He Shall Be Great

HE SHALL BE GREAT

LUKE 1:31-32

A roving reporter stopped six people on the sidewalks of New York City and asked: “What was the most important happening in history?” Five replies, from two men and three women, were as varied as might be expected:

“The settlement of Jamestown by the English.”

“The splitting of the atom.”

“The defeat of the Japanese.”

“The invention of the wheel.”

The sixth answer came from a 14-year-old schoolboy:

“The birth of Jesus Christ.”

The birth of a baby is a common thing, thou we as individuals each think our children were different. But in reality one is just like another. But not so with Jesus, it was different, it was a miracle birth, a virgin birth,.

I-NOTICE THE PREPARATION OF HIS BIRTH:

When my wife was expecting our first child, we were prepared for the time we would have to go to the hospital. But when the time came, I got excited and left the packed suitcase in the driveway.

Well there was much preparation for the birth of Jesus

A-There Was Preparation In Prophecy:

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Truly Christ was wonderful in the way He fulfilled the many prophecies concerning Himself.

God promised Abraham a son who would be a blessing to the world (Genesis 12:1-3). Then Scriptures revealed that the Messiah would come through the Jewish tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10), and through the family of David (1 Chron. 17:11-13).

Isaiah 7:14 predicted: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” The fulfillment of this prophecy is impossible without supernatural intervention. Christ fulfilled this prophecy in His supernatural, virgin birth.

The birth of Messiah was to be in little Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). This was foretold 700 years beforehand!

Two infidels once sat on a railroad train, discussing the life of Christ. One of them said, “I think an interesting romance could be written about him.” The other replied, “And you are just the man to write it. Tear down the prevailing sentiment about His divinity, and paint Him as a man—a man among men.” The suggestion was acted upon and the romance written. The man who made the suggestion was Colonel Ingersoll, the noted atheist. The writer was General Lew Wallace, and the book was called Ben Hur.

In the process of constructing the life of Christ, General Wallace found himself facing the greatest life ever lived on earth. The more he studied, the more he was convinced Christ was more than man. Until one day, he was forced to cry “Verily, this was the Son of God!” He said what really changed his thinking was the prophecies that were fulfilled concerning Jesus.

B-There Was Preparation In Paradise:

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

This deeply meaningful title for Jesus reminds us that God’s plan of redemption was set in place before He even created the beings who would be redeemed. God wasn’t “surprised” by the fall of Adam or any other evidence of the fallen nature of man. God isn’t making it up as He goes along. It is all going according to plan. -David Guzik

I read the story about a Deacon in a certain Church who was in charge of the mission program in his Church. He was constantly praying for God to send out missionaries to the mission field. One Sunday morning during the worship service, his daughter came forward and accepted the call to be a missionary. He was shocked and said O God, I didn’t mean my daughter.

Well God gave up His only begotten Son to go down to earth, and die on a cruel cross so man could be saved as he accepted His sacrifice.

When Jesus said He would go, I imagine there was a hush in Heaven, and maybe the angels cried, Holy, Holy, Holy.

C-There Was Preparation In Palestine:

God prepared parents of John the Baptist, He prepared Mary and Joseph for the birth of Jesus. He also prepared the Shepherds, the Wise men and all who were involved in the birth of Jesus.

There was hope among the people that the Messiah would come.

The American prisoners in Vietnam who survived the torture and the brutality of their captors and the long years of solitary confinement did so because they held on to the hope that one-day they would go home. The prisoners who gave up that hope perished.