Text: “….God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9).
There are some people who do not realize how important they are to Almighty God. They do not seem to understand that they are not here by accident, but that God the Father has a definite plan for their life. These people think of the human aspect of birth without giving thought to the real miracle that took place.
God never does anything without a reason. By the same token, He does not burden us with situations we cannot handle. He does not bring disease and sickness upon us. He does not forget us when we are having some difficulty or we have made a mess of our life. He does not punish earthly parents for their sins by giving them children with physical issues. God is a God of love.
As God’s children, we should show forth the same love He shows toward for us. The love that parents project to their children will be the kind of love the children project to others. The relationship a child has with his or her parents will most likely be the kind of relationship the child carries forth in life.
The relationship the parents have with their heavenly Father will surface in the life of their children. God loves all His children regardless of what they have done or how they choose to live life or the number of sins they have committed. He does not approve of sinful acts and deeds and does not approve of doing wrong things, but He still loves them.
God created man and He knows man better than man knows himself. God attributes include: omnipotence; omnipresence; and omniscience.
Omnipotence indicates that God has the capability to do whatever is His will. All that God does is good. He cannot sin and He does not ignore our sin. He is all powerful.
Jesus said, “….with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). We are limited in what we can do, but God is not limited. This should be evident to us because we know God created everything including us.
When the angel said to Mary, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus” (Luke 1:31), she did not understand how this could be. The angel went on to say, “The Holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
The angel then went on to say, “….Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age….” (Luke 1:36). Mary had a difficult time understanding what was being said, so the angel said, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37).
These are examples from Scripture indicating the fact that God is Omnipotent. He is an awesome all-powerful God who is capable of doing anything He wills.
God is also omnipresent which means that He is present everywhere at all times. You and I do not have that attribute. You or I cannot be present in two or more places at the same time. The only people who believe we can are our children. Sooner or later they realize parents are real people.
Does the Bible teach omnipresence? It certainly does. God is our Creator and He is always very close to us. Scripture tells us, “….God is not far from us. For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28, 28). Although God is in control of the entire universe, He is still a very personal God to each of us.
Jeremiah also gives us indication that God is omnipresent. He recorded these words: “Am I a God near at hand,” says the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the LORD; do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD” (23:23, 24). God is close and at the same time He can be far away.
We cannot hide from God, because He is everywhere. There is no secret place where God is not present.
The Psalmist asked the question: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7). The answer is that none of us can flee from the presence of God because God is everywhere. His Spirit is always with us and knowing this should give us comfort and peace.
Then God is also omniscient. This tells us that He knows everything. There are some people who think they know everything, but they know very little compared to our Father. There is nothing God does not know.
Our human mind is finite or limited, but since God is the Creator of everything, He knows everything that has happened, all that is happening now, and what will transpire in the future. Isaiah recorded these words of the LORD: “Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the LORD?” (Isaiah 45:21). God has always been and therefore knows all.
Our omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient God is a God of love. We know He is a God of love because He created mankind. When He created Adam, He created a perfect sinless human-being. Adam was alone in that there was no one else like him. Out of love, God created a helper or mate for him.
Scriptures tells us, “So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21, 22).
God had now created another human-being. This is something only He could do. Adam was present, but it was God who performed the miracle. Now God had someone else with whom He could share His love and at the same time Adam and Eve could share their love with each other and with God.
Love is marvelous. Love originates with God and radiates from Him to each of His children. God is love and true love can do no wrong. You and I have a sinful nature which was inherited or passed down from our forefathers. Disobedience led to our sinful nature. Sin separates us from God because He is sinless.
The Father’s love for mankind was so strong that He wanted to give man a second chance. Man was lost after the original sin of disobedience, but God’s plan was to redeem him. Man could not save himself, so God presented a plan that would give man the opportunity to be reconciled or reunited with Him. The plan was instituted through the miraculous birth of His one and only Son.
The plan was really in place before God even created man. You see, God gave man the privilege of making choices. Since He created man, He knew the very inner workings of man. He knew exactly what man would do when faced with a tempting situation.
Since God knew what man would do and once man became disobedient and could not save or redeem himself, the Father, like an earthly father would do for his children, wanted to give man another chance to do what was right.
Since all mankind had a sinful nature, God chose a young virgin by the name of Mary to conceive a Son through the power of the Holy Spirit. He sent an angel to Mary with the words, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! You shall conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.” (Luke 1:28, 31)
God chose a young, poor, girl named Mary to bring His love to mankind. God’s love for Mary and her obedience to Him enabled salvation to come to all mankind. Her Son would be the only hope for the world. Mary had such trust in God and faith in His word she said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38).
God’s plan was put into action and events started to unfold. It became obvious that Mary was pregnant. This pregnancy was a little difficult for Joseph, because he and Mary were not yet married. They loved each other and they were engaged, but they were not married.
Joseph did not want Mary to be a public example and thought about breaking the engagement, but “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their sins’” (Matthew 1:19, 20).
Joseph, in his thinking, thought there were only two options available. He could divorce Mary or have her stoned. Joseph thought the way we think. God’s thinks on a much higher level than we do.
We often forget to consult Him and ask Him for assistance. We forget that with God all things are possible and He does not make wrong decisions. Joseph listened to God and the pregnancy continued and the engagement lasted.
As you all know, we cannot get out of paying taxes. The same was true in the days of Joseph and Mary. Caesar Augustus sent out a notice that a census of the Roman world had to be taken. That in itself was not too bad. The difficult part was that each person had to report to his own town to register.
“So Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David” (Luke 1:4).
