Illus. By sermon central
The Tale of Star..."a Star is born"
Eusebius, (jusbeus) a scholarly church historian of the early fourth century, evidently made a considerable study of the literature available to him, and came to this conclusion about the star: "The star was new and a stranger among the usual lights of heaven, a strange star, not one of the many known stars, but being new and fresh."
A recent writer, Robert McIver, has spent 3 decades researching this subject. In his book, Star of Bethlehem - Star of Messiah, published 1998, he cites star records from ancient Chinese and Korean astronomers who both noted such an unusual new star about the time of Christ’s birth. He also discusses paintings in the Roman catacombs, as well as coins from various countries which depict an unusual star about this time. He even notes possible interpretations, but it is at least an interesting coincidence, if nothing else, that such indications of an unusual new star at about the time of Christ’s birth can be found all over the world.
Can everyone say Wow this morning? Can you believe it, only 3 more weeks to Christmas? How in the world, did we get to December 4th already?
It seems like only yesterday it was Labor Day right? I guess you could say the roller coaster of life sure does gain speed the older you get!
Did you ever notice while we celebrate many many holidays, only Christmas, Thanksgiving and our own birthday are the ones, (sorry Jesus) that we count down the days to them taking place.
The journey to Bethlehem, the story of Jesus miraculous birth, was one certainly full of miracles and significance. And it was one that God the Heavenly Father paid great attention to the details and knew everything that was going to happen in advance.
While Jesus birth is the greatest story ever told! God would have me tell you this morning, you also have great significance to Him, because all the days of your life. He has had a plan for you, before there ever was a you.
And not just any plan but a great plan for you, for your welfare and your future, for eternity!
I was thinking about the Christmas story this week about all the events, that had to take place for there ever to be a silent night, in the town of Bethlehem.
I thought about how, what a great planner God is, how God always plans to the Greatest Detail and how patient God is with our human nature.
TBS. God is not a respecter of persons. I believe that's probably because He has to deal with human nature in every person.
Can you imagine, all the events had to take place, just in the right order or sequence, that led right up to the birth of the Savior of the World?
We all know, how hard it is to plan something out, such as a surprise birthday party weeks and months in advance, to try as we may, to keep it a secret it's a tall order!
But the birth of the Savior, the Messiah, the redeemer of the world, took the kind of supernatural preparation that only God could have accomplished!
Take for instance Jesus lineage, full of great men and women! But were they all great?
Even Jesus lineage had a few skeletons in the closet. Remember we can't forget about the human nature, in the equation!
The Heroes of the Bible stories that we have read about, for thousands of years.
Were they perfect?, so far from it!
Would they have been the ones you and I, would have selected?
Probably not, because human nature has a tendency to see through people for what they are. Instead of seeing people through and what they can be and become!
And whether they were the ones that we would've selected, most importantly they were the ones God selected. Truth be told, if we were the ones in charge of the selection for the lineage of Jesus, we would probably still be looking for qualified participants, to this day!
The same thing could probably be said about everyone of us here this morning
of our qualifications to be in the family of God, huh? There are none of us worthy, no not one!
Thank the Lord, for the Grace that He extends to all, who are willing to respond and can still, become a part of the “Greatest Story ever Told!
Matt. 1:1-17 MSG.
The family tree of Jesus Christ, David's son, Abraham's son:
2-6. Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob,
Jacob had Judah and his brothers,
Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar),
Perez had Hezron,
Hezron had Aram,
Aram had Amminadab,
Amminadab had Nahshon,
Nahshon had Salmon,
Salmon had Boaz (his mother was Rahab),
Boaz had Obed (Ruth was the mother),
Obed had Jesse,
Jesse had David,
and David became king.
6-11. David had Solomon (Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, was the mother),
Solomon had Rehoboam,
Rehoboam had Abijah,
Abijah had Asa,
Asa had Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat had Joram,
Joram had Uzziah,
Uzziah had Jotham,
Jotham had Ahaz,
Ahaz had Hezekiah,
Hezekiah had Manasseh,
Manasseh had Amon,
Amon had Josiah,
Josiah had Jehoiachin and his brothers,
and then the people were taken into the Babylonian exile.
12-16. When the Babylonian exile ended,
Jeconiah had Shealtiel,
Shealtiel had Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel had Abiud,
Abiud had Eliakim,
Eliakim had Azor,
Azor had Zadok,
Zadok had Achim,
Achim had Eliud,
Eliud had Eleazar,
Eleazar had Matthan,
Matthan had Jacob,
Jacob had Joseph, Mary's husband,
the Mary who gave birth to Jesus,
the Jesus who was called Christ.
17. There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David,
another fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile,
and yet another fourteen from the Babylonian exile to Christ.
The road to the manger indeed, was the original “Long and Winding Road”
Only God could have dealt with so many different personalities and the battle of so many different wills, or human natures. And still came out with the “absolute perfection” of Jesus, as an end result!
The book of Matthew included four women, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba in the lineage of Jesus.
