THE BIRTH OF THE SAVIOR
SCRIPTURE READING:
Micah 5:2 (NIV) "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
INTRODUCTION;
Our sermon series on the Book of Joshua will continue next year to give way for our mini-series on celebrating the birth of Christ this Christmas season.
The focus of celebrating Christmas should be centered around the birth of Christ, our Savior.
We need to look at its significance, its relevance, and its implications to our lives in our ever changing culture.
Once we fail to focus on its real meaning and purpose, we will fail to grasp the beauty of the season.
Christ and Christ alone, is the center of attraction that makes Christmas the most festive and joyful time of the year.
But the problem is, many people nowadays have lost sight of its meaning.
Everywhere around us, people of various cultures and countries celebrate Christmas as a yearly tradition.
In our native country, the Philippines, for instance, we celebrate Christmas as early as September by playing Christmas carols.
Then, we usually hung the "parol" consisting of a bamboo pole or frame with a lighted star lantern on it with colorful lights.
And of course, we will not forget the midnight feast called the Noche Buena where we serve lechon, ham, fruit salad, rice cakes (bibingka and puto bumbong) with the entire family and neighbors celebrating and dropping to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
Also, on that night before Christmas, the children are excited hanging stockings for Santa to put his gifts.
Then the next morning, during Christmas day, children would go to their ninongs and ninangs to give their respect and receive more gifts.
That is why they said that Christmas is for children.
The truth is, Christmas is not just for the children but for all ages alike if you focus on its real significance.
My goal in our mini Christmas series is to go over with you several Old Testament Scriptural prophecies such as from Micah, from Isaiah and Psalms regarding the birth of Christ.
It is important for us to re-discover and re-focus our sights on Christ as the center of attraction for Christmas.
For after all, without Christ, there is no Christmas.
"Christmas always begins with Christ."
"Christmas reminds me that Christ is Mine and I am His." Angelica Hagman
Today, we will start on Micah 5:2 (NIV) "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
The Hebrew meaning of the prophet's name Micah is a short version of "Who is like Yahweh?"
It means, there is no one like Him, our Lord and Savior.
Micah lived during the times of the kings of Judah - Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.
His contemporary prophets were Isaiah, Amos and Hosea.
This small book was probably written during the eight century BC (735-700 BC) before the Babylonian captivity.
Micah the prophet was warning them of the impending judgment because of their disobedience to God's covenant.
He condemns the rulers, the priests and the prophets of Israel who exploit and mislead the people into idolatry.
It is because of their deeds that people turned away from God and Jerusalem will be destroyed.
But at the same time, he was affirming the coming deliverance and restoration of His people by the Sovereign Lord who governs the destiny of the nations.
In Micah, we will discover that the people have sinned.
God will judge the sin of the people.
God will not protect his people from the consequences of their actions.
But God will restore and forgive His people by bringing them back from Babylon.
God promises to send them a Savior.
Micah focused his attention on the birth of the Savior in that little town of Bethlehem as the source of all hope in the midst of the impending conflict at that time.
Someday, a ruler will be born who will purge the nation of the sin of idolatry, usher the kingdom of God and implement the reign of peace and prosperity.
Someday, that powerful Messiah who existed from ancient times and had been born of humble beginnings will triumph over all sin and evil forces.
This is actually the message of that first Christmas.
It is not the fun fare, it is not the lights, it is not the gifts, all of these are good but the best message is about the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ.
There are three things that we will talk about from Micah chapter 5.
THE HUMBLE BIRTH OF THE SAVIOR
1. THE SAVIOR'S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS. "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans[a] of Judah,
2. THE SAVIOR'S RISE TO KINGSHIP. "Out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,
3. THE SAVIOR'S EXISTENCE FROM TIME ETERNITY. "Whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
May the Lord bless us all we we focus on the birth of Christ the King.
THE BIRTH OF THE SAVIOR
1. THE SAVIOR'S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS. "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans[a] of Judah,"
Our Savior was not born on a very prominent city, under very prominent family and fed with golden spoon and served by multitudes of servants.
No. Christ was not born in the biggest castle.
Christ was not born being followed by all the paparazzi in order to get a picture and be published in the newspapers.
No. The truth is, Christ was born on small town of Bethlehem among the smallest clans of Judah with only a few people and some animals noticing him.
Christ was born from humble beginnings.
According to Wikipedia, that word "Bethlehem" means the "House of Bread" for indeed, He is the Bread of Life that sustains the spiritual hunger of all the entire world.
Most of us have not been there in Bethlehem but I discovered that Bethlehem is a small Palestinian city located in the central West Bank, about 10 kilometers south of Jerusalem with about 25,000 people the majority of which are Muslims.
The economy of that place is primarily tourist driven due to the yearly influx of Christians from all over the world who make a pilgrimage to the Church of Nativity which was located on the exact spot where Jesus was born and considered to be the oldest church in the world.
The Hebrew Bible identifies it as the city of David where he was crowned as king of Israel.