This was not a major stumbling block for Joseph, but he knew it would be difficult for Mary because at this time she was nine months pregnant.
The trip was about 70 miles. The mode of transportation was on a donkey or using one’s own two feet. Mary, being pregnant, would probably ride the donkey which would be bumpy and uncomfortable. Taking all these things into consideration, the trip was made.
When Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem they went to the inn where they intended to stay. There were many people present in the town and Joseph found that rooms were scarce.
When he finally got to the front of the line and asked the inn keeper for a room, the inn keeper informed that there was no room in the inn and in fact there was no room anywhere in town, but there was a stable out back where they could bed-down for the night. They immediately took the stable because Mary was ready to deliver her child.
“….the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:6, 7).
There was no room in the inn, but the inn keeper had love and compassion for the poor couple and offered them the use of the stable. There was no room for the Love that God sent into the world. His Love would be placed in the animal feeding trough. His Love found no place in the inn.
This almost sounds like today. The love of God is lost in the routine activities of the world. Activities like work, entertainment, vacations, idleness, hobbies, and numerous other things. God’s children are focused on worldly matters, interests and activities instead of their destiny.
The inn keeper probably had instructions to provide room for the so-called “important officials” first. I don’t think he knew the Scripture from Isaiah 7:14 which says, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”.
God sent His precious Son into the world for the benefit of man and man did not have the courtesy to provide a place fit for the King. God’s love was presented in His Son, but man directed His love to a dark, dingy, smelly and dirty stable out behind the inn.
This birth took place over 2000 years ago, yet today people still crowd the Love of God out of their life. This is a special time of the year, but Jesus is still being crowded out of the life of some people. Presents and gifts seem to be the thing of the day. The dollar seems to be most important to merchants and the season is passed off as “the holiday”.
When I was growing up, people used to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holiday.” I have seen cards this day that say “Happy Holiday” and signed “Merry Xmas”. The Love of God seems to be crowded out of the hearts of many by the standards brought forth by society. I don’t have anything against presents and gifts when they are given with the love of Jesus. These material things are fine if they do not come before the Son of God.
I remember being in many a Christmas play in public school. Now this cannot be done because it might offend someone of another faith. The Nativity cannot be on display on public property and Christmas trees or Christmas decorations are not permitted in certain places. You see, there is no room for the Love of God in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ. The world is full of what society says is permissible and acceptable.
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’” (Luke 2:8-12)
God revealed His Love to the shepherds with the angel messenger. His Love has been revealed to us through His Word. We are His sheep and He is our Shepherd. Do we know the Shepherd? Do we have room for Jesus in the inn of our heart? Do we invite Him in or do we turn Him away? Do we love Him enough to trust Him with our life?
It is sad to say, but there are people who have no room in the inn of their heart for the Love God sent into the world. Many do not believe because the ruler of this world works to twist their minds.
The devil likes to paint rosy pictures like golfing, fishing, watching TV, lounging around doing nothing, and a host of other activities as opposed to reading God’s Word, praying to Him, or attending a church service. I have heard many people say, “I was going to church today, but I looked out and the sky was cloudy, so I guess I will stay home and read the newspaper.”
All of you know what I am talking about because at some point in life, we have probably used these excuses. Regardless of what excuse we use to avoid God, He still loves us. He sent His Love to each of us. It doesn’t make any difference what our status is in life, where we live, what kind of work we do, how poor or wealthy we are or anything else, His Love is meant for us.
The Father knows we are sinners and we make major mistakes in life, but He still loves us. We might have made a total mess of our life, but if we are willing to confess our sins, repent of our sins, and invite Him into the inn of our heart, He will respond with: “I accept the invitation”.
Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. ” (Revelation 3:20, 21)
Conclusion:
There was no room for Joseph and Mary at the inn – God’s Love was rejected. How do you think Joseph and Mary must have felt? I don’t believe they wanted their child to be born in a stable. I believe they were like most parents and wanted the best for their new baby.
Parents do not usually want people to reject their children. They want to see acceptance and love show forth. Parents love their children and want others to love them.
The Love of God was rejected at His birth and at His death. God is very understanding, extremely forgiving, incredibly compassionate and extraordinarily loving. “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).
Jesus wants to come and live within the heart of all the Father’s children. The only way we can live the abundant life that God wants us to live is to live in His love. The only way we can love others is to love His Son. The only way we can know God, the Father, is to know His Love.
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (I John 4:7-11)
God is the source of our love. His love for us was conceived in a poor young virgin girl named Mary who found favor with God. His love was turned away at the inn just as His love is turned away this very day from the heart of many people.
God, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, gives us the power to love and is always with us because He lives within our heart. The acceptance of God’s Love within our being grants us the privilege of spending eternity with Him in His kingdom. Those who have turned Him away, as the inn keeper turned Him away, will not have the same opportunity as those of us who have invited Him to live within our heart and take control of our life.
Two thousand plus years have gone by, but Jesus is the same today as He was then and He will be the same forever.
Story:
A story is told of a little boy who was to play the part of the innkeeper in a children’s play at church.
Each time during rehearsal it came time for him to tell Joseph and Mary that there was no room, he couldn’t say his lines.
The director finally asked him why he was having so much trouble.
He told him,
“I just can’t send Jesus away! He can have my room!”
--------Author Unknown
Is there room in the inn of your and my heart?
He wants to give us eternal life.
He wants to bring us life with fullness.
He has true purpose and meaning for us.
If we do not make room for Jesus we face disaster and death.
If you have no room for Him on the earth, He will have no room for you in heaven.
Amen.