Interesting to note that it is unusual to see any women listed in a Jewish genealogy…
But even from the beginning, in Christ, men and women are equal heirs of God’s “Amazing Grace.”
Three of the women mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew were Gentiles (foreigners).
The fourth, Bathsheba, was closely associated with Gentiles through her prior marriage to Uriah the Hittite.
At that time, being a Gentile certainly had its disadvantages
and was a major obstacle in the way to fellowship with God and His people.
The first two women, Tamar and Rahab were both Canaanites, a group of people that committed extreme evils, especially concerning religious practices and rites.
God punished the Canaanites for their evil, when He allowed the Israelites,
To go into their land, the promised land, conquer them and make it their own.
The third woman Ruth, was from Moab and her story, was one of the most beautiful love stories ever written of all time. The love story of Ruth and Boaz and the miracle of them coming together is still used in many weddings still to this day!
Ruth 1:16-17 MSG.
16 But Ruth said:
“ Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
17 Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The LORD do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”
Ruth was from a nation that had refused to assist Israel on their journey through the wilderness and…the Moabites, were the ones who hired the sorcerer Balaam to curse Israel.
And if you know the story about Balaam and his donkey, then you know that even the donkey knew how wrong it was, to try to curse Gods people! Amen?
In punishment for this, God had declared that Moabites were to be excluded from the Lord’s assembly even down to the tenth generation.
Yet, God chose David, whose grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite, to be a great warrior for Israel and to be King to rule over His people,
With man, nothing is possible! But with God...ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!
God made sure, that Matthew's account of the story included this Gentile woman, whose people were once God’s enemies, in the lineage of Jesus.
Jesus came to do away with the barriers that inhibited Gentiles from being a part of the family of God. This is proven by the immense generosity of God, that we read about in; John 3:16-17 NKJ.
16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Jesus came, to make and establish an inclusive, a who-so-ever gospel called grace, so all could and would be worthy to be a part of it! Everything associated with Jesus, has always been about Gods Amazing, Incredible Grace!
Three of the four women in Jesus’ genealogy are remembered for their sins.
Tamar became an ancestor of Jesus through an act of prostitution with her own father-in-law, Judah (Genesis 38). Judah's oldest son was a scoundrel and was not worthy, nor was his second oldest son.
Who by tradition and custom should've fathered Tamar's offspring, but they both died before doing so. When the third brother was unable to fulfill tradition.
Tamar became desperate and in a final act of desperation to have an offspring and be in the lineage of Judah. Tamar seduced Judah, in an act of prostitution.
The third women mentioned in the lineage of Jesus is Rahab. She was admittedly a prostitute from Jericho, a Canaanite city. While the rest of Canaan fought against Israel, Rahab chose to align herself with the people of God and help them.
And when the walls of Jericho, came tumbling down, only Rahab and her family were spared. Rahab, was not only spared but chosen also to be in Jesus lineage.
Bathsheba’s name will always remind us of David’s terrible sin of adultery and murder.
However, she was just as guilty of adultery as he was. And yet God chose her to be in the lineage of the greatest miracle of all time!
These were grievous and well-known sins and when we ponder them, we tend to think OMG! But the truth be told, even the unknown names mentioned in Jesus lineage.
While maybe not being guilty of committing flamboyant sins. They were all sinners as we all are sinners and yet God can use anyone to accomplish His agenda, as long as they are willing.
There is no sin that Grace cannot both rescue and forgive a person from! Remember all the saints from the Bible are sinners who fell down, repented and got back up and kept on going.
We all have questionable relatives in our own family trees. You know “the family secret” that we would rather not talk about.
But Jesus isn’t that way with His family,
Jesus is not ashamed to list sinful people as His relatives.
And I’m thankful today, that He’s not, Praise the Lord! Cause you see, you and I are also on the list of some of His amazing relatives. Amen?
Because if He is our savior, we are all adopted sons and daughters.
Thank the Lord, that He came to seek and save sinners like you and I.
Jesus came to remove all the barriers that inhibited the entire world, from being a part of the family of God. He came to abolish the law and forever establish the inclusive Gospel of Grace.
Help us, during this man-made hussle and bussle, busy time of the year,
To not lose to not lose sight, of the great length’s God went to, before
there ever was a “Silent Night”, in a little town called, Bethlehem.
Now don't get me wrong, but sometimes we like to think that the journey’s we take to get to our destiny are amazing and with God involved they truly are amazing!
However, they all fail in comparison to the journey, God watched over to Bethlehem
One of the amazing things, all of the people involved in the journey
had in common was, they were all willing participants! All of them each
and every one, said yes to the road God ask them to take!
What are you willing to do, this Christmas season, to further the journey of the gospel message?
Won’t you help write the next chapter, right here at Calvary Temple?
And help win someone to Christ and get them started on the journey with you.
The greatest gift you could ever give to someone, is the gift of Jesus and what He can do for them in their life and through their life!
Lets do something extraordinary this year, lets make it all about Him
and help add someone else to the lineage of Jesus
and let that be our gift to Him.
Amen?
Lets Pray!