The New Testament however identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus.
This city was destroyed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian during the century revolt of the Jews but it was rebuilt by Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great who commissioned the building of that Church of Nativity in 327 AD.
But no only that, the verse tells us that the One that was born in Jerusalem was among the smallest of the clan of Judah.
Again, according to Wikipedia, there are twelve tribes of Israel.
The tribe of Judah was one of the twelve tribes of Israel that was allocated by Joshua with the land encompassing most of the southern portion of the Land of Israel, including Jerusalem.
This particular tribe has the divine reputation of a monarchic line starting with the person of King David.
However, we will discover from the Book of Kings that Israel became a Divided Kingdom.
The ten northern tribes under the leadership of Jeroboam split from the House of David to create the northern Kingdom in Samaria while the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to the House of David.
It was in 586 BC that Babylon conquered the Kingdom of Judah and the entire population was deported to a foreign land to live there as slaves for many years.
It was in Babylon that the people recognized their sins and long to go back and restore their land particularly the Temple worship.
But the Lord has promised He will restore His people through the birth of the Messiah from the tribe of Judah who will someday rule as King and usher the Kingdom of God.
That is the message of Christmas.
Christ our Lord came from humble beginnings in order to save mankind from their sins.
Yet, no one noticed his birth except for the few who whose hearts are ready to receive Him.
This is the kind of Humility and meekness that the Savior displayed when he was born that first Christmas.
And that kind of godly character prepared Him for greatness.
And that is the lesson we need to learn this morning.
You see, great things come from small beginnings.
Greatness is not based on skills, on abilities or dynamic personalities of people.
Greatness is not based on your popularity or your education and knowledge.
Greatness is not based on how much we have or whom we know.
Greatness is neither of those things although these are also good.
But true greatness before the eyes of God is the result of your humble beginnings.
Job 8:7 (NIV) " Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be."
If we place our lives in God's hands, and serve Him as a servant, we are destined for greatness.
That means if you want to be great in God's Kingdom, you must be a servant of all.
You need not wait for people to notice you or appreciate you when you serve God.
You serve Him with all your heart and mind and enthusiasm and God Himself will lift you up in due time.
That is the real purpose why Christ was born on this earth.
To show us what servant hood is all about.
Mark 10:45 (NIV) "For the Son of Man came to seek and to serve that which was lost."
Servant hood is the real message of Christmas.
Serving God is what we need to always pray and reflect as we celebrate Christ 's birth.
Because we serve Christ, we are faithful in our ministry with one another without any thought of public recognition.
Servant hood means Christ must increase in us, while we must decrease.
Matthew 23:11 (NIV) "The greatest among you will be your servant."
Brothers and sisters, do you want to be the greatest in this church?
Then, serve God, serve each other and God will reward you accordingly.
You see, it is not the position in the ministry that counts, but it is the servant's heart above all that God appreciates.
Our Savior started His ministry from humble beginnings.
2. THE SAVIOR'S RISE TO KINGSHIP. "Out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,"
The second thing that we can notice in this verse is the advancement or the ascent of the Savior from His humble beginnings to become the Ruler or King of Israel.
It says that "out of you", out of the smallest clan of Judah will advance the next king who will rule the entire nation.
Christ is the true ruler of Israel who brought God's Kingdom to restore order and spiritual life.
You see, during the time of Christ, both the civil government and the religious leaders were so corrupt and full of evil.
In fact, the governing rulers of Israel were Roman emperors who desired worship and had no regard for the welfare of the people extracting tremendous taxation.
When Jesus was born during the time of King Herod, he was so consumed with such hatred and envy that he had ordered for the execution of innocent children all over Bethlehem.
Even the religious rulers such as the Pharisees and the Saducees were so notorious that Jesus called them as whitewashed tombs which seemed good from the outside but with decaying bones.
There are actually two kingdoms of this world.
The Kingdom of Light ruled by God and the kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan.
You see, all the kingdoms of this world has been corrupted by sin and in spite of their great efforts have failed miserably to uphold God's standard.
They are being controlled by the kingdom of darkness.
This kingdom of darkness and all the kingdoms of this world will ultimately come to an end will someday stand before the judgment seat of God to be judged for what they have done.
No earthly government regardless of how powerful they are will last for all eternity.
Only God's kingdom of light will prevail and last forever.
Only God's Kingdom is build on strong foundation of righteousness and peace.
That is why the message of Christmas is about the King and His Kingdom.
It is about Jesus Christ ushering and ruling in the Kingdom of God.
The Heart of Christ's message was about the coming of the Kingdom of God.
In fact, it all started with John the baptist when he introduced Jesus Christ publicly before His baptism.
John declared in Mark 1:15 (NIV) "The time has come," he said, "The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!"
He understood the real reason why Christ came to this world.
Christ is the Messiah that the Jews had been waiting to rule and reign over Israel not as a military leader but to put and end to sin and transform the lives of men so that they will be ready for the kingdom of God.
