Alba 12-10-2023
UNTO YOU IS BORN – THE CHRIST
Luke 2:11
Christmas is a time for gift giving. When you were young, is there something that you seriously wanted and hoped it would be one of your presents for Christmas? Perhaps you were excited to open the gift and find it was just what you wanted. Or maybe it was another year of disappointment because it was not there.
Let me tell you of my experience. I had friends who had electric trains, and I wanted one. One of my friends, whose name was Wally, seemed to have everything. He was a boy with some problems with an official diagnosis of being spastic. He couldn't talk plainly. A lot of conversation was with hand gestures. His parents provided him with as much as they could to encourage him and increase his abilities. I remember that he had an amazing Erector set and could build interesting mechanisms complete with a motor that made things move. He also had an electric train (or two).
Then on Christmas another friend, whose name was Gerry, got his electric train. I really wanted one. So by the next Christmas, I strongly hinted, probably even boldly stated, that I really wanted an electric train. So I was pretty sure it would happen. I even told my friend I was expecting to get one.
Then came Christmas morning when we all went into the living room together to open gifts.
And there was a box with my name on it. It looked like the right size. It just had to be that electric train I so desperately wanted. It wasn't the first gift I was allowed to open, but finally the time came. I felt excited and knew what my reaction would be.
Anticipation, hope, delight and wonder all wrapped up together. That was my feeling. And it was also the feeling of the Jewish nation as they were awaiting the Messiah who had been promised to them for so many years.
And then, an angel appeared to lowly shepherds with an announcement that fulfilled that promise. In Luke 2:10-11 it records the angel's message. “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
How do we know that was the fulfilling of the promise? It is because when the angel said this child was the Christ, it was the same as saying this child is the Messiah. The one they were waiting for.
The terms Christ and Messiah are synonymous. The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew language and the word Christ is from the Greek language. But they mean the same thing. They both mean “the anointed” one. People who were set apart for a special purpose were anointed. It included prophets, priests and kings.
Jesus fulfilled all three of those places. He is The Christ. The Messiah. The anointed One, prophet, priest and king.
1. Jesus is the priest who offered the sacrifice that makes salvation possible for us. That is why he had to come to earth in human form. Hebrews 2:17 says, “Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.” (NLT)
This was promised from the beginning of time when in the Garden of Eden, God told the serpent that the seed of the woman would give a death blow to Satan's head. The seed of a woman is the child, Jesus. And He delivered that death blow to the devil when He arose from the grave.
The old devil must have thought he had canceled God's plan of salvation when Jesus was put to death on the cross. But the resurrection proved him wrong. And because of that, His one sacrifice that He offered, which was Himself, is sufficient to take away all of our sins, yours and mine.
Hebrews 9:24-28 says, “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another.... He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”
Jesus is our “anointed one”, our Messiah, the Christ, who gave Himself for us so that we could be forgiven of every sin and wrong, and the things we would like not to be mentioned, that we have committed. Forgiveness is what we need. Jesus made that possible for those who through obedient faith, put their trust in Him. As the priest of God, He offered the needed sacrifice.
2. Jesus is also the anointed prophet, God’s final and greatest spokesman. Hebrews 1:1-2 says that, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.”
Jesus is the one who has proclaimed the truth of God so that we can know that God is love. And that there is a way to our Heavenly Father which we would not be able to find on our own. He tells us that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And that no one can come to the Father except through Him. That means we cannot make it based on any good thing we have done. We need Jesus.
Who else, but the very Son of God, could give us the prophetic message of God's salvation that we need to hear.
It is a message that some won't accept, in the same way the messages of the Old Testament prophets were disregarded. But the message of Jesus is even more important. It has eternal consequences. He offers us assurance of a place in heaven if we come to Him. Jesus often said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” May our ears be open to the life giving message of Jesus the Christ.
And not only does He fulfill the place of prophet, He also fulfills prophecy. The promise of a coming Messiah continued when Abraham was told that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. God chose that man to be the beginning of the line that would bring us to the birth of Jesus. And all those who respond to the message of Jesus, “whosoever will”, can receive the blessings of God.
3. And Jesus is also the one anointed to be king forever. When David became king of Israel (exactly where Israel is today, by the way), he was given the promise that through his descendants there would be a king who would reign forever.
