were enjoying an elaborate lunch in a downtown restaurant. When one asked the occasion for the luncheon, the other lady said, “We are celebrating the baby’s birthday.”

“But where is the baby?” said the friend. “Oh,” said the mother, “you didn’t think I’d bring him. Did you? Why he doesn’t know anything about it.”

And so it is with the birth of Jesus. Many celebrate Christmas and don’t even bring Jesus to the party! In the first place, many people just celebrate Christmas as another holiday and a time to give gifts and nothing more. Nothing is said about the Lord Jesus Christ: about His birth, life, death or anything about Him. Christmas is not a Christian thing to them.

Many years ago someone came up with the bright phrase about Christmas. It is: “Jesus is the reason for the season!” And I love that phrase. Jesus is the reason for thanksgiving. We wouldn’t have anything if it were not for Him. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks to God for all His good gifts and blessings! It’s not just about getting together to eat a big meal and then sleep or watch football on TV. It’s about thanking God for the good food and other blessings!

And He’s the reason for Christmas as well! I doubt seriously there would be any Christmas celebration at all if it were not for the Christ of Christmas. Of course, people would probably think up something else in order to celebrate since winter is not a fun time for many people.

Jesus the reason for every season! He’s the reason for every good thing that happens to us in life and in every season.

If you love summer, you need to realize it’s all because of Him. If you’ve experienced a great trip or vacation, it’s all because of Him! If you love working in your garden, it’s a gift of God! If you love any season for any reason then it’s because of Jesus! You wouldn’t be alive and enjoy anything were it not for Him!

And Jesus is certainly the reason for Christmas for all who are Christians! We rejoice in the birth of Christ because He came to earth to seek and to save that which was lost! And that’s us!

PROP.- Jesus is the reason for our gathering on Christmas and every Sunday. He was, he is, and will be.

1- He is the one who was

2- He is the one who is

3- He is the one who can

I. HE IS THE ONE WHO WAS

History is about the past, but someone has wisely said, “History is HIS STORY.” If nothing else, His is the greatest story ever. Why? Because He came to earth as God in the flesh, God in person! He is the most important person in all history since He came to save us! No history is better than that and no historical person is better than Jesus!

Matthew 1:17-19 “Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ. This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”

Jesus has quite a history, dating all the way back to Abraham. Many people love to study their ancestry which can be quite interesting. And as with most, we will find a shady character or two in our ancestry OR EVEN WORSE! I had a great, great grandfather who was named Levi Gingrich or so my grandmother told me. And she was said he was nothing but a scoundrel or a crook. We probably all have them in our families if we go back far enough.

The most important thing about Jesus’ ancestry is not that He can be dated back to Mary and Joseph or even as far back as Abraham, but that His ancestry dates back to heaven! He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.”

No one else on earth came from heaven to earth!

- Buddha (Siddhattha Gotama - SI-dar-ta GAW-ta-ma) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. But he wasn’t God and he didn’t come from heaven!

- Muhammad Abdullah was the founder of the religion of Islam, and is considered by Muslims to be a messenger and prophet of God. But he wasn’t God or God in the flesh and he didn’t come from heaven!