December 20, 2009
Morning Worship
Text: Isaiah 7:14
Subject: The Birth of Christ
Title: Merry Christmas - He’s Coming Again
How are you with Christmas? Do you look forward to the season with great anticipation? I think that is the way the Lord would like us to approach the celebration of His birth, don’t you? I remember times when I was young how I looked so forward to Christmas. I grew up in a poor family but didn’t know it. We never got a lot of presents, but Santa always came through with something good. One of the greatest memories I have of Christmas isn’t about the gifts but it’s about family sitting around the living room, laughing and talking. Mom always did a great job decorating the tree. The younger kids didn’t get to help too much until it came time to put the tinsel on. Looking back I can understand why. We were always on our best behavior then. Santa was making a list and checking it twice to find out who was naughty or nice. The attitudes of Christmas all came down to this one fact – the song and the calendar said Santa Claus was coming to town and we believed it.
Now let me take you on a magical tour back in time thousands of years. In a little country on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea lies a country so small that it seems as though it could never amount to anything great. The difference between it and its giant neighbors is the fact that the great creator God had called a people up out of captivity in Egypt – a people He had taken as His own – and had given them this little piece of property approximately the size of New Jersey as their Promised Land. He called it a land flowing with milk and honey. This tiny nation became one of the great nations in the history of mankind. Out of that nation God began to raise up prophets among the people to proclaim to them a time when God would send another great deliverer even greater than Moses. This deliverer would set them free from the bondage of sin. He would be their Messiah – the Anointed One. The prophets were very specific about some of the things concerning the Messiah. The great prophet Isaiah wrote, (Isaiah 7:14) 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us). Again he wrote as the Holy Spirit moved him, (Isaiah 9:6-7)
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
The prophets even wrote about where this child would be born (Bethlehem), that He would live in Egypt for a time, that He would make His home in Nazareth, that He would heal the sick, give sight to the blind, set captives free from demonic oppression…
(Isaiah 61:1-3),
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
Finally, the prophets told of the type of death that HE would experience and what its purpose would be – for the salvation of all mankind if they choose to accept it.
All of those prophecies, over a hundred in all, were fulfilled in the child/man Jesus Christ. Just like my anticipation for Christmas as a child, Israel greatly anticipated the coming of their Messiah. But there was a great difference – I never missed Christmas, but the Jews missed the coming of their Savior. They missed His birth, they missed the significance of His life, and they missed His purpose.
Now let’s fast forward two thousand years – back to the future. Just as I can look at the calendar and see that Christmas is coming (even though on December 26 it seems so far away), we also can look at the prophecies and see that Jesus accomplished everything with His life that God had said He would. And He did it for you, because He knew that you could never keep the commandments. That is what would have been required of you to earn your way to heaven – to keep every commandment without ever once messing up. He was the greatest Christmas gift that could have ever been given – and He was given to you. Have you opened the gift yet? Well, maybe not this year but soon? I know I should but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I have plenty of time don’t I?
Let’s jump back into our time machine and go into the not too distant future – let’s say tomorrow. We’ve already seen that Santa is always on time. We read how Jesus came to save mankind just as the prophets said He would. I know that as of today Jesus Himself has knocked on the door of every heart in this church, because of the message you have heard up to this point. The prophets say that there is one more event that is going to take place. King Jesus is going to come from heaven and gather up the church.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) 13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words. This for those who are “in Christ” – the true church. It’s not any particular denomination. It’s not some fancy building. It is the church of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ, the Bride of Christ – all who have believed on His name. He’s coming to take the church from the earth to a place He has been preparing for us for two thousand years.
Now I know what some of you may be thinking, “You people have been saying that for so long how can you expect anyone to believe it. It hasn’t happened yet. Where is this second coming that you always talk about? You know, I bet that is the same thing that many in Israel were asking when Jesus was born in Bethlehem according to the prophets. I’m sure it was the same question they were asking when they nailed their Savior to a cross in Jerusalem – in fulfillment of the prophets. Paul said, we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ… (Titus 2:13). Even though it may seem far off it is a certainty. Even though you may choose not to believe it is still a reality. Jesus Himself said that the day would come like a thief in the night. I like the way that Paul describes it. He compares Jesus’ coming to a woman’s pregnancy. 2for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:2). You can deny it. You can make believe it’s not coming, but sooner or later, when everything that needs to take place during the pregnancy takes place, the baby will come. And the news events of the last years, months, or even days, all point to the completion of the time. I believe it is going to be today. If not today then tomorrow or the next day, but I’m sure it’s coming.
Biblical prophecy provides some of the greatest encouragement and hope available to us today. Just as the Old Testament is saturated with prophecies concerning Christ’s first advent, so both testaments are filled with references to the second coming of Christ. One scholar has estimated that there are 1,845 references to Christ’s second coming in the Old Testament, where 17 books give it prominence. In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to the second advent of Christ--an amazing 1 out of every 30 verses. Twenty-three of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event. For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first advent, there are eight, which look forward to His second!
When the prophets of old foretold of the coming of the baby Jesus, they were telling of a gift that was just the beginning of gifts – a gift that will ultimately find its complete fulfillment with a new heaven and a new earth. Though many have forgotten the true message of Christmas, its reality never ceases. The greatest gift is coming back for His own.
In New York’s Hayden Planetarium a special Christmas holiday show was enhanced by an added feature. A giant lollipop tree was projected onto the planetarium dome, surrounded by a horizon filled with brilliantly colored toys which came to life and cavorted to the tune of "Jingle Bells." At the climax a huge figure of Santa Claus faded out in a snow storm, and the star of Bethlehem broke through into a sky that produced exactly the Palestine sky on the night of the nativity. The designer of this show may not realize that he dramatically staged the supreme Christmas message our world needs to understand: The recovery of the lost meaning of Christmas. This is not said in any criticism of Santa Claus; the effect must have delighted the hearts of all the children who saw it, without doing violence to their love of Bethlehem. But for adults it is a tragic loss to substitute "Jingle Bells" for "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," and a lollipop tree for the manger of Bethlehem. The instinct is right to fade out these things in the light of the Christmas star. It is about God’s incarnation that the angels sing--God with us.
Merry Christmas!
