For Unto Us A Child Is Born

For unto Us a Child Is Born

Luke 2:1-20

Sermon by: Rick Crandall

McClendon Baptist Church

December 25, 2005

*I remember Christmas as a little kid. I know it’s hard to picture me in little footie p.j.’s, but I can remember those years: So excited about Christmas morning that we would be up before the crack of dawn, just chomping at the bit for Mom & Dad to wake up too!

*It was exciting, but let me tell you something much more exciting: The days when my three children were born. That was an experience almost beyond compare, the exhilarating joy that a child is born into the world. And that is the joy we can share today, because as the angel said in vs. 10&11:

“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people... For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

*Unto you is born a Savior! Jesus was born for us!

1. First of all, He was born so that we might be born again. Not just born physically for 50 or 80 or even 100 years, but born again spiritually to live forever, given new birth by the Holy Spirit of God.

*You must be born again in order to have eternal life. You must be born again to live forever with God in Heaven. Listen to the way Jesus put it in John 3:3-6...

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus then said to Jesus: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”

*Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

*You must be born again. This is also why John 1:12-13 says: “But as many as received Him, [Jesus Christ] 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.”

*When we open our heart to receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, His Holy Spirit comes to live in our heart and we are born again.

*Just think about it: The Virgin Mary carried the Lord for 9 months until the day that Jesus was born -- But there was another time the Lord came to live inside of her. It was in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost. This time the Lord came to live in her forever. And now the same Holy Spirit comes to live in all who trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. That’s how we are born again.

*Jesus was born so that we might be born again, but on this Christmas Day, we must not just think of His birth, we must also remember His death. Verse 11 reminds us when it says: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Jesus is our Savior, but we must remember the price He paid to be our Savior, the price He paid on the Cross, so that we could be born again forever.

*This great truth can get lost so quickly in the pile of presents and paper and bows that surrounds our tree. As we celebrate the birth of Christ in Luke 2, we must remember that there is also a Luke 22, where Jesus suffered in the Garden and prayed: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me: Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” We must also remember that there is a Luke 23, where Jesus suffered and died on the Cross for our sins.

*Jeff Strite tells of a poem written to help us remember this truth:

“It’s Christmas time at our house and we’re putting up the tree.

I wish I could find some simple way to remember God’s gift to me.

Some little sign or symbol to show friends stopping by

The little babe was born one day

But He really came to die.

Some symbol of His nail pierced hands

The blood He shed for you and me

What if I hung a simple nail on my shining Christmas tree?

A crimson bow tied ‘round the nail as His blood flowed down so free

To save each person from their sin