And from then on, after His baptism by John and during his short ministry on earth, Jesus had been proclaiming the Kingdom of God ever since.
Most of His teachings is about the Parables of God's Kingdom or understanding life in God's Eternal Kingdom such as the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Parable of the Fishing Net and others.
All these talks about the secret or the mystery of how the Kingdom will arrive in small beginnings in order to finally advance and consummate when all enemies will be defeated and all sin and satanic powers will be gone forever.
That is why Jesus was born that first Christmas.
He called righteous people who live godly lives and obey His commands as the sons of God's Kingdom. (Matthew 13:38)
Even his teachings on the Model prayer is all about the desire to be manifested on this earth.
Matthew 6:10 (NIV) "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
It means that we need to pray and ask God that the rule and reign of Christ as Sovereign King will be manifested without any difficulty in this earth as it is being manifested in heaven.
That is why the principal goal of every born again Christian is to seek His Kingdom.
Matthew 6:33 (NIV) "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
We seek first His Kingdom and his righteousness over all other material things on earth.
We prioritize, we pursue, we chase and follow after God's standard of living and character.
This Kingdom of God is both a present reality for us to experience and a future reality for us to hope for.
We can enjoy many of the blessings of God's Kingdom here and now such as peace and joy and love.
But many of them are not yet here and still to be revealed to us fully such as being clothed with incorruptible bodies.
Some of its power is available now but not all of it.
We are still fighting against sin, death and Satan.
But the war is not yet over and sin but be fought over and over again.
That is why the message that Jesus commissioned His early apostles to teach is called the Good news or the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
Luke 9:1-2 (NIV) "When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick."
When we proclaim God's kingdom on earth, we proclaim the power accompanying it.
People's lives are changed and transformed because of that message of salvation.
However, we must remember that this world is not our home.
We are citizens of God's Kingdom because of Christ.
We are only passing by for a short time.
Therefore, our real home is in heaven where God's Kingdom is located.
This then is the reason why there is so much evil, sickness and death in this world.
This world is being controlled by the powers and principalities that brought about those sickness and misery.
That is why the message of Christmas is the message of the birth of the Savior who will usher in God's Kingdom for those who will believe.
And someday, all the evil, all the sin and all sicknesses in this world will be vanquished and eliminated when Christ will come and God's Kingdom will be made manifest in all its glory.
Meanwhile, God wants us to develop godly character in preparation for our eternal destiny in heaven.
That is what we need to focus upon this Christmas.
Not the festivities of the season but godly living.
Indeed, the Savior who was born of humble beginnings will become the ruler of all Israel or or people of God.
Christmas therefore gives us great confidence of the glory of our future destiny in Christ.
Christ rules and reigns in this eternal Kingdom.
3. THE SAVIOR'S EXISTENCE FROM TIME ETERNITY. "Whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
So far, we have learned that Christ was born from humble beginnings and rose to prominence as King of Israel, which is the people of God.
Lastly, the verses tells us Christ's divinity, his existence from the very beginning.
It says that His origin or His root or connection is from ancient times.
This is about the deity of Christ.
He is not just fully man, but fully God.
His origin is from olden times.
That means, he has no beginning band no end.
The deity of Christ is the very foundation of our Christian faith and practice.
His deity is the very source of the authority of the believer.
It is the groundwork or infrastructure of our life in God's Kingdom.
Think of it, if Jesus is not God, there is no Good news and no Christmas at all.
If Jesus is not God, there is no salvation and no power to deal with our sinful condition and we are without hope in this world.
If Jesus is not God, then we ought not to worship Him because worship belongs only to God.
If Jesus is not God, then there is no power for a transformed life, no power for the resurrection and no power to overcome sickness, sin and death.
If Christ is not God, then,w e will be most miserable.
Christmas will be empty and without meaning if Christ is not God because there is no reason for us to celebrate the season and to light those Christmas trees.
But the truth is, praise be to God, the message of Christmas is about the deity of Christ.
Christ is the Son of God and our only Substitute for Sin and the Mediator between God and Man.
As God, He alone can satisfy the payment for the sins of the whole world.
As God, He has the authority over all the kingdoms of this world to rule and judge.
As God, he lived a perfect life so that we could stand before the throne of God justified and counted as righteous.
As God, he alone could usher His kingdom of peace and prosperity for us to dwell in safety.
We must believe that he is truly God and truly man.
And because he is God, we will continue to worship and serve Him for the rest of our lives without wavering.
And because He is God, he is the best gift we could ever receive this Christmas.
And because He is God, our lives fully surrendered to Him is the best gift we could ever give to Him this Christmas.
And because He is God, our desire is to please Him and to be transformed into His image for the rest of our lives.
Surely, this is the best message of Christmas that we should not missed.
Our Savior existed even from time eternity.
John 1:1 (NIV) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
This Word is Jesus, the Logos who existed from the very beginning of time and He is fully God.
Here are other verses about the deity of Christ:
John 8:23 (NIV) " But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
John 8:58 (NIV) " “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
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