God As A Helpless Baby

GOD AS A HELPLESS BABY

Lk. 2:10-12

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: Having to Sleep in the Barn

1. Three college students -- one from India, one a Jew from Israel and the third a Hippie -- were having trouble finding a room for the night. After much searching, they finally found an Inn with only two beds left. The innkeeper said the third one of them had to sleep in the barn.

2. They drew straws for the two beds, and the Indian was sent off to the barn for the night. But within five minutes of the Jew and the Hippie turning off the lights and going to bed, there was a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on the door. They opened the door and there was the Indian.

3. "I can’t sleep in the barn," said the Indian, "I’m Hindu and there’s a cow in the barn. Cows are sacred to us so I can’t sleep under the same roof as one." The Jew volunteered to go to sleep in the barn.

4. But within five minutes of the Hippie and the Indian turning off the lights and going to bed, there was a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on the door. They opened the door and there was the Jew.

5. "I can't sleep in the barn either," said the Jew, "there's a pig in the barn, and if I sleep in hay that a pig has touched, I may get some in my mouth and that wouldn't be kosher." So the Hippie ventured out to go to sleep in the barn.

6. But within five minutes of the Indian and the Jew turning off the lights and going to bed, there was a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on the door. They opened the door and there was the cow and the pig. (Obviously they couldn’t bear to sleep with the Hippie!)

B. TEXT

10 Then the angel said to them [the Shepherds], “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the SIGN to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12

C. THESIS

1. In the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, we tend to forget the cause of Christmas. We hear but we don’t hear. The Christmas story tells the most amazing story: that God came down to earth in the form of a tiny, helpless baby.

2. Think how utterly unprepared the shepherds were to hear those words. A Savior has been born! The Messiah has come! The Lord from heaven is here! And He’s right here in Bethlehem, no less!

3. But where in Bethlehem? How will the shepherds find the Him? The angel speaks of a “SIGN.” I would expect the angel would give an other-worldly sign: “The moon will turn to blood and the stars will spell out his name, JESUS!” or something like that. But, no, the “sign” from God is this: “You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

4. In verse 12 the angel tells the Shepherds how to identify the Christ-child. The SIGN actually has 3 parts to it: 1). A Baby, 2). Swaddling clothes, 3). Lying in a Manger. So let’s look at each of these three parts for significance.

I. “YOU WILL FIND A BABY”

A. CONNECTING WITH US

1. The Jews were expecting the Messiah to come. After all, there are many prophecies in the O.T about the Messiah coming, but most of them picture Him coming to overthrow the pagan empires and set up God’s kingdom for His people the Jews.

2. That the Messiah would come as a baby is a startling idea, so revolutionary that it could only have originated from God. It has magnificent appeal. Almost nobody has seen God nor has any real idea what He’s like.

3. But everyone has seen babies and almost everyone likes them. If God wanted to be loved, as well as feared, He moved correctly. And if God wanted to be intimately a part of the human race, He moved correctly. GOD in the power of man is a shocking idea!

B. HIS HUMANITY

1. This Baby was not half-God or half-man, but fully God and fully man. He didn’t cease to be God when He was born. The Lord Jesus Christ was the God-man -- two natures joining together in his one Person.

2. God entered human history in order to provide for our salvation. Everything else flows from this truth. If He had not been born, he could not have died for our sins. There was no other way. Only as MAN could Jesus represent the human race, and only as GOD could He provide infinite atonement. He walked in our shoes. He wore our skin. He walked on our trails.