In II Samuel 7:16 the prophet Nathan told David this message from the Lord, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
Do you remember what the angel told Mary when it was announced that she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus? It is in Luke 1:30-33 which says, “Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.'”
When the Wise Men were following the star and searching for answers they asked, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2). In Bethlehem they found Mary and Joseph with the child Jesus. And they gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gifts fit for a king.
It was a threat to King Herod, who did whatever he could to guard his royal position. The devil used him to try to stop the one who would bring us our salvation by having all baby boys under age two in that region put to death. God spared the life of our Savior by warning Joseph in a dream to escape that area. The devil was thwarted again.
Jesus is our Messiah king forever. Revelation 19:16 says about Jesus, “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Jesus is the anointed one, the Christ, our Messiah. He is our prophet, priest and king.
Now, I will take you back to my Christmas many years ago. Remember how I felt when I took that special package in my hands. Such anticipation! I opened the gift... It was not a train! I think it was some clothes or something. But, it was not an electric train. I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I just felt very disappointed.
Before you feel sorry for me, I have to tell you that the next Christmas I got my train. But somehow it no longer held the same significance it had the year before. My friends had received other gifts, I was a year older, and it just wasn't the same. The only good thing about all of that is that since I didn't play with the train a lot, it is still in pretty good shape all these years later.
But for the people of Israel who had waited and anticipated the gift of the Messiah for so long, when He came, is that the reason so many rejected Him? Did the anticipation wear off? Were they now thinking about other things?
Of course, He did not come as they expected Him to come. Born in stable, crucified on a cross. None of those things fit the narrative they expected.
What a sad day for the people of that day. What they hoped for had finally come, but as John 1:10-11 says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
May that not be true of us. Our Messiah, our prophet, priest and king has come. He is Christ Jesus. He is the only one who is able to give the gift of salvation.
But it is a gift that must be received on our part to be able to benefit us.
John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Isn't that what we want at this Christmas time, to be God's child and know that we will be able to be with Him in heaven? The people who actually met Jesus, and truly were able to know Him as He walked on this earth, accepted this truth about Jesus.
After Andrew spent a day with Jesus, he couldn't wait to tell his brother, Simon Peter, what he discovered. In John 1:41-42 it says, “He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.”
When Jesus talked to the woman at the well in Samaria, she said in John 4:25-26, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
And when Jesus asked the apostles who they thought He was, Peter gave his answer. Jesus was pointed in His question. In Matthew 16:15-16 it says, “He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?'”
And Peter was just as direct in his answer. “Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'”
That is what we call The Good Confession. If a person is ready to yield to Jesus as Savior, those are the words that should be first to come out of the mouth. And it should come from the heart.
When a person is convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the promised one of God, and God's own Son, that confession should be one that is willingly made.
That question that Jesus asked of the apostles is one that is appropriate to ask of ourselves and each other. “Who do you say that Jesus is?” Is He just some good man who showed us a better way to live? Or is He the Christ?
Is He just someone who did some good things for people while He walked on this earth? Or is He the Christ? Is He just another religious figure? Or is He the Christ?
The answer to that question is critical. It does have eternal consequences. All of scripture, all of the testimony of eye witnesses, is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
He alone can rescue us from the messes we have made of our lives. He alone can provide assurance that we will have a home in heaven.
Jesus is the Messiah that the people of God were waiting for with anticipation. It is sad to hear some present day Jews say they are still waiting for the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ.
Jesus is the Anointed One that the Old Testament predicted would come and fulfill the plan of God. He is our prophet, priest and king!
CLOSE:
On December 17, 1903, after many attempts, the Wright brothers were successful in getting their “flying machine” off the ground.
Thrilled, they telegraphed this message to their father:
"Success four flights Thursday morning all against twenty-one mile per hour wind started from level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty-one miles longest 57 seconds inform press home Christmas. Orevelle Wright."
There were two errors in transmission. The flight was actually 59 seconds in duration and Orville's name was misspelled.
That is the historical telegram that was sent after the Wright brothers actually flew 852 feet with a plane powered by a gas engine. The last two words let the family know that they would be home for Christmas.
This information was hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and was shown the message. The story is that the next day the headline the editor wrote as a result in his newspaper said, “Local boys will be home for Christmas.”
He totally missed the big news: man had flown! We dare not miss the fact that Jesus did all that was necessary for our salvation.
He has a gift to give, but we must receive it